“No,” Alaric says.
I frown.“No?Just...no?”
"I mean, I'm not talking over every problem in Aetheria now, before you have to fight for your life," Alaric says.He points to the arena floor."Have you even looked at what you're facing properly?"
I’m forced to shake my head, even as I look out at the colosseum through the eyes of the birds once again, trying to get a sense of what’s waiting for me.My attention was on the crowd, and the divisions within it.
“There’s some kind of maze down there,” I say.The floor of the colosseum has been reconfigured to form walls in a complex pattern that will be hard to navigate.There’s one other strange aspect to it.“The walls are set with mirrors every few paces.”
“It’s been set up to suit your opponent’s magic,” Alaric says.“A fighter who calls himself Shard.His specialty is mirror magic.”
“How does that help him in a fight?”I ask.I don’t remember seeing Shard fight in any of the earlier phases of the conflict, but to me, mirror magic means being able to scry, or to communicate through mirrors.
“He can step through them,” Alaric says.
That’s more worrying, especially in a maze.It means I’ll be fighting an ever shifting opponent, who’ll come at me whenever I least expect.My heart starts to beat faster at the thought.
“It’s part of the reason why I had you work with spear and shield,” Alaric says.“You need more defense for this fight than a net.”
I can feel the weight of the buckler on my left arm.My brief armor doesn’t feel like enough protection right now, leaving too much of my flesh exposed to really defend against a sudden thrust from the back.Gladiatorial armor is designed to show off the physiques of those fighting, as well as allowing more blood to be spilled in the fights.A part of me wishes I had the heavy armor of a guard instead.
Marcus is announcing the fight now, and, through the eyes of a carrion crow, I can see him standing at the front of the senate box to do it.I can also see the unfriendly look Selene gives him.Will she strike at Marcus for standing against her?I doubt she’ll do it here, and she probably won’t do it herself, but it’s obvious her revenge will come.
“For our next bout,” Marcus says.“We have one of the favorites of the colosseum, a beast whisperer without parallel, a woman who stands up for everything the Republic believes in.I give you Lyra Thornwind!”
The gates to the colosseum open, and I stride in, lifting my spear high so the light catches it.The crowd cheers me and boos me almost in equal measure, the sounds coming from distinct sides of the arena, so that one of my ears feels filled with hate and the other with support.The entrance to the maze is just ahead of me and I step inside, ready for any threat.
I watch the maze from above using the birds that fly around the colosseum, trying to get a sense of the path through the web of walls.
“And facing her, a gladiator who might be looking out at you from any reflection.I give you Shard.”
Shard doesn’t enter the colosseum through the gates.Instead, he steps out from one of the mirrors dotted around the maze, moving smoothly and carrying a pair of daggers that seem to be just fragments of broken mirror glass wrapped in cloth to make it possible to hold them.He’s a good looking, dark haired man with a slender frame shown off by scraps of armor that have been polished to a mirror shine.He spins in place, light dancing from his daggers.
“Begin!”Marcus calls out, and I can see him leaning forward, his hands gripping the edge of the senate box hard enough to turn his knuckles white.
I start to pick my way through the maze, trying to reach Shard.The birds above allow me to judge the route ahead, but theydon’tshow me the patch of floor that falls away beneath my feet, revealing spikes underneath as I throw myself back.I curse and pick my way around the trap, splitting my attention more carefully now, watching for more threats even as I try to use the birds to keep track of Shard.
The only problem is that I can’t see him.Is he hiding somewhere in the maze, or has he stepped back into one of the mirrors?
Even as I think that, I catch a glimpse of a figure leaping from a mirror behind me, already slashing at my back.I turn, trying to deflect the blow with my buckler, but that just means the glass cuts across my arm.I try to strike back at Shard, but he’s already running, disappearing into another of the mirrors.
Blood trickles down my arm as I move forward, the wound painful as I scour the maze, determined not to be caught out the same way again.
Even as I think that, though, an arm flashes out from one of the mirrors, slashing another wound across my chest.I curse, lashing out at the mirror and smashing it, but Shard is long gone by the time I attack.
I feel as though I’m being hunted through the maze now, wounds appearing on my back, my legs, my arms as Shard strikes again and again, rushing from the mirrors and disappearing into them once more before I can inflict any serious wounds on him.I smash mirrors and keep moving, but from above, I see him rising out of a patch of mirror shards further back in the maze, as if they’re a puddle of water.It seems that I can’t even stop him that way.
This is a foe who seems almost designed to defeat me.Shard doesn’t stand and fight, so drawing power from the animals in the colosseum can only do a little to help me.The grace and speed I take from the birds allows me to deflect a few blows with my buckler, but I’m still bleeding from a dozen wounds.
Meanwhile, the traps in the maze are still potentially deadly, but only to me.An arrow fires down one of the corridors so that I must twist aside from it, barely avoiding it as it slams into the far wall.A series of bear traps snap shut one after another, so I must dance between them to avoid being caught in their sharpened jaws.Shard, of course, can simply move between mirrors, avoiding any of the trapped sections of floor.
I need a way to even the odds.Picking the section of the maze that seems to have the fewest mirrors, I remain still, carefully watching for any sign of Shard leaping out at me.I can see him in another section of the maze, though, staring into one of the mirrors, obviously watching me, even as I watch him.He must be waiting for some moment of inattention or staying back to force me to keep hunting him.
I reach out with my powers as a beast whisperer, sensing the animals beneath the colosseum, held in readiness to use in the contest.I briefly wonder if I could summon them into the maze to attack Shard, but I’m sure he could dodge them as easily as he’s dodging me.
Then I feel the presence of the shadow cats, down in their cage.They would be perfect to use against Shard, but they’re trapped by the magic of their cage, designed to stop them simply stepping into a shadow and escaping.
But can I borrow from them?I’ve borrowed attributes from all kinds of other animals, but can I takethis?
