Chapter 173: Martyr Dome

Chapter 173: Martyr Dome

Its tiring having to come up with ways not to die. Lying there with a girl playing with your hair might seem idyllic, but when monsters are waiting outside to eat you, it makes it hard to relax.

Somehow I drifted off to sleep. Ideas can sometimes come to you when you stop trying so hard to think of them. Spend hours trying to figure something out and get nowhere. Go off to do something else and the answer pops into your head.

Unfortunately, thats not what happened.

I woke up and still had nothing. What had woken me was a breeze in my face. 288 was hovering over me, his wings fanning cool air over me. It was quite nice, if you resisted thinking about what 288 was and where that tangy odour was coming from.

The final fight is about to begin, he said.The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))

I sat up, waking Jenny in the process. She had dozed off leaning against the wall and was now all stiff and stretching. Girls are so obvious. They claim they hate guys eyeing them up, and then they wake up and be all attractive. Cant fool me.

Did you speak to the other golems? I asked him, tearing my eyes away as Jenny arched her back. Well, mostly away.

He nodded. They are prepared to do what must be done. For the Book.

I wasnt entirely convinced the crusading golem army would be a force for goodwhen was the last time fanatical devotion to a book led to anything other than trouble?but as long as they got us through this, Id be happy to grant them tax-exempt status.

Is there anywhere we can hide until this is all over? I asked him.

He seemed confused by the question. You dont want to watch the fight?

I dont want to be eaten as soon as the fights over.

He nodded and floated back down to earth. There is nowhere in Darkholme you can go that you cant be found. This is the masters home. Each of them will claim their portion of tribute. Without it, they will not be able to join with the welding.

Can the masters reserve their part of the tribute?

He looked at me with a confused expression again. Reserve?

Yes. Can they choose particular people as exclusive to them?

They can, said 288. Master Cheng has already claimed one of the females as his.

It made sense that Cheng would pick Mandy. The other masters probably assumed he had a taste for big boobs (which he did, although not in the way they thought). If he could make a claim on the rest of us, we might not get swept up in the general carnage.

This all relied on Cheng not having a change of heart and deciding to eat us, of course.

I sent 288 off to ask Cheng to make dinner reservations. He was unlikely to win the tournament, but he was in the final. That had to count for something. I didnt know how much weight it carried, but he might still get to call dibs on who he got to eat.

Jenny had finished stretching and sorting herself out. Im guessing. I wasnt really paying attention. The others appeared, all had their game faces on.

Its strange having to rely on others, said Claire. I almost wish we were the ones taking care of the masters.

Exactly the kind of thinking I had to make sure we didnt fall prey to. If we didnt have the golems to help us, wed be running, not taking their place.

It was already dark when we stepped outside. The sky was a dark red, illuminated by the huge flaring jets of white flame that circled the mountain top.

Maurice flicked through his notebook as we headed towards the amphitheatre. 288 said the other two in the final are Chengs dad and Gamba. Hes the one who looks like hes made of boulders.

Have all the other fights taken place? I asked him. He had pages of stats and scores like he had his own team in a Fantasy Monster League. Possibly it would be a Fantasy Fantasy Monster League.

Yes. The loser was Skull-Face. The one with the giant head. He gets eaten by the winner.

How they gonna eat him? said Flossie. His head wont fit in anyones mouth.

Gamba whirled to the right, swinging his head like he might be able to hit his captor. He was all but ignoring Cheng who had flown up and then came swooping down at full speed.

Biscuit spun Gamba into Chengs path. Cheng smashed full into him. Then he flew up again. Rinse and repeat.

It was very unfair, but very effective. Between them, Biscuit and Cheng set Gamba up for a wicked beating, sending chunks flying off him. Then an arm. Then a leg.

Gamba collapsed in a heap of rubble. The whole thing took less than five minutes.

Now there were two left. A big one, who looked undefeatable, and a small one, who was our guy. One day, Id like to be on the favoured side, just to see what that feels like.

There was a tense moment as the two of them faced each other, and then Cheng dropped to his knees and lowered his head. These were supposed to be warriors. Were you allowed to pussy out?

Are you not entertained? No.

Your time will come, my son, rumbled Biscuit. But from today, you will sit by my side.

And that was it. A bit of an anti-climax after all the build up. Id expected to see a little more blood and guts.

People of Nekromel! bellowed Biscuit. He was now surrounded by the other masters. I hadnt even seen them arrive. The Day of Welding is upon us. You shall become us, and we you.

A roar of approval went up. It was a bit on the shrill side.

Come with us and ascend to your full potential.

The masters left the arena to shouts and screams. Not the type you hear before the police charge their horses into the crowd, the good kind. They were all so looking forward to getting eaten, it seemed rude not to let them. Some people just dont know whats good for them.

We really arent going to do anything? Claire asked. She wasnt asking me, though.

I dont think theres anything we can do, said Maurice. He looked down at Dudley on the terrace below.

I doubt theyd listen to reason, he said.

I was getting the feeling I was undergoing a mutiny.

Dont worry, said Jenny. We wont disobey you. We just want to make sure you have all the options available to you.

Really? And what would they do if I rejected their options? Fortunately, they couldnt come up with any to offer me.

As the crowd began filing out, on their way to dinner with the Darkholmeses, I noticed something strange. Some of the women in amongst the crowd were a little bit bigger than others. And getting bigger.

I stood up and looked around and saw more of them. Women who seemed to be morphing into men. They threw off their clothes to reveal naked bodies. No weapons, no armour. I recognised Varg among them.

What the fucks he doing? I muttered to myself.

Hes going to stop the welding, said David. He had his sword drawn.

And how is he going to do that? I asked him.

They cant weld if theres no source of nourishment for them, said Phil.

That doesnt make sense, said Maurice. The only source of food are these people. How do they

He didnt need to finish his question, the answer became only too obvious. The men who had been disguised as women had also, it turned out, been disguised as men. Their bodies continued to grow and change, and became horribly distorted. They were Weretics.

They fell on the crowd, devouring them in a frenzy of all the blood and guts you could ever hope for.