The Arena

Freedom

She bathed in the sun and in the crowd’s cheering, the sound of their claps circling the whole arena and blurring every other sound. And she deserved the applause she received, she put up a spectacular show. This time, to her surprise, the opponent was a human, but a sturdy one. He fought valiantly, but in the end, she was faster and deadlier. Now, the unknown man was lying at her feet, in a puddle of blood, while she, with her sweaty skin shining in the sun, was entertaining the crowd.

‘Wonderfully done, my dear! A spectacular show, as always!’

‘As it is my duty, lord Baruing’. Her response was almost mechanical, with barely any emotion shown. The lord liked his ‘associates' obedient and, unfortunately, she found out the hard way.

Lord Baruing was a rich aristocrat from the Redridge Mountains. And being a man of his status and importance, certain aspects of his life and business were overlooked by the royal guards. Some of them were even in on the whole deal. And one such hobby was the gladiator fights in his private arena in the Badlands. As for the gladiators, everyone was welcomed: every beast found by his hunters, every war prisoner, thief or criminal who didn’t want to die by hanging or every man, woman or child who lived in isolated areas with no protection. Baruing Athel was a despicable man with no respect for any being, be it man or beast. Everyone and everything he could get his hands on, and he would get his hands on, were nothing more than playthings or a means to make more money.

From this point of view, she was like all the other slaves under his rule, but she was special in three ways. First of all, she was the only blood elf he had. Second, she was the only woman allowed to fight. And third, she was the best fighter he had.

‘My lord, the new shipment has arrived!’, came a hoarse voice from outside Baruing’s study.

As soon as she heard that, she knew what the retainer meant: a new batch of slaves had arrived.

‘Ah, lovely! Hear that, my dear? Perhaps we will find some new toys for you as well.’ , lord Baruing said, smiling at her. ‘Guards! Escort her back to her cell!’

The door opened and the two guards that were waiting for her outside, motioned for her to follow. Without a word, she went after them. This was almost day in, day out. After her fights, she would be escorted to the lord’s study where he would evaluate and congratulate her. On some rare occasions, when the bets brought in huge sums of money for him, he would reward her with wine or fruits. After that, she would be escorted back to her cell.
The walk to her cell was eventless. Being the lord’s ‘favourite’ had certain advantages. The guards leaving her alone was one of them. All the fighters were kept underground, beneath the arena, in two rows of cells displayed face to face, separated by a large corridor. The air was damp and there was hardly any light. In the day, the sun would creep for a few hours from a small window, located at about two and a half meters high from the ground and at night, around eight small torches lit the corridor so that the guards posted there could keep an eye on the prisoners. Her cell was the last one on the left row, another ‘advantage’ of her status. At first, whenever she would walk near the other prisoners, they would scream lewd comments at her or threats, but now, no one dared to speak a word to her. If it was out of fear or out of respect, she didn’t care. All that mattered was herself and her wellbeing.

The cell door closed behind her with a loud creaking noise and after that there was only silence.

With her back resting against the stone wall, she looked through the small window. When she was younger, the night was her only comfort. Only at night would she feel at least a bit safer and the few stars she could see were a reminder of her past life and, at the same time, a promise for a better future. At night she remembered her home back in Eversong Woods and she made vow after vow on each star she could see that, one day, she would flee this wretched place and go back. However, by each day it became clearer and clearer that she wasn’t going anywhere and one by one her dreams, her vows and her promises started to fade.