Chapter 1
That Sinking Feeling
____Vintor stood in the arena. He was the champion. He had never lost a fight or ever come close to losing one, until now. A young man who stood about 5 feet tall, and had a shock of black hair that was unruly, and seemed to want to go in every direction at once. He stood holding a sword with a black hilt and a sliver blade that curved a slightly at the point, which now stood poised at Vintor’s throat. Vintor had dropped his blade, but doubted that would save him, for he fought Torkus the merciless. Who had never left an opponent alive. "As I said it won't matter." Vintor wasn’t able to think up anything to say in response to the unexpected statement or at lest nothing coherent as he dealt with his neck bursting in extreme pain.
_____Torkus growled and stared into the mirror at the blood dripping down his face. Then looked at the razor in his hand it had a smudge of blood on it. He growled again and chunked it across the room at the door it clunked in the door right next to Siren’s face, except it wasn’t siren standing in the doorway. The figure had sliver hair tinged with blue and it was a man wearing a white and black cloak line with gray fur. He had piercing sliver eyes that seemed to be whirlpools of quicksilver. Torkus growled out “Who the bloody hell are you?”
____“It doesn’t matter"
____“Then what the hell do you want?”
____“You killed my friend and I’m here to-“
____“Kill me right” Torkus growled this out and started to draw his sword "That will be harder than you think”
____“-tell you to think before killing someone. Just because you have nothing to live for doesn’t mean every else has nothing to live for too. Remember that before you consider killing someone again” he said this emphasizing every word with out changing his tone or raising his voice and yet each word fell like a blacksmith’s hammer onto red-hot metal.
____“Who are you?” Torkus asked his voice rasping. He out still feeling each as a hammer’s blow from this stranger’s little oratory.
____The stranger smiled a little and said, “Just call me the Raging Drakthor.” And with that he was gone. Torkus stood there unbelieving hand still poised to draw out his sword, then just fell onto the floor hands dropping to his sides, and sat there absorbing what had just happened. Tovram Daleon Dekar had been here. The legend. The man who had killed The Lord of Chaos, Lord Cedric of the Celladonieon.
_____He had no clue to how long he sat there on the floor, blood dripping down his check till it dried and stated crusting. Siren burst in and shouted “What the hell are you doing just sitting there, you got a fight in a less than half an hour hurry up and get ready!” This jolted Torkus out of his reverie and he spring into the action of washing his face and getting ready to fight.
_____Torkus walked into the arena. The crowd cheered deafeningly at his entrance. He was a favorite. Few every bet on him losing him. He had told Siren to bet That he wouldn’t kill his opponent this time. The odds for that were something like 100 to 1 on that. He looked at his opponent. The Ivory Shadow. He was called this because of the white cloak he wore and the fact that he could disappear into the shadows with surprising ease. Not someone you would want to fight in a night match. He lunged at Torkus, dagger blade pointing backward dagger arm flying out behind. Torkus waited until the last moment still observing his opponent the whole time then ducked under the Dagger blade, and moved to the right. The ivory shadow compensated for this dodge by switching her dagger hold so the blade was up front and reversing the momentum of her arm, and swinging at him. Again Torkus ducked under the blade and dodge this was going on for at lest 10 dagger thrust before the crowd was able to recover form its startlement enough to whisper and wonder to each other why Torkus the merciless was or seemed to be running away or avoiding fighting. Finally he stopped dodging and grabbed the arm instead of ducking under it. And twisting it he got the dagger form his grasp and held it to the back of his neck. “What do you have to live for?” he asked.
_____The Ivory Shadow replied softly “To find my fiancé who turned his back on his village in his time of need who I fear is lost forever......” With that the Ivory Shadow turned around Torkus stared straight into the eyes of Kerris Vorin, who would have been his wife.
_____“….and to ask him why he betrayed our village to the slavers…..?” finished Kerris her voice threatening to break down into sobs .
_____Torkus couldn’t think to answer her between the shock of seeing her again, and the deafening roars of the crowd calling for the death of the Ivory Shadow. “but they said—I didn’t know—but—they lied……..” was all he was able to murmur in answer. Then he shook his head and blocked out the crowd. “ It was an accident.”
_____“You call destroying our village an accident...!” her voice fading away into anger. They just stood and stared. The crowd getting more and more agitated as it waited for the kill.
_____“Yield” was the last word spoken between them, before Torkus suddenly moved bashing the pommel of the dagger between her eyes.
