Gallimaufry

Writing Prompt # 2: The Arena

Prompt:

 "Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Story: 

The Arena

"Who was he?" Codex asked softly as they stood together beneath the large stone arch that displayed that bold quote to the world. The daylight was behind them, throwing their shadows into to the fighting arcade deep within the dimmed light beyond.

Saraf looked to her curiously, raising one brow before looking back up to the quote, long carved and forgotten by societies and people who had fallen and left a chaotic bloody world in their wake. With a sigh, she shrugged to her friend and readjusted the weapons on her hips, nodding through the entryway, "whomever he was, he wasn't in the society of our contemporaries."

Codex blinked at that, the amusing head tilt belying her confusion, "Why?"

"Cause there is no divine providence here, with them. We are only connected to these events through death. Trust is a myth and we're probably about to die." Saraf said dryly, shaking her head and striding forward finally, listening to the roar of a crowd waiting to see them die.

"I dunno. I trust you, Sar." Came the delayed reply from beside her.

Their footsteps slowed as they stepped from the hall into the soft powdery sand. Saraf glanced around for a moment, taking note at the ridges she felt buried under the sand as they moved forward.

"Look where that got you." Saraf said finally, shaking her head, "fighting for your life because of a desperate wager for some Cripacks, when we haven't had a good scavenge in months. What do you even have for tricks?"

Dex shifted the pack as they came to a stop in the middle of the ring, pulling it in front of her so she could rummage through its contents. Saraf remembered a time when it seemed almost bottomless with inventions or odd weapons they found in the wreckage of past war machines but now, she had to be content with the single seized up grenade-egg and the carefully wrapped line of razor wire her friend produced.

An exclamation rose from the crowd watching them, silencing Codex's response and pulling their eyes towards the far end of the arena, where the large spiked reptile with razor teeth came lumbering out of a gate. It stood twenty feet tall on its hind legs though it had the ability to lower onto all fours to pick up speed, its skin was rock hard and the tusks that protruded out of its upper jaw were almost as sharp as the claws and tail spikes it could slash at you in the blink of an eye.

"What are the rules, Sar?" Dex's voice was soft, with a tremor of fear as the creature paused to sniff the air. The only positive to this scenario was that the thing was blind, it hunted on smell and sound.

"Kill it and stay alive. I think they have the ability to reduce the size of the arena to force us closer if we try to avoid it, there's at least four rings they can drop that we had to cross over." Saraf answered softly, watching the thing as they stayed as still as they could, hoping the sounds and smells of the crowd would distract the monster.

Dex nodded at that, offering a thoughtful smile, "Use the wire and your tools to keep it busy, I'll try to get the pin out of the grenade, then all we need to do is throw it down its throat and we should be fine."

As she pulled on her gloves and took the razor wire, unravelling it in both hands, the creature let out a roar and locked its attention onto them. Saraf let out a loud piercing whistle and sprinted to one side, pulling the reptile's large head to follow hers.

It let out a whuffing noise and fell to all fours before charging at her, head lowered to meet her with its tusks. The world slowed and narrowed till Saraf stood staring only at the large tusked head loping towards her and took a deep breath. She knew she needed to move, she was screaming it in her brain, but it was as if her body was unable to respond, until the moment before impact. Suddenly she was leaping into the air, spinning head over heels and lowering her hands to tuck the stiff metal cord barbed with razor blades under the creature's chin as she sailed over its head. Both arms were pierced and sliced open by the tusks, and it took everything within her to grip the wire with her Kevlar gloves finding her body jerked to a stop as the wire dug into the reptile's throat and send her slamming down into its back. She felt her coat and skin tear as it was pierced by the creature's sharp spinal spikes and let out a yell as she was tossed about as it tried to shake her loose.

The ride lasted an eternity, with every movement jarring her pain receptors until she heard Dex yell out, "I've got it!"

The creature turned and opened its mouth to roar towards Codex standing in front of it, giving Saraf the time to let go of the razor wire and leap from the thing's back. She stumbled to the ground, scrambling away as an odd silence hit the arena. There was a sharp crack that reverberated through the air followed by a high pitched, squeaking roar as Saraf rolled onto her back to see the large creature fall over stiffly sideways, bleeding out of several small holes in its hide. Codex stood off to the side, watching the dead carcass smoke with a satisfied grin, before glancing over to her. The grin widened proudly before the realization that Saraf was pulling herself to her feet and bleeding from several wounds darkened the thrill of victory from the smaller woman's features.

"Looks like we can finally leave this city, Dex." Saraf coughed softly as her friend propped her up, "let's go get us our loot."