EREBOS

There were so many things he wanted to say.
 
I missed you was one, and Where did you go? was another, but within the twisting convolutions of their world – with boys being boys, with heroes’ armor rusting, he was forced to say nothing.
 
The prince didn’t tell Rikyn that he cherished him, that he didn’t want to hurt him, or that he’d attempt to vanquish any foes sent his way. He didn’t spout I’m proud of you, even though he was, because Rikyn had gone and done all the things he wanted to do, and Erebos was still busy struggling to delve into how he was going to avenge all his fallen comrades. He didn’t simmer in jealousy, or wander his way through the envious, murky clouds plaguing his mind – only one last thought popped and boiled, incensed and curled against the back of his skull.
 
I don’t want to be left behind.
 
Did Rikyn care? Did Rikyn harbor any regrets or remorse? Was he ready to repent from the inevitable? Or was he simply fervent and eager for the fray, to fight, to harpoon, to scar and wound a friend?
 
But Erebos’ teeth gnawed on his companion’s flesh, Orsino rasped in between movements, and there were no harsh words exchanged, no brutal comments made, no tears shed. They were power and youth culminating amongst fire and brimstone, shadows and kings, playing court to predecessors and legends. All Erebos wanted was to ensure they were both alive at the end of it.
 
He was almost sickened to feel the pulse of Rikyn’s sinew within his ivories. Something coiled, noxious and nefarious, in the depths of his barrel and chest (maybe his conscience, lost long ago and suddenly reappearing when he didn’t require it), and it did nothing to spur him on.
 
Come on then! he’d proclaimed, echoed through the chamber, but the soldier didn’t feel it rustling through his skin or pulsing through his blood.
 
Then Rikyn struck, maneuvering and angling his horn, his sword, brandishing their chosen weapons, towards his right hip. Erebos wasn’t nearly as fast as the other, and despite his attempt to dodge, to sway, to gallop towards the left (escape his mind uttered, like a coward, like a vice), the sharp point of the bay’s rapier connected with his right flank. It was a sharp sting, a burst of light against his eyes, and a piece of hide flayed away, fell, lost. His evasion was successful at Rikyn’s second trigger of motion, escaping from the burst of movement with one of his own – advancing deeper into the hellhole.
 
But it could’ve been worse; he knew the way they both worked. He was aware of how much power they consumed, of how much they both yearned, craved, disaster, ruin, and chaos – yet, perhaps, not upon each other.
 
What are we trying to prove?
 
Who was better? Who was mightier? Who had the best incantations, who had the most gall? Who could beat and tear, rip and ensnare, without caring who they bludgeoned, who they destroyed?
 
Now you got it! sizzled Orsino, and the kitsune laughed through their connection, their void like a portion of blackened, Stygian hell, and the boy wanted none of it.
 
Enough, his mind said, but his body moved on its own accord, launching out his hind feet in attempt to strike out at Rikyn’s left side, to do damage to a blood brother, to pummel and devastate, maim and devour.
 
Then Orsino slipped amongst their dark cavern, twisted and deceitful, duplicitous and vexing, but Erebos didn’t tell him no, didn’t advise him to cease. They were just as wicked together, aligned and allied with the devil, as the rest of the world.
 
The fox rummaged through his invocations, and rumbled with a vibrant hiss, attempting to alter the scenery, the surroundings, for a more challenging proposition. The grounds, the caverns, appeared to quake, shake, shudder, and roar by their heads and beneath their feet, threatening to pulse, to crack, to flail apart, like a chasm opening wide, eager to swallow them whole.
 
Be careful! he wanted to cry out. Be safe! he wanted to scream – to whom, to what, was part of the chaos.
 
Still, he said nothing.

[2/3. 706 words.
* Erebos tries to dodge towards the left as Rikyn’s comes for his right side, but cannot evade it fully, and is cut along his right flank. He loses pieces of pelt and hair.
* He dodges the second attack by running forward.
* He attempts to kick out with his hind feet towards Rikyn’s left side.
* Orsino uses his magic to alter the surroundings – making the cavern appear as though it’s in the midst of an earthquake like phenomenon – including walls and ground shaking.]