Rise in the Arena (Part 1)

Chapter 3

Rise in the Arena

Andrei Gavrila

Chapter III

Biol left with many questions, but there was no time. The Arena was waiting. The road was bumpy throughout the forest. The wooden wheels of the wagon could not survive the sharp rocks which lay on the ground. After a while the sunshine made its way in the forest and created some light for the drivers.  Inside the wagon Biol was working on his pushups while his cousin was watching and correcting him with every move. They stopped at the halfway through the forest and got off to stretch a little and get ready for what was to come. One of the drivers went to Biol and Sicarius.

            “Soon we will have to cross the Lost Canyon, you better tie yourself to the seats.” said the driver.

            Without a word Biol and his cousin went inside the wagon and prepared some rope for the long and dangerous journey. A few moments later they were out of the Tall Forest. Biol looked out, he could see the open, a small field with flowers which lead to a rocky desert. The two cousins placed the rope over their thighs and above their stomach, they ensured it was tied well to the seat, then they got ready.

            As soon as they entered the rocky desert they felt a bump, followed by a lot more, it was worse than in the forest where they got a bump every five minutes. Here on the other hand they felt bumps every second. Then it all came to a stop and they could feel how the wooden wheels of the wagon were moving swiftly throughout the warm sand of the desert. The passengers looked out, the road was made out of sand and around the road they could see some giant brownish purple boulders. In the far distance they could see the canyon, a giant straight hole in the ground surrounded by boulders and some giant mountains.

            An hour later they reached it. The Lost Canyon. One of the drivers explained why it was called the lost canyon. Long ago in the Crusades, a giant army passed through here, they had to reach the Wind Gate. Here they disappeared. No one ever found the thousand soldiers, people assume that the ground collapsed and they formed this canyon. Biol was impressed by the story, but it was the same as one of Old Granny’s stories.

            The wagon turned left. Biol looked to see why they did this. It was a bridge made out of rock which passed the canyon. It looked solid although it was hard to believe this.

            “Do not look down people, many men died here.” said one of the drivers.

            They slowed down the horses. Now they were going slowly. Small rocks fell down in the abyss of the canyon. Biol closed his eyes and prayed to survive. They got at the half of the way and the bridge seemed to get longer. Biol could not hear anything except the sounds of hungry eagles waiting for the drivers to make a wrong move. Biol could not even breathe. He was just standing there with his eyes closed facing down. He felt the hand of his cousin on his leg. He looked at him and his cousin made him a sign to relax. Biol had to relax but could not, the only thing that flew in his mind was falling down.

            He heard a bump and looked out. They passed. Pressure was removed from Biol and everyone on the wagon. Biol looked out once again. He saw that they were going up a sand dune. The air was warmer out here, and he could feel the warmth of the sand being ejected up, even the wagon got warmer inside.

            Biol kept looking out to see what will come next. The only thing that he could see was them going up a dune. He saw the blue sky with the warm sun heating everything below. They reached the top of the dune. They started going down. Biol saw it. The Arena. It was a giant round building without a roof, only with some giant red cloth curtain holder by wooden poles. The curtains were used in order to make shadow for the audience. Around the Arena there were small buildings. Biol could not really see what they were used for because of how interesting the Arena looked, it was huge. It was brown with an orange stripe around it and it was surrounded by some wooden walls.