Chapter 3
As I wake, I become aware of a rank smell. It’s so bad, I can’t even begin to describe what it smells like..
I try to not breathe in through my nose, but the smell is so bad, it leaves a foul taste in my mouth.
It leaves me wanting to vomit my stomach up.
Finally deciding to open my eyes, I look around my cell. No, Cell isn’t the right word…..Enclosure, or Cage would be closer to what I’m seeing. A cell door and bars cover one side of the Cage/Enclosure/Whatever. The rest of the……whatever it is, is decently large, and covered in greenery. Weeds grow from the dirt floor, and vines climb from floor to ceiling. A large wooden door sits at the back of the room, probably barred from the other side.
I cast my eyes to the floor, and find Aestas next to me. I believe she’s still unconscious, but sometimes it’s hard to tell. I call her name, and attempt to shake her awake. She stirs, and then bolts upright. Breathing heavily, she looks around quickly. I have to reassure her she’s all right and safe, before she’s calm enough to even talk.
Suddenly, she leaps forward and buries her head in my chest, sobbing.
“They’re dead, aren’t they?” she whispers, before falling into a miserable silence. I just hold her tight, and pray that my friends would be let into the heaven of whatever religion that they believed in.
We stayed like that for ages, before our cell door rattled, and a man walked in.
Unlike his Bandit accomplices, this man was tall, bulky, and had an Aura of “Don’t mess with me”.
He had a face like chiseled stone. Rough, scarred, along with black eyes that pierced your soul.
Once in the room, he stopped and stared at us. “……Do you know why you’re here?” He asked us.
I stared at him aggressively as Aestas continued to cry into my shirt. He stares back at me.
“I have a good idea” I say to him. “But why don’t you tell us anyway.” He chuckles at this comment,.
“You have been selected to participate in a competition….. Of sorts” He begins “You will be in this competition for the rest of your stay here, and the prize is your life.” He finishes. I continue stare at him whilst I pick my words carefully.
“So that’s why it’s called an Arena” I answer. “You’re going to have us fight to the death, all for your amusement.”
He grins, and points a me. “You’ve got it in one. Now, let us go.” He makes to leave, but then turns around
”You begin tomorrow, so I suggest you get a good night’s sleep.” He left, and locked the door behind him.
I do nothing but Hold Aestas tight. By now her tears have run dry, and her eyes are full of vengeance.
“We’ll make them pay for what they did” she swears. I nod, agreeing with her.
“They’ll wish they were burning in a thousand Hells long before we’re finished with them.” I swear.
NEXT DAY
I’m sick of waiting for them to arrive, so I begin pacing. Moving back and forth, I walk the space between Aestas and the wall. She’s still asleep, so despite my frustration, I keep quiet.
Finally, after what seems like ages, something begins to happen.
The door on the back wall, covered in moss and ivy, groans and swings outwards.
Aestas starts, and jumps upwards. Clinging to my arm, she holds me by her side as I walk out into the Bright sunlight. Covering my eyes with one hand whilst holding onto Aestas with the other, I stumble towards the far side of the courtyard we just entered.
Blind, I’m helpless as rough hands tear Aestas from my grasp. They drag us out into a large tree covered area where they unceremoniously dump us onto the ground.
We’re not the only people there.
All types of people, Young and old, skinny or overweight.
They, like us, were on the ground, guarded by bandits. The Leader Walked out of the trees and stood in the center of the clearing.
“In a moment” He announced. “You will be given a bag. This bag has no food in it, only weapons.” He pauses for a moment. “Do not be afraid to kill, because if you do not, you will die yourself.”
He laughs evilly, and then motions with his hand. Guards dump bags in front of every prisoner, and the sounds of Clanging metal fills the clearing.
“Have fun, and provide us with some good entertainment” they all whisper. Their voices joining together into a single cruel symphony.
I glance at Aestas, who’s located a few meters away from me. Her Eyes are Glazed over, and she seems unresponsive.
All the soldiers head back towards the gate, and just as they reach it, one of them shouts “GO”.
Confusion follows those words.
Whilst everyone else stumbles around, I grab the bags that the guards dropped in front of us with one hand and I pull Aestas to her feet with the other.
Have dragging, half leading Aestas, I run towards the far side of the clearing, away from the doors.
Nobodies followed us, but that means nothing now. The confusion has died down, and the sound of metal hitting flesh and screams have taken its place. Sickened by the noise, I continue to run.
Breaking through the leafy barrier, I decide to stop and search the bags we got given.
Reaching in, I grasp the first thing that I touch.
Pain fills my hand, a white line of agony stretching down my palm. I pull it out, and expect blood to go everywhere, but the large cut on my palm looks burnt, and there is no bleeding; only a scab that appears to be getting dryer by the second. Confused, and slightly scared, I pick up the bag again, thinking to check it out later on.
Aestas has become more responsive. She walks over and grabs my hand. Holding it so the cut faces the sky, she leans forward to examine it.
“How long ago did this happen?” she asks me, her tone concerned. I look at her, then back at my palm.
“Just now” I answer. She looks confused, but the sound of footsteps interrupts us.
Grabbing her wrist, I heft the bags onto my shoulder and begin to run the opposite direction of the footsteps
I don’t know how long we ran.
I don’t know if we’re being followed.
I don’t even know if we’re going to survive the night.
All I know is that safety is imminent, albeit temporary safety.
We’re walking at this stage. Slow, heavy steps. One foot at a time, towards a cliff, in hope that there’s some form of shelter there.
We arrive shortly, and our luck holds. A large opening, more like a mouth, sits in the Cliff face.
We stumble up to it, and I pick up a few stones and throw them in.
They clatter against an unseen wall, and bats begin to stream out.
Aestas squeals and I shelter her from the black stream of bats.
They tear at my shirt, leaving rips in it, and scratches on my back.
A suddenly as it begins the flow of bats ceases.
The cave is left silent.
Cautiously, I stand up, and begin to walk in.
Once inside, my vision adapts to the lowlighting.
The cave is big enough to shelter us, but small enough that no predators would sleep it.
Moving past Aestas, I dump the bags down on the ground.
Once again, the sound of metal on metal rings out.
Being careful this time, I grab the sides of a bag and pull it down.
Light glints off of rusty weapons.
10 Kunai,
4 daggers,
a few crossbow bolts,
and a short sword.
Shaking my head at the lack of the flint we need, I turn to the other bag. It’s larger than the first one, and seems to be made out of some sort of woven steel.
Unsheathing one of the daggers, I strike the bag with it.
Sparks fly everywhere, and the dagger shatters.
That was interesting, to say in the least.
Looking inside the bag, I find a single sword, made of an unknown metal.
The metal is bright silver, with ripples of grey running through it.
As I run my fingers down the blade, the grey ripples underneath my fingertips turn bright red, and then fading back to grey once my fingers leave them.
it raises questions, but they’ll have to wait.
Turning to Aestas, I run my hands through my hair.
“What are we going to do” she whispers to me, tears leaking from her eyes I look at her with pity.
Before me, I see a broken girl. Her spirit shattered, her moral at its lowest.
Keeping my voice as gentle as possible, I say “First things first, we need to hide the entrance to our cave.” She looks at me expectantly.
“We’ll grab lots of branches, vines, leaves and dirt, and set it all up at the entrance of the cave. We’ll make it seem like it was never here.”
She nods and sets out to do what I’ve asked.
Once she’s left, I set out to find the things I need for a fire. Wood.
That was it. Screw the flint. I want to figure out what was happening to me
Piling the wood in a haphazard fashion, I put my hand to it and Push.
I can feel heat rush down my arm and gather in my fingertips.
Smoke appears above the wood pile, and the wood is beginning to char.
I push one final time with my mind and, the pile of wood bursts into flames.
Excited about my achievement, I move to get up, but sudden agony tears through my entire being.
I flop to the ground, unable to move as I feel my muscles and bones vaporize.
Amongst the pain, a new feeling takes the place of the emptiness of my body.
Swelling and expanding, I can feel my body regain structure. My bones grow back, and once they are finished, new muscle tissue begins to grow over the new bones.
The pain begins to subside.
Painting, I crawl to my feet. Barely able to walk, I stumble to the entrance of our cave.
As I reach the Opening, A loud scream, and then yelling, echoes through the forest.
I feel all my energy rush back to me as I begin to run towards the sound.
