“You won't be knocking me out with a cheap shot this time, boy,” he bellows.“I'm going to make you suffer before I beat you.I'm going to show these people that a pit fighter like you has no place in the colosseum.”
In that moment any doubts I have are dispelled.My mind is made up.I'm going to do everything I can to kill this man, as spectacularly as possible.I'm going to cement my place among the legends of the arena.
Senator Marcus stands in the grand senate box, the one that used to be the emperor’s.His hand slices downward.
“Begin!”
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR: LYRA
“Begin!”
I wince at the word, but know it brings us almost to the end of the games.So far, my protections have held.The gladiators have put on impressive displays of skills.One I have struggled to watch because they remind me too much of the fights that used to take place out there on the sands.
Marcus doesn't seem to share my concerns.He's looking pleased, happy that the games are going as planned.Most of the other senators in the emperor’s old box look just as satisfied.
The games aren't the same as they were.The crowd isn’t as raucous or enthusiastic as I remember, and I don't know if that's a trick of my memory, or if they simply aren't as excited by the lack of death out there on the sands.
I hope we've given them enough.I suspect that the event has been a success in many ways, bringing in a flow of coin to both merchants and the city's treasury.My focus is on the two figures down there, facing one another across the arena floor.Kai and Glacius, already circling one another.
A few more minutes of violence and the games will be done.No one has died.No one has even suffered serious injuries.There have been cuts, bruises, concussions, but nothing the healers can't fix.We just need these two to bring their fight to a conclusion.
I watch them circling, each one looking for an opening.The younger man, Kai, moves with grace and fluidity, probing with his net and his spear, staying patient.Glacius is trying to close the distance, all the while using his powers to produce patches of ice around Kai, trying to hem him in and take away his mobility.
The crowd roars with the first clash of blades, the two of them meeting one another's attacks perfectly.Kai might have spent more time fighting with his fists but it's clear he knows how to handle a weapon as well.Glacius fights with the easy economy of someone used to violence, not wasting any energy as he stalks his foe.
The two of them battle in one exchange, then another.It's clear what the contest is here: Glacius needs to close the distance while Kai is looking to tangle the bigger man with his net, either tripping him or tearing away his weapon.
It's a battle I've had with many opponents.I can't help feeling sympathy for Kai, hoping that he succeeds even though I should be impartial.He fights with the weapons I used to use, his style similar, even down to his magic being hard to see.When I called on the grace or strength of the creatures around the arena, it didn't produce the visible effects that others’ magic did.I can vaguely pick up shimmering fields of force around Kai, helping to deflect some of Glacius’ attacks, but the bigger man's ice is far more visually stunning, sprouting from the arena floor in sudden icicles and patches of glass-like sand, frozen to slippery hardness.
Glacius’ powers complicate the fight, making Kai’s footing uncertain.I feel a moment of worry as he slips, but he quickly rolls to his feet, swinging his net around to keep Glacius back.The older gladiator times the movement though, coming inside and thrusting with his sword in a blow Kai barely counters.
By now the crowd should be roaring and gasping with every attack, but their response is muted at best, as if realizing that none of it really matters, that no one will truly be harmed by this.
Kai spins away from Glacius, raising his spear again, attacking with a flurry of blows, and now I see something wrong with the spear.There's a shimmer of force across its head, and as Kai sweeps it across Glacius’ thigh, blood sprays across the sand.
The crowd truly roars its approval for the first time, even as Glacius takes a step back, looking at the injury then at Kai’s spear.I see the look of determination that follows, the layer of ice that encrusts the edge of his sword.I realize that both fighters have found ways to use their magic to circumvent the safety measures I put in place.
“No,” I say.I grab Marcus's arm.“You need to stop the fight, they're going to kill one another.”
Marcus frowns at me.“What do you mean?”
“Look at their weapons!”I cry out.“Glacius has given his sword an edge of ice, and Kai’s spear… I’m sure he’s using his own magic to make it sharp.”
As if to prove the point, Glacius slices Kai’s arm, drawing blood.The crowd gasps, clearly realizing that this has gone beyond the safe contests that were promised to them.But none of them are demanding the cessation of the bout.Instead, the noise in the arena starts to resemble what I remember from the old days, with bloodlust and excitement overtaking reason.
“Kill him!”someone calls out.I don't know which fighter they're calling to, or who they want dead.I'm not sure it matters when the sentiment echoes through the stadium, repeated by hundreds of others.
“Stop the bout!”I shout at Marcus.“Stop this before it's too late.”
“How?”he replies.“Do you think they'll hear me or listen to me now?”
He has a point.The two combatants are throwing themselves at each other in earnest now, exchanging blows with a speed and aggression that has nothing to do with a simple exhibition of skills.Kai barely weaves aside from the sweep of Glacius’ sword.Glacius deflects the thrust of Kai’s spear at the last moment, the sound of the blow against his buckler ringing out throughout the colosseum.
I start to run down from the box, trying to get to ground level, hoping that I might be in time to stop this before it goes too far.I think about sending animals in to disrupt the bout, but I don’t dare try it.If I distract the two combatants at the wrong moment, I might cost them their lives.My only hope is to get down there and command the bout to cease.
The crowd won’t like it.I know that they’ll boo me and curse me, maybe even riot right here in the colosseum, but I can’t let this fight continue.I race through the corridors of the colosseum, heading down, wishing that I were closer to the arena floor.I make my way to the preparation areas, pushing past trainers and guards as I try to get to the gates leading to the arena floor.
I reach them, and the guards don’t automatically move to open them.They’re too busy staring out at the fight beyond.
