The Gods' Decree

With her arms outstretch Rita grabbed for what could now be deemed hers with the victory, Niesha"s marker. She, however, became jolted when seeing a young man who comparable to a ghost appear out of thin air. He now gripped her arm strongly, so much so, that she could not move a muscle.

When Rita stared in his eyes a previous angry once more found. She would never forget that confident gaze which seemingly saw no equal. Not even Jason who was the peak of all genius had such eyes. This was the reason she loathed him so much even with him not utter a word in her direction in their first meeting.

He was the epitome of pride. A real egomaniac. Of course, there was only one such person, Taf,

"Pity us meeting like this. I was quite grateful for your a.s.sistance in the swamps, but I am sorry I can"t allow this to go any further."

As Taf spoke behind him, May had lifted the helpless Niesha to her feet who sobbed.

"May?!"

With tears in her eyes Niesha question as she saw her friend, the tears now flowed more intensely. This was not what she had envisioned when once more reunited with her squadmates. Being a damsel in distress only furthered her shame in losing.

"Hey, keep your head high. This isn"t the end of the world." May smiled as she wiped away Niesha"s tears. 

Seeing the two interfering like this truly infuriated Rita, who were they to dare meddle in her affairs?

"Get lost!""

Rita yelled in anger smas.h.i.+ng down with one of her batons to relieve herself of Taf"s restraint. Yet she became dumbfounded when he simply outstretch his hand swiftly s.n.a.t.c.hing the baton from her grasp. 

This should not be possible as she knew the secrets behind her attack. At this moment his hand should be limp. What on earth was going on? Did he perhaps have a secret hidden of his own?

While Rita pondered the outcome of the small scuffle, Taf examined the baton in his hand. It was quite peculiar, essentially when grabbing it within his palm, he felt as though the whole arm was about to lose all of its functions. If not for his quick thinking sending out a small static pulse this would have indeed been the case.

"Aren"t you full of surprises?"

He uttered before throwing the baton to Rita who hateful glared at him. Everyone had their secrets so he pried no further. 

As Rita caught her previously s.n.a.t.c.hed weapon she wondered how if Taf possibly might have gained some clues to her technique with but a touch.

This would be preposterous, so the thought was discarded immediately from her mind. She then replied with a sneer,

"So is it that you plan to interfere? Make my day and say yes. Ever since that day we met, I have longed to meet you once more."

"You see, I know I am a catch, but I have to stop you right there. I am already spoken for."

Taf shrugged as he playfully tilted is head in May"s direction. This made Rita a bit redfaced as he took her words out of context.

"You narcissistic scoundrel, that"s not what I meant." She yelled incensed by his insinuations. How highly does one have to think of themselves to come to such a conclusion?

"I"m flattered, not only have you tried courting me but you have spoken so highly of me, yet I tend to prefer, Sir Mouse," Taf responded with a smile ignoring Rita"s words as she raged in anger the more he spoke. 

Nevertheless, the last part of his statement did cause her to reflect a bit.

"You"re that Sir Mouse?"

Rita questioned as within the raged subsided it was replaced with excitement and intrigue. Now a glint reflected in her eyes similar to when she had stalked Niesha. Seems there was something to him indeed to have caught her master"s eye.

"Don"t tell me you"re also a fan?"

Hearing Taf"s cavalier tone masked in satire was perhaps what irked Rita"s spirit the most. Therefore she tried her utmost to ignore his words,

"So I am guessing your companion is May,

Seems you two have garnered quite the accolades. Some even dare say your name fearing this might bring an ominous omen. "

She had heard the rumours of the two creating havoc everywhere they went. By their lonesome, they were indeed fearsome, Yet she was confident in her abilities to easily dispatch either of the two. The problem she faced, however, was that together they might be a formidable force.

Though she despised Taf and would love nothing more than to watch him crawling beneath her feet. Rational dictates that possibly it was too far of a stretch attempting to confront the couple. Perhaps ditching her squad was not the smartest thing she has done recently.

Rita looked pensively wondering when the two would make their move. She readied no matter what and if it is as she hypothesis she was ready to flee.

Yet she was surprised as they seem disinterested in a battle. Taf only casually glanced at her, while May took care of the wounded Niesha. Why didn"t they jumped at the chance to rid her of her marker?

Then she heard Taf nonchalantly uttered without any means of negotiation,

"We"re now going to leave and our squadmate will be joining us. Do take care."

Taf then made this way over to Niesha as May suggest he carry her in his arms. She then glanced at Rita whole returned her stare in kind. It would feel truly intoxicating returning the beating which Niesha had sustained at this girl"s hand. Yet, though outraged, May knew she had to keep it together.

This was a compet.i.tion, both her and Taf have been guilty of leaving tens of disciples scattered on the forest grounds incapacitated. Were they more justified in their acts? Still, she truly hoped Rita would simply give her a reason to retaliate. 

Unfortunately, Rita remained quiet as she scuffed at the two. At the moment they had the advantage of numbers but would that be the case when the arena battles begin? Now she truly hoped to face any of the two after the preliminaries had ended and the real tournament began.

??????

"Don"t tell me the reason neither of you battled Rita was a means of compensation for hindering her previously?" The momentarily paralysed Niesha asked with hints of shame in her voice.

"Nope, it"s quite simple really, I was just appreciative of the beating she bestowed." Taf laughed as he spoke but was nudged at his side by May to be a bit more sensitive to Niesha"s feelings.

Yet Niesha though previously tearful cracked a smile.

" Let me paraphrase for this dare fellow, Niesha. Rita stole something from you, as friends we witnessed the point she made you doubt yourself.

So we"ll give you an opportunity to recover what was stolen. That"s what friends do, they help the other to grow."

May then sought to enlighten her friend on the rationale behind their decision. Taf then added as he rubbed his chin instilling some wisdom,

"In a way, Rita might have done you quite the favour. Sure with your previous defeat, your splendour mind somewhat be diminished. Yet if we go through life not knowing defeat, the drive to become stronger will only diminish.

Taf side as he spoke his words of wisdom, however, May"s next words totally ruined his guiding moment,

" Pssh what do you know about defeat, Sir? Name the last person to have bested you. Acting like you"re some wise monk."

May jokingly uttered as Taf rolled his eyes while looking away shunning her as he rubbed his chin,

"I will not dignify that with a response, miss."

Seeing the two going back and forth did lift Niesha"s spirit. They were always a show when b.u.t.ting heads.

"We"ll get you in shape in no time and then go hunting for some markers. But before then May and I have a prior engagement and quite punctual."

May smiled as she knew what Taf meant by his wording. Niesha, on the other hand, was totally in the dark. Yet as Niesha looked at the two she had an ominous feeling the arriving night would be set ablaze.

??????

As the previous day went by Darwin went through a plethora of emotions. He had a plan and a goal. Neither was related to having any accomplishments regarding the tournament.

No!

They all revolved around one youth, who had killed the one person that was deemed most precious to him. Taf was the one that should have died, not her.

Yet hours after entering the forest he and his squadmates began hearing stories about the b.a.s.t.a.r.d who calls himself, Sir Mouse and his companion May.

At first, he sneered knowing Taf could not help to be the centre attention. Previously he had planned to use this to his advantage while stalking his prey. However, the stories started to take turns which were quite unprecedented.

Now Darwin realized how greatly he had underestimated this youth By his accolade even he was inferior by a distance. This was the first time in the three days that Darwin began to think with clarity.

If he were to continue to with his plans, wouldn"t he simply be sending himself and his squads to their slaughter? Slowly fear began to overwhelm him and he realized the ramifications of his previous actions.

You see, it"s one of the easiest things to condemn a man to death. But when death glooms for the prosecutor, it is at that moment he curses the world for being unjust.[1] 

This was Darwin. Sure he loved Laura, but she was dead and he was still living. Should he throw away his life for a now decomposing corpse?

Unedited Version

To be continued 

[1] ?