Ascension Trial: Part 2

Fangmar swung his axe in an upward motion hoping to catch Garrok's feet, flinging up sand as he carved into the arena ground. It passed through the air missing Garrok as he stepped aside and grabbed the staff from the sand. The body of Maximus wasn't so lucky as the blade carried him into the air, tearing the body nearly in two. The first row of the audience screamed in terror as the top half of the Champion from Orlan landed on their laps thirty feet up. His jaw agape and his upper body still attached by the spine to his lower half, it hung over the edge and with a sickening slurp it slid back as the weight of the legs pulled it off the wall back down into the pit, leaving a bloody entrail gift for the puking first row. The rows behind gagged as the putrid smell reached their senses.

A flash of red split the ice giant's legs as Garrok sprinted underneath Fangmar, his blade slicing the inner calf. He could feel the muscle give way to the flaming blade. Fangmar tried to pivot to follow the half-orc but the damage to his calf slowed his movement and he faltered. Garrok knew he had him and as he spun his blade around to hack at the same leg the fiery red was blocked by a shimmering blue blade. Erigos had seen enough.

Erigos made quick eye contact with Fangmar. His sword was held in a bind with Garrok. The strength of his old friend caught him off guard but he managed to hold him long enough Fangmar could back up. Angrily Garrok shoved Erigos back, swung the red sword which met the flash of blue. Garrok brought on an onslaught of attacks, each one parried by Erigos. Fangmar joined in attacking with heavy overhead strokes, which with Garrok's enhanced strength he could block them, using the staff to block Erigos's attacks. As the two of them battled the red champion, Erigos felt that they had a chance to win.

Garrok continued to dodge the giant's powerful swings, and block the quicks strikes from Erigos but something needed to change if he were to break this cycle. In his fury, he had forgotten about the cloak. As the giant brought his huge battleaxe down, Garrok switched the staff to his sword hand which caused the sword to disappear into the armor. The magical protection from the staff stopped the savage attack in the air, allowing Garrok to slip underneath the blade as Erigos attacked his left side. The blue blade went wide and clanged against Fangmar's axe as Garrok pulled the staff away.

In the confusion as the allies' weapons connected, Garrok pulled the cloak over his head to turn invisible for a brief second, not technically allowed but no one could tell where he was beneath the giant anyways. Reappearing at the back he summoned the sword again and sliced it into the already weakened calf. The Sa'vour residents cheered. Fangmar had been protecting that leg and he roared in pain. Blinded by that pain he reacted with a giant swing over his head, which is exactly what Garrok wanted. With his arms over his head, he exposed his unarmored chest and Garrok sprung into the air, covering the ten feet needed to get his sword within striking distance. He slammed the blade to the hilt directly into Fangmar's heart. Garrok hung by his blade as the blood tried to force its way out of the newly forged hole in the chest. The life began to leave Fangmar and he fell to his knees, leaning forward, Garrok removed his blade and fell the remaining few feet to the now soaked sand below. With his last breath, Fangmar turned to watch Erigos salute him. The giant closed his eyes and his face smashed into the sand. From his place in the crowd, Molkner let out a cry of sadness.

Garrok grinned as he flicked his blade clean of the giant's blue blood. Only the two remained standing. A hush fell over the crowd as they circled each other.

"What happened to you…?" Erigos took a step back, drawing Garrok away from Fangmar's body.

"I realized the truth."

"You believe a lie." Erigos shook his head. "He has your mind twisted, this isn't the Garrok I first met."

"That Garrok is dead, he was a fool, believing in good. There is no such thing. This world is only evil." Garrok lifted his arms up, spinning around gesturing at the audience. "All these people are evil, selfish beings that seek to harm others so long as it benefits them. Look at us," He pointed his sword at Erigos. " We fight, we die, so they may grow fat in their chairs and coffers. Ottothal will rule and together we will cleanse this world, start anew. Only then will there be no more evil. We will decide what is good."

Erigos was saddened. Garrok had been poisoned, his mind twisted to believe the lies fed to him. "You are wrong, this world is good."

Garrok lowered his arms and head, shaking it. "You only want to save this world because you have fallen into the evil that controls it…" He lifted his head, his eyes firey. "And that is why you must die." He rushed forward.

Erigos reached into his sword's magic and summoned the lightning energy. He leveled his sword at Garrok and the beam of crackling power slammed into the staff's shield. A thunderous sound erupted as the two magics met. A shockwave of energy exploded sending Garrok rolling backward and tossing a cloud of dust and sand into the air. The after-effects drifting into the crowd. When the dust settled the two Champions were locked on each other.

The half-orc sprinted in again. Erigos once again summoned the magic and fired a bolt, this time Garrok dodged to the side, the energy impacted the wall sending chunks of rock and debris into the air, startling the crowd above. He readied another blast but Garrok was too quick and as he went to fire the magic Garrok swung his sword up knocking Erigos' blade up. The lightning shot into the sky, crackling through the air, finding a cloud way above, creating a web of electrical tendrils through it. Garrok had exposed Erigos' chest; he kicked it. The elf fell onto his back. He expected Garrok to attack him so he brought the sword to his chest. Instead, Garrok skipped to his side, slashed his red blade into the side of the lightning sword. Unable to use his body to hold the sword, the blade slipped from his hand as Garrok disarmed him, the blade landed just out of reach.

Erigos rolled to grab his sword but a strong hand grabbed his side and held him down. Garrok mounted him, blade at his throat. The audience waited for the inevitable end.

"Don't worry Alissa will join you soon."

Erigos grabbed a handful of sand, Garrok saw him and stepped on his hand. However the second Garrok stopped watching his head and looked at his hand he headbutted the half-orc, he knew it would hurt him more than Garrok but it took him by surprise that he was able to shove him off. He scrambled to his sword, and held it out expectantly, a trickle of blood coming from his forehead. The crowd cheered as they were witnessing the wildest Ascension Trial in years. Normally the Sa'vour Champion proved to be too great, defeating all the enemies with ease. This year was full of surprises and it kept them on the edge of their seats.

Garrok laughed, "Just give up, you can't defeat me. Your only chance would have been to wear the Artifacts and you chose poorly."

It was Erigos' turn to attack. He began to assault Garrok. The blue blade, spinning and cutting through the air. A few times it clanged off the armor as his speed was greater than Garrok could match. Erigos began to learn how the armor worked and he noticed the area on the side, just above the hip where he had made a few impacts, was beginning to show weakness. He targeted that area.

Garrok noticed Erigos was targeting above his left hip, so he let him hit it one more time. He winced as the blade penetrated the armor. Erigos took a step back, a smile crept across his face. Garrok opened his weak side to him, and Erigos took it. Garrok spun at the last second, placing his back to the elf, and pinning the sword under his arm. He broke Erigos grip and the sword landed in the sand. He turned again, bringing his armed arm around slamming it into the head of Erigos. The elf took the blow and stumbled back dazed. Garrok bent down and grasped the sword. He now held all five Artifacts of Awakening.

He turned slowly towards Erigos, who clutched his head, which was bleeding even more. "I told you not to lose your sword." Garrok began to glow, red and blue as his body began to swell, his eyes bright red as his body began to transform.