Grand Coliseum

Sylvani's Post

Sylvani was either a very good mother… or a piss poor one. She watched as Erryn fed the dragon, darted around everyone and nearly went through the cage bars until the Brute grabbed onto the boy’s shirt and pulled him back with a growl, deposited him back by his mother and sat next to him. Sylvani reached down and petted the top of the dog’s head, silently thanking him for watching the dog as she listened to the others talk. At least there she was able to speak her mind plainly without worry that she’d hurt someone’s delicate feelings or just piss someone off. Instead, her hands kept wandering over Gambrill as she started to pull her magic from where she kept it locked away and allowed some of it to heat her hands. The color that her magic showed was a pale blue and would cool instead of heat as she started to direct the flow of magic towards where she felt Gambrill needed it the most, be it his mind to soothe any mental pain or to where the chains could be rubbing raw. She smiled slightly, though it quickly faded as she kept concentrating. “Kelyren needs to get his head adjusted before he’s killed and dragged off through the streets becomes he’s incompetent. Being a healer is only slightly more safe than being a gladiator, but…maybe standing out in the stands will teach him,” she said in a huff.

She watched as Pandora applied the herbs and she nodded. Time and again, the older woman was showing her aptitude for her craft, which only allowed the Aubade female to feel a bit better about trusting her with the gladiators. “At least you’re proving yourself,” she said to the woman as she moved and stepped over Gambrill’s tail, having to reposition herself and find a new spot to work as Erryn followed her. She shot a dark glare at Jacob. “Don’t you tell me that he just needs ‘time to adjust’, be careful, Jacob, you’re going to start getting the reputation of being soft and who knows, you might become Gambrill’s snack,” she said to him, knowing that trainers had to be just as hard as anyone else that made their living by the will of the King. She had interrupted Pandora to talk to Jacob and turned back to the woman with an uncharacteristic huff. “I am sorry Pandora, I didn’t mean to interrupt you,” she said as the magic kept moving from her in small amounts as she waited for Gambrill to tell her that he had enough. “If you think that you can hide the spots, I would appreciate it more than you know. It’s hard trying to convince him to keep the hood up when we’re out in public and all he wants to do is talk…” she said as Erryn proved her words true as he kept trying to get Jacob’s attention, asking to be picked up so he could see out of the hole. “Jacob,” she said, “please don’t let him watch. The last time he saw a fight, he had nightmares,” she called over. Desensitized, she truly was that. Death still hurt her, but she learned to move on. It was all that one could do. “Fine, I’ll give the boy a chance,” she said begrudgingly, “but I hold firm. He is not allowed near my son. I’ll castrate him if I find him even looking at him wrong,” she promised and her words were heavy with promise.

She worked her magic into a touch spot by one of the chains, wishing that she could corrode them and set Gambrill free, at least one of her friends would leave the arena alive by then. She’d do anything to set her friends free. “Give me a reason to smile, Gambrill,” she requested of him. “Give me a reason to dream and I can easily tell you how that would become my nightmare.”

--//--//--//--Cutlass’ Post

Being reassured that he wouldn’t be eaten by a dragon wasn’t quite enough for the centaur. The gates opened and he stepped out and onto the firm ground. He sneezed, sensing magic and looked skyward, a bit hard for him to do as he turned his head to the side to see a bit better. That wouldn’t work. He grumbled and gave up. He heard that they would be fighting minotaurs and he shrugged. Minotaurs, Centaurs… some sort of ‘taurs. While he wouldn’t be conversing over tea with those liminal creatures, he’d just move along as best as he was able. If he was stuck fighting them…well…he’d figure that out when he got there. He watched as Dara took the lead and while he looked towards the right and sneezed again, he turned to follow the path that the other set. He was nearly as bad as a unicorn, always following women. “What? No ball of twine?” he asked sarcastically. “Then again, there was no beautiful woman for Dara to seduce, promise marriage and be the cause of her eventual death or suicide. I’ve always been a bit fuzzy on my history,” he said. More and more his ire was raised and the complacent ‘horse’ that he was trained to be was fading under the true manner in which Cutlass acted.

He wheeled around before he completely entered the maze and shot a challenging glare to the crowd. “You know, this would be so much more fun if I was given back my bridle,” he taunted, not caring if anyone could hear him. He scuffed at the ground with one hoof, marking the ground before he trotted in after the rest of the team. He watched as Bliss tried to comfort Anvain, Dara moving ahead, Sean ambling along, the female-elf who he really had to learn the name of, kept walking along as well. He moved slowly, touching his hoof down carefully before he kept along. Being surrounded by walls was not his idea of a good time, and armed with worthless swords of dubious quality, probably bound to break on impact, was not helping his already sour mood. He heard a roar to his right and he sighed. Unlike humans that could look down and still walk, he was stuck always having to keep his head raised and looking ahead. He had no choice but to look fear in the eye as he moved forward.

He listened to Bliss talk about her dream, but most of it sounded like nonsense and he quickly tuned it out. He envisioned the path that they had been following and took his sword, scratched out a strange design and kept walking. Periodically, he’d stop and do that before he’d keep going. “Labyrinths aren’t traditional mazes,” he said finally. “The King can’t be that intelligent if he got the two confused. Sure, some think that mazes are the same as labyrinths, but a maze has paths and branches to take. A reflection, perhaps, of mankind’s freewill in the face of destiny. He may think that he’s choosing his path, but in fact, it all leads him to the same bitter end. He fights against it. Runs into every corner, wall, or pathway. He thinks that he’s doing something new and unique, but at the end… it’s a piss-poor copy of a life already led and at the end, the Gods still win. Now, a labyrinth isn’t a puzzle or a maze. Not if this is a traditional labyrinth. A labyrinth, no matter the twists or turns, the amount of backward circles that makes you think that you’ve been walking for miles… it all leads to one place. The center. The only way out…” he scratched out another design. “Is to make sure you don’t get eaten by whatever is inside the labyrinth.”

He paused again, something was pricking at the back of his mind. A large group was a stupid idea. It meant easy prey, getting trapped. “If a maze is humans manifestation of free will in the face of a certain end, then a labyrinth has got to be a human understanding that nothing in life matters. That every twist, turn and bend in the road will not lead to a different ending. It will do nothing but bring one to the center, to death…and the only way to escape the labyrinth is to be reborn.”

Cutlass reflected on that as he watched the others move ahead. He didn’t like where they were heading, didn’t like it at all. A maze meant one exit, possibly heavily guarded by the liminal creatures. Death at the end. A labyrinth meant death in the center. He wanted to herd the minotaurs, force them to grow tired and pick them off. He didn’t want to walk blindly into a trap. They had females in the team and he remembered the tales that his mother would tell him of their myth. There was a path that moved right. He looked towards the rest of the group, settled on the skittish woman before he turned and left them. He was worthless to them standing in the back. He could sense an attack but he couldn't back up if he had to. He was better going off alone.

JACOB

Jacob raised an eyebrow at Sylvani and met her glare "You asked my opinion and I told you he hasn't gotten a chance to show himself. If he was one of my gladiators I would make him prove himself as soon as I could by putting him up against something blood thirsty just like I did to all of my gladiators when they arrived. Don't mistake the fact that I dont tell you how to run the healers for softness on my behalf, you damn well know I would have died by now if I was soft." He said in a calm tone. "I respect and trust you enough to deal with the healers to not crack down on them to, I trust that you will know how to handle them. As for Gambrill" Jacob smiled a bit "well if he ate me then I would be damn sure to do best to give him the worst case of indigestion hes ever had" he said half jokingly. When Sylvani started talking to Pandora again Jacob looked back out the window until something started pulling at his pants leg. He looked down to see Erryn asking to see out the hole. Jacob nodded at Sylvani's order, and listened to her saying that she would give the young healer a chance and her deadly promise. Jacob nodded his head in acceptance of Sylvani's words. He knew she would come through on every word of her promise and he didn't blame her, he at one point had loved ones he would have done anything to protect to. If she did something to the young healer then he would deserve it and Jacob would not interfere. He looked down and patted Erryn on his head "Don't worry child there is nothing for you to see out there. Now run along to your mother" he whispered to the child so Sylvani would not hear "I believe she needs a hug." he said as he stood up and looked back out the hole "and a reminder of why she needs to continue on dreaming of a better future" he mumbled to himself.
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GIDEON

Gideon smiled his charming smile at the bold young healer "Oh you would like to know a little about me.... sure why not, I guess I should tell my business partners a bit more about myself. Now what should I tell you" He thought for a second still holding the wand a Kelyren. "Well my names Gideon, you dont really need a last name so dont worry about it. I like sweet food, and despise people who stall. You have a name and know what I look like so I believe you know more than enough about me" He said losing the grin that had so far been plastered to his face. "I am wanting you to give this to one of the gladiators after the fight is over" he said setting a small green vial next to Kelyren. The crowd started roaring for some reason or another and Gideon had to wait until the quieted down for one reason or another before he continued in a whisper loud enough to be heard only by him an the healer "It is an amazingly potent poison, you dont even have to drink it just rub a bit in one of their wounds and the poison will take care of the rest. You will be paid 1000 gold for each gladiator after their deaths are confirmed... so what do you say friend?"
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ARENA

As Cutlass separated from the other gladiators a loud rumbling could be heard a split second before a large wall shot up separating him from the other gladiators. Not a second later a second wall shot up behind the other gladiators moving forward herding them along down their chosen path way with no paths to the left or right. A large pool 7x7 of some bubbling substance appeared in front of them about 40 yards down the way with a right turn 10 yards past the pool. With the speed the wall was moving they would have to either jump the pool or fall in within the next 10 seconds. On Cutlass's side of the wall there was the loud roar of a minotaur, it sounded as if it was getting closer to him though with the echo of the walls there was no sure way to know. He had the choice of taking a left turn a bit down the way or heading straight until he found a right turn about 50 yards further down.
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KING
Dimitri laughed as the centaur broke off from the ground and then became permanently separated. This was turning out better than he had hoped... right now was just the right time to introduce his other little surprise. He stood up and tapped the arena master on the shoulder. The master turned around and stuttered a greeting "S-s-s-sir you need something?" The Dimitri smiled at him his eyes turning white "Yes I would like to speak to the crowd again" He said in an almost relaxed tone of voice. "Yes sir right away sir" the arena master said as he started waving his hands. After he was done casting his spell he looked at the king "They can hear you now sir."
"Perfect" purred the king as he stepped up to the balcony. "My subjects" his sultry voice boomed throughout the arena "I have one more surprise to give you... It is something of a last minuet gift to you that I happened to remember I had." He waved his hands to some guards down near the arena floor. They started pulling at a crank moving the large stone door to another cage. "This" the king spoke again "is a warrior who dared to try and assassinate me with a few weak solders and ragged weapons. He has been thoroughly punished, and through my grace and benevolence he has received the chance to redeem himself in the arena." The crowd cheered and praised the king for a few moments until he raised a hand to silence them "So come out my slave and redeem yourself." he boomed as the door to the cage finally opened. From his cage the gladiator would have the same choice as the others, left or right.

At Jacob’s description of him being an overgrown cat with scales, Gambrill snorted loudly as if offended, his face contorting into some sort of a pout before he settled back down to partially focus on Sylvani’s healing touch. “Well, I do hope you’re correct and they are taking the left path. That is the way less saturated with traps; of course either path you take will lead you to the center arena which holds a nasty surprise for our friends.” Without the guards around, Gambrill could now speak freely on the matter of the match at hand. Of course there was always the chance of some unknown ear eavesdropping from somewhere and ratting him out but at the moment such a faraway threat didn’t concern him. “Two of the minotaurs will roam freely through the maze and it is as good as your guess as it is mine when, where and if they will run into them. If they survive the trials of the maze itself they will then find themselves locked in the center arena with their final opponent, this particular minotaur will have been prodded and beaten through most of the match to assure that it is in a blood rage when the gladiators reach him. A very difficult opponent.” Flexing his wings as much as the tight restraints would allow, he felt a sort of sympathy for the creatures going against his newfound friends in the pit that perhaps others wouldn’t understand. They were great beasts of the arena just as he was, only there to draw more crowds when they were thrown out to do battle again and again. Although they weren’t particularly bright creatures, one of them was at least intelligent enough to hold simple conversation and knew who to be rightfully angry with at his predicament where his brothers were merely angry with any and all who dare so crossed their line of sight. Lingering on these thoughts to long would do no good though so he brought his eyes toward Pandora when she addressed him.

Now that he took the time to take in details of the new healer he could see she was an older female, by her species standards she was older at least, but still beautiful. The fact she had offered to help keep Erryn’s identity a secret already sealed her place in his mind so her assurance that he could trust her drew a deep chuckle from his chest as his eyes only momentarily flicked from her to watch Erryn run to Jacob before coming back and resting on her once more. “Although I enjoy compliments as much as the next, you do not have to be so formal with me. We are all friends here.” As she approached with a knife to begin her work, he turned his attention once more to Jacob. “Did you hear her Jacob? I am noble and mighty, you might want to take note of that.” Smiling in his toothy way towards the man, his exchange with him kept the pain from the shifting of scales away and left Gambrill with only the feeling of the woman’s soothing touch as she massaged the salve into the sore spot. Sighing out a great gust of air he then looked towards Sylvani, his head was jerked to the side a bit by his chains as he tried to turn and fully look at her. “That is enough my dear, wouldn’t want to drain you dry before you even tend to your team.” Grinning at her, he wanted to give her a reason to be happy and to smile as she had requested but he knew that with every ray of hope he pointed out, a way that it could be manipulated, a reason to worry about it would be given right back to him to he merely kept quiet and hoped his friend would one day gain true happiness. It was one of the few thoughts that kept him in such high spirits while he himself rarely saw the light of day for he knew he would never be free so his hope stuck with his friends and the possibility that they might one day step outside this arena as free beings.

Pandora’s work was quick and efficient; she seemed to know her way around his large scaly body as if she had experience with dragons. He wondered if perhaps he wasn’t as alone in regards to his species as he thought so when she was done and had finished explaining her herbs he had to ask. “Thank you very much Pandora but might I ask if you’ve ever worked on a dragon before? I only ask because most, excluding Sylvani of course, don’t even know how to shift my scales away from a wound to treat it but you were able to do so with the flick of a knife.” His eyes were curious now as he waited for an answer, seeming to ignore the great bellows, cheers and sounds of shifting stone that emitted from the arena. He knew that Jacob would inform them of anything drastic that happened in the fight so was content to carry on conversation while everyone worried silently for their friends.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Gideon," Kelyren replied. "I like sweets too, but then again... who doesn't?"

He quieted at the sight of the green vial. Here it was at last... The foul play that he had heard about. He was almost certain that it was poison, and the mere thought of poisoning a wounded, defenseless man or woman made him feel sick. Even though he had not been given a choice, his job was to heal the injured, not kill them.

The roar of the crowd barely registered in his mind as he weighed the possibilities. Kelyren stared at the vial, barely managing to keep disgust out of his facial expression. He half-suspected that Gideon would attack him if he declined the offer. If he accepted it, he was pretty sure that Gideon had associates who would make sure that he carried out the task. Neither choice seemed to be favorable.

"Well, I've listened to your offer, and I've taken some time to consider it," he said mildly, choosing his words as carefully as he could. "It does sound tempting, and that's a hefty sum of money involved. However, I've made a promise to a dear friend of mine, and accepting this task from you would shatter it into a million tiny pieces. I'm sorry, but I don't think a thousand gold coins could convince me to break the promise I made to her." He bowed his head politely, though he did not break eye contact with Gideon or make any move to leave.

The draconic man had kept glancing behind them, naively blind to Cutlass’s position for the majority of that time and more focused on not being caught by surprise ironically. He listened to the centaur’s oddly existential relation of the labyrinth to life, Dara took his speaking as a sign he was still with them and didn’t bother turning around to check if it remained that way. In response he spoke without looking, “I can hardly believe this place is some sort of allegory for actual life, it’s the design of sadistic mortal man, not a god. Maybe the gods have some sort of say in our lives but I’m certain a day will come when Blackwell won’t. Life has a lot less walls than you thi- Cutlass?” It would never be known if any of his words had reached the somber centaur, for events played into motion that pitted himself and the rest of his comrades against immediate odds.

The immediate layout spontaneously changed, and a wall separated them from Cutlass. To make matters worse, a ways down appeared some sort of viscous fluid that had reeking fumes detectable from their position. In addition to this series of unfortunate events, Blackwell threw in a wild card, another gladiator whom apparently tried to end his reign. Though Dara would have given the man a medal, now wasn’t the time to be enamored. His mind processed the following; Already lost one of my men, check. Have steel wall pushing me and the rest of my team into a puddle of no doubt agonizing pain, check. Have a gladiator whom I have no idea will be on our side even if we survive the next few seconds, check. Less then five minutes into our first fight and I’ve already gotten everyone virtually screwed. How can this possibly get any-wait, no, I’m not falling for that again.

The only option was the obvious, which he relayed to his teammates, “Break formation! Make the maddest dash of your life and leap!” In more irony that was nearly the opposite of his “plan” which called for them to move relatively stealthily and slowly. So far it was a great first day in the coliseum for Dara. All he needed now was to make it across the Pool of Unpleasantness only to be impaled by a rabid unicorn. That would just about make his day.

~Anvain~

Anvain stiffened when she was embraced by the over eager Bliss. In forest elf society, hugging and other displays of emotion are considered things to be done in private only. Luckily for Bliss, Anvain had always been different than the other forest elves; often having outbursts at odd moments. Once she gently returned the gesture Anvain felt her spirits lift. There was at least one person on the team that did not look down upon her.

While the group carefully entered the maze Bliss began speaking of her very odd dream the previous night. Bliss used many words Anvain had never heard before, making the young elf think Bliss was mentally damaged from the many fights she had been through. As Bliss finished her story, Cutlass began to speaking. He informed the group that they were not in a maze but in a labyrinth, the distinction between the two was mostly lost on Anvain it seemed to be one more mystery of this cruel land. She sympathized with Cutlass, in this place it was a wonder the others could continue fighting day after day.

Suddenly a stone wall sprung out of the ground cutting Cutlass off from the group. Then another wall appeared and began herding the remaining gladiators into a boiling pit of acid. It seemed there was a choice of jump across or die, but Anvain’s immediate instinct was to climb the tallest tree in the vicinity till the danger passed. As there were no trees available, Anvain set her sights on the rapidly approaching wall, she took off at a full run placing one foot against the wall she grabbed the top and quickly hauled herself up.

The second wall proved to be more of a challenge, Anvain would have to jump from a standstill while she was traveling backwards on the first wall and there was the hidden sword to think of. Using every muscle to leap Anvain just barely cleared the wall and she would have been safe had Cutlass not been standing right underneath the end of her leap. Not wanting to hurt the centaur Anvain twisted in midair managing to land just to the left of him. A smile graced her face; she still had her forest skills.

When Anvain stood to address Cutlass a bolt of pain shot up her leg, causing her to groan inwardly. In this labyrinth a simple sprained ankle could be the end of a gladiator, hoping Cutlass had not noticed her wince she inquired if he had a plan for moving forward. The young elf was glad to be in the company of Cutlass and she would prove her value as a fighter to the handsome Centaur.

~Leilatha~

Leilatha was relieved to see Bliss taking an interest in Anvain, leaving her free to focus on protecting the front. Leilatha could not shake the feeling that something would be rounding the corner ahead and attacking them. Being in the front had an advantage, but one of the drawbacks is not being able to hear the conversations going on to the rear. A few bits of Bliss’s dream reached her, only confirming her suspicion that the human was slightly mad.

Cutlass made an excellent point about a labyrinth ending in the middle with a nasty surprise waiting there. Though his tone worried Leilatha, a gladiator without hope quickly falls in battle often taking a few comrades with them. Leilatha did not have any spare hope to lend the centaur, she lived every day with the hope there would be a next sunrise for her. Leilatha’s hope for escape or freedom had long ago been snuffed out.

Suddenly Leilatha’s thoughts were torn away as a wall sliced up from the ground separating the centaur, before anyone had time to react another wall began herding the group to a boiling pit of acid. Leilatha cursed the King for making such a deadly trap, given no other options Leilatha began running towards the pit, flinging her swords ahead she pushed off and sailed over the hungry looking pit. Leilatha began rolling the moment her feet touched the other side, she scooped up her swords and turned back toward her teammates. Her mouth fell open, what in the world was Anvain thinking climbing one of the walls.

OOC since i believe we only got one vote on what to do with Sean i am going to kill him off. Demon hasn't dropped him for anybody so there really isn't much else we can do either way.

JACOB

"Dammit!" Jacob yelled and turned around from the peep hole. "The gladiators have been separated,and.... we lost Sean." He said to the group in the cage. "The Centaur... Cutlass I believe separated from the group the second before a trap sprang putting two walls between him and the rest of the group. Anvain somehow managed to scale the wall and join Cutlass. After the walls separated them a pit of acid appeared that the gladiators had to jump over. Most are ok but Bliss seems to have some burns form the acid on her leg, and Sean.... he couldn't make the jump." Jacob punched the wall with a resounding crack bruising his knuckles in the process. He shook his hand and turned back to the peep hole. "Damn that bastard king for deciding to be "creative" for this fights event" Jacob said with his voice dripping sarcasm. He turned back to the peep hole only to notice the gladiators were being cornered by a minotaur and something else that stray that the king had picked up. He turned back to the healers and dragon "Dara, Bliss, and Leliatha have met the first minotaur, and Cutlass and Anvain are about the encounter that Niall fellow the king let loose... that is if he takes the right turn." Jacob shook his head in frustration. "This whole match is a damn mess". Jacob had lost gladiators before and he was used to it. More than likely he would lose this team and go on to another just like Sylvani did so often, but it still pissed Jacob off every time one of his gladiators died.
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Arena

Seans death cry could be heard behind the gladiators as the acid broke him down killing within seconds. Almost as if in response to his cry's of pain the gladiators could hear the crowd cheer in an almost lustful joy at first blood. Suddenly the crowd went silent in anticipation of something.Ahead of the group of gladiators that had just jumped the pit of acid there was a right turn for them to take. At least after they pass their next obstacle. Turning out of the right side passage was a minotaur. Its nostrils flared at the scent of blood and it roared at the gladiators as it flung its head from left to right. After looking at the gladiators for another moment it charged with its head down aiming for the obvious choice, the injured female, wanting to impale of gore her with his horns. His plan was to simply mow down the other gladiators in his way to get to her. They all looked too puny to stop him for he was a mighty warrior of his clan, and after he was finished with the wounded woman and the man he would take the female elf back with him for his own personal pleasure.

As Niall traveled down the left passage he wold be able to hear the roar of the minotaur as one found the gladiators. Down the path way there was a left and a right turn. If he listened carefully he could hear the sound of hooves down the right side passage and down the left there was silence choosing the right one could change his fate to a favorable one. With Cutlass and Anvain there was a straight passage with a right turn first and 10 yards further down the passage there was a left. If they were to listen very carefully when the crowd became silent they would hear foot steps down the right side passage.



The minotaur is a large beast standing around 8 feet tall and weighing 500 pounds. This race of creature in generally not very intelligent it can still comprehend general battle tactics. Normally their main battle tactic is to charge at enemies using their great size to trample over their enemies, and if that doesn't work then they generally tend to try and smash their victims whatever way they can. They have been known to use weapons, generally great axes, though This one in particular does not have a weapon on it.
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GIDEON

Gideon sighed at the healers response, he hated the difficult ones. As he flipped a lock of blonde hair out of his face he looked at the healer "Well then my friend" He said without his usual smile "I am going to need you to get up and exit the stands to your left please. I have a few associates that will educate you in proper business ethics of the arena... you know to help you understand what your passing up ." he pressed the wand tip deeper into the healers back to emphasize his point as he grabbed the vial of poison and slipped it back into his robe. "You may be surprised what money can do for you, and of course who knows. With a little incentive you may even do the job for free out of the charity of your heart." Gideon laughed at his own joke before pasting his usual suave grin on his face. "Well I believe the negotiations are done for now, lets get moving shall we?"
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Well... looks like he's a lying, two-faced, schemeing, no-good, rotten snake-in-the-grass after all, Kelyren thought grimly. Should have known he wouldn't leave me alone.

He glanced around, looking for a way out of this predicament. The spectators were caught up in the fight, and there was a good chance he wouldn't be heard if he called for help. Meeting Gideon's associates was completely out of the question. They'd probably beat him up until he caved in and accepted the deal, or kill him outright.

For a moment he considered leaping down into the arena, but he guessed that the fall would leave him an easy target for the beasts and gladiators down there. He also doubted that the fight would be stopped if he "fell" in, he would probably be added to the list of things to be slaughtered. To make matters worse, he estimated that the distance from the stands to the arena floor was enough to cause some not-so-minor injuries. If he landed wrong, it might mean breaking something important, and he wasn't going to take that chance just yet.

Maybe I can run, he decided. If I make it into a crowded area, I could probably lose myself in the stands, and he wouldn't be able to shoot his wand without running the risk of hitting a spectator. It's me he wants, not them.

Kelyren did not waste time on replying with a witty comeback or a snappy retort. He simply broke into a run, charging towards the most crowded part of the stands he could find, his heart pounding in his chest. At the first opportunity, he crouched lower, trying to dodge and weave back and forth as much as he could in case Gideon was shooting spells at his back.

He leapt mightily across the pool of death, his breath sunken in as his mind raced absorbing all of the information his senses told him. For a small moment however it was not a pool of acid below him but a dark expanse, and around him were smoldering tapestries that gave the palace walkway an aggravated glow. For a small moment he was back there leaping across the broken walkway in their attempt to escape, for on the other side was a man who more than obviously resembled Dara’s own likeness with his hand extended to reach him. Dara’s younger arm did the same in his leap, the shout of his father ringing in his ears, “Grab me!”

His foot caught the edge of the arena floor, no longer in that crumbling walkway but back in now. Dara stumbled a bit as he rolled into the wall, but otherwise unharmed. He looked back to the pool to see who didn’t make it across yet, but to his dismay he witnessed two things that should not have happened. Anvain ignored the notion he was trying to instill within his comrades of moving together and scaled the walls without as so much as even trying to explain why! Sure, perhaps she did have a good reason for doing so, but if she could have done that the entire time you would have thought she would bothered to mention that, in addition that ability would have proven useful in surveying the enemy. The other occurrence was a tragedy, when Dara’s ears were split by a blood curdling wail of agony; he turned just in time to see the misshapen form that was once Sean’s face dissolve into nothing.

The draconic man was on his knees now still trying to comprehend what just happened. It played out in his mind over and over but the true gravity of it was simply unreachable at the moment. After a small while it was summed up into two words in his mind, I failed. He should have anticipated this, tried to prevent it, prepare for it, he failed as the leader he tried to make himself out to be and protect his comrades. They were now scattered, broken and worst of all he lost one.

He heard some whimpering behind him, and saw the Bliss was attending to an acid burn wound, another bright spot to add to their list of good fortune, now one of his remaining team members was debilitated. She urged them to continue on not even bothering to bring attention to her wound. Dara’s “plan” was to keep their numbers strong and even, but Bliss’s condition most made certainly fighting the beasts within the arena all the more difficult with out her full maneuverability. The only completely able body at his side now was Leilatha, and he knew that half the time they would be spending their energy covering Bliss when her new limitations presented themselves.

Clip-clop. Clip-clop. Clip-clop. Clip-clop.

Again a most unpleasant sound emanated from behind him, though this time he did not need to adjust his vision to know what it was as the beast announced itself in a bellow. Dara adjusted his body slowly to face it, somehow hoping that where his vision met it would not be what was the worst possible outcome of this moment, though he could not say there was much expectation in his inevitable disappointment. Its nostrils flared at them as it sized them up, Dara could see its gaze fixate on Bliss and he knew immediately what its target was, then it charged.

No, his mind proclaimed to itself in the most resound and firm tone possible. Too many things had gone wrong in his lifetime, too many times when all he could do was watch and let it happen, too many of his comrades had already been lost and he could do nothing. Not this time, this time fate would not take what was his, this time he would not let horror and loss come to pass, this time he was to look destiny in the eye and rip its fucking throat out! He unsheathed his pitiful weapons, but that mattered not to him now, be they cheap iron or perfected steel, the draconic man roared back at minotaur and charged himself, and perhaps this was in direct contradiction to what he tried to tell Sean the previous day, but at least in honor of him he would not shy away, not when he was backed into a corner. The only way out was through that beast.

Though it wasn’t as if he thought simply coming at it would solve his problems, he knew he wouldn’t be able to fell such a massive creature with his strength, which is why his plan wasn’t to run it through, but something with a little more finesse. As soon as it was in range, Dara took a risky move and spat fire in its face, he knew however that the blast wasn’t nearly enough to kill it or even ignite the rest of it body, but in the least it would come as a complete surprise and debilitate it, just as Bliss was debilitated. Dara was still charging, but side stepped in time to avoid colliding with the creature, but not before he attempted to apply what he assumed was Gambrills advise and strike at the minotaur’s hind leg. His blade did bite into it but not deeply, only the epidermal tissue was harmed.

The minotaur was still charging at his remaining comrades, though perhaps with compromised vision, when Dara had passed him the draconic man turned heel in pursuit as soon as inertia allowed him too. It was his hope that the beast’s composure was compromised to the point to where his comrades would be able to take him on safely, “safely” being an extremely relative term at this point.

Written in collaboration with LadyoftheLand, with her permission and input. Cutlass and Niall’s post

The Centaur had no intention of moving. If I stay here, barring anymore shifts to the landscape, I can either run with I see a minotaur, or I can stay here until I can figure out the correct path. All roads lead to the center… he mused. All roads lead to the center so regardless what path I take, eventually I will get there. Not that it guarantees me any sort of freedom, but the sooner this fight is over the sooner I can find something to itch the scratch between where the man meets the horse, he thought irritably. He tried flicking his coat, but while the horse part rippled and shifted, the part where the man was remained itchy.

He saw a blur of motion to his left and he darted forward before instinct faded and he was able to back up and barely managed to turn around. He saw the slender female elf, Anvain, standing. His sharp eyes, used to catching weakness, saw through her façade. He bared his teeth as he trotted back up to her. “Epona…” he said before he shook his head. “What do you think you’re doing?” he asked, clearly referring to her. He stayed a distance away so that he could see her properly. “This is not time to be…jumping,” he said though there was a dark humor in his voice, a touch of respect for the female elf. “Next time you feel like being a jumper, please consider dropping down, grabbing the wall with your hands to stop your sudden descent and then falling,” he said before he stopped. His head raised and his eyes narrowed as his sharp ears caught something. He sighed deeply before he lowered his head. “One has died,” he said, though he didn’t elaborate on how he knew it. The shrieks of the crowd just grew louder.

He looked at the female again and studied her hard. “When I get ready to move, I am going to run. If you cannot keep up, you’d best tell me now because I cannot look over my shoulder to see you. If you’re behind me, I’m blind in that area. My hearing is sharp but instinct tells me to run forward with my head raised so I can see best…” He quieted again as he lifted his head up. “Something’s different,” he said finally. Something….”

----///----///

Niall braced his hand against the wall and breathed out slowly. His eyes fell closed as he concentrated on trying to feel the vibrations. There was so much that the eyes missed. They concentrated only on what was right in front of them and tended to block out the other senses. His hearing, used to the wild forests of the north, was capable of hearing a fawn’s delicate hoof break a slender autumn branch or the snuffle of a boar as it dug for truffles. He was used to closing his eyes and relying on a sense that wasn’t his eyes. The broad man heard the roar of the crowd and he blocked it out. The crowd would do nothing for him expect prove to be a distraction in this game of a crazy king, where his God seemed to have forsaken him to see just what his follower could do. The roar dulled as he forced it back. He acknowledged that it was there, but he refused to allow it to drive him into a mistake. His eyes opened, determined as he stepped backwards until his back was pressed against the opposing wall. His right heel dug into the ground and he pushed off. He slammed his left foot into the wall, pushed upwards, forcing his right foot up higher as his hands grabbed for the top and pulled himself up. He braced himself on top of the labyrinth.

He stood like the proud Kings of old. The sun shone on his tattooed flesh, his shaven head was held high as he glared around those assembled. Then, the moment faded and he was back into survival mode. He crouched down and with eagle eyes, he scanned the path of the labyrinth, what he could see. The game started to be played in his head. Each twist and turn brought him to the center. The roar of the minotaurs reminded him of his opponents.

There was a crash. The foundation shook and ran up the walls. Knocked off balance, the proud slave slipped to the other side of the wall and crashed heavily. He caught a glimpse of a broad black back. “Drennin?” he gasped, recalling his mount before he fell from the other and fell for what he felt was an impossible distance for slipping off of horse. He hit the ground and in that instant, he remembered that his horse had been slaughtered the same day that he had been captured. He heard a shrill scream that was both the terror from a horse, and the anger from a man as the horse…

Not a horse… Niall thought as the creature wheeled around. Niall quickly back peddled. He had been born to a rich Laird, and the Lairds measured their worth in horses. Beyond that, Lady Yseult, the patron of Horses, had been working on his father’s estate. There was nothing that she didn’t know about horses and had been branching into helping retired centaurs before their world had been destroyed. “Whoa…whoa…” Niall said, keeping his voice low as he stood up. He had to ignore the pain in his groin as he tried to stand tall so that the Centaur could see him. “Easy…Easy…” he said. He stepped to the left, into the Centaur’s realm of sight. He knew that the creature was called a Centaur, but was anything but one. He held the creature with a healthy amount of respect. “Factultas…” he said in shock. They were rare in his country and he thought that they were extinct everywhere else. He wheezed as he leaned against the wall, as his breathe came back slowly. “What have they been feeding you?” he said. “You’re…you could… you make Drennin look like a regular Lady’s mount!”

Cutlass had the sense this time not to shy too far but kept himself between the female and the man that had fallen on him. His left front hoof kicked at the ground in agitation. Things falling on him where not improving his mood. Large, tattooed men that stank like swine and sweat only made him worse. Still, Factultas, the true name of his kind, spoken from the lips of a man that beneath the grime and sweat seemed to resemble the horse people of the north, did something to reassure the other .”Centaur,” he said finally. A name had power and he would rather not have it spread through the crowd that he was called something else that a Centaur. That there could possibly be a difference between the Centaurs of myth and what he was.

“Centaur,” Niall said before he gave a rogue grin. “Niall MacKelter,” he said. His voice holding a trace of the strong northern tone before it faded under a practiced guise.

“Cutlass,” the Centaur responded. He shifted slightly and motioned to the female to the side of him. “An Epona,” he said. Names had power, and he didn’t give them out to just anyone, especially not if the name did not belong to him. Who knew what sort of magic could be pulled for a name that was given out too often. The Superstitious mount felt that it was better to be safe than sorry.

Niall stepped to the side of the creature and ran his hands over the horse back, checking for any injury or soreness without asking for permission. A strong hand when dealing with stallions, be it the Factultas or the regular horses, was the best bet. His eyes flickered over to the small woman and he grinned again. “Hey there,” he said as one hand idly scratched at the spot on Cutlass’ back where the horse melded into the man. “You ready to move?” Niall asked her as he removed his hand. “Let’s get this fight over with before the King throws in a gorgon. Let’s fight that thing blind…”

“Don’t give him ideas,” Cutlass muttered as he braced himself. “Minotaurs are attracted to women and men. Born half man, half beast…” he paused. He was quoting what he had been taught at the hands of his first mistress. “Born of an ungodly union between man and beast, the beast could not gain substance as it should, and the man was not capable of getting substance as a man…so the liminal creature devoured man for substance,” his voice trailed off as he stepped forward. He was heading towards the center of the maze, where he hoped the rest of the team would be. He still stepped carefully, testing his weight so to not set off any pressure weighted traps and his keen hearing was constantly picking up stray sounds that he could quickly perceive as danger or not. “I always wondered why… liminal creatures would never devour the bull or the horse for substance,” he murred as the game continued on.

---lll----

Sylvani’s Post

Sylvani huffed quietly as Jacob reminded her that she was in charge of the healers. Inwardly, she was grateful for that because this was the first time that she was in charge of a group. She was used to healing a team by herself and not training healers beneath her. “I still would like to give him one good kick in the rump,” she grumbled, mainly to make herself feel better than for any sort of input from the rest of her friends. She bent down and picked up her child, hugging him tightly and kissing the top of his head as Pandora spoke with Gambrill, winning his good graces, though it truly wasn’t hard to get onto the dragon’s good side. She reached at to scratch at a spot behind his front leg as he continued to speak.

She listened intently to Pandora. She heard that the woman was good with dragons, seen it with Dara and was seeing it in greater force with Gambrill. All of that was accounted for and stored in the woman’s mind, to be pulled forth in case she needed to pull it out again later. She was trained to retain information while giving very little away. Of course, as she jostled Erryn and smiled gently down at him, it was a bit hard to not give away her biggest secret. With his spots, and his pale coloring, it was clear what his parentage was. “Hm…” she said to Pandora, indicating that she had heard the woman. Tomorrow evening, Gods forbid we don’t have other fight to prepare for, you can come spend the evening in my room and we shall see what we can do for him,” she said. She was tired from healing Gambrill. The Dragon’s spiritual hurts made the healer in the Aubade female ache to heal him, but she could only do things in stages. Even as Erryn nuzzled against her and gently fed her some of his magic to replenish his mother’s, it would never be enough to heal the dragon completely, and the only reason Erryn could give her some of his magic was because they were mother and son, and a mother’s magic was nearly identical to their child’s, until the child grew up and lost his/her innocence.

Sean is dead…

Jacob’s words washed over her and she gripped her child a bit too tightly, enough for him to squirm and protest until she lessened her grip. “So soon…” she said, her voice becoming cold. Inside, she was working through what could have happened in the ring. His death, a loss to the team, was something that she processed internally and did not allow to show on her face. She would mourn for the fallen gladiator and pen his name into her book. Every person on her team that had died, she kept in a book, and the book became volumes of text, all written in a strong hand. Each strike of the pen was another mark against the king.

She moved with Erryn and cleared her throat, indicating to Jacob that she wished to peer outside. If he allowed her, she would not look towards the fight. She would seek out the King, and the cold anger in her heart would boil and threaten to melt the icy mask, revealing the powerful fire within, but she stepped back before she could do that and kept holding onto her son. “Gambrill, Pandora…” she couldn’t smile, any smiling was past. “I am thankful that you are both safe and…”

Erryn squirmed from her hold finally and darted back to Pandora, holding onto her leg. He knew his mother’s shift in mood better than anyone.

Sylvani looked at her child, the reason why she fought, before she looked back to the pair. “and…I hope that this fight will soon be over so I can…” she amended quickly, “we can heal the gladiators and work past the loss of Sean.” Her back was turned to Jacob. There was nothing she could say to him that would help him, and there was nothing he could say to her that would allow her to expose the anger and pain she felt at losing another. “There is another gladiator in the field,” she said as she worked through what she could. “Pandora, if you could take charge of: Dara, Leilatha, and Cutlass… I will care for this new gladiator, Anvain and Bliss. Kelyren…” she tried to temper her voice. “Will learn at our sides until I deem him ready to heal on his own.”

When Pandora revealed she had worked on dragons before he couldn't help the smile that came across his rough features. So that meant there were others of his kind left in the world? He was ashamed to say he knew very little about his own kind, the culture that went with them, the bonds they were able to form, he only knew he hadn't seen another like him in all his time of traveling from arena to arena, battlefield to battlefield and sideshow to sideshow.

Rumbling softly, he closed his eyes and enjoyed her caresses while he listened closely to her. It seemed she wanted to tell him more about his kind, at least that's what he pulled from her statment of wishing to speak with him further on her knowledge of dragons which he would be eternally grateful for. "You may come to me anytime you wish to speak Pandora." His voice grumbled out while he kept his eyes closed as she continued to pet him, only when he asked him questions about himself did he open his eyes and look to her and chuckle. "I haven't been asked that in so long, let me think for a moment. Hm, ah, three-hundred is my age I'm sure of it and as for how long I've been here it's been thiry-five years. That isn't very long at all if you consider my age." He grinned towards her and shifted his mass about to get into a more comfortable position, an action that those who knew him well would know he was gearing up to tell a story, a favorit past time of his. "You see before this, I was actually used in a war far from here and-" Stopping his sentence short at the sharp cry from the arena, Gambrill knew what had happened before Jacob had even told them.

The calls of the beasts, the cry of pain, he could pick them all out with his keen hearing and he ignored them in favor of not worrying but when the large human's death cry had hit his ears it stopped him short. It was so early in the match and they already had lost one, that is how it happened though. No matter what you think or how long your fighters should last, they were always taken too soon. Sean was now the lucky one, the others were still left with their fearsome opponents and from the sounds of it had already locked in combat with at least one of them. His eyes flicked over to Jacob as his anger boiled, not doubt blaming himself for not training the man hard enough or something equally silly as that and then his eyes trailed to Sylvani as she silently grieved the loss of yet another. Huffing a soft sigh he moved his tail and first stroked the top of Erryn's head then moved on to wrap it around Sylvani's fingers. He was aware that such touches wouldn't heal hurt instantly but when such affection was rare to you, he had come to equal soft touches as a healing factor for physical and mental wounds so it was like this everytime one was lost to them. "Sean is now free." He would gently touch and utter that phrase to her or to Jacob, although the man would pratically flail away from Gambrill the times he ever tried to comfort him in such a way.

The chains rattled as he shifted himself yet again, moving his tail away from Sylvani and waiting as Pandora and her agreed on their plans for after the match before he spoke once more. "So, before this arena, I was on the battlefield for many years. They used me for aerial attacks." From here he rattled on about that war, a distraction is what it was, mostly for Erryn who had been frightened by his mother's sudden shift in mood but for anyone else present who wished to even be half distracted from the arena for just a moment. His ears were trained on the arean though, listening for signs of what was happening and knowing that Jacob would inform them of any drastic changes.

GIDEON
Gideon sighed when the young healer ran. "Why do they always run" he mumbled to himself as he leveled the wand at Kelyren. "debellate!"he yelled as the wand responded instantly to the trigger phrase shooting out a dull gray beam. The magic missed the healer by a hair, striking the man next to him making the by-standard collapse in a heap. "Dammit!" Gideon exclaimed as the man collapse and Kelyren disappeared. No one in the crowd seemed to take notice of the man collapsing. It was fairly common to have people come to the early morning matches getting completely intoxicated and passing out in the stands and most just assumed this is what happened. Gideon gave an exasperated sigh as he flipped blond locks out of his eyes and took off after the healer. He thought he had lost Kelyren until he spotted the man. He wouldn't be able to hit him with the wand without taking out a large number of spectators. His boss wanted this job to be as inconspicuous as possible so he decided to wait and bide his time following Kelyren until the proper time to strike.

~Leilatha~

Leilatha was so engrossed in observing Anvain’s reckless behavior that she did not realize Sean missed the leap across the acid pit. Only when he began screaming did she realize what happened, her first instinct was to jump in and save him, but the sheer improbability of such a move stopped her. Instead she crossed both swords over her chest and gave the barbarian a warrior farewell. The team had just lost a brave gladiator. As Sean disappeared in the acid a loud thumping sound reached Leilatha’s ears, twirling around she caught sight of a Minotaur the beast was more fearsome looking than she could have imagined.

Drawing both swords out from her body, Leilatha prepared to advance shoulder to shoulder with Dara and Bliss. The beast seemed to have very little patience for he lowered his vicious looking horns and began to charge straight at Bliss, who seemed to have acquired a burn on her leg. Dara took the initiative by breaking from their protected triangle he seemed to be planning a full attack on the Minotaur, a death wish to be sure. Instead the draconic man breathed a jet of flame directly in the monster’s face, making him veer away; Dara also was able to get in a cut on the beast’s leg.

However now the Minotaur was enraged and injured making him an unpredictable opponent, when he turned his sights on Leilatha fear washed over her. Dara was too far away to help and Bliss was still recovering from the acid burn, Leilatha would be facing the enraged beast on her own. As the Minotaur grew closer he gave a mighty leap into the air, raising his fists his intention of crushing the elf was clear. Leilatha saw only one choice, with her back against the acid pit she could only run straight toward the Minotaur. Leilatha ran forward and at the last moment fell to her knees intending to slide underneath the Minotaur, while sliding she raised her sword and sliced at his uninjured foot. The cut felt deep to Leilatha, a small victory she rejoiced until the other hoof came arching over and slammed right into her face opening a large gash above her left eyebrow.

Leilatha came to a stop behind the Minotaur, she attempted to stand, but her head was spinning and her legs refused to cooperate. A crimson flow began cascading down from the cut blocking the sight from her left eye. Not that it mattered she was too dazed to even turn around, she hopped his speed and injured legs would make him tumble into the acid pit, or at the very least make him unbalanced and vulnerable to being critically injured by Bliss and Dara.


~Anvain~

Anvain looked sheepishly at Cutlass, “I didn’t want you to be alone.” She did not want the centaur to know she had given into blind panic and simply run away. Anvain also heard the dying cries of someone, but she did not want to know whose they were. When asked if she could keep up Anvain wanted to reply yes, but her fear of being left behind was greater than her pride. She still tried to keep a bit of dignity as she said, “I think it might be best if I were on your back, that way you can be watching to the front and I can watch the sides and rear.” Anvain wanted to inquire what Cutlass sensed, but her answer came in the form of a man falling onto Cutlass’s back. Barely having time to scoot out of the way, the man slid off and landed in a heap.

Anvain was grateful that the Centaur stood in front, the man seemed to have black flesh in swirling designs across his body. She recalled seeing similar markings on a band of people that had passed nearby Anvain’s forest home earlier that year. Anvain gently petted a portion of Cutlass’s tail, she had never been near a horse let alone a centaur, the texture was rather interesting.

Keeping her sword slightly raised in case the man was intending to attack them, she reluctantly moved to Cutlass’s side. Anvain nodded when Cutlass introduced her as Epona, “You may call me Anvain.” She told Niall quietly. Anvain kept her distance from the man, though it seemed they were in the same predicament, she was sure Niall would kill them both to save his own life.

Anvain did not care for Niall’s forward ways; he simply walked over to Cutlass as if he were a normal horse and began feeling the centaur’s back. She felt the man deserved to be kicked for such a gesture. When Niall turned his gaze to Anvain, she dropped her eyes in a deferring manner. If Cutlass accepted the man, so would she. It would be better if they worked together in fighting the Minotaur and later they would figure out Niall’s role in their group.

Still keeping her eyes down, she replied “Yes, I would like to leave this horrible place quickly.” Anvain clambered clumsily upon Cutlass’s back attempting to replicate the movements she had seen used by humans. Once properly seated, she listened to Cutlass share his knowledge of Minotaurs. Anvain did wonder if Minotaurs would eat elves and not just humans.

As the three began walking Anvain’s curiosity overrode her suspicion of the man and she could not help but ask him about the markings on his body. She especially wanted to know what dye he had used to make them so well defined.

Kelyren heard the ominous thud of a body hitting the ground and cringed, almost tripping over his feet. He tried not to look over his shoulder at the poor innocent victim that could have been him, had he been a slower runner.

This guy's serious, he thought as he tried to blend into the crowded stands. He's also crazy. He must really want me.

He squeezed his way onto one of the seats, making sure that he was surrounded on every side by people, and scanned the crowds for Gideon. For a moment, Kelyren thought he had lost his attacker, but he found his hopes dashed upon seeing Gideon making his way closer.

Looks like I can't hide from this guy. Kelyren glanced around, taking note of his surroundings. There had to be something he could do... Perhaps he could flag down the guards and tip them off. Maybe he could stay where he was and stick with the crowd until after the match, and find some way to make it to the healers' quarters without being attacked.

He pretended to watch the match going on, though in reality, he was keeping a close eye on Gideon and looking out for passing guards.

ARENA

The elf was fast, to fast. The minotaur swung his fists down in a fast arc only to one again receive a deep numbing pain on the back of his leg. He his the floor with a resounding smack as his leg gave out sending him sprawling towards the acid. The beast checked its momentum at the last second preventing its fatal tumble into the deadly pit. As the minotaur recovered it turned around ready to charge again when its leg collapsed under it. The minotaurs damaged leg was useless as was its left eye. It would not be able to charge, barley even being able to walk, but it would try and crush any that came near it, wildly swinging its fists and doing its best to grab any and strangle the life out of this, with its great strength. Its greatest weapon was gone but the arms of a minotaur are far from weak.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

King

As Blackwell watched the fight his eyes grew from their happy white to a dark and foreboding black. They gladiators were disrespecting his labyrinth... it was insulting to see them just hop over the walls of his great construct; this would just not do. The king leaned to his left where one of his magician guards stood "Do something to prevent those slaves from ruining the game by jumping over my walls, and I want it done now. The magician looked at his king with dead grey eyes and nodded. They had been trained from birth to serve the king and all disobedience or thoughts of their own lively hood had been washed away. They were the perfect servants, and the perfect mages. The battle mage started a chant under his breath in a soft soothing tone of voice almost as if singing. After a few moments of this musical spell casting the mage hit a crescendo and quieted waving a hand towards the arena. Seconds later a fine mist began shimmering above the labyrinth. "The deed is done sir, they cannot pass above the top of the labyrinth wall." The kings eyes shifted to gray as he sat back in his chair "Good now they can get the full experience of my creation."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gideon
The healer stopped and started to watch the game. "He must have seen me by now... what is he playing at" mumbled Gideon. The master wanted the gladiators on this healers team dead for some unknown reason and Gideon being the humble servant that he was did not complain when he was sent on such a lowly mission as this, but the master was extremely persistent on the fact that the gladiators must die so the assassin decided to give it one more try. He stashed his wand inside his shirt and held his hands up in the universal sign that he was unarmed. As he neared he started talking rapidly so as to get his message across before the healer ran again. "Ok you don't want money.... thats fine so how about I offer you something else. My master he is an extremely powerful man and he has accesses to some of the strongest mages ever born. Some say that magic can do anything, even raise the dead. From the sounds of it you lost someone dear to you in the past and most likely you miss them something fierce. So... Here is my final offer" Gideon slowed his speech down and spoke so that the healer heard all of his words "What if I for your payment we bring those loved ones back from the dead.... you said money cant bring the dead back, well I am willing to disagree. So do we have a deal?" Gideon stuck his hand out. He had palmed the poison vial in it so if the Kelyren decided to take the job he could take the vial without anyone noticing. "Last chance for a once in a lifetime deal"
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ARENA
Cutlass, Niall, Anvain

The group could hear a slight rumbling to their left and their right as dust sprinkled over them a second before the walls started closing. They would need to move fast to avoid getting crushed between the two massive wall. As the walls start closing in on them the nearest passage to the left became shut off. They would have to take the right path 50 yards down in 7 seconds.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
JACOB

Jacob raised an eyebrow and move to the side as Sylvani requested to see out of the peep hole. He realized that it wasn't a good idea to let her see the king but he would not deny the woman. There was a tense second as her hatred started showing on her face before her cold mask was set into place again and she turn away. The trainer nodded his approval and turned around to watch out the hole mulling over what he would do to the gladiators to keep something like Sean's death from happening again. He knew that there was barley any time to train these gladiators before their first fight but he still felt partially responsible for their deaths when they finally expired in the ring. His job was to make them as ready as they could be to fight and win, and today he didn't do his job no matter how limited his time was. Now was not the time to be retrospective though. He had to watch the rest of this fight so he could evaluate all the gladiators individual skills. He would put them through hell if they lived through this fight, and he would mold them into the perfect fighters. Jacob listened as the dragon tried his best to sooth Sylvani and started telling stories of his past. Jacob would never admit it but if anything the dragon was a good story teller and the trainer always enjoyed listening to its tales.

After a few moments of watching the gladiators fight the minotaur the giant bubble in the sky switched to a view of Cutlass, Anvain and the new gladiator. Jacob turned his head "The new gladiator seems to be friendly enough, at least he hasn't attacked Cutlass and our little forest elf." As he turned his view back to the peep hole his eyes widened for a second in surprise. "Another trap has been sprung! the walls are closing in on Cutlass and the rest. They need to move fast to make it out of there." He returned his view to the peephole once again and grit his teeth in anticipation as he watched. He didn't need any more of the gladiators to die, the more that died the harder the next fight was for the rest of the team. "Move dammit!" he mumbled as if the gladiators could hear him.

Cutlass' Post

The Centaur was strangely touched when Anvain said that she didn’t want him to be alone. He couldn’t figure out if she meant it or not, but the sentiment, the words… meant quite a bit of him. “I will do my best to keep you safe,” he said finally. He took his words seriously as he looked back up the walls. He shook his head before he looked back to her. He heard her offer to ride on his back and he stiffened a bit, but he knew that he could move faster if she did. “Yes, that would be best,” he said with a sigh as he tried to hold himself still.

Of course, Niall’s arrival stifled her immediate mount. He looked skywards, wondering of the Patron or the Goddess was looking down on him. It was no secret that he hated having people on his back. It was a bit demeaning for him, especially since he was a liminal creature. Thought it was difficult for him to figure out Anvain’s voice tones, he just had to trust that she didn’t mean to insult him and would still treat him kindly, as she had been.

Cutlass shifted when Niall’s hand went to the small of his back and there was a slight look of pleasure on the centaur’s face when that damnable itch was finally scratched. He saw that Anvain looked a bit apprehensive of the new person, but the way he figured it, if Niall knew where to itch… he was fine in Cutlass’ book. He looked down the path and tried to figure out what he should do. “We need to move with the rest of the group,” he said finally. “We’d be stronger in numbers,” he did admit though he’d rather just be out of the claustrophobic place completely. He saw the mist settle and he sneezed as the magic settled. “Fun,” he said with a sigh. He held still for Anvain as she clumsy got onto his back. “It would be best if you held on around my wais---“

He was cut off as the walls started to move and for once his instinct would prove true. Without looking to Niall, the Northern Slave leapt onto his back, held onto Anvain and steadied himself as Cutlass bolted forward. He surged down the open path and felt the wall close on the end of his tail. He pulled free and gave a pained noise. He needed his tail and now it was shredded and missing quite a few of the hairs, still he kept running. He only slowed down when safety tempted over instinct, he went to a trot. He wasn’t breathing hard as Niall slipped from his back and patted his side. He was just embarrassed now that his tail was hanging limp and thinned out.

“I will lead now,” Niall said, his thick brogue was easy to the Centaur’s ear. He stepped slightly in front of Cutlass and to the left of him. “Anvain,” he said, looking towards the elf, “if you would watch Cutlass’ back for him. Cutlass, I need you to stay focused and warn us if you sense anything wrong,” Niall dictated. He was trying to figure out how to play to everyone’s strength. “Now, let’s get out of here…”

----//---Sylvani's Post

Sylvani looked out of the peephole and studied the king. “He’s a spoiled brat,” she grunted as she turned away and went back to Gambrill. She sat down against him and leaned against his side. She used his warmth to temper her coldness. Still, her words were very short and cold as she talked mostly to herself. “Ugh. Every time that he snaps his fingers, someone is there to kiss his ring or flatter him. I’d like to see one person tell him that he is a self-serving, pompous arrogant…” she bit down on her tongue so that she didn’t keep talking. “He has so much blood on his hands. I hope his gods destroy him when he finally dies,” she said.

Erryn listened to his mother as she spoke and he kept holding onto Pandora. He crept back up to Gambrill and petted at the dragon’s leg, not able to reach too terribly high. As the dragon kept speaking, he listened but his eyes were focused on the other two adults. He moved away from the dragon again as he wandered up to Jacob and reached up, taking the man’s hand. He stayed there, still watching the others as he sought to comfort the ones around him. He slowly started to feed warmth from his hand into Jacob’s body. He was a white magic user, like his mother, like most children with magic were born to be. He tried to find Jacob’s hurts so that he could soothe them, not understanding that grief was a hard pain to heal.

Sylvani saw the worry on her son’s face before she opened her arms back to him and whispered her apology. He came to her, after looking up at Jacob for a moment before he returned to her and curled up in her lap. “Jacob,” she said, looking up and confused. “Is there any sign of Kelyren? He’s keeping out of trouble, I hope.”

Kelyren forced himself to keep a straight face as he heard Gideon babbling to him. How many times do I have to tell this guy to piss off?! he thought angrily, about to give the man a piece of his mind - until he heard the bit about raising the dead.

He paused, considering the offer, old memories of his twin sister resurfacing to the front of his thoughts. He remembered the last time they had spoken, the argument and the silence between them that had resulted. He remembered watching her enter the arena, the battle between her and the monster twice her size, the blow that had fatally injured her, his struggle to heal her with skills that were too weak to do anything, holding her hand and promising her that everything will be alright as she died.

If I accept his offer, I won't have to be alone any more, he realized. I'll have my sister back... she'll be alive again. And Gideon will give me money. I can buy freedom for us, and we can leave this accursed arena for good.

"Alright," he said hesitantly, his voice catching in his throat. "I'll do it."

Kelyren paused, his mouth suddenly feeling very dry. The suspicion that the offer was a trap still nagged at him, and he would not ignore it so quickly - what if he carried out the orders, only to have Gideon withhold the reward for him? "But you have to bring my twin sister back first. I'm not going to do it until I see her alive and talk to her."

Leilatha had done it! Sort of, the minotaur’s greatest asset, his ability to charge was gone; the old dragon wasn’t just babbling irrelevant things after all. However the nasty thing was still flailing violently, its last stand against an unprecedented enemy. Dara scowled deeply at the humanoid beast, he saw as it the true form of the king, a personification that the man hid behind a pleasant face and charisma. For a small moment the draconic man tried studying the manner of the minotaur’s “defense”. He didn’t want to risk striking at his arms with his flimsy swords, yes it would most certainly wound it but Dara had no idea if his weapons would break in the process, death tools he would need later on. He decided on attempting to thrust into the beast, timing the swings just right avoiding the mighty arms.

Foolishly Dara thrusted at it with his left only to have his arm captured in a vice-grip by the minotaur. The gladiator attempted to break free and found that the oils Pandora gave him were making it easier to slowly slip out of the grip, but the minotaur quickly compensated, the increased force earning an audible grimace from Dara. It bellowed in his face, and raised its free fist high to deliver an at minimally concussive blow, however the beast forgot it wasn’t the only one with a free hand. The pitiful blade in Dara’s right hand proved its worth as it sang through the beats flesh, the fist it had raised turned into an open palm. Its eyes bulged from shock, and the grip around the draconic gladiator significantly was reduced, enough for Dara to slip away easily.

But he wasn’t finished, oh no, his mind flashed images of event both recents and otherwise, mostly on the image of Sean. How he died in a fashion that did not befit him in any justification, how he knew the man that would have much more preferred to be felled by this thing in front of him then by a sadistic trick, a cowardly trap made only to facilitate cheap entertainment for the indulgent and the weak of mind. A rage boiled over Dara that was familiar but until now had no proper outlet.

Now he found one.

He bellowed back at the beast and assaulted it with repeated brutal stabbings to its abdomen in his murderous rage, not bothering to count how many times his weapons ripped through another piece of the minotaur. The beast made shallower and shallower grunts and groans from each strike, and when Dara finished, his left blade still impaling its gut, crimson liquid was dribbling from its mouth and nostrils. The draconic man stared into its deadened black eyes and had a hard time telling weather it was still alive or not, not that it mattered, for the gladiator’s face formed into menacing grimace as his right raised its blade to the sky. It came down and flew through the flesh of the minotaur’s neck, the head falling backwards into the acid, a plop then sizzling could be heard as a decent amount of crimson spurted into the air for a few seconds. Maintaining the scowl on his face Dara then raised his foot in position to the midsection of the decapitated beast, his left sword still impaled in it.

In one swift, merciless motion the draconic gladiator thrusted his foot onto the body, propelling it off of his stained sword and into the pit of unpleasantness, dissolving into the nothing it deserved in his opinion. He uttered, “Good fucking riddance.”

The adrenaline finally started to die down as his senses returned out of their heightened state, at least for the moment. Dara stared at the pit a somber expression now replacing the scowl that was on his face. It did feel good to rip the beast apart but…Sean was still dead. You could tell him that it wasn’t his fault, that the real one to blame was the king and that there really wasn’t anything he could have done, and he did blame the king however the weight of responsibility was still put on his shoulders. By assuming a position of command it is essentially a promise that he was the best suited to guide them out of this nightmare, to protect them from the unforeseen and lead them to a better life, the life promised to his family upon realease. True, he could never guarantee that they would all make it or that he himself would, but what would they think of him now that their strongest member was gone, and he could do nothing to stop it? How could they trust themselves to him when he was just as frail, just as unsure and vulnerable as they were? What reason did they really have to put faith in him and what right did he really have to tell them what was best for them?

Because no one else can, he thought. None of them were leaders; none of them had seen a leader, someone to assure them they could pull through, someone who could bring them through the loss and pain, someone who had seen what a real leader could do first hand…He may not a perfect one, and in truth perhaps there was someone out there who could do a phenomenally better job than him, but he would be that person for them or die trying…which was likely.

Dara uttered to the wind, “Vinult thurirl, dout dastudr jahus kashora.” Hail friend, your strength was appreciated. Strange, to think that beyond being a prisoner for blood-sport his only connection to the barbarian was a language that he often took for granted. He learned from his father many things, how to fight, his moral compass, but his heritage was something he neglected interest in, whenever his father attempted to tell him stories about his ancestors he shut it out, feeling the past had nothing to do with him. Yet there they were, two strangers from vastly different cultures, yet united by some sort of merger of them sometime in history. Darastrix Dastudr made a mental note to inquire Pandora what she knew of dragons and draconics, perhaps in some way he would gain something he had pushed away, a part of himself he never tried to get to know well enough. A regret he would make right.

Sheathing his stained blades he turned his attention back to the remaining comrades with him, Bliss seemed to be holding up well enough, he and Leilatha had made sure the minotaur didn’t go anywhere near her vicinity. It was then his attention became suddenly focused on the elf woman, she seemed to be in a dazed state and had blood dripping from her above her eye. The gash didn’t look too severe but what concerned him more was the possibility of internal injury, mentally kicking himself for not coming to her aid sooner. He had seen the minotaur go over her and the injury she received, but at the time he was more focused on destroying the enemy then on his own teammates’ welfare. Dara grasped Leilatha by the arm bringing her up to his level and asked, “You ok? Nothing shaking loose I hope. I…kinda need everyone in as many whole pieces as they can be right now.”

ARENA

After taking the left fork in the path and walking for a distance Niall's team would come upon a large stone door the resemblance of a horned demon carved into it. After a few seconds the demonic carving on the door begins to speak to the gladiators. "Ye who seek to pass by me state your true name" The carving on the door somehow managed the act of cocking its head in examination of the three gladiators while they answered his request. "If you have answered me truthfully brave warriors then answer me this riddle and pass, you have one try each... In my left I hold war, in my right I hold death, in my soul the power of a god, and in my eyes are the blackest rage. Who am I?"

Dara's team has the choice of traveling to the right. After taking the right path they would come upon a large carved door with the resemblance of a winged angel carved into it. After a few seconds the angelic carving on the door begins to speak to the gladiators. "Ye who seek to pass by me state your true name" The carving on the door somehow managed the act of cocking its head in examination of the three gladiators while they answered his request. "If you have answered me truthfully brave warriors then answer me this riddle and pass you have one try each... I was born naked twice. In bondage once and as a god the second. I need not a family because I am above such things. In my eyes I have the cleansing color of white. Who am I?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

GIDEON

The Assassin gave his most charming smile to Kelyren. Their is always a catch, this boss will be hard to convince of this one he thought as he grinned. "Do not worry my friend, all will be taken care of." The blonde flipped the hair out of his eyes and cocked his head at the healer in thought. "I will have to speak to my boss but I am sure that all will be taken care of. Shall we shake on it?" Gideon put his hand out. "I always like to end my business transactions with a friendly hand shake" He said with a purr in his voice. whether or not the man shook his hand Gideon had to leave fast. The boss had him on a tight time schedule and he didn't like to be kept waiting. Luckily if anything Gideon was fast and knew his way around a crowd.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
KING

Dimitri leaned forward putting his chin on his palm as he watched the gladiators finish off the first minotaur his anger subsiding and his eyes changing from black to white with his mood. "They can fight fairly well" he mumbled to himself deep in thought. He held this thoughtful position as the centaur, barbarian, and elf narrowly avoided being crushed by his trapped walls. "Fast too, but how well can you brutes think" he spoke to the gladiators in his silky voice as though they could hear him. "Can you solve my ingenious riddle... or will your fragile mortal life be extinguished like a candle flame between my fingers". The king leaned back into his chair comfortably as though he had answered the questions he had pondered "Survive and serve my purpose gladiators, survive and be rewarded by serving me." Blackwell grinned at his own personal joke as he waited to see what the gladiators would do.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
JACOB

The trainer looked down at Erryn with confusion as he felt a tingle throughout his body feeling his bruised knuckle heal. The child seemed to be trying to heal him though he had no injuries to fix. Jacob cocked his head at the child before recognition dawned on him as to what Erryn was trying to do. He was worried about Jacob and was trying to make him feel better. The old trainer felt a bit of sorrow that this child had to grow up in such a horrible world. He squashed the emotion down though and patted Erryn on the head before he ran back to his mother. "you have a good child, I believe he will be a man of great integrity when he grows up" Jacob said as he looked back out the peep hole. "Daras group finished off the minotaur and are stopped at some door... they see to be speaking to it. The same for Cutlass's group, they avoided another trap and are also speaking to a door." He turned at Sylvani's question after giving everyone an update about the gladiators. Jacobs eyes lit up as he remembered what he had forgotten before the fight "Dammit! Sylvani listen carefully. This morning I was late for the fight because I was called to a meeting by one of the kings high advisers, at least he was an adviser until a few days ago. His name is Dukove Valance, He had been insulted and dismissed by the king for some disagreement they had dealing with my gladiatorial team. Why the king is taking a personal interest in my team I don't know but because of the argument Dukove feels insulted and wants to get back at the king. In my meeting with his servant he tried to convince me to somehow sabotage my gladiators so they would die in the next fight, but I denied his servant and insulted his master. The servant said something that make me worry that he will try and turn one of your healers against the gladiators." Jacob paused to collect his thoughts and continued "We need to get to Kelyren now before one of his men get to him. I don't know the boys moral compass very well but Dukove can promise much to those willing to listen making it hard to deny him. In all the commotion of the fight I had forgotten about the meeting completely." The trainer was angry at himself for forgetting something so important. Jacob was a proud man who rarely apologized for what he did but this was a major mistake on his part "Forgive me for putting your healers at risk, we need to move now to ensure his safety." Jacob started heading towards the door not waiting for other to follow.

~Anvain~

Anvain had been extremely excited to sit upon the centaur’s back; she admired the view and wished she would never have to get off. She leaned forward to thank Cutlass for his generous offer, when suddenly the walls on either side of the trio began to approach. They would be crushed! Niall did not hesitate to jump up with Anvain, he held her tightly about the waist as Cutlass unleashed a blast of speed. They made it through, barely, but there was a casualty of the desperate sprint, the Centaur’s lovely flowing tail had been shredded as the walls slammed together.

Niall nimbly dismounted and looked back at Cutlass and Anvain, she nodded in agreement discussions of their past were better done once they were outside of this death trap. Sensing the man was giving her an appraising look; she lifted her chin and pretended she was not frightened out of her mind by this entire ordeal. Turning around as far as she dared, Anvain watched the Centaur’s back it was the least she could do for him. She kept her flimsy blade away from Cutlass, fearing she might cut him on accident. Anvain decided if they encountered a Minotaur she would fight from the ground.

The trio did not have to wait long to encounter another obstacle, a giant door carved in the center a hideous creature stood leering at the gladiators in malicious glee. Anvain was more shocked when the door began to speak; it gave the gladiators a riddle. The elf began to sweat in fear, she had been in this strange land for less than a day and had not the faintest idea what the riddle was asking. She looked to Cutlass and Niall, hoping they might be able to determine the solution.

~Leilatha~

As blood began to completely obscure Leilatha’s vision she fought to remain upright and awake. Her head was throbbing and her limbs felt weak, she faintly realized Dara was the only one fighting the Minotaur. Bliss had taken to limping around and had even frozen when the beast turned toward her, Leilatha would have attacked Bliss, cowardice one thing unforgiveable in Leiatha’s mind. But she seemed to be set in marble, unable to move or even utter a word.

Some unclouded part of Leilatha’s mind heard the Minotaur’s death howl and she managed a small smile of victory, he had done it. Dara was a true warrior; he had protected his team and killed the monster. He had earned the tough elf woman’s respect. Suddenly she felt a strong hand on her arm lifting her up on wobbly legs, as Dara’s face came into view filled with concern; Leilatha tried to give him a reassuring look. But it was more likely she appeared pale and unfocused to the draconic man. “We need to keep moving, some of us aren’t in the best condition.” She said, as her eyes slid over to the crouching form of Bliss.

Clumsily she shoved one of her swords in her belt, it had suddenly become very heavy in her left hand seeming to gain weight with every step she took. Placing her sword tip in the ground with each step helped her keep balanced, moving slowly but surely the haggard team reached a massive door. Leilatha stared grimly at the Angel carving, the irony was not lost on the dazed elf. When the Angel began to speak, Leilatha assumed she was hallucinating. The carving asked for their names and the answer to a riddle. Thinking the best way to get out of the hallucination was to play along, Leilatha blurted out the first thing that came to her mind, “My name is Leilatha Esta Nym and it is King Blackwell that you speak of.” She wiped at her head again, some of the previous blood had dried but more continued to drip down. At least the bleeding had slowed.

Kelyren did not return the smile, he was starting to feel a slow, burning hatred for Gideon. He wanted nothing more than to punch the man's smile off his face. The only thing stopping him from acting on his impulses was the knowledge that the guards would be on him in a flash if he attacked Gideon. You changed your disposition pretty damn fast, he thought furiously, clenching his hands into fists. One moment you're trying to kill me, then you're a smiling, smooth-talking slimeball.

"I'm not going to shake on anything," Kelyren stated flatly, starting to feel suspicious of the other man once more. "Not until I see my sister in front of me, alive."

If those mages could bring her back. Kelyren did not believe that resurrection was possible, especially when the one being resurrected had been dead for months. He was beginning to regret jumping at Gideon's offer so quickly, wishing that he had spent a bit more time thinking about what the other man was saying.

"Go run home and talk to your boss," he growled, cursing his hastiness and lack of judgement. "And remember. Give me my sister first - alive - and then I'll uphold my end of the bargain."

ARENA

The stone angel gave a delighted smile at Leilatha and bowed as a small doorway appeared inside the larger stone door "You and your friends may pass with the kings blessing gladiators". Inside the door way was the center of the maze. Around 1500 square feet with a minotaur standing in the center of the room wielding a great axe. A roar could be heard from the background as suddenly a second minotaur charged in busting through a door on the far side of the room. The minotaur was far larger that its companion and wore a mail plate on its chest. With a mid sized battle axe in each hand it was a formidable foe.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
GIDEON

Gideon held up his hand in an apologetic manner "Ok ok I will go to my master and bring word of our deal as soon as I can. Now my dear healer, I must bid you adieu". The blonde assassin bowed to the healer before stepping into the crowd and disappearing. Dammit though Gideon as he navigated through the crowd. The master would not like having conditions put upon him but of course it would be the most efficient way to dispose of the gladiators besides outright having them murdered. Being one to prefer a quick easy assassin mused over the idea of taking out the gladiators himself before dismissing the idea. There was just to many of them, and the master seemed to have a personal vendetta for some reason so it was best to follow his wishes. Gideon shrugged and flipped the blonde hair out of his eyes before leaving the coliseum. It seemed that he had his work cut out for him.

An eyebrow was raised by Dara when Bliss began slurring comments concerning him and his elven comrade, rather confused as to where she got off making nonsense of them having children together. Not that Leilatha was unattractive, it was simply a thought that had never crossed his mind and never would have if it hadn’t been for his other companion’s words. It did immediately become obvious, however, that the injury she received from the acid was more extensive than he first observed, confirmed in the vocal observation by the comrade he was currently holding steady. Leilatha seemed to put on a brave face and righted herself, showing she no longer needed the draconic gladiator’s support.

Bliss on the other hand still looked to be in a fog and was barely able to keep herself balanced, so wasting no time Dara took her arm and wrapped it around his neck, serving as a human crutch for the time being. “Just hold onto me, this’ll be over soon,” he said. Dara wished he had any sort of medical practice beyond bandaging but sadly he didn’t, and that was a task already performed by Bliss, so he could do nothing for her.

He then reevaluated the situation in order to execute the best available option. So far there has been one confirmed death on his team, and a power player at that. Two other members were either separated or AWOL, and the remaining two in his sight had earned debilitations from the last few minutes, making himself the only overall healthy team member he could account for. There were two more minotaurs on the loose within the labyrinth, and although the one they encountered bore no armaments there was no guarantee the others wouldn’t.

Their best bet now was to regroup with Anvain and Cutlass, though Dara had to consider the possibility that by now one or both of them were dead, in which case the remaining haggard three were truly on there own. Dara also couldn’t forget the wild card gladiator thrown into pot, although it was stated that he made an attempt on the king’s life there was no guarantee that the man would be on his team’s side. For all he knew the man was even more savage the Sean was and only got a lucky shot at the sadistic monarch, but the draconic man did hope for the best, thinking that either the gladiator had dispatched one or both of their opponents (unlikely) or would side with his team or even both scenarios.

Based on their streak of luck however, Dara was not one to put much stock into that outcome.

The gladiator and his remaining team made their way through more of the labyrinth, the path halted by a strange door with intricate carvings of an angelic figure. It spoke! It asked for their names and the answer to a riddle that it promptly gave them. Dara didn’t like the sound of it, he was no dummy but he wasn’t the best puzzle solver in the world, luckily Leilatha had solved it with ease. Good to see we have people who are good for more than just fighting, he smiled at his thoughts.

But of course the universe had seen fit that no amount of happiness he received no matter how minute and minuscule would last for more than two seconds.

The door permitted their passing, leading them to what Dara would realize as the center of the dreadful maze. His heart sank as he saw an armed minotaur standing at attention within its epicenter, and no sooner had he spotted it, ANOTHER ONE came literally crashing into the playing field, and was even more heavily armed, more vicious looking, and if possible even more huge than its comrade. In summarization Dara promptly audibly cursed, “Fuck. My. Life.” The greatest scowl anyone on his team had ever seen was so plainly visible that Dara could bet that Blackwell himself in his VIP box could see it without the use of magic images.

He let go of Bliss, hoping she had recovered enough to at least stand on her own, and unsheathed his weapons. Addressing his team mates he said, “Ok listen up. Good news is we have a lot more room to move around this time, which should give us an advantage we didn’t have before. Bad news is that standing still at all will probably get us chopped into bits. Remember, their legs are the weakest point, exploit that at any given chance. Bliss, I’ll probably need you to throw your knives at those legs as soon as you get a sure shot. I should also advise neither of you to count on my fire-breathing, at most I only have two blasts left in me, I won’t fire unless I’m sure I won’t miss. Everything we do or don’t do counts.”

Dara inhaled deeply, his eyelids drooping for a moment before returning his visibility in his exhale. “I won’t lie to you; this would be hell of a lot easier with some back-up. But I swear, though I’ve already lost one team member I don’t intend to loose anymore today.” The draconic man steeled himself into a battle stance, foot forward, fists clenched on hilts, heart racing, and golden eyes ablaze with draconic/human fury, “Or ever again.”

ARENA

The bigger minotaur charged at Bliss in a rage as she moved first, but when she threw he knife the minotaur suddenly pulled up short mostly avoiding the blade and only receiving a nick in the process. This minotaur seemed more intelligent than the other two not blindly charging its enemies in a rage, but instead attacking more cautiously. These gladiators shall fall by my blade just like all the others, I shall win this fight and acquire my freedom thought the great beast as he started planning out a strategy. When Bliss charged him the large minotaur stepped to the side and swung his axe in a horizontal swipe trying to decapitate her. While this was going on the smaller minotaur charged the other two gladiators with its axe held high focusing on the elven woman. Its primal thoughts were nothing more than to chase the elven woman down kill her and and taste her sweet flesh, and it would stop at nothing to achieve its goals.

~Leilatha~

Leilatha had gaped in shock that the doors opened before her; it proved that despite her head injury she had still retained her elven ability to solve riddles. However her excitement quickly turned into horror at the sight of a Minotaur with a battle axe standing ahead of the trio. They equipped the beast!?! Leilatha glowered and cursed the King’s name under her breath, and then of all the horrid luck another Minotaur stepped out from a side passage. Thankfully he was weaponless, but now the haggard group had two monstrous creatures to handle and if their first battle was anything to compare to this. They would be hard pressed to survive the next few minutes, forget about winning the fight.

Giving both her comrades a nod of appreciation for their company, Leilatha listened to their ideas about attacking the creature’s legs. It seemed like a good plan, they had killed the first Minotaur using such a strategy. Bliss threw her knives; one lightly nicked the axe-wielding Minotaur’s leg he charged at Bliss. Leilatha thought she caught a gleam of intelligence in the creature’s eyes, but her attention was drawn to the first Minotaur it charged at Leilatha and Dara. There seemed to just be mindless killing in this one’s eyes.

Gathering the last of her strength, Leilatha shouted to Dara “Go help Bliss, I can handle this one!” With that she turned around and began to flee from the approaching Minotaur. Timing would be everything. She hoped the beast would think she was running into a dead end and decide to pursue her. The Minotaur quickly gained ground on the exhausted elf, completely out of sight from Dara and Bliss, she hoped the other two could handle themselves. One way or another the Minotaur would not be returning, Leilatha was determined to kill it.

Right before impacting upon the wall, Leilatha placed one foot and then another on the wall till she was halfway up. She turned and pushed off the wall, the landing was almost perfect she had a foot on either side of the Minotaur’s shoulders; though he shook mightily he could not dislodge the determined elf. Seeing her chance she grasped her remaining sword in both hands and plunged it downward with great force. She intended to bury it into the beast’s shoulder and then have it continue down into his heart.

~Anvain~

When Cutlass and Niall remained silent, Anvain took it upon herself to solve the riddle. “In my left I hold war, in my right I hold death, in my soul the power of a god, and in my eyes is the blackest rage. Who am I?” Though her lack of experience and knowledge of the kingdom made it difficult to think a logical answer, one thing did help her; she had heard earlier that this labyrinth was the King’s own design. He was a warrior and had defeated many in battle. Unable to think of anyone more like the riddle Anvain slid from Cutlass’s back and slowly approached the demon carving she kept her borrowed sword ready.

“My name is Anvain Koravelki and you are King Blackwell.” Anvain’s heart beat frantically in her chest. She feared the other two Minotaurs were just on the other side of the wall, waiting for their next kill. It was pure luck Anvain, Cutlass and Niall had not run into one of them yet.