Page 26 of Becoming One
Nelson looked at Ezra, his jaw clenched angrily, and he shook his head, indicating the match to continue.
“Shit, Ezzy look,” Jewel said, gaining both of their attention.
Jewel was pointing to a spot around the left side of the arena, not far from where the contestants entered through. There stood a man in a cloak that covered most of his face, but Nelson could see his lips and they were moving. There was no one around him so who was he speaking to?
“I don’t understand, Jewel,” Ezra said.
“He’s chanting, Ezzy. Watch his lips, they repeat over and over.”
Nelson focused harder on the man’s lips and Jewel was right. The man was repeating the words as if chanting.
“His focus is on the match, and I think you’re right, Jewel. It looks like he’s chanting,” Ezra said then looked back at the guards. He whispered something to one of them and the man nodded, then turned. He and another five guards took off in the direction where the man stood.
The crowd began to scream angrily as they jumped to their feet. Nelson looked back to the fight and gasped. Orion was now up on his knees, but he was swaying, blood covered his face and chest, and his eyes looked out of focus. Napal stood over him smirking, his right hand on the back of Orion’s neck, as he raised his left arm, hand clenched in a fist.
Just then Orion’s eyes widened as he took a deep breath, and Nelson could see his eyes looked clear now. He quickly shifted his gaze to where the cloaked man stood, but he was gone. Nelson looked back to his mate.
As Napal brought his fist down, Orion dropped forward, catching himself with his hands, then quickly rolled over and punched straight up, nailing Napal between the legs. The bastard brought both hands to his groin as he bent forward. Orion took advantage of the position and came up behind Napal, then lifted his right leg. With all his might, Orion swept Napal’s legs out from under him and Napal hit the ground once again.
Orion shook his head as if clearing cobwebs, then began his attack on Napal. Orion leaned down and wrapped his arms around Napal’s waist, then lifted him up onto his shoulder as he stood. Napal screamed out in surprise and fought to break free but Orion held him tight, then dropped down to the ground again, slamming Napal against the earth.
Nelson could have sworn he heard bone crack but wasn’t sure because the crowd began cheering so loudly again, Nelson thought his ears would bleed.
Orion pulled away and stood, but before he could get too far, Napal lifted his right leg and nailed Orion in the gut with a back kick. As Orion regained his footing, Napal stood and faced him, but he didn’t wait. Napal hit Orion again with a roundhouse kick to the jaw and Orion stumbled but didn’t fall. He moved closer to Napal and threw a right hook hitting Napal in the temple.
Napal brought his hands up to his head and shook. As he did, Orion threw another series of punches to Napal’s mid-section. Napal moved back to get out of Orion’s reach, but Orion surged forward, jumped in the air, and wrapped his legs around Napal’s throat, again taking them both to the ground.
Once they hit, Napal punched at Orion’s legs trying to get free, then suddenly Orion stopped and rolled away, but he didn’t get up. Orion remained still just lying in the dirt.
“What the hell is he doing?” Someone from the crowd yelled.
Others began to join in, their voices growing higher as they made their anger known. Some yelled for Orion to get up, as others asked what was wrong with him. Then Nelson heard someone ask, “What kind of cheating is this? Is someone using magic on him? Re, this isn’t fair. If that animal can use magic, then Orion should be granted the same.”
Nelson looked to Ezra to see if he had heard the man too and by the way Ezra’s face lit up, Nelson knew he had. The vampire king smiled, then turned to look at the spectator and announced in his most fierce leader’s voice for all around them to hear, “You are correct, Enzo. Someone seems to be helping with magic. Seeing as there are no rules in these matches, and it does not specifically say someone from outside the fight can or cannot help, and Orion’s opponent has decided to go the dishonorable way, I see no reason why Orion can’t defend using the same means.”
“Hell yes!” Enzo shouted joyfully, then he and others around him began to chant, “Orion, Orion, Orion!”
“I’ll show you magic, you fucktard,” Jewel sneered, then threw his hands out in front of him, toward the ring.
Nelson quickly looked back to the fight and watched as Napal stood by Orion’s head and brought his heavy booted foot up over Orion’s face. Just as he was about to bring the leg down, he froze in position, then looked down at himself in horror and confusion as his clothes disappeared and he stood before the whole arena stark naked. Laughter filled the space as the audience clapped, cheered, and whistled.
“Oops,” Jewel said as he shrugged. “I meant to blow him across the ring, not blow all his clothes off.”
Ezra chuckled as he shook his head and wrapped his arms around Jewel from behind, then kissed his neck.
“Our mate needs our help. We have to stop this now,”his fox said inside Nelson’s head.
“No, not like you have in mind. It’s too dangerous. We need to find the man using the magic and defeat him. Orion needs to win this battle fair and square so there is never a question from anyone, even himself, that he deserves to hold the position as Regal to the Re,”Nelson argued.
“Orion doesn’t have time for us to search through this crowd. We need to stop Napal now before he kills my mate,”his fox replied.
“He’s my mate too, you know, and I won’t let you jeopardize his life while trying to defeat Napal. We have to figure out another way,”Nelson huffed.
“Fine, but we need to be smart about this. If we can get to whoever is helping Napal and stop him, then I think Napal will be powerless and I know our mate can take him.”
Just then Orion released a blood chilling scream and Nelson looked back to the ring. Napal grabbed Orion by the head and tossed him. Orion sailed through the air and landed hard a few feet away face down. Napal jumped on his back and grabbed Orion’s arm, then pulled it back behind him until Nelson saw it snap. Tears immediately filled his eyes, blurring his vision. He had to stop this now.
“No! Not like you want. You’ll end up harming our mate and others in the process, Nelson. And what will be the cost to you, to us, this time?”His fox shouted into his mind.