Arena: Part One

by D. Michael Withrow

  “Are you okay,” the boy said.

  “I’ll be fine.”

  Marcus suddenly collapsed. He was losing blood quickly. Jacob yelled at the other fighters to get him to Doc Shraver.

  “You too,” Jacob said as he looked over at Cole. “You need to get that belly looked at in case he nicked an intestine. You could just as easily die from that.”

  Colston led Cole to the infirmary as two fighters picked up Marcus and followed behind. The protectors followed behind them. Colston noticed that the fighters had been careful not to carry Marcus by his wounded arm. Whether they liked him, respected him or feared him they were fellow combatants. Men that shared a bond that would not allow them to injure another fighter in any way once outside the arena. Colston looked once more at the wound in Cole’s belly. Blood ran down his tanned muscles into the loin cloth that all fighters wore.

  “I’ll be alright,” the big man said. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

  “You had me worried there for a bit.”

  “Yeah, he showed me something I had never seen and it threw me off guard completely.”

  “Damn computer,” Colston said.

  “No, I think the computer showed us what it knew of Marcus. He’d just never been bested so quickly before and I think it scared him.”

  “Thus causing him to react differently than usual. I get it.”

  “You did well Colston.”

  “Me,” the boy said. “What did I do?”

  “You trained me, of course. I could never have defeated Marcus without you.”

  “Well, thanks.”

  “No,” Cole said. “Thank you.”

  “It was my pleasure.” The boy smiled up at the giant as they stopped at the door to the infirmary. “One down, one to go.”

  28

  Colston left Cole at the infirmary with Doc Shraver. He wanted to tell Anna about the fight. After all, she had spent many nights watching him train Cole. She was invested. He ran from the ludus to the house as fast as he could, a smile on his face the entire way. When he got there Marjorie was not in her usual spot in front of the stove. Colston realized that she did not live in front of it, but it was not often that he was in the house when she was not. Instead he saw Janice standing over Anna who was on her knees scrubbing the floor. Janice looked at him disapprovingly as he walked through the doorway.

  “Good morning Janice,” he said.

  “Good morning Master Colston.”

  “Anna,” the boy said.

  The girl looked up at him and smiled.

  “Janice, could I speak with Anna for a moment? It won’t take long.”

  “No,” she said. “Your father assured me that for the first half of the day she was mine. Though that’s hardly been the case. Today is one of the rare occasions that I get her to myself and I intend to put her to good use.”

  Colston was confused by her comments but decided to ignore them for the moment.

  “Cole won Anna,” he said. “He beat Marcus.”

  “Ghastly sport,” Janice said. “Simply ghastly.”

  Anna smiled again. It was enough for Colston. Enough for now. The boy turned and walked past them as he made his way to his room. He was not entirely sure what to do with himself. Usually at this time of day he would be training Cole. He did not want to go to the room in the ludus if Anna was not going to be there yet. So he went to his room, lied on his bed and tried to imagine the upcoming fight with Racus.

  When he woke it was dark and he was momentarily confused. He thought perhaps he had slept all afternoon and past dinner until he looked at the clock. 12:30. Was it A.M. or P.M.? Now he was really confused. He got out of bed and walked to the window. The thick blanket of clouds that earlier had covered the sky had gotten even thicker, and darker. The storm was upon them, though it had not begun to rain yet. He ran downstairs but Anna was gone. Perhaps she had gotten released early.

  Marjorie was there preparing lunch for the entire Carlson estate, debtors and all. She was quite adept at what she did, orchestrating the preparation of all dishes to not only get done, but to be done at the same time. She was perhaps the most valuable debtor that his father owned, and she knew it. Because of this Janice mostly left her alone to do her work. This thought caused Colston to smile.

  “I bet I know why you smiling,” she said.

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yes sir. I heard your big man won this morning.”

  “How,” Colston asked “did you hear about that already?”

  “Oh, word travel fast around this place young man. Everybody like to talk when they eating. Don’t you know this gossip central?”

  They both smiled this time. Colston went over to her and gave her a hug. She was the closest thing he had to a mother though he never thought of her in that way. He just knew that he loved her and it made him happy knowing that her position in the household was so secure.

  “Have you seen Anna?” he asked.

  The smile left her face.

  “Lord knows child I don’t have time to keep track of all us throughout the day. I got my hands full here.”

  She turned back to her duties without another word. The moment they had shared just seconds ago was gone.

  “Well, okay,” the boy said. “I guess I’ll talk with you later then.”

  With that he turned and walked out of the house and to the ludus. He might as well check on Cole until Anna was free of her duties for the day. The rain began to spit on his way, peppering his clothes with water spots. By the time he made it to the ludus his clothes were soaked and the rain fell from the sky in heavy sheets.

  Doc Shraver was alone in the infirmary when Colston arrived. He was looking at a holotablet and making notes on the same device. He was sitting behind his desk with his feet up.

  “Hey there Colston.”

  “Hey Doc,” the boy replied. “What happened to all your patients?”

  “Both were treated and are now resting in their respective apartments. Neither are to participate in any activities until I issue them a release.”

  “Makes sense to me,” Colston said. “For some reason I just figured they’d be here longer than a couple of hours.”

  “The miracles of modern medicine, my boy.” He smiled at Colston.

  Colston was about to leave when Doc spoke up again.

  “Come here for a moment Colston,” he said. “Let me have a look at you.”

  The boy walked over and stood across the desk from the doctor.

  “You’re looking well,” Doc said. “No bruises hiding under that shirt are there?”

  Colston lifted his shirt to show him an unblemished abdomen.

  “So how is it that your father is so bruised and swollen but you don’t have a mark on you? Did Cole get at him again?”

  “No sir,” Colston said. “That was my doing.”

  Doc Shraver’s eyebrows raised in surprise and a smile came across his face.

  “Well then,” he said. “I’m glad to hear you’re sticking up for yourself these days.”

  Colston smiled back at him.

  “Thanks Doc,” Colston said. “Can I ask you something now?”

  “Certainly my boy.”

  “How long before Cole is well enough to begin training for Racus?”

  “Straight to business I see. Well, the injury to his abdomen was not severe. It did compromise an intestine but he got here quickly enough for me to stop the spread of feces.”

  “So not too serious?”

  “In this environment, no. Had this happened to some poor soul where medical attention wasn’t just a few doors away, then it could have been much more serious. Perhaps even fatal.”

  “So how long,” the boy asked again.

  “Perhaps a few weeks.”

  “That’s not too bad I guess.”

  “It could be more or less depending on how quickly Cole heals. Some people just heal more quickly than others. But he’s in fantastic shape, so there’s no reason to think he won’t
heal quickly.”

  “Thanks Doc,” Colston said. “You’re the best.”

  With that the boy turned and walked through the door where the sound of pouring rain greeted him. He had always liked the sound of rain, though he did not know why.

  “Good-bye son,” he heard Doc say over the rain. “You take care of yourself.”

  “Bye Doc.”

  29

  Fifteen days after the fight with Marcus Doc Shraver released Cole for training. Colston had decided to start Cole’s training back in the virtual training room. He was taking Cole through the analysis of one of Racus’ fights, pointing out the differences and similarities with Marcus since Cole had spent so much time studying him.

  “See how he tends to move right after he strikes,” Colston said. “He does this habitually. He cannot help himself. You can use this to your advantage.”

  Colston started the fight then paused it again when Racus made a new move that Cole had not yet seen.

  “So here he’s countering an overhand strike by blocking it with his shield and going low to lunge at the legs.”

  “Pretty sneaky if you ask me,” Cole said.

  “Yeah well,” Colston said “he’s not concerned with what anyone thinks about his tactics. And seeing as the rules are almost non-existent. Well, you get the idea.”

  “What is he going for,” Cole asked “the femoral artery?”

  “Well, even if he doesn’t hit that, he will weaken his opponent by weakening his legs. Even a cut quad can seriously hamper a fighter’s abilities. Movement is slowed and any wounds the fighter suffers can have a real psychological impact on them.”

  “Weaken the trunk of the tree, weaken the tree itself,” Cole said.

  “Exactly.”

  Neither of them was expecting the door to open. They especially were not expecting Colston’s father to walk through the door.

  “So this is how you beat my champion,” he said. “By cheating?”

  “We didn’t cheat,” Colston said.

  “Then what would you call it?”

  “We were merely using the tools available to us.”

  “Of course you were,” his father said.

  “If you thought this was cheating then why did you buy it in the first place?”

  “You’ve got a smart mouth,” he said and took a step towards his son.

  Cole took a step forward to stand beside the boy. Mr. Carlson stopped dead in his tracks. The protectors by the door shouldered their weapons and pointed them at Cole. Despite any respect or admiration they might have had for the giant, they still had a job to do.

  “Your big man can’t save you this time, boy,” his father said. “And I’m not drunk so you’re going to get the beating you deserve.”

  Colston took a step towards his father to stand in front of him. All emotion had left his face. He stood there with his arms by his side, waiting for his father to make his move.

  “You’ll not bully me anymore,” he said. “And, I don’t need Cole to stick up for me.”

  “We’ll see about that.”

  His father swung a looping left at him. Colston ducked it and put a right into his father’s ribcage then followed with an uppercut that barely missed his chin. His father threw the left again. Colston blocked most of it, but it still managed to get through and hit him above the ear. Colston drove a left jab into his father’s nose. It was a good, strong jab and blood began to flow from his nose. He followed it with another and then another. Then followed the jabs with a right cross. The right missed his father and allowed him a moment to gather his senses. Colston stood there in his fighter’s stance waiting for his father to swing again. When he threw the left again Colston countered by ducking then coming over the top with another right. This time he landed it right on his father’s temple. His father’s knees buckled but he did not go down. Colston threw the jab once again and landed it. By now his father’s nose was a swollen, bloody mess. He came at him again, this time charging as if to tackle the boy. Colston merely stepped to the side and let him fall to the floor. As he got up Colston delivered a straight left then followed it with a left hook. The hook caught his father on the chin, twisting his head at an awkward angle causing him to slump to the ground.

  His father was on his knees now, slumped over and bleeding from several cuts and the nose. He was breathing heavily, his fists still clenched as if he might stand up at any moment to resume the fight. He did not however. He sat there gasping for breath until he could finally speak again.

  “How do you possibly expect to beat Racus,” he asked.

  “The same way we beat Marcus,” Colston said. “By utilizing the tools available to us.”

  His father began to laugh. He laughed until he began choking and coughing.

  “You fool,” he panted. “You don’t have time for that.”

  He took another moment to catch his breath.

  “The fight is this Saturday. You have no time for your tricks.”

  “What? Why would you agree to such an early date?”

  “If you’ll remember,” Mr. Carlson said, “our agreement was for the best fighter to face Racus. If your man was truly the best fighter then he would be ready.”

  With great effort he got to his feet.

  “But now, thanks to you, I can’t even use Marcus. It’ll be another month before he’ll even be able to hold a sword.”

  “Well maybe if you had shared the date with us a little sooner than three days before the fight,” Colston began.

  “I run this house. Do you understand? I do not need to share with you every detail of every arrangement. Just have your man ready by Saturday.”

  “But,” Colston began “it’s not enough time.”

  “It’s all you’ve got,” his father said then slowly stumbled out of the room without another word.

  Cole looked at Colston, “So what do we do?”

  “Simple,” he said. “We live in this room for the next three days and you learn everything you can about Racus in that time. I’ll not have you face him unprepared.”

  “Sounds fun,” Cole said. “Sounds fun.”

  30

  Colston rose on the morning of the fight to the sound of rain. It was still dark and the clouds had rolled in overnight, blanketing the earth. The boy wondered if it might be some kind of omen. But then he told himself that he did not believe in such things.

  It was the quiet times such as now that he missed his mother most. The thunder in the distance betrayed his inner turmoil. He was happier than he had been since his mother died. But there was still so much sadness in his life. His mother was gone. His father hated him. Cole and Anna were little more than slaves. He stopped and looked around guiltily as if he had said the last thought out loud. He was sure he had not, but he chastised himself all the same for even thinking the word.

  Anna sat up in bed and called out to him.

  “Colston?”

  “I’m here,” he said. He walked back to the bed and sat down beside her. He pushed her hair behind her ear so that he could see her face in the dim light. “Good morning, beautiful.”

  She smiled up at him in the darkness.

  “What are you doing up so early?”

  “I couldn’t sleep,” he said.

  “Worried about Cole?”

  “Yes.”

  “You don’t think he’s ready, do you?”

  “No,” he said. “I don’t.”

  “And there’s nothing you can do to postpone the fight?”

  “Nothing.”

  “But,” she began, “you’ve spent so much time training him. And he beat Marcus. Surely that has to count for something.”

  “Very little I’m afraid.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Because you’ve never seen Racus. He’s big like Cole. But he’s mean and he’s been doing this for a very long time. And he’s never lost.”

  “Sounds frightening,” she said.

  “You have no idea.”
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  “My mother and I were never able to afford the arena,” she said. “Though I’m not sure we’d have gone even if we were able.”

  “You don’t know what you’re missing. The crowd is unbelievable.”

  “The crowd?”

  “Yes,” he said. “There’s something about the crowd that I’ve always loved. The way they cheer and boo and react in unison to what’s happening in the arena. You just have to experience it for yourself.”

  “You look so happy when you talk about it.”

  “I have an idea,” he said. “You should come watch the fights tonight.”

  “Me,” she said. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”

  “Why not?”

  “Well, for starters I’m not really allowed to go. If your father found out…”

  “Forget about my father. He no longer tells me what I can and can’t do and I say you’re coming.”

  “Yes, but he still tells me what I can and can’t do.”

  “You’ll be fine,” he said. “As long as you’re with me.”

  “I don’t know Colston.”

  “Don’t you want to be with me?”

  “Of course I do,” she said. “That’s all I ever want.”

  “Then it’s settled. I’ll make the arrangements for our own transport. That way we don’t have to ride with my father.”

  “Thank god,” she said. “That would have been intolerable.”

  “You see. I’m always looking out for you. There’s nothing to worry about.”

  “We’ll see,” she said.

  Colston made his way to Cole’s apartment after walking Anna to the house for her morning with Janice. Though he was happy that Anna was coming, he was worried for Cole. He still did not believe that Cole had had enough time to properly prepare for Racus. He wasn’t so worried about Cole losing as he was him dying. These thoughts filled his head as he walked across the empty pit to the wing of apartments. He was surprised when he heard a voice call out to him. He looked up to see Jacob walking across the pit to meet him.