The air hung heavy, charged with pulsating tension between the two of them as they took a mont of rest from each other’s terrifying assaults.
Ottoman stood motionless, his blind eyes staring ahead unseen. With each slow breath, his powerful chest swelled, bracing for the next round.
Slowly walking towards him was the valkyrie, her lithe fra exuding lethal grace.
Her fingers tightened around the hilt of her spear, poised to strike in an instant. Her icy gaze fixed on her blind opponent, certain of her impending victory.
In a burst of movent, she sprang forth, her spear slicing ruthlessly through the air.
With uncanny instinct, Ottoman twisted aside, the spearhead barely grazing his shoulder.
As the Valkyrie landed in a crouch, Ottoman’s heel crashed down. The ground splintered under the seismic force, cracks spiderwebbing outward.
The Valkyrie flowed to her feet, spear twirling. Ottoman raised his forearms just in ti, the spear clanging against his linen vambraces. The force drove him back a step. Then another.
A slight confusion appeared on her face as she saw the red cloth fend off her attack a second ti.
Ottoman planted his foot down firmly and surged forward, fist hamring through the air.
It connected with a thunderous crack that resounded through the stands. Stones from the floor sprayed upward from the point of impact.
The Valkyrie responded in kind, her spear striking like lightning. Ottoman took the blows without flinching, his fists continuing their rciless assault.
The area shook under the endless battery of bone-jarring strikes. Dust and debris filled the air as both of them danced within the complicated weave of each other’s attacks.
The valkyrie’s speed increased, her waist wings spreading out to aid her movent but Ottoman was in no way impeded or found desperate when it cos to matching up with her.
Every streak across was t by his unbreakable block. The mystery of the red cloth was confusing. Was it just a cloth or was it an artifact?
Artifacts were the one thing that could have such abilities—to be a re linen and yet have an unbreakable defense power stronger than that of a tal.
The valkyrie even in a whirlpool of confusion did not stop, her attacks did not slow down one bit.
Her spearhead flew across the air like feral bird, beak sharpened to carve deep lacerations into her prey.
Even though each attack was t by a vibrating clang and her muscles trembled under trendous force each ti, her attacks did not relent, not of its ferociousness or precise and pin points strike patterns.
Her focus was terrifying, her gaze did not wonder off its opponent.
Maybe by now she had understood the might of her opponent. From a few minutes of their exchange Ottoman had proven himself to be a formidable foe.
She had to admit it...
’He’s strong...’
Slowly, she panted after landed powerfully on the ground after another of her spear strike was blocked by the powerful blind Kah.
Never before had she faced a warrior who could match her skill and ferocity.
She had held back, not wanting to reveal her full power too soon. But now she realized she may have no choice.
But she was sure that he probably had more to give.
’I underestimated him once... I’m not about to make the sa mistake again’
The soulless and army of vallyrie watched in utter silence, the sky lord... in disgust.
The Valkyrie straightened, her wings flexing wide. Her spear began to glow, runes along its shaft flaring with eldritch light.
The air humd with gathering power. With a cry, she flung herself forward, spear blurring with supernatural speed.
Although Ottoman did not have a ans of controlling energy, it didn’t an he couldn’t sense it. In fact, his perception was the best when it ca to sensing intangible forms such as energy.
He felt the surge of energy, the displacent of the air.
At the last instant he dodged, the spear tearing past even faster than before.
The miss threw the Valkyrie off balance for just a mont.
In that fleeting opening, Ottoman struck. His fist powered forward, collided with the Valkyrie’s wing as she tried to evade.
The resounding crack echoed across the arena. She crashed in a heap, one wing bent at an unnatural angle.
Hissing in pain, the Valkyrie staggered up, spearing the ground with her weapon to brace herself.
Dark eyes smoldering, she spat blood and faced her opponent once more.
This ti, a stark frown creased on her brows.
The Valkyrie gripped her spear, its glowing runes flaring even brighter.
With a shrieking battle cry, she swung the weapon in a wide arc.
Suddenly, the one spear beca ten, then twenty, a barrage of glowing projectiles. They shot toward Ottoman like a volley of arrows.
Sensing the onslaught, Ottoman crossed his vambraces, as he did his brown skin subtly beca darkened.
Spears slamd against him in quick succession, the impacts booming through the area. Stone shards and dust erupted with each blow.
Everything descended into a grave silence as the barrage of attack ca to a stop, the spectators all stared wide eyed, tinging with anticipation.
As the smokescreen of the dust cleared, Ottoman stood like a statue, his hands still crossed. Few scratches licked his darkened skin, shallow and slight.
Those did not look like the damage her attack should do.
’Who is this man?!’
Subtly, Sienna was losing her composure.
She raised her spear and threw it at him with a terrifying power, the spear flashed onward like lightening, streaking with its eldritch glow.
As the spear glanced off Ottoman’s guard, the Valkyrie shimred and vanished.
She reappeared an instant later behind the blind warrior, thrusting her spear at his exposed back. But impossibly, Ottoman spun, knocking the spear point aside. Another punch rocketed toward the Valkyrie with the force of a battering ram.
This ti her image flickered as the fist passed through empty air. She blinked into existence high above, wings spread, casting spear after magical spear.
Ottoman raised his vambraces again, the red linen blurring as it deflected dozens of blows.
The assault pushed him back step by step. Snarling, he slamd a fist down, bowling the Valkyrie over with the ground shockwave.
Rolling back to her feet, the Valkyrie raised her hands as a dozen glowing spear points fanned out behind her like peacock feathers. She closed her fists and the spears shot forth.
Crouching low, Ottoman crossed his vambraces and focused his inner strength. The spears slamd ho with enough force to pulverize stone.
Yet the blind warrior held firm, he slamd his leg into the ground, raising splinters of stone to collide with the spears before the get to him.
For the first ti fear flickered in the Valkyrie’s eyes.
She gestured and a hundred spears blossod into being, orbiting her. With a scream she sent them all at Ottoman, hoping this assault would break him.
From within the dust, a titanic roar. Ottoman burst out of the haze, fra wreathed in crimson flas. His fist flew with impossible speed and crashed into the valkyrie, folded her like a piece of paper and shot her away a fraction of second later like a bullet out of its gun.
A tense stillness hung over the area, Ottoman hoped that one strike was enough to make her not stand up again, after all... it was more powerful than what he had been using so far.
He stood anchored, a colossus of scarred muscle. His head tilted slightly as he observe her try to rise.
The Valkyrie stirred feebly, a ruined wing draped at an awkward angle.
Her final desperate attack did not scathe Ottoman, worse, it now left her utterly spent.
She shuddered as invisible aftershocks rippled through her as though her very cells rebelled against the limits she had surpassed.
But by supre effort she dragged herself up to one knee. She would not – could not – yield.
She looked up to bear the sight of the sky lord, when she saw the disgust on his face, her shoulders shuddered, her face paled.
’I’m dead. I have disappointed my lord’
Her countenance fell with horror. Ottoman stared at her and looked at the sky lord. He could tell what was happening... the fear a servant has when they have fallen short of their master’s expectations.
"Olette. Finish this..." Raith commanded.
He looked at the valkyrie with pity for a second.
"No hard feelings young lady. As you must obey your master, so I must mine."
A guttural bellow erupted as Ottoman closed the gap in a single impossible leap, his launch point cratering on impact.
A frightening darkness contorted the Valkyrie’s face and she instinctively raised her spearhaft sideways in a desperate block.
The descending axe-blow smashed it to splinters with a deafening crack.
The unbroken half spun from her grip as the Valkyrie hurtled limply away.
She slid thirty feet across pulverized stone before fetching up against the wooden wall. Spectators scrambled back from the view of it.
Snarling defiance, the Valkyrie clawed upright against the wall, its wood groaning. Her wings scraped futilely for lift that would not co.
Ottoman lood nearer, each stomping footfall echoing doom. She spat blood and brandished her spear’s shattered haft, though they both knew she lacked the strength for even a glancing blow.
Ottoman halted just out of reach, a smoldering titan. His head tilted slightly once more – only this movent belied lethal intent.
The Valkyrie seeing Ottoman approach scread with primal desperation and hefted her makeshift club in both hands. If this ended here, she would lose the favor of her master, everything she had worked for to be chosen by the sky lord would he lost.
She must draw blood at the very least, even if it’s once, her attack must be felt by this crude opponent of hers.
With stunning speed Ottoman’s fist rocketed out. But rather than crushing resistance it passed through empty air and crashed a holw into the wall.
Across him, the Valkyrie crumpled to her knees, wings beating furiously to steady herself. In the last mont, she used the power of her wings to streak across him with unseen speed.
Ottoman was shocked but was not fazed, if it was sothing she could use adeptly, she’d have been using it the mont she realized the difference in their strength.
Dark promise in his gaze, Ottoman turned to the source of the staggered breaths.
The Valkyrie felt his sightless stare boring through her – this monster needed no eyes to mark his prey. Her senses scread danger but she could barely lift the remains of her spear. She had no strength left for even illusion.
Ottoman lowered his stance, arms angled forward like a battering ram. The ground cratered anew under his piston-drive leap. Winds battered the Valkyrie’s face as the juggernaut hurtled toward her faster than seeming possible.
She raised her spearshaft vertically with a desperate scream.
Ottoman didn’t even try to avoid it. His montum carried into the improvised spike...and through. Bloody linen erupted out his back but he scarcely broke stride.
The Valkyrie shrieked as a pile-driver fist smashed through her faltering block. Impossibly she felt herself lifted, hurtling on an arc. Her broken body tumbled limply towards the feet of her master as Ottoman skidded to a stop, grinning dangerously even as he bled.
The Valkyrie gasped shallow, ragged breaths, darkness encroaching on her vision as she raised her head to look at the sky lord.
Her shattered wings spasd at awkward angles.
User Comments
0 comments from readers