Choosing to say out of the Alliance, the Cinders are isolated in their own conflicts, and when Helia Cinder reaches to the void for answers, she inadvertently draws a creature out. Expecting to be eaten alive, she is instead left with a man with no...
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Sampson and Rodney fought, facing off in a circle of movement, each mirroring the other as they moved around the furthest reaches. They waited for the other to make the first move, and it wouldn't be Rodney if he was smart, or if he had been fighting to win. That was why Stone was not surprised when Rodney dashed for Sampson. A quick exchange of blows had Sampson clutching his side, but Rodney took a hit to the back of his shoulder that sent him sprawling to the ground. Sampson recovered quickly to slam a foot down on Rodney, but he rolled to the side, swinging a kick into the back of Sampson's knee.
All of the weight had Sampson shaking the arena as he dropped to a knee, but he quickly recovered to swat at Rodney's approach from above like he was a fly. The hit landed squarely in Rodney's abdomen and he flew before colliding with the far wall. A cheer went up from half the humans while another third encouraged Rodney from the sidelines. The women favored Rodney's pretty face, while the betting men wanted to see him fall. The remaining bystanders had bet on Rodney and were gnashing their teeth in despair as he appeared to be outmatched.
It was all for show, of course, Rodney taking each blow and landing each hit in a calculated charade that made him appear to struggle with the bigger and better man as he fought with mere tenacity and force of will. That was what humans liked the most, watching the underdog triumph. It gave them hope that they could rise against their own struggles to be something more, and Rodney was playing to every ounce of that.
The progression of the fight didn't matter, the outcome was guaranteed. Rodney took hit after hit, bones cracking, bruises marring his extensive bare muscles, and blood splattering onto the concrete around them. And just as Sampson thought he'd worn him down enough for the finishing blow, Rodney made his move, managing to glance his death off into his leg, which snapped like a children's toy, but Rodney's hands were free to crack Sampson over the head and put him down after the fight of a lifetime.
The crowd silenced as Rodney hobbled to his feet, blood dripping down Sampson's cracked skull as he struggled to remain conscious. There wasn't enough in the man to stand, which meant Rodney had won, and hoots of triumph went up over a much smaller part of the crowd while the other swam in curses and men getting up and leaving in a huff. Sampson had been favored, had absorbed the money of greater men, and they would take out their anger somewhere. From the muttering, Stone gleaned that Rodney had not won something this important in some time.
This put Rodney and Horus in danger, and Stone didn't like it.
The uneasy feeling of the scorned gamblers followed them to the outside of the coliseum as they departed. Horus and Rodney chatted on as if this were just another day of profits as they walked an empty alley to a distant transportation panel, but Stone's senses remained homed in on every noise around them. The approach of their human aggressors was loud and drew Horus and Rodney's attention, but Stone ignored the obvious confrontation for the softer sounds, the tapping of deft vampire feet on metal roofs, and the decent of dark magic faster than a human could sense. Stone spun, landing his foot square in a vampire's jaw and sending him flying into an empty shack not too far.
