Chapter 7 #2
He wondered how Rune would view his reaction. She was the only one he cared about as far as her opinion went.
Stone got up slowly from his chair and pulled his sword.
He could have just left his sword in the sheath and talked it out.
But when another fae threatened him with a sword, which was smarter?
To draw his sword, prepared to fight if he had to, to defend himself from an aggressor?
Or pretend he wasn't worried about the meaningless threat?
Stone preferred to be armed and ready.
Everyone fell silent; no one ate as they waited to see what happened next.
"What?" Stone asked Vesper, his sword hanging at his side, not as threatening as Vesper's.
"Why didn't you select me for the tug-of-war contest to be on your team? You knew I would lose when I was on Rune's team."
"Rune needed some strong guys on her side. If she hadn't had them, there wouldn't have been any competition at all." Stone could see that would have been fine with Vesper. He just wanted to win no matter what.
"You're an idiot."
"It was fairer." Stone wouldn't change his mind.
"You don't know how to sword fight."
"Nope, just a beginner."
Vesper gave him an evil smile. Yep, that's how Vesper liked it—no challenge, just an instant win.
Vesper’s sword was special, like Stone’s was.
It had flames on the hilt. He wondered who had given him the sword and what power it held.
He still couldn't believe that Rune’s sword could paralyze body parts that were cut with it.
But after he learned that Maeve had tried to suffocate her and was sent home, he was glad for it.
He would have done the same thing to her or worse.
Vesper finally sheathed his sword. "We'll continue this later."
Stone figured he would. He just didn't seem like the kind of person who would give up a grudge.
Then Stone put his sword away and sat down to finish his meal. He glanced at Rune. She sighed and resumed eating her own meal.
With all the fae competitors still watching them, Vesper was so furious with Stone that he turned and headed for Stone again, his eyes darkened, and he quickly drew his sword.
Jumping from his seat, Stone reacted automatically and unsheathed his sword, blocking the attack with a resounding clank.
Vesper was more skilled in his footwork and his sword thrusts, but Stone was quick, too, and he had a strength that his opponent wasn’t ready for.
He struck back, striking Vesper’s sword so hard that he lost it.
Vesper's sword slid along the floor, and he turned to pounce on it.
That should have been the end of it. Stone had won, but Vesper jumped to his feet and went after Stone again.
Only this time, he was rattled, and he wasn't carefully planning his moves.
Vesper swung his sword twice at Stone; both times, Stone blocked them, but he also fell back, unable to hold his ground.
As soon as Vesper tried to thrust his sword at him again, Stone struck it just as hard as the last time, but this time, he held onto it, barely.
Vesper's sword glowed with red-orange flames. Vesper eyed the sword with surprise. But then he wore the cruelest expression and sliced at Stone again, this time with the flames stretching out.
Stone jumped back so he wasn't burned. But then his own sword glowed blue and looked like ice. He figured his sword would just melt against Vesper's fire sword, but he didn't have any choice. Vesper wasn't giving up.
Stone struck Vesper's fire sword with such a ferocious strike that he heard a crack in the metal.
He wasn't sure if it was his sword or Vesper's.
And then the fire was extinguished, and when Vesper looked at his sword, forgetting all about fighting Stone—for the moment—Stone struck his sword again, making sure he broke Vesper's sword all the way so he couldn't use it against him further.
As soon as the swords connected, Vesper, caught off guard, lost his sword, but not before it broke in half and the top part fell to the ground while Vesper was left holding only the hilt and short part of the sword.
The pack members who were opposing Vesper's pack clapped and whistled. Though Stone knew they weren't cheering him, only cheering the defeat of one of their better-trained opponents.
Lolita didn't cheer, or she would have been in trouble with her own pack, but she did smile at Stone when no one from her side was watching.
Then Stone sheathed his sword. Vesper grabbed the two pieces of his sword and stalked off. Not only had he not won the fight, but he had also lost his sword. Stone felt a wave of satisfaction wash over him. Rune finally smiled.
Rune couldn't believe that Vesper's sword had burst into flames.
Her heart had nearly stopped when that had happened.
But when Stone's sword turned into ice, she was truly astounded.
She glanced at her starry sword and wondered if hers had any other special abilities, should she need it in a fight.
She could see herself having to deal with Pari or some of the others and relying only on her ability to fight with a sword.
But she was so proud that Stone had done so well when she knew all of the rest of the competitors were proficient in their weapon skills, unlike her and Stone. Then the gathered fae finished their breakfast.
She wanted to congratulate Stone, but everyone was covertly watching her actions with Stone, and she wanted to keep them guessing.
Then she left the room with the others, glancing at her own sword, wishing she knew if it could help her when she needed it.
Hopefully, she wouldn't need it as Stone had against Vesper.
After three days of weapon practice, relaxing, drinking water, but not being allowed to eat, the next part of the games was to catch a pirarucu in the jungle in the human world, which could reach twelve feet and four hundred pounds. It was a freshwater fish, a predator that crushed its prey.
Wolves could go without eating for 12 days up to four weeks, often eating up to twenty pounds in a sitting if they hadn't eaten for days. They were kind of on a feast-and-famine schedule if they couldn't catch food, so no one was so famished that they were starving.
Rune and Stone were used to it. Sometimes they couldn't catch anything and had to do without. If one could catch something, they shared it with the other. But they'd gone a week without food during a severe snowstorm one year and actually settled together in her den to stay warm.
Wolves in a pack had food because someone in the pack provided for them.
So the pack wolves probably had a harder time dealing with the hunger than Rune and Stone.
"You'll have to find the pirarucu before you can catch it. Watch out for jaguars. They eat them too, and they can take care of the lot of you. If I were you, I would vanish if you see one so the jaguar will only concentrate on the fish," the Game Master said.
Vanish, as in turn invisible. They still couldn't fae transport.
"Where are we?" Iris asked.
"The jungle," the Game Master said. "You have as much time to take care of this quest as it will take to locate one and then capture it. You can take care of this any way that you want to, but if it were me, I would recommend you do this together as a team."
"You said the fish can be huge. What if we get a pirarucu that's smaller?" Silas asked.
"It’s allowed, as long as it's at least six feet long."
"If we get one that's smaller accidentally?" Iris asked.
"You lose. Unless no one gets one that is the right minimum size or bigger.
They eat birds, fish, and small mammals that get too close to the water's edge.
Also, the black caiman frequents these waters and can reach thirteen feet long, and they'll eat anything—you, humans, fish, birds, other kinds of mammals.
You will stay overnight in the jungle as part of the challenge.
So be careful. If you don't catch a pirarucu in three days, the game ends with no winners.
If there are no further questions, the game is on. "
Rune, Stone, and Lolita ran along the riverbank, peering into the water, but didn't see any sign of a giant fish. Rune said to Lolita, "If we see it, don't you get in the water."
"But I need to help."
"When it's dead, you can help us pull the fish onto shore," Stone said, agreeing with Rune.
Everyone had gone off in their own directions looking for the required size fish except Lolita, Rune, and Stone, who stuck together.
"It's okay if I stick with you guys, isn't it?" Lolita asked.
Stone smiled. "For sure. I'm afraid one of your teammates, or the other packmates, might toss you into the water as bait."
Lolita smiled. "They would!"
Rune loved that Lolita could take the dark subject and smile about it. And she was glad she had come with them.
"Oh, there's one!" Lolita said. She might be small, but she had sharp eyes.
"I would say that is about nine feet long," Stone said.
"At least. Do we call the others so they can help?" Rune figured the Game Master was right, that working as a team would be better.
"Yeah. We found it so we might get more credit for it. Sharing it with the others offers team participation and easier fishing, plus it could be safer for all concerned," Stone said.
“Right.” Lolita yelled, "Over here! We found a nine-foot fish!"
The other competitors raced to join them, but when they saw how big the fish was, they hesitated to join Stone and Rune in the river.
"We can find a six-foot pirarucu and take that one in," Vesper said, and he and the others agreed.
Stone wasn't sure that he and Rune could manage the one they had targeted on their own. But then, Lolita, with the heart of a lion, joined them in the water, and the three of them tried to wrangle the fish.
He really didn't want Lolita out there with them, but there wasn't any way that they could do this without her help, he felt.