Call of Pandemonium (Open Novella Contest)

Abbadon

The man's enormous cloak flowed around him in the wind. His arms and legs were wrapped with white cloths, making him look like a mummy. I could see some short grey hair beneath his hood. 

"My name is Abbadon," he said, marching towards us with his hand on the hood of his cloak. "Master Samael sent me to test your skill." 

The entire arena had gone quiet. Even the spectators could sense the aura of power radiating off this guy. 

"I hope he's not upset when his servant comes back to him in pieces," I taunted. June stared at me from the corner of her eyes, seeming upset. She wanted to say that.

Abbado laughed, pulling his hood down to reveal a guy with short grey hair. He was surprisingly young, though his skin was pale and weather-worn. That subtle smile creeping over his face was unsettling me more than anything.  

"If you can even scratch me, I will consider that a win," he stated. He was not even taunting us. He meant it. 

Who does he think he is?

I was so mad I hurled a stream of fire at him. Before they even reached him, I watched the man jump so fast and so smoothly that one second he was standing on the ground, the next he was sailing through the air. His knee made contact with my nose, making my entire face erupt in pain.

In retaliation, June lunged her spear at him as fast as she possibly could. Abbadon blocked it with his forearm and flashed June the most annoying smile. 

To get him back for messing up my beautiful face, I summoned a wave of fire that leaped towards him like a hungry snake. Instead of getting a face full of flames, this guy used my face as a jumping-off point to narrowly avoid the attack. 

He floated back to the ground without a care in the world. 

"Do we have a plan or are we planning on letting this guy beat us up all day?" I asked June, wiping the blood off my face. I was starting to lose my temper if I ever found it to begin with.

"So far he's only beaten you up," June pointed out as if I needed a reminder. If that was her attempt at a joke, I wasn't amused. 

Abbadon, on the other hand, was amused. 

"You argue like married couple," he said, his voice laced with an accent I couldn't place. "No wonder Samael dislikes you."

We both turned to him with a look so fierce that he flinched a little. Saying that was probably his biggest mistake. There was only one thing that June and I could ever agree on, and that was our mutual hatred for each other. No one was allowed to question that.

"You think I'd choose to be with this pampered, self-righteous..." I started to shout at him. "You think I'd lower my standards enough to be with..." June shouted just as loud. 

We pointed angrily at each other and shouted at the top of our lungs.

"WE'RE NOT A COUPLE!"

The sound of those words echoed across the arena, bringing everyone to absolute silence. It was  spoken with so much raw hatred that even June and I were shocked by the words coming out of our mouths. 

I summoned a flame in my hands, so bright that it nearly burned my eyes. Meanwhile, June's hand was crackling with more electricity than I had ever seen before. Abbadon unfolded his arms this time. He knew this was not a game this time around. 

A wild maelstrom of fire and lightning tore through the arena, leaving a path of torn up rocks in the path it traveled. Abbadon avoided it without any trouble, but the bystanders in the arena all let out loud shrieks and started running before it got any worse.