Chp.44: Join the resistence

Zamor was watching the other gladiators enjoying themselves. He, unlike them, preferred to remain on the sidelines. After all, he had no reason to celebrate. He had managed to escape, sure, but his battle wasn't over.

He had already decided that he would set out for the nearest town the next day. He would create a new identity for himself and start thinking of a way to save his wife and old comrades. Once that was done, he would think of the next move to get his people out of the slavery they had been forced into. He would have left immediately if it hadn't been for the fact that he still wanted to take advantage of the promise Haku had made to him; he knew that the dragon would probably just 'help' him by giving him advice or some strange object, but it was still better than nothing. If there was one thing she understood about Haku, it was that his mind was extraordinary, so even the simplest advice could prove to be crucial if provided by him.

Therefore, he remained. He was sure that Haku would kick him out badly if he interrupted his moment of reunion with his siblings (by the way, who expected there to be other dragons? Certainly not him), so he decided that he would wait for the next day. He was sure that even Haku intended to leave as soon as possible: near that river they were too easily identifiable, so almost certainly the dragon too would announce his decision to leave the next day. At that point he would have demanded him to fullfill his promise, and then everyone would have gone their own way.

He looked at the other gladiators. He wondered what they would have done now that they were free. The best choice, of course, was to create a new identity and start a new life, perhaps even in another country. Or they could have become brigands. He wondered if they expected him to decide: after all, he was their leader. However, Zamor had no intention of satisfying these expectations: the following day he would reveal his intentions to everyone, and then everyone would do their own thing. After all, he didn't have time to become the leader of a gang of fugitive gladiators.

Maybe he could have taken them with him? Convince them to fight alongside him? That wouldn't have been bad. Gladiators, hotheaded though they were, were all indomitable warriors. He would almost certainly have been able to convince most of the lizardmen, tigermen, and lionmen, since their peoples were the ones directly involved, and probably a good portion of the other beastmen as well. Humans, orcs and elves, on the other hand, in all likelihood would have left to create a new life for themselves, since the situation didn't concern them directly. Even so, he could have gained a large number of followers. However, having a small army at his disposal also had disadvantages: more people were more difficult to hide and required more resources. They should have turned into a gang of bandits, which would have made them much more visible and vulnerable.

As he was deep in thought, a group of people approached him. He recognized them immediately: three of them were the humans who had accompanied Maldor to the arena, while the other two were those who were already at the river and who had rejoined them that afternoon. "You are Zamor, right?" one of them asked.

The lizardman nodded. "It's me. What do you need?"

"I am Efren, and these are my companions Carlos, Sarah, Lisah and Martha. We are…we were adventurers" the man replied. "We worked with the dragons to free you, so we know what happened to you and your people. We would like you to let us help you"

Zamor's eyes widened. He certainly didn't expect that request. "Are you sure? Do you have any idea what's down there?"

"Your wife told us everything" Sarah replied. "So yeah, we know"

Zamor didn't know what to think. "Why? You owe me nothing and I have nothing to pay you with. This is none of your business"

"We're not doing this for any gain. We're doing it because what's happening is an injustice and a crime" Carlos replied. "And we are tired of standing still and doing nothing. You will have our help. We may not be very strong, but we have a lot of knowledge in various fields, and furthermore our years of adventuring have rewarded us with a lot of experience, tactics and strategies that perhaps we could use"

Efren, Sarah, and Carlos had made that decision for several days now, and as soon as they'd reunited with Lisah and Martha, they'd let them know and offered to come with them or go back to their old hometown. But Lisah and Martha had also learned of the injustice being done because of Darbi, and they too had talked about it and decided it was right to contribute. Thus, all five of them had agreed to help the lizardmen, and obviously also the other two peoples involved, the lionmen and the tigermen. The decision was then made, and it was not a frivolous decision: all of them were extremely determined. There was no reason to delay any longer.

Zamor thought about it for a moment. He had no reason to refuse, and besides, those five adventurers also seemed to know where to find his wife. He was pleased with their generosity. "Thank you. All right, I accept your help. I will be happy to have you at my side in this challenge"

The five adventurers seemed happy, and even Zamor smiled. But then that smile faded when he heard Gord's voice: "Hey, hey, stop everyone! What challenge are you talking about? And what's happening to the lizardmen people?"

Zamor was caught off guard. Some gladiators had approached and were clearly waiting for an explanation. "Were you eavesdropping?"

"Eavesdropping? We were literally sitting there" Gord said, pointing to a spot five meters away. "We even asked you if you wanted to join us, but you ignored us"

"Are you serious?" Zamor asked confused, not remembering any of that.

"You were probably too caught up in your own thoughts and didn't notice them" Efren said. Indeed, Zamor concluded that it was an acceptable explanation.

"Come on, spit it out" Brenno said, who was also present. "Anyway now I can't be surprised by anything. Today I already discovered that my friend was a dragon, it wouldn't surprise me to find out that our brave leader is a salamander"

Zamor realized he couldn't refuse at that point. But after all, he had no reason to keep the secret much longer. So he quickly began to explain what happened after the war, what he and his wife had tried to do, and how he ended up a prisoner in the arena. As he spoke, many other gladiators drew near to listen, until all were around him in silence to hear what he had to say. When Zamor was done, many of them were outraged and furious, especially the lizardmen, lionmen and tigermen. "How could they!?" Gord growled. "I'll tear those bastards apart... I swear..."

"Calm down. Getting angry won't solve anything" Zamor said. "Listen to me, tomorrow I will set out again and try to save my people, or at least a part of them. All who wish to follow me are free to do so, but do not feel obligated just because I led you out of the arena. Anyone don't want to help me, they can go their own way; I'm sure that if you ask the dragons where the nearest town is they will tell you immediately, and once there you can rebuild your life. But if you wish to fight for what's right, I'll be happy to receive the your help"

"You don't even have to ask!" Gord yelled. "If the lizardfolk are threatened, then this is personal to me! You have my sword!"

"And my hammer too!" Brenno said. "I can't really hide, and out here I would always live a fugitive life. Besides, honestly, I only know how to fight. At least I'll take up my weapon for something right!"

Many other gladiators gave their assent. All of the lizardmen, tigermen, and lionmen quickly declared themselves in favor, and the reluctant few banded together for fear of being deemed traitors to their race. All the other beastmen also gladly accepted, since there was a possibility that the consequences of Carrion's actions would affect the other peoples of the Baudonia City Alliance. Some members of other races, including orcs and ogres, accepted because they had nowhere else to go anyway, since their faces would be easily recognized among humans and they were still fugitives, so it was best to join the crowd. Even some elves and humans accepted. In the end, of the more than one hundred gladiators present, more than eighty were in favor of fighting and only about twenty chose instead to try to build a new life.

Zamor was happy. Having the support of so many warriors would have been helpful. Sure, that would cause some inconvenience, but he'd think about that later. Under his leadership, the gladiators immediately began discussing what to do.

As the gladiators spoke, Lisah noticed movement on the nearby hill and nodded to her companions. The five adventurers climbed it and at the top they found the dragons, which seemed to be relaxing and, judging by how wet they were, they must have just had a bath. Corgorin and Serengal were placed slightly further apart than the others, so you could meet them sooner. "Where are the guys?" Carlos asked, noting that there were fourteen dragons instead of seventeen, and that all the ones that were missing were the ones with long horns.

"Haku and Rhaegal are having a chat. As for Darbi… he's gone somewhere offended because we'd insult his 'male identity' or something like that" Corgorin replied, then she asked: "So… will you really do that? Are you really going to help the lizardmen?"

"Were you listening to us?" Martha asked, surprised that they had heard the conversation from this distance.

"Dragons' hearing is far superior to humans' hearing. We could hear a leaf fall half a kilometer away" Serengal explained. Now that they were no longer using their avatars, their senses had returned to peak efficiency. "Anyway, we're surprised. We didn't expect you'd actually do it in the end"

"We humans are very indecisive, confused and often self-righteous, but when we really make a decision we don't go back" Sarah replied with a smile of pride. "And we no longer intend to stand by and do nothing. If we close our eyes to injustice, then we are complicit in it"

"In a way we have to thank you. We figured it out thanks to you" Efren said. "We needed your... frankness to understand what we really had to do"

Judging by the praiseworthy gaze, the two dragons didn't know whether to feel flattered or embittered. "Well, in that case... this is goodbye. We wish you success in your new purpose" Serengal said.

"Technically it will be goodbye only tomorrow morning" Corgorin said. "But yes, we wish you good luck. I admit that I will miss you"

"Really?" Sarah asked skeptical.

"Well, some more than others. For example, I will miss you very little" Corgorin replied, then she looked at Carlos. "Instead, I will miss you, my dear, much more. I am sorry that our relationship ended so soon. We could have tried… many things together"

The other adventurers chuckled. Carlos sighed: even in the moment of saying goodbye, Corgorin would not have stopped making fun of him. But for once he wasn't sorry about it. "We will miss you too, in a way. Sure, you kidnapped us, tied us up, threatened us and forced us to help you... but in the end, all in all, it was good"

"Oh, you are really a gentleman! Even now you tease me! You can't pay me so many compliments. Sure, I'm a kidnapper, a menace and a manipulator... but I also have flaws" Corgorin said with a small laugh.

"What Corgorin meant was that we enjoyed our time together too" Serengal said, glaring at her sister. "So... be careful, okay? Don't take unnecessary risks"

The five adventurers smiled. They knew that was the dragons way of greeting them cordially. "We'll try. Be careful you too" Efren said. After that they turned and walked down the hill. Corgorin and Serengal stood for a moment, then they turned and walked back to their sisters.