by Jake Daniel
Whatever the potion was that he’d given me was already beginning to work. The scratches and cuts that marked my body were healing in front of my eyes. I looked at Amos curiously for a second before I remembered Fapplejack. I craned my neck to see if I could spot him, but he was no longer attached to my back. “Wha...what happened?”
“You blew up half of the goddamn arena, that’s what happened. How’d you do that?”
I rubbed my temples, trying to get the constant pulsing to stop. “I’m not even sure what I did. I was concentrating on a strand of spirit and the next thing I remember was opening my eyes. I blew up the arena?”
“Yes! Well, a portion of it anyway. I thought you’d lost for sure. I was about to head onto the floor to pull your carcass out of the way when the web you were in glowed brightly.”
“I was glowing? For how long?”
“Two, maybe three seconds.” He paused and pointed at my chest. “I mean, you still are.”
I glanced down to my chest and saw the dim glow of my scar through my chest armor. I nodded and rubbed my temples slowly. “What happened while I was in that web?”
Amos tried to slick back his hair but gave up after a couple seconds. “The queen stood above you, as if she were about to take you away, when suddenly a brilliant beam of light burst through the cocoon. It blew right up through that spider’s chest, killing her immediately and breaking her and her brood into several pieces.” He shook his head. “It didn’t stop there, though. That damn light took out half the arena. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
I sat on a small wooden chair like a winded boxer between rounds. I paused and ran a hand along my side. “Who was that mother fucker who shot me with the dart? It was like I couldn’t move after that happened.”
“It was the spider queen’s sponsor. You landed a near fatal stab to her abdomen. He could tell victory was slipping away. He panicked.”
I rubbed my head, trying to fight off the oncoming headache. “So, I won my trial?”
“Yes, but that’s not the concern right now. The concern is that the queen was odds on favorite to win the entire tournament. She had a large following and many had a lot riding on her to win. Me included.”
“Wait, you bet against me?” I shook my head.
“Well yes, that was before I knew you actually had control over spirit.”
“Well, I hope you lost a shit ton of money. I told you I was going to win.”
Amos held out his hand and shook his head. “Oh, no. I at least figured you would put up a fight after what you did to my minotaur, but even I had concerns about my champion potentially facing the queen.”
“So what did you wager?” I looked behind him and noticed his girls were no longer with him. I met his eyes. “You wagered your dragon women?”
Amos’s eyes shifted toward the ground in shame. “Yes, but no worries, that’s not important. You should be thankful you only killed the spider queen, and not any of the spectators. Well, at least the ones that matter anyway.” He paused and looked around, unable to hide the brief look of sadness that crossed his face. I could tell he was hoping his dragon women were nearby and was sad he didn’t have them. A brief feeling of empathy washed over me but I shook it out of my head. He cleared his throat and slammed his cane on the ground. “For now, we need to find a safe way to get you out of here. There’s plenty of pissed off sponsors that would love to get their hands on you at the moment.”
I stood and started forward. “I’m not going anywhere without the three girls I came with.”
“No, there’s no time. You must leave them behind if you want to survive.”
My arm shot out before I even realized I’d done it and my hand clamped around his neck. “I’m not fucking going anywhere without them.” I released him with a shove and he cowered away from me.
“Okay, okay, there’s no need for any of that. Follow me then, although I seriously doubt they’re still alive.”
Someone cleared their throat from a door off to the side and I breathed a sigh of relief as all three girls were standing in the entrance to the room. Dahlia held Fapplejack in her arms while Gwen and Isobel flanked her on each side.
“Try again.” Gwen said flatly as she stepped forward and grabbed the side of my face, kissing me passionately before letting me go.
I gave her a small smile. “I think I may have underestimated my power.”
She let out a small laugh. “No shit.”
My eyes shifted over to Fapplejack. The goblin looked in even worse shape than when I had him strapped to my back. He gave me a thumbs up and a smile which revealed he’d lost several teeth during the fight. “We did good, Logan, sir.”
“You’re damn right we did good. You were amazing out there. FJ the Spider Slayer. Has a nice ring to it.” He straightened slightly and seemed proud of his new title.
Dahlia had the goblin wrapped with vines, securing him in place. She looked up to me with a smirk. “Precautionary. When you...when the light appeared, Fapplejack flew into the crowd. Fortunately, he landed on two Bear-kin warriors, so they broke his fall, mostly.”
“That’s a relief. How about you? Are you injured at all?”
She smiled. “Always worried about everyone else. I’m fine. I had Gwen and Isobel the whole time.” She paused and spoke a little softer as she stole a quick glance over to Isobel. “Make sure you don’t make her angry anytime soon.”
Isobel stepped forward and shrugged. “I only did what I had to do.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Oh, did I miss something good?”
Gwen let out a chuckle. “Let’s just say, Isobel is probably a better warrior than almost everyone here. Most of the other travelers knew we arrived at the arena with you. They tried to take out their gambling losses on us, but Isobel wasn’t having it. She took on a whole section before the guards chased us off.”
Isobel shifted uncomfortably and shrugged. “I may have gotten somewhat carried away.”
“Carried away? You cut a man’s arm off!” Gwen laughed and made a slicing motion with her arm. “They very well could’ve really injured us, or worse, if it were not for you.”
“You and Dahlia were in trouble, I’m sure you would’ve done the same for me.” She straightened and brushed her hair back behind one of her fur covered ears atop her head. “We really should be going.”
I nodded. “Thank you, Isobel. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I promise you, I will do everything in my power to find your father.”
Isobel shifted and glanced toward the door before responding. “Oh, don’t worry, I know you will. After seeing how you handled that spider queen, though, I’m glad you’re on my side.”
I gave the wolf woman a small smirk and led the others up through the corridor. We stayed together, and I gave Amos a small nudge forward. “Do you have any suggestions on the best way to get out of here?”
The man straightened his suit coat and tapped the ground twice with his cane. “We’ll go out through the infirmary. Follow me.”
Amos stopped at the doorway leading out to the arena and looked back. “Keep your head down, don’t look at anyone in the eyes. I’ll tell you when it’s safe.”
Most of the spectators had filtered out into the area outside the arena with several others working together to extinguish the raging fire that had taken over the stands. I stood next to Amos and when I saw the opportunity to move; I pulled Amos forward, and the others followed closely behind.
We crossed a wide opening with the main entrance to the arena on our left. We reached the other side in a matter of seconds and entered an identical corridor on the other side. Amos’s limp became more pronounced the faster we moved, and he struggled to keep up. I glanced back to make sure we didn’t lose him before entering an unfamiliar room. It was the same size as the staging room on the other side and held several cots. I glanced around and received curious looks from all the bandaged and bloody fighters currently receiving aid.
I spotted Sven ac
ross the room. His face brightened and he rushed over. “You survived. I figured something big happened after I heard the explosion. I thought you were a goner.”
“They haven’t killed me yet. Good job winning your trial.” I gave his shoulder a hard pat. “Good luck at the tournament. I hope you’re able to make it back to your family and give them everything that you’re risking your life for.”
He let out a chuckle. “If you ask them, they’d just say they want me, but I know my wife and children would love for me to bring some coin home so we could start that new life we’d always dreamed of.”
“Well, I really hope that it all works out for you.”
Sven nodded and paused as Amos stepped forward. Amos waved an arm obnoxiously, trying to get Sven to move out of the way. “This way, there’s a door back here.”
I scanned the room for any familiar faces and stopped at an older wolf-kin who laid unconscious on a cot toward the back of the room. I pointed him out to Isobel and she stood on her tiptoes to inspect. She lowered slowly and shook her head. “No, he’s not from our village.”
“That’s okay, we’ll just keep looking. We’ll find him.”
Amos flung a door open toward the back of the room. “Let’s get moving. I need to protect my investment.”
Gwen reached inside her cloak and pulled out my rifle. “I kept it warm for you.” She smiled and entered through the door. Dahlia followed with Fapplejack still secured in her arms, and Isobel filed in behind her. I took a last look around and gave Sven a small nod as I exited through the doorway.
The tunnel was dark and seemed to have been mostly unused. The walls were solid stone and the corridor stretched for what seemed like a mile. We reached the end and Amos gathered us around him. “Be prepared. They wouldn’t dare touch my carriage, but I can promise you, if they haven’t gotten to yours yet, it won’t take them long to find it.”
I held out a hand to prevent Amos from going first. “You better let me take this one.”
I closed my eyes and nearly stumbled over. I had obviously ranked up my Sight skill, as now the world lit up like a carnival. I took a couple seconds to adjust to the colors. From underground I could clearly see the outlines of trees which were vibrant brown, and leaves which glowed bright green. I also saw the outlines of several men and creatures. They seemed to have calmed down from the chaos that reigned supreme moments earlier in the arena and had moved onto other pressing matters.
I climbed a wooden ladder and exited out into a small empty hut. Several papers and maps were strewn across long wooden tables. I walked over to a paper and picked it up. It was a roster of sorts with the names of the fighters and each of their sponsors. I ran my finger down the list of names and found what I was looking for.
Amos Moses
Champion: Logan West
Odds: 8:1
Eight to one, eh? Not bad.
I ran through the list and noticed most of the fighters had much worse odds than I did. I discovered the spider queen was definitely the favorite with 2:1 odds. I found Sven a short distance up the list and noticed that he had 60:1 odds. Good for him.
I searched the area for anything else that may have been of note, but there were so many discarded papers it was hard to if they had value. The squat building had bars on the windows and small teller windows. I immediately recognized we were in Kilney’s version of a sports book where they took and paid out on bets. They had locked all the windows from the inside, and whoever had been manning the desk was nowhere around.
I turned back and motioned for the others to follow. We hurried through the building and exited through a door that faced away from the arena. Shouts of men and beasts alike rose in the distance.
I led the others out of the building and back toward our cart. Amos tried to keep up but couldn’t because of the uneven ground. Every few steps I’d hear him let out a grunt as he lost his footing. I looked back and shook my head as he stopped to mat the sweat from his brow. I lifted him and threw him over my shoulder so we could continue.
The low buzz that had risen over the crowd earlier when we arrived had devolved to chaos. Several groups gathered around large fires and were fighting, drinking, and some were even singing some catchy drinking songs. I stopped as I spotted a familiar face steering a cart away from the madness. It was the same man who’d mentioned the tournament to me back at the manor.
I raised my hand to wave him down. “Hey, traveler.”
The man’s eyes grew wide as we approached. “You’re not safe here. You just killed the odds-on favorite to win the tournament. They’ll be gunning for you, you know.”
“I realize this. We need to get back to our cart so we can get the hell out of here. Would you be willing to create a diversion for us?” I looked in the back of his cart and noticed he had a family of orcs riding along with him.
He looked at me pleadingly and nodded. “Okay, but only because of the hospitality you showed me at your manor.” He leaned back and got the attention of one of his passengers. “Tro’zan, will you hand me that crate next to you?”
The jade skinned and toned orc nodded and pushed the crate across the floor toward the front of the cart.
The man nodded and pulled out three red cylinders. At first I thought they were dynamite until he lifted the first one in front of his face and struck a match. He looked at me and smiled. “I was saving these for when we arrived at the capital, but I suppose if I use a few now it’ll be okay.” He pressed the flame to the short fuse before turning his eyes back to mine. “You best go now.”
I thanked him and hoisted Amos back over my shoulder with a grunt. “Our cart should be just up there.” I hurried forward to where we had left it and froze as a massive burst of heat washed over us. “Well, there goes our way out of here.”
Chapter Twelve
I tossed Amos on the ground and glanced around as several revelers fled from the explosion. “They really must not like you, Amos.”
He let out a high-pitched laugh. “Everyone needs someone to hate. They’re just jealous they’re not able to spot talent as effectively as I’m able to.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes and stopped as I spotted Amos’s cart in the distance. It was still intact, although from the looks of the crowd that was approaching, it wouldn’t be for much longer. I lifted Amos by the arms and Gwen took his legs as we carried him haphazardly toward his carriage. I threw him into the seating area with a thud and helped Dahlia inside. “Find a place where you can, have Fapplejack rest.”
Galloping came from behind me, and I saw the two large white horses from our cart. I let out a sigh of relief and grabbed their bridles. They both shook their manes and looked at me expectantly. I pulled them over to Amos’s cart and handed one off to Isobel. “We’re going to ride the horses. Gwen, will you drive the carriage?”
Gwen gave me a small smirk and snapped the reins. “Try to keep up.”
The carriage jolted with a start as the horses dug their feet into the mossy ground and pulled forward. I climbed atop the second horse and nodded toward Isobel. We flanked the carriage as Gwen picked up speed.
No one seemed to notice at first until a husky man without a shirt pointed us out to his buddies. “Look, there goes Amos. And there’s that son of a bitch who cost us our money!”
I gave him a one-fingered salute with my middle finger and urged my horse to go faster. They threw several rocks and flaming boards our way as we made our way out of town, but we escaped unscathed.
The flames from the bonfires and torches across Kilney faded and the road in front of us grew dark. I glanced back and closed my eyes. The area directly above the arena which, just hours earlier, was nearly bursting from the seams with extremely bright spirit, was completely dormant.
We slowed our pace slightly, and Gwen glanced back toward the city and then to me. “No, you didn’t.”
“Didn’t what?” I gave her a small shrug, anticipating that she already knew I had something to do with the lack of spi
rit above the arena.
“Don’t tell me. No, there’s no way. I mean, maybe...” Gwen seemed to battle with truly accepting what she thought had happened.
“Are you wondering how I could handle cultivating that much spirit all at once?”
Gwen’s mouth transformed into a wide smile. “So it was you?! I knew it. I could sense it while the queen had you trapped in her web. Everyone was cheering, thinking the fight was over and that you were dead. But I could sense you. I felt you cultivating. The spirit was rushing so fast across my skin and past my core. I didn’t realize it then, but your core must have reached, or exceeded, capacity and that’s what caused the explosion.”
I nodded and let out a long breath. “It was wild, for sure. Is riding on a strand of spirit normal for anyone who has the Sight skill?”
Gwen looked at me curiously and blinked a few times. “You did what?! I’m not even going to ask. The answer is no, that’s not normal. What rank are you now anyway, Grand Master? King?” She shook her head, clearly astounded.
I pressed down on my temple and brought up my list of skills. I glanced at Sight and stared at it for several seconds, expecting it to change. “I’m apparently on to the next rank. Well, maybe a little more than that.” I’d almost leveled my Sight skill to the same level as Master Teng had leveled several of his skills. Although Teng had been cultivating his entire life. I’d only been here for about a month and I was rank seven, Expert, in my Sight skill.
She smiled and shook her head before returning her focus on the path in front of her. “You, Logan West, are a unique one, that’s for sure.”
“I’m still not sure if that’s a good thing or not.” I gave my horse a small kick to get him moving faster up along the road. We continued for about an hour before Amos peeked his head from the carriage. “Up here about a thousand feet, turn right. I have a small place we can go where we should be able to get some rest and clean up.”
I rode my horse to the front of the cart and looked for any place to veer off the road. Thick, tall trees flanked us on both sides. It would be nearly impossible to see more than maybe five feet past the edge before everything was pitch black.