The night passed without further incident and it seemed to Roxa as if it had only been for a few moments. But the footsteps that echoed through the corridor from the spiral staircase told him that it was time. The next fight Timanror had planned for him was coming up. Thanks to his partially feigned anger, his owner would definitely come up with something provocative. He almost bought the intensity himself. Not that he didn't find conversations with Faera interesting, but it took more to form a deep bond with a yokai. Still, she was special and because he was using her for his plan, he would certainly return the favour.
As the footsteps drew ever closer, he ran the possibilities through his head once more.
'There is a risk that she is not there..... But I don't think so. I've known that stinking human too long for that.'
At best, Timanror would keep the little girl Faera with him in the stands, as a hostage should Roxa not comply with his master's wishes. Only by very bad luck would she not be in the arena at all, but apart from a few brief thoughts he wasted no time on that. Now that Timanror knew of the apparent friendship, he would take advantage of it, Roxa was sure. Anyone who spent as long as he did among people got to know them over time and could judge some of them well.
'Two hundred years may not be enough to know humans down to the last detail, but it's certainly enough for greedy creatures like Timanror!'
In Roxa's eyes, Timanror was the most inferior of his house. It felt like only yesterday that Roxa put herself in the service of Timanror's ancestors. Tiribor Elk had been a respected man of his time, so Roxa turned to him and offered his services in exchange on some terms. But with each generation, the Elks became greedier, more corrupt and used Roxa to their own ends. Without the treaty, Roxa would probably have gotten rid of them long ago, but even though Tiribor was no longer among the living, the Yokai felt obligated to the treaty. However, the descendants of the noble man managed to get further and further to the limits of the terms and if everything went smoothly, this would be history forever from today on!
A single guard approached the lonely cell that had long been Roxa's shelter. As always, the guard opened the cell door and removed the Yokai's wrist and ankle shackles. Freed from his shackles, Roxa strode through the long, dark corridor, which ended after several hundred metres at the gate to the arena entrance. Still out of the darkness and a few metres away, Roxa spotted the shabby gatekeeper swinging the bunch of keys in a circle with his index finger. Without a word, he approached the gate and stopped in front of it.
"Today the shackles come off. The Lord has something special in mind for you." He grinned
The gatekeeper's grin did not please Roxa at all. If even such a lowly servant knew about the situation, it meant that Timanror had planned something despicable. If Roxa were not who he was today, he would have had to submit to the whims of the human at worst, or be blamed for the child's death. But he was not some runaway slave or fighter. With a grin on his part, he walked past the gatekeeper.
'Today is the day it ends!'
Of this one thing he was extremely sure. Once again he entered the crowded arena with narrowed eyes. Shouts and screams rang out from everywhere, telling him that it was even more crowded than the last time they fought. Whatever Timanror had promised the people, it had to be exciting enough to make them forget the short, boring fight and give it another chance. After a few moments, he had adjusted to the sunlight again and looked across the empty field. He had expected a whole army of fighters, or perhaps several dozen lowly Yokai. But there was still no sign of his opponent.
"Oh, one more thing," the human called after him. "The Lord sends word that he has warned you. One day you would regret your behaviour."
With the words, the gatekeeper closed the great entry gate and left Roxa to the arena. The human's words did not bode well, that much was certain. Especially with such threats, he expected all the more a dangerous army or something. But so far, nothing looked like he was going to be in trouble.
'There's no point in worrying about it.'
After all, he had been in the arena before and would see what the corrupt human had come up with this time. His next glance was at the very grandstand where Timanror was as well as mostly representatives of the royal family. As was to be expected, the greedy slave driver sat there on his cushioned chair and looked down at Roxa. Faera, however, he could not catch sight of anywhere. Neither on the tribune nor in the immediate vicinity of the slave driver could Roxa find the girl.
'Did he suspect that I might try something?'
He hadn't thought this bastard of a human had that much intelligence, but apparently it was so. For him, it meant that he couldn't just leave town during the fight. First he had to track down the slave girl to take her out of town with him, otherwise she would get all the rage. Unlike certain other creatures, the Yokai still cared about his pride and principles, so leaving the slave girl behind was out of the question.
"Honoured people of Floris!" shouted Timanror from the stands. "Last time, unfortunately, the battle of the indomitable Yokai passed rather quickly. To make this fight more exciting, the Yokai called Roxa will fight for several rounds in the arena against increasingly dangerous opponents. We'll start with a little warm-up before moving on to the more dangerous opponents!"
As always, Timanror used his words to significantly heat up the mood among the spectators as Roxa prepared himself for what was to come. This world held countless creatures and dangers that far surpassed the fire bull from the last fight. Even if the first fight would be an easy one, more and more dangerous opponents awaited him afterwards. Besides, he knew nothing about how many rounds he would fight.
'Did he manage to catch something more dangerous than the fire bull? Does he really want to see me dead this time?'
Piece by piece, the guards on the other side opened up, revealing a view of Roxa's opponent. In the darkness he recognised the silhouettes of his opponent. But instead of a fierce monster, or a band of warriors, all that awaited him on the other side was a single human? Granted, the warrior was clad in armour from head to toe, but that was all? Even for a warm-up, this round was absolutely ridiculous!
'Is this a joke?'
As his opponent entered the arena, Roxa fixed his gaze on Timanror. From above, he gave him a gloating look. The slaveholder's sly grin reflected his whole character and if he was so pleased, it could only mean one thing.
'Something is wrong here.....'
What was it that was escaping the Yokai's notice? If this person, driven by greed and vengeance, was grinning so much, and even though there was no danger to Roxa, it could not be a small thing!
"Now then! Begin!" shouted Timanror.
With that, the fight was officially opened. As in each of his fights, Roxa first waited for his opponents to make the first move. Whatever would await him, nothing would escape his eyes. There was still the possibility that this warrior was a dangerous opponent whom he had better not underestimate. Without even twitching a muscle, he stood tensely in a defensive stance while watching his opponent's every move closely. Not for a second did he take his eyes off the human, but apart from trembling he noticed nothing. It almost seemed as if....
'This...is not a thirst for blood, nor the thrill of an impending battle?'
No matter how he looked at it, the person in front of him was anything but ready for this fight. Fear moved through his whole body and made him tremble in all places. What was Timanror thinking, to let such a weak opponent fight Roxa? Simply because the Yokai hated fighting opponents who didn't even stand a chance? So now the slave driver picked the worst opponent he could find?
"Boy, do you have any fighting experience at all?" asked Roxa.
The fighter in front of him did not answer and merely raised his sword arm tremblingly to position it between himself and the Yokai.
"Have you lost your tongue in fear or what? Can you even fight?"
The crowd grew more impatient with each question Roxa asked. Only the spectators in the front rows of the spectator ring could probably hear him, but the fact that he was trying to converse with his opponent was something they all had to see.
"What's going on down there?"
"We're here to see a bloody fight, not a chat!"
"Get on with it!"
Something was just not right. The slave driver was also still maintaining his grin. But since his opponent didn't reply, there was probably no point in getting some information first.
'I guess it's no use....'
"Attack me!" he shouted to his opponent.
The armoured man charged towards Roxa with his sword raised.
'The strides are far too big for a fighter of his size and use far too much energy. The legs seem to be in motion, but the rest of the body doesn't really pull along. So the trembling is from lack of experience in combat after all. Even for an arena slave, this is far too impetuous.....'
The first sword thrust was an ordinary attack from above, guided by both hands. Roxa himself carried no weapon, so he dodged the first strike and manoeuvred himself behind his opponent. There were so many open gaps he could have exploited for an attack.
'This one is definitely a fresher... huh?'
Under the slightly too large helmet, he caught sight of blond, long hair at the level of his neck. The hair colour was not very unusual, but what fighter wore his hair that long? This was obviously a woman....
'Can it be!'
Roxa's eyes widened at the thought that crossed his mind! He immediately grabbed the attacker's left, free hand and held it behind her back. This allowed him to approach the woman completely and whisper something in her ear.
"If you are Faera, attack me with your sword arm, swinging it around to your right."
As he suspected, the attacker swung her sword from the right at Roxa, who easily dodged the planned attack. After the sword swung over his head, he grabbed Faera so that she could no longer fight back and tore the helmet off her head.
'It's her!'
Throughout his body he felt his blood begin to boil at the sight of the little girl. Timanror had deliberately used her as a fighter so that Roxa would either kill her or submit to him completely! It was nothing unusual in Floris for children to be forced to fight in the arena, but the Yokai detested killing children and ruled it out from the start. Now, however, Timanror probably wanted to consolidate his influence by blackmailing Roxa with Faera's life!
"What's the matter, indomitable yokai?" taunted Timanror from the stands. "Can't the mighty warrior even defeat a simple girl? Perhaps we should rename you the Weak Yokai?"
Who would have thought that Timanror would make it so easy for him? Actually, Roxa had thought that Timanror was holding the little girl hostage on the stand. Instead, the slaver presented her right on the platter. Did he really think Roxa would continue to submit while Timanror lowered himself to such cruelty?
"Little human girl," Roxa whispered with a grin, "do you still want to see the world out there with your own eyes?"
He knew her answer anyway and didn't even wait before putting her on his shoulder. Without so much as another glance at the others present, he made his way with the armoured girl on his shoulders to the gate they had been let out of. While he didn't think they would just let him go, his path led through one of the gates either way.
"What do you think you're doing?" cried Timanror, upset. "Guards! Kill them both!"
Apparently the slaver had already reckoned with the Yokai's insubordination, for from both gates emerged armed warriors with swords and lances, while the upper rows of the spectator ring filled with archers.
"Old man," Faera whimpered.
Despite the armour, the Yokai felt the girl tremble. Her whole body shook under what just awaited them both. Several dozen warriors had encircled the two at a distance within a few seconds and on top of that they were also fixed by the archers.
"Ha! Hahaha!"
At the sight, Roxa could no longer hold back his joy. This feeling that ran through his whole body felt simply thrilling! Granted, it was not what he had imagined for the last few years, but on the other hand, it was no less exciting. 200 years he had now been living among the people but maybe it wasn't his final destination yet?
"I actually expected this mass of enemies from the very beginning, ever since I entered the arena today!"
In front of everyone, he went down on his knees and raised a hand. All the attackers began their onslaught after the Yokai raised his hand.
"Icy cold," whispered Roxa, pressing his hand into the sand beside him.
All around him, ice spread with astonishing speed, while he and Faera were spared.