The capsule came to a complete stop at the end of its pathway, docking in a port next to several other capsules on their own tracks. A waiting guard pulled a crank on our port, opening our capsule. I was unchained from the table and pushed outside. There was a dirt tunnel across from where we docked. Applause was coming from the other end. I had a bad feeling about where it led.
I was taken to the left side of the cavern where a metallic ramp ran twenty feet up to an immense iron door. Rampart led us to it with guards in front of and behind me in case I got any ideas.
I glanced over my shoulder at the other side of the cavern. Past the last capsule dock, a set of glass doors provided access to a white room built into the rock. It was full of weapons. Six women in black outfits and headscarves were inside arranging an array of the arms into carts. I thought one of them shot me a look through the eye slit in her headscarf as she loaded knives onto her cart, but a guard stepped in front of my line of sight before I could be sure.
At the top of the ramp, Rampart thrust open the door with a massive push. My fears were confirmed. The applause and illumination hit me like a tidal wave as we stepped out onto the private viewing box of the Mercy Pit.
While the night sky was a smudge of purple and gray, giant spotlights—each the size of a carriage—were mounted on high posts across the canyon, illuminating the packed arena.
There were a dozen knights and a slew of courtiers and nobles gathered in the viewing box, many helping themselves from a buffet table. They bowed or curtsied as Rampart walked past and I was led forward to the front railing.
Three people awaited us at the head of the viewing box: the announcer I’d seen earlier, Rampart’s wife, and Morgause. The two women sat in ornate thrones with an empty throne for Rampart nestled between them.
While Rampart took his seat, a guard approached me and locked the chain of my shackles to another chain on the railing. I eyed his sword and the dagger attached to his belt as he stashed his key ring within his right pocket and moved to stand with the guards at the back of the viewing box. Now shackled in place, I turned my attention to the pit below. The drop to the arena floor was nearly twenty feet.
The announcer came to stand beside me, as did Morgause. The latter smiled wickedly before summoning her magic and gently levitating the announcer to ground level. I watched him walk to the center of the Mercy Pit. The projection orbs followed him like obedient servants, lighting up the sky with his image. When he held up his hands the stadium fell silent.
“Our king promised you a special fight tonight, and by his good grace, he has delivered! Wanted in Camelot, enemy to this realm and many others, and guilty of conspiring against the king in the highest order—please give a round of applause for this evening’s challengers!”
The barred gates of a tunnel on the other side of the arena were raised and Jason and Blue were pushed out into the Mercy Pit. The projection orbs zipped around them excitedly, broadcasting their bewildered faces on the enormous holographic screens. My hands tightly clutched the railing.
They were still in their fine attire from the party but their hands were shackled. Guards herded them toward the center of the arena. Three women in black appeared from the tunnel below the viewing box pushing weapons carts.
“These protagonists are some of the most formidable in the realm of Book!” the announcer continued. “So I’m sure we’re in for a good fight! Now then,” he turned to Jason and Blue. “Choose your weapons!”
The guards uncuffed my friends and went to stand beside the announcer. Blue and Jason looked at each other before moving toward the carts. When Blue bent over to grab a weapon. I thought she hesitated for a moment when she bumped into one of the women in black.
Jason selected an axe and Blue picked up a sturdy dagger. I leaned over the railing and watched the women push the carts back inside the tunnel, passing beneath the twelve-foot Camelot flag that flowed below the private viewing box.
“And representing the king,” the announcer boomed, “please put your hands together for the senior members of his majesty’s roundtable!”
The five knights that Blue, SJ, and I had danced with at the ball emerged from another tunnel. They carried gleaming weapons, but Blue and Jason didn’t even flinch. A smile crept in at the corners of my mouth.
These knights have no chance.
I pivoted toward Rampart with a smirk on my face. “You’re going to need more men.”
The guards who’d escorted my friends into the arena returned to their tunnel while Morgause levitated the announcer back to the viewing box.
“Your confidence is admirable, but foolish, Crisanta,” Rampart said condescendingly as he sat in his throne. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to watch your friends get killed. My men are presently searching the castle for your other companions and will bring them here to face the same fate. And by evening’s end, Arian will be here for you.”
Morgause settled into her throne as the announcer headed for the golden gong. I leaned back against the railing as I met the collective gaze of the king and his royal family.
“Not a bad theory,” I responded. “But here’s what’s actually going to happen. My friends are going to best your men and expectations. I’m going to escape. And we’re going to leave you here looking like a fool in front of your people, having to explain to Arian how you let us get away.”
Rampart scoffed. “Like I said, Arian mentioned you were cocky.”
“Did he also mention that I was good?” I replied. “The guy’s been hunting me for months, Rampart, and I embarrass him at every turn. What makes you so certain I won’t do the same to you?”
The announcer grabbed his mallet and swung it against the gong. “Fight!” he boomed.
I directed my full attention to the arena. The five knights charged and I held my breath. I had full faith in my friends, but these were the king’s best. I pulled at my cuffs. It wasn’t easy watching my friends fight for their lives when I was stuck on the sidelines.
Jason and Blue kept close to each other, working as a team like they always did. It took thirty seconds for them to take out the first two knights with their dagger-axe combos.
Now there were only three opponents left. Blue used her free-flowing dress to her advantage, twirling her long skirt wildly and distracting the knights like a red cloth waved in front of a bull. Jason’s defensive and offensive axe moves never ceased to amaze me. I pitied anyone who went up against him.
When my friends dropped the third and fourth knights, I glanced smugly over my shoulder at Rampart. “Told you that you needed more men.”
My friends had successfully knocked out all but one of the knights. And unlike the fights we’d witnessed earlier, Jason and Blue had been triumphant without murdering their opponents for the entertainment of the crowd; their attackers were either knocked out or severely injured. It was an epic display of skill paired with restraint and mercy.
The last knight left was Sir Gaheris—arguably the biggest and most adept of the lot. He was making them work for the win. My friends split up and attacked Gaheris from both sides, but he fought like a beast.
Jason jumped out of the way to evade the point of Gaheris’s sword. Blue dashed around the knight’s other side. He swung. She ducked to avoid his blade. From her crouched position she sliced her knife across his thigh, but he was unfazed by the wound and kicked her in the chest. Blue stumbled back and dropped her dagger. Gaheris kicked it out of her reach.
Jason took a swing at Gaheris with his axe. The knight expertly side-stepped and drove his sword straight into Jason’s side.
I gasped and clutched the railing so hard I thought it might shatter. On the enormous holographic screens, I saw Jason stagger. A thin line of blood stained his shirt, growing wider and darker with every second. Gaheris struck out again and Jason managed to block the strike, but after the injury he hadn’t had enough time to properly brace himself. Gaheris knocked his axe away and punched Jason in the face. My
friend fell to the ground.
Gaheris lifted his blade and was about to bring it down for the kill shot when Blue stepped in.
Blue was small in comparison to Gaheris, but she was all muscle. She used every ounce of her strength to plow-drive into Gaheris’s side, knocking him away from Jason and into the dirt.
Gaheris reacted quickly, wrapping his arm around Blue’s neck and slamming her down. Blue scratched his face before reaching for her secret weapon, the hunting knife she’d hidden in the holster on her leg. She used her knife-wielding arm to block his sword-wielding one as it drove toward her. She stopped his weapon, but she didn’t stop his other hand as it rushed in and gripped her neck.
“Blue!” I yelled.
Gaheris slammed her into the dirt once more, choking her with one hand, crushing her throat. He thought he’d won. He didn’t see what was coming up behind him.
While Gaheris had been throttling Blue, Jason had staggered upright and now stood behind Gaheris. He grabbed the knight’s head between both hands, twisted, and …
SNAP.
The orbs projected the sound across the Mercy Pit at full volume. I froze.
Gaheris collapsed to the ground, his neck broken. Morgause stood up behind me and screamed. I was surprised by how genuinely horrified she was.
Her cry was drowned out though by the sounds of the arena going wild. On the holographic screens, I watched Jason take a step back with a look of shock on his face. He’d killed Gaheris.
“You’re right,” Rampart said.
I turned to face him. He was holding Morgause’s hand but looked at me with vengeance. “I could use more men.”
He waved at the announcer, who smacked the gong twice.
“Round Two!” The announcer’s voice boomed.
Fifteen more knights entered the arena from tunnels all around the combat floor and charged at Blue and Jason. My friends braced themselves for the attack. Jason clutched his injured side with one hand. Blue stood near him protectively.
The threat was thirty feet from them, twenty feet, and then …
One of the massive lights illuminating the canyon exploded, shot by an arrow. Screams emitted from the crowd as sparks flew. A second light experienced the same fate, followed by a third, fourth, and a fifth in perfect succession.
Panicked shouts filled the air as darkness fell over the Mercy Pit. The knights who were supposed to be battling my friends looked around trying to find out where the shots were coming from. Blue and Jason took advantage of their distraction and ran toward my side of the arena.
My eyes darted from one side of the arena to the other. So much was happening. For a second, I saw a gaggle of knights chasing a woman in brown robes in the higher part of the canyon. But when a sixth light was taken out, that part of the Mercy Pit dropped into shadow.
Knights and guards in our viewing box hurried for the door that led to the stairs. Before they could exit, the force of an eruption on the other side pushed them back. There was no smoke or fire, but the door rattled like something powerful had punched it. Green slime seeped beneath the doorframe.
SJ!
An arrow suddenly sailed above our heads. Two more arrows followed—each attached to a zipline. Seventy percent of the Mercy Pit’s lights had been taken out by then, so the approach of the assailants was concealed by the darkness. The projection orbs flashed disorienting shots of screeching people in the stands and chaos in the canyon.
More arrows struck our box—and the people inside. The courtiers screamed as knight after knight was hit. Three women in brown robes and headscarves ziplined onto the viewing box. Each of them carried a quiver of arrows and a bow. They advanced on the remaining armed men. A gold emblem was sewn onto each girl’s right shoulder—it was the letter G contained within the mouth of a dragon.
Conflict ensued around me. The guard who’d shackled me to the railing wasn’t far and he was attacking one of the robed girls. I saw Rampart about to slice a different robed girl in half. The closest person to me was the announcer and I kicked him in the lower back. This sent him sailing into one knight, who then toppled into Rampart. They all fell like dominoes.
The girl I’d helped looked in my direction. Her brown eyes met mine and I knew we were on the same side.
“I need the key!” I said urgently, lifting my shackled hands and tilting my chin at the guard that had it.
The girl nodded and spun, hocking the nearest knight’s leg out from under him. She slammed her bow into the face of another attacker before pivoting around, punching the guard I sought, and kicking him in my direction.
He fell against the railing. I dashed in and powerfully backfisted him in the face with my left hand before reaching down and grabbing the key ring from his pocket with my right. He tried to come at me, but I kicked him in the kneecap. He folded. My fingers clasped around the key ring like brass knuckles and I drove in with a ruthless back-fist, right hook, back-fist combo, finishing with a good kick to the teeth. He slammed back—knocked out—and I had my opening.
I freed myself from the railing but still had my original cuffs and chain to worry about. More knights charged. I bobbed around the first knight’s sword then ducked beneath the second knight’s dagger. With a kneecap kick and a body slam, I took the first knight down. The second knight lunged in with his dagger again, but I raised the chain of my cuffs and used it to block then wrap the knight’s weapon and wrist. With a tug, I yanked him to the railing and stomped my heel into his foot. He dropped his dagger and I pushed him over the railing.
Another explosion erupted somewhere beneath the viewing box, causing everyone to stagger.
“Get down to the arena!” one of the robed girls shouted at me. “Exit through the tunnel below the box!”
All right. But how am I supposed to get down there?
I couldn’t climb down the smooth cement wall below the box. The archers were too busy to help me any more than they already were. And I still had my cuffs to worry about.
I spotted the dagger on the floor then looked over the railing at the flag.
Oh, this is a bad idea.
Before good sense could talk me out of it, I kicked off my heels, grabbed the dagger, and hopped over the railing. As I fell, I stabbed the dagger through the flag. By cutting through the thick material, I was able to slow my drop tremendously. Until I reached the end of it.
When the flag ran out I fell the last eight feet on my own. I braced myself as best I could, rolling on impact, but I hit the dirt hard.
Ow.
After the initial shock of the landing, I forced my will and adrenaline to compensate for the pain and pulled myself up.
I was scraped and sore and a little woozy, but I had to keep going. I looked around. The Mercy Pit was massive from this vantage point. Now eighty percent dark, it’d become a chamber of screaming, frightened civilians.
“Crisa!”
Blue and Jason called to me from the tunnel below the viewing box. The gate in front of it had been blown apart from the inside. That must’ve been the explosion I felt a minute ago. I was overjoyed and relieved to reunite with them.
“Good to see you in one piece,” Jason said.
“Same,” I said as the three of us high-tailed it down the tunnel.
“I see you left both your shoes behind before making a break for it,” Blue commented with a grin.
“Ha ha. Yes, I get it,” I replied dryly, grateful that Blue was in good enough shape to be cracking Cinderella jokes.
We came out the other side of the tunnel. I looked up and noticed that the door to the viewing box was encased in a wall of green goo and the ramp leading up to it had been obliterated. Also, the only person within the cavern that was not frozen in a block of ice was one of the women in black who’d pushed out the weapons cart. She pulled off her headscarf.
“SJ!” I exclaimed.
“Come on,” she said, waving us toward the capsules.
SJ selected a different capsule than the one Rampart an
d I had arrived in. Blue heaved the crank on its dock. The capsule opened and we started to hop in, but then one of the knights from the arena came rushing in through the tunnel—the guy I’d thrown over the railing.
SJ pulled down the neck of her black dress to reveal her necklace of portable potions. She had three orbs left—one explosion, an ice, and a lightning. She drew the explosion potion and fired it at the ground a few feet in front of the knight.
The closer the range of her shot, the smaller the effect of her potions. From this distance, her shot caused a moderate eruption that blasted the knight back. Blue grabbed a rock the size of a cereal bowl and waved us into the capsule. When we were inside, she heaved the rock at the crank, hit it square-on, and the capsule sealed.
“How do you make these things go?” SJ asked, looking around the pod desperately.
“I’ve got it.” I hastily yanked on the handle in the ceiling, revealing the red button and black dial. “Everybody hang on.” I punched the red button. The capsule had barely started to move when I turned the black dial to its highest setting—number ten—with a swift twist. The capsule took off furiously down its track beneath the mountain and I was slammed into the seat between Jason and Blue.
“Who were those women in the brown robes?” I asked.
“The Gwenivere Brigade,” SJ responded. “That resistance group trying to overthrow King Rampart and restore the throne to Arthur’s wife, Gwenivere. Ormé is their leader. When the three of you got captured, I escaped from the Knights’ Room and communicated with her and Daniel through the Mark Two. We came up with a plan.”
“We left them behind in the arena,” Jason said. “Those Gwenivere Brigade people, I mean. Should we be worried about them?”
“They have an escape plan of their own,” SJ responded. “We will rendezvous with a few of them when we meet up with Daniel. Now then, let us get you free.” She gestured for me to put my cuffs on the table.
“They’re made of Stiltdegarth blood,” I said. “They’re blocking my magic and I don’t think you can cut through them with a regular blade.”
Crisanta Knight: To Death & Back Page 13