Corey Opal

Chapter IX

The servants took me to an armory room, where I got suited up. They wouldn't give me my machete, but I could see why. You don't just give a hostage a weapon. If I ever hold someone captive, I will surely take lessons from these monsters.

When I got ready, the giant that whispered to me was at the door.

"I will escort the prisoner to the arena." He said. The servants nodded, and practically shoved me out the door. I followed the giant until we were out of hearing range.

"Who are you?" I asked the guard.

"A friend of Kolo's. Sage. Are you..."

"Corey. I'm sure he mentioned me. The kid who didn't believe in magic."

"Right. Heard all about it, but we have to get to the arena. The giants will think that you ran away." Sage said.

"Right. One more question. Is Kolo coming?"

"I'm not sure. He just said to round up the troops." Sage gestured to the entrance of the arena. "Are you ready?"

I nodded yes, and we entered the arena.

When Sage and I entered, the crowd of monsters went wild. They screamed, shrieked, hissed, anything that is a monster noise, it was made in there. I still, to this day, have nightmares about it.

By the time I had gotten to the center of the arena, I had heard enough monster sounds to BE a monster. Zef was standing in the middle, and he didn't have Pikju with him this time. He had a double axe. It was half his size, maybe five feet long. He gestured toward me, the same way he did in Greth. The only difference was the look in his eyes. This time it was "you're gonna die" rather than "meet my boss". Otherwise, his ugly face looked about the same. The big E was standing by Zef, a sick smirk across his face. Whoever thinks watching people die in an arena is cool has problems!

"Are you ready?" The Enchanter shouted at the crowd. The crowd roared. I'll take that as a yes. The Enchanter backed away, and the Game began. Zef and I circled around, every few seconds a jab or a swing nearly missing my body. This went on for about five minutes. Finally, Zef got tired of it and progressed towards me. He jumped up, swinging his axe like a hooligan. I ducked and slid under him, and his axe barely missed my head. Zef grunted and mumbled something about puny people sucking. He turned around, every step shaking the arena. He started swinging his axe in a V motion, up and down, up and down. My whole body was shaking, and I didn't quite know how to defeat a nine foot giant. I couldn't stall much longer, and I was running out of energy.

Then something shook the whole arena, shaking the monsters right out of their seats. Monsters tumbled, falling on top of each other, only to cause a break out of monster fighting. Talons slashed, slitherers whipped their slithering things, feathers flew, and worm nachos splattered. It was a nasty fight, but in the end, only one worm nacho came out. It was, the mightiest monstrou of the west; the fiercest foe of the East; the tornado tumbler of the South; it was the avalanche assaulter of the North; it was the unmistakable El Nacho Enchanter, the 1st!

The arena was still shaking by the time El Nacho Enchanter emerged from the pile of monstrous, in fact, it seemed to have gotten stronger. The walls shaking, some parts even falling off of them, letting sunlight peek through. The walls suddenly stopped shaking, and when they did, something, or someone, I should say, flew through the hole.

Kolo Pedra, Elder of Thux, flew through that very hole.