Chapter 324

324 Shields And Whiskey

Tidas wasn’t ready to play the game, but Murdoc didn’t care as he called out to the room. The big guy started moving fast, making Tidas nervous. He nearly got knocked over as he hopped to his second shield.

Using one’s magic was clearly okay, so Tidas tapped into his, and timed his sped-up steps to avoid getting hit. Before he knew it, he was at the back of the Highlander. Who had stopped when he saw the Southerner closing in. It disoriented him, and caused him to misstep..

A hard smack from his right side nearly sent him crashing down to the floor. If he hadn’t of pivoted on his forefoot like Shasta had taught him, he would’ve gone down.. ‘She would love this game.’

The thought made him smirk for a second before he leaned back to stop the big guy from knocking him over. On instinct; Tidas lunged forward, and pushed the Highlander into moving again. The Barriers and spectators all cheered, shocked that someone had gotten the guy moving.

Careful of his movements this time, Tidas still barely managed to avoid Murdoc’s shield. He moved it with creepy precision, but Tidas assumed it was due to years of playing combined with his Tank trait.

Analyzing Murdoc gave Tidas an idea about how he could win..

As his speed picked up, Tidas aimed for the middle of the overgrown Highlander’s back. Running at half of his top speed allowed him to maintain control over his footing. A few of the Highlanders holding the shields in place on the floor didn’t have the strongest grip, so he had to be careful.

The Highlander barely had time to brace himself before Tidas throwing his shoulder into his back. The man grunted and stumbled forward, but stayed on the shields. He wobbled the couple of times that the Barriers smacked him with their shields, but he still didn’t go down.

Coming to a stop, the man slowly cranked his neck around to look at the Southern idiot. A vein on his forehead bulged as his entirely-shaved head turned red with anger.

.....

“Oh shit,” Tidas muttered.

The Highlander didn’t say anything; just smirked in a highly unsettling manner. He stomped his feet down, bent his knees, then took off. The mammoth was behind Tidas before he knew it, leaving him only a single option to stay in the game: Run Like Hell.

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!” Tidas yelled as he dodged shields and swings for his pursuer.

“Ye got this love! Show ’em why Yer number one and not Shasta!” Skye screamed to him from the sidelines.

A small smile touched his lips as he caught the meaning behind his wife’s words. Shasta was known for her speed, and Zas, his power. She was telling him to go faster..

“Brace yourselves, lads! Footing’s about ta become real important!” Tidas yelled over the blaring crowds.

Seeing most of them tense, Tidas kicked his speed up to about three-fours for his capabilities. This time, he was the one behind the Highlander before he knew it. The guy had merely blinked, and the Southerner was behind him. As shock overtook his expression, Tidas shoved him forward again..

Expecting the shove this time, he lifted his feet, and let Tidas propel him forward. Expecting more resistance, the prince wasn’t prepared for the target to move forward, and he lost his footing. He slammed down hard across two shields, but made it a point to keep his butt raised. Touching the ground between the shields was the same as getting knocked off of them.

The Barrier between the two shields grinned evilly as he started to try and push Tidas off of the shields. At the same time, the Highlander was coming up from behind him again. As the Barrier pulled the shield back, the massive Highlander stepped down on his arse; trying to force him to touch the ground.

Tidas grunted with the strain, but thankfully, the Highlander didn’t stay on his back. As soon as he passed over him, the Barrier went to town on his side. Tidas took a deep breath as he let his magic surge..

Getting into a push-up position, Tidas waited until the next time the Barrier slammed into him. As he pulled his shield back, Tidas slammed into it with force. Knocking the Highlander onto his arse.

It gave Tidas the moment he needed to get back onto his feet, and take off running right before the challenging Highlander could bulldoze him over. As he ran, people cheered and called out to him, but the only encouragement that he cared to hear was coming from Skye.

With every movement Tidas made, she reacted. Calling out to him when the Highlander reached for him, or shouting the word ‘shield’ when his timing started to shift. Since Skye was using her Tank trait to watch the race, she could keep up with all of their movements.

It helped a great deal whenever he neared Murdoc, whom seemed to be aiming with particular precision. He’d nearly knocked Tidas’ opponent out a few times, but the man was enormous, and the Barriers weren’t supposed to move their feet.

The realization gave Tidas the finish he was looking for..

Instead of speeding up, Tidas slowed slightly while still keeping an eye on his rhythm with the Barriers. He was only about three feet or so in front of the hulking Highlander as he approached Murdoc.

Just two shields away from him; Tidas focused his magic into his leg muscles, and sprang into the air. As the Highlander passed underneath him in awe, Tidas kicked off of his shoulders, flipped, and landed on a shield.

The Highlander stumbled forward right into Murdoc’s path. With his footing already unstable, the hulking Highlander fell over like a ton of bricks. The room went quiet for about three seconds before Skye screamed out in joy, inciting everyone else to join in.

People rushed Tidas with congratulations as he made his way over to the downed Highlander. He was just sitting up when he saw Tidas’ outstretched hand. They exchanged an smile of acknowledgment before the hulking Highlander grabbed his hand, and took the lift up.

They exchanged some compliments about each’s obvious strengths, then promised to play a rematch at some point. As he walked away, Skye came up and gave a very passionate victory kiss to her husband. Earning whoops from the crowds, and a few unheard curses from a couple of the women.

“That was amazin’! Shasta would be very proud of yer flip,” Skye commented as Tidas wrapped his arms around her.

After nodding and accepting a few congratulatory handshakes, Tidas replied; “I actually thought about her before you said something.”

Skye smirked; “Sure ye did..”

Tidas chuckled, knowing that there was no way to prove what he was thinking. Kiss the top of her forehead, he still added; “I did, too.”

As they were about to get into a banter, Murdoc popped his head in with Amara, Petrie, and Mickey in tow. He had a tray of shot glasses with a familiar bottle of whiskey on top. Tidas chuckled as he remembered Lucas sharing it with everyone at their wedding. He’d looked like a kicked pup when the bottle ran dry.

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As a large smile spread across his face, Skye asked what he was thinking about. When he told her, they wound up sitting, drinking, and talking about their wedding for a good twenty minutes. Every time they mentioned everyone’s fondness of the whiskey, a large smile stretched across Mickey’s face.

He wasn’t drinking, just enjoying hearing about how people loved his mother’s work. Skye did tell him it was fine for him to drink agin, so long as he kept within moderation. Although happy to hear it, being freshly cleansed; Mickey wanted to give himself at least a few days.

Murdoc was about to start trying to peer pressure the man into drinking until Skye mentioned very loudly to Amara that Maevis and Nicolas were also at their wedding. Both of them took on nostalgic smiles as everyone started to exchange various stories...

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From off to the side, Wallace watched the Last Warrick’s interactions. He wanted to tell her what he knew now, but such a public place wasn’t appropriate anyway. And if Amara caught him telling her certain things before she did, she’d get more than just angry.

‘Amara is Skye’s Godmother, after all.. I suppose it should be up ta her ta tell the lass what her mother wanted her ta know. I’ll try ta leave it be, fer now..’

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The group laughed and talked loudly, adding to the already cheerful room. New players had started another round of Shields, distracting most of the people that had gathered before. Only a few still lingered that weren’t a part of their group, but no one cared.

After they talked about Maevis and Nicolas a while, they switched to Mickey’s mother. Apparently she loved her work, even though she took it very seriously. The whiskey that she’d created was coveted in Alcon, which made Mickey very happy to hear.. Mostly.

A part of him still hated Southerners in general. But the more he talked with Skye and Tidas, the more he realized how wrong it was. To hate an entire group of people for the wrong-doings of a few wasn’t even childish; they even knew better.

‘Ima no better than an animal pitchin’ a fit about me territory..’

As the thought sunk in, Mickey looked at the two Alconians with a new light in his eyes. Tidas may or may not have killed his father; he didn’t know. But Mickey vowed that he would stop blindly hating them without having a reason.

As the talks went on, the whiskey disappeared, and so did the time. As they were wrapping up their wedding stories, Amara noticed Wallace off in the background...

Once the group reached the part about their honeymoon, and Murdoc had become.. inappropriate; Amara had Petrie lead them back to the RMC bunker. Once they cleared Mead Hall, Amara walked over to a stoic-looking Wallace with sharp eyes..

“I see those cogs a turnin’, and we can’t yet. Not until she sees it, then we can tell her,” Amara commented vaguely.

“I still think we should tell her first! She should know-”

“She needs ta see it first! If ye warn her, it could affect her decision! Skye needs ta see what evil is capable of Before she dedicates herself ta fightin’ it. SHE is the Catalyst, not us. As much as I’d like ta, we canna choose for her.. Only give her options and support.”

“...I don’t like it. Sorcha told us-”

Amara cut him off with contained fury in her voice; “She told US because she trusted US. Don’t fuck this up, Wally. Skye needs ta see what she’ll face before we tell her what she’s gonna lose. Maybe then she’ll stay..”