Glimpses - The Arena
By: Shimazu
'A fall from grace cannot be measured. What would you measure? How much money you had? How happy you were? How much respect you commanded? Maybe just how healthy you was? Well, if it can be measured, I am not the one to do so. I am not the one to judge anything, I am the judged.'
***
A man sat on one of the wooden benches which lined the dimly lit stone tunnel. He was old, his thinning grey hair outlined a worn chisled face. A scar stretched from his left ear, across his nose and down to the right side of his jaw, and another intercepting his mouth and disappearing under his chin. His eyes were dull and lifeless, sat atop them his eyebrows were slightly overgrown, retaining wisps of black hair.
The murmur of a crowd echoed throughout the tunnel until they were silenced by the bellowing of the arena announcer. Hearing the cue he stood, revealing broad muscular shoulders and a slightly inflated gut. He brushed his hessian-like blue tunic down and reached for his shield. It was an old shield, mainly a dark wood, reinforced with rusty iron strips.
The chains to the gate tensioned and the gate slowly lifted. The orange glow of dusk crept in through the gap illuminating the mossy damp stones of the tunnel. The man stepped forward, climbing the steps up to the gate.
'ONCE AGAIN AGAINST THE ODDS ITS ROBERT' the announcer exclaimed, cheers and chants filled the arena. The gate fully opened and Robert took a few steps into the open, loosely grasping his shield in his right hand.
Robert glared at the opposite gate, which was yet to open. The crowd went silent, or, perhaps it didn't and he was just oblivious to it. He heard a clank and slowly the gate lifted. The feint glow of the sun couldn't reach the gate and thus Robert was greeted with a piercing darkness. He postured up.
A large figure emerged, twice the size of any man. It dragged a war hammer, out of the tunnel and stood glaring at Robert. It was a Khajiit, a cathay-raht to be precise. Robert had seen them before, in Elysweyr, he'd had the grim pleasure of meeting them in battle and witnessing their immense strength and ferocity first hand. He wasn't relishing the idea of his aged body competing with a relentless beast.
Robert took a light jog toward the Khajiit, it roared and raised its hammer above it's head. Robert accelerated to a sprint, he reached the khajiit, leaped into the air and slammed the side of his shield across its face. The khajiit responded by swinging its war hammer up from the ground whilst clutching its wounded head.
The blow hit Roberts shield and he was flung backwards in a daze. He lay on his back, his shield lay to the side of him. The Khajiit approached, war hammer tossed aside he grabbed Robert by the throat with both hands and brought him to his level. 'I know who you are' snarled the Khajiit 'the sins of your past cannot be erased here, nor can you run from them. I am your judgement and this is your judgement day'.
Roberts head was spinning, the crowds murmur and the Khajiits snarling was inaudible, in its place a heavy heartbeat and a piercing squeal.
The khajiit pounded Robert to the head, opening a huge gash over his eyebrow. Blood trickled down into Roberts mouth; finally the two khajiit he was seeing merged into one. With all the strength he could muster he crashed his skull into the khajiits nose. It loosened its grip on Robert, taking his chance he managed to wriggle free and scramble to his shield. Blood still pouring from his wound, Roberts left eye was completely useless. He picked up his shield and turned to face his opponent, who was still clutching his face.
Robert took a deep breath and slowly stepped toward the khajiit, who had recovered and was once again wielding its war hammer. The khajiit charged and swung the hammer with all of its might, Robert dodged a ploughed the edge of his shield into his enemy's throat, it fell to its knees, Robert launched his knee into its face and the khajiit fell, lifeless.
Wiping the blood from his eye, Robert stood over the lifeless khajiit. He took his shield with both hands over his head and pounded his opponent in the face until all that was left was a bloody mess. The crowd cheered.
Robert stumbled away, he was heavy, he couldn't pick up his feet properly. He could see the tunnel, barely, still, all he could hear was his heartbeat. Darkness was creeping in, from the edges of his vision, toward the tunnel, it was getting darker, and darker.
Robert fell to his knees, then onto his front, his face was planted in the gritty sand. The crowd fell silent.
***
'Some people say you must have no regrets, because the decisions you make, form who you are today. I say, what if you don't like who you are today, what if you were a better man yesterday.'
Comments
I love that last line, great story Shimazu.