Stephan â The Earth Warden
"Get out of the way," demanded the silver-haired man. Swords snapped together in a gesture of cold awareness as he regarded the warden severely.
Stephanâs smirk pulled into a wide grin of anticipation upon seeing Touyaâs response. Standing over two-dozen feet away, the warden radiated an intimidating aura. Stark and as rigidly constructed as the concrete that composed the prisonâs walls, the warden cast an imposing shadow with his image alone. An indomitable giant whose shoulders seemed to span the width of the gateway, Stephanâs hairdo was a clean cut crop of black hair. Dressed in his elaborate, navy blue guard uniform, he almost looked professional. Any hint of compassion was instantly foiled by the preposterously large gauntlets encasing his fists however. Decorated with the skeletal remains of his past opponents, Stephan liked to project a very clear emotion within his opponents, and that emotion was dread.
With a mysterious wave he signaled to the numerous guards observing them. Whether this meant to stand down, withdraw or something more nefarious, only the prison employees would know. Quite a crowd had gathered to watch the proceedings, some of them visibly excited. This was amongst the best entertainment that Glendale prison offered. Brutal, violent and unrestricted, they howled their approval, erupting cheers from the sidelines. Others chuckled scornfully, casting their bets on the likely winner. The debilitated youth or a heavy weight boxing champion, the tally was shockingly one-sided.
âGood day boys,â Stephan started, leveling his emerald gaze at the duo. âIâm pleased that you were so prompt in heading my summons.â
It was an obvious reference to their previous goading, like lab rats caught in a maze. Knowing you were being manipulated was a deplorable feeling and Stephan clearly liked to rub in the fact. Grinning, Stephan extended his powerful arms out, biceps the size of watermelons.
âYou see boys. We here at Glendale prison have an open policy. Seeing as there are simply too many riff-raff to jail these days, the city council has given us permission to go about our duties as we see fit!â he shouted, pronouncing the sentence as though he done so hundreds of times, âAnd so, with our prisons filled to capacity, we donât mind if a few prisoners try to escape on their own. On the contrary, we welcome it! I mean, might as well have a little fun right?!â
More howling and jeers echoed from the walls, a dreadful commotion of ridicule. Basking in the light of his audience, Stephan looked around appreciatively before taking in Touya and Dameaâs appearances. One was adorned in oriental palettes that highlighted the discoloration of pupils. The other looked barely fit for combat. Stephanâs eyes took note of the cracks that coated the surface of Touyaâs silver bracers in particular, listing it as a potential exploit. âBut, we canât completely neglect our duties of course. What sort of irresponsible folk would that make us? We have a duty to rehabilitate you criminal scum! And so, every prisoner who wants to escape has to come through me.â
A hushed silence fell over the prison, a baited sense of apprehension filling the congregation. It was a signal that things were about to begin. Raising his right gauntlet, Stephan pointed towards half a skull that rest on the back of his wrist, âSadly, the kids these day are spineless. The last pathetic sod who tried escaping died screaming as I tore him limb from limb. Youâre the first people to attempt a breakout in four months lads.â
Jerking his chin over his shoulder, Stephan indicated to the iron gates behind him. âTake one last look at freedom boys. If you can beat me, Iâll allow you to leave safely. If you canât, you die in whatever fashion I deem suitable.â
Without warning, the warden launched himself forwards with a roar of blood lust. The sudden burst left a dust cloud in his wake as boots pounded with mini thunder claps over the dirt avenue. Perhaps it was more accurate to describe Stephanâs approach as an unstoppable stampede for it certainly felt like it. The ground shook with his advance, but by far the most frightening sight was the faintly ominous glow that emanated from his gauntlets now.
The man before them began speaking, his voice rising and falling with a practiced motivational speech. Or rather, a speech meant to rile the crowd and goad his own purposes. Touya had had a bad feeling about where they had been led. The gates he now saw behind the man were not the same ones he'd gotten into the prison by. He was on a different side of the complex and this made him even more wary. Especially since Reginald was outside of the prison waiting for him.
Fingers tightened around the hilts of his swords, a slight throbbing began to pulse through the backs of his hands. The Therian caught the man's green gaze shooting down to inspect his opponent, catching sight of Touya's hands. It was hardly an injury he could hide and he grit his teeth as the man's smile notably grew larger.
The proposition, defeat the one standing before him in order to gain freedom from the prison. Lose and he and Damea were dead by however means the sadistic Warden saw fit. Touya wasn't about to let that happen, but he knew it was going to be very difficult. There was no bargaining either, it seemed for just as Touya was beginning to think of something to offer (a fight in which if Touya won by whatever means, Damea could go free), was wiped clear from his mind as the Warden lunged at him.
Startled by the speed and the sudden glowing of the massive gauntlets, Touya hardly had enough time to react. He reached back and shoved Damea out of the way, getting him clear so that he could fight the Warden properly. As he pushed Damea, he swung with his other sword and pivoted around the charging man who resembled a bull in many ways. The swing was with his bad side and had less power than he'd hoped. The vibration stung his hand and arm and jerked his wound, giving him a slight burn across his chest.
Touya ignored it as best he could and prepared himself for the next assault. It seemed that taking this man lightly would most definitely get Touya killed. The Therian pulled both blades up in a manner that suggested he'd gotten quite serious about the fight. One blade was held up higher, near his shoulder, the other down down and held horizontally across his body. He had little energy to call upon his magic, so Touya was reliant only on his skill with his swords then.
He rushed the man, hoping that he could catch the warden off guard as he'd parried the last attack. For one so large, the man moved so quickly. Touya half wondered if he was faster than the Warden because of his smaller size. He hoped so, otherwise things were going to be much harder. As he got close, he pulled the horizontal blade outwards and swiped at the man, then followed right after with the other blade, jabbing straight out aiming for the Warden's shoulder and intending to drag his blade downwards through his muscle.
The sudden burst of speed was astonishing, but not entirely unexpected. Besides, Stephan had never intended to properly hit the boy with such an obvious attack anyway. Snarling, the warden wheeled on his heel with surprising dexterity in response to Touyaâs initial swing. Their respective weapons bounced of one another with a percussive resonance, but it was not just the gauntlets alone that seemed to deflect the sword. An exterior force initiated the moment Touyaâs blade came into range, altering the trajectory with an invisible compulsion. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Touya danced away nimbly, regaining some measure of distance.
âMagnetic manipulation,â Stephan explained, confident that it the odds were stacked in his favour. The warden circled around Touya as the man stood with his swords crossed over his body, âNothing fancy, but enough to disrupt the direction of objects.â
Whether or not his opponent heard him, Stephan had not the time to consider as Touya surged at him. Quick as the man was, Stephan saw the attack from a mile away and counteracted appropriately. The first strike came like a quick draw and swiped at his stomach with near blistering speeds. Stephan caught the slash by rotating his left palm. Once again his magnetic magic reacted intuitively, skewing the blade harmlessly. This was only a distraction however, the real blow came afterwards. Aimed at his shoulder, Touya followed through with his other blade, thrusting the tip forwards with a vicious stab.
Stephan lurched, his right fist too slow to effectively stop the blade. It cut into his shoulder, drawing a purple gash across his navy blue uniform. âFast,â Stephan grinned, âBut now youâre in my range lad.â
Abruptly, the blue glow surrounding his gauntlets faded, enabling Stephan to grip the blade near his shoulder. This distance was perfect for a brawler like him. A violent tug aimed to drag the boy closer whilst the warden simultaneously smack his knee upwards. Far from done, Stephanâs left fist came crashing side wards, a veritable fist of iron that would snap bones and demolish limbs.
It was partially startling to find that his thrust forward had hit its mark, however, the after effect of the attack wasn't what he wanted. Touya felt his heart lurch to his throat as the Warden grinned at him and grabbed the blade in his shoulder. A sharp pull brought the Therian downwards and closer to the larger man. The air was knocked from his lungs immediately after as a sharp knee to his stomach nearly dropped him. Had the Warden not been holding him up, he would have crumpled to the ground from the blow.
Already winded and frozen from the pain, he had no time to move his body from the next attack. Touya was lucky that the large gauntlets were hard to aim with otherwise the blow to his side would have most definitely killed him. Even so, the gauntlet just barely brushing his side did a hell of a lot of damage. Blood choked out from his mouth, hitting the dirt before him in a splatter. He was sure a few ribs were broken or fractured. His body lost all strength and the fingers of his right hand lost their grip on his sword. The blade fell to the ground, useless to the battered Therian.
"Touya!" The scream of fear came from Damea who had been pushed off to the side. Touya had nearly forgotten about him. Silently he hoped that Damea would't do anything rash during the fight. Touya was far from done. At the back of his mind he wondered if April would have yelled for him at that moment as well. He doubted it,and pushed aside the degrading thought to focus more on the fight.
He lifted his head slowly and glared at the Warden who still held him up with the remaining blade lodged in his shoulder. He wasn't about to show weakness to his enemy, not then, not ever. Touya defiantly spat blood at the Warden while his free arm activated. Whether or not the whirling sound of his weapon got the Wardens attention or not didn't matter to Touya. The three elongated blades smoothly came out of his forearm as he growled at the man.
"You're in my range as well," Touya slashed at him with his arm, aiming for the Wardens open abdomen.
Damea Reese
When Touya had shoved him aside he felt fear immediately for the Therian. Again he wondered why Touya had come to get him. Was it really just because he had wanted a question answered? There seemed to be much more about the man then Damea thought he knew. Whatever it was, Damea was certain that a fight would kill the Therian regardless. It was painful to watch the first attack, then the second with Touya closing the distance between them.
It was then that Damea felt terror wash through him. Touya took two direct hits as far as the fire mage could tell. He screamed, yelling for the Therian. His eyes caught Touya's blade drop from his fingers of his right hand. He didn't know what to do, but he couldn't just stand there and watch his friend get brutally killed before him. Damea rushed forward,dropped to the ground and rolled over the blade picking it up as he went. There was no fire around for him to manipulate and he couldn't fight without a weapon, so Touya's sword was his best shot.
He leapt to his feet on the other side of the Warden and Touya with the blade in hand. The weapon was heavier than he was used to and he idly wondered how Touya wielded such a sword. Hefting it with both hands whereas Touya used one, he charged the Warden and slashed downward as hard as he could.