Chapter 76: Fate Of The Arena
Cortist Venatus remained frozen in shock, his mind unable to process what he had just witnessed. His brother Aster had been consumed by the demon’s blast, devoured by that terrible light, and now the young panther could only stare ahead with his mouth hanging open as his legs gave out beneath him.
The arena sand was warm against his knees, but he didn’t feel it. He didn’t feel anything except the hollow emptiness where his brother used to be. The loss had stunned him so completely that his world had shrunk to nothing... no sounds, no movement, no awareness of anything beyond the space where Aster should have been standing.
Behind him, something stirred. Something massive and ancient, awakening from its slumber where the human mage had just been standing. But Cortist’s shock ran too deep for him to register the great beast rising to its feet, even as it prepared to unleash its fury upon the arena.
His father’s voice cut through the air like a blade.
"CORTIST! MOVE!"
Jagón’s shout was edged with madness, his mind still struggling to accept that he had just lost another son. The desperation in his voice was raw, primal... the sound of a father who couldn’t bear to watch his remaining children die. But the younger panther didn’t move. Couldn’t move. The shock had paralyzed him completely.
If not for Talan’s quick thinking, knocking him out of the way at the last possible moment, the mage would have been burned alive by the fiery breath that erupted from the great phoenix’s mouth. His brother’s body slammed into his, sending them both rolling across the sand just as the air where he’d been kneeling exploded into flame.
The impact jolted some sense back into Cortist’s numb mind at last. Reality crashed back into focus... the arena, the heat, the terrible danger they were all in. But with awareness came something else: a growing hatred for the demon responsible for all of this destruction.
Cortist looked toward the stands where the demon had been positioned to launch its attack. The ghoulish creature was already long gone, vanished like smoke. The young mage’s gaze returned to the arena floor, and he trembled as he finally accepted the maddening sight before him.