The Dance of the Keepers

Chapter 45 Progressive Elimination

All around us the arena began to change. The boys from Kalnaisk, Tanner and Karl, were the only two left chained, their teammate marked as the first casualty. The other poles sank down into the ground while their's slowly raised until they were hanging like piñatas several feet off the ground. They kicked and yelled which only succeeded in slamming their bodies against the steel.

Our pole began to lower into the ground as well, becoming wider as it went, giving the illusion it was melting. When it finally came to a halt, we were standing on a platform about six feet off the ground and ten feet across. The sandy arena floor rippled and all fell silent as we held our breath, waiting for the next challenge or terror to appear. There was a rhythmic clunking sound that seemed to come from below us, then it echoed all around.

I drew my sword, my heart pounding. The suspense was almost worse than anything they might appear out of the gaping tunnel at the opposite end of the arena.

"It's something mechanical."
Jasper noted.

"That can't mean anything good."
Glass grumbled.

From out of the darkness, a long line of robotic soldiers appeared, marching in perfect unison.

"Holy mother of coconuts!"
Kairos screeched.

"What are those things?"
Vienna exclaimed in understandable fear.

"Do you remember when I told you about Sci-Sentries?"
Jasper asked her without taking his eyes off the growing number of opponents.

"The terrifying programmed robots they only used once in the arena because they caused a blood bath?"
Vienna replied.

"Yep, those ones."

"Oh crap, oh crap. These are those?"
She shrieked.

Twenty-five Sci-Sentries, a veritable army when you took their power into consideration, came to a halt. They were silver with human-shaped bodies, but blank faces that gave me the chills to look at. In unison, they drew swords and let out a battle cry that rocked the stadium. Then with surprising speed, they advanced towards us, fanning out as they did.

"So my fellow targets, what exactly is the plan?"
Kairos asked in a high pitched tone.

"We have the high ground, we need to maintain it."
Jasper began.

"Astrid, you're our aerial defense system. Vienna, can you still blast holes with your light?"

"Yes but,"
Vienna started.

"You're with Astrid then, she'll get you air born and you can take them out from above. Kairos, Glass, and I will use our weapons to fend them off down here."

"Will my shadows have any effect on them?"
Kairos questioned.

"I doubt it, they can't see, to begin with. They instead use thermographic sensors to spot and track their prey."
Jasper answered.

The other competitors had joined forces in favor of defeating the Sci-Sentries and were in position to fight the robots before they reached us. Using my length of rope I tied Vienna and me together so I could move my arms more freely without the risk of dropping her. I raised us up just as Teagan made the first swing of a sword. He decapitated the thing and it slumped over unmoving.

At least the designers had made them more destructible since the last time I had seen them. The competitors in those Tournaments had to chop off all of their limbs and the head for the monsters to quit attacking them. Isla threw a dagger that lodged itself perfectly in the neck of the nearest Sci-Sentries. If it had been human, that would have been a killing blow. Instead, the robotic soldier stopped, pulled the dagger from its neck, leaving an inky trail of black oil running down its frame, and with terrifying speed chucked the dagger back at its owner. It hit Isla's jugular and she crumpled to the ground clutching at her throat. It would only be a matter of moment before she was dead. That was two. I spared her only a brief moment of pity, she like all of us in this cursed arena, past or present, deserved better.