“Let the fight start!”.

Timur turned ran towards the door he entered, which was already closed. The public laughed, as they believed he was going to act like the one who entered before, but they stopped when he planted his spear into the wall. They moved towards the railing to see better what was happening.

He jumped and caught the shaft, rose and balanced with his feet, bending it a bit. He jumped again against the wall and caught the railing.

A soldier on the stairs whistled, and another with a spear charged towards him. Timur dodged the spear and jumped on the soldier’s back. Pulling the hackle of the helmet, he exposed his neck, and a hidden blade inside his sleeve slashed him from ear to ear.

Everybody around him shrieked and started running in all directions. Some jumped over the seating, even if there was someone still at their place.

He was so absorbed by the fact that he didn’t realize that his act was indeed the signal. The soldiers guarding the gate exchanged puzzled looks, and one of them picked his spear from the wall.

Felix turned and pulled a small grenade and a match from his pocket.

“Hey!”, one of the guards was moving towards them, while Marie and John put themselves behind Felix to cover him. After scraping the match against the wooden railing, a small blue flame burned and made a sizzling noise against the fuse.

At the sound of a bell ringing, the soldiers gasped and ran towards them.

“Do it!”, said Marie.

Felix threw the grenade at their feet. Black smoke billowed and swallowed the two soldiers. Their shapes inside coughed and dropped on the ground.

“Let’s go!”, he said, and he jumped over the railing to avoid being taken by the black cloud himself. He took a breath and made the mistake to look down. The wooden railing down in the standings bent itself too much by the river of people who were escaping, until it snapped in splinters with a crack, and a group of people went down with it, screaming.

Felix took a breath and jumped.

His hands grabbed the edge of the beam and, pushing with his legs, he climbed over. Marie was next, then John and Caroline. They all had to walk putting one foot in front of the other. Felix’s legs were shaking. He couldn’t walk too fast, as he would have fallen, and neither too slowly because someone will soon see them.

A quiver pierced through John’s temple, splattering blood on Caroline’s face. His head hit the beam and the rest of the body fell.

Caroline shrieked, “Oh, God!”, cleaning her eyes.

“We have to move!”, said Felix;

The rope had already been tied at the beam. The area around the stands was already empty, so he lowered it and descended. The bandages he had put around his hands helped him against the friction burns, but not enough. Nearing the ground, he jumped on the stairs. Marie followed, but Caroline wasn’t even near midway.

She fell, shrieking. The side of her head hit a seat, making a thumping sound.

Marie stared wide-eyed at her twisted body until Felix grabbed her wrist, “We must go!”. They descended the stairs and ran among the other people. The exit was at the entrance of one of the towers at the corners of the arena.

Near them, Timur charged at a soldier, ducked under the thrust of his spear, and grabbed his elbow, twisting it. The soldier fell on his knees, and Timur placed a hand on his face, making him scream in pain as blisters erupted on his skin, smoke came from his eyes and his bear and hair caught fire.

He turned and shielded himself with the soldier’s body against the second spear coming towards his back. The hit against the steel armor smashed the shaft of the weapon, making the second soldier fall from the recoil. Timur grabbed the spear of the first soldier and stabbed him in the eyes. It was his fourth victim, lying next to the others.

Pulling with his foot, Timur extracted the spear and its point started to glow of an orange light. Orange drops of melted steel dropped on the ground. His throw hit a crossbowman in the chest some rows of seats above, piercing his armor from end to end. As the man fell, the quiver unloaded, and a woman in from of him groaned as she fell on the ground with the point of the quiver sticking from her shoulder. He jumped over her body and ran.

Timur reached them, gesturing to follow him, “I found an alternative exit”;

“They must have already surrounded all the arena!”, said Felix;

“I have some men outside. It won’t happen”.

Timur lighted a ball looking like a grenade with his finger and aimed it towards the tower.

“What are you doing?”, said Felix, “There’s still people in there”;

“I know”;

“But you can’t do that!”.

Timur threw the ball towards the tower, but a bright line slashed the fuse in mid-air. The grenade bounced on the ground, harmless.

“I should have known it was you”. They all turned. The young man threw his coat on the ground and unsheathed his golden rapier, pointing it at Timur.

“What a fine disguise”, he said, “Why don't you show your true face?”.

Timur grinned. His hair grew longer and assumed a bright red color. A mist settled upon his face, so that Felix couldn’t pinpoint his features anymore.

“Why don’t you duel me this time?”, the young man said, “Let’s settle it down once and for all. I’ve consumed many vials of ink writing to you for a challenge, but you never accepted”;

“I’ve better things to do”, Timur smirked;

“Like killing innocents”, his gaze towards Marie, “Or manipulating other people into murdering them for you”;

“You’re no better than me”;

“You terrorists are only a bunch of cowards”, he said, “Come and fight me!”.

Timur sighed, “Let me choose my weapon at least”, he said, searching in his pockets. Felix covered himself as he saw Timur’s hand dropping something on the ground. A bright light blinded him, and he had to cover his eyes by instinct.

The young man lowered his gloved hands from his face, “Damn”. His eyes fixed on Felix, “Looks like they forgot you, did they?”.