The Eternal Guardians: Book 1: The Missing Heir

Chapter 41

The enormous arena was already filling up with fans, taking their seats and getting snacks at the concession stands. A polite Selvempt guard led Gale, Liam, Ashta and Riah to their assigned seating under the announcer's stage and the seats were hard and uncomfortable.

Evidently, Ashta and Riah hugged Damian and wished him good luck, but in their minds, it was more like a goodbye more than good luck. Damian had pulled Ashta to the side and he told her that no matter what happened, he would always love her.

That was the last straw. His words hit her hard, and it made her want to call the whole thing off, but she knew that she couldn’t stop this. There wasn’t any way she could control this, unless she used her powers, but if she did that to interfere with the match, then everyone would know it was her.

Seemingly, she put her lips against his, and kissed him. Surprised, Damian stood still for a moment and then he wrapped his arms around her as he kissed her back. Quickly, Ashta pulled back from him and she and Riah walked away.

Heavily, Ashta sighed as she let her thoughts roll around in her head. Riah looked at her and she knew what that look was on her friend’s face. Gently, Riah put her arm around Ashta’s shoulders and gave her a caring look.

“There is nothing you can do to stop this. However, once this is all over with, you won’t have to worry about this tv show anymore,” she said, and Ashta only nodded.

“Do you need anything? I am going to go use the restroom before this thing starts.”

Ashta shook her head.

“Okay, I will be right back,” said Riah as she got up from her seat.

*********************

“Hey Ray, can you run to the concession stand and grab me a glass of ice? I want to keep my victory drink nice and cold for when I beat this sucker,” asked Roman, and Ray nodded and left the room.

Quickly, Riah used the restroom and then she headed back to Ashta and the others. Evidently, Ray wasn’t paying attention to where he was going and he ran straight into Riah. Both of them yelled out as they toppled to the ground and Riah looked at the man annoyed.

“Ow! Watch where you are going!” exclaimed Riah, as she looked at Ray, and he looked at her with an apologetic look on his face.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t...”

He trailed off as he looked up at her. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Quickly, Ray scrambled to his feet and he held out his hands to help her up.

“My apologies,” he said respectfully, as Riah looked up at him and took his hands.

Who is this gorgeous creature? she wondered, as Ray pulled her to her feet.

“I’m sorry too,” she said shyly, and then she looked away.

“My name is Ray. I am the right-hand man of the prince, and he is also my cousin,” he introduced, and at that moment, Riah felt like kicking herself.

Why do the gods do this to me? Why does the most handsome man I have ever seen in my life have to be connected with that arrogant jerk of a man? she wondered, as she smiled at him.

“I am Riah. I am the right-hand woman to the princess.”

By the look on Ray’s face, he seemed to be thinking the same thing that she was at that moment.

“Damn, that means...”

“Yeah,” Riah agreed, as she cut him off.

“Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, and between you and me, I would definitely like to see you again,” he said in a low voice, and Riah gave him a knowing look.

“You know how that story ends, and so do I. Let’s just leave this up to fate and the gods decide. If it is in their will, then fear not my handsome friend. We will meet again,” she said quietly, and Ray’s face lit up.

At that moment, Riah hurried off to get back to her seat, and Ray watched her as he walked up to the concession stand.

********************

Happily, Riah found her seat and she sat down next to Ashta, and she looked at her in question.

“What are you so happy about?” she asked, and Riah grinned at her.

“Well, I ran into someone, a very handsome someone, but unfortunately, that handsome someone is off limits,” Riah said with a sigh, and Ashta looked at her.

“Who?”

“His name is Ray, and he is the prince’s cousin and errand boy,” explained Riah.

“Errand boy?” Ashta asked in wonderment, and Riah nodded.

“Yeah, he called himself his right-hand man, kind of like me. You called me your right-hand girl,” Riah said with a knowing look, and Ashta laughed.

“Really?” Riah nodded.

Suddenly, the lights flickered in the arena, and the loud annoying siren went off as the girls covered their ears.

************************

“Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to another main event night here in the fight world.”

Ashta and Riah made their hands talk and they chanted bla, bla, bla as the announcers went through their whole spiel. Gale and Liam looked at them with a disapproving look, and the girls stopped and straightened in their seats.

Evidently. Damian came out first because he was the challenger, and they always introduced the challenger before the prince. Damian walked out into the arena and Ashta and Riah cheered loudly for him. Proudly, Damian smiled up at them and then he winked at Ashta.

Then the music started and Roman was introduced as he walked out of the door on the opposite side of the arena. At that moment, Roman threw out his arms and roared at the crowd. The crowd went nuts, and Roman noticed Ashta as he scanned the crowd.

Ashta and Riah looked at each other and then they looked back at him. Bored, Riah rolled her eyes and she looked back at Ashta as she laughed.

“Lame,” Riah said and Roman sneered, as he looked up at her.

“Well, someone is in a bad mood,” Riah said dramatically.

Ashta nodded as she looked back at Roman, and at that moment, their eyes locked. Suddenly, Roman shook his head back and forth.

Don’t let her tricks affect you! he told himself, as he looked up and sneered at Ashta. At that moment, Ashta put her hands up and made a dramatic face.

“Oh, he is so scary,” she said, and Riah laughed.

Angrily, he glared at the girls. He did not like being laughed at. He decided that he would deal with them after he dealt with Damian.

“I see you brought your girlfriend with you. Maybe you should have left her at home. This is going to get ugly,” Roman snarled, and Damian smirked at him.

“What, and have her miss out on the ass whooping of your career?” he laughed, and Roman growled a warning growl at him.

Suddenly, the buzzer rang and Roman looked at Damian thoughtfully.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, and Damian gave him a clipped nod.

“Alright, but it’s your funeral,” said Roman, as he shook his shoulders.

At that moment, Damian lunged at Roman, grabbed him by the back of the head, and then slammed his face into his knee. Immediately, Roman reared back and shook his head as he wiped his nose. He smirked as he saw the blood from his nose on his fingertips.

Damian didn’t hesitate, before Roman could gain his senses, Damian jumped up in the air and punched Roman in the side of the head. He took a couple of steps back and then he looked at Damian with wild eyes. Again, Damian was quick on his feet, and he ran at Roman. This time Roman pulled his hand back and then he open-hand slapped Damian in the face as hard as he could.

Evidently, Damian stumbled backward, and this is when Roman saw his moment to strike. He ran up to Damian, grabbed him by his waist, launched him over his head, and then back on the ground. Damian’s back hit the ground hard, and he arched in pain. Horrified, Riah and Ashta gasped.

“Get up!” Ashta cried, and Damian looked up at her, as he winced in pain.

Swiftly, Damian jumped to his feet and he snarled angrily at the prince. Roman growled, and without warning, he sped toward Damian. His shoulder hit Damian’s ribs and they both flew to the ground with a loud thud. Immediately, Roman jumped to his feet and roared at the crowd, and the fans roared with him.

Seemingly, Damian got to his feet and shook his head as Roman looked back at him and glared at him. Ashta realized just what Roman had planned to do next, and she stared in horror.

At that moment, Roman ran at Damina, jumped in the air, and punched Damian full force in the jaw. The whole arena gasped, as everyone heard the sickening c***k of Damian’s neck breaking.

“No!” Ashta cried, as she stood up.

Roman looked back at Damian as his lifeless body fell to the ground.

“He killed him! That bastard killed him!” Ashta exclaimed, as Riah grabbed onto her.

Abruptly, Ashta pulled away from her best friend, and then immediately, she was nose to nose with Roman. The crowd, Gale, Liam, and Riah watched silently as they angrily stared at each other.

“You didn’t have to kill him!” Ashta snarled in his face, and he held her gaze.

“Your boyfriend challenged me to a fight to the death match. Honey, that’s how it works. Two walk in, and one walks out. You know how it goes,” he sneered.

“You pride yourself now because you killed a Slayer. Yay! Good boy, you can beat up people who aren’t as strong as you. That doesn’t make you a champion. That makes you a bully and a coward!” Ashta said, as her nostrils flared, and angrily, Roman looked at her.

“It’s not my fault that everyone in the land is a weakling,” Ashta smirked at him.

“Not everyone in the land, your highness!” she snarled in a challenging tone.

“Is that a challenge?” he snarled at her, and she held his intense gaze.

“You think that you are the smartest, so you tell me!” she growled at him, and his eyebrows shot down in anger.

“You are going to be sorry, princess, when I tear you apart in front of your people!” he growled, and she sneered at him.

“We will see about that!” she snarled.

Suddenly, Roman reached out to snatch her throat, but Ashta quickly jumped back and she did a series of quick fluent movements. At that moment, a large ball of water flew at Roman, and soaked him from head to toe.

“I thought you could use a cool off there, hothead,” Ashta laughed.

Angrily, Roman super sped to her and snatched her by the throat as he slammed her against the wall, and she stared at him with wide eyes. Oddly, Roman looked away as he began squeezing her neck.

“So, you are not even going to look at me?” she snarled, as she clawed at his hand.

Roman still didn’t look at her as he continued to squeeze his hand.

“You know, not for nothing. Damian never had a chance with me because my heart has always belonged to you,” she said, breathlessly, as it was getting harder to breathe.

Stop it,” he mumbled.

“Roman, look at me. So, you can see that I am telling the truth,” Ashta pleaded, as she gasped for air, but he still didn’t look at her.

“Oh, my gods. He is going to kill her!” exclaimed Riah, horrified.

Gale and Liam were also concerned about their niece. Malevolent, Maya watched hoping her stepson would end this once and for all. Suddenly, Ashta felt very light-headed, and she fought against it.

“Roman, I have always loved you. I just wanted you to know that before you strangle the life out of me,” she said softly.

Aggressively, Roman shook his head as he was beginning to feel light-headed too.

“Stop it!” he snarled again.

“Then look at me, you coward!” she snarled, and at that moment, his head snapped back at her.

He glared at her angrily with tears in his eyes. At that moment, Ashta called upon the fire element and held a ball of fire in her hand.

“Don’t make me do this,” she breathed, as tears streamed down her face, and his grip seemed to loosen.

Suddenly, Ashta and Roman screamed out in pain as their backs began to burn fiercely, and to the crowd's amazement, the two of them were lifted into the air.

“What is happening to them?” Riah asked, and Gale shook his head.

“Maybe the gods are finally stepping in,” Liam suggested, and Gale nodded.

“I hope so,” she said, as she looked up at Roman and Ashta.

************************

Suddenly, Ashta fell to the ground, as she coughed and gasped for air. Roman was already on his feet and he frantically looked around. Evidently, they were in one of the elemental realms, but this one was different. It was a flat rocky plain with a purple sky. At that moment, Roman turned to Ashta and then he growled angrily.

“It’s not the arena, but I guess this will do,” he snarled, as Ashta scrambled to her feet and glared at him.

“You need to stop right there! The gods have summoned us for a reason!” she growled a warning growl, and Roman rolled his eyes at her.

“They probably wanted to be closer to the action and watch me end the mistake they created,” he snarled, and Ashta looked at him in awe.

“You really have a way with words, but I beg to differ. You must be the mistake. I mean I am more powerful than you,” she said, as she huffed a laugh, and Roman laughed at her.

“You are delusional,” he stated, and Ashta gave him a knowing look.

“Oh, yeah? Well, can you do this?” she asked, and she made a fireball appear in her hand.

Annoyed, Roman looked at her and then he held out his hand.To his surprise, nothing happened, and then he looked at her.

“Yeah, so I would change your tone, sir,” she said, as the fireball disappeared.

Roman sneered at her and then he unexpectedly lunged at her. Evidently, he knocked her to the ground, pulled his fist back to punch her in the face when a loud male’s voice echoed across the sky.

“ENOUGH!” boomed a voice.