A Game Of Pawns

Chapter 25

"NO!" The word tore from my lips involuntarily. My heart hammered in my chest and I nearly dropped my sword as I picked myself up off the ground. Demi was dead. My friend and last ally was gone. Zack managed to get lucky and guessed which Demi was the real one. Now, all that was left were the two of us; Zack and me.

Tears flooded to my eyes but I blinked them away so they wouldn't impair my vision. We had both known that we were risking our lives, but I couldn't believe she was gone. Demi had been there for me while I grieved. We laughed together, shared our lives with each other; she wore my shirt.

Zack turned to look at me and changed his stance to something more relaxed. He shook his head slightly and tsked. "You do realize that this happens all the time, right? Anyone you make a bond with will either die or try to kill you. It's just the way it is."

"Shut up!" I shouted, fuming with so much anger that my hands were shaking. I knew he was right but I didn't care.

"What did you think was going to happen?" Zack shouted, sweat and blood staining his clothes like a sickening shadow. "If you two had killed me, you'd have to kill each other. Just imagine if you had been here with Saris instead of her. That was my reality. I just chose to plan ahead."

I didn't know what to say. I knew that Demi wouldn't have spared my life just because I didn't want to fight her. I knew that it would have ended with me dying because I didn't have the guts to strike her down, but I knew that she wouldn't hesitate. She said she had gotten lucky enough to win twice. That means she only needs one more win. There's no way she wouldn't take the chance if she had gotten it. Then again, maybe I would've let her win. She's been here for a year. It must be killing her to be so close to leaving this place, only to be struck down and have to start again. But could I do that? Die for her? That would leave me here, without her. Never seeing her face or hearing her voice until I could manage to get out of this game too; and what chance did I have of that? I was only at the end of this game because of her and Saris. Without them, I was alone.

"You see it, don't you?" Zack said more softly. "She would have killed you, even if you wouldn't have killed her. That's what this place does to you." Then he became sinister again, "If you want to see her again, one of us has to die. Then this whole thing can restart. As for me, well, you heard what I had to say. Come on, princess, let's put you to rest."

Zack lowered again and dashed towards me and Demi's voice rang in my head, 'Focus'. Zack didn't approach me, like I thought he would. Instead, he dashed towards my left and cut through a street lamp, then pushed it my way. Surprised, my feet hesitated, not knowing what to do. I managed to raise my shield and take one step to my right before the heavy metal crunched off my shield, rolling to the side and temporarily numbing my left arm. Zack was on top of me before I could recover. He cut deep into my shield, just as I remembered to move. His sword took the top third of my shield off at an angle and filleted a decent chunk of my bicep off with it. If I hadn't moved, he would have taken off my arm completely.

Pressing his advantage, Zack tried to connect again but, despite my injuries, I was fully immersed in the fight, my body moving reflexively thanks to Saris' training. Dodge, attack. Dodge, attack. Dodge; he feigned his attack! Wait, dodge, attack! We went on like this for a while. Zack's movements were slower than they had been, probably due to blood loss. Neither of us connected with each other. It was frustrating and terrifying all at once. Zack grunted as if agreeing with me, then backed away, looking at me with anger in his dark eyes. I didn't shy away, I was determined to fight and determined to win. I would beat Zack for betraying Saris and for killing Demi.

Zack lowered himself into his attacking stance again, but I noticed that it was different. His sword wasn't angled towards me, but it was angled towards my feet. Zack's previous stance had him holding the large blade at the hilt with both hands, but this time he only held it with only one, while his other hand remained close to the ground, as if keeping his balance. When he rushed me, it was also different. He seemed almost drunk, swaying one way, then the other before he swung and I didn't know where I should dodge to.