Snippet #2669053

Huo careened against one of the walls in a dark passageway of the colosseum. He held part of Tumhathil's weight as the ale finally made the fool of a lion.

The lion may have said something, but Huo rolled his eyes as though the words meant nothing other than gibberish. In fact, the lion spout nothing but gibberish the entire walk back, first when he started to stumble and then when he collasped just as a wagon rumbled by. They passed by several insulas before they reached the braziers of the Colosseum. When they arrived, Huo noticed Imperial soldiers cordoning off an entrance.

They slipped through another smaller entry, less crowded and not quite known to many.

"Alright old man, easy there," Huo tried to control their pace.

Carrying the lion seemed like a two person job. Kail's ward seemed so far away, or maybe Huo finally felt the effects of the ale himself.

When they reached the cells, Huo could smell a musk odor from within. Darkness shrouded the ward, dankness filled it. It needed more torches, as did any of the other gladiator cells. A single brazier lit the empty and quiet cell block. Most of the fighters slept, preparing for tomorrow. The flames glinted off the rusted metalwork bars.

He heard the dulled echoes of the colosseum crowd. The sound of a leak dripping without cessation pervaded moreso in this corner of the gargantuan labyrinth, though. He watched as it formed a small gloomy puddle in a pointless corner of the ward. The water came from the floor above perhaps from one of the baths. The ceiling tiles needed some repairs, otherwise this floor might end up flooded eventually.

Huo set the lion down against a wall outside of a cell, he peered in to see an elf woman sleeping inside through the commotion. She seemed to be dreaming. Even slaves dreamt. Huo sat himself down on the opposite wall and heaved several quiet sighs until his heart settled. He kept his voice low as he spoke to the lion, unsure if Tum still resided in a state of drunkeness.

"I need to go. I...I just..," he never had eloquence, "I can't get those visions out of my head. That woman, I saw her nearly everywhere today, I might have seen her when we came to that tavern."

The lion murmured, half snored, and then spoke, "Who? Go? Where you going? Bring back some jerky for me."

"I don't think where I'm going will have jerky."

"I remember a place full of sand as far as the eye could see..." the lion cleared his throat, Huo considered whether or not he was drunk.

The Osu looked at his hand and he could feel it burning. He drew some of the flame from the nearby brazier until the ember danced in his hand on its own, fueled by the flow or else it would die. His face glowed bronze as it flickered.

"Where do you think you're going? This is the life for people like us boy. The only way out is to fight your way out," the lion chuckled.

Huo dispersed of the flame and looked at the lion who sat there with eyes shut.

"I don't even remember what my mother's face looks like," Tum said.

Huo considered the lion's words for a moment. He watched the lion exhale. An echo of voices came along the corridor. Was that Zilindar Kail? Sounded like him. Shit.

I need to get out of here, Huo thought. He got up, but stumbled. Damn that ale. He shook his head to clear the drowsiness. Time to leave, he looked back at the lion. It might not be the last time he would ever see the lion. Or it was. Ale was not a bad way to say goodbye to a friend.

-

"Where is the boy?" Dhaxi asked one of his servants.

He sat in his personal balcony overlooking the stands below. Normally, all fights happened early in the day, but this was a special occasion.

"We followed them as far as we could into the city. They arrived at the tavern and apparently, one of them got into a fist fight with some Imperial soldiers."

"Is that why they are outside? Because the boy committed a crime?"

"He didn't commit any crime, milord."

"Assault on an imperial soldier, may as well be one."

The servant remained silent, waiting for an approaching order.

Dhaxi spoke in uncharacteristic fashion, "Let him go, he won't get far, he just needs to stay away long enough for the heat to die down. I want someone on him, preferably someone skilled who can bring him back when the time comes. Can you find one?"

"I think I can."

-

Moments later, Huo stood in the near empty armory. Almost all of the staff went off to enjoy the final fight. It had not even started, and the crowd seemed in a frenzy. Just the appearance of the so-called Dragoneater could make a man piss his pants silly. The name came from a one sided bout. An old bushy browed weaponsmaster, the same one he had delivered his equipment to in the morning, appeared from the interior.

"You have it?"

"Yeh lad, what d'ye need it fer this hour o' the night?" the weaponsmaster handed him his gauntlets, iron cuirass, and boots, "I can't give ye yer weapons, madame's policy."

Huo began strapping on his equipment and nodded to the old man, "I understand."

"Yer nut set to fight tonight. Th' last one's 'bout teh start. Ye gwan..."

Huo had already disappeared down the corridor.

-

"We are in the middle of a fight. Can this not wait until all have left?" Phrina pleaded with the Lieutenant Farnham.

"Sire," one of Farnham's corporals spoke, "This colosseum is too large for all of us to search before night's end."

"We only need to find dark elves," Farnham turned to Phrina,"On the contrary, madame, when this place becomes choked with the crowds, we may have an even harder time identifying this thief."

Phrina folded her arms, unsure of what to do next. She felt grateful that they had not asked her about her taxes, they were not tax collectors. Thank goodness. Yet, having all of this steel clanging in the halls outside made her uneasy.

"Wait, there was incident earlier today of a Duuthesh having beaten down a number of gladiators," she tried to connect the dots to make it somewhat believable to herself, "It's possible that he came to break the girl out."

"This happened earlier today? And then what? Where is he?"

Phrina paused before she propped up an excuse, "Well, at first we thought he was merely an independent, upstart challenger seeking to prove himself, so we let him be."

The lieutenant crossed his arms, "So you let him go."

The colosseum owner breathed a sigh through her nostrils that spoke it all.

Lieutenant Gabeil and his men arrived.

"Gabeil. I need you to round up any Duuthesh present in the Colosseum. And where the hell is Miss Capet?"