Amazonia - The Arena

Standing upon the sands of the area, the crowd roared out our names as we held our weapons aloft.

All of us were wearing new armor made of strong leather, but with thick leather plates transmuted into Artifact, which was hard as steel plate but no heavier than leather, black and shining as if polished. My warriors also wielded normal Artifact weapons made of carved Ironwood, larger than they'd ever be able to use if forged from steel. Both weapons and armor had been presented to us after Antonius' body had been carried out by Imperial guards, while Lady Jhadra finished tattooing my men.

Well, five men and a Daemo. As I'd practiced swinging the Rune sword in the shadowed darkness, I'd felt their tattoos come alive and link to me the moment she'd finished each one. I could feel each man and the little Daemo as well, where they were and how they felt, even if I wasn’t holding the sword. The connection was stronger with the Rune sword in my hands, though.

Io... though I had begun thinking of him as Dancer, carried a black spear. Cotus, my Troll, a two-handed Greatsword, while Ragnar the Fenris wolf wielded a double bladed axe which curved inward at each point. T'ang and Julu... I couldn’t think of one without thinking of the other, as if they were one person named Nomad, wielded Artifact katanas in each hand, even though they were used to fighting with a single sword. They had even begun mirroring each other and speaking in unison, which was spooky.

Spookier still was Fox, my silent shadow as trumpets on either side of the royal box sounded the Imperial fanfare. We lowered our weapons, and as I faced the box and knelt on the sands, my Chaldean Wardogs took position behind me and knelt as well. Why am I thinking of them in that way? And why did they arrange themselves in a semi-circle behind me? Hades rotted breath, nothing makes sense anymore, especially Titan. He's kneeling apart from us, still carrying the same steel sword and wearing the same chain hauberk he brought with him out of the Khitian wastes. We haven't spoken since I took possession of the sword... is this going to be the end of what we had between us?

It doesn't matter. You're a Reaver Knight now, even if none of us understands what that's going to mean, so stand tall and keep your head up. Titan's got to decide if he wants to bridge this chasm between us or not. The royal box protruded out above the Eagle gate, with the purple and white canopy over it leaving all but the very front in shadow. A large, dark haired man wearing a solid purple toga walked to the center front where the speaking device, shaped like an eagle with its wings spread, rested on the wall.

He tapped something on the device and it began to glow blue. "Nobles, citizens, and foreign guests," the emperor said in his powerful voice, "thank you for helping me honor Lord Paulus, whose Ludus has consistently raised up champions, culminating in the unstoppable duo of Titan and Amazonia." The emperor nodded as the crowd cheered, then raised his hand for quiet. "Lord Paulus, on this, your final day of service to the empire, please join your gladiators on the sands so you might yourself receive the accolades of the people, and our gratitude."

Obviously Dominus had known this was coming, for he walked out of the open door of the Eagle gate, his half dozen personal guards behind him. Amko in her black robes held her rod in one hand as she followed. Dominus reached a spot midway between us and the royal box, stopped and turned around, with Amko and the guards arranging themselves behind him. Then they followed Dominus' lead as he dropped to one knee, until all of us were kneeling before the emperor

He smiled and resumed speaking into the device. "Lord Paulus, you made the unusual request that your gladiators be granted their freedom before their last fight, and though it goes against precedent, in light of your dedication and theirs, I am moved to grant it. Lord Paulus... break their collars."

This must have been rehearsed as well, for Amko rose with Dominus, turned around and walked towards us, the rod in her hand beginning to glow as blue as the silver spiraled mana stones in her ears. She stopped in front of me. "Lift your chin." Amko looked about as happy as if she'd just sunk her teeth into a bitterfruit as I raised it up. The mage touched the round end of the rod to the collar, and it flared blue as pain made me grit my teeth. Then the pain stopped as the collar shattered into pieces. Amko sneered and moved on towards the others behind me as the pieces fell away, my hands brushing off the small shards remaining until all of it was gone. My hand went to my throat.

For the first time in many years I touched only skin. My fingertips slid over old sores turned into callouses, my throat no longer constricted but oddly exposed, vulnerable, a sensation I hadn’t had since a slaver tore me away from my people and transported me across the inner sea. My collar was gone. When this quest is finished, I could ignore the reward and return home, if I wanted. If I could find it. My collar is gone. Even if I did return, no one would recognize me, calling me a liar for claiming to be little Tagwizult the fearless. Even my own mother would never believe me, if she's still alive. Will I ever have a home again? My collar is gone.

Amko continued down the line, and as Ragnar's collar shattered, Dominus smiled at us and raised his fist. "On your feet, my heroes, and taste the sweet air of freedom!" We leapt to our feet as sand sprayed around us, lifting up our weapons as the crowd cheered and stomped their feet, making the arena tremble. Dominus raised his hands as he basked in the praise.

Dancer... Io, touched my arm. I glanced back at him with a questioning look, and he motioned towards the gladiator gate we'd walked out of. Amko was hurrying towards it as fast as she could, almost running, as if worried it would slam shut in her face if she was too slow. We traded a troubled look as Amko reached the opening and passed through. Imperial guards standing on either side slammed the gate shut with a metallic clang.

Should I get Dominus' attention or was this part of the plan? I turned forward once again as the emperor raised his hands. The crowd quieted. "Prince Arcadia," he said, his voice echoing throughout the arena, "I am informed that you have an urgent matter which needs to be known by all, and I have consented to let you speak in my place."

The Eagle gate slammed shut as the emperor stepped to the side, with a younger, dark haired man, taking his place. "Divine majesty," he said in a lighter voice than the emperor's, "apologies for my urgency, but a terrible crime has been committed by Lord Paulus against his former slaves."

Dominus took a step back, looking around in confusion as the prince stared down straight at us. "Lady Jhadra informed me that her Daemo slave, which Lord Paulus had asked to borrow, was forced to perform an ancient ritual of dark sorcery, turning the champion Amazonia into a Reaver Knight who carries a cursed sword binding the other six to her side. Only Titan, being of the Ogri race, was immune, yet his love for Amazonia blinds him to the ghastliness of this crime."

The crowd, who had been chanting 'Paulus, Paulus', only a few moments before, now began to darkly mutter as Prince Arcadia stabbed an accusing finger in our direction. "Ghastly, because to complete the ritual, the heart of a gentle soul must be pierced by the sword and his spirit trapped within the cursed blade... the spirit of Lord Zeno's most cherished son, Antonius." The crowd gasped as the prince moved his hand my way. "Mage Amko, who was forced to watch the horrible ritual, told me the five gladiator's behind Amazonia held poor Antonius down, and she ran an Ironwood blade into his chest at the same instant the Daemo standing behind her called up their race’s most terrible sorcery. All of this was done at Lord Paulus' command."

"There goes our lands and title," Troll... Cotus, muttered.

The rest of my Wardogs muttered agreement as the prince threw out his arms. "But why? Why would anyone attempt such a horrible scheme?" His accusing finger returned to point at Dominus. "For gold. The Master of Coin, Citizen Eurax, looked into Lord Paulus' finances, only to discover the nobleman is awash in a sea of debt. Not only that, but Citizen Eurax's collectors searched Lord Paulus' house and discovered letters from the Sasnayam embassy, offering not only enough gold to pay off his debts, but even more to support him in a lavish manor on an island off the coast of Greece. Citizen Eurax has already impounded the ship scheduled to take him and his family there."

"No," Dominus shouted, "I'm innocent!"

His voice was lost in the angry roar of the crowd, for no peoples were hated more by those in Konstanopolis than the Sasnayams, said to be richer in gold than the infamous King Midas. Dominus waved his arms and shouted, but his words were trampled by the prince, who turned towards his father. "Divine majesty, such an outrage cannot be judged fairly by men but by the gods, who know the dark places of our souls as well as the light."

"He's adding a good bit of darkness to his," Dancer... Io, mutters.

The prince went on. "Therefore, I beg your Divine Majesty's indulgence to allow the high priest of Jupiter to decide how best to proceed."

The emperor waved his acceptance, and as Prince Arcadia stepped away opposite from the emperor, a large man in robes the color of gold strode up to the speaking device. "Your Divine Majesty, noble prince, and esteemed citizens of every rank, Jupiter himself will decide this afternoon's fight on the balance scales of justice. Open the Hades gate and let your Daemo monsters begin coming out, until Jupiter puts fear into the creature's hearts and they slam the gates shut themselves.

“Whoever is left standing is then to be banished from the empire and put on a ship to the Khitian lands. From there, let them never return unless they can perform some deed so heroic that even the gods will forgive them, and wash away all their crimes. This is the will of Jupiter Maximus."

The priest stepped back as the emperor came forward. "What the gods put into words, men put into action. Prepare yourselves."

Is that an expression of regret on the emperor's face? Dominus looked bewildered as Titan put his hand on my shoulder. "This is all a sham. Once Paulus is dead, the gates will shut and we will be free to go."

"Giving us a plausible reason to be in Khitia," I snarled. "This is all an excuse to salve Eurax's pride." Maybe it was the sword, but a strange, wild mood seized me and I gave my Wardogs a savage grin. "I say let's poke a finger in Eurax's eye and keep our old Dominus alive until they run out of monsters."

The Wardogs caugght my mood and grinned back as Titan laughed. "I like this change in you. Use the Eagle gate to guard your backs and arrange your warriors defensively. I will attack the Daemo creatures as they come out of the Hades gate." Titan threw his head back and raised his sword as he bellowed, "This is a good day to die!"

The crowd roared his words back, cheering as he took off running across the arena sands towards the opposite side, where a large gate of metal bars, bent in places, was beginning to creak open. "Everyone, follow me." I headed towards the royal box with gold painted metal gate, reinforced with cross bars, below it.

As I reached Dominus he fell in beside me. "What are you doing," he said, sand spraying beneath our feet. "I taught you to never show mercy unless you had to."

"The sword decided otherwise," I replied as we reached the gate and turned around, the royal box casting its shadow over us. "Besides, I'll need your skills in Khitia." My Wardogs and the six guards reached us and stopped as well. "We fight as teams. Io's with me, Cotus-"

"I fight alone," he growled, hunching his shoulders the way a troll does before it fights. "Don't worry about me."

"I can fly above him and throw sand in their eyes," Fox said, stripping off her dress. Men on the benches above us began hooting and yelling rude comments, for the little Daemo was nude underneath, but their voices died off as wings began sprouting from her fragile looking body. It grew thinner and more bird-like the larger her wings became, then Fox scooped up sand with both hands and launched herself into the air.

I shook my head at the strangeness before turning towards the twins. "Nomad... I mean-"

"Nomad is fine," T'ang and Julu said in unison. "We will take your left flank."

"Good. Fen... Ragnar-"

"I'll guard Dominus," he said, hefting his double bladed axe in his hands. "It feels right to me."

"Then do it. You six," motioning at the guardsmen, "form a defensive line against whatever gets past us."

The six guardsmen banged their swords against their square shields and arranged themselves as I strode out in front. Above me, a man's voice called out, "Amazonia." Bells of Hades, was that the emperor? I turned around and looked up. The emperor was standing above me, leaning down with the waist high concrete wall supporting him. He must have the speaking device turned off, for his voice didn’t echo off the walls, his clean shaven, square jawed face smiling as he said, "Make Jupiter work for it."

The wild grin returned to my face as I raised my Rune sword over my head in salute. "What the emperor puts into words," I called back, "his Knight and her Wardogs put into action."

He inclined his head, a pleased expression on his face as Fox called out, "Here they come!"