Beyond the Void

Chapter 41, As equals to you

KELDIN

One moon and three tens since the Mark of the Other One blossomed.

Keldin could sense a blade approaching from the side. Instead of blocking, he ducked and slashed at the contender. He felt the flow frenzy under his skin and let it fill his entire body. The offender was barely saved by another. Good. Good. Good!

They had understood the riddles Keldin had left them. He could see the reluctance in their eyes, but despite that, those gathered here had quickly understood that Keldin would easily overpower them one by one.

Fighting was the only thing Keldin excelled at. Since an early age, it had become apparent he was a born fighter.

A spike of power caught his attention while two more assaulted him from the front and back. Two swift slashes struck the two off balance, but the force of the flow that hit Keldin was far stronger than he had imagined.

It was pure force, nothing else was woven into the power. It lifted him from the ground and threw him backwards quite the distance.

He turned around in the air and rolled as he landed. More blades followed him as he righted himself near the edge of the arena. Keldin shattered the misty gem in his left hand and enveloped most of his attackers in a fiery blaze.

This was enough to faze his opponents, but around every fighter, the sand was unaffected. Keldin let the frenzied flow calm and concentrated most into his left hand.

With a wild grin, that only he was aware of, Keldin charged forward once more, clashing blades with four more people, feinting the fifth and with a concentrated explosion, sending that last one flying into the arena wall.

Another soul out of the competition. Without pause, his blade sought another challenger.

He danced back and forth with all those gathered here. Two had fallen and were slowly but methodically followed by the third, fourth and fifth victims of Keldin.

It was becoming harder and harder to isolate them or find a suitable target. All those remaining were used to fighting on the front lines, and the two whose only weapon was their flow made the difference. Especially the one who had first hit Keldin with that raw force.

The woman's power had no stench of any aspect, not even a faint wind. It was raw force. She could gather up the sand into a sword or a spear or a shield, rip out large pieces of marble from the arena and slam an invisible boulder on top of Keldin from nowhere.

And the weakest of this entire group spent his entire time in the background, only rushing to the aid of those he could reinvigorate. Keldin spent too much energy trying to catch that annoyance, but soon enough it became clear that had been the boy's plan all along.

He purposefully drew Keldin into tight situations, and there were several times when he came close to receiving his first wound. Ten still stood against him. One more needed to fall. It felt appropriate to end it with the sixth fallen.

Keldin blocked another flurry of invisible spears from the woman and immediately sought out the healer. If he was so intent on being the bait, then Keldin would give him the satisfaction.

Clashing blades with three of the more persistent opponents, he made his way towards the edge of the arena. And as soon as he had done that the boy scurried to invigorate one who had fallen back from the main fight.

Keldin ducked several attacks and ignored all the other fighters. He ran straight for the annoying whelp. He would need to take this one risk now.

Three that had been prowling along the edge of the fight now closed in on him. A woman and a man slightly older than Keldin. Their similar faces told Keldin those two were siblings. And the last one who still prowled alone, only lunging in when he deemed it safe for himself.