As Antonio stood in his cell looking at the only thing from the outside world he owned; a mirror. He wondered how many others had been in this same cell waiting for the guard to summon him for the tournament. He was surprised that he had even made it this far though with all the scars he had it was plain that he had had his share of close calls. He wondered what Lauren was doing now and he hoped that she was not really coming after him like what the trader had said. Just thinking about her made him feel much remorse and determination at passing the tournament and being freed. Darwin, the guard, came to the door and said in a gruff voice, “Hey runt, ready to become the fighter’s next meal?” He slowly opened the door and Antonio said, “You and me both Darwin.” Darwin looked confused about that. Antonio was not surprised about that since Darwin was a 350 pound brute whose body was mostly covered in pure muscle that he showed off while wearing the leather X straps that was favored among the berserkers, but like most berserkers he had had no schooling whatsoever. But like most berserkers he lived by the motto, “hit first, ask questions later” so he decided to, instead of asking Antonio what he meant, settled for just punching him in the gut. “I don’t know what you meant there but it sounded insulting.” Right then the director of the prison stepped into the narrow hallway and said, “Why isn’t he ready yet Darwin?” which sounded more like the growling of a lion then a voice. Darwin turned towards his superior and that moment Antonio grabbed Darwin’s copy of Refficul’s Laws and Prayers. He knew that the priests would have a fit over someone not having their sacred book. Antonio thought to himself, “If I’m going to die, might as well take Darwin with me.” “Sorry sir, just teaching the prisoner some manners that’s all.” Darwin said with a salute and with that Darwin shoved Antonio into the armory and said, “If I was the High Priest then you prisoners wouldn’t get anything other then a loin cloth and a dagger.” Antonio almost retorted with a snide comment, but at that moment the only person, in probably this entire messed world who cared about him, came through the door. Her name was Lauren but the people of New Babylon knew her as Lauren the trader.

Kaleb observed the city through one of the magnifiers that they had made. What he saw was less than comforting: around 100 guards on the wall alone armed with scimitars, pikes, cross bows, and their deadly arrows. And that was only the guards on the wall: another 300 or so waited in their barracks for the night watch when all the beasties came out of their hiding places. Anything from a hairless spoker to a Jurassic blast tooth would come here to try to grab an easy meal from the guards on the wall. As Kaleb headed down to the rest of the camp his generals approached him and asked him when they should prepare for the attack. “We will attack when they are most distracted. During the coliseum fight.”

“Hello Antonio.” Lauren said. “Sorry no civilians allowed in the armory.” Darwin said but you could tell that he didn’t want to say it. “Oh come on you big strong man.” Lauren said while slipping her arms around him, “Just a little bit of time alone with him. A little bliss for a condemned man?” Both Darwin and Antonio blushed at that. Darwin because he was thinking of what would happen in this room when he would leave. Antonio because he knew that once Jack found out about this he would jump to conclusions, and he might be right. “Oh alright” said Darwin. When he had left the room Lauren breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Well you certainly have made some friends here. But enough with the small talk the reason I’m here is-” “Lauren, please, why are you here?” “It’s not obvious? Why I’ve come to save you.” Devaud sat still for a few moments before asking, “How? And why are you rescuing me?” “To answer your first question, were going to try to sneak out and if that doesn’t work then well fight our way out.
To answer your second question, yes there plenty of capable men who could rescue you, but since I was in the city I decided to do it myself.” With that done she started pulling out of a sack a slaves cloak and clothing. Antonio quickly put on the clothes and quickly grabbed a sword, scabbard, and belt and put it on under the cloak. As they snuck out of the armory they were caught up in a line of fellow rebels and had no choice but to move along with them and hope for the best. But when a door was opened in front of them and they all moved in onto a dirt arena and the door closed behind them did they fully realize the trouble they were in. This was confirmed when they heard a voice that chilled them to their bones and a wave of dread wash over them: the voice belonged to King Robin. King Robin said, “Welcome to the coliseum! Today we have a group of rebels who will fight the Elite Priest Guard.” This was greeted by many rounds of applause from the crowed. The Elite Priest Guard was the best fighting group in New Babylon. “Today most to all of you will die, but for those who survive they will be rewarded with 500 gold pieces and a mule drawn cart with enough supplies to last an you for 3 months. For those of you that might try to run you will be rewarded with having to fight a Jurassic Blast Tooth. There are no rules except for no cheating. Cheating will be rewarded with torture for the duration of the fight. Let the games BEGIN!”


As Rebecca walked down the corridor she noticed something: All of the cells were strangely quiet. Usually in a prison you would hear the prisoners yelling, rattling their cages, and hurling words at you, but in hear it was eerily quiet. All of a sudden there was an ear piercing scream followed by harsh laughter. Maddie followed the sound and came upon a door that was as black as the night sky. As she approached the door she noticed that the door was made out of ebony, the priest’s wood. Rebecca stopped in her tracks. Ebony? What would a priest be doing down here with one of their sworn enemies guarding the door? Rebecca slowly opened the door, and at the same time drawing her sword. As she opened the door she kept telling herself that this was the only way she could save him. When she stepped into the room she almost dropped her sword. The room was unlike anything she had ever seen before. There were couches that looked like they were made out of gold, chairs that were made out of ivory with arm rests carved to look like snakes with their mouths open, a table made out of solid oak and inlaid with gold. The walls were filled with paintings of famous kings and battles. Hanging from the ceiling was a chandelier made out of pure silver with carvings of Elephants and eagles. On one wall though there was a curtain hanging covering part of the wall. Rebecca sheathed her sword, pulled the curtain aside, and gasped: rows and rows of different colored crystals. As she looked closer she could see different places in each one. In one she saw four figures standing in a forest. In another she saw a very large army marching towards a castle. In yet another she saw priest standing over someone, and holding knife and laughing. In fury, for she recognized the priest, she raised her fist to smash the crystal but as soon as she touched the crystal she vanished and found herself in the scene she was just looking at. She saw that she was behind the priest. Rebecca could now see the mans face who was on the alter. She recognized his face and she drew her sword. At the same moment she drew her sword the priest turned around and she drove her sword through his chest and out the other side. As the priest fell she turned towards the man on the alter and as she cut the ropes holding him, she said, “Hello Jack.” “Hello Rebecca. Long time no see.”

Lauren and Antonio, along with about 70 other rebels, stood stock still as the door at the other end of the coliseum slowly slid open. When the door had fully opened out of the door, slowly but surely, came around 50 well armored and well-armed Elite Priest Guard. Their armor and weapons were newly polished and their swords, shields, and spears glinted in the afternoon sunlight. Their gold, black, and crimson helmets and breast plates gave them the appearance of being things from a painting and not at the least harmful. But every rebel knew that just one of these guards could take down five of them with one sword. As the guards formed their ranks, all the rebels took out crudely fashioned weapons, like a knife made out of a tin cup. Though some of the rebels drew out weapons that they had stolen or snuck in, one of these men who looked like one of Kalebs famed generals, took out a gladiator short sword and a wooden shield and stepped to the front of the rebels. “Men, form ranks!” the general said with a firm voice. Not wanting to look out of place, Lauren and Antonio stepped into line with the rest of them. Luckily Lauren had thought of grabbing more than one weapon from the armory, and quickly started passing out better weapons then what the rebels already had. As she passed the weapons out the general stepped up to Lauren and said, “So, merchant. Have anything in there for a rebel general? Or are you just going to stand looking pretty, and get yourself killed?” Lauren looked up at the general and said “As a matter of fact sir, I do.” And with that she pulled out a sword that left the crowed gasping for breath. The sword was that of Kaleb him self. The general took the sword in his hand and regarded Lauren with a smile. “Well merchant, it looks like I have two swords, one I do not need. Can you fight dear Elf?” “Why yes sir I can fight. Thank you for the sword.” With that the general gave the dirk to Lauren who put it into a sheath and took out her own sword. The general, Mickey was his name, swung his sword once and said, “Men that swear to the great general Kaleb, attack!” With that 70 rebels charged forward yelling at the top of their lungs. The Elite guard then hurled their spears at the rebels and only three connected with rebels. The rest were either caught in the rebel’s hands or just landed in between the rebels as they moved apart. Twenty went left, twenty to the right, and thirty down the middle. This was a move favored by the rebels although usually they did it without the enemy knowing what they were doing. All the while the guard were forming ranks and creating a circle with their men. The rebels threw the spears they had taken and although most had never thrown a spear in their lives, each one had found its mark. Then both sides met in a great clash of body parts, metal, and blood. It looked like the rebels had the advantage. That is until the Elite Guard formed their ranks and started a real massacre. The Elite Guard was famous for their brutality in combat and their lack of mercy. That was displayed many times during the fight, were a rebel would be struck down only to be cut down almost instantly. Lauren and Antonio were showing that they knew how to handle a sword by dispatching many a guard while still protecting themselves and others. When the two groups separated, it was an astonishing sight. What had started out as 50 Elite Priest Guard had turned into four bruised and bloodied men with only swords and breast plates. The rebels on the other hand were left with two men and one woman. It was general Mickey, Antonio, and Lauren.

“How did you find me?” Jack said as Rebecca helped him off the alter. Since the priest was dead, and there didn’t appear to be any other threats, Rebecca thought they could talk a bit before figuring a way out of here. “I’ve been looking for you for the past three months, ever since you disappeared.” Jack looked confused at Rebecca. “Three months? That’s not possible. I’ve been gone for 3 years!” Now it was Rebecca turn to look confused. “Jack, were on top of a Mayan temple in the middle of nowhere! I think were both kinda confused right now.” And indeed they were. From where they were standing they could see miles and miles of jungle. One thing that disturbed them the most though was the amount of death that hung over the place. Every where they looked they saw signs that this place was used often. Bones were scattered all over the place, and not just animal bones either. Here and there they would find a foot here, or a skull there. “Either were in the middle of a Mayan camp or a native festival just ended. She turned to see Jack staring down at one of the houses. She followed his gaze and cringed at what she saw: three bodies hanging from their hands by vines. Around the bodies was a rather large crowd staring up at the bodies.

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 02.02.2011

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