Tales of a Dragon

Chapter Seven

        The Colosseum was once again filled with people and chatter, and murmured surprise that Rastiv the Mages Sir had appeared on time. Everyone knew it was an important day, but no one had a clue what was going on.

        King Ashton walked out and stood at the podium, his chin raised and his eyes dark.

        "Hello, citizens of Ceraleum. We have a very important announcement to make today," he said, his eyes scanning the crowd. "I have been informed by several of my assistants and government officials that the Tournament deadline must be changed."

        Axis perked up, suddenly interested.

        "We are changing the Tournament dates to three times every year. One on the 20th of January, one on the summer solstice, and the last on the 20th of December."

        The crowd was grimly quiet. Only whispers filled the Colosseum now.

        "And a Tournament would once go on for the whole day, every match would be in that same day. But that is also changing."

        The people didn't seem bothered. They almost seemed relieved. Axis looked for Samantha and once he found her, they locked eyes. He could tell her eyes expressed relief and a flickering joy.

        "We are spreading out the matches, so there are three everyday. The winner of the first match will go up against the winner of the second. The winner of that match will face another fighter. Out of all five of the people who will fight, the one of highest status will be last."

        This caused a minor ruckus in the crowd. They were speaking normally now, and Axis could hear things like, Still unfair, and ... at least it's better.

        "Calm down." The people went quiet almost immediately. "And the winner of the previous day will be the last fighter in the next day. If there is any confusion, please consult the royal staff. And if anyone missed the meeting today, please inform them of this change."

        King Ashton sighed, as if in guilt and regret.

        "Let the Ceremony go on." Axis heard a man behind him mutter, Will the betting still continue? And a woman answer, Ask the staff!

        The Ceremony took only an hour since there were only twenty-nine citizens who had turned 18 that week. Axis took a deep breath as his father released them for the rest of the day. He waited, looking for Avril. He wanted to talk to her.

        He had a really big headache. His head felt like it was... full... and it throbbed with a very dull, but annoying pain. He winced as he shook his head and bent his neck.

        Avril wasn't here anymore. She probably saw him and got out before he could see her. He popped his knuckles, and stood waiting at the gate. He was the last person to go out.

        He looked around for Avril one more time. Nothing.

        But as he walked out, a hand clamped his mouth. He looked around for the guards. Where were they? He screamed, but the sound was muffled by the hand. He tried to bite down on it, but it was covered in a black leather glove. His back was on someone's front torso, and he could tell it was a woman.

        After a few minutes of struggling, the hand let go. He turned around to look at his kidnapper, possibly, and was looking at a strangely hypnotizing face. 

        She had thick, caramel hair that flowed like a waterfall. It was braided loosely, and the braid laid on her shoulder. She was young, maybe a little younger than Axis himself. She looked very athletic, and she was, since she had held Axis for so long without budging. Her eyes were the thing that made Axis drop his jaw. They were golden, and speckled with dazzling black spots. She looked very dangerous, but very harmless at the same time.