by Edward Brody
Eden’s Gate
Book 4: The Arena
Edward Brody
Copyright © 2018 by Edward Brody
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Author’s Notes
Introduction
Book Four of the Eden’s Gate Series!
Edgewood is under attack, and the threat of war lingers across the Serpent Sea. A thief is becoming a thorn in Gunnar's side, and a tempting elf is getting a little feisty.
In order to protect their village, the members of Unity will need to work together to level-up and find better gear. They'll need to lay the foundation of a castle that can serve as a fortification from intruders.
But what if there's a better way?
When Gunnar learns that the King of Highcastle will grant an audience to anyone who wins an Arena championship, he decides to enter the competition as a gladiator. If he can earn a meeting with the ailing King and persuade him to stop Dryden before his dragon flies, he can save Edgewood and countless lives. He'll also get his name posted in every Arena which could lead Rachel one step closer to finding him.
The Arena is a spectacle where people gather to watch fighters put their skills to the test, earn fame, and take home gold. Does Gunnar have what it takes to become a champion or has he bitten off more than he can chew?
“He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself; for every man has need to be forgiven.”
-Thomas Fuller
Chapter One
1/25/0001
Another person screamed, and a man fell face-first into the ground, directly in front of the wagon I was hiding under. An arrow was sticking from his back, and he grunted as he tried clawing himself forward in a desperate effort to get away.
Half of the twenty or so men who were attacking our settlement leaned back and shot another batch of arrows into the sky, making sure they all fell somewhere in our camp.
“Attack!” Shal yelled.
I turned to see Shal point a finger towards the attackers, and each of the dark elves who had been hired to guard our village pulled on their bowstrings and shot straight, piercing arrows into the surrounding forest. Several of the arrows hit their marks, and two of the invaders fell to the ground, while a few others yelped and jerked at their less critical wounds.
As arrows continued flying back and forth, I rolled out from under the wagon I had been hiding under, crouched behind it for cover, and started forming a plan of action while processing what was going on. I had no bow equipped, and using fire or arcane magic would probably draw too much attention towards me.
There was a rustling behind me, and I instinctively grabbed the hilt of my sword as I turned, but I was thankful to see it was Jax rushing to join me in my cover position.
“Are you okay?” he asked with heavy breath.
I nodded. “And you?”
“I’m fine. Do you know who these guys are?”
There was another scream, and across the camp, I saw Ozzy pulling the hammer from his back while Rina staggered backwards, ducked an arrow that had been aimed for her head, then took to safety behind a tree.
I eyed the attackers, and the only one I recognized was the man who had previously tried to rob our shop.
Name: unknown
Race: human
Level: 13
Health/Mana/Stamina: 150/110/160
Status: unknown
He was wearing a set of shiny, black leather armor that looked pristine and had deep, sharp patterns carved into the material. The edges of the armor were fitted with metal, and the whole set looked like something someone of his level shouldn’t have had access to. It made the mix of leather and desert gear I was wearing look like rags in comparison.
“The guy in black is the one that our guards killed the other day,” I explained. “You remember the newbie who tried to rob us, right?”
Jax nodded. “He doesn’t look like a newbie anymore, though. Who are the others?”
“No idea who the other guys are.”
He nodded again. “So what’s our move then?”
I scanned the men accompanying the thief as Jax and I remained crouched behind the wagon. They were all wearing different gear. Some were wearing typical leather armor that I’d expect any human from the Freelands to wear, while a couple of them were decked out in full chain. The two chain wearers that I saw had maces ready to be equipped at their sides, while the leather wearers either had swords or daggers. All of them were carrying bows.
I was about to inspect one of the chainmail wearers when there was another scream, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. It sounded like Keysia’s voice.
Jax grabbed at my collar and pulled me towards him roughly. “Quickly, Gunnar! We don’t have time.”
His sudden tug startled me at first, but then I snapped to my senses. It was the first ambush of the sort that I had experienced in Eden’s Gate, and up until then, I had been able to assess—to some degree—just about all the hostile situations I had been involved in and form a plan of attack beforehand. It was also the first time that Unity as a unit was on the defensive, and it felt a little weird that Jax—who I still looked up to as a mentor—was looking towards me for commands.
But, I had accepted the role of guild leader, and we were in a situation where I couldn’t let doubt be a factor.
I needed to step up and lead.
Ozzy slammed his shield into an attacker as he was reaching for an arrow. As the man stumbled back, Ozzy spun and smashed his hammer across the man’s face, causing blood and teeth to fly out of his mouth.
“Just kill them…” I whispered. I gritted my teeth, tilted my head slightly, and looked Jax directly in the eye. “Do what you do best, and show these assholes no mercy.”
Jax smirked, nodded, and reached behind his back to grab a handful of arrows.
I rolled out from behind the wagon and drew my sword as I charged for the two closest attackers. “Show them no mercy!” I yelled loudly, hoping that all the guards and guild mates could hear me. “Kill anyone who attacks Edgewood!”
As the words left my mouth, it felt savage, violent, and I immediately wondered if my experience in the Sands had affected me or if I was subconsciously taking after Dryden Bloodletter somehow.
I felt an unusually strong tinge of anger inside. Trying to steal from our shop as a newbie was forgivable, but returning to Edgewood to attack us unprovoked wasn’t. As I ran towards the men, I was so angry that I didn’t even think to inspect anyone ot
her than the thief. Whatever level the attackers were, and no matter if we were outnumbered or not, I wanted to show each and every one of them that they had made a serious mistake by marching on our home.
What motive did they have anyway? Our village hadn’t wronged any humans—at least not that I had any knowledge of anyway.
The two men that I was rushing towards noticed me coming their way, and they both nocked an arrow and pointed their arrow tips towards me. But, before they could release their shots, I swung my sword forward in their direction, focusing on an Arcane Slash.
A blue wave of magic sprung away from my sword.
The men let their arrows fly, but the arcane energy I released collided with the projectiles, destroying them in mid-air. The energy continued smashing forward into both men, knocking them back onto the ground and damaging a few trees.
An arrow from another direction slammed into my side, and I grunted loudly as I turned to locate its source. Then, another arrow shot me directly above my waist, causing me to fall down to my knees and nearly drop my sword.
Fire Curtain, I thought reflexively, and a wall of flames rose around me. With arrows flying in several directions, I figured the fire would at least make it difficult for them to get a good shot at me. I needed a moment or two to gather myself.
The protruding arrows hurt like hell, and together they had knocked off 30% of my health. The shafts sticking out of my body were stinging, but I also knew that I’d probably trigger a bleeding effect if I pulled them out.
I chose to just leave them in until the fight was over.
I’d have to be careful rolling or dodging with the shafts sticking out of my body, but I wasn’t sure how long the battle would last, nor was I sure if I’d find a moment to bandage myself if I started to bleed.
An arrow whizzed past my ear, then another arrow landed right beside me. Either someone had terribly bad aim, or they had terribly good aim and were still trying to hit me even without having a clear shot.
There was another scream, and I didn’t recognize the voice. I needed to move fast.
The Fire Curtain dissolved, and I dashed forward, taking cover behind a thin tree. I could see one of the two men that I had hit with Arcane Slash leaning over, trying to care for the other man who had been badly injured.
I held out my hand and focused an Arcane Missile at the man’s back, and his body bucked as soon as the energy struck him. As he twisted around to locate the caster, an arrow landed hard in the side of his neck. He made a gagging noise and grabbed at the shaft as he fell to his knees. Blood started spilling out of his mouth.
You have gained 1000 XP!
I looked around for the source of the arrow, and Jax, who was still hiding in half-cover behind the wagon, acknowledged his guilt with a nod of his chin and a slight smile.
Several meters to my right, two dark elf guards had closed in on our attackers and were engaging in a sword fight with three humans. The dark elves lunged, parried, and dodged with their speed, but they were quickly getting overwhelmed.
I ran towards the elves as more arrows flew past me, and as soon as I was in reaching distance, I drove my falchion deep into the back of a man who was overly focused on our guards. He arched his back, dropped his weapon, and groaned as the elf lunged forward and slashed him hard across the chest and throat with a thin, long blade. The man’s legs went limp and he flopped face-forward onto the ground.
You have gained 800 XP!
Suddenly, it was two versus three in our favor, not the other way around.
One of the remaining men was a chain wearer and swung his flail around in a circle in front of him. He strafed around slowly in a surprisingly calm demeanor, given the chaos taking place all around us. The other man wore a mishmash of leather items and held a broadsword firmly in both hands.
Both elves charged in quickly, swinging their thin, long swords fiercely towards the men. The man with the chain armor swung his flail at an incoming blade, knocking it back and leaving the elf exposed. But before the man could take advantage of the opening, I was at his side, swinging my falchion hard towards his neck, aiming for a killing blow.
The man was faster and managed to duck and swing his flail again, barely clipping my sword, knocking it from its course. I could see the other man in leather was engaged in a close back and forth with the other elf.
White shimmers of energy fell from the sky over the two men, causing them to flinch in pain and stunning them for a brief second once the energy landed on their heads. Even without turning around, I knew that Rina was somewhere behind us lending a hand with her magic.
I lunged at the opportunity, swinging my falchion hard at the flail user’s shin. The blade connected right below his knee, hard enough that it would have severed an uncovered leg, but his chain armor blocked much of the attack. My blade cut through the chain and managed an inch or so into the side of his shin. It was enough to cause the man to shout in pain, but not enough to put him down.
As the man wailed and impulsively whipped his flail in a counterattack effort, the dark elf slashed him hard across his side, another blow that barely pierced the man’s armor but still noticeably affected him. He flinched and grabbed his side, while his flail-holding hand was thrown off balance and connected with nothing but air.
Behind him, the other elf parried an attack from the leather-wearing invader, spun around in an athletic display, and connected with his sword, right across the man’s throat. The man immediately dropped to his knees and grabbed at the wound as blood sprayed violently from his neck.
An arrow flew from somewhere and landed hard in the neck of the elf who had just landed a killing blow. He paused and grabbed the arrow, a look of shock and confusion on his face. He dropped to one knee right before another arrow thumped into the center of his chest. His eyes rolled back in his head and fell forward onto the man he had just killed.
Shit! I thought.
My eyes flickered from our dead guard and back to the chain wearer. Another shimmer of energy landed on him from above, and again he flinched.
The remaining other dark elf and I simultaneously stepped forward and landed sharp blows on the man’s body while we had the chance. My first attack connected with the man’s wrist, triggering him to drop the flail, and the elf’s attack cut into his leg, causing him to fall halfway to the ground.
The man made a noise that was something between a groan and a moan, reached out with a fist, and swung a broken hand. He was determined to cause some sort of damage, even without a weapon.
“Gunnar!” I heard Rina yell.
I turned in the direction of the voice, and instead of Rina, I saw another man out of the corner of my eye, swinging a sword towards my neck.
I ducked just in time to feel the blade make contact with a few bristles of my hair, and reached out my hand, firing an Arcane Missile at the man’s foot.
He lifted his leg and skipped as I rose back to my feet, bringing my sword up vertically with me and slicing through the man’s leather from his crotch to his chest. He groaned as I reached my sword back to strike again, but before I could land a finishing blow, a sharp pain attacked my lower back, and I yelled and fell to my knees, reaching behind me to feel the shaft of yet another arrow. The pain was shocking, and that shock added to the adrenaline, fear, and anger that was consuming me.
My health was down to 30%.
Everything around me seemed to be moving in slow motion. I saw Ozzy, a hundred or so meters away, smash his shield against someone then turn and use his Intimidating Shout on another man. Rina was poking her head out from behind a tree, casting spells, then ducking back, and bodies were beginning to litter the ground. There were a few dead dark elves that I could see and several dead attackers. In front of the shop, three bodies lay, and other bodies were scattered about randomly from there. Tons of arrows were sticking out of the ground and the wood of our homes, and there were more than a few pools of blood.
In front of me, the man we had just cut was
regaining some sense of poise and reached down to grab his flail with his working hand. I let go of the arrow in my back and gritted my teeth, trying to force myself to my feet and ignore the pain.
But the man was fast, despite his injuries.
The dark elf swung his sword down at the man, and in an impressive feat of speed, the invader seized his flail, then swung it up quickly enough to knock the elf’s sword out of the way.
He turned and lunged toward me.
I lifted my falchion as fast as I could, having only enough time to attempt a block of whatever attack he had planned for me. With multiple arrows sticking from my body, feeling slightly dazed, and in a kneeling position, I wasn’t confident that I’d survive even a block.
As the man’s flail rushed towards my face, I had a flashback of the pain I experienced when the Bloodletter guard had crushed in my skull while I was in the Sands. A direct header with a spiked, crushing weapon would likely be a killing blow.
A strong blast of liquid suddenly sprayed onto the man, right before his attack connected, pushing him back several meters and slamming him into a tree. He was pinned there as some sort of water kept pressing into him. It was like the white pressured jet of a fireman’s hose, and when I turned to see the source, Gerard was standing a few meters outside of the shop holding both of his wrists together, palms out, releasing the attack. One of his hands was imbued with a reddish orange wave of magic and seemed to be shooting fire into a jet of water that was expelling from the palm of his other hand.