Chapter 26 - Abel
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After a time, maybe a few hours, or days even, Abel found himself being beaten and knocked unconscious again. He couldn’t remember how the guards entered the room, but he was sure it didn’t matter because this time, he woke up in the middle of nowhere with sand lying all around him. Disoriented and riddled with pain, Abel began to stand up. He blinked several times before his vision cleared, his surroundings were filled with rows and rows of stands. The entire arena was empty, but the ominous feeling of dread only began to grow. Confusion clouded his next move; there wasn’t a clear decision to be made to escape his predicament.
Abel slowly turned around and scanned the entire arena until he saw a single gate. Without hesitation, he ran to what he believed could be his only chance at escaping; there was no time to waste. The hot sand burned his feet with every step. The closer and closer he got, the more euphoric he felt relief was beginning to wash over him. A few moments later, the euphoria drained from his body as he felt the ground trembling. The gate was slowly creaking open; you could hear the metal bars lifting from the sand and the gates groaning louder and louder toward their destination. He continued moving forward, peering into the opening, the abyss that lies ahead.
“Great, what do I do now?”Thoughts and images of the worst possible scenario slithered into Abel’s imagination. As fast as they came, they went; he shook his head, refocusing in time to see people entering the stadium above the gates. In a matter of minutes, the seats in the arena were half-filled; it wouldn’t take much longer before the arena was at full capacity. The only unoccupied seats were nestled in the middle of the stadium. The headrest, arms, and legs were golden with red cushions and an elegant pattern imprinted on them. Fear began to make Abel’s body tremble as the audience’s chatter grew louder. Conversations swirled and echoed around him.
“What’s going on here?” He questioned his current predicament as the crowd went silent. Abel was startled when he heard someone making an announcement. “The Good People of Portum! Thank you for joining us today. We appreciate your time and urgency for the event that will shortly be unfolding before us.” “What the fuck? What is he talking about?” Abel thought before the announcer finished. “Without further ado, I present to you our savior, our Lord, our God… King Plaga Caligo!!!” The audience goes wild; they stand up and applaud their King. The amount of love and admiration was overwhelming to witness. “I could never, will never experience an abundance of love like this.” Abel began to shed a few tears; he wiped them away just as the King arrived and made his way to the Throne.
The King walked up to his seat and spoke aloud, “My people, my children!! Today is a glorious day, one that I always look forward to.” The King raises his arms as he continues to sway the audience, “Before us, today is a half-blood, the most vile of our species.” The crowd gasps, “Yes, but believe me when I tell you this vermin will be put to the test and won’t live long enough to spread his disease throughout our Kingdom.” The King waited a few moments, building up the tension in the stadium. “For we have our most treasured gladiator to get rid of this atrocity.” The crowd begins to chant a name, “Kosan! Kosan! Kosan!” The King raises his hand, and the crowd goes silent.
“My Children. I know what you want; I know what you need. I provide for you, and I bleed for you. This Kingdom is ours, and on this beautiful day, I bring you the highest form of entertainment. I bring you all a gift…” The King looks over his shoulder and nods at a bald man painted in gold. The man walks down past the podium. Another servant rushes to his side and kneels while lifting a curved object on a cushion. A few moments later, the gold man picks it up and places it on his lips on one end. A deep, eerie sound rings out, and a silence accompanied by dread. Abel stands there, palms sweating, fearful of what lies next because he knows the games have begun.
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The gladiator’s owner watched as a servant placed the chest plate onto Kohan. The man tightened the straps around his body, making the armor sturdy and ready for battle. “Do you understand Kohan?” “Yes.” The owner gracefully stepped out of his litter and unsheathed his dagger. “Kohan!” He walked up to the gladiator and put the knife under his chin. “Look at me when I speak!” Kohan grits his teeth and reluctantly turns his head, meeting his master’s eyes. “That’s a good boy.” His master smiles devilishly. “The King is paying us a handsome sum for this creature’s head on a platter.” “And what do I get in return? The same wage for meaningless sex, even cheaper thrills?”
The owner removes the dagger underneath Kohan’s chin and begins pacing back and forth from one side of the room to the other. “No. This time, you will be fighting for your freedom. If you succeed, I’ll pay you double and burn our binding contract. You get to go home to your beautiful wife and child, and I get more money than I could’ve dreamed of purchasing, as you say, ‘meaningless sex and cheap thrills.’” The master noted the life brought back into Kohan’s eyes and the faint relief that flashed across his face. “Yes, now I have your attention.” His master pivots and stands in front of Kohan with a stoic posture. “Whether you are ready or not, the games have begun.”
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Chapter 27 - Tre
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Sapien and Tre find a way to exit the city and wait for Luna and Miles to meet them at the rendevous point, 25 miles from the city entrance. After their confrontation, they snuck around the outskirts of the city. The pair bought wool robes from a nearby shop and walked out the entrance with their hoods covering their faces. Sapien led the way as they tread the path to the grand oak tree. Neither initiated a conversation because Tre was exhausted, and Sapien wasn’t too keen on making small talk. They both traveled with their minds filled with questions and no answers to quench them.
After about an hour or two, Sapien broke the silence, “Why is he so important?”. Tre was startled; he hadn’t expected to converse with Sapien and hoped the silence would last until Luna arrived. “He’s a half-blood.” “Well, so are you. What makes his life more valuable than yours?” Tre paused for a moment; he didn’t have to think hard on the answer to Sapien’s question, but his answer would be tough to swallow. “His innocence is still intact… I’ve done too much harm to those I love, directly and indirectly.” “Mm.” Sapien thought while stroking his beard before answering. “I find that to be debatable. He might be of more value to whatever cause, but you have just as much.” Tre looked over but didn’t make eye contact with Sapien. “Recognize that half-bloods are usually killed at birth, let alone surpass the age of 15 when their powers manifest. You and Abel are cut from the same cloth, and I have a feeling your life has just as much value, if not more, than his.” Tre finally made eye contact with Sapien and nodded.
As nightfall approached, their brief conversation ended. There was still no sign of Miles, Luna, or Abel, so they both decided to camp under the Grand Oak Tree. Sapien was in charge of building a shelter to keep the light from the fire as dim as possible, and Tre would go into the woods to find Tinder and food for the night. When he returned, Sapien had found several branches from a pine tree and created a half-dome shelter. The curved side faced the City of Portum while the front stared into a manmade fire pit and the beautiful open field with the stars twinkling above. Sapien had started a fire, and Tre went on to skin and prepare the deer for dinner. It was a pain to drag it out of the forest, but he knew a few rabbits wouldn’t feed all five of them once Miles, Luna, and Abel arrived.
Before Tre began, he got down on his knees, bowed his head, and spoke a prayer of sorts, “May you find rest on your way to the next life. May your fur provide us with warmth and your meat with strength. I ask you to remind us to be grateful for all life and your sacrifice here today. Thank you for this offering, and forgive me for my trespasses. Never forget that you are loved as I once was.” Sapien was taken by surprise by Tre’s grace. As Tre began to gut the deer, Sapien broke some of the silence, “Do you always say a prayer before prepping a kill for dinner?” Tre kept on slicing the meat; there was no disturbance in his rhythmic cuts as he answered, “Yes.” “Why do you feel the need to honor the dead or what would only be presumed as food, someone’s next meal?”
Tre quit cutting for a moment before answering, “Because all life is sacred, which means it should be appreciated, especially when one’s life is ended abruptly.” He looked up from the corpse, and his eyes met with Sapien, who believed he saw tears welling up in Tre’s eyes. “Just because someone doesn’t believe one’s life is worth something doesn’t mean I have to believe it too.” Sapien kept eye contact with him and nodded his head. “That is enough of a reason and I imagine that reason gives you meaning,” Tre smirked and looked back down, continuing to prepare the deer for tonight’s dinner.
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Chapter 28 - Miles
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Luna fell asleep a few miles after leaving Portum. She was snoring, nodding off here and there, mumbling about someone named “Abel”. All he could do was smile and be grateful to have his sister back after her latest journey away from home. It had been over a year since he and Sapien had last seen her, but that had become a normal occurrence after she had enough training and experience to go out into the world once our father died. Unlike myself, she never wanted or seemed to feel the need to talk about our father. We just both adopted the idea that Sapien was our true father through the many years of being raised by our father’s best friend.
He isn’t perfect, but what father is? Luna has grown more distant as the years have gone by. I often miss her so much, but I want her to feel free, not obligated to stay because her brother wants it to be. She deserves everything and anything; I’ve truly believed that since we began training with Sapien. Luna works so hard to be extraordinary but forgets that she already is. Maybe she doesn’t even know it, or perhaps she does. After a while, I have concluded that she doesn’t want to think she is gifted because there is no joy in being exceptional at everything. What glory or achievement does one think of when they don’t have to put in half the effort others do to master a craft or skill?
Miles sighs. Brings himself back to reality and notices that ahead is a faint trail of smoke rising into the night sky. Barely visible from a couple miles away from the City, but as we’ve gotten further away, the smoke becomes more dense. “Luna.” Miles whispers, afraid to alert anyone nearby of their existence. “Luna.” He nudged her this time, and she woke up startled and fell off her horse while Miles burst with laughter. “MILES.” Luna gets up off the ground and dusts her body with both hands. She looks at Miles, “My God! Is everything a game to you?!” “What?! Luna, I just wanted to wake you up because I see smoke ahead.” She focuses on the trail of smoke in the distance, turning her attention to Miles, then glares. “I want you to know that I don’t believe you. I see the smoke, but otherwise, I am firmly sticking to the idea that you love bugging your sister.” Miles smirks, “Fine by me.”
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Chapter 29 - Abel
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The crowd continues to chant the gladiator’s name. Clearly, he’s the favorite, and I’m the guy about to lose his head and be royally coronated via pike through the skull. After a few more chants, The King raises his hand to silence his people. “Ladies and Gentlemen!! Let us be cordial for a moment and bless both fighters for being here today, ready to lay their lives down for your and my entertainment. No matter how this game ends, we must honor tradition and let the winner bask in all their glory. Besides the usual cut of the proceeds we’ve gathered today, they will each be given a week to rest and train for the upcoming event.” Several pockets break the silence with chatter. The King smiles, and a wicked grin shatters Abel's little faith in this being a fair fight. It’s getting harder and harder for him to figure out what is fundamentally going on. "Why all the testing? Why only test me? Why haven't I heard of or seen my friends?" None of it made sense to him. He and his friends were kidnapped, but the King hasn't threatened or used them as leverage yet. “Am I the one of importance here? Tre and Luna should be here or in the vicinity of the arena, if we are all supposed to be tested. Unless each of us gets an individualized trial.” Abel’s line of thought breaks as King Ptor's voice erupts from his throne, “Enough games, my people! Give the child his weapons and open the gates! It’s time to give the people what they’ve been dying to witness.
One of the golden men retrieves and then tosses my daggers and a chest plate onto the sand. I slowly approach my vindictas, weary of any traps laid the day or night before. I see nothing, hear nothing and feel nothing so I bend over and pick them up. Moving backwards, step by step as the sand wraps around my feet and wedges in between my toes. After a couple of minutes, I return to the center of the arena and gaze towards the gate, which is now fully open. Darkness engulfs the opening of the gates; a brief moment later it’s pierced by a giant man. The man is dressed in immaculate golden armor that fits perfectly around his chiseled body. He walks with the confidence of a man with multiple kills under his belt. He heads towards Abel with a 4-foot golden sword leaning against his right shoulder.
The crowd goes wild, chanting his name. “Kohan, Kohan, Kohan!” Kohan heard the audience and raised his sword towards the sky as the people chanted. Confidence filled him and spread throughout his entire body and mind. No one could stop him; no one would stand between him and his freedom. If there were any truth to his master's words, this opportunity would cease to exist after this moment here and now. The only escape from this world of pain and suffering would be death, and he wasn’t ready or willing to die today.
Abel stood there trembling, waiting for Kohan to get closer and make his move. He tried to think of any way to get around the heavily armored beast of a man. “I can’t force my way through him, and I’m not quick or skilled enough to attack whatever weak points he has in his armor.” Kohan gets about 20 yards away from Abel before stopping. He stares at Abel without moving a muscle and waits. Neither he nor Abel made the first strike; they stood, anticipating what the other would do.
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Chapter 30 - Abel
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Abel lay on the ground with his face smothered in the sand. One moment, he stood facing Kohan, and the next, he felt the hot sand burning his face. His right arm and chest flared with pain, and blood began soaking the sand below him. Kohan brought his bare foot down on Abel’s back, pushing him deeper into the sand. He smiled as he heard Abel wince from the pain. “You, Child. Once I entered the arena, there was no chance of you ever escaping this place with your head on your shoulders.” Abel grunted. “You’ve got no business stepping into my domain and challenging me, Kohan the Slayer of Men, Kohan the Man who spilled the blood of hundreds of men before your father entered your mother.”
As Abel tried to push against Kohan’s unbelievable leg strength, he couldn’t help but think this was the end. A mouthful of sand, eyes stinging from the grains scratching against my corneas with every blink. As his thoughts whirl uncontrollably in his mind, Abel closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. For five long seconds, the world goes quiet; a fond memory of him and his parents outside gardening and playing out in the summer sun. Mom finished planting her roses, tulips, and this purple flower, which was her favorite. Dad rushes past her to get to me, but doubles back to kiss my mom on her forehead. They both look at each other as if for the first time. She smiles at him, and he smiles at her. He gives her one last kiss and turns. His face lights up when he sees me, and in that moment, I see and feel unconditional love.
Abel blinks, and the memory fades as excruciating pain rips him into the present. A burning sensation builds in his palms, and suddenly, his Vindictas appear in his hands. He quickly spins the hilt of his blade and plunges one of his daggers into Kohan’s shin, breaking the gladiator’s bone with ease. The brute loses balance and stumbles, granting Abel the opportunity to swing his other dagger and impale Kohan’s thigh. “What? How am I this fast?”. Abel is stunned; he skitters backwards, looking down at his hands in amazement. “Who am I?”.
Kohan rips the daggers from his legs and hurls them at Abel. He dodges the Vindictas like Neo from the Matrix, and the blades rematerialize into his hands. Abel looks down and then back up to Kohan. He smiles and, in a flash, darts towards the gladiator. Abel lowers his left shoulder and plows into Kohan, decking his muscle milk-looking ass. The brute sweeps his legs and knocks Abel down to the floor before jumping back up onto his feet. Abel throws a dagger at Kohan’s head, who swipes it down to the ground as the gladiator approaches him.
Abel throws his other dagger low, near the ankles. Kohan buckles as the blade takes a chunk of his right calf muscle. Abel scrambles up and dashes at Kohan; this time, the gladiator is ready. Kohan takes the hilt of his sword and smashes him in the face, breaking his nose. Blood gushes out of Abel’s face, and the gladiator sees an opportunity.
Kohan swings his blades across one another in an X formation to decapitate Abel, but he is too slow; Abel ducks, rematerializing one of the daggers into his right hand. The brute’s eyes widen, Abel sidesteps around Kohan and drives his blade into the side of Kohan’s upper body. In fractions of a second, the gladiator feels another sharp pain appear from the opposite side of his body. Abel pulls his daggers upward, breaking some of Kohan’s ribs, and throws him backwards onto the gladiator’s head. The crowd goes silent as they hear the loud cracking of Kohan’s neck as he gets pummeled into the sand.
Abel slowly makes his way back to his feet while leaving the daggers in Kohan’s lifeless body. King Ptor furrows his brows and grinds his teeth. Abel’s victory was unexpected, but he stayed stoic. As Abel breathes heavily, his chest and shoulders rise with every breath. He brings his head up and glares at King Ptor for a few moments before the King smiles and screams out for his guards to raise the gate again.
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