Fight II

SINBAD Bang. Bang. Bang. The sleeping ferals were roused by the loud noise. We needed only one. Father zeroed in on a small feral. As if sensing his intent, Garsam smirked. "You think too little of me, alpha," his eyes narrowed. "Why don't you take another pick, eh?" Father's jaw ticked, but he turned away from the little feral. He found a bigger one, but there was not much difference. Prince Garsam sighed but nodded. "Fine, I won't make things difficult for you... but after I defeat it, I get to choose who I fight next, hmm?" "Your Highness!" "Alpha!" Sparks flew, and not the good kind. Neither backed down. 'Dad, be calm,' I whispered through the mind link. 'It is not legal to whoop a royal ass,' I added with mirth. No matter how deserving. Dad visibly loosened up and nodded at the young prince. "As you wish, Your Highness." Father stared at the chosen feral in silent command. The feral whimpered in resistance, but it still walked out. Although senseless, a feral still had to bow to the might of an alpha. Unfortunately, father could only control one feral at a time. And even that was tasking. Once the feral was out of the room, I slammed the bolt back into place. The three of us withdrew to a corner, leaving Garsam and the whimpering feral in the middle of the room. Father blinked slowly, releasing his hold on the feral. He staggered a bit and rubbed his temple. I held his arm. He shook me off. "This old man can still stand on his own," he murmured. I turned to the feral. It was no longer stooping. As I watched it stretch to its full height, I became worried. It didn't look so small anymore. Perhaps we were fooled by its size as it curled up in sleep, and father had it suppressed so it was hunched over. Now that it was free, it was easily twice Garsam's height. Although it was frightfully thin, I didn't think that would stop it from doing much damage. My thoughts began to stray to darker parts. What if the feral killed Garsam? The royal pack will wage war against us, and no other pack would dare to help us. We would be alone, destroyed. All my friends and family. I won't allow any member of my pack—maybe except Sue and Beta Charl—to come to harm because of a headstrong heir! I started forward when I felt a hot rush of power force me back. Father, whom I glanced at, was also surprised, but he only showed it by the slight twitch of his brows. Logan, on the other hand, looked bored. "Don't look so amazed, kid. He's using less than a quarter of his aura." What?? I tried to restrain myself as I ogled the royal heir. Now that I looked closely, I could see something about him—a thin red glow. Garsam stood straight as a rod. He raised a hand and gestured to the feral. "You first," his tone was deeper, filled with power yet insufferably cocky. At that point, the feral seemed to understand the purpose for its summons. The tar-faced beast peeled back its lips to reveal a mass of rotting, brown but razor-sharp teeth. Garsam didn't even blink. He just stood there, and for a second, his nose twitched like he smelt something bad. I had no doubt he did—the ferals weren't known to be big on hygiene. With an audible swoosh, the monster struck at the royal heir. My heart constricted, but Garsam bent backwards at an odd angle that made me cringe. His bones were definitely not meant to go in that direction. The strike missed its target, but the force of the move propelled the beast forward. It struck the ground face first and howled in pain. When it stood back up, I could see its eyes turning a shocking shade of red. "Weak," Garsam spat. "Slow." His stance was relaxed now. He lazily waved again, signaling for the feral to attack. By now, the beast's eyes were dark as a blood moon. Chaotic energy surrounded it. The air crackled with the sickeningly sweet smell of a witch or something touched by a witch. "Sam, get this over with. It's nearly lunchtime," Logan grumbled with a yawn. Garsam shrugged. "Where's the fun in that? You can leave for lunch if you wish." Logan bristled. He seethed, "No need, it's not like I'll starve. Take your time." Garsam nodded but sighed. "Actually, this is a bit drab." He charged forward so fast I could only see afterimages. The feral was not idle. It moved and dodged a precarious strike, one that would have easily felled a grown wolf. A bleeding gash on its shoulder showed that it did not escape unscathed. The feral howled, an ear-piercing ring that made me cringe. Bouncing off the ground, the heir moved forward again. His dark gloves hid the blood, but it dripped on the ground. "Heh, ready for round two?" Garsam asked. "Dodge this." This time, there were no afterimages. Just a murderous blade-like wind. Garsam moved so fast I couldn't follow. I watched in horror as several claw mark slashes coated the feral's body. It swiped uselessly around, meeting nothing but air. Its painful howls shook the ground. I wanted to stop the heir, but how? I now knew that he could easily finish the feral, but instead, he left deep, painful yet nonfatal cuts on the feral. A minute later, the feral was a bloody mess. Pieces of ink-black flesh hung loosely on its bone. Yes, I could see the bone, stark white against the black skin. I shuddered. The heir was a monster, not unlike the ferals, maybe even worse. "Disgusting," Garsam said as he took off his gloves. He let them fall to the ground. They landed with a sickening squelch. Despite the gloves, his slender snow-white hands were stained with blood. He shook his hands with a look of pure disgust. "I'm going to take a shower... a long one. Let my lunch be brought up to my room." And he walked out of the room, up the winding steps, and away from the blood he just shed. Logan barely glanced at the feral. He nodded at father and bounded out the door after his friend.