CHAPTER 64: HE’S OUT FOR BLOOD

Everything around Theodora went still for a moment. Did they just say...Eric Pendragon?!

No-no, no, no, no.

Her stomach dropped so harshly that she felt dizzy for a second. She was supposed to fight Eric?! But that’s impossible!

Eric- her Eric? Her best friend, the man she had given her heart to. The boy she’s climbed roofs with, shared secrets with and had numerous laughter and breakdowns with.

And she was supposed to fight him now?

She felt sick in her stomach.

"You look like you’re about to shit bricks," Roman said, appearing from wherever the hell he’s been all this time.

Theo ignored him, her eyes glued to Eric who was now stepping into the arena. He looked focused and calm, the spark opposite of what she was feeling now.

She had said she was gonna use whichever opponent she got to sweep the floor, and now she couldn’t do that.

She forced her legs to move and stepped into the arena, Roman right behind her.

The instructor by the weapons area opened a long, black case beside the arena wall. Silver glinted. Blades. Spears. Axes. Clubs. Chains. Throwing daggers. Two-handed greatswords. A wicked hooked scythe.

Roman immediately grabbed a heavy broadsword, as expected from a brute like him.

Theo forced her shaking hands to move. She chose a twin-curved falchion, light enough for speed, strong enough to parry daggers or fend off longer weapons. The grip settled into her palm easily.

Across the ring, Eric took a long-handled wolf-forged jian, pale steel with a silver hilt.

A precision blade.

As everyone settled into their positions, she kept staring at him. But his eyes remained fixed somewhere else.

He wouldn’t even look at her.

And it hurt.

She was the one who was supposed to be angry.

She searched his face one more time for any sign of that familiar warmth in his eyes. But Eric’s gaze was cold. It was either that he was taking this match very seriously or there was something else.

Even though, no matter what, he should at least look at her.

The moment the horn blared, Eric lunged straight at her.

Caught off guard, Theodora twisted out of the blade’s path, shock and disbelief colouring her eyes.

"What the hell, Eric?" She shouted.

He didn’t answer.

He pivoted again and attacked. She blocked this time, her falchion against his jian.

From the side, she heard Roman murmur in a deliberate, unsettling voice, "Well, isn’t this a pleasant surprise,"

She turned sharply to him. Did he know something...or did something?

Eric pressed forward again, relentlessly, his eyes glowing with a sharp, terrifying intensity she had never seen on him, not in a decade of friendship.

"Eric, STOP!" She tried again, but his attacks wouldn’t stop coming.

His silence feared her more than his blade. It was the kind of silence of someone who refused to hear her at all, who seemed to have heard everything from someone else.

Her eyes suspiciously darted over to Roman again, who stood there, enjoying what he was watching.

She hissed and jumped out of the way of another attack, "Eric," She took a step back cautiously, "I don’t know why you’re being this aggressive, but can you stop for a moment and tell me what all this is about? Did Roman tell you something? Are you...,"

He immediately closed the distance between them and grabbed an opening he found. His fists came slamming into her ribs so hard she heard a crack at the back of everything, right before she was sent flying across the arena.

She slammed into the walls so hard that it caused a huge dent and several cracks, and the whole arena shook a bit from the impact.

Pain wracked through her body, and she groaned, especially from her chest and head. When she opened her eyes, her sight was covered with blood running down her head, and she tasted something metallic in her mouth.

"Eric...," She groaned.

*Yeah, you need to start beating the shit out of him* Seraphina said, still stirring restlessly.

*What?*

*Or he’s gonna beat the shit out of you, as you can see* she added

*Eric isn’t doing this because he wants to. Roman must have poisoned his mind or something* she defended.

*Yeah? And how exactly did Roman know that Eric would be your opponent and miraculously got enough time to quickly taint his mind about you from the moment you were both called to the moment Roman returned*

That was true. No one knows the arrangement of the fight till the last minute.

*Well, it’s possible he could have done that to every second-year* She defended again.

*You need to stop being so in love for a moment, Theo. No matter what you think might have happened, the endpoint is that Eric is trying to kill you. We can figure out what happened after the match. You didn’t just come to Gravemont to hide, you also came here to survive! Just imagine what could go wrong if you get beaten up - the Second-years would come after you, you would be so vulnerable. And what if during the attack the pendant comes off...what are we gonna-*

*Fine! I get your point. I’ll fight back!* Theo snapped.

Then, she stood up to her feet and stared at Eric.

She couldn’t believe this was actually real. That a day like this would come when she would have to keep her feelings aside, and actually draw blood from her own best friend.

Her chest squeezed badly at the thought, and tears pooled in her eyes.

But she didn’t let them fall. She swallowed them back and sucked in a deep breath.

*I don’t know if I can do this* She said softly, gripping her weapon even tighter.

*You have no other choice, Theo. You have to fight him, then we’ll know the truth*

Steeling her mind for something like this was difficult. The thought of hitting her best friend had her limbs trembling and her mind conflicted. She’s always been too soft whenever it came to Eric.

*I hate this* She murmured, closing her eyes.

*Just think of the risks. And remember, he’s not your best friend right now, he’s a man out for blood. And that blood, is yours!*

With her eyes closed, the noise of the arena became distorted around her, thinning till she had cancelled out all the noise from her head. Every moment she had spent with Eric slowly disappeared, till her mind was blank.

Her claws grew out of her nails and toes, and when she opened her eyes, her expression was neutral.

*Attack, Theo* Seraphina whispered to her.

And with that, she sprang toward her opponent.