Mark of the Fool
Chapter 581: The Middleweight Terror

“You can do it, Harmless!” Kybas cried. “Swat that bug!”

He chanted a flight spell, and the deadly reptile—terror of land and surf— became a terror of the wide blue yonder.

Harmless launched into the air like a raptor, jaws snapping, tail whipping like he was driving his body through the deep. His opponent, the Vespara, moved a half step faster, buzzing above Harmless, circling the crocodile; gleaming insectile eyes fixed on him.

Boris cast a haste spell and Skylance became a buzzing blur.

Kybas cast his own haste spell, Harmless shot after the vespara, hissing through the air, spinning as if in a death roll, barreling at the stinging creature like a corkscrew. Skylance, zipped by, dodging rows of fangs.

The goblin wizard watched his familiar chase their opponent, large eyes traced the vespara’s movements, simply watching, he uttered no spells or directions, he just let the pursuit go on.

“Hmm, I wonder if he’s trying to exhaust Skylance?” Theresa wondered out loud. “She’s flying faster because of Boris’ haste spell, but she’s still flying under her own power. Harmless, who isn’t a flyer, is flying and speeding around because of Kybas’ spells; she’s using a lot more energy than he is, especially doing all the buzzing she’s doing. She’ll get tired, then he’ll catch her.”

“You could be right,” Alex said, feeling a twinge of summoning magic in the air.

The stench of brimstone and heat of a hell domain hit him.

“I think this fight’s about to change. A lot.”

Boris raised his voice and hands to the sky in a display of high drama—drawing ‘ooos’ from the crowd—conjuring a swarm of infernal wasps. The devilish insects were the size of a grown man’s hand, with gleaming bodies banded in red and black, the buzzing sounds were like the growls of starving fiends.

The vespara uttered a keening noise, sending the swarm at the crocodile, lancing stingers poised.

Kybas reacted, “Spin, Harmless!” he gave his first command to his familiar then cast a spell: a suit of armour crafted from plantlife with alchemically hardened bark overlayed with writhing vines, fanned out over the crocodile’s scales. Wasps swarmed him, vines lashed the air like whips, clipping the bugs, sending them back to their home plane by the number.

Across the arena, Alex could see Salinger beaming with pride at what his student and the graceful but deadly plants could do.

But, as lethal as the vines were, they couldn’t stop the entire swarm and some clung to the spinning crocodile, testing areas to sink their stingers into.

Kybas, however, was not finished.

The goblin wizard raised his hands to the sky and uttered a spell that sounded…

“Wait, doesn’t that spell sound familiar?” Alex frowned, looking at Thundar and Isolde.

“It does.” The young noblewoman’s brows knit together.

“It should,” Grimloch grinned. “My sis taught him that one.”

As Kybas finished the spell, Alex realised why it had sounded so familiar: Nua-Oge would cast it when they’d hunted monsters in the Barrens of Kravernus.

It was the spell for Shield of Darkwater that the Selechar wizard used to protect herself and her brother from the dry air, and burning sun of the Barrens.

Now, Kybas was using it to protect his familiar, but not from the sun. A sheath of water enveloped Harmless, shimmering like a coat of armour that rippled with dense liquid and shadow. Every conjured wasp crawling on Harmless was soon thrashing and flailing beneath a layer of water.

In desperation, they tried stinging him through the liquid, seeking softer parts on the crocodile’s body, but darkwater, plant-armour, and hardened scales, stopped their stingers.

As they thrashed about, vines swatted them like flies, sending them back to the hell they were summoned from.

Boris scowled.

Kybas grinned across the cage, a broad smile full of gleaming sharp teeth. “Me and Harmless fought swarms of demons beside the very brave Professor Salinger!” He shouted. “He would be a great ally to the honourable Clan Chulu! Swarms of little devil bugs are no match for us!”

The goblin wizard proudly pointed at the magical botany professor, whose face flushed bright red as he sank down in his chair. Multiple audience members—including his own family—stared at him with curiosity.

His wife patted him on the shoulder, Alex was pretty sure he read the words ‘mighty warrior’ forming on her lips when she spoke to him.

Professor Salinger turned even redder, sinking even lower.

Boris also turned red, but for different reasons. The young man scowled. “Don’t get cocky!” he shouted. “You’ve scored no points!”

“No points! No points!” Kybas chanted. “No points for you! And you spent all this time running away!”

He turned to Grimloch in the crowd. “Big, brave wizard, isn’t he?”

“No,” the sharkman rumbled, his voice booming over the crowd.

Cheers and jeers rose from the audience; some laughed at Kybas’ taunts, others booed—mostly folk who’d bet on Boris, no doubt—yet others boo’d the goblin’s rival for only using a strategy of fleeing since the match began.

“Stop running and fight!” someone shouted, seeming to agitate Boris further.

He growled like an angry beast and began casting body enhancement spells on Skylance.

Strength enhancement. Agility Enhancement.

Then force armour.

Kybas, however, didn’t cast a single spell. The goblin’s grin faded, and he simply watched the creature zip around the arena like lightning strikes through a stormy sky.

He knew the vespara would attack soon.

And, attack it did.

“Mouth and eyes, Skylance!” Boris shouted. “Attack!”

Her buzzing turned frenzied, then she threw herself at the flying crocodile.Herstinger—as long as any dagger—gleamed as venom dripped from its tip. Harmless snapped at her as she buzzed by and jabbed her stinger in his side.

Or tried to.

She used all of her enhanced strength to strike, the stinger sank through darkwater, piercing armour of bark and vine…but stopping dead at Harmless’ scales.

Boris’ victorious grin twisted, turning to shock.

Alex’s jaw dropped. “Kybas, you absolute madman, you.”

Skylance flew back as Harmless snapped again, and zipped around his side, dipping below him. She spun in the air, stinger blurring as she stabbed at Harmless’ belly over and over.

Water parted.

Bark and vine cracked.

But, his scales held strong, as though the vespara was stabbing steel; her stinger left not a scratch. She shrieked, barely getting out of reach, as Harmless’ jaws snapped inches from her head.

“What’s happening?” Selina gasped. “Is Kybas protecting Harmless with a spell?”

“No,” Alex murmured. “He’s been feeding him so many potions and mushrooms that…well, you see the size of him…but it’s more than that. All of those potions Kybas pumps into him everyday probably hardened his entire body, including his scales. You saw how thick they were: that’s not natural.”

“You know how it’s really hard to hurt Brutus through his hide?” Theresa leaned forward, looking at Selina. “Kybas fed Harmless so many magic potions that his scales became hard like that. Maybe even tougher.”

“Oh…then what can Skylance do to win?” Selina asked.

“Well,” Alex said, “a knock-down’s going to be hard to get with Harmless outweighing her by so much. A pin’s going to be even harder. I think she could try and poison him by going for a soft body part…but Harmless is protecting his eyes and mouth, and she’s not really fast enough to get him by surprise.”

He tapped his chin, watching the vespara retreat from the crocodile. “I don’t think there’s much she can do, honestly. If she was Boris’ familiar, instead of only a summons, he could cast spells through her to try and bring Harmless down…but as it is, she’s not going to get very far.”

The crowd began to chant, “Harm-less! Harm-less! Harm-less!” as the crocodile closed in on the vespara.

“Truthfully, unless Boris comes up with something at the last second, I don’t think he’s got much of a chance. He’s really just delaying the inevitable at this point.” Alex said.

“Oh, now why’d you have to go and say something like that? You cursed Kybas!” Thundar cried. “You know how it is in all the stories: as soon as someone says ‘hey, unless they come up with something at the last second, they’re gonna lose’ that’s when they come up with something at the last second and win.”

“Yeah, that’s true, Alex!” Selina said.

“Oh, by the elements?” Isolde rolled her eyes. “Not everything is a terrible novel or play. Superstition is unbecoming.”

“And sometimes superstition is super right!” Thundar said defensively.

“Just watch,” Grimloch said. “Superstition or not, Harmless is gonna harm.”

And he was right.

While Boris shouted commands at Skylance, straining to find a way to stop the flying croc-apocalypse, he only managed to buy them a bit more time and lots more jeers from the crowd as Harmless circled, getting closer and closer to the vespara.

And Alex’s earlier prediction was starting to come true.

“Look, she’s slowing down,” he said. “She’s getting tired, while the only thing that Harmless is getting is hungry. It’s just a matter of time until—”

Suddenly the crowd roared.

“—and there it is.”

While Kybas’ maniacal laughter soared through the air; his familiar’s jaws crunched down on one of Skylance’s buzzing wings. She was struggling, but she might as well have been trying to heave a mountain off her body.

The crowd’s roar boomed louder.

“Here it comes, ladies and gentlemen!” the announcer shouted. “The deathroll!”

Harmless rolled through the air, spinning Skylance while Boris shouted commands.

“Do what you have to do!” he screamed. “Just get out of there! Resist him! Sting him!”

The vespara screeched, driving her stinger at the crocodile’s body, but it bounced off his natural armour. Harmless darted to the side—still rolling—moving past the cage bars.

The sound of chitin hitting metal echoed through the arena as Skylance was battered on the bars over and over, smashing to the floor each time the repile rolled.

The crowd went wild.

“Kyb-as! Ky-bas! Ky-bas!” they chanted. “Harm-less brings harm! Harm-less brings harm! Harm-less brings harm! Harm-less brings harm!”

Chairs rattled.

Salinger forgot all notions of keeping up appearances and screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Yes!” Khalik cried, as Alex and his other friends shouted.

“Father…he is amazing!” Claygon shouted. “So mighty!”

“Yeah, he sure is! Goooo Kybas! Whooo-hooo! You’re doing it!”

Grimloch simply clapped, his palms forming that ominous drumbeat.

The thrashing Harmless gave Skylance had beaten the last of her energy out of her and knocked her senseless. Now all Kybas and Harmless had to do was get as many knock-downs and pins as they needed to win the match.

When round two started, Skylance could barely manage to put up much of a fight as the crocodile threw her around like a paper doll.

Part way through the round, Boris began shaking, he sighed then spoke the fateful words he likely never expected to be saying: “I concede.”

The crowd jumped up, roaring and stomping their feet. It was like the sound of thunder.

“And with that concession, we have our winner!” the announcer shouted. “Boris and Skylance surrender! Harmless and Kybas of Clan Chulu take their second match! Can nothing stop this scaled juggernaut? This weapon of war forged by magic and nature? We! Shall! See!”

Kybas cheered, pumping his fists and hopping up and down like a happy toddler. “Yes, Harmless! Best crocodile! Best crocodile!”

“Best crocodile! Best crocodile! Best crocodile!” the crowd chanted with him.

“Best crocodile,” Grimloch agreed.

“Hm, I must admit, Best Crocodile is a toweringly, lofty title, but that young man and his familiar do make a strong argument.” King Aksuma nodded in approval. “I wonder if one of my familiars could battle him…no, I should wait to see him fully grown.”

“Akie, do not bully students…is what I would say, but you will likely embarrass yourself, so do not let students bully you,” Queen Ishtar said.

“Khalik participates in these battles!”

“He is a student here, Akie.”

“You do not need to be a student to participate. You know what? Perhaps next year, I will—”

“Akie, Sembrouthes begged you not to do this the last time this idea sank its claws into your head.”

“But he is not here to stop me,” the King grinned.

“And I shall not stop you, father,” Khalik said. “I would thrash you with a smile on my face.”

Aksuma raised an eyebrow. “Are you challenging me, youngling?”

“Youngling? Only one of us standing here at the moment is a champion, and it is not you father.”

The king’s eyes narrowed, and he turned away, clearly plotting.

Below, Kybas walked with Harmless, heading beneath the arena.

Alex cheered their elated friend and his triumphant crocodile until they disappeared into the bowels of the stadium.

So far, it looked like they had a good chance of winning a crushing victory this year.

Kybas believed they would, and so did he.

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