Riven
The waiting chamber was cold. The walls were smooth stone, and it made the space feel smaller than it was. I sat on a wooden bench, stretching my fingers, rolling my shoulders. Anything to keep myself loose.
The fights weren't immediate, they gave us time to prepare. Not much, but enough. Enough to let the weight of what was coming settle in.
My mind circled back, again and again, to the figure in armor. The way they moved, the way my gut twisted at the sight of them.
I clenched my fists and a shot of pain flew up my arm.
A low chime sounded through the chamber.
Five minutes.
I rose, shaking out my limbs. My heart pounded steady and strong, but underneath it was something else. Something unfamiliar.
Doubt.
I had fought stronger opponents before. I had won. But Rynin wasn't just strong, he was fast and calculated. He knows exactly how to push his advantage and how to make an opponent break before the final blow even lands.
I had seen how he looked at me. Like he had already decided the outcome.
The chime sounded again. It was time.
I exhaled softly. Whatever was going to happen, there was no avoiding it.
***
The chamber door slid open with a low rumble. A draft of cold air came in with the smell of rain and wet stone.
I stepped forward, the sudden shift in atmosphere jarring. Fat droplets pattered against the arena floor, pooling in the cracks between the worn stone. Above, the sky was a blanket of deep gray, cut by flashes of far-off light beyond the towering walls of the arena.
Before me, the arena stretched wide, lined by rows of spectators whose voices were muffled beneath the steady downpour. I rolled my shoulders, feeling the damp chill settle into my skin. The ground would be slick. That would change things.
Across from me, the opposite door slid open.
Rynin stepped out, the rain hitting his hair. He tilted his head up slightly, letting the water run down his face before shaking it off with a grin. If anything, he looked even more pleased by the conditions.
The announcer's voice thundered overhead, but I barely heard it. My focus was locked on Rynin, and his was locked on me.
He stretched his arms lazily and flexed his fingers. "Rain's a nice touch," he shouted. "Let's see if you can keep up."
I shifted, feeling the wet ground beneath my feet, and the moment I did, Rynin was gone.
He was a blur of motion, faster than I had expected, faster than anyone I had fought before. One moment he was across the arena, the next he was right in front of me, water flying to the sides from his sudden movement.
I barely twisted in time. His fist grazed my ribs instead of slamming into my gut, but the force still sent a shock through my core. I staggered, planting my foot on the slick stone to catch myself.
Rynin didn't pause. He pivoted smoothly, bringing up a knee aimed straight at my jaw.
I barely got out of the way, my silver hair flying from the force.
He's not just strong; he's in control of every inch of his body, every movement, with pinpoint precision.
I shoved back, forcing space between us, but he was already moving again. Already grinning.
"You're slower than I thought, Riven," he taunted, his voice barely winded. "C'mon, you're supposed to be strong, aren't you?"
I gritted my teeth, adjusting my stance. The rain poured harder, and the earth beneath us started to become a death trap for me. He knew it, and he was using it.
The moment I readjusted for the slick ground, he was on me again.
A palm strike aimed at my chest. I twisted, but not fast enough. His hand caught me mid-torso and slammed into me like a battering ram. My breath stripped from my lungs as I flew backward, my feet skidding out from under me across the rain-slicked stone. Water splashed up around me as I rolled, my body screaming from the impact.
I barely had a second to breathe before he was there again.
Something crashed into my ribs. A kick, precise and brutal. My vision blurred with the pain.
I hit the stone hard. My back arched. Air… Where was my air?
Rynin stepped back, stretching like he was just warming up. "That's all?"
I coughed, forcing myself to my hands and knees, my lungs burning. I'd been hit before. But this, this was something else.
He was playing with me.
And if I didn't find a way to stop it, he was going to end this before I even got a chance to fight back.
I forced air back into my lungs, my ribs aching with every breath. Rain dripped from my hair into my eyes as I forced myself up to one knee.
Rynin watched, arms loose at his sides, grinning.
I swallowed the pain and met his gaze. "What is… What is your second ability?" My voice came out hoarse, breathless, but steady.
Rynin laughed. "Figured it out yet?" He flexed his fingers, rolling his shoulders like he was shaking off tension. "First is physical enhancement, obviously. But my second?"
He shifted his stance, and in that instant, he was gone again.
I saw a blur, then I felt pain shooting in waves from my gut.
His fist buried itself in my stomach, and my body folded around the impact as if he'd driven his knuckles straight into the weakest point possible. My vision blacked for a second.
I hit the ground hard, choking.
Rynin loomed over me, head tilted. "I can increase my muscle density at will." He lifted a foot and rested it heavily on my shoulder. "Most folks don't make it this long."
I gritted my teeth, every part of my body screaming.
I had to move. I had to do something.
Above me, he blew out through his nose, chuckling. "I'll give you some credit before this is over," he said. "You're tough."
His foot came off my shoulder. I barely had time to react before he reared back, shifting his weight, his muscles expanding and tensing in a way I now knew.
This was it.
The finishing blow.
I watched his leg coil like a spring, ready to snap forward. A precise, lethal strike.
And then-
Everything slowed.
Rain just hovered in the air, like suspended glass. The roar of the crowd dulled to a faraway hum. Rynin's movements stretched, the details sharpening. Every ripple of muscle, every shift of balance, every single fraction of a second stretching before me like a path I could see.
A sickening realization dawned on me.
If he hit me, I was dead.
I watched it happen. Felt the impact before it even landed. The crack of my ribs caving in, the rupture of my lungs, the way my body would go limp.
I was going to die.
Knowing you are about to die must be worse than death itself.
Something inside of me snapped.
Die..? Like this?
No.
Not until I've found her.
My body moved before my brain registered it was moving. I twisted, just out of reach. Rynin's foot slammed into the stone, sending cracks outward from the force.
The rain crashed back into motion. Time caught up all at once. The back of my neck began to faintly ache.
I staggered to my feet, heaving for air.
Rynin straightened, his head tilting. His grin faltered. Just slightly.
I exhaled, hands clenched into fists.
I had died, yet I was standing.
Rynin's grin vanished. His brow furrowed, and for the first time, his eyes looked confused. He knew that should've killed me.
I felt it, too. I should have been dead. But I wasn't. I was still standing. And I could see so much. I could see… Everything.
His next move. His next attack. His next mistake. It was all clear to me, like a second figure that showed his intentions.
Rynin leapt. His fist blurred toward my ribs, but I could see the angle and the force behind it. A step to the left, and it passed through empty space.
His knee shot up toward my stomach. Sidestep. His elbow came down for my shoulder. Pivot. Each attack crashed into nothing, hitting only air where I had just been.
His frustration boiled over. "Why won't you just stay still?!"
The corners of my mouth tilted upward. Rynin was scared.
I wasn't just dodging anymore. I struck. Every fiber in my body was being used to not just be strong, but precise as well.
My fist connected with his ribs, his body twisting just a fraction too late. He staggered, but I was already moving, already seeing the next second unfold.
A blow to his jaw, his head snapped to the side. A strike to his gut, his breath shot out in a choked grunt. Another hit. And another. He tried to counter, but I was gone before he could reach me.
The crowd roared. The rain pounded down.
Rynin stumbled back, panting, eyes wide. His eyes reached my face. They widened in fear. They reminded me of one thing. Prey.