CHAPTER TWENTY
I’m not surprised when I walk out into the colosseum to see that the set-up is the same as for the previous bout. Selene clearly wants whoever she faces in the final to go through the same contest as her, so that the people will have a chance to see how much more efficiently she handled it.
The cheering of the crowd is almost overwhelming as I step out onto one of the platforms, above the now murky waters where the crocodiles wait.
Other gladiators are starting to move onto the surrounding platforms. I feel as though they’re all staring at me with a mixture of hate and nervousness, as if I’m the only true threat they face. Is that just a function of my reputation, or does it have more to do with the crocodiles waiting below?
In one sense, it’s strange that Selene should allow a beast whisperer like me such an obvious tool in the coming fight. I can only imagine that she wants me to win, wants me to bring the crocodiles up out of the water to maul my foes and drag them down into the depths.
Even as I contemplate that, I realize the other part of what Selene wants here: she wants to force me to kill.
She wants to put me in a position where all my opponents will probably target me at once, so that I’m forced to use the crocodiles as weapons.
She wants to show the watching crowd that, when it comes to it, killing your enemies is not only necessary, but right.
I automatically hate the idea of going along with what Selene wants, but I’m not sure what choice I have right now.
I have no doubt that my foes are dangerous, and I’m not sure how I can beat them without killing them.
I must somehow incapacitate them without sending them into the water, because then, the crocodiles will devour them.
"Begin!" Selene calls out, and I have no time to contemplate what I'm going to do, because attacks are already coming my way.
Blasts of magic fly towards me from every direction, all my opponents clearly trying to take me out of the fight as quickly as possible.
I grab whatever grace and speed I can from the birds around the stadium, using it to flip and dodge, moving along one of the walkways as opponent after opponent tries to knock me into the water.
One of them comes at me, moving with speed that has clearly been enhanced by magic.
She slashes at me with a pair of short blades, forcing me to use my spear and buckler to defend.
I can’t stand in one spot even now, because attacks are still coming at me, my opponents not caring which of us they hit.
One of those blasts of magic strikes my opponent, sending her staggering from the walkway as it catches her off balance.
She teeters on the edge, and then she falls.
I see one of the crocodiles rearing up out of the water to snatch her from the air, balancing on its tail as its jaws close around her.
Instinctively, I reach out for the mind of the beast, taking control of it even as it drags my opponent down beneath the water.
More blasts of magic strike the platform around me, forcing me to keep dodging.
Selene has set this up so that I have no choice other than to use my powers to best my opponents, but that doesn't mean I have to do it the way she wants. I have a plan, but it will require a combination of power and control that I’m not sure I can pull off under pressure.
The same resonating stones that helped Selene in her bout will boost my own abilities, but will it be enough?
I have to try. I reach out with my powers, connecting with every animal close to me, feeling the birds in the sky, the crocodiles beneath the water, and everything in between. I grit my teeth, splitting my consciousness in dozens of different directions as I take control of the creatures.
Through the eyes of one of the birds, I see my form as a small thing, something far below that looks almost insignificant as an enemy runs towards it with a sword raised.
I barely remember in time that the small form there is me, and I bring my shield up just in time to deflect the blow, striking back with my spear and forcing my opponent to give ground. It only buys me a second or two, but that brief window of time is all I need.
I take complete control of the animals around me, marshalling them the way a general might command her forces.
I can feel all they feel, understand everything they are.
The crocodiles are strong, slow things, waiting patiently with jaws that can trap and rend, dragging people down so that they can spin violently to tear the flesh from their bones.
The birds above are light and fast, circling eagerly, waiting for whatever scraps they can get from the conflict.
It isn’t the large, powerful crocodiles that I use as my main weapons in the fight. Instead, it’s the birds I call to, bringing them together in great flocks and sending them speeding down towards the gladiators.
Some of the birds are picked out of the air by magic, a couple of my enemies seeing the attack coming in time to throw their own blasts of power at the oncoming creatures. I feel each impact as if it's on my own flesh, feeling consciousnesses vanish from my grasp as the birds die.
But there are still plenty of birds left, more than enough to slam into my foes, pecking and clawing, sometimes just impacting with all the speed they possess on the gladiators’ armor.
The attacks aren’t deadly in themselves, but they’re more than enough to drive the gladiators off balance, forcing them to step and stagger when they don’t have any room to do so.
One by one, they fall from the platforms, tumbling through the air towards the water below.
I see them dropping as if from a distance through the eyes of the birds, but I also see the tumbling gladiators as approaching shadows coming closer to the water, as I look through the eyes of the crocodiles below.
I send those crocodiles up towards the gladiators, jaws already open, waiting to close with all their power. The gladiators plunge into the water, and the crocodiles seize them, even as they scream and fight.
I pull more of my consciousness back to myself, letting go of the birds because I no longer need to use them as weapons. I keep my grip on the crocodiles as they pull the gladiators down, dragging them into the murky depths, out of sight of the gasping crowd.
That crowd cheers now, realizing that I’m the last gladiator left standing, but there’s something muted about the cheering, as if they can’t quite believe that I would slay my enemies with the same brutality as Selene.
I raise my spear in victory, and Selene stands. She applauds me, and the amplification effect of the senate box makes the clapping resound around the colosseum. She’s smiling as if she’s the one who’s just won. Maybe she thinks she has, forcing me to do exactly what she wants.
“Well done, Lyra. You are the victor. I always knew, if I put you in the right spot, you would put aside your foolishness refusal to slay your foes.” Selene looks around at the crowd.
“There’s a lesson in what happened here.
A lesson in why we need a strong ruler, a ruler with magic beyond anyone else.
There are some situations that require ruthlessness and power.
Some situations where there is no choice but to slay your foes. ”
I can see people nodding along with her. Selene thinks she’s forced me to do something fundamentally against my nature. But she’s declared me the victor in this bout, so it’s time to show her the truth.
I call to the crocodiles, bringing them back to the surface.
Each of them holds a gladiator in its jaws, and each of those gladiators gasps and splutters as they finally get a breath of air.
There’s blood in the water, because there’s only so gently the jaws of a crocodile can close, but those gladiators are very much alive.
I spread my hands, and the crocodiles let go of their prey, obeying me even though their instincts are to bite down and kill, to tear and devour.
I send the crocodiles swimming neatly away, heading for the same gate they came in through.
The trainers there open it, and I remove them from the colosseum.
Selene looks down at the scene in shock.
“No!” she says. “You can’t do this. Your enemies are still alive, Lyra. This bout is not done!”
“I’ve knocked every enemy from the platforms,” I say. “You yourself declared the fight done.”
“That was before,” Selene says. “Now-”
“Right now, you are not yet an empress,” I snap. “And I will not kill just because you want me to. Does anyone here want to dispute that I’ve earned my place in the final?”
None of the gladiators speaks up. They’ve obviously realized how much worse things could have gone for them. I can feel the relief coming from some of them. After all, they could have been in Selene’s bout, cut down just so she could prove a point.
I raise my spear again, and this time, the roar from the crowd is almost deafening. Selene might not be happy with the way I’ve won, but she can’t deny that I have. I walk from the floor of the arena, heading for the preparation rooms.
I’ve fought my way through to the final. I’ve passed every test Selene and her followers have put in front of me. I can feel the anticipation of the crowd already starting to build as they realize the consequences of my victory against so many foes.
I will be fighting Selene this evening, for the throne of Aetheria.