Ch. 13: Chaos Commence

I was filled with dread the whole morning as the ten of us waited to be called to the arena. The soldiers that weren't in the top ten looked envious, though I couldn't understand why. What was so great about getting killed for entertainment?

Finally, the dreaded moment arrived. The top ten were asked to enter the staging room to prepare ourselves.

"Attention men! You have all been selected to serve your glorious empire in the form of grand entertainment. Placed before you are various weapons - you can choose as many or as little as you like. The game you will be playing today is 'Fight to the Death'. There will not be teams - you will each fight each other until one is left standing. Only one shall survive. Anyone who feels like being merciful will be immediately eliminated. The winner will be granted with a feast fit for the King and shall sit at tonight's royal banquet. The losers will receive the honor of having served your empire well. Great honor to you all soldiers, and give us all a good show!" After giving us our instructions, the herald then left to appease the audience so that we would have sufficient time to prepare ourselves.

I couldn't care less what everyone else around me was grabbing for as I walked over to the less-favored small weapons table. Various throwing knives, daggers and other small blades were at my disposal. I grabbed fourteen spearhead throwing knives, two simple daggers, one split-blade dagger, dual semicircular serrated blades, and one collapsible double bladed knuckle dagger. The fellows around me scoffed at the tiny blades I was gathering while they reached for the mighty war-hammers, swords and axes. I took a waist belt containing a dagger sheath and a pouch big enough to place my knuckle dagger. I fitted the split-blade in the dagger sheath then strapped on a back holder with shoulder straps, placing three throwing knives in each underarm slot. The dual blades I placed on the back holder; easily accessible if I needed them. Six more throwing knives were placed in wrist bands - three on each wrist. I strapped on two leg holsters to carry my remaining daggers while hiding the last two throwing knives in my boots. Then I grabbed another waist belt and searched for an adequate broadsword. After finding something suitable, I questioned whether I wanted to wear my cape or not. After a little self-debating, I decided to forgo the cape as it was hot under the scorching sun and I was already wearing my long sleeved tunic under my leather armor. The other guys could wear full metal suits all they wanted - my aim was speed and agility. To top off the entire ensemble I found a helmet that would cover most of my face. I wasn't sure if that doctor-guy from a few weeks ago would be here, but I wasn't risking being recognized. Better play it safe than sorry since my goal for the event was not to die. Secondly, I didn't really want to kill anyone so light-armor would work to my advantage to make sure I could get out of another guy's way. However, I had made sure to strap myself with enough lightweight weapons to kill if needed.

At that moment we were called to formation. In a single-filed line we made our way out to the arena. Blinding light shone down upon us as I looked up at the stone tiers. Hundreds of citizens had come to watch this gruesome game. We gathered in front of the royal podium and stood side-by-side as we gazed at the fair King (or so I assumed due to his crown) surrounded by portly bald men and five beautiful women. Each woman was sitting quietly with her head lowered. There were a few more people sitting farther back that I couldn't quite see, but I didn't have much time to look before the King stood and raised his hand to silence the crowd.

"Congratulations fine soldiers! You have been given the honor and privilege to participate in this glorious competition to prove our military's great prowess in battle! Although you may die today, you will die with great honor. Fight fair, fight honorably, and fight well! To the winner will be great spoils. Let the game commence!"

Once the King said commence, chaos erupted around me. I narrowly escaped getting my head chopped off as two guys on either side of me slashed down with battleaxes. While backing up, another man took a jab at my waist with his broadsword. I twisted sideways then dropped to a roll while simultaneously grabbing a throwing knife from my wrist band. I hurled it at the man's thigh causing him to cry out in pain as he fell to one knee. Suddenly another man walked up from behind and chopped the injured guy's head off. As the head rolled my way, I quickly retreated to a safe distance from this throng of mayhem. I tried to gain my bearings to assess the current head count when an arrow whizzed past my ear. Some idiot had decided to grab a bow and arrow, however his calculated plan of long-range war-fair was cut short when a man with a war-hammer took a chunk out of the guy's ribs. Blood gushed out of the wound when the war-hammer came crashing down again to completely bash in the guy's skull.

I looked to my left and there was another man running for me. He held out a spear, intending to charge straight for my mid-section. Considering he was quite a bit taller than me, it was an easy dodge so I bent down and grabbed for one of the daggers on my leg holster. Being as his momentum proved difficult to stop fast enough, I gained the opportunity to stab my dagger straight through his boot into the ground. He pitched forward with a scream and fell, when another man ran up and began stabbing the guy's back repeatedly like a blood-crazed fiend. When his mania was satisfied, he turned my way with a sadistic grin. I swiftly stood to full-height, grabbing for my broadsword. Before he could successfully land a blow, I parried with a counter-attack aimed for his knee-cap. Since my opponent was not expecting a non-lethal attack, he wasn't fast enough to block my advance. I could hear the bone crunch under my blade as he howled in pain. With newfound adrenaline, he maniacally began swinging his sword with an onslaught of attacks, all the while limping on his injured leg. I deflected each blow as best I could, then did the only thing capable of getting him away from me - I punted his broken knee-cap with my boot. Agony washed over his face as he fell to the ground. As I retreated away from the awful scene, I watched as yet another man came forward to claim this defeated man's soul before he jumped back into the fray.

Luckily, I had a brief moment to actually evaluate the status of the battle. Three other opponents were left standing, two of which were combating so intently with each other that they didn't notice the third man approaching quietly. Within seconds, the two combatants were lying in a heap on the sand with the victor standing over them.

With my all-so-glorious luck, that victor just happened to be Broxten. He looked up to notice that we were the remaining two opponents, and a huge grin spread across his blood encrusted face.

"Ah, Ezran. I bet your wishing you hadn't pissed me off now, huh?" He smugly advanced, dragging his enormous sword behind him.

"Like I told you last night, you would regret it!" with that remark, Broxten raised the sword over his head and made a slash at my body.

Now, I know that I said that I would try not to kill anyone . . . however, this was Broxten I was up against. And if I had to kill Broxten or die - he was definitely going to be the one to go.