Polyphemus couldn't help but look in amazement at the human. He was just a child, yet was able to take down his champion—a warrior who had been fighting by his side for over a decade.
He couldn't help but feel some small bouts of anger at losing a fine warrior such as Gorgonax. The rage he felt was his own fault; every time he glanced at the child, a fresh wave of anger washed over him.
He looked exactly like his most hated foe, Mercer, now the leader of the kingdom he once tried to conquer. This child was a perfect copy of Mercer, albeit a little bit younger.
In his folly, he thought he could humiliate the child right before his death to call an end to the bout. Due to a promise, he couldn't allow any of the humans to die now. Yet his plan backfired.
The same spell that had wiped out his arm once before had killed his most trusted general. Indeed, history was repeating itself. Polyphemus gripped his chair in anger, shattering the armrest.
SNAP!
The noise was so loud it caused the servants to come running into the room in a panic. Polyphemus waved them off before rubbing his face with his right hand.
His most comfortable chair was now ruined, and his best general laid dead. The human had passed out five minutes ago.
The crowd still hadn't regained its spark. All of the members were in shock, some crying at the death of the great champion.
Gorgonax's death wasn't just felt by Polyphemus alone. Gorgonax was the heart of the army, known by everyone for his strength and ferocity. To die in such a manner was something the crowd couldn't fathom.
"Well, well, how the mighty Gorgonax has fallen," Morwen mocked as she glanced down at the arena. "Oh, and to a human child at that."
Polyphemus glared at Morwen's back. "What do you want, witch?"
"Oh, someone is a little upset. What's wrong? Oh, let me guess, you lost a bet and owe someone some money?" Morwen joked.
"I kept my promise; the human boy lived," Polyphemus stated as he gestured toward the arena.
"That's not even the real boy. The clone will probably disappear in a few minutes," Morwen admitted.
Polyphemus sat up in shock, looking directly at Morwen. "What do you mean by clone?"
"Exactly what I said. The boy sent a clone to try and distract you guys, not knowing that you invited the entire island to witness this year's games," Morwen explained.
"That kingdom has become so advanced that they can now clone themselves?" Polyphemus questioned Morwen, his thoughts in shambles just thinking about two Mercers running around.
Morwen sat down on the edge of the balcony, her legs swinging as a slight breeze came through the area, cooling what had been a hot day.
"No, that boy is just unique," Morwen answered. "The kingdom itself is in shambles, with Mercer barely holding it together."
"I see. That's most pleasing to hear, that my help in the rebellion was not for naught," Polyphemus muttered.
"Indeed it wasn't, and soon we'll be able to break down Mercer's power base. Then we'll be able to bring back the rest of the demon army."
"Despite losing my best warrior, I am pleased by these events," Polyphemus cheered. "I shall honor our agreement and allow you to take five cyclops with you when you go back to the kingdom."
"A wise choice, my lord, a wise choice indeed," Morwen chuckled, waving her hand to activate a rune.
Suddenly, the broken pieces of Polyphemus's chair flew back to their original position, fixing itself to the point where it seemed it was never broken.
Polyphemus knocked on the wooden armrests in shock. He put his heavy arms on the armrest, finding it pleasantly comfortable. He was thrilled at the fact that he wouldn't have to get a whole new one made.
"My thanks, witch," Polyphemus said with sincerity.
"My pleasure, my lord. It was naught but a simple fix," Morwen replied as she bowed her head in respect.
Morwen's eyes lay on the clone of Sami, still lying face down in the arena. As cyclops came to fix the holes in the ground and clean up any blood.
She noticed that the boy's body slowly began to turn into a shadow before disappearing into the ground. Indeed, he was already learning how to use the powers.
Damn, her master was right about the boy—he was special. If she hadn't already promised herself to help her master's schemes, then maybe she would've taken the boy as an apprentice.
It was as if he had great talent and was going to waste pretending to learn in that human's school. In the kingdom, it seemed the new knights were getting weaker than the last generation.
Heck, she was able to kill multiple without challenge when, during the rebellion, she couldn't even touch a grunt. Oh, the web we weave when playing games of politics.
Chester forced a smile onto his face as he slowly walked around the academy. After days of looking, he finally found Lyra's mother, Aiko. It wasn't an easy journey, but he found her, ironically, in Lyra's room.
Chester could soon shed the fake normalcy of the castle and rejoin his master. Hopefully, this would be enough to earn his freedom and finally have his peace to rest.
That witch would pay one day for messing with death. It was one of the reasons why Chester tried to make amends with that boy, Sami.
Chester went out of his way to apologize to Sami and help him train, with hopes that he'll be able to kill the witch and set his soul free. To be able to see his ancestors and family once again is a blessing few have.
Losing that freedom was one of the worst things that was given to him. Every day being in a body that isn't his makes his skin crawl. The worst is having to put on the act that he cares about that clingy girl.
Soon, either the witch or his master will finally get the damned grimoire. Or Sami will be able to save everyone by killing her.
Having to fight the boy again, even Chester doesn't believe he would survive the attempt. The purple outfit Sami transformed into when he thought Lyra died was truly a scary moment.
Chester's very being was not only destroyed by the strong attacks, but it felt like each strike was damaging his soul.
Even now, its strength hasn't fully returned to what it was during that fight. At most, it's at fifty percent. Chester truly doesn't know what would've happened if his soul had been destroyed.
It truly felt as if he was going to die and not return this time, like he would've ceased to exist.Chester stopped walking as he leaned up against a brick wall, gazing up at the sky.
Even if he hated being here, the sky was beautiful. Chester, at the end of the day, does not want anyone to die. Especially the children that go to this school; in the grand scheme of things, they are innocent.
Just pawns in the schemes the witch and vampire lords decided to play with everyone. Chester himself was included in that list.
Hopefully, Sami comes through and can stop them. If not, Chester will be forced to kill even more people, like the village, and this time, he doesn't know if he could justify it to the heavens.
"UGH, I don't see how you guys find this fun," Lyra whined. Her head was positioned over the edge of the saddle as Sami held her back.
Sami didn't say anything as he rubbed her back, doing everything he could to comfort her. Since they took flight, on and off, Lyra would vomit.
Apparently, she gets really bad motion sickness, though when they rode in the kart she seemed fine. Maybe it was because of how fast the dragon flies or how high up they are in the air.
"Meh meh meh, it's because you're the only weak one still," joked Anna between bites of some dried meat.
"Once we land I'll show you—" Lyra started before puking up over the edge again.
Anna let out a whistle at Lyra vomiting. "I feel sorry for the people who live below us. Could you imagine going to the bathroom then BAM! Some random throw-up from high in the sky lands on your hand."
"If you're not going to offer any words of encouragement, can you please just be a quiet teacher," Sami said.
He offered Lyra a cup of water he already had sitting to the side in case she felt sick again in the middle of the night. Thankfully, Anna made a barrier so Poke and Angel wouldn't be disturbed by the sound as they slept.
Though it's weird how Anna is always awake—it's like she never sleeps. Sami turned to ask Anna about that but saw her asleep with a piece of dry meat hanging out of her mouth.
Sami left Lyra to sip on the water as he took the dried meat out of Anna's mouth. He covered Anna with her blanket.
Such a child she can be sometimes, but he knows deep down she means well. He turned back around and saw Lyra lying down as well.
Finally, with quiet, he looked at the moon, his thoughts turning to the future and the gut feeling he had that everything was oddly too simple.