FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

***********

CHAPTER 17

***********

My final opponent just had to be Garr didn't it?! Champion of the Deity of War, her strongest Champion. A warrior who had fought against demons during the Great Demon Wars millennia ago, a warrior with immeasurable battle experience. A fur who had spent some time training me, so he had a fair estimate of my abilities. Any time in the past when I had felt like I had come close to beating him he turned the tables on me in an instant! Not to mention I doubt he had ever been fighting me earnestly at any point either.

That wouldn't be the case today. I knew from that determined gaze of his that he wouldn't be holding back. He would push me to my absolute limits and beyond. My only advantage was that he was not aware of my new skills and abilities, but would that be enough!? The roar and chants of the crowd were growing louder and louder. Most of the crowd consisted of Masrur, and this was the fight that they had hoped to see.

I readied my spear and drew on my nen. The niggles of pain and fatigue disappeared as my nen washed over them. I set my jaw and stared Garr in the eyes. He smirked for a moment before his expression stiffened and he became serious. My fatigue from my previous fights would be a factor in this fight. A drawn out fight was not in my favour. I needed to take the offensive the first opportunity that came my way, but if I was careless Garr would end this fight in an instant! Garr was an opponent that would never allow an opening to pass him by, but he seldom left and opening himself. I needed to force an opening in his defences! I would have to bait him. Leave myself open and and lure him into lowering his guard. It would be risky, one wrong move and the fight would be over!

"BEGIN!" Harlock commanded. A command we could barely hear over the din of the crowd.

The split second that Harlock gave the command to start our fight Garr sprung forwards, barrelling headlong towards me with frightening speed, his massive war hammer poised to strike. I stepped back and weaved my body to the left in order to avoid the powerful blow as his weapon swung through the air. Any other fur would have gone barrelling past me with the momentum that he had, but he stopped himself in a moment using those abnormally powerful legs of his, spun round and brought his hammer back round.

I had forgotten how fast he was! There was no way for me dodge in time! With no other option I raised my spear to block the path of the hammer. The hammer struck my spear, the force rattled me to my core. My arms hurt from the impact and I was pushed back. I struggled to retain my balance, but somehow did. I looked up and saw Garr with his hammer raised above his head and I leapt back to avoid being struck.

His hammer struck the ground with such force I felt the very ground tremble from the impact as it kicked up a plume of red dust. The attacks had been so fast and so relentless I didn't notice until now that my spear was completely buckled from when his hammer had struck it. It was unusable now! I tossed it aside and grabbed the axe at my waist. It's reach was short, but it was better than nothing. Garr's heavy armour meant unarmed attacked were pointless unless you could land a precise blow, and even then the thick leather armour he wore beneath that would absorb most of the impact! Garr strode forwards out of the cloud of dust kicked up by his hammer and glared at me.

That's when a moment of inspiration struck me, remembering my fight against Ghal. Garr didn't wear a helmet, and his neck was not covered in thick metal or leather! Perhaps I could bring Garr down by choking him out! It hadn't worked against Ghal because it had been a move of desperation, created out of my failure to execute the move I had intended! But this time it would be premeditated and intentional!

His armour had a lip to it which was designed to protect his neck from frontal attacks, but there was more than enough room for me to slip my arm between that and his throat! I needed to get behind him! But how would I manage to get behind him long enough to climb up his back? I felt a flutter in the flow as my plan slowly came together in my mind, the flow was already reacting to my intentions! There was a chance this could work!

I readied myself, the flow was strongly against me. Just as it had been for Kaleb against the Dark Knight! And like Kaleb I would not give up until this fight was over! A shimmer of light caught my eye. Laying a few yards away was one the blade of one of Kaleb's swords. It had been cut clean in two by the Dark Knights massive sword. As Garr leapt towards me I dove for the blade of the sword, rolling over in and grabbed the blade from the dirt, spun round and threw it at Garr. His advance paused for a second as he blocked the blade with his forearm; the blade bounced harmlessly off of his armour. I used that moment to gather my nen and push the air around me into the ground, kicking up a blindingly thick plume of dust.

I closed my eyes and allowed my nen to flow around us and create a bubble, using the bubble to cause the air around us to swirl and kick up an even thicker cloud of dust, and use my nen to see through the eye stinging dust cloud. I raised my axe and swung it at his right thigh. The blade struck its target and Garr grunted in pain, momentarily stopped in his tracks. Despite being blinded by the dust he swung his hammer at me. I dropped down and slid between his legs and then struck him in the back of the knee. As he stumbled forwards I climbed up onto his wide back and wrapped my arm around his neck and began to choke him. He struggled. He was stronger than me, even when enhancing my strength with nen. With his weight and size advantage he was normally and unstoppable force! But from here his size and weight meant nothing! I had the advantage in this situation.

I pressed my knees against the thick metal on his back and pushed, using the leverage to tighten my grip on his neck. He made a gurgling noise as I squeezed around his throat, but he still wasn't going down! He still had his war hammer in his left paw. I made sure to keep my head as far away from that thing as I could! If he did try to hit me with it then the best he could do was hit me in my shoulder. It would hurt like hell and likely break something, but swinging it with one arm while being choked and blinded by the dust storm I had created, made it that much more difficult for him. One wrong move and he could knock himself out!

"RRRRAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!" I cried out as I strained against his strength.

His neck was so thick and muscular, and he was using his free paw to try and pry my arm from around his neck was not making things any easier. I could already feel the muscles in my arm strain as fatigue began to set in. My arms were sore and tense with the effort I was putting forth! Soon they would go numb and that would be the end of it.

He was weakening, but I feared that my arms would give out before he did! I felt a spark of hope when his hammer fell from his paw and hit the ground with a heavy thud! He had dropped his weapon and he was staggering about now! He reached up with his now free paw, grabbed me clumsily by the shoulder and then suddenly shifted his weight backwards and then forwards again. In one fluid movement flung me over his shoulder. I was thrown from his back onto the ground.

I landed well, rolling with the momentum of his throw and back onto my foot-paws. Garr knelt gasping for air, trying to catch his breath, which was not easy to do without choking on the thick cloud of dust swirling around us. I still had the advantage of being able to see in this dust storm with my nen bubble. I just needed to keep him from getting a hold of his hammer again and I was in with a chance of winning this!

I watched him pull the axe I had embedded in his right thigh from his leg before hurling it in my direction. He missed by a narrow margin, I was impressed he was still able to judge my general position despite being blinded. He suddenly sprinted to his right. Where was he going!? That's when I realised what he was doing. He was trying to escape my dust cloud. I could only maintain it within a ten yard radius around me. Once he stepped out of range of my nen bubble I wouldn't be able to see him and would be blinded by the dust storm I had created.

I gave chase, I needed to keep him within the dust storm. But he was a faster than me when moving in a straight line, his thick, muscular legs propelled him forwards, and in a mere moments he escaped my dust storm. I kept chasing after him but slowed to halt when suddenly my bubble came in contact with the arena wall. He was gone!

Losing Garr was the worst possible scenario for me. He just had to stand clear of my dust storm, and wait me out. Using my nen like this would tire me out sooner rather than later. And staying in here like this was nothing more than hiding. Dropping the dust storm was my best option for the time being. The problem was I wouldn't be able to see beyond the dust cloud until it cleared, Garr would likely see me before I saw him. He had the advantage on me now! My strategy had backfired on me!

Garr would be cautious about attacking so long as I maintained the dust storm. He couldn't see me, but I'd see him the moment he entered my nen bubble. But there was a chance he would find a way to over come that simple obstacle. I needed to stop Garr from being able to attack me before I could attack him! He couldn't effectively attack what he couldn't see. But he also couldn't attack what he can't reach! I stopped moving the air that maintained the dust storm. In mere moments the red dust would fall back to the ground, allowing us to see each other once more.

I spread my wings and gathered my nen. I hadn't mastered the kind of precise flying that Jun'bak had been trying to teach me, but I was far better at flying now than I had been. I would now use that skill to try and defeat Garr! I propelled myself into the air; straight up. In less than a second I burst through the dust cloud and into the air above the arena.

I heard the crowd gasp as they watched me ascend. Standing near the edge of the dust cloud was Garr. He hadn't seen me fly upwards, but the gasp of the crowd had alerted him that I had done something and it would only be a matter of seconds before he figured it out! This was my chance! I propelled myself straight towards Garr. As I dove head first towards him I flipped head over heel, he had spotted me now but it was too late! I drove my foot-paws into his chest and my momentum knocked him over. He fell flat on his back and as he landed I rolled away. I was vaguely aware of the cheer of the crowd but my attention was purely on the giant Masrur quickly picking himself up from my last attack. I had stunned him and knocked him over, but it hadn't come close to taking him out of this fight! I needed to over power him somehow!

'If you want to win, you need my power!' A voice rang out in my head.

I blinked and suddenly I was in my mind-scape. My doppelgänger stood staring at me with a cocky smirk. I hate how he made himself look like me!

"And I'm to believe your just going to give it to me?"

"You're not that dumb!" He chuckled. "There is always a price!"

"What is it you want?" I asked curiously. I had no intention of giving him anything. Anything he said or did was just a ploy to try and weaken me so he could attempt to try and seize control.

"Nothing of importance to you. But of great value to me." He smiled a toothy grin that made him look rather menacing.

"And what is that?!" I huffed. I didn't really have the patience to deal with him right now. I was still in the middle of my fight with Garr.

"I want to see just how strong you've become." He waved a paw and suddenly a table with two chairs either side appeared from nowhere. He sat down on one of the chairs and motioned me to do the same. I rolled my eyes and complied, just to get this over with. "Now we are going to have an arm wrestle."

"An arm wrestle?!"

"Yes." He smirked. "Win and I will give you all the power you need in order to defeat that oaf your fighting!"

"And if I lose?"

"I will still give you a portion of my power." He smiled. "Enough to give you a chance to defeat him."

"So what do you get out of this?!" I demanded. I didn't trust him as far as I could spit.

"I get a measure of your strength."

He stared at me and I stared right back. It was a tempting deal, but I wasn't going to be tricked! There were words for those who entered deals with demons expecting them to turn out like promised. Most of the time those individuals ended up dead; or worse. Not to mention I had given my word that I wouldn't use his power without permission!

"Thanks, but no thanks!" I declared, standing up from the table so abruptly that my chair fell over. "I don't need anything from you!" I turned my back and began walking away from him as he snarled in frustration. "One day your power will be mine! You will be locked away in the back of my mind, a broken shadow of your current self!"

He chuckled. "Very well. I offered you a chance to defeat that lumbering oaf, but the choice is yours." I began to walk away but stopped when he began to speak again. "I look forward to the day you gain the courage to fight me! For on that day your body shall become my vessel! And I shall use you to accomplish my goal!"

"Yeah... what ever!" I scoffed.

I blinked and I was back in the training grounds, Garr was still rolling over to get up, my entire conversation with the spirit had taken only a few seconds, but they were seconds I couldn't spare! I dashed towards him. I needed to get to him before he got up!

I reached him as he got to his knees. I reared back my right fist and struck him with a powerful right hook to the side of his muzzle. His head snapped to the left and I pulled back my left arm and gathered my nen and landed another powerful blow, and then again with my right.

He shoved me away and staggered up to his foot-paws, but I lunged forwards and landed another heavy, nen enhanced blow to his muzzle. He snarled at me and lunged at me with his right arm drawn back. I dodged his punch but not the following knee to my sternum. The impact from his knee winded me slightly and sent me spinning through the air. I struggled back up but was then struck across the back with his thick tree truck like arms and knocked muzzle first into the choking dust.

He pulled me back up to my foot-paws by the scruff of my neck. Before I could do anything I was struck in the stomach by his massive fist; once, twice, three times. His armoured fists dealing devastating blows to me. Each time he struck me I heard the crowd cheer, but their cheers had a tone of sympathy behind them; all of them grateful that it wasn't them on the receiving end of those blows. I spewed up what little there was in my stomach and dropped to my paws and knees as Garr released his grip on my neck.

Once I was done coughing up the thin, disgusting liquid that were the remains of my breakfast, I pushed myself up and staggered around; unable to catch my balance for a moment. I turned to see Garr staring right at me with the fiercest expression I had ever seen! He stepped forwards and swung at me. I was barely able to raise my arms to try and block it! His massive, steel covered fist struck me in the arm as I protected my head, and I was whipped round by the force as I staggered from the blow and fell to my knees unable to keep my balance. The pain in my arm was immense! How it hadn't broken a bone was beyond me! I was going to lose this fight if I didn't do something quickly!

I reached for the leather strap on my right wrist, I had put a gift from Master Kami there for an emergency such as this! I pulled a small firris stone from under the leather and saw Garr's shadow loom over me. I rolled onto my stomach aimed my paw up at him and fired a stream of flames up into his muzzle.

He quickly retreated as the flames engulfed him. I could smell his singed fur, but a quick glance showed that he was unharmed by the attack. That one attack had used up the flames within the firris stone so I tossed it aside and reached for the second and final firris stone hidden under my left wrist strap. Garr was being cautious now, he hadn't seen the firris stone and was probably trying to figure out how I'd summoned the flames.

With the second firris stone I drew the flames out of it into two fire spirits which hung in the air in front of me before dropping the stone into the dust ground. I saw Garr's gaze fall to the ground with the stone and a scowl of realisation cross his muzzle. I pulled one of the fire spirits behind me and then began pouring my nen into both of them. The both grew in size quickly and I fired the first fire spirit towards Garr. I didn't expect it to hit him, but I needed to buy me a few seconds to work with the second one.

I divided the fire spirit into four and then eight, all eight now the original size the first two had been. Garr had leapt back to avoid my last attack, the ground where he had been standing now a pool of flames. The crowd were cheering louder than ever, happy that the fight was not going to be ending as quickly as they thought.

But Garr wasn't going to simply stand back while I bombarded him from range. He charged forwards and I threw four of the fire spirits at him. He raised his arms to protect his muzzle, the small fire spirits struck his heavy armour and burst into embers. I leapt to the left to avoid Garr's charge while pouring more nen into three of my remaining fire spirits and took one into my paw and fire a stream of flames at Garr.

Garr dodged my attack and backed up out of range. I stopped my attack, there was no point in wasting nen even though I was no where near from running low. We glared at each other for a moment and I brought the three fire spirits forwards, each of them now more that a foot in diameter. They should have an effect if they hit!

"GARR! GARR! GARR! GARR! GARR! GARR! GARR! GARR! GARR! GARR!" The crowd cheered. I was a little annoyed that they were cheering for him, but of course they would, he was a Champion after all! But I knew there were a few individuals out there cheering for me, their cheers lost amongst the cheers for Garr, and that was enough for me.

The next exchange would likely be the end of this fight. My body was sore after the blows I took from Garr despite my nen dulling the pain. I threw a fire ball at Garr and sprinted after the attack, hoping to use the attack to hide my approach. Garr leapt to the right, my attack flew past him but from the way his eyes went wide as he saw me so close to him, it seemed my plan worked, and now I was too close for him to react! I threw the second fireball right at him and it struck him square in the chest.

He was momentarily blinded by the intense heat and embers and I took the final fire spirit and jumped and drove it straight into his muzzle. The immediate silence of the crowd as their cheers ceased the same moment my attack struck. Garr staggered back, flames engulfing his head. He would be badly burned by this attack, but I had faith that he would survive and the same healing water that had been used on my countless times would heal his wounds.

I waited for the flames to burn through his fur and leave him badly burned and scarred, but as he pulled his paws away from muzzle to my surprise he was unharmed! His fur was barely singed! What the hell!? I was so taken aback that I was caught off guard when Garr charged. I raised my arms to block the heavy blow in the nick of time, and two following two attacks, but I was off balance and fell to the ground and rolled.

As I attempted to stand I was met by a swift uppercut which blew me off my foot-paws. All I could see was the blue sky above me for the brief moment before I struck the ground. My head was spinning and a loud ringing sound echoed in my head. The cheers of the crowd sounded muffled and distant. As I blacked out the last thing I saw was Garr's massive frame looming over me.

************

The next time I opened my eyes Master Jun'lao and Master Kami were knelt next to me. I was no longer in the arena, the ground below me was hard, not the soft dusty ground of the pit. I tried to look around but winced in pain at attempting to move my head.

"Take it easy." Master Kami said. "You took quite a beating."

That was for sure. My body was racked in pain. I could feel each and every place Garr had struck me quite clearly. There wasn't a single part of my body that wasn't stiff and sore from fatigue.

"You fought well." Master Jun'lao commented with a smile. His comment at least soothed my pride.

"I'll give him that much credit." I heard Jan'Zar's voice say despite not being able to see her. "To think that you would force Garr to use his boon." She chuckled. I heard a grunt which could only belong to Garr.

He used his boon? What was it? When had he used it? I knew that Champions had a boon granted to them by the Deity they were loyal to. Every Champion had a boon unique to them. I hadn't noticed when Garr had used his. I hadn't sensed a surge of power from him, or seen anything that would indicate a boon being used.

Master Kami offered me some water, which I gladly accepted. The cool liquid quenched a thirst I hadn't known I'd had until the water touched my tongue. I gulped greedily from the water sack until I choked on the liquid and coughed.

"Easy now." Master Kami cooed, rubbing my back and I had rolled on my side to cough up the water I had choked on.

I pushed myself up with some effort into a sitting position. We were in a room I had never seen before. Everyone was here! Callen was on the other side of the room giving Khaine water. He looked over at me and smiled, a smile that I returned.

"You've improved runt!" Garr chuckled. "You took me by surprise at the end there."

"Still wasn't enough to beat you though." I sighed. I wasn't upset at losing, just a little disappointed in myself. I felt like I had been so close! "But next time I'll kick your tail!"

Garr laughed heartily at my comment.

"You can try!" He smirked. "I'll look forward to you trying! It was a good fight!"

"Where are we?" I asked.

"This room was made for competitors to recuperate after a fight." Jun'lao explained. "Out of the heat of the sun."

"So we're still at the arena?"

"Correct."

"How long was I out for?" I asked.

"An hour maybe." Master Kami answered. "You can rest a while longer."

"But what about the Hakar?" I asked looking round the room. "What happens now?"

"The Hakar is over." Jan'Zar replied sharply. "Both you and Khaine lost you're final matches."

Khaine and I exchanged looks of disappointment with each other.

"But you both fought valiantly." Callen chimed in. "We never really expected you to be able to defeat your final opponents. But you proved that you have both grown considerably during your time apart, and as a result are both ready to move on to the next stage of your training."

"We will leave for our next destination in a weeks time, after the festivities come to an end." Jan'Zar added.

Leave? I suppose no one ever said we would be staying in the village for the next part of my training. I was a little saddened at the mention of it. I had grown to enjoy life here. I would miss many of the Masrur here. It was likely that I would never see them again.

"What's wrong Malakye?" Master Jun'lao asked.

"I-I guess I'm a little surprised that we're finally going to leave this place." I admitted.

"Ah, of course." Jun'lao nodded sympathetically. "I'm sure the Masrur will miss you also."

"Maybe." I sighed.

"Stop you're whining runt!" Jan'Zar scolded me.

"Jan!" Callen scolded his sister. "Have some compassion once in your life!"

"Whatever!" She huffed and turned to leave.

Garr followed her out. Once they left Jun'lao spoke to me again.

"Perhaps you could do something to show your appreciation for all the effort the Masrur." Jun'lao suggested.

"That's a great idea!" I smiled. "But I have no idea what to do!" I admitted after a moment of contemplation.

"That is something for you to decide." Master Jun'lao replied. "It should be something that shows your appreciation for their efforts. What ever you decide to do I'm sure they will appreciate it. If it helps you to that end, then you are free from your training schedule until you depart the village. I will speak to Kami and Lady Jan'Zar about releasing you from your schedules with them as well."

"Thank you Master, I appreciate it."