“To be a great leader, acknowledge your boundaries. Study your tactic and focus on defenses,” echoed a man’s voice inside her head.
Whilst, the lady taking a step one after another fearlessly clanged the two swords on her hands and sprang a distance away from her now unconscious opponent. Her exposed waist tensed up more, revealing her burning core as her hands clasped the hild tighter.
“Ending our annual tournament, we shall witness an epic battle between two remaining cadets,” announced Sarjao, the university’s leading professor. “Win or lose, dead or alive, only one of you will pass!”
The red signal was raised between her and another anonymous opponent, parting the wide heavy fabric dividing the quadrilateral battle area. A mandatory kind of examination, determining if you have to stay at the current level or to advance. It depends on winning.
“Adira Vallejo, of Sinandaya against the undefeated Alfarro of the Abberant pack!”
In the speed of light, Adira managed to graze and take over the blue-eyed opponent’s side. Interchanging them, the guy landed on his feet with those eyes of him widened in surprise. Not on the woman’s sudden move but perhaps because of the woman herself.
If he wanted to get out of this tormenting place earlier than it is, then there comes only one way. And that is to defeat an opponent on every duel, be it killed or surrendered. In the past, he succeeded in every match, but this time… seems to be a complicated one.
“Bring it on, Alfarro,” blurted the woman forming a mocking grin on her face as she played on of her sword turning to and fro.
Even the way she speaks now had changed. It became less and often full of sarcasm every time she open her mouth. Adira slowly paced in his direction and lifted her left hand with a thinner blade and slashed it towards Diego.
“Bring her back. Even if it cost her to forget everything we had, I want her to live and start a new life, and learn to be able to fight on her own.”
Echoed his own voice inside his head. The pledge he had swore two years ago. And appears it really is what happens. The lady that was once unable to defend herself is now in front of him, wearing a burning hot silken fabric cropped hugging her firm stiff body.
Down her abdomen peeks four flaming packs, including the way she holds those two swords was as calmly audacious as flaming coals. Her short dark hair was tied up messy, exposing her finely sheared undercut and a point-like black pearl on her right ear.
“You’re making this an easy task for me, don’t you know?” Adira asserted and pierced the first blade on his shoulders easily.
She leaned down closer of over only an inch away from his face. Moving her jaw seductively, she stared straight at those cobalt blue eyes of him as her lips whispered sweetly. “From the second I heard of your name, I want to know how much capability you have to be called the undefeated Alfarro. And if it’s that enough to defeat me, obnoxious dog.”
“Who am I to you then?” questioned Diego, resisting every dagger she flung towards him with her eyes.
With that, Adira tilted her head and sluggishly blinked her eyes twice. “A prey.” She again swings her left hand and bolted the sword she held aiming at his neck.
“Be it then.”
But before the tip of the blade could even touch his skin, Diego smirked and gnashed his teeth. Out emanates a furry creature with his ash silver fleece, it stood up with its dominating appeal as he thunders the entire stadium with his every plod.
“I will only be your prey, if…” the silver wolf blew inside Adira’s head which makes her brows furrow. “I’ll agree.”
A loud growl emanated from the wolf with blue orbs and attacked the vampire cadet who steadily clenched her jaws and tighten her grip on the blades on her hands. “Die then,” words that spout out on her mouth before she leaped up and met the wolf’s attack on the air.
Filling the silence with the clanging of her sword against the sharpest claw of an Alfarro. Marking the first and the very beginning of them paving the way of being enemies rather than mates.
*****
“Let me in. I need the general’s daughter!” pleads a woman under battle armor. Exhausted and seems paler than normal. Her clothes were sullied with mud and blood darkening, indicating it was stained on her for quite a day or more ago.
She looks hustle and eager to talk with the person she’s requesting to see inside the gates of Laxon. Amidst the three high officials clutching and stopping her, the woman still refuses to give up and keeps on resisting.
“I need to talk to Vallejo! This is urgent, let me go!”
Her eyes turned in fury red and tumbled the guards holding her in captive with her full force. She managed to escape and jump over the high gates of Laxon, heading straight to where her senses were leading her.
“I’m looking for Adira Vallejo, tell me where she is,” the lady warrior queried in a flash when she reached a room.
Her eyes roam around the inside of it and irritatingly slammed her blood-tainted sword on the room’s door realizing it is the room for new recruit students. She dashed across the long wide corridors, all silent and lighted by several torches attached to the walls.
Running out of time and patience to the seems to be an unending corridor, her voice was about to erupt but her ears captured the cheerings and noise on the other side of the building. She quickly dashed and found a large dome, fairly lighted yet alive and clamorous.
Without no hesitation, the warrior with her long hair tightly tied around her head didn’t waste any more minutes and found herself inside a duel stadium. Inside a rectangular ring were a wolf and a vampire exchanging attacks.
“Die then.”
Snatching one arrow from behind her, the warrior stretches the bow on her hand as she ignited the tip from the flaming torch beside her. the ring was surrounded with flammable fabric that had quickly blazed the moment she released the arrow.
“Didn’t expect you here—” Adira uttered when her sight caught the warrior hurdling the bow towards her.
“We have to get back, Adira. Sinandaya is on the verge of collapsing.”
Hearing that, her face shifts seriously tensed. “What happened, Mayari?”
“Abberant had launched the attack,” replies the warrior she called under the name ‘Mayari’.
*****
“Your kind can never be superior to us.”
A tear escaped from her eyes as rivers of death flows ahead of her. Fist clenching as she kept her mouth shut, didn’t dare to talk or reflect her presence. Lifeless bodies sprawled on the bloody floor and there were victorious smiles on their faces. Seeing nothing but a ferocious beast on their every corner, a brutal massacre.
“You can never defeat us. Such a lame strategy of a useless general!” yells a man with a bounty beard on his face as he has ruthlessly driven his sword to finally end the vampire General’s life.
His blue eyes glowed as the moon shines brighter, behind his shoulder printed the lunar crest of the Alfarros.
A crescent and three stars surround it.
But what leads Adira down to her knees was the remaining member alive. Her sister, Kelly. Tears were uncontrollably falling from her eyes, but she didn’t dare move nor tried to escape from the blades that were aimed at her.
Sinandaya’s general and his wife were now lying lifelessly and only her was left breathing. And the little girl knew her sister was back, witnessing the bloody massacre. One of the werewolves may have sensed Adira’s presence so he turned and faced the direction of the opened window.
To that, Kelly imitated her in able to shift and attract that wolf’s attention. Saving her sister.
She mouthed the word ‘run’ the second their eyes meet before the werewolf invaders took her last breath. And there, Adira saw her younger sister’s blood splatter on the ground. They cruelly slit off her head like she was just an animal in those beasts’ eyes.
And she began hating herself.
That there was nothing she had done to save her. Realizing she’s just someone who holds no power nor strength to fight an enemy even if she had long believed she got enough ability. Seems that the way she sees herself was too high than how weak she really is. Left helpless, nothing but pain and anger.