Edalene

         The cold, hard floor of this cave is wearing its effect on me. My muscles are growing weary and stiffer, but these shadows around me harbor my own. I have lost track of the time I have spent here, there is a worry on my mind…Will I ever make it out?

         I hear the rattling of keys and the clanking of heavy metal armor against the rocky ground, a guard approaches. I have to run to the corner, hoping he doesn’t see me. If he sees me in my condition, I wouldn’t be able to defend myself against the legion of guards that would surely come to satisfy their longing.

Most of them sound like they would rather be elsewhere. I’ve heard them late at night grunting about the “Chief” and how hard he works his men, as if they were as forced as I am to be here. I have no doubt that they take pleasure in our fate here however.

      “Ten minutes!” Yells a hoarse voice, the clanging noises approach me, I see glinting metal and glimpse dark skin looking in to my cell from the door’s window, but I burrow deep in the shadows before eye contact can be had.

.      The dome-like shape of the cave offers no privacy, but thankfully I was able to find a crevice completely concealed by the shadows around me. In this corner I made shelter for a few of my belongings, the few that I smuggled in on my person when I was brought here. I make ready the usual, tighten the straps about my thighs, ankle and forearm. I fasten one of my dark brown leather boots, secure the lace of the other in reparation of my tunic and put on my gloves.

        A rumble above me explodes, I begin to hear yells and cheering, clearly something big will happen in ten minutes.

When I was first brought here, I was treated savagely by the guards. I was pushed around by men with swords pointed at me. One of them thought it would be fun to shred apart my clothes, but I was able to hold them together before my body could be seen. If they were to realize I am a woman, my punishment would be far more grave and carnal.

        “Punishment? Why I am thinking of punishment? I have not harmed anyone.” I set about to test how my gloves have fared, “They still have a strong grip, I can hold a hilt well enough, but they won’t last much longer. How much longer for freedom?” I grab hold of the few daggers in my possession and don them on my straps and grab my precious Kris with my right hand. All of them are relatively sharp, ready to rend skin a moment’s notice.

      “Please don’t let it be me…not me…please don’t let it…” I pray inwardly before the heavy door to my cell slowly swings open, small rays of light enter the room, but nowhere near enough to put my position in danger. “I guess it had to be my turn eventually” I inch towards the door, afraid of what is to come. The cheers grow louder until they are silenced by a larger booming voice.

      “TODAY, TWO UNDEFEATED GLADIATORS WILL FACE OFF, WHICH OF THEM SHALL EMERGE THE VICTOR TODAY?” The voice is drowned out by the excitement and cheering of the crowd.

      “It seems I will have to fight, but does defeat here mean death? That’s the life of a gladiator, a desperate fight for survival. Am I so invaluable to you? Don’t gamble with my life!” My eyes begin to water, but I repress the deluge, I was taught better than to ever break down.

        I nervously peek out of the door; fortunately there is no one on the other side, or anyone in the hall beyond for that matter. “The floor is inclined here…” I look to my right and see sunlight for the first time in a while. My eyes take a moment to recall the feeling of this light.

        “Good luck.” the muffled voice of a man advises, but I detect shakiness in his voice. “Is he worried for the fate of someone he does not even know?” When my eyes finally adjust I realize there are several doors like the one to my own cave before me, “Just how many prisoners are there? I have heard this crowd twice before, but never this loud.”

        The crowd is growing louder, full of excitement and cheering, I am able to understand what they are saying; they chant “Destroy him! Destroy him! Destroy him Destroyer!”

        “Clearly not the most eloquent of crowds, this must be a playground for the poor. Where on Gaia could I be?” Before me I see a bright blue wire taut across the ground. “Blue. On a brown-red ground. This is below the level of even an initiate to the Academy.”

        The crowd booms louder, I see a massive man wielding a similarly massive claymore in his hands and outfitted in tight-fitting silver armor. They are going wild for him. But his stance is odd, his feet are widespread, probably to help hoist his oversized blade. This man can’t even carry his claymore; much less use it in battle. This man is just a showman.

I lean my back against the wall, my heart is pounding faster.

          “THIS IS THE GREAT DESTROYER! YOU KNOW HIM AND LOVE HIM, WHO WOULD DARE DEFY HIM!?” Again the crowd roars,

          “This announcer knows how to rile the crowd, how often has he done this? But…if this is a show, then that was my queue.”I use one of my smaller daggers to snap the blue wire and withdraw quickly, this is it!

        From the roof fall many daggers and swords, I take a glance and see jeweled pommels, dull blades, probably not even balanced. But the glance is all I have time for.

        The weapons make a clamor, clearly heard with the echo of this tunnel. The burly man swung around towards me, I clench my fist about my Kris.

        The shadows must not betray me. I have one shot to penetrate his armor. He raises his arms in a victorious pose, rotating about the arena, beckoning the cheers of the crowd.

        “There!” My Kris flies towards its target, the glimmer of the sun reflects to my face, before finding flesh. “I have to get out! If anyone was watching, just for that instant …”

        “Ugh! What kinda crap is this? It fuckin’ hurts!” The burly man yells in a hoarse voice. He was not expecting my attack.

“I have the advantage, but he’s clearly unprepared for combat! How is this guy a so-called gladiator?” The clanging metal boots ring in my ear. “No! Behind me?”

        I swirl about to see the guard from earlier standing before me, he is accompanied by another man. His eyes quiver, his shoulders tense, his weight shifted towards his rear leg. He’s afraid, ready to run. That means he didn’t know I was free.

“If he didn’t release me then who did?”