Snippet #2653729

A mere few moments ago, Huo was standing in the arena before a cheering crowd at the height of ecstasy. Then the giant arched double doors swung close, silencing the swell of voices and emptying the feeling. Only a hollow remained.

He dreamt a dream last night so vivid in its entirety that he could still recall certain bits of what he had seen even as he walked away from the fight. It seemed unlike other dreams where once his eyes flitted open, the visions disappeared as quickly as a feeling of elation.

It was no victory today, he knew. Dhaxi asked him to drag out that fight, he wanted the betting pools to grow larger. The Black Hammer never had a chance. It felt unfair, the match, the feigned tilt. Even if he had been with Dhaxi for awhile and knew how he ran his business, it never settled with him. Never did, and maybe never will.

-

He went into the armory, and unclasped the various buckles of his armor and began to stretch. His arms and legs felt sore underneath all of it. He could feel the Flow tingle throughout his body, but nowhere moreso than his right arm. It was bruised from when he shielded the hammer blow. It would have been a broken arm instead had he not used the Flow.

Had he ended it sooner, he might not have had any bruises. Dryness clawed his throat, he delivered his equipment to the weaponsmaster who would scrub it clean of any blood. The old man was inspecting a sword with a nearby guard.

"Duuthesh. Looks like one dun' it?"

"Looks like one o' 'em foppish pointy swords them nobles use in duels. Eh dint know those darkies used 'em."

"Mmm, belongs to that one 'er that just came. It be a damn fine sword eh?"

"Aye. Could help me cut down some fine tree branches."

They both cackled as Huo left.

-

He entered the cloakroom, observed the other fighters preparing for their bouts and shuffled over to a bowl decorated with black figures. Some of the other fighters nodded in his direction, a congratulatory sign. He cupped his hands in the bowl of water, splashed his face, then took a wool towel from one of the racks and began wiping off sweat and dirt.

He turned to an ewer of water set aside, and without thinking, he guzzled it dry, not caring whether any was left for the next fighter.

Then hunger set in.

-

With permission from their masters, fighters, the respectable ones at least, were let out of the cages to entertain what few dishes the colosseum chefs could make. Sinewy bodies packed the mess hall. Conversation clamored without halt along with the noises that accompanied meal ingestion.

The course of the day was gruel and hard boiled eggs. Huo sat alone, better to make no friends than to make fair weather ones. That was his code since his first day, anywhere. It took time for him to make friends, and that was not to say he did not have any.

There was Tumhathil.

A deep and gruff voice opened, "Good fight today, kid."

Huo looked up at the whiskers spouting from Tum's mouth and the mane that lined his solid jaw.

The Osu stared at the Felidin before returning to his food, then he grinned at the lion, "Are you expecting me to say 'thank you,' old man?"

Tum snarled, "Bah. You ungrateful punk. And I'm not that old."

Huo chuckled as Tum sat down on the other side. Tumhathil was about the only person Huo would ever joke with. Conversely the same could be said of Huo for Tum. They had a mutual understanding as warriors. Never had they ever had to face each other, and maybe that was good fortune. Friendships rarely lasted between gladiators, eventually they would be decided by the sword. Huo hoped that day never came for them.

The lion smacked his lips, "You seen Ya'weh today?"

"No," Huo's left cheek had a solid half an egg and a stuffing of gruel churning inside.

"Something troubles her," the Felidin played with his mane, picking at whatever little mites irritated him, but he was deeper in thought than anything.

Huo continued chewing as the lion spoke.

"It could be Zoni, you think those two are...?"

"Are...what?" Huo glanced at the lion, then he realized, "You know, for a Felidin you have one pretty damned si-"

"Fah," Tum dismissed him with a wave of his paw.

"What do you want me to do? Talk to her?"

"You? Talk to her? Bow before Oelne, that might make things worse."

Huo gave the lion a hard look, "So what then?"

The lion's amber eyes shifted to the Osu then back into empty space, "Something troubles you too, apparently."

Huo stared back at his almost empty bowl of gruel, "Bad dream last night."

"Dreams eh? Didn't know your kind had dreams."

"Watch it lion," a halfhearted threat as Huo wiped his mouth clean.

"I dreamt I was outside of a tavern that was marked by this creature, white in color, with the head of a woman, the body of a lion, and large wings like that of a bird."

Huo sat and wondered, while the lion was already on his feet, he stopped listening a long time ago. It was better that way, this was his dream not Tum's, and he knew Tum was no dreamreader to understand.

"Weird kind have weird dreams. Did you drink last night?"

"No?"

Huo could not determine its significance and would not attribute it to a bad drink, but Tum interrupted, "Come then, I'm thirsty. I'll buy you a drink. There's a place called 'The Luckless Maiden'."

"I need to speak with Dhaxi first on those things. He probably wants his handlers and one or two of Phrina's guards on me."

"Go ahead, I'll be waiting."

"And what about you? What's your master gonna say about this?"

"Bah," the lion beat his chest with a fist, "I'll take the heat for it later, though I'll doubt Kail will care. Who knows?"