"How dare you? You insolent cunt. I will have your cock torn from your body", spit flies from Memnuh's mouth as he backhands Kane. Barabas tries to come between them, "Calm down brother" , he says, "Don't presume to counsel me. This slave slept with my wife…" Memnuh snarls, vein throbbing on his temples, "…he doesn't deserve to live". Fist clenched together like stone while gaze dash from blade to slave.
"He must be punished", "Brother, you and I know your wife orchestrated this" "Indeed" Frieda chimes in, her gaze sweeping across the room, "You thought you were the only one who wanted some fun, sneaking out with your brother so you can fuck the dark elf" Frieda says as her eyes linger on Emilia whom stands apart, a silent witness to the unfolding drama.
Kane glances at Emilia and she looks down to hide from his gaze.
"I am a man, I can sleep with any slave. You are a lady of Grimstone, the flesh of a mere slave should not be lusted after" Memnuh erupts, his voice a torrent of rage directed at his wife, "You should heed your own words" she shouts back at him.
Memnuh jabs a finger at Kane, his eyes blazing, "The coming games in the colosseum, he will participate", "He is not ready" Barabas speaks but his words are not welcomed, "I don't care," Memnuh's voices rise to the roof "He is fighting in the bloody arena and that is final", he says and strides away, his brow slick with sweat as rage hardens his features.
Barabas glances at Kane with squinted eyes, "The gods do not favour you boy. Go back to your cell".
Kane walks back with gritted teeth, breaths heavy as heart roars beneath chest, hands turn pale in their clenched form. Kane returns to the ludus but not to his cell, he goes to the cell of one who has always seemed friendly.
Hair brown like tree bark and ears pointed outward, Emmet rises at the sight of the silver haired slave, "Kane" "I need someone I can trust. Are you trust worthy, Emmet?", Kane asks with a chill behind his voice and a the calm of ancestors before.
Emmet discerns the gravity of the situation, mirrored in Kane's eyes and responds, "I am. We are brothers now white monkey" he says, "I want us to escape".
A WEEK LATER
A week passed and the unwanted welcome of the arena's roar fills his ears. The sounds of the people equal the voice of the gods themselves. The arena is packed and full, people cheering while hawkers sell ale and gin.
The colosseum stands tall and proud, its stone walls weathered by time but still imposing. The air is thick with the anticipation of the crowd, a sea of people packed into the tiered seating. The roar of the crowd is deafening as they await the spectacle to begin.
The nobles and powerful men of Pyrrhus sit at the top of the colosseum, a section reserved only for the top hierarchy. Ushered and coordinated by Lord Ghassan.
In front of him is a drawn magic circle which Ghassan steps into and a holographic interpretation of himself surfaces. Leagues tall in height so all may see and voice loud like thunder so all may hear.
"Today we usher in another season of grace and gore, may Yomi and Hades accept our gifts of game and blood and bless all of Pyrrhus" Ghassan screams with electrifying energy, adorned in clothes of wealth and caliber.
"Let the games begin," he says.
Memnuh and wife sit together as rulers of Grimstone, Barabas by their side. Face squeezed as he yet watches his precious slave put to the test amongst more experienced and skilled hands or beasts.
Underneath the Arena
Clad in the abbreviated protection of short-sleeved armour, Kane stands shoulder-to-shoulder with his fellow gladiators, a cohort of thirty men arrayed in a formidable display. Sweat and heat mingle to form their suffocating perfume, while the colosseum itself seems to throb with the amplified fervour of the cheering throng.
"In the 3rd era, a dungeon appeared in the heart of Vineguard before it became the Sunken city. Brave warriors took the first step to uncover the secrets…" a narrator speaks words into air and the gladiators spring his narration to life.
The metal gates open and the gladiators are forced out with spears and magic behind them if they do not comply.
Kane inhales deeply, steeling himself, and strides through the imposing gates, shield braced against his forearm, blade gleaming in the nascent light. The gladiators enter into the desolate expanse of the arena, a stark land of sand and coal. There are four pathways at each direction, north, south, west and east, all locked by gates.
"…in the dungeon they meet horrid beasts of the underworld", the narration continues and the gates to the east opens up. Beasts walk into the arena. Cats of wild specie, the green Jaguars, begin taking positions as they eye the gladiators as prey.
A black serpent, its scales etched with the fiery calligraphy of molten rock, slithers beneath the sand with predatory grace. Emerging with a sinuous lunge, it coils around a gladiator, its musculature constricting with agonising force.
The sickening crunch of shattered bone echoes through the amphitheater, a symphony of violence that delights the bloodthirsty crowd.
The head of the snake spreads open and it reveal two long fangs, it sprays a red liquid toward the gladiator and his face melts off before the snake begins to swallow him whole.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck", Kane's heart pumps fast, he takes deep breaths and brings his mind to the present. The jaguars begin attacking the gladiators, ganging up on one and dismantling him before moving on to the next prey.
Kane observes the situations as they play out, his senses, razor-sharp. He moves, pace as swift as a falcon's, a calculated hunter targeting his prey. Kane reaches the serpent mid-meal, he finds it still engorged, its victim half-consumed.
Kane spins around and with a heavy swing, he slices open the snake's head.
Sizzling blood spills as the snake cries on full mouth and deep cut, the crowd jumps in the heat of the action.
"It seems your boy isn't bad," Felix who sits behind Barabas says and pats his shoulder, Memnuh folds hands together under chin with gaze fixed on Kane.
The jaguars tear out a gladiator's throat and begin to tear him apart. A spear arcs through the air, finding its mark in the flank of a jaguar, "We have to work together to survive," a towering gladiator declares.
They seem to rally around him, Kane runs toward the herd but the jerking snake uses its tail to sweep him off his feet as a last attempt attack.
A behemoth of a black bear, its eyes burning with a blood-red fury and teeth capable of shattering stone, charges. Kane, with a practiced agility, dives to the side, narrowly evading the beast as it crashes into a fellow gladiator with earth-shaking force.
The bear wears spiky hand braces and a loincloth, bulls' horns hang onto the sides of its head. The creatures hold down a gladiator and breaks his skull beneath its teeth.
The crowd goes mad with excitement as blood nourishes the sands of the arena and its tongue.
The other gladiators, galvanised by the tall man's strategic commands, converge upon the green jaguars. A brutal ballet ensues; the gladiators honed skills clashing with the pride's savage ferocity. Teeth and steel clash, blood is spilled and the crowd is pleased.
Claw and teeth stained, the jaguars charge at the gladiators against their dull tools of blade.
Kane and the black bear dance to their own tune but the beast will apply a rhythm the chosen one does not expect. The bear charges with its claws and bloodied teeth, a move too slow to catch the light foot gladiator. Kane dashes away from the grasp of the bear's claws, he cuts back in to swing his blade against the bear's arm.
Blood flies and the bear roars, a deafening sound that opens the goosebumps on Kane's skin. The bear charges with head down like a bull, charging with sharp and thick horns. Kane, shield in hand, stands to block the attack but ultimately finds himself in the air.
With a thud to the ground, he clashes his back on hard ground.
The bear rises to stand on two feet, "You will die meat bag," words from the mouth of the beast, words that shake the core of Kane's mind.
"A talking bear-man? I thought the surprises of this world were over" his thoughts are rattled with the beast, it opens mouth wide with red glowing balls of energy flying out.
Their sounds can be heard aloud in the arena as the beast tries to hit its mark, but it's silver haired prey rather much live, running and dodging the blasts.
"I can't keep running. I have to go for the kill," Kane shouts to himself and approaches the bear the moment it stops its attack to take breath. Kane dashes forward, sword pointed straight so that it meets bear's chest, a good strategy - for a lesser being.
The sword stabs the bear but does not pierce its hide, as Kane's eyes meets beast, beast's claw meets chest. Groans of agony as claw tears skin, Kane falls on his back. The bear springs forward to land on Kane but he rolls over.
He rolls away from the bear, no time to embrace the pain across his chest while weakened armour lingers. He gets on one knee as he tries to stand, "Fiery rain of arrows bathed the battlefield", the narrator announces and on the edge of the arena walls, archers shoot arrows of fire upwards so it may rain down on the arena.
"Raise your shields," booms the voice of the towering gladiator from across the other side of the arena. Kane doesn't need to hear his voice a second time to agree with him. His shield ascends, a sturdy bulwark against the incoming volley. Each arrow strike delivers a stinging impact as the fiery embers attached to its shaft rain down.
The arrows help in killing some jaguars but the bear remains defiant, a few arrows in its back, it roars deeply. A guttural roar that shakes the very ground, it unleashes a torrent of crimson light, sending a shockwave that hits Kane and everyone in the arena.
Formation scattered and men disgruntled, the beast charge at them, reducing numbers as it crushes skulls and tears flesh.
It spits beams of red light that burns through skin, elevating the crowd's pleasures with the screams of men soon to be dead. The bear drives its horn into a gladiator's abdomen and throws him off, it rushes to finish the job, biting off the man's throat.
The tall gladiator plunges his spear into the bear's neck, eliciting a groan. With a savage swipe, the beast hits the spear away, then unleashes a tide of fiery red energy from its mouth. The man, agile as dancer, vaults clear as the searing beam incinerates another gladiator.
Kane charges with shield, slamming it against the arrows on the bear's back, it seeps in and the bear groans loudly, whirling around to tear at Kane who steps back to dodge.
The tall gladiator picks a sword from the ground, he spins with grace and lands with a swing to the bear's shoulder, the blade cuts in but sticks to its flesh while the beast sinks its teeth into the man's shoulder.
The gladiator screams as his blood trickles down his arm, Kane appears from the side and drives his blade into the bear's neck, forcing free the gladiator. Kane watches claws shoot out of the gladiator's fingers and he digs into the bear's eyes, a courage he will pay for.
The bear tears at his chest, spilling blood and agony in the arena, the crowd is intoxicated with this display.
The tall gladiator swings with all his might and punches the bear, head turned right by heavy fist, mouth exposed as crimson hues of light shine down it's throat, it is closed with the stabbing of Kane's blade down its oesophagus and out the back of its spine.
Hot blood bathes Kane's hand as the crowd goes wild, "You fight well. I am Percival, we should work together" the tall gladiator says as he holds his bleeding shoulder. His hair is dark and long while his brows furrows together.
His pointy ears flicker and he moves to one side, dodging the charge of a green jaguar, letting it dive toward Kane who in a moment of instinct, slices underneath the jaguar's throat with a swift and clean swing.
Blood and throat gush out across the sands. Praises feel the colosseum as the gladiators fall in numbers, but alas, no beast remains standing in the arena.