Glyph

Chapter 9

Dirk jerked awake. He gazed around blearily, looking for what had awoken him. He had stayed up late last night, imagining what he would do once he learned all the powers of glyphs.

Knock knock. The sound of a fist on his door shed light on the mystery of what had roused him.

Half walking, half stumbling, Dirk made his way to the door and yanked it open.

Aderyn leaned against the door frame, grinning. He raised his eyebrows as he looked at Dirk's appearance. "Did Sleeping Beauty forget his appointment with Ern and Arendel?"

Dirk gasped and frantically began throwing on clothes. 

"I guess so." Aderyn followed Dirk into the room and began inspecting it.

"Not very neat, are you?" he said, picking up a book from the floor. He set it down on the desk.

Dirk was tossing out clothes from the wardrobe, trying to find something normal and clean.

"Or perhaps that is only because you are literally throwing clothes around right now," Aderyn added.

He received no answer from Dirk, who was now struggling to run a comb through his bed head.

"Ready," Dirk gasped. "Let's go. If we hurry, we can still get good seats."

"Oh, that's ok. We can take all the time we need. I made sure to get here early. I figured you might forget."

Dirk stared at him. "Did I say we needed to hurry?" Aderyn continued.

Slowly a smile spread across Dirk's face and he punched Aderyn in the arm playfully.

Aderyn sauntered down the hall and Dirk followed. They walked for about five minutes before they reached a set of double doors.

"Welcome," said Aderyn, bowing over-dramatically, "to the Arena." He pulled open the doors and revealed the cavernous interior.

Dirk was amazed at the sheer magnitude of the room. It was open to the elements but had a floor, walls (with tiered seats) and a roof made of canvas, through which the drumming of hard rain made itself heard.

"Come on", said Aderyn, grinning at Dirk's dumbstruck expression. "Weapons master gets free front row tickets."

They followed the numbers on the tickets through the large, talkative, rowdy crowd to two seats very close to the sand pit that made up the fighting area.

Just as they were taking their seats, a horn blew, signaling the beginning of the events.

The people grew quiet and found their seats quickly, hunched forward with eager anticipation on their many faces.

A man dressed in a tabard of bright green and yellow came out of a small gate on the far side of the arena. Looking around, Dirk saw many gates ringed the walls of the arena, some large, others small. At one end, a massive metal door, covered with an iron portcullis stood. Dirk wondered what was inside. 

Aderyn followed his gaze and whispered, "That is the floodgate. If they open it, water comes rushing in. They use it for mock sea battles and to mimic swampland."

The man in the tabard had now reached the center of arena. "Good spectators," he called loudly. "I give to you, Odran the Hunter and the beasts he has captured for your entertainment."

He left and a hulking brute of a man, clad in animal skins, entered. "Hello people," he roared. "I, Odran the Hunter, have journeyed far and wide to bring to you these strange specimens of far away lands."

The crowd roared it's approval. Dirk tuned them and "the Hunter" out. He had good showmanship, sure, but he doubted the creatures would be all that strange. Aderyn noticed his annoyed, bored look and leaned toward him. "Don't worry. The people are a bit cheesy, but the things they show aren't."