Stefan stepped out of a dense line of trees. They were on a high ridge above a thick lava flow. It had been difficult tracking prey on this odd island and it had intrigued him and pushed him to and beyond his limits. He was constantly thinking outside the box and coming up with new solutions for his situation.
He was suddenly very happy he entered this tournament. Although he still felt manipulated the gains far out weighed the losses. To be honest there were no losses just prod and cons.
He slipped back into the shadows of the trees as he sensed the werewolf he was tracking. He burst through the trees, to Stefan's right, like he had been running from something. Stefan concealed his existence and took one step further back into the shadows as he waited.
The werewolf looked down at the flowing lava and cursed. He thought he was ahead of Stefan and wondered what he would so once the other werewolf caught up to him. He sighed ready to turn back into the comfort of the tree line. By this time he had already positioned himself in front of Stefan. Stefan smirked.
"And where will you go?" the werewolf froze, a chill running down his spine. "I have to end this now. I have played with you too long."
The other werewolf was panting lightly, fear, or maybe terror, clear on his face. Suddenly there was resolve and Stefan smiled as he took a battle stance, unsure what direction Stefan would come from.
Stefan appeared behind him and cleared his throat.
"I guess I will play with you just a little bit more. I am expecting real challenges later and playing with you may hone my skills a bit in preparation for the true battles to come."
Before Stefan could finish talking the werewolf spun around and attacked. Of course Stefan did not skip and beat, finished his sentence, stepped to the side, and then moved in for the attack. All with a mischievous smile on his face.
"He is enjoying himself isn't he?"
Amber smiled. "I think it is because he has nothing but responsibilities on the regular and now he gets to do as he pleases. Freedom in that way is very intoxicating.
"He becomes more and more interesting by the second."
Adonis merely smiled. This werewolf was actually perfect for his sister.
Stefan moved forward quickly his claws extending as he did so. The other werewolf hesitated and stumbled a bit. Before he could catch his bearings his throat was ripped out.
"Tsk. You could have been a bit more interesting."
Stefan turned to walk away even as he shook the slivers of flesh, skin, and cartilage from his claws.
"How many more on left on the island with him?"
"seventeen. They are all mostly hiding now except for Stefan and four others."
Amber nodded as Andros gave her the answer. She looked to the other rings to see how they were going. All of them had at least five strong contenders or they had already gotten down to the final ten. She nodded again.
Stefan sensed a new opponent but decided to teleport in a different direction to flush out another one in hiding. The werewolf stopped instantly, thinking that Stefan was teleporting to him. He waited a moment and realized he was wrong. He nodded with a smile and went in the opposite direction as Stefan, looking for a hiding wolf of his own.
Stefan shook his head. A werewolf digging a hole to hide in seemed like the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. Maybe in an emergency or some sort of odd circumstance of battle but a tournament for a mate?
He stood thinking. It was actually a good idea. Most werewolves would never attack someone in such a position. It was like attacking an unarmed or defenseless individual.
But Stefan was not most werewolves and this fool did this because he was a coward.
He faced his hand palm down to the ground then hit the air as if he were hitting something with all his strength.
KAAA-BOOM!!
The entire island shook and a small circular patch of ground rose up into the air (accompanied by a werewolf) and then fell back down. As everything was coming back down Stefan used Tiffany's telekinesis to move the werewolf to the side. The werewolf was disoriented and could not right himself back up but he did transform into his wolf form.
Stefan casually walked over to him but the werewolf sprung to his knees and kowtowed several times while saying he yielded.
"Tsk!" Stefan's smile fell as he stopped in his tracks and looked down at his prey with contempt. He still wanted to slit his throat. He had almost crushed him to death in his underground hole. He was suddenly regretting his decision to play.
He turned to find his next hider, vowing not to play with his prey anymore.
Adonis smiled. "He is quite annoyed isn't he?"
Amber tossed him a side eyed glance. "You would be as well. That technique though. He has several Alpha level techniques." There was a glint I. Her eye when she spoke. Fighting him was going to be absolute fun.
There were twelve left on the island. Stefan was determined to have one of them. He blinked directly to the weakest werewolf. When he arrived the weakest was fighting a relatively strong werewolf and he was held his own. Stefan raised an eyebrow and nodded in appreciation.
He blinked to the last werewolf hiding. He was going to have his fun one way or another. Without thinking about anything he dove into the pond before him as soon as he materialized.
He was down at the bottom of the deep pond before the werewolf felt the disturbance in the water. There was a small cave where the werewolf was hiding. Stefan was already inside the cave when the werewolf felt the water disturbance. The werewolf instantly transformed and went to move deeper into the small cave but it was too late.
Before he could think, let alone speak he no longer had a throat and there were deep gouges in both his shoulders. Blood and gore dripped from Stefan's mouth.
He had been so frustrated he could not help but look up and howl when he was finally able to release that frustration. Amber was up on her feet, had taken a step, and she had to stop herself from running to him.
Adonis was next to her in an instant. He sensed her heat and looked to the lava island.
"Is he okay?"
"Of course he is." With that she sat back down like nothing had happened. Her entire being shivered as she worked to calm herself.