Chapter 4
1100 Words
VALERIE POV
The crowd's silence grew louder. Dreaded, heads turned at each other but no one spoke. The announcer looked up to my father for his approval who responded with a nod.
Devon's eyes still hooked onto me as his horse slowly moved to position, I swallowed deep. Sweat slid from my hairline, settling against my skin.
His armor stood out among the silver knights. Black, with Golden stripes around it.
His helmet wasn't just armor, it bore a face. A lion forged in dark metal, its jaws set, its eyes hollow and unblinking.
His gaze shifted sharply to another figure and his face almost immediately twisted in annoyance. I traced his eyes and it fell onto ser Lucian who mounted his horse opposite him.
The other contestants lined up, Three against three.
The horses restless stompings, maybe they felt it too.The calmness in the air, the kind that brought chaos afterwards.
My hands tightened nervously around the chair.
The contestants raised their lances, shafts braced against their chests, tips angled toward the men opposite them. Wood and steel aligned in a single waiting line.
A squire stepped forward at Devon’s side, offering his. He didn’t take it.
The boy hesitated, arm still outstretched—then slowly lowered it. A shift moved through the stands. Not loud. But just enough.
Devon turned slightly.
For a moment, the distance between us thinned—his gaze finding mine, holding just long enough to settle something unspoken.
Then it broke.
His hand rose instead to his helm.
Metal slid into place with a low, final sound as he pulled the lion’s face fully down, sealing himself behind it.
A horn blew out.
Then horses lunged forward, hooves tearing into the softened ground as the distance collapsed in seconds. Shields collided, wood and iron crashing together in a burst of force that echoed through the arena.
Mud kicked up beneath pounding hooves. Metal clashed. Shouts rose and broke apart just as quickly.
The arena erupted into the crowd's gasps and cheers, but in the midst of the chaos two remained unshaken.
Devon and Ser Lucian.
Their eyes locked onto each other, and in the blink of an eye they lunged forward. Distance covering between them in a flash.
Ser Lucian aimed his lance for Devon's head but Devon leaned, his back resting on the moving horse spreading his hands like a bird. As though one familiar with the chaos, free and unbothered.
I let out a breath I didn't realize I held, my heartbeat grew rapid, impatiently hammering against my chest.
They faced each other off again, this time Devon pulled out his weapon. The length of a chain ending in a spiked iron ball.
They charged forward again, the chain snapped outward, the spiked ball cutting through the air with a sharp, vicious whistle before slamming into a Ser Lucian's shield.
The collision came hard.
Lucian’s horse reared violently, control breaking as it veered off. He hit the ground a second later, armor striking dirt with a dull, heavy sound.
A breath left me—unsteady, uninvited.
Devon turned his horse with quiet precision, guiding it back into position. Its hooves struck the ground in heavy, deliberate beats, tearing into the churned earth.
It seemed as though he was about to charge but then, he dismounted.
Boots met the ground without haste.
The chain dropped low at his side before lifting, the spiked ball beginning its slow, measured swing. Once, then again. Each turn of it cuts softly through the air.
Lucian steadied himself, shield rising, sword drawn in one clean motion. The blade caught the light—bright, unbroken.
Devon closed the distance. A blur broke from the side.
Another knight charged in, mace raised high before it came crashing down.
Gasps tore through the stands, Devon moved.
Not back…Aside.
The strike missed by inches.
The chain snapped outward.
Steel rang as the spiked ball slammed into the knight’s chest plate. Once.
Enough.
The force drove him back, balance lost before he hit the ground.
The roar that followed faltered, twisted into something uneven. Cheers thinning. Voices breaking into murmurs. A few jeers rose, sharp and misplaced.
Devon didn’t slow.
Each step carried him forward, steady, unbothered, the chain still moving—low, controlled, patient.
Only Lucian remained.
They charged, steel crashed.
The sound rang out, sharp and jarring as sword met chain, shield catching the next strike with a force that shuddered through it. The impact drove Lucian down to one knee, the ground giving slightly beneath him.
He didn’t stay there.
A kick drove forward—hard and direct. Devon staggered.
Lucian surged up with it, shield slamming into Devon’s helm with a violent crack.
The crowd erupted again.
Louder. Wilder.
Devon stepped back,once.
Then stilled.For a moment, nothing moved.
Then his hand rose.
Slow, deliberate.
The helm came free.
His face came into full view.
Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. He wiped at it with the back of his hand, then stilled—eyes dropping to the red smeared across his fingers.
Something shifted.
His jaw tightened. The lines of his face hardened, shadows settling deeper where the light had been.
The air thickened, filled with something heavier.
Across from him, Lucian let his shield fall. It hit the ground with a dull weight, both hands closing around the hilt of his sword as he steadied himself.
This time Devon made the first attack, his movements deadlier, he moved faster than the shadows behind him. Waves of hits onloaded on ser Lucian.
He forcefully connected his head to the bridge of Ser Lucian’s nose, sending the knight of his feet, the arena returned to its silence. Everyone waited for Devon's final blow as he slowly approached Ser Lucian.
Then his eyes shifted to me, those Hazel eyes seemed to pause time between us for a moment. My blood iced, my heart stopped, at least for me it did, he was all that came to view. Whatever this feeling was, it was one I didn't wish to go away.
For a brief moment I saw glimpses of emotion in his eyes, a smile nearly formed on his lips right before impact.
A wooden shield slammed through his head, shattering on impact. Blood rushed down from his head, his eyes still staring at me.
I stood to my feet before I could even think, my shaky hands covered my mouth. His gaze faded like a dying star, what looked like a smile slightly curled across his face, then he collapsed hardly on the ground.
And my heart followed.
- Writer
