Chapter 30

It was dagger against dagger and dagger against sword. The air force caused by their blows as their power and speed steadily increased blew the dust cloud apart, revealing them to the anxious crowd hundreds of feet above them.

"The dust made me anxious but I thought more would happen when we couldn't see them." Emperion grumbled, crossing his arms in disappointment.

"Why are you disappointed? Their speed is beyond words and you're up here complaining about the dust?" Eclipse exclaimed in disbelief.

"Maybe." Emperion looked away.

"Well it's already amazing he survived the first attack not to mention the second attack and the continuous blow for blow exchanges they're doing right now." Silver commented. "Being that fast is astonishing in and of itself."

"Does that mean Shadow might actually win?" Eclipse tried not to sound interested or excited and failed.

"No. There is still a huge gap in skill and experience between the two. Solaris' stamina should also be higher than Shadow's. Skill, experience and the stamina to apply the two is key to fighting hand to hand combat. You won't be a good fighter if you are lacking in any of those categories." Silver began. Eclipse sighed in his mind, knowing it would be a long explanation. Silver raised a knowing finger and put on a serious face. "Without skill, you have no technique to apply your experience and stamina to. Without experience, you are bound to make many fatal mistakes. Without stamina, you will run out of energy far before your opponent."

"Relax, we don't need a lecture on it." Emperion rolled his eyes.

"Anyways, Shadow has the stamina and experience to put up a good fight against many people, but against Solaris, who has far more stamina, experience, and skill, he'll have a rough time beating him. He needs to use his intellect to turn the tides of the battle." Silver's face changed from serious to disappointed. "But, looking at the pleasure on his face, I don't think he's thinking clearly enough to realize that. Looks like another loss for the demon race. We could've really used someone like him on the team." he sighed. Emperion suddenly slammed his fist on the glass, causing it to crack and startling everyone else in the viewing area. He turned his head sharply towards Silver and glared at him.

"Don't go giving him a funeral until he's dead, ok?" On the battlefield, Shadow and Solaris leaped away from each other, both covered in scratches. Shadow pointed his sword at Solaris and activated a fireball spell at its tip before charging after it. Solaris blocked the fireball with his arm and it burst into a cloud of smoke upon impact. Shadow smiled when Solaris reached through the cloud and punched him in the face, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him into the air. The smoke cleared and Shadow glared down at Solaris, fire burning in his eyes. He swung his sword at Solaris, forcing him to let go and dodge. Shadow jumped away and coughed, wiping the blood from his nose once he landed. Solaris started a barrage of attacks, swinging his daggers without letting up any room to counter attack. Shadow fought hard to keep up with his speed. A cut on his left shoulder, a cut above his right eye. Shadow was running out of the energy to dodge. A dagger was aimed straight between his eyes. He mustered the strength to block the attack but the dagger still sliced his forehead and he staggered backwards. He was breathing heavily and his heart was pounding. Every muscle in his body was screaming at him to stop. Shadow charged anyway. His attacks were sloppy and uncoordinated. Solaris was able to easily knock his sword away. Shadow fell back on his butt, tired out of his mind. His vision was a little foggy and he couldn't think. He looked up at Solaris. His eyes were clouded and unfocused, as if he was seeing something beyond the opponent towering above him. He suddenly smiled and began to chuckle.

"This reminds me of that time Vytal caught me. It was a situation pretty similar to this. The only difference is that this time I have a little trump card!" Shadow pulled himself to his feet, dropping his dagger as he swayed. Shadow gently unleashed his third pair of wings and an eerie vibe washed across the room. Solaris' instincts kicked in and he hopped a few feet back. Shadow let his bottled up magical energy burst out freely, causing waves of energy to emit from his body and flow throughout the arena like wind. Solaris had to keep himself from getting swept off his feet by its force. The windows from the viewing area began to crack from the sudden pressure. A set of short, red horns appeared on Shadow's head and his magical energy increased again. He rushed forward and was in front of Solaris in an instant. He swiped at Solaris, who barely had any time to dodge. Three scratches, like claw marks, appeared on the edge of Solaris' mask. When he stared into Shadow's red eye, he saw the hunger for battle deep within them. Shadow kept swiping with lightning quick speed, putting Solaris on the defensive. Solaris picked up the pace, starting to counter as well as dodge, but he couldn't manage to get a solid hit in. Shadow knocked Solaris' daggers away, then lunged forward for another attack. That's when Solaris spun around and kicked him in the face, knocking him sideways. It stunned him for a bit, long enough for Solaris to quickly pick up his dagger and throw it into Shadow's right shoulder. Shadow let out a yelp and turned to face Solaris, who leaped at him. Shadow pulled the dagger out of his shoulder and swung it at Solaris, cutting him across the chest to ward him off. Shadow staggered away and Solaris paused a few feet away as well. Shadow's eye was clear and focused once again, but his weariness was starting to catch up to him. Shadow charged, dagger ready, and Solaris lept forwards as well, his own dagger in hand. Shadow thrust his dagger forward but Solaris dodged and stabbed his right arm, making him drop the dagger. Shadow stumbled and spun around to face Solaris. They paused and stared at each other.

"After this, do you think we could spar again some time?" Shadow asked. Solaris waited a moment before giving a tiny nod. Shadow smiled with gratitude as blood trailed down his face and arm. He charged towards Solaris once more with the last of his strength. He balled his bloody hand into a fist, but Solaris jumped beside him in an instant. Solaris flipped his dagger around and hit him on the back of his head with the hilt of his dagger, before he could throw a punch. Shadow fell to the ground, sliding in the sand as it gave way beneath him. He was unconscious. Up in the viewing area, Eclipse and Emperion were trying to peer through the cracked glass.

"What's happening right now? I can't see anything because the glass is about to shatter." Emperion exclaimed.

"Hold on a sec." Scaldris pulled another remote out of nowhere and pressed a button on it. A TV screen lowered from the ceiling and revealed the arena to the viewers. Solaris was standing over Shadow with his dagger raised, ready to deal the final blow.

"Oh no..." Silver whispered to himself. He turned and ran out of the room. Eclipse and Emperion were staring anxiously at the screen. In the arena, Solaris was hesitating. His hand shook as he held it in the air, before he let his arm drop to his side. He grabbed and sheathed his daggers before kneeling down to check on Shadow. His breathing had calmed and he was sound asleep. Solaris closed his eyes and cast a low level healing spell on Shadow before picking him up and carrying him to the door, where Silver came rushing out. He paused when he saw Solaris and Shadow and a grim look crossed his face.

"Solaris-"

"I didn't kill him." Solaris interrupted, looking down at Shadow. "He invited me to spar with him again. I can't do that if he's dead." His voice was softer than usual. Silver let out a sigh of relief.

"For now, let's put him in the infirmary." Solaris nodded, leading him through the door. The infirmary was a small room. Only two beds were in the room separated by pale green curtains. A small white desk with medical supplies rested against the wall to the left of the door with a white stool underneath it. Cabinets full of medicinal ingredients and ointments rested against the right wall of the room. Solaris gently set Shadow down in one of the beds just as Eclipse and Emperion burst through the door.

"Shadow!" Emperion shouted, pushing past Eclipse.

"He's sleeping." Solaris stated, putting a finger to the mouth of his mask. Emperion slapped a hand over his mouth before approaching the bed. Eclipse sighed and followed him. Emperion lowered his hand and smiled when he saw Shadow, safe and sound. Eclipse tried to hide his smile but his eyes betrayed his relief.

"I healed him after I knocked him out." Solaris explained.

"Speaking of healing, we should get you patched up too. You might not have any serious injuries but you sure do have a lot of scratches." Silver suggested. Solaris nodded and sat down on the next bed over and Silver pulled out a box full of medicines and bandages and others of the like. "I haven't seen you this banged up since the Ancient Catastrophe. He really did a number on you, eh?"

"Yes."

"The Ancient Catastrophe?" Eclipse tilted his head in confusion.

"It was a huge accident that happened years ago. During one of the AA missions, something went wrong and the target went berserk, causing mass destruction. There was an unspeakable number of casualties-"

"Actually it was only about a thousand." Silver gave Solaris a grumpy look before continuing.

"-and even more were injured. Because of this incident, we now require a group of at least four people to partake in a mission so as to keep the casualties to a minimum and increase the efficiency of our work." he explained. "Thankfully, there hasn't been a second 'Catastrophe' yet. Let's hope it stays that way."

"How could the target go berserk if they were a human?" Emperion asked.

"We don't always target humans." Solaris' quiet answer gave an eerie vibe to his words.

"Demons that don't listen to reason and fight against us, demons who defect to the DMA with valuable secrets, crazed demons who can't tell friend from foe; these are all people we have to 'deal' with one time or another." Silver looked at his hands sadly. "The target of the Ancient Catastrophe was a high ranking squad leader. Not only did he leave with the most secret of secrets, he left right before the election for DAF chief. The DAF chief is in charge of assigning missions and reporting to the heads of the Demon City Association, who makes the rules. It's an important and crucial position to be filled and the highest candidate left for the DMA right before the election. You can't imagine how chaotic it was."

"It wasn't that chaotic, just confusing." Solaris interrupted again.

"When a two-man assassination team tracked down the candidate…" Silver continued, ignoring Solaris' statement. "...the candidate went berserk trying to defend himself and started destroying everything in sight."

"Oh." Emperion nodded.

"Do you even understand half of what he said?" Eclipse asked.

"Not one bit but I think I get the point!" Emperion clenched a confident fist.

"There wasn't really a point." Eclipse whispered to himself.

"Anyway, that was a long time ago so not many remember the horrors of the incident."

"If it was that long ago, how are you still alive?" Emperion asked bluntly.

"Demons live far longer than humans do, it's just that many demons are killed before they die of old age." Silver stretched and stood up, yawning. "Well, it's been a long day! Let's go see the results of all your tests." He walked over to the door and Eclipse and Emperion followed.

"Are you coming, Solaris?" Eclipse asked, turning around. Solaris shook his head and Eclipse left. After the door closed, Solaris turned Shadow onto his front side and lifted up his shirt to reveal the dragon burn mark on his back. Solaris studied the mark for a short while before turning Shadow onto his back again and lying down to rest.