Chapter 3

Wind whistled past our ears, screaming around the slight barrier we had been able to create for ourselves. It was taking all my energy to hold the wall of sand in place, blocking the oncoming force of air. Next to me, Jerric was spouting geysers of fire over my small shelter, trying to burn our enemy. We fought together now. The people loved us, so the Emperor had little choice in the matter. It didn't stop him from giving us the most difficult opponents in the Arena, though. Currently, we were wrapping up a battle against six other Crystalborn, all very talented and powerful. Four of them lay dead on the ground at this moment. Powerful they may have been, but they were not enough. The final two were working together, and it was immensely effective. One of them was able to control the winds-which in a battlefield full of sand would have been a problem if not for my own ability-and the other could amplify the Gift of those around them. As a team, they were almost too much. Currently it was my willpower against theirs, trying to hold the sand in place whilst they did their very best to use it to shred Jerric and I to pieces. There was a slight yell and a thump, and I looked over to Jerric with a raised eyebrow. He nodded at me, confirming that he had gotten one of them. Simultaneously, the force of the wind reduced greatly, and I could relax my hold on the sand a little. Time for a different strategy. Forcing all the sand in the arena that Jerric hadn't melted yet down to the floor, we were able to advance on our foe. She stood alone now, her face written with worry as we struggled towards her against the violent gusts. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jerric trying to send another blaze of flames at her, but she was ready and repelled it with her own Gift. Perfect. I took the opening and sprinted at her, kicking her in the stomach to knock her to the floor and push one foot onto her body so she couldn't escape. Waiting for Jerric to catch up, I simply stared down, knowing she would try to get away again if I didn't. On his arrival, he mercifully torched the girl's body and kept going until it was nothing but a pile of ashes, which scattered itself instantaneously on unfelt winds. Cheers surrounded me as I looked up sadly into the eyes of hundreds of men and women who had come to watch. Anger welled up inside me as I watched them celebrating our pain. Blood ran down my face from a hit I had taken earlier as I glared with eyes ablaze into their faces. This couldn't continue much longer. An idea occurred to me, but if it failed the punishment would be unbearable. Worth the risk. Gesturing to Jerric, I called him over and explained what I wanted to do. Concern flashed across his face, but he nodded affirmation anyway. Time was running short, as the gates had just clanged open, revealing two men dressed in Crystalglass. We'd need to go fast. I lifted my arms from my sides and leveled my hand, drawing the sand in a spiral towards me. A sphere about a foot in diameter formed over my outstretched palm. The yelling of the crowd had died out into whispers as they nervously wondered what I was doing. Desperately hoping this would work, I launched it upwards to the Crystalglass covering that stretched across the Arena. I had tried this same move at the end of one of my first fights, but back then the ball had just broken down on coming near the Crystalglass. Back then, though, I didn't have Jerric. He hit the orb with blast after blast as it flew, melting it into something else entirely. Feeling it slip from my control as it was no longer natural, I closed my eyes and prayed to the gods. The ball sped upwards, not losing its momentum from my original push, and smacked solidly into the roof. Cracks crawled across the covering, making a web of jagged lines. I spun to face Jerric, who was quietly shaking his head. It hadn't worked, and the Arena handlers were upon us. One of them swung a fist at Jerric, throwing him unconscious to the floor. My anger was renewed, and without hesitation I relentlessly aimed blow after blow with my fists at the handler's armor plates until my knuckles bled. It didn't help at all. The man merely stood and laughed, safe in his shell of Crystalglass, until he got bored and backhanded me across the sandy boards of the floor. The color faded from my vision, and it slowly changed to black as my body gave in.

I awoke to the rough feeling of a rope tied around my hands and a wooden post between my arms. Not something I was used to or would like to do again. Jerric wasn't here, no longer allowed to be near me apparently. Wondering what was going on, I searched the room for anything that could offer at least a slight explanation. The man with the long leather whip in his closed fist did it. Realization hit me. I was about to be flogged. The disgusting scent of body odor filled my nose as the man drew near, probably hoping to gloat over the position of power that he had been put in. Determined not to let the happen, I spoke out before he got a chance.

"Get on with it. I'm sure you have plenty of other innocent children to torture after this."

As expected, he did what I asked. Stinging pain tore across my back, and my blood splattered the wall. And this was after only one hit. Surely more were to come. Breathing heavily, I waited for the next hit to come. Time after time, no intermission from the pain was offered as the whip rained on my back and my body shook. I could only hope Jerric wasn't suffering the same way. The handler eventually left, presumably tired of beating me. The world seemed to be shaking as I was finally let to fall to the Crystalglass-laced floors, tired and in agony.

I awoke alone, head reeling from a dream that didn't make sense. The man in the green cloak had been there again. Putting it aside as coincidence, I observed my surroundings. The room was dark, save for a single dim candle glowing with a faint light from a corner. Oh, and I was chained to a chair by my wrists and ankles, which was not at all comfortable. After struggling for a few minutes, I decided that trying to break metal shackles was a waste of time. Such a shame. Tempted to pass out again, I leaned back in the wooden chair, resigned to my imprisonment. I regretted that shortly after, as my back burned from the flogging I had received. Wincing in pain, I tried to close my eyes and block everything out. As soon as my eyes were shut, though, a calm and low voice spoke from behind me.

"Vite, isn't it? I quite enjoy watching your fights, you know." Directly following these words, I felt a cold hand sliding across the back of my neck. Every one of my instincts reacted to the unexpected touch, and my body tried to throw itself to its feet against the chains, which was both painful and futile. I fell back to the seat, feeling more drained than before. Something about the man at my back was highly unsettling, especially in the way he had touched me. Thoroughly disturbed, I responded to his statement.

"Yes, my name is Vite. What do you want from me?" Undoubtably something that wasn't pleasant. I could almost hear the smile in his voice when his next sentence came, this time from a different part of the room.

"In a way, I want you. As a... tool." He ran his hand through my long hair again, and I shuddered. This was disgusting and terrifying in more ways than I could count. Why was he doing this?

"I have no idea who you are, and no reason to work for you unless you can get me and one other out of this arena." My conditions were simple. I wanted to survive, and I wanted Jerric to survive with me. However, that wasn't what my captor had in mind.

"Oh, you won't be leaving. The Arena is your home now, and it always will be." I grimaced as the man sent those words to my ears. Looked like this was not my day for freedom. Silence fell, and I assumed that I should say something back.

"Then you won't see me working on your side. It's quite simple." Even the inevitable death I faced in the Arena was likely going to be better than whatever this gross person had in mind for me. I hadn't thought things fully through though, because his next words hit harder than expected.

"If you can't be persuaded just by my very generous request, then we'll have to use other means. Such as your friend." Clapping his hands together, I felt his eyes on the back of my neck as I watched a door that I hadn't realized was there swing open directly in front of me, revealing Jerric in chains while another man in Crystalglass armor poked a spear at his back lightly. The guard spoke reverently to the other man.

"Here he is as requested, Emperor"

So that's who he was. The Emperor himself. He seemed to be taking an unreasonable interest in me lately, from letting me survive in the Arena with Jerric to whatever this was. When this Emperor planned things, they usually involved blood and death in immense quantities. There was an occasion not long ago in which he put twenty-six kids into the Arena together in teams of two, telling them that the last ones standing would go free. My own hands were responsible for the deaths of thirteen of those kids, and even after all that my freedom was not granted. Emperor Yviss ruled by fear and entertainment, and nobody could deny how effective it was. So, when Jerric was presented in front of me, I felt that fear. Real, cold, and dark, it sank through my body in a terrible way. It only got worse when the guard reached behind him and gripped a branding iron, holding it above Jerric's bare arm. I tried again to break from the chains holding me down, and again failed miserably. My hatred for the Emperor only burned brighter when he talked to me for what felt like the fiftieth time.

"As I'm sure you've noticed, if you don't work for me, Jerric here suffers. Effective, isn't it?" For the first time, he came to the edge of my vision, clasping his hands behind his back formally as his footsteps rang out on the damp stone floor. He was tall, dressed in dark clothing with black hair flowing down his shoulders and back. I met his eyes angrily but held my silence. I was torn between two bad options here. Forced to choose the lesser of two evils, I spoke up quietly.

"Don't touch Jerric. I'll do what you want."

I regretted saying that almost immediately, but what choice did I have? Jerric's relieved face was enough for me to hope at least that I'd done what was best. Yviss grinned at me, looking like a skeleton in the dim lighting. Closing my eyes, I asked him what would come next, and much to my surprise, he undid the chains binding me. Hesitating before standing, I fought the urge to attack them all then and there; knowing I would die. Again, it was Jerric who stayed my hand. That would get him killed as well. Pushing myself shakily to my feet, I stood at my full height and met the Emperor's icy eyes, awaiting instruction with dread.

"You'll be learning to fight seriously soon, but for now you can simply watch some fights at my side. Isn't that lovely?" Yviss told me casually. I followed Yviss as he left the room and Jerric behind to guide me through a maze of lavishly decorated corridors. All the paintings and sculptures both amazed me and seemed useless at the same time. The Emperor had a disgusting amount of pointless art, only to show his wealth.

All the hallways led us to a familiar seating area overlooking the Arena. It took me a moment or two, but I registered with slight surprise that this was the Emperor's box from which he watched the battles. As I looked down at the sandy floor that I had fought on so many times, I watched grimly as the gates on either side of the Arena ground open, and two Crystalborn came out to face each other. Back and forth they went, exchanging blows and using their Gifts, until one was dead and the other remained victorious. Standing and watching felt so wrong, but at least it wasn't me in there. The Crystalglass cover was still in place, albeit cracked from me and Jerric's earlier stunt that led to all this. I became lost in thought, trying to drown out the cheers of the crowd and the death in front of me until I was startled by a noise behind me and to my left. It wasn't the Emperor; he was in a chair on my right side. Turning that way, I saw a man in a grey cloak with a mask covering most of his face. The way he stared at me was more than a bit disturbing, but still incomparable to the Emperor. Wanting to ask Yviss about him, I opened my mouth to speak, but was cut off by a ridiculously loud noise in the Arena. Cheering, of course. An animal and another little kid were at it now. This time, I couldn't force my eyes away or stay still. Instead, I ran out and over the Crystalglass cover, ignoring the sickening feeling in my gut that came with my actions. Above the crack from the other day, I kneeled and slammed my fist down repeatedly. Knuckles bleeding, I punched consistently to create a small, jagged edged hole in the covering just big enough for me to fit through. Gazing back at the Emperor, I noticed that he hadn't moved a muscle as I did all of this. He didn't seem to care about anything, really. With a shrug in his direction, I dropped into the hole I had made and plummeted to the Arena within, having the sand rise to catch me and cushion my fall.