Chapter 109

*Ivan*


Ariya tensed and lunged at me first but I was ready. I raised my stick blocking her attack with ease.
“You’re going to have to do a lot better than that to defeat me, Ariya.” I mocked her.
Ariya growled in response but jumped back. She lunged again and I deflected her attack while striking back at her with my own. I swung at her ribs and connected. A loud crack sounded throughout the arena as Ariya gasped in pain, clutching her side.
I stared down at her, stone faced.
“Is that all you got? I was expecting more.” I growled.
*Are you ok?* I asked her in my head.
*I’m ok. I will be. You have to do a lot more damage than that.* She told me.
*I will. But you’re going to have to fight a lot harder than you are or Boss will make the others watch you.* I told her, worried.
*I have a plan.* She told me, and I could tell she was grinning inside.
“I’m just warming up.” She growled at me.
Ariya raised her head and my eyes widened. Her eyes were steel gray and her pupil was a slit.
*Dragon eye?* I asked in our mind.
*Yup.* She answered.
Ariya came at me again but this time her movement was a lot faster. I jumped back, dodging her again but this time only barely. She continued her forward assault, making me duck and dive constantly. I had to focus a lot harder to be able to continue dodging her attacks. As I landed on the ground from jumping away from another attack she closed the gap quickly swinging hard at my side. I turned just in time, crossing both of my sticks in an X to take the attack. The force made my feet slide back across the ground a bit before stopping.
I pushed back, breaking her attack and swung back at her. Our strikes were constant, the pace increasing with each blow. But every attack was matched. Every blow was blocked perfectly. I had to keep my complete focus on the fight to keep up with her. Her speed continued to increase and I felt like I was fighting Drake at one point. Drake was fast. He was concise. His movements didn’t waste energy. They were calculated. Ariya wasn’t as fine tuned as Drake but she was matching my own movements. She wasted more energy than Drake but it didn’t matter. It was like her energy was unlimited. I felt like I was fighting at a higher level. It had been a while since I’d had a good match like this. Unfortunately for Ariya, her experience was going to be her downfall.
I had learned to match their speed. As supernatural as it was. I could match it in a fight. I could predict what move someone might make. It was a strength that I had learned from everyone who taught me any bit of fighting. I wasn’t perfect at it, but I definitely wasn’t an easy target. I knew that everyone watching would be shocked so I figured I’d shock them a little more. I left a small opening for Ariya to take and she took the bait exactly like I thought she would. Though our minds were still connected we weren’t actively talking through the fight. We couldn’t. Not yet at least.
Ariya and I both swung at the small opening from one another. Our blows connected. Her head jerked to the side at the same time as mine did. I felt my lip and eyebrow split open. The blood trickled down my face. Ariya fell to the ground from my hit. Though our hits were mostly in the same place they were very different. Ariya was already hurt from prior hits.
I couldn’t help the smirk that appeared on my face. I wiped at my lip and saw the blood smear across my hand. I grinned. I looked over to Boss. His eyes were about as wide as they could possibly go. His mouth was open slightly and I could tell he was trying to mask his expression but the shock he felt was overwhelming him.
*Ari, I have an idea.* I said quickly in my mind to her.
I thought of what I wanted us to do. The images flashing in my head.
*Let’s do it.* She told me.
“You know, it’s been a while since I’ve had a fight like this.” I said, smirking at her as she got up.
“Careful, Justin. That almost sounds like praise.” She growled.
“It is. But don’t worry, you still have a long way to go.” I told her.
Ariya clicked her tongue at me and lunged again. She took the offensive position more than anything. It was time to make her play some defense. I blocked her attack and went at her with an assault of my own. I adjusted the pace with ease. Going slower at moments and as fast as I could at others. I could feel her begin to slow down and slip up with her blocks. I increased the pace of the fight so we were moving as fast as we could. She was keeping up a lot better using her Dragon’s eye to sense my movements.
As we moved around the arena, I was able to catch a few glimpses of everyone’s shocked expressions. They were stunned and I’m sure the question on how I was able to move fast enough was going to come up. Good thing I never answered anyone anyway. We managed to get to the center of the arena and an opening appeared. I put every bit of my strength into the blow I threw at her. Ariya’s eyes went wide as she tried to move out of range. I caught the bottom of the stick in her right hand and part of her hand as my blow connected. The stick flew out of Ariya’s hand flying at Boss. Ariya’s wrist broke from the force and she screamed in pain.
The world seemed to be in slow motion as I saw it. The stick flew at Boss and it seemed to jolt Boss out of his stunned, paralyzed form. Boss raised his hand and the stick stopped within a foot of him and fell to the ground. I spun instantly, using the force of my momentum from the last attack and struck again at Ariya.
*I’m sorry, princess.* I pushed the thought to her, sadly.
*It’s ok, Ivan. Let your anger out like you’re attacking Boss.* She told me.
I delivered several painful blows, all of them landing with a loud crack. To anyone it would have seemed like I lost control and was fighting for my life for a moment. I hit Ariya in the arm and leg, breaking both of them. As she fell to the ground from her wounds, I hit her in the head, hard, breaking the stick in half. I could see her eyes gloss over as her Dragon’s eye faded out. Ariya fell to the ground, unconscious.
I stood over her, glaring hatefully. My anger wasn’t directed at her. But at what I’d done to her. I knew I had to. But I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to forgive myself for hurting her this way. Would she ever forgive me? It wasn’t just that though. Boss. His ability. It wasn’t just controlling gravity. He stopped the stick from hitting him. I don’t think anyone saw it. But he stopped it, in mid air. It flew at his head. Aimed perfectly. With just a foot away he’d stopped it. I’d watched him control gravity and now I watched him stop something in mid air, like Link’s ability of Telekinesis. Ariya was right in her hesitation to leave because not only could we not stop Boss’s gravity ability. But he had more than 1 ability.
Boss was one of the rare ones with more than 1 ability. Like the Navi.
*How many abilities does he have?* I wondered.