Eryx And Noll

Krrk!

A nasty crack rang out through the wide and open colosseum-Esque arena, one that sounded gruesome enough to make even Locke wince as he looked over to the origin of the sound.

The cheers that echoed through the stadium intensified as a dwarf, barely a meter tall, stood upright, a hammer and axe laid resting on a gigantic dark wolf's head, with lingering blood and brain mush falling off, leaving a trail of slime in its path.

Locke felt an arm cover his neck as it pulled him back, Eryx's voice sounding beside him, "That's Noll. He's been around here for even longer than I have, and oh boy, old chap has a sob story. Says he's been nabbed while looking for a good weapon to gift his young boy. Word, his whole family, died, wife and all, and he got ratted out or somethin'."

"Now, ain't that sad?" He grinned as he pulled in Locke by the shoulder while looking at the dwarf who was walking towards them now, the hammer and axe in his grasp. Locke couldn't feel even a hint of mockery in his question or even curiosity, as if he hadn't just asked a question right now.

Eryx, the boy his age, only grinned as he patted Locke's shoulder before making some grunts and unintelligible sounds, seemingly conversing with the dwarf for a few seconds before introducing Locke. Noll and Locke shook hands, his hands also now caked with grime and dried blood as he took a sharp breath.

He slowly wiped off the dirt with his index finger as his face slightly contorted. Taking his mind off what he deemed as a slight obsession with personal hygiene, his eyes lit up as they roamed the axe that laid in the dwarf's grasp.

An obsession with cool-looking and sometimes impractical weapons was something Locke had had since his teenage years. At one point in his life, the axe was the one thing he dreamed of in a new world, and he was just as entranced with it even after two years.

This particular axe was known as a 'Spearaxe' and was a single-bladed axe with a spear end at the top. It was slightly shorter than a normal spearaxe and was a dull grey with some cracks and chips here and there.

A similar glint also flashed past Noll's eyes as he observed the unique weapon in Locke's grasp. At this point, it was just a cylindrical hammer impaled by a long pole with spikes around and atop it.

The dwarf grunted when he noticed how intensely Locke was staring at the axe before presenting it to him while also putting out his hand, palm open, indicating to the mace. Locke thought nothing of it as he flipped his weapon and pointed it to the dwarf, the handle facing Noll.

They were about to exchange weapons when a booming voice resounded through the brightly lit area. "First batch today... will be prey."

The dwarf's face immediately changed as he heard those words, taking his axe back as he glanced around, almost as if waiting for something. "Uhh, what's happening?" Slightly panicking, Locke asked Eryx as the boy just grinned while looking ahead before promptly stating nonchalantly.

"The First Batch is the first four who reach here, and usually said batch is the hunter, but," He glanced back, still grinning. "Guess you aren't my lucky star, eh?"

What the fuck was wrong with this kid? Locke could guess what the terms 'hunter' and 'prey' meant even without context, but why was he so calm about it?

He took a deep breath, calming down his pounding heart, before asking, "So, what do we gotta do?" He tightened his grip on the mace and took his stance as he matched Noll.

"We... become the predators." The boy spread his arms out, his voice echoing through the abruptly silent arena, flowing into every listener's ears before it was drowned by the beat of a war-drum, almost as if to make a dramatic effect for Eryx.

"And HOW THE FUCK DO YOU PLAN TO DO THAT?!" Locke yelled, yet most of it was drowned by the loud rhythmic beating of drums, as it just barely reached the ears of the two next to him.

To them, it seemed as if Locke was talking normally, yet due to the bulging veins in his neck, they knew he was yelling at the top of his voice. That and his annoyed face.

"You need to calm down, mate. You won't survive here otherwise." Eryx grinned as the dwarf suddenly handed him two huge gauntlets that reached till his elbows when he put them on and grinned again and uttered, "Let's introduce you to our old pals, hmm?"

Inhumane roars and growls were heard as a horde of people ran in with wild abandon at them. They were very skinny and covered in rags, their faces gaunt and pale, with eyes drowned in white.

"I've missed y'all!" A familiar sound echoed through the area as an annoying grin manifested in Locke's mind. He increased his speed, crashing onto the enemy's disarrayed front lines as he put aside everything else from his mind, focusing only on the thrill and most efficient way of fighting.

He didn't want to die a useless death, and he didn't just want to die. It might seem contradictory, finding joy in fighting yet, fearing the consequences of failing. He was fighting now because he had no choice. And he hated it.

Fighting, it was the only thing he knew how to do right. And to take that freedom away from him, too, angered him. Locke channeled all that anger as he swung his mace everywhere, occasionally hearing the maniacal laughter of Eryx.

'I thought we needed to be calm or something to survive here. And what is this thing that manipulates my emotions?'

{The slaughter intent remnants are eating away at your mortal mind. What do you think happened to the ones before you?}

'You mean to say that these people are basically zombies?'

{In a sense.}

'Fuck.' He cursed as he fought with even more vigor, jumping off of a zombie's back and bringing his mace down at the skull of the zombie in front, the wooden shaft of the weapon slightly bending as a cracking sound was buried in the cheers of the audience.

He didn't fret too much over killing them as they were mindless beings and closed his heart to it, continuing his rampage. Their numbers soon whittled down to the strongest 6 as Locke, Eryx, and Noll cornered them from three directions.

At one point during the battle, a fourth person had come but was soon buried and was probably killed not long after. Not that it affected the three of them in any way.

Locke threw the mace at one, slowing it down, before delivering a right hook to the one closest to him. He then got behind him and ended him, breaking his neck. The one he threw the mace to had gotten up and rushed him, but he let out a sharp right kick right at the waist, making her frail body go flying right to Eryx, who mercilessly crushed her head between his gigantic gauntlets. While smiling.

That was two down.

Noll weaved his stubby body through the zombies, his axe and hammer leaving a trail of blood behind him yet, tears were trickling down his wrinkled face as he seemed lost in his thoughts, mindlessly killing. He swiped the hammer at the feet of the zombie in front of him while simultaneously bringing down his axe.

A fragile body horizontally presented itself in the weapon's path, the rough blade cleaving through the pale flesh as blood spurted out. He let go of his axe and wiped his forehead free of its sweat as he glanced around.

Eryx was punching ferociously, a savage grin ever-present on his visage as blood tainted it. Meanwhile, Locke was checking his rusty weaponry skills, toying with the mindless beast as he twirled his mace around.

The dwarf's face contorted with fury upon noticing that as he butchered the last of the zombies before making his way to Locke, grabbing him by the collars of his makeshift jacket as he brought his surprised face to his own, yelling out profanities in a language only two of the trio knew.

Locke was confused, but a mocking voice in his head soon resolved his doubts.

{Pfft, you were just toying with the mindless corpses of their life-and-death comrades. What were you thinking, you dumb fuck?}

Locke's mouth slackened as realization hit him, leaving him alone with a furious dwarf whose hands somehow reached his collars, understanding that he was playing with the corpse of someone who had also had a life.