“Entering from the other side, we have Sorrel!”Marcus says, and again, the crowd shows its pleasure.
A younger man steps into the arena, stripped to the waist, his only armor a couple of steel bracers.He's dark-haired and slender, reminding me uncomfortably of Kai, the young man who died in the first set of exhibition matches.He carries a metal staff that looks as though it should be too heavy for him to hold but he moves it easily, telekinetic power appearing to back his movements.
The two face off, starting at opposite ends of the obstacle course, waiting for Marcus's signal to start.
“Begin!”he calls out.
Instantly, the two gladiators set off running across the obstacle course, both making swift progress.Talon moves almost like an animal, and I wonder if he might be some minor beast whisperer talent, able to borrow a fraction of strength from the creatures I can feel even now waiting in the depths of the arena.It worries me that they're to be a part of the games once more.I'm not convinced that they can be controlled, even if they provide a spectacle for the crowd.
Sorrel is moving quickly, as if it makes no difference to him whether he's running up a vertical surface or horizontally.He moves so swiftly the obstacle course barely seems like a hindrance to him.
Talon clearly sees that, and stands his ground on a section of platform, clearly deciding that his only chance to win is to knock the younger man from the course and force him to start again.He stands there with his hatchets held ready, but Sorrel barely seems to slow as he comes towards him.Sorrel jabs his staff down into the platform, vaulting over Talon, and then somehow swinging it round to strike him from behind and knock him from the platform in one movement.
It's an impressive feat of athleticism backed by magic, one that makes me gasp see it.But it seems the crowd aren't as impressed.
“Too easy!”someone calls out, even as Sorrel reaches the end of the course and takes a bow.
“Give him a real challenge!”someone else yells.
I look at Marcus, waiting for him to declare the end of this contest, but even as I do so the gates leading to the spaces below the arena open, and something comes through.
It's a lizard-like beast, easily three times the size of a man, with six legs and spiny plates on its back that look razor sharp.It bellows and for a moment I feel terror for the young man facing it.
“This wasn't part of the arrangements!”I call to Marcus.
He looks just as surprised as I feel, and almost as horrified.
“I didn't arrange this,” he says.“Someone else must have had the creature waiting.But who would unleash something like this?”
Domitian would.I know instinctively that he must be involved with this somehow.He's the one who wants the games to be deadly, I'm convinced he's tried to undermine the safety measures before.He's also powerful enough that people would listen to him if he told them to bring a creature like this into the arena.
Only isn'tcontainedin the arena.It isn't stuck on the arena floor, because in a flash it scuttles up the walls of the Colosseum, throwing itself into the crowd.People scream as it thrashes, its razor sharp plates only just missing flesh, its fangs snapping at the air.People close to the creature cry out in fear, trying to keep back from it, but those further from it cheer as if this is all part of the entertainment.
I see the determination on Sorrel’s face and he takes a running jump that means he lands in the crowd even as people are spreading out, running from the lizard to leave a clear space in the stands.He spins his metal staff so that it catches the light and reflects into the eyes of the lizard.
The creature lunges at him, but Sorrel is already moving, avoiding the slashing claws and vicious fangs.He brings his staff around, striking the creature, making it rear back in pain.Sorrel leaps at it then, in a two footed kick whose impact sends the beast tumbling back to the sands below.
Sorrel follows it, leaping down onto the sands and spinning his staff once again to catch the creature’s attention with the gleam of sunlight.It charges him, and he avoids that charge by inches, moving impossibly late and hitting the lizard once more with his staff.It's only a glancing blow, largely deflected by the scales of the beast, but it roars in pain and fear, scuttling around Sorrel, looking around as if trying to decide between attacking him and fleeing.
If it chooses the latter, it might end up in the crowd again, and this time people might not be so lucky.It's a creature that could easily kill dozens of them as it tries to escape.I can't believe that anybody would be so stupid as to release it into the Colosseum without any safeguards.Maybe they just didn't care.Maybe theywantedthe possibility of carnage.
Whatever the reason, I know I can't let this go on any longer.I stand at the front of the box, reaching out towards the lizard as if I can touch it.I can certainly feel it with my mind, its reptilian brain a thing of hunger and anger.Someone has fueled that anger, because I can feel the wounds on its side, the places where someone has struck it to make it furious before it was even sent into the Colosseum.
I try to soothe that fury and that pain, using my magic to connect with the creature’s mind and enfold it in a warm embrace of power.It looks around, obviously confused, but I don't let up.Too many people could be hurt if I release my grip on it, even for a moment.I redouble my efforts, pouring power into it, taking hold of its mind as gently as possible.It would be easy to tear into that mind, to use the creature’s fury against it, but that isn't what I need now.I need it to slow gradually, to know peace and tranquility.
That means trying to find those things in my own mind, which isn't easy when the situation is so dangerous, but I reach for the memories of my childhood, the tranquility of life back in Seatide, the love I knew from my mother.
I pour those things into the lizard and it slows, then stops, its fury abating for now.
“It's all right,” I say.“The creature’s contained.The fight is over.We can put it back in its cage and-”
But it seems that Sorrel hasn't heard me.Perhaps the box hasn't projected my voice enough, or perhaps he just doesn't care.Maybe he's so swept up in the wash of adrenaline from the fight that he isn't listening.
Whatever the reason, he swings his staff around fast enough that it seems to hum through the air.He brings it down in a great two-handed sweep that connects with the lizard creature’s skull and drives through it with a sickening crack.
The force of the blow reverberates around the Colosseum, and sends a cloud of sand into the air, obscuring my view of Sorrel and the lizard for a moment.
When I can see them again, he's standing atop its fallen form.I can't feel the lizard now.Its life has fled from it, leaving behind just an empty shell.But Sorrel looks alive and vibrant.He spins his staff, catching the light, then holds it aloft in a gesture of triumph.
