Eric rushed forward, his eyes burning with tears. He felt averse to attacking someone that was once so close to him, but the feeling of betrayal spurred him past his reluctance! He swung his blade straight at his old friend's throat.
Kendall ducked under the blade and drew his short swords in an instant. He cut into Eric's sides. Shallow cuts that were just deep enough to let blood seep out.
Eric winced and jumped back, his eyes never moving away from Kendall. Kendall chased sending the boys in an intense back-and-forth clash!
The sound of the intense clashes resounded around the empty coliseum! The fight had no audience, just the two old friends fighting to the death!
"Rah!" Eric roared as he swung his blade at the edge of his reach. Kendall leaned back, avoiding the attack with his upper body! Eric was quick to notice that this left his friend's lower body open and slashed into Kendall's thigh!
Eric's cut was deep. It should have been enough to make Kendall pause for a moment. However, Kendall's face showed no pain.
He grinned, a wild grin that made it seem like he didn't take damage. "Yes, that's it!" he cheered, then charged forth with more energy. "Fight me, Eric! Face me like the warriors of the past used to face each other! Make me bleed!"
Eric's expression shifted to deep disgust. "You sick freak! Are you enjoying this?" he was stunned by Kendall's excitement.
A mistake that Kendall took advantage of. He lunged forward and swung both of his blades along the same line, cutting across Eric's chest deeply.
Eric stumbled back, groaning in pain. He let his guard down, and it got him injured. He placed a hand on his wound and glanced up at Kendall.
Kendall sneered at his old friend. "Don't let your guard down, Eric." Kendall quickly licked Eric's blood from his blade. Eric felt his stomach turn at the sight, but did what he could to not vomit for the second time today.
He clicked his teeth and charged at his opponent. He swung his blade with shaky confidence. Eric had only been training with Colson and Nasak for four months at this point.
During that time, his skills had improved greatly, but not enough to be called average. He was just at the very edge of being a novice swordsman, so his sword skills were far from perfect.
Even as he tried to attack his old friend, his mistakes were obvious. Mistimed swings, gripping the hilt too tightly, and not correctly gauging the distance.
However, he didn't have time to worry about his lack of skill. This was a battle with grave consequences and, skilled or not, he had to fight.
Eric swung at Kendall, but the attack was too wide. Kendall easily dodged it.
He tried to make up for his mistake by going for a block, but he misread Kendall and still took a hit. Eric tripped and tried to regain his balance before Kendall attacked again.
However, there was no attack. Eric steadied himself and looked up at his old friend in confusion. "Why didn't you attack me?"
"Why are you fighting so weirdly, Eric?" Kendall tilted his head with interest. "It's like you're trying your best not to look like a baby chick that's never held a sword before? Did you forget where we are?"
Kendell spread his arms in a swooping motion, gesturing to the surrounding room. "We're fighting in the halls of our ancestors!"
"We are the last remaining members of the almighty Sanguine Clan! A group of fighters brought together by war and bloodshed! Transformed by it! We are supposed to show our fallen comrades that we have not forgotten the things that made this clan feared!" Kendall reached behind himself and pulled out an ornate ritual dagger.
One that looked exactly like Eric's. His eyes narrowed as he waited to see what Kendall had planned.
Kendall turned to Eric while presenting the dagger. "You still have yours, right?" He asked expectantly. "The gift that we received from the Scavenger Ruins?"
Eric's brows folded together. He withdrew his own ritual dagger. This thing held the blood of his fallen friends, but also signified his survival.
He couldn't bring himself to get rid of it.
Kendall's eyes lit up. "You do still have it! So, you aren't a lost cause after all." Kendall let out a sigh of relief, which bewildered Eric further.
"Now we can do the ritual. I'm so happy!"
"What?" Eric asked, but got no response.
Kendall held the dagger in front of his chest, resting it against his brand. The brand emitted an unsettling red hue, the usual sign that it was activating. The light then transferred from the mark to the ritual dagger, something that Eric didn't know was possible.
Kendall dragged the dagger's flat side along his arm and finally spoke. "We, as members of this great clan, offer our magic to the God of Blood, Sanguis!"
Eric frowned. Was this some sort of pledge? He felt his own mark burn in his chest. It was reacting to the words. 'What is this?'
He looked down at it and saw the light glowing, almost in challenge of Kendall's.
"We ask for your blessing in overseeing our exchange, allowing us to trade blood for blood." Kendall pierced his own hand with the blade's tip. Blood dripped down the ruby blade of the dagger.
His eyes opened, and he met Eric's uncertain gaze. He glanced at the boy's dagger, then back up at him. 'Does he want me to do it too?'
Eric felt a pull from within as he started repeating the movements. Holding the dagger against his chest, sliding it down his arm, then piercing his hand and letting the blood drip down the blade.
Now that the blood was dripping from both blades, the daggers shone with a brilliant red light! The lights from the boys' blades brightened the entire coliseum arena that they'd been fighting in.
Eventually, the glow dimmed but didn't fade, as though waiting for the last piece of the puzzle. Kendall zipped over to Eric, startling the boy.
He caressed Eric's hand and lifted it until it was right in front of his face. Then, he extended his tongue and licked Eric's blood off Eric's blade.
"Your blood, my blood, with this exchange we are bound as rivals..." Kendall smiled at Eric with uncontained anticipation. He lifted his dagger to Eric's lips and waited for him to once again do the same as he.
Eric, however, had no intention of repeating that step. His face twisted into indignation. He kicked Kendall away, more out of disgust than fear or rage.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Eric accused. The light from the daggers faded. Eric's actions forcibly ended the ceremony. Kendall looked at Eric, his face darkened with rage.
"What am I doing? You just ruined the ritual! What the hell is wrong with you?!" he gripped the handle of his blade tightly. "My master told me this was the only way, and you ruined it!"
"Who the hell is this master that keeps telling you all this random bullshit? What ritual was that?"
"The Sanguine Duel Ritual!" Kendall exclaimed. "The ritual to determine the true descendant of the clan!"
Sanguine Duel Ritual. Eric had never heard of such a thing? However, the way Kendall glared at him proved that he'd made a mistake.
"Fine," Kendall relented. "If you don't want to do it this way, then I'll just have to force you too." Kendall's mark shined once again, without a ritual. He was activating his magic.
"Just remember, I tried being respectable about this!" Kendall rushed forward and swung his blades at Eric. Eric narrowly dodged, only for a bit of his old friend's blood to land on him.
And it burned. The blood on his cheek burned so much!
"Why does it burn!?" Eric screamed in pain. Kendall didn't answer. He kicked the boy hard in his gut, knocking him to the ground. Kendall lifted his blades and stabbed them through Eric's legs!
Eric howled, but Kendall showed no remorse. He had gone totally cold, no longer holding the warmth of an old friend, nor the mania that he'd just been exhibiting.
He just silently but into Eric. Eric tried to fight, but the attacks were endless. He was stabbed and carved ruthlessly until his body felt weak.
Eric's blood spilled across the floor. After several minutes of screaming, the boy finally had no more energy to scream with. Kendall debilitated him, leaving him on the ground on his back. Light-headed and filled with a newfound fear of this person whom he once called friend.
There was no part of him that was without lacerations. Tears leaked from his eyes. "Kendall, why?"
It took all his energy to ask that one question. His eyes searched Kendall's face for any sign of the boy he once knew. Kendall pulled his hood up and tossed Eric over his shoulder.
"You killed Kendall, remember?" The boy's words were cold, unrecognizable to Eric. Not the cheerfulness or kindness that he associated with Kendall.
He was a different person from the one he knew.
"I'm just Merko, the Descendent."