Leviathan (Fist of Light Series) by Derek Edgington

of earthen shotgun pellets.
    “Move!” Jeeves screamed, the words garbled and almost incoherent.
    But there was nowhere to move to, not this time. Just as a roll was in its instigating phase, rocks of varying sizes pelted into me, driving me off course and bringing me down. As the onslaught continued, all that could protect me was an insufficient covering of my head and neck with my arms. Only seconds passed before the hail of stones finally ceased, but it was an agonizing eternity. When it was over, I was gasping for breath, in horrendous pain and utterly spent. No light streamed down through the crevices of rock, and air was severely lacking. The roaring in my ears was only surpassed by the near-unanimous cheers of the crowd.
    “ Don't you die on me, Caleb!” Jas' voice filtered to me from a far-away place.
    “ Well, are you just going to give up? This fight is far from over,” Jeeves said.
    Bruised, broken, and bleeding, I didn't think there was enough fight left in me, that it was too late. Black nothingness sought to gain entry into my soul, overwhelm my being. Then, from deep within my psyche, an insistent tolling reached in and disturbed me. Its haunting melody was somehow familiar on a primal, instinctual level, and instantly it robbed me of infinite slumber. The very fibers of my being cried out and a battered body rallied against defeat, against giving up or in when confronted with long odds. Straining against the weight that was trying to make breathing an impossibility, I pushed with all my might. Rocks tumbled from their unstable perches at the maneuver, and the force bearing down on me lessened, if only a little. Overworked muscles and fractured bone screamed in protest, but a glimmering beacon of light had been unveiled.
    To my utter amazement, the rocks continued to shift from my back and roll elsewhere. By the time bits of my body broke through, the crowd was screaming at Hercules to end my pitiful existence. Out of the corner of my eye I could see him approaching, a broadsword carried easily in one hand. The kid gloves had come off. Levering off the last bits of restraining rocks, I struggled against the pain threatening to overwhelm me at every step. This furious deluge was too broad, too deep to ignore with the technique gleaned from Jeeves. Regardless, I didn't let it own me. I fought through it and took one step, then another. Wearily, I took up a ready stance and let loose great heaving gasps as my nemesis approached. Peering at Hercules, it almost seemed like he had gotten a wall thrown on top of him, too. That's when the realization dawned on me. He was just as bruised and battered as I was, not to mention slowed by whatever depressant was in the water. Every step he took projected strength, but inside he was a fractured shell, waiting for the correct catalyst to break him to pieces.
    “ Is the barrier down?” I asked Jeeves.
    “ It appears so. Jas had been unable to initiate any communications until iron man over there shattered a goodly portion of the wall. Whatever magic was previously acting on the arena’s combatants is gone.”
    “ Whatever plans you've made, Jas, better be good,” I directed this thought to the both of them, then walled myself off from any incoming communications.
    Clenching my hands experimentally, I decided on the need to act outside set boundaries. “Weapon.”
    The simple statement was enough. A gleaming katana forged of unobtainium sprung out of the folds of reality, deadly in every aspect of its design. Swinging the feather-light weapon around in a lazy arc, I was pleased to note that only half of my muscles cried out in agony.
    “An Empowered who is even more than he seems. Fascinating,” Hercules commented as he stopped advancing and hefted his own weapon. “Regardless, this must end.”
    “Must more blood be shed in sacrifice?” I was thinking back to the first man that had died by my own hand. Although the circumstances had changed, this man was just