In the Arena

Submission for IronAge Media's prompt, "The Crag."

Thunderous applause was still dying down as Milinius walked into the arena with his three companions, Fiv, Thiniun, and Chret. The four had been together ever since they had been captured by the expansive empire of the Hrenens and forced to fight in gladiator games. The last show must have been impressive for the applause to still be going.

Seeing the four new contenders the crowd of ten thousand fell silent, watching with bated breath. Milinius raised his sword in a salute and smiled his lopsided grin. With his other hand he pushed back his curly brown hair, then got his shield in a comfortable position. His companions, friends by this point, all gave their salutes and smiles.

Chret was always waving and bowing to the ladies, and was quite popular with them. He was tall with sunburnt skin and a long mane of thick, black hair. Of the four of them, he had the most kills to his name, about fifty seven, Milinius could never remember how many exactly. He was from the conquered nation of Qluqud, and one of the last of the Sacred Warriors of the Order of Ranut. He always remembered to give thanks to Ranut, and renew his vows to the order each morning and night.

Fiv had come across the Bloody Ocean, so called for its crimson color, and had been captured by soldiers who had had nothing better to do than provoke him to a fight. He was short, slim, and young, barely more than a boy, who had slain more animals than any gladiator in the Hrenen empire. His eyes sparkled as he smiled and waved to the audience.

Thiniun was Milinius’s brother, and he resembled his brother very much. He was tall and well muscled, with a mop of curly brown hair and a roguish smile. He and Milinius had been imprisoned after having been framed for murder, and had been given the choice between the death sentence and the gladiator games.

Milinius was the unofficial leader of the four. He was the best at reading the situation and knowing what needed to be done. This had led them to victory, and others when their number had been increased for special fights, on more than fifty occasions. Many of those fights had been one sided, but they had always pulled through.

They saw slaves pulling bodies out of the arena. Milinius noticed that there seemed to be few dead, with no animals or survivors. More often than not you would survive since everyone had their favorite gladiator and no one wanted to see theirs die. Colors were used to identify sides, both by the gladiators and by those in the crowds who could barely make out their favorite contenders, but the silk ribbons around the arms of corpses were all the same. He looked around, something wasn’t quite right. This was no ordinary fight, he was sure of it.

The sandy arena was filled with boulders, several bloody, and in the middle was a great iron statue of a man shaped thing sitting on one. It must represent whichever deity or fiend these games were dedicated too. Blood still stained the sand in many places.

His majesty the emperor himself stood up and addressed the four fighters. “Brave warriors, favorites of the crowd, welcome to your first fight in this game. If you can defeat my favorite champion, then you can choose to have your freedom or stay for the glory. But until then, you must give us a show.”

At once gates were opened and half starved tigers and a crazed titan elephant charged in. The crowd was still, for the most part, silent, though some attempt at cheering on their champions was attempted. Milinius was, by this point, very concerned. This was unlike any game he had ever seen. And why was there that stone statue in the middle? It had an aura to it, and the closer you were to it the stronger it was. Milinius shivered from the cold and evil feeling it exuded.

Fiv roared and charged the leftmost tiger, the fierce joy of battle rushing through his veins. Giving a guttural growl, he threw his spear, slaying his tiger. Milinius knew that Fiv would never retire from the life of a gladiator till death released him and he went to whatever afterlife he believed in of eternal battle.

Milinius believed in a more peaceful paradise, but he could never persuade the young man. Not that he wasn’t young himself; Fiv was only four years younger. If given the chance, he would retire. However, the emperor was not known for his generosity or kindness of heart, so whatever he had in store for them could only end in their deaths. Or was expected to.

To the right, Chret and Thiniun had already slain the other tiger without much trouble. All four gather behind the titan elephant which had by now charged past to the other end of the arena. It stood nearly twenty feet high, and its tusks were sharpened to razor fine points and set about with iron spikes. Turning, it’s tiny eyes found them and it gave a roar as it sped towards them, giant feet raising up a dost cloud and a sound like a dozen peals of thunder.

Fiv had taken down a titan elephant before, so Milinius wasn’t that worried. They surrounded it and attacked the beast’s legs until it fell to the ground, where they slew it. The crowd cheered and threw down petals upon the victors. From the comparatively bored reaction of the masses, it was apparent most made it farther than this. Milinius gritted his teeth and prepared for the worst.

The emperor’s voice boomed out. “That was just a warm up for our champions! The next bout of fighting will be much more exciting. Will you live up to our expectations, or will you die like the rest?” The games had been going on for a week now and not one team had succeeded? He noticed the people’s attention seemed drawn to the statue for a second, and Milinius got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Let the next round begin!”

At once three gates opened and twenty gladiators armed and desperate to survive entered. This was normal, but usual for the first bout of fighting. Those who weren’t as skilled or didn’t do well enough to earn the crowd’s favor were used as fodder for the bloodlust of the people.

This would be no problem for the four of them, and Chret never counted these kills as kills in the arena. He had already downed three. Thiniun was having a harder time. He had felled one, yes, but a second had drawn blood. It wasn’t life threatening, just a small gash on his arm, but one that would hamper him.

Milinius had no time to think further for he had to fend off four of them at once. Jumping into a roll, he stood up behind them and slew two before they could react. That was why they were used as fodder. He bore down on the surviving two and slew one. Then the last gave him a nasty bruise on his arm before falling to Milinius’s sword. The man and his head fell to the ground within seconds of each other.

The others had managed to either slay the rest or beat them into surrender. Seven were led away while other slaves ran out and cleaned the battlefield, dragging the bodies out and pouring fresh sand on the blood. All the normal preparations for a new fight. The four of them were allowed a quick moment of respite while the animals from before were dragged off.

Once the arena was ready, Milinius stood with his friends as the emperor addressed the crowd once more. They fought through seven more bouts, each harder than the last, one even involving a massive giant. By the end they were tired, and all were bloodied, but they were in good spirits. It had been a while since they had had a challenge like this. Chret had added seven more kills to his name, and Fiv had continued to live up to his title as beastslayer.

“My good people, and our gracious champions,” the emperor said, and Milinius felt a little warmer towards the tyrant, “the final round has come. Few have gotten this far and none have passed further than this. I give you a choice, seeing as you are more beloved than any who have fought before, you may continue to try to earn your freedom and more glory than any man can dream of, or you can leave now and continue your fights with my approval and that of the crowd. Our love will not be lessened if you so choose to leave.”

The four debated. Milinius was in favor to walk away with his life, but Chret and Fiv would not hear of it. Thiniun was indifferent. What was it if they died today instead of tomorrow? They would die someday, why not go down now after having had such a good day? He didn’t want to go through with it, but the alure of glory and fame weren’t completely ignored by Milinius.

They gave the emperor their answer. “Very well,” he said. “Let the games continue.”

Wondering what would come next, the four of them stood around in a circle, waiting for the inevitable. All of a sudden, Fiv was crushed by one of the giant boulders. A cheer thundered through the arena, louder than any they had heard yet. Looking around, the panicked trio tried to identify the source of the danger. Turning behind, they saw the statue standing up and hefting another boulder. It was no statue. With fear and resignation, Milinius knew it must be a titan from the fables. He couldn’t believe that they were real.

It threw the boulder it was holding, and Chret was just barely able to dodge it. Titan’s weren’t invulnerable, they could be killed, if the legends were to be believed. Whether the three of them could kill one was another matter. They weren’t going to give up because Fiv had been killed; he would want them to finish this. Giving a wry smile, Milinius charged the titan with Thiniun and Chret on either side.

The End,
God bless