CHAPTER FIVE
I stand before the gates of the arena, waiting to be called out to fight and maybe die.
I rub dirt on my hands, determined that the sweat on my palms isn’t going to interfere with my grip on my trident and net.
I check the curved dagger at my belt, knowing that it might be the difference between life and death if my opponent gets in close to me.
I’m alone in these seconds before the bout, aside from a couple of guards there to control the gate.
Alaric has slipped away, ready to keep working to undermine Selene in the city.
Marcus is probably back up in the senate box by now, sipping wine and pretending to be Selene’s ally even as he works politically to bring her down.
I must trust that they’re able to handle those machinations, because I can’t let my focus slip away from what’s in front of me.
In just a few more moments, I’ll be fighting for my life, and I’m sure I’ll be shown no mercy if I lose.
My heart beats faster with the prospect of the conflict to come, and I reach out to look through the eyes of some of the birds that are always present near the arena, there to feast on scraps dropped by the crowd, or on the carrion of fallen fighters.
Through those borrowed eyes, I can see a sea of humanity below, with more people crammed into the stands than seems physically possible, all eager to see the fights to follow.
They encircle what looks like a lush landscape from above.
Somehow, the arena has been reconfigured to create the impression of a jungle on multiple levels, complete with rocky outcrops rising from the foliage and even a small waterfall.
I can feel animals down there: snakes and spiders that must have been released to make the arena more dangerous. Any false step might mean death in this place.
Selene stands, announcing the contest, where normally, it would be Marcus.
"For our next bout, we'll feature two wild and dangerous gladiators," Selene says, with a gesture to the landscape below.
"So it's only appropriate that we created a suitable setting for them.
In this corner, we have a gladiator who carries the power of his ancestors with him and who hails from the mountains far to the north. I give you Jor!"
He stalks into the arena, dressed in furs and carrying a broad headed axe.
His dark beard is bushy and braided, while his hair falls loose down his back.
He’s heavily muscled, but moves with the grace of a cat.
Some of the crowd cheers, and Jor raises his axe to acknowledge them, but through the eyes of the birds, I can see his attention is on the gate from which I’ll emerge.
I can feel the anticipation building in the crowd, but even through it, I can feel the thread of aggression coming from Jor.
I can feel more than that from him. It’s like there are a dozen people standing waiting for me, rather than just one.
Given what I’ve heard about Jor’s magic letting him carry spirits with him, I wonder if that means he has literally allowed himself to be possessed for this fight.
I don’t know, but I suspect that he’s planning to throw himself at me the moment I come into view.
“In this corner,” Selene says, gesturing to my gate. “We have a beast whisperer without peer, a creature as wild as the ones she tames. Lyra!”
There's a roar of approval from the crowd, mixed in with some boos from those who believe I'm a traitor, or who side with Selene. I come out into the arena, and that's when Jor charges me, with more speed than a man his size should have been capable of.
I spin aside, whirling my net as I try to snag his legs on the way past, but he dodges easily.
He turns towards me, already swinging his axe, and I barely deflect it with my trident.
We break apart, and now I throw myself into the foliage, using it for cover.
When Jor swings at me again, I swear I see afterimages following the movement, as if someone else is swinging the axe along with him.
The blow is almost enough to topple the tree I hide behind.
I dodge and I move, determined not to stay in one place while the hulking barbarian attacks me.
He whispers something under his breath, and now I see the ghost of a woman standing beside him, holding out her hand even as Jor raises his to throw a blast of fire that engulfs the next tree.
Clearly, one of his ancestors had the gift of fire magic.
“See the power our northern neighbors possess,” Selene says.
“That which one of them can do, their descendants may tap into, because they don’t send magic back into the stones of the city, as we do.
Does that make them stronger? Or does it mean that, when Jor falls, the magic of all those before him will feed the stones? ”
It’s a tenant of Aetheria’s priests that all magic in the world flows from the city, and specifically from the glowing stones that are embedded beneath it.
When the colosseum was rebuilt, several of those stones were incorporated, both to absorb the magical essence of anyone who dies here and to enhance the abilities of the fighters as they entertain the crowds.
Perhaps Jor is the strongest he’s ever been, the abilities of his ghostly companions enhanced until they become deadly elemental attacks.
Even as I think it, another ghost flickers, and Jor throws a blast of ice at me, forcing me to wheel away, hiding among the trees. Our bout becomes a game of cat and mouse as the mountain warrior stalks me, trying to find me even as I look for an opportunity to attack.
I extend my senses, watching him through the eyes of the birds above, but also borrowing traces of strength from the animals around me, even as Jor borrows from his ancestors. I move with the speed and grace of a scuttling spider, hurrying from one piece of cover to the next.
Some of the crowd boos me as I do it. Perhaps Marcus is right, and they will only support me if I give them a suitable show. I give them a hint of counterattack, taking control of one of the snakes slithering through the trees and having it strike at Jor from the side.
He moves with more speed than I could have imagined, catching the snake behind its head even as it lunges forward with fangs extended. Jor grips it, lifts it, and then bites through the snake with a savagery I hadn’t anticipated, even from him.
“Are tricks all you have?” he roars.
I stay silent, moving carefully, but still not carefully enough to avoid triggering a trap, hidden in the trees. I feel my leg catch on a tripwire, and I push my body to the limit as I twist aside, barely avoiding the crossbow bolt that fires from some hidden place.
Now, the crowd is cheering, clearly enjoying this new game filled with traps and attempts to kill one another at a distance.
I’m using every animal I can find to keep track of Jor’s movements, although I don’t send another against him when he’s already shown he’s fast and dangerous enough to kill even the deadliest things here.
The organizers of the games have released plenty of snakes and spiders, obviously wanting to give me something to work with, but clearly, none of it is going to be enough to beat Jor alone.
I can see he’s making his own efforts to hunt me down.
More of the ghosts of his ancestors surround him, and they seem to be spreading out, as if searching for me.
I don’t see the ones he’s already used, and now I find myself wondering if he can’t reuse them, or at least, not quickly.
Is it possible that each of them is gone as soon as he channels their essence?
Certainly, he hasn’t thrown any more fire my way, when I would assume it’s the obvious choice to flush me out.
Can I use this limitation to Jor’s powers against him? I think there might be a way, so I start to move closer, deliberately letting him spot me.
He throws a flicker of lightning this time, a ghost appearing near him and then fading. I see it disappearing into wisps even as I dodge the attack, and I’m convinced now that Jor can only hold each ghost for so long.
I change our mutual hunt now, letting him catch glimpses of me, allowing him to use up his magic as he throws attack after attack my way.
He seems to be throwing them less often now, clearly trying to conserve his strength.
I suspect he has no good ranged attacks left, because he’s trying to close on me through the foliage.
I head for the waterfall now, borrowing some of the climbing abilities of the spiders as I clamber up the rocks there. Jor is following me, using sheer strength to haul himself up after me. He comes to the top, and I'm waiting with my trident ready as he swings his axe.
We start to exchange blows, and now the crowd roars its approval in earnest. I dodge Jor’s blows, keeping him at a distance, trying to frustrate him. I sense the moment when it all gets too much for him and he simply charges at me.
I drop from the waterfall in a graceful dive, even as he throws himself at me.
Jor tumbles through the air beside me, but he hits the water below far harder, sending a huge splash into the air even as I cut through the water gracefully.
I come up before he does, dragging myself to the side and rolling out.
I can feel Jor biding his time, feel him calling one last ghost into himself, but I’m waiting for him as he’s finally ready to emerge.
He bursts from the water in a leap, looking as though there’s another, even larger body wrapped around his own.
He swings his axe in a mighty blow that would probably cut me in half if it landed, but I’m already dodging it.
I cast my net as I do so, wrapping Jor in it and quickly circling him so that the trailing rope tangles him.
He flexes his muscles as if he might burst free, but I swing my trident low, knocking his legs from underneath him.
He topples like a tree, the last of his ghosts fleeing from him. Jor glares up at me, and there’s a look of something close to resignation in his eyes.
“Finish it,” he demands. “Send me to the rest of my ancestors.”
I shake my head, though, slowly letting the energy I’ve borrowed from the animals around me run out of my body.
“I don’t need to do that,” I say, “and I won’t risk the stones of the city stealing all you are.”
Jor looks genuinely frightened then. It’s obvious that possibility hadn’t occurred to him.
I raise my voice so the crowd can hear. “I don’t need to kill someone to beat them. Jor is a worthy opponent. He deserves to live!”
I expect boos from the crowd, but instead, they cheer. It seems they like the idea of mercy in the games, and aren’t just here to see as much blood as possible.
Selene stands in the senate box, as if she’s the one with ultimate power over life and death. It’s another way she’s already copying the things the old emperor used to do.
“Lyra is right in this,” she says. “We don’t need to kill our neighbors to show them our strength. Already, this bout has proved the strength of an Aetherian compared to the barbarians of the north. Let Jor carry that tale back to his people. Let him live. Lyra is the winner of this bout.”
She says it casually, as if the whole game is hers to command.
Perhaps they are, by this point. I know, as Selene says, that I've fallen into another of her manipulations.
She's achieved exactly the outcome she was hoping for in this bout, all while making herself look like more and more of an authority figure.
With every step I take in the games, it feels like I’m being drawn deeper into her plans.
But I have no choice. The only way out of this situation is through it, all the way to the other side of the games.
In the meantime, I’ll simply have to do what I can to make it harder for Selene to use me for her own ends.
I will find a way to counter the story she’s trying to tell, and tell a different story. One in which the people of Aetheria can be free.