The Shadow
3/17/23 - 3/31/23
Draft 2: 4/17/23
Blood drips onto the sand. The body is dragged from the arena floor.
Cheers continue to erupt from the crowd. A few thousand people in stadium seating. Fists are thrown in the air. Money shifts in and out of waiting hands.
The girl stands barefoot on the sand. Her chest heaves as she tries to catch her breath from the previous fight. Turns her head to inspect a wound on her arm. Her fingers reach for it, trying to keep away from the open flesh. After a few seconds, she lowers her shaking hand. Instead, she lifts her gaze to the massive crowd surrounding her. Watching her.
I look back at the wound on her arm. The blood smeared on her fingers and pale skin. Then, to a pad of paper in my hands, scribbling down notes.
Right arm injured. Non-dominant? Total fight time clocked: 9 minutes and 43 seconds. Age?
In the middle of jotting things down, I look back at the girl, waiting for the nearby guards to come and pull her from the arena. They already removed the other fighter she just killed. What could be taking so long? She continues to watch the spectators, her eyes fighting to stay alert, despite her exhausted state.
A thick concrete wall surrounds her, about eight feet high. The circular base of the arena. On top of the concrete wall is the chainlink dome, keeping the fighters in the arena separate from those watching.
I'm almost finished with the notes when the sound of metal whirring reaches my ears. My eyes narrow. I look up.
On one wall of the arena, a huge metal grate begins to grind open, shuddering with age on its worn gears. It lifts from the bottom up, slowly revealing another large compartment.
The crowd dies down for a second, just enough for the creaking of the door to be heard. The girl's head snaps towards it as it whirs open.
I blink, trying to see into the darkness. As the grate lifts, the light slowly seeps in. There's a tan boy. His clothes are torn. More than a few holes burnt through. Another fighter.
The girl takes a step back once she sees him, her feet planted down. Everything pauses for a moment as she takes him in. Then, the boy's hands burst into flames. He steps through the metal grate and onto the sand.
All around, the crowd erupts. A buzzer sounds and the fight begins.
I give my notes one more glance before watching the arena.
The boy is almost twice the size of his opponent. He's broad and quick, with flames sprouting from his hands. Clearly well fed. Probably extensively trained.
The girl is still panting and recovering from her previous fight. She isn't nearly strong enough to put up a fight right now. The boy clearly has the advantage. I didn't know you could put someone in two fights in a row that quickly...
My eyes jump from the two fighters to my notes. I give a slight turn of my head. "I thought it was just one for her today," I call out to Dad, next to me. I hope my voice carries over the shouting from the rest of the crowd.
Dad's face is cold and focused. One hand in his suit pocket. He lifts a finger to point to the boy with the fire and semi-burnt clothing. "The Blazer was put in the pool an hour ago. They wanted him to be the second fight in a doubleheader with her."
I flip through my notes, confused. "How? I thought it wasn't good to have someone fight back-to-back like that. Especially when they're this age. They're more likely to not-"
