The steel cage cried as it opened in tandem with my eyes. I trembled as the cold smokey wind sank its teeth into my naked skin. The chain around my neck was tugged and I was dragged out of the cage. My body was weak and numb, painted with dried blood. They threw me against a wall and scrubbed me. The dried blood flaked off my skin like dead leaves from a tree. I was handed a long piece of brown cloth that hung to my ankles. The clanging of metal could be heard as I tied the cloth to my waist. A pair of shackles were locked onto my ankles, the chain long and rusted. It was long enough for me to do a low kick, but if I aimed higher I would fall.
"March, bastard." The guard yelled as he shoved me forward, pointing toward a stone corridor.
I did as I was told, my shackles jingling behind me with each step. Two guards followed close behind me with barbed spears in hand. Halfway through the corridor a light hit my eyes and I flinched. The further down we went the brighter the light got. We stopped in front of the stone opening as the light concealed what laid beyond it. It was as if I was looking at the entrance to Heaven, but it was the portal to my hell. The chanting could be heard clearly now as if I was standing among them.
"Blood, blood, blood!" They screamed in anticipation.
Before I could gather my thoughts I was kicked into the sand. The guards laughed as they locked the door behind me. I rose to my feet and wiped the sand off my face. Step by step I made my way to the center of the field of sand and blood. I stood there face to face with another man three times my size. The cloth around his waist barely over his knees, while mine could kiss my ankles.
"Greetings my people!" A voice shouted from atop the coliseum. Sitting on a throne there he was, Andreas, and by his side Jane.
A grin slathered across her face as she gazed at my beaten body. Like a lion when it saw a gazelle, her eyes looked ready to feast upon her prey.
"I have a special treat for you today." He said leaning against the stone balcony. "Before us stands, Sekera." He said, looking down onto his people with a chuckle.
"A no one." Jane said as she stood at Andreas' side. She had no seat, her presence un-important in Andrea's eyes. Even though she was one of the many sent to the front lines, she never gained his respect, only pity.
"He will suffer for our entertainment." Andreas said as he sat down and leaned his red skin back on his throne. He moved his blonde hair to the side and looked over at Jane with his empty black eyes and nodded. The sound of a bell was all I heard before I was sent flying into a wall. The weapons that hung on the wall fell into the sand sticking up like weeds. At my side was a dagger with a serrated blade, but this was enough for me.
"You didn't get an introduction, sorry." I said as I grabbed the knife and jumped to my feet. "Your name must be worth less than shit!"
I yelled from across the coliseum as I sprinted towards him. Every step I took felt difficult, I wasn't used to running on sand. That didn't stop me though, nothing would have, I was getting out of there even if I had to sacrifice an arm.
"Ahhhhhh!" The giant man screamed at me, opening his mouth wide.
"No tongue, damn." I said now at arm's length with my enemy. As I got close enough to stab him he grabbed my throat. My feet dangled in the air as my eyes became bloodshot and I struggled to breath. I gripped the knife firmly and dug it into the root of his thumb nail. The knife pierced all the way through to the other side of his finger. He loosened his grip on my neck but I held on panting for breath. My face covered in his blood, I stabbed the knife into his wrist. I twisted it as the blade pierced the bone making it more painful to be removed.
Andres glared at Jane from his throne, "You said he was barely hanging on to life."
"He shouldn't even be able to run." She knelt down on hands and knees pleading to her master.
The look on Andreas face was sour, enough to turn fresh milk into solid stone. He kicked her across the face and rose from his throne taking a deep breath.
"One way or another, there will be two corpses in my coliseum today. Pray your not one of them." He said coldly before walking away with his fists clenched.
My opponent stumbled as he tried to pull the knife out. I charged towards the giant as he reached for the knife. He saw me approach and flailed his arms wildly in fear. I slithered my way forward dodging his wild attacks easily. I pushed off his arm, grabbed the knife and snapped the blade. The blade wasn't completely gone, enough was left to at least pierce his flesh. I dragged the blade from his wrist to his elbow, splitting it open. Drowned in fear he stumbled and fell, trembling as I was inches from his face. Baptized in his blood I grinned ear to ear chuckling in ecstasy. His blood dripped from my chin and nails as I looked down into his eyes. He tried to plead for mercy but couldn't as the tears cascaded down his face, and I flung the knife across the coliseum.
The coliseum fell silent, the sound of a pebble tumbling down steps could be heard. The faces of the people that looked down on me decayed. Their eyes sunken with terror as if locked in a nightmare. I looked into the sky letting my hands go limp as the blood flowed down. The sand like a blank canvas was painted red with his blood. He laid at my side, his ego bruised, but saw a moment to attack and took it. He lunged towards me head first, his teeth bared at me. The pile of filth was prepared to tear my head off with his teeth.
"May god have mercy on your soul, Amen." I said as I coughed up blood from being slammed into the wall. I plunged my hand into his eye squeeze his brain into a soup. He fell to the ground, his body twitching as I pulled my hand out. My arm was covered in small chunks of his brain. I stood over his corpse as I gazed up at Jane and Andreas. With a smug grin on my face I flipped them off. Their faces bloomed with rage as I chuckled hysterically spitting up blood.