POV: Drake
“What do I call you?” Drake asked while waving to Baggage. She was far away. A dickhead was holding on to her. That asshole better wake up, because his insurance rates were about to quintuple.
“Not enough time to remember names. You call me ‘elf’. I will call you ‘guy’ or ‘dumbass’.”
“You’re a real shit considering I’m the only ally you have.”
“My species allied with demons. I’m evil.”
He had a point there, didn’t he?
“OK, elf. What spells do you know?”
“Bullshit ones. You want to give me that sword?”
“Not really. You can have my multitool for now.”
Drake tossed the evil elf his Leatherman.
“What kind of crap is this? Oh, hey, this is a handy little thing isn’t it?”
“”
The announcer was a weird orc-elf hybrid with a loud voice. He appeared stitched together as if he were a magical Frankenstein. He basked in the crowd’s adulation while sitting in an extended high chair like a tennis referee. Low tech. Drake looked back at the elf while the crowd of orcs, goblins, and Chthonic Elves yelled insults.
“Yeah, now stay behind me and keep me healed.”
“No. I’m going to run up that wall and use your tool to keep the crowd away and take the chance I can run faster than the guard.”
This elf prick was going to run on him? The shit better understand how far Drake’s reach was. He didn't bother aiming, just pointed his gun over the crowd.
The announcer yelled, “-”
*CRACK*
His evil elf’s jaw dropped. The crowd was silent. Did something happen?
Drake turned around. He had shot the announcer. The body fell off the chair and hit the ground with an unfortunate noise. Oops. Everyone was staring at him. Weirdos.
Drake shrugged and yelled, “WHAT?!”
Don’t get tickets for a blood sport and complain about the blood. Geez.
Over the sudden silence, Baggage’s voice was distant but clear. “Drake! It's December 16th!”
Why was she telling him that? What happened to ‘good luck’? Wait a minute, the 16th. He lost a day! Oh, that was fucking it!
“Hey, guy. Your girlfriend is hot. Real hot. A courtship dress, too!”
“She’s not my girlfriend, it’s complicated.” Drake unsheathed his sword and stuck it in the ground.
“And talk like that is why you’re the one named dumbass.”
Drake pointed the Glock at his evil elf fighting partner while the gates rose for the enemy.
“You stay exactly five feet behind me and keep out of my peripheral vision. Got it? You have three seconds to make yourself useful and learn a new spell.”
“I just happened to remember a couple! Lucky!”
The evil elf was taking things more seriously now. Good. Drake dropped to one knee.
“Guy? What-”
“Shut it elf.”
Monsters were charging. Time to see how hollow points worked on thicker skulls. He started with the minotaur in the back. Three shots.
Two ogres. Three shots each. Ten rounds total so far.
The elf was chatty and seemed to be casting a spell, his fingers were glowing, “You got more than six bullets? Are you from Earth?”
Six bullets? Oh, the elf was probably a century or more out of date on Earth firearms. Heh. Six shots? Eight? No. Drake’s Glock had an extended magazine. A big one.
The elf’s fingers stopped doing their weird glowing, the spell must be complete. Suddenly everyone else’s movement slowed down. Nice spell.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Drake squeezed off six shots for three orcs.
He repositioned to face the balcony, and the girls were already hitting the floor. Four shots to the balcony. That might give the ladies some leverage.
Goblins and orcs ran. He figured some of his shots missed. He could thin his enemies out more, but why do that when he could teach these guys a lesson?
He used two rounds to shoot a guard on one side of the small Colosseum and winged another. He used a few more rounds to deliberately target those in the audience carrying whips or chains. They were here for blood sport and a slave auction, Drake wasn’t giving anyone the benefit of a doubt.
He tossed the nearly empty gun to the ground and pulled the sword up. A white gleaming shield materialized out of the air and hovered in the air on his left. More friendly evil elf magic.
He charged the monsters.
His elf companion yelled, “Guy! Wait!”
The goblins were short and that was hard to work around. He wasn’t used to short opponents. His sword though, could cut through damn near anything. Limbs were kind of easy. Especially when his opponent hadn’t been trained to defend well.
One big orc dummy raised a giant warhammer above his head like he was posing for a movie poster. Turns out you need two knees for that pose.
The little goblins were not tough. He got his katana stuck in one while a big orc closed in. The elf made gagging noises that probably meant, “Oh shit, I’m gonna die.”
He shook off the goblin. The elf was either ignorant or a coward, the orc had lifted his weapon much too early. Perfect. Drake had always wanted to try a . Drake sprinted forward and slammed his katana right where the orc was yelling from. Sucker. Drake smirked while the orc struggled and looked like someone else had blown out the candles on his birthday cake.
A goblin was charging him with a spear. So precious. He slid the katana down the side of the shaft and smashed the little bastard in the face with his hilt.
A different goblin made a lousy attack and discovered Drake’s katana could cut through a thin arm easily.
He spared a moment for a quick look up at the balcony. The wealthy Chthonic elf was pulling Baggage up by her hair, close to a bead strand. Shit. She must be terrified. He’d have to get her out-
Drake spun around because some idiot was yelling and Lo! There the idiot was. The orc was thrusting a sword at him, Drake’s weapon knocked it aside with a few sparks as metal clashed on metal. Drake reversed his wrists and caught the orc on the other side of his head. A lot opened up.
Drake attempted to dodge past a charging goblin. Its spear caught the glowing shield. Drake smiled while the goblin screamed.
Two goblins and an orc left. They slowly formed around him. Getting smart a little too late.
“Hey guy! If I hand you your gun from behind, will you kill me?”
“No, elf. This has been an easy fight, so it would be more like murder.”
“What if I could make a crappy barrier spell?”
“Then it would be assassination.”
Drake kept his eye on his three opponents; it was always a little dangerous when they thought.
What if I made the barrier into a tube the size of the barrel of your gun? And I made it super long and pointed it at the prick holding your girl? Oh, wait, she’s not yours, so never-”
Drake didn’t stop moving.
Left goblin stepped in — one short diagonal cut across the forearm. Tendons severed. Enemy weapon dropped. Incapacitated.
Right goblin lunged. Drake stepped inside the thrust and pommel?struck the face. Nose collapsed. Brain rattled. Goblin down, stunned. Good.
Orc raised its axe too late. Drake cut the front knee sideways. Ligament parted. Orc collapsed.
Drake pivoted back to the first goblin. A quick throat tap with the blade’s edge. Air gone. Fight over.
Three seconds.
“-mind.” the elf concluded lamely and handed him the pistol. Drake jammed it into one end of the new barrel, eight feet of magically sealed conduit in a menacing translucent black with indigo flames.
He barely had to aim. Drake looked up at the panicking face of the asshole holding Baggage and-
Hey. Wow. Her eyes were really blue, weren’t they? Drake could see them from here. Baggage wasn’t crying or anything. She looked back at him, calm. Drake hesitated briefly. The implied trust striking his psyche like a meteor out to kill a bunch of dinosaurs.
But only briefly.
*CRACK!*
Somewhere, a Chthonic elf got a promotion as his boss fell to the ground.
Baggage never broke eye contact.
“Guy, dumbasses like you not marrying chicks like that is why my side is winning.”
“Get back to work, elf.”
The elf was used the tiny blade on the Leatherman to put a few orcs and goblins out of Drake’s misery, then he moved on to the ones begging to leave. Nice contribution. That elf really was evil.
The minotaur was starting to move again. Neat. It had taken at least one hollow-point to the head.
Drake stood over the minotaur and used its torso like an umbrella stand for his sword. It was still breathing. Impressive.
Drake surveyed the bloody chaos before him. Monsters, creatures tainted by demonic influence. Dead, dying, or begging for mercy. Monsters, not people. It felt great.
Drake smiled. He had always wanted to try what he was about to do. He spread his arms and turned in a slow circle to make sure all of the audience could see him.
“ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED
His new evil elf friend thought that was hysterical.
The crowd was leaving. They should have done that at the start when Drake shot at them. No wonder the demons hadn’t won yet, their line troops were dumb. Very dumb. He’d have to talk to them in words they would understand.
Drake pointed to Baggage who was standing, a new
Chthonic elf behind her was using her as a shield.
“That girl is mine!” Drake shouted, then winced inside when he thought of how Lily would react if she ever found out he said that.
He needed to make sure she was safe. To Drake’s way of thinking, Baggage was the priority for extraction. The other two could get out on their own. Probably. Baggage first though. She’d need the most help and Drake had to admit to himself that the words ‘courtship dress’ were attention-getting.
More instructions were needed. Drake yelled. “The curly-haired one will tell you what else we want. If you screw with me, I’ll let the blonde loose right away.
The new elf in charge was hiding behind Baggage. “You? You will let her loose? And what if-”
Drake didn’t bother waiting for him to finish. He started to work on the minotaur. Next he finished an ogre and the other one was crawling to escape by the time they returned all three ladies to him.
He took another look at Baggage and went to work on the second ogre.
“I she doesn’t like those clothes. New ones. Expensive. Now.”
