Chapter 23: The Fallen Paladin

“We are the protectors of Elandra. The unbreakable shield of the God Rulers.”

-Paladin Sarcho Valento, 182 U.E.

Yin threw a series of air punches to warm up, her step light on the cold concrete. The changing room was illuminated by cold magelights. It smelled of old sweat and dried blood. Her heart was racing.

What if I don’t win this time? she thought. I’ll have to go back to Stephan a failure. If I live that long.

“Are you listening?” Lax asked, breaking her out of the thought. “I’m talking to you.”

“Hmm? I missed the last part,” Yin said.

“I said, just stick to what we’ve practiced. Aucom is a grappler. He’s going to run with extra arms and lockjoints. If he gets you in that chokehold, you’re done. So you stay out of his reach, harass him, bait out his magic and make him waste it. Wear him down until you can finish him off. Do you understand?”

Yin nodded. She threw one last punch. “I got it. Don’t you have a job to do?”

Lax grinned, scrunching up his pock-marked cheeks. “I do. As your trainer. I changed shifts with Bettoh from ringside security so I could be here.”

Yin blushed. “Thanks. You didn’t have to do that.”

Lax smacked her lazily on the arm. “Oh, come on. I wouldn’t miss this for the birth of my fourth child. Don’t tell Aella I said that.”

They both laughed. Darling’s echoing voice through the adjoining hallway wore away Yin’s mirth, though.

It was time.

She had to be ready. They’d practiced nonstop for several days to get her hand-to-hand skills in shape and learn Aucom’s tactics. It wasn’t nearly enough training, of course. She could have used a few months. But she would have to make do.

“Good luck out there,” Lax said. He offered up his closed fist. “I’ll be watching.”

Yin fist-bumped him. “Thanks. You’re not actually an awful trainer, Lax.”

“I know, right? I should do this full-time. Now, let’s go make your dad proud, eh?”

Yin’s name was announced. She jogged out of the changing room—leaving Lax behind—through the hallway that led to the ring. The yawning mouth of the hallway loomed closer, beckoning. Light and noise spilled through. The roar of the crowd. It made the hairs on her arms stand.

She skidded onto the sand. Arxus Aucom, her opponent, had already been introduced. He lingered on the other side of the ring, neutral and stationary. He regarded Yin closely, narrowed eyes searching her from top to bottom. Like a wolf scouring its prey for weakness.

The man was decked out with gimmicks. He had an extra set of arms below the first. Smaller and weaker, but still useful for grappling and defending. Both sets of arms were adorned with snakemail. Likely loaded snakemail—the type that could be fired like projectiles—due to the formation of the scales. Yin couldn’t tell from looking at him, but she knew he had lockjoints as well. That modification would make his grapples almost impossible to break out of.

Aucom was barefoot, just like Yin. He wore only a set of gold-colored silk shorts that contrasted against his dark skin, the Valerian sun embroidered on their front.

Darling read out her introduction to the crowd, but Yin wasn’t paying attention. Even as auto-eyes circled around her, she had eyes only for her opponent. She met Aucom’s discerning gaze with equal intensity.

There was no backing down now. Yin’s anxieties were blown away. There was only the match ahead.

“Now, with all that out of the way…” Darling said, pirouetting between the two fighters. “Are you people ready for a fight?”

The crowd roared.

Yin looked around. She found Lax wrestling for space against the chain link fence above. He offered her a wave, and she nodded back.

Darling threw his arms up and began to back away. “Then fight!”

Aucom slowly paced, making no moves to attack. Yin did the same. They circled each other. Sizing. Judging.

He’s not going to make the first play, Yin thought. He’s gonna wait for me to—

She didn’t have time to finish her thought. Aucom sent two snakemail scales her way with just a subtle flick of his wrist. She sidestepped the projectiles easily, but Aucom was already running towards her at a full sprint. Caught off-balance, she could barely raise her guard in time.

Aucom came out with a quick left hook to test her guard. Having expected it, Yin swept the attack aside and countered with a kick, planting herself firmly into the ground and uncoiling like a spring. Aucom blocked with his lower arms, but the force still sent him reeling.

The paladin usually opened with his left to throw his opponent off-guard, since most fighters were right-handed. Being ambidextrous, he would then switch back to his right, changing up his dominant hand frequently throughout the fight.

Looks like Lax’s prattling-on is actually paying off, Yin thought, grinning.

Aucom righted himself. His skin bristled, bumpy, like bizarre hairs made of flesh. It undulated, shimmering different colors. It made him blend with the background, difficult to keep her eyes on top of. Was that another trick? She would need to be careful.

“This will be a test of my resolve,” Aucom said, facing Yin down with a gaze so dark and dreadful that it made her skin crawl. “For what it’s worth, I am sorry. Not that any of it matters, in the—”

Yin charged. Aucom could block his entire torso effectively with four arms, but his legs were exposed. And he was top-heavy. She kicked up a plume of sand that whirled into his face and swept low. One eye closed against the sand, the other furiously blinking, Aucom leapt over her leg. He retaliated by firing a barrage of scales that forced her to roll backward.

They went back to circling. Aucom hadn’t broken a sweat.

“You were a paladin, once,” Yin called, loud enough to be heard over the crowd. “You saved people. You were a hero to them. What changed that?”

Aucom stopped for a moment. He laughed. There was no joy in his laughter. None at all. “That’s what you think paladins do, is it? Sweet, naive girl. Not to worry. I’ll show you exactly what we are.”

Yin didn’t listen to his rambling. Aucom was just another madman in a city of madmen. She went for him again, this time feinting with a kick but going high with a punch. He blocked the first, but the force of her punch lowered his guard, and the second caught him in the chin.

He fell away, tumbling ass-over-head in the sand, blood streaming from his chin. He laughed. A haunting cackle that pierced the fevered shouts of their audience.

“Good!” he called. “Very good. You have the bloodthirst in you. Like me. It’s a beautiful disease. I’ll have to kill you, but you would have made a fine paladin.”

Yin went in close to finish him off. “Bloodthirst?” she said. She reared back for a kick, aimed straight at the paladin’s chin. “No. I am a—”

Aucom looked up. “Hero?”

He caught her foot in three of his hands. Twisted hard. Muscle fibers tearing. Then he spoke in High Elandran. A low, wavering chant.

His skin bristled. Sparked.

And the world exploded with light.