Harem Tournament of Champions

"You've got some nerve trying to escape my throne hall," Hisha growls menacingly.

Mentally shaking himself free of the shock caused by being locked in, Amon quickly regains control over his emotions.

"It wasn't like that-"

Before he finishes speaking, Hisha raises his hand and slashes through the air cutting short whatever excuse Amon had prepared.

Gasping for breath, Amon drops to his knees gasping for oxygen. He looks down at his chest where crimson-red liquid drizzles freely soaking his shirt. Blood seeps between his fingers, staining them black.

Looking up at Hisha, he sees anger written clearly on his lord's face.

Vanas glares coldly at Amon as he whispers. "You made a mistake coming here, Amon."

There was nothing more satisfying than watching him fall apart completely helpless by the very person he sought out help from.

"My lord, there's... something... you..."

Bam!

Vanas cuts off his sentence with a kick to Amon's face, interrupting him mid-sentence.

Tears welled up within Amon forcing him to blink repeatedly wiping away the tears streaming down his cheeks. The pain radiating throughout his body makes it difficult to breathe.

Blood trickled steadily dripping from his nose forming small puddles on the ground below.

Hisha shakes his head, stopping Kritz dead in his tracks when he tries to intervene.

From what he had seen, Vanas wasn't going to change until he was forced into submission.

"Vanas..." Hisha says softly.

He knew better than anyone else just how much trouble Vanas was. If he needed to tackle this sort of insubordination in his presence, he'd have to kill the root cause instantly without hesitation or mercy.

Lowering his head in respect, Vanas turns towards Hisha.

Amon stares wide-eyed not believing what he has witnessed. His Count suddenly being so submissive.

"... give me one good reason why you kicked Amon?" Hisha asks calmly.

Vanas lowers his gaze feeling ashamed about kicking Amon, he has been one of his loyal friends. It didn't matter though because he couldn't let anything get in the way of spilling out what he had done and watching him seek protection from the overlord.

If word gets back to his wife, everything will come crashing down.

"I'm sorry Lord Hisha, please forgive my impulsive actions," Vans apologizes sincerely bowing low before raising his head once again meeting Hisha's glare.

Looking down at Alta, he smiles and whispers to her to excuse herself for a time. She nods silently understanding the situation they're currently facing.

Alta leaves quietly, flying swiftly above the opened door leading outside.

She flies straight past the Metaes stationed along the wall who looks confused wondering if she should be allowed access to leave. They don't question however since none of them can see inside the chamber.

Kritz dashed below in a rush, grabbing each one of Vanas' guards roughly by the collars, and dragging them outside the door.

Once they reached the hallway beyond, Kritz threw open the doors allowing the two men to exit.

Once both guards left in a hurry, Kritz closed the heavy wooden double doors, shutting them tightly.

*****

Vanas could hear his breathing become labored due to the amount of silence filling the room. Not even an echo came forth making it seem eerily quiet.

Taking deep breaths, he tries desperately to calm himself down while waiting patiently for someone to speak first.

"It's just the three of us," Hisha states flatly staring directly ahead at Vanas.

The tension is palpable causing every muscle in his body to taut.

After several minutes pass, Vanas finally speaks, breaking the awkwardness. "My lord, I apologize for my behavior earlier today. There were extenuating circumstances that led me to act rashly against your wishes."

His voice sounds strained, almost cracking under pressure.

Amon drops to his knees, sensing danger looming for him, but unable to do anything to stop it.

"What happened? What did you find out?" Hisha questions sternly looking right at Amon.

Vanas takes another long pause struggling to hold onto his composure. A cold sweat trickled across his forehead leaving wet streaks running down his cheek.

Amon whips his head up in shock at being given the grand opportunity to explain himself.

He goes back to his low bow, incessantly praising Hisha for giving him such a chance.

'No, this can't end well.' Vanas thinks in a panic, shaking his head vigorously trying to shake off any thoughts that might lead to disaster.

Taking a glance at Vanas, a grin flashed across Hisha's lips seeing the fear written all over his tribal chief's face. 'Gotcha!'

*****

30 minutes later,

Creak!

The doors slowly open with the creaking sound intensifying as more weight pushes upon its hinges.

Standing before the threshold, Vanas looks down at the corpse of Amon held by his collar.

He looks behind him and as Hisha gets to his feet, his hands are shoved into his pockets.

The moment they lock eyes, Vanas feels a chill run down his spine like ice water splashing through his veins. He knows exactly where things are headed next. The only thing standing between him and certain death.

[Charm+20]

Hisha stares at his user interface with a smirk, raising a brow at Vanas simply standing and not moving, almost as though he had seen a ghost.

[You did get him good host]

'None has tried outsmarting me, yet. And I don't plan to wait for some grand plan.' Hisha explains, smiling at how carefully thought out he had made all the preparation since the last tournament.

[Submission, allegiance, honesty]

Hisha nods his head, understanding where HTC was going with the info. It came as no surprise that the blood contract would give him such attributes he lacked.

[He is definitely old, his life expectancy is strangely high]

Displaying it on the screen to remind Hisha of what he had seen.

[9566 years, 9 months, 2 days]

Vanas stands there frozen stiff, watching helplessly as Hisha steps forward closing the distance separating them.

Beaming with a smile, Hisha reaches out placing his hand on Vanas' shoulder.

Hisss...

Vanas shivers violently, goosebumps covering his entire body. He was still recovering from the peak charge in his Sux, his eyes flickering rapidly.

Leaning to the whisper in his ears, "don't disappoint me now..."