by Jamie Davis
As he scanned the crowd, Hal’s eyes stopped when he reached a raised platform area. Seated in this boxed-in area was Flemming Ginty and a group of three others, two men and a woman. They must be the city’s Wardens. Hal saw that their box was well protected by a squad of eight coliseum guards. He saw other groups of guards scattered throughout the crowd.
In addition to them, there were still others lining the walls every fifteen feet or so sporting crossbows. There’d be no escape from the fighting by climbing the wall and making a break for it. You’d get cut down by guards or crossbow bolts before you made it to the exit.
Horns blew from the far side of the arena. A duplicate set of double gates opened and three large figures emerged from the dark recesses of the coliseum. The figures seemed familiar in shape to trolls but these were larger and covered in coarse white fur.
“Crap, snow trolls,” Otto hissed. “This is gonna be tough.”
“I’m assuming they’re like normal trolls and require fire to stop their regeneration?” Hal asked.
“You’ve got it,” Kay said. “There are three so we are likely to be split up and have to face one each.”
“Let’s try to stay together as much as possible and see if we can cut one down quickly,” Hal said. “That will help improve the odds even it if regenerates while we’re fighting.”
Hal looked around for a source of a fire and spotted something he hadn’t noticed before. A cart had been pushed out of their gates behind them. There was a brazier of glowing coals and a single unlit torch.
“They gave us a single torch back by our gates,” Hal called out as the leading snow troll bellowed and began to lope in their direction. It knew that it had to kill them to escape the arena safely.
The other two trolls let loose with their own howls of rage and followed the leader in a hunched, four-limbed lope in their direction.
The trio of gladiators crowded together, Hal on Otto’s right and Kay on Otto’s left. Hal lifted his shield and prepared to receive the charge from the beasts.
The first ran at Otto but shifted his direction at the last second and lurched in Hal’s direction.
The change in direction made Otto’s massive swing with his axe miss by a mile and Hal was faced with the snapping teeth and claws of what amounted to an 8-foot-tall regenerating snow ape.
Hal took the first roundhouse swing on his shield and ducked under the other arm’s follow-up blow.
His sword snaked out and drove deep into the troll’s hairy thigh. Blood stained the white fur with a flood of crimson and Hal shouted at his successful hit.
The bleeding stopped almost immediately, though, and Hal realized the wound was already healing and closing up. Damn, these things healed even faster than the forest trolls he’d fought back in the goblin valley.
Hal hoped Otto could lend aid to his fight but the other two trolls had closed already and Otto and Kay were both stuck in the desperate struggle to fight off their attackers.
The troll in front of him roared again and leaned in to try and wrap Hal in a giant bear hug with its long arms.
Hal knew if he got locked in that embrace, he’d never make it out again. Taking a chance, Hal turned and hacked down on one arm as hard as he could and then punched at the hairy arm with the edge of his shield.
The sword blow struck bone, cutting deep into the troll’s flesh and muscle. The shield’s metal edge finished the job, though, and Hal was glad he’d added to his brawn score when leveling up. The added strength he’d created caused the bone to break and Hal was able to spin out past the injured arm and away from the other.
He didn’t make it away unscathed. The following arm raked his back with razor sharp talons and his relatively unarmored back flared with fiery pain.
Health damage: Health -18
The shove from behind caused Hal to stumble a little and he tried to recover by turning the stumble into a little jogging run as he regained his balance. It must have looked like he was running away from the fight because a chorus of boos sounded from the stands.
Hal shot the crowd an angry glance and turned around once he regained his balance. The troll loped after him, it’s broken arm hanging useless at its side. Hal knew it wouldn’t stay that way for long. He needed to bring this thing down and quickly.
Hal brought up his shield and crouched behind it, his sword held back a little behind him so it could be brought up in a slashing swing from the side or stab forward for a piercing blow.
Instead of swinging an attack at Hal, the troll surprised him by grabbing the edge of the shield and pulling forward, yanking the smaller man in towards the beast’s hairy torso.
Hal realized the troll had leaned forward as it pulled him closer and the snapping teeth in the creature’s mouth clamped down on Hal’s shoulder.
He let out a scream of pain as the powerful jaws bit through armored rings and leather alike to pierce the flesh below.
Health damage: Health -26
Hal took a quick look at his health bar. He was nearly at fifty percent and he was nowhere near finishing off this troll.
Hal punched at the troll’s face with the pommel of his sword until the creature let go of his shoulder. The troll howled in pain as one of the punches burst its large saucer sized eyeball. Blood and viscous white eye-ball fluid sprayed all over Hal as the troll backed away.
“At least I’m dealing some pain back,” Hal muttered to himself. Then he reminded himself that the troll healed itself. The broken arm looked to be mending and would be back in commission soon if Hal didn’t come up with something.
With nothing else to do, Hal turned and sprinted for the cart with the torch and brazier.
The troll howled behind him and Hal didn’t have to look back to know it was close behind him.
The slot machine started tumbling in Hal’s head and he hoped luck was on his side. This was going to take pinpoint timing if it was going to work.
Hal reached the brazier a bare second before the snow troll caught him from behind. Hal dropped his sword and scooped up a double handful of burning coals in his gloved hands. The thin leather started to burn through almost immediately but Hal didn’t need them to last very long.
Turning with a shout, Hal flung the handful of coals into the troll’s face. With one eye blinded, the troll had turned its face to see better as it chased its prey.
The red-hot coals caught it by complete surprise. The troll’s other eye popped and sizzled as the coals struck it’s face and set its fur ablaze.
Hal dropped his shield and snatched up the torch shoving it into the brazier to light it while he leaned down to snatch up his sword.
Turning back, he saw the troll stumbling around blind. Its head was a smoldering wreck from where the fire had seared the wounds past the point of regeneration.
Hal ran forward to catch the troll from behind and shoved his sword into the base of the creature’s spine. He must have severed the spinal cord because the legs folded under it, tumbling the troll forward.
Hal shoved the burning torch into the open gash in the troll’s back and held it there as the fur around the wound caught fire and burned the skin underneath.
The troll howled in pain trying to drag itself away from the foe it could no longer see.
Not wanting to toy with the creature’s death, Hal ran up and hacked down on the back of the troll’s neck twice before the head partially detached from the shoulders. That did the trick and Hal cauterized that wound before the dead troll could revive itself from near decapitation.
Snow troll killed - 1,100 experience points awarded.
Skill learned - Combat misdirection
Level Up!
Hal couldn’t take any time to bask in the defeat of his own troll. His friends needed his help. Kay was stumbling around trying to avoid her troll’s attacks. She was obviously wounded pretty badly based on the way she was moving.
Otto seemed to be faring a little better. He and the final troll seemed to be trading blows wit
h each other and the big man was holding his own.
Hal veered towards Kay, shouting and waiving the torch over his head. This drew a round of cheers from the crowd. In fact, Hal noticed the whole coliseum was on their feet. They must have liked how he took out his troll and expected another quick kill.
He didn’t care about that, of course. He was focused on getting there and getting Kay out of trouble.
The ploy worked.
Hal’s charge with the torch distracted the troll from attacking Kay. It turned to face him, roaring in defiance.
Hal ran almost all the way up to the troll, then dove to one side avoiding the swipe of its claws. He landed hard on his injured shoulder but shrugged off the additional tearing pain he felt in the open wound.
Health damage: Health -6
It hurt so bad he almost dropped the torch.
Almost.
Rolling back to his feet, Hal sliced at the troll’s hamstrings from behind causing both legs to buckle.
The troll crashed forward, unable to bear weight on its legs any more.
Hal lowered his good shoulder and shoved the troll from behind so it fell forward. Hal seared the backs of the knees to stop the hamstrings from healing before he finished the troll off.
“Hal, look out!”
The attack from the third troll took Hal by surprise and knocked him ten feet across the arena to land sprawling on the sandy ground.
Health damage: Health -16
Hal almost blacked out when he landed but he forced himself to focus and remain conscious.
Health: 30/96
His back felt like it was on fire from the raking double-handed attack from the third troll’s razor-sharp claws.
Otto lay on the ground thirty feet away.
Hal couldn’t tell if he was alive or dead.
Hal rolled up onto his knees and picked up his sword. Kay was battling the final troll in a flurry of parrying attacks to keep it at bay.
He knew he had to get in there and take the creature on. The second troll was out of the fight. It was half crawling, half dragging itself away towards the exit gates.
Hal picked up the sputtering torch from the sand. The oil-soaked fabric that made up the head of the torch had almost burned away. He didn’t know how much longer it would burn.
Running at the final troll, Hal raced up to the beast, waving the torch in front of him to get its attention away from Kay.
It worked.
Kay used the distraction to step up and run the troll through with her sword. Blood poured out of the open wound in the chest. She must have hit one of the great arteries to release so much blood so fast.
Hal handed her the torch as the troll fell over, dying. She torched the open chest wound setting the troll’s torso ablaze.
Hal held out his hand for the torch. Taking it and his sword, he went to finish off the final troll with a mercy stroke to its neck while Kay limped over to check on Otto.
Snow troll killed - 1,100 experience points awarded.
“Otto’s alive, Hal, though just barely,” Kay called.
“Good, then let’s get him back to our quarters so they can heal him,” Hal called out over the din of the crowd.
The crowd was shouting and cheering with abandon for the victory they’d witnessed. The people had been sure the final troll would kill Hal and finish Kay off easily. They’d been surprised when the two humans had prevailed. Now the crowd cheered the two of them.
Hal and Kay waited in silence for the four litter-bearing slaves to come out and carry Otto back through the double gates. The two of them walked on either side as an honor guard.
They’d won and lived to fight another day.
Name: Hal Dix
Class: Warrior
Level: 5
Attributes:
Brawn: 22 — +7
Wisdom: 8
Luck: 24 — +8
Speed: 14 — +3
Looks: 8
Health: 30/96
Skills: Shield Bash - 2, One-Handed Combat - 2, Combat Misdirection -1
Weapon proficiencies: Long sword - 3, Crossbow - 1
Warrior Experience: 3,500/4,800
Rogue Experience: 146,100/250,000
Attribute points: 2
Skill points: 1
16
Once back inside the gladiator quarters beneath the coliseum, Hal and Kay both nearly collapsed from the pain of their injuries. Both have been severely wounded and they were looking forward to the healing mages to make their visits to heal Otto and then each of them.
The brown-robed healer entered the equipment room where the slaves were removing Otto’s breast plate. Two other slaves helped Hal and Kay remove their damaged armor. The healer began muttering a spell as soon as he saw Otto’s ashen face. The unconscious fighter was not moving except for the rise and fall of his chest. Hal thought that was good news at least.
While the healer took care of Otto, Hal looked over his stats and tried to decide where to spend his skill and attribute points. He was tempted to put in more to his brawn skill, but he wondered if he might benefit from adding to his other lower skills. He knew his looks and wisdom might need boosting at some point. Maybe now was that time.
Rather than splitting up his points between them, Hal opted to put both points to his wisdom attribute bringing the value to ten. He instantly saw a notification appear in his visual field.
New skills opened
Wondering what that meant, Hal opened his skills menu for the warrior class and saw the two new skills added below the others.
Warrior Skills:
Shield Bash
One-Handed Combat
Two-Handed Combat
Large Weapon Combat
Ranged Weapons
Parry
Riposte
Battle Flow (adapted weaponless combat skill)
Prescience (avoid surprise attacks and attacks from behind)
That last ability, Prescience, would have come in handy in today’s fighting. That last troll almost finished them all off. Deciding to adopt that new skill, Hal closed the skills menu and looked at his new stats one last time before clearing them from view.
The healer must have finished with whatever he was going to do with Otto because he took his hands away from the big man’s chest and stood up straight.
“Will he pull through?” Hal asked the mage.
“He will survive his injuries. This was the closest to death he’s ever been,” the mage replied. He turned to leave the room without attending to Hal and Kay.
“Hey, what about us?” Hal called out as the mage walked out.
“He’s under orders to let you both heal on your own, Hal Dix,” Flemming Ginty said from the other side of the bars in the corridor. The Warden was flanked by four coliseum guards.
“So, you’re just going to let us die from our injuries,” Kay snapped. “That could mean we die down here, out of sight of the crowds above. How would that work for your plan to make a spectacle of our deaths?”
“I think you both will survive your injuries this time,” Ginty said. “I will not have our mages wasting their powers on those who are traitors to the Empire. You both will have to tend to your own wounds.”
“We’ll be fine, Kay,” Hal said. “Let the little man play his games. I have plans for him when I get out of here.”
Ginty laughed. “You’re already planning your grand escape, are you? No one has ever gotten out of the coliseum alive unless I approve of it. The only way you’ll leave is when your lifeless body is dragged from the arena. That I promise you.”
“Ah, but I am Spartacus,” Hal replied.
“What the hell does that mean? Don’t tell me you’re using yet another made up name for yourself. First, you’re ‘the Hood,’ now you’re this Spartacus fellow. Make up your mind, will you?”
“I am who I need to be in the moment. Call it my superpower.”
“Who do you think you are, the mythical opponent of legend?” Ginty as
ked, laughing aloud.
“Perhaps I am. You can tell me the answer to that just before I kill you.” Hal threatened.
“Better men than you have tried, Hal Dix. I’m not as easy to kill as you might think.”
“That’s what all the Wardens in Tandon thought,” Hal quipped.
Ginty seemed flustered by Hal’s baseless bravado. Rather than say anything else, Ginty waived for the guards to follow him and he spun around and left the equipment room behind.
Otto groaned on the table where he lay on the litter and the big man’s eyes fluttered open. He looked over at Hal and Kay and gave them a crooked smile.
“I must not have died and gone to heaven, else I wouldn’t be looking at your ugly mugs. I assume we won the fight.”
“How do you feel?” Kay asked.
“Like I’ve been run over by a herd of horses. My head is pounding but otherwise I seem to be well enough.” Otto looked up from checking his own body for wounds and stared at his two companions. “You two look like hell, though. Why didn’t the mage heal you two as well?”
“According to the Wardens, we are not to be healed. We must heal up on our own, apparently,” Hal said.
Otto winced as he sat up and swung his legs to the floor. “That is not good. I fear we won’t survive another fight like that last one if you two are injured.”
“Perhaps you won’t be paired with us next time. It might be for the best if you try to stay far away from the two of us,” Kay said.
“Nonsense. What about your clever plan for escape, Hal? What about that? I have to stay close to you if only to see how you make it work.”
“We will get out of here and not dragged out by our heels the way Ginty wants either. My plan has developed a little since I’ve gotten a good look at the arena again.”