THE MOMENT
The fact that Leinn did not feel pain anymore was not a good thing. Only a moment ago he ached like his body was on fire. Then, with a deep sigh, the pain was gone. He did not kid himself as numbness took over. He knew he reached the end. The crowd cheered for it. His mind was starting to get hazy. But, he would not give his opponent the satisfaction of dying on his own. He managed to look up at his attacker and stay focused on her face.
Leinn never would have expected a teenage girl to get the best of him. He was an experienced gladiator with years under his belt and victories in the hundreds. He had a granddaughter that looked no older than the silver-haired teen that now stood over him.
He planned to go easy on her at first; but, after his first wide swing, it became obvious that she didn't need his charity. He missed on purpose, but that was the only chance he got. The teen dashed backward to avoid his clumsy punch then she pulled a magic card out of thin air. He knew she was a magician of some type before he agreed to the match but he still had no idea what to expect from the card.
[Blade Juggler] Leinn heard a deep voice fill the air and the card in her hand disintegrated into white dust. An ethereal form took human shape in front of her. It wore a golden mask and began flinging golden daggers at Leinn. He had enough sense to act fast and block with his shield. After several hits, a golden blade pierced the wood and then disintegrated.
After a moment he realized that was the last one and lowered his shield to determine his next move. The juggler was gone and Leinn noticed another card dissolve in her hand.
[Jumbo Stomp] the unknown voice spoke. It was followed by a shrill trumpet and a giant, ghostly, golden elephant took shape. It stood on its hind legs and fell forward onto Leinn.
Once, in his younger years, a startled horse fell on Leinn. It continued to panic, thrashing wildly, until it managed to stand up on him and dash away. He was in bed for a month after that. The elephant's ghostly feet went through his body, but he still felt crushing pressure push him into the ground with more force than the horse could have ever managed. One of the last sensations he felt before numbness was a growing pool of warm, sticky liquid under him. But he kept his eyes open and focused on the girl.
"Ow wow," she giggled. "That was close, I almost killed you." Leinn did not want to waste any of his energy by speaking. He doubted he could be heard over the roar of the crowd. He managed to give her a firm nod to show he understood. He signed up for a fight to the death. He should have taken it more seriously instead of underestimating his opponent. Though now he doubted he could have won either way; she was definitely a powerful sorcerer.
"Don't worry," the teen knelt next to him. "You'll be fine. Not killing you is the whole point." She pulled out another card. “I just wanted to try out this new card,” she said.
[Healing Laughter] The voice filled the air and the card disintegrated. Leinn became aware of rapid squeaks approaching. A short clown in plaid suspenders and a red wig dashed across the arena at full speed. He held his arm up in a ready position with a large whipped pie in his palm.
The clown came to a full stop when he reached them and cocked his hand back further. Leinn had no idea what was going on, and he braced himself for the oncoming dessert as best he could. He’d never seen a sorcerer use this kind of summoning magic and he was almost as entertained as he was wounded. But, he was surprised again when the clown thrust his hand forward and turned his elbow to splat himself in the face.
A wave of laughter washed over the crowd and Leinn couldn’t help but chuckle too. He was genuinely surprised as the clown spun on his large heels and dashed out of the arena just as fast as his entrance. Though, this time, he disintegrated before making it to the exit.
“Ow…,” Leinn felt a sharp pain in his lungs when he laughed the first time. But, when he tried laughing again after noticing it, the pain was gone. But, it wasn’t numb like it was moments ago; it felt like he’d never been injured. His eyes widened in surprise and he took in a deep, painless breath just to be sure. “What happened?” he scrambled to his feet while noticing how easily his body moved again.
“It worked even better than I thought,” the teen said. She extended her hand and smiled. “My name’s Emily,” she said. “What’s yours?”
“Leinn,” he nodded and shook her hand. At the moment it seemed like they weren’t going to fight to the death after all. After his close call, he was fine with that. “What worked better than you thought?” He was curious about what exactly she was testing, and he was hoping to steer the conversation away from their duel.
“I was just testing my heals,” she said. “Someone told me Card Mages can’t be main healers. I’m going to prove them wrong.”