“Well now. This will be the last training session we will have together.”

The perverse glint was back! Both Yuli and I tensed, ready for a punishing workout.

“So today we will rest.”

I almost stumbled as the tension left my body.

“Constantly exerting the body will damage rather than strengthen it, the same is true of the mind.

Though….Gladiator 1 you didn’t really exert yourself at all yesterday. Gladiator 2 good job.”

Yuli beamed at the praise. She was an odd one, hated killing, loved fighting, and any kind of praise made her swell up in pride. I shrunk in slightly, dreading the possibility that I may be forced to exert myself to compensate for yesterday.

“Furthermore, the Arena has seen fit to give you titles. Though in my opinion it should be after a few matches rather than the first.”

The old man paused slightly before directing his steely gaze at me.

“For your quick kill, silent and aloof attitude, and the slight bow you worked into your fight. The Arena has named you ‘Silent Prince’. Be sure to remain in that persona through each of your matches, or you will earn the ire of the crowd. It’s now the name they’ll be paying to see fight.”

He then directed his gaze to Yuli now.

“For the bloodlust and brutality you showed whilst fighting your opponent. For competing against it in brute strength and speed. Finally, for your bloody execution at the end. The Arena has given you a title to match your ‘owner’ the ‘Silent Prince’, yours is ‘Blood Princess’. I trust you to be able to keep that persona up.”

He then waved his hand. His servant which neither of us had noticed ever leave suddenly appeared with a low wooden table and a trolley filled with dishes.

The old man sat cross legged on the sandy ground.

“Today while resting, I shall regal you of tales of fighters past. You may sit.”

“”Yes teacher.””

We both sat.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………......

“So….what happens now?”

Just as I had been about to drift into sleep Alephi whispered into my ear. Yuli’s warm back against mine shifted slightly at the sound. Whether she was awake or not I wasn’t sure. It was still quite cold at nights this early in spring so all of us were snuggled into the center of the bed. Making Alephi’s concerned face almost uncomfortably close to mine.

“Well…”

I paused, summing up my thoughts of what the old man had said today on the subject.

“It’s sort of like a bunch of separate schedules….”

Alephi’s ears twitched to the side in confusion.

“Right now Yuli and I are on the bottom schedule…or circuit. It’s called the ‘Hunter’s War’. The gladiators on this circuit are either new or couldn’t handle the higher circuit and somehow kept their lives long enough to be brought back down. In it we only fight against dangerous beasts that they bring in from all over the world.”

Her eyes lit up with understanding and a little fear.

“Then above us is the ‘Soldier’s War’. This is where the bulk of gladiators exist. The battles are more frequent but you don’t necessarily need to kill your opponent, just defeat them. Group battles happen often. They do a celebratory battle at the end of summer called the ‘Fall of the Overlord’. They’ll pit us of the Beast Clans or half-breeds against the human gladiators.”

Now her eyes showed fear and disgust.

“The final circuit is called ‘The Heroic War’. It’s comprised of the top, the elites of the arena. It’s also mostly composed of humans. They’re often gifted with special equipment and have some magical talent. This makes it nearly impossible for gladiators from the Beast Clans. A few survive but mostly due to the magical armor their eccentric patron’s give them.”

Her eyes showed befuddlement and her face scrunched up in concentration.

Oops unfamiliar words.

“What I mean is their patrons defy the norm and support a Beast Clans gladiator rather than a human one.”

“Aaahh.”

“Yeah, but in the end it doesn’t really matter. We are stuck in the ‘Hunter’s War’ for now. They’ll inform us a few days in advance of when we have a match. Until that time we train and rest and that’s about it.”

“Nnnn.”

She mumbled out her understanding and then promptly passed out. I smiled slightly and snuggled my back into Yuli’s. It was a very cozy bed that night.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

I was the first to receive a summons to the arena. It had come nearly a month after our debut. By then my nerves were beginning to fray in the tension. Also, Yuli and I were beginning to grow rather bored of beating the snot out of each other day in and day out.

You could almost say it was a welcomed summons.

On the day of the match, Yuli was in the waiting room with me. Just as tense. From the sounds, it seemed the crowd wasn’t that large today. Granted we were also in one of the three side arenas as opposed to the main one. The main one was only used for events, for top tier bouts in the ‘Soldier’s War’, or ‘The Heroic War’.

I had already placed the golden crown on myself at the betting booth. I kept the silver deniers in the room, should I fall it would be up to Yuli to get everyone out.

Afterwards, the guard at the entrance to the Arena called for me by my title ‘Silent Prince’. I began to make my way over with a nod to Yuli when she grabbed my arm.

“Be careful.”

I must’ve had a stunned expression on because her face immediately became heated.

“Shitty cat, I’m the one that’s going to beat you.”

I smiled gently. Yuli’s barriers were falling more and more by the day.

If only I could give her and the sisters a normal childhood. They had saved me, kept me sane in our captivity here.

“I will.”

“SILENT PRINCE GET UP HERE NOW!”

With a wink I dashed up to the guard, my knives clattering against my thighs in their sheathes.

He looked a bit befuddled at my short stature but didn’t comment on it. I only gave him a reserved nod.

Though that earned me a glare. He probably thought something like, ‘damn beastling doesn’t know its place’. I didn’t care though, I planned to use the ‘Silent Prince’ title to my full advantage.

I stepped out into the shaded arena, cloud cover protecting the sand and walls from the spring time sun.

“Here he is once again! The youngest gladiator in our Arena! The ‘SILENT PRINCE’!”

After the grand standers announcement a few in the crowd broke into cheering. I wasn’t that well known yet to most so no surprises there.

“Today his opponent will be a scourge from the Eastern deserts! The great, venomous, gargantuan, desert lizard!”

The demons came out. They cried for blood, whether it was mine or the lizard’s didn’t matter.

I stood still and tried to appear as aloof as possible. I was a prince, a ruler, and rulers had no need to lose their cool against any mere lizard.

“TTthhhsssssssssss.”

That became more difficult when it came out. There had been no hyperbole in the grandstander’s words.

The lizard was enormous! It towered over me at nearly three times my height, but its length was easily over ten feet! It had a thick hide of dirty brown and yellow scales. The head was broad and flat, the mouth massive and containing an assortment of very sharp teeth. It sucked in air that caused its barrel like torso to swell slightly before emitting a guttural roar.

“BBbbrraaawwwrrrgggg!”

I think I kept my cool appearance, even though the sweat streaming down my back would tell anyone that it was a lie. I pulled out two of the Nigala, it didn’t have nice massive eyes like the magrod had, but I didn’t have any desire to near it.

I bowed as calmly as possible, keeping my face a mask of indifference despite the sweat beading along my brow.

The lizard took that as the signal to attack!

I had just enough time to take a diving roll to the side before its massive maw ripped through the space I had previously occupied.

I sprung to my feet and wheeled around, one of the Nigala at the ready. The lizard was making a ponderous turn on its trunk like legs. I backed away to put some distance between us

Then it did the unexpected, it took two massive bounds before diving into a roll. It transformed into a sand color disk with the scales along its spinal column raising into a serrated ridge. I jumped out of the way again.

“Oh ho! It appears our prince has lost his composure!”

The beasts in the stands cackled, smelling the blood that was about to be spilt.

The lizard wheeled about with surprising agility and continued rolling! Its arms providing small boosts to its speed.

This time I wasn’t fast enough.

It caught me on a glancing blow, but the momentum behind the wheeling lizard was enough to rattle my teeth and send me careening to the other end of the arena.

The fall did more damage visibly than the strike had. There were various cuts and friction burns all over my now exposed torso. My thin cloth shirt hadn’t survived the journey across the rough arena floor. As I stood up it became apparent that the strike had done more damage internally. My breathing came out in painful gasps, I could feel the ribs along my left side creak with each breath.

Not good.

The lizard uncurled itself and did a corkscrew in midair to land on its feet and come to a sliding stop.

“Grrroouuurrwww.”

The growl rumbled out across the arena and its slitted eyes narrowed and focused on mine. I straightened myself and checked that I hadn’t lost any knives in the recent collision with the swipe of my hand. The crowing and trumpeting of the vermin in the stands had been completely filtered out.

The spine-like scales that formed a ridge along the lizard’s back flexed slightly as it did a sort of swerving approach to me.

Is it trying to intimidate me?

I had been intimidated earlier. But like a great man once said, “fear is the mind killer.”

The pain had brought back clarity. It was a beast and I was a hunter. Only one of us was walking out of here, and it was going to be me.

My knives were ill suited to attacking scales, but they weren’t my main weapon. That title was reserved, for my brain.

“GGGRRRAAWWRRR.”

The lizard charged!

Rather than diving into a roll again it opened its mouth wide as if intent on swallowing me whole! Rather than diving to the side this time I performed an overhanded and underhanded toss with the throwing knives I still had in my hand.

The Nigala flew straight into its open maw!

“GGGeeerrrrttthhhhsssss!”

With a screech the lizard’s forward momentum halted as it reared in pain! I began to dash forward. Just as its upper body slammed back down into the arena floor I leapt. I had just enough height to use its now closed snout as a vaulting platform.

I was on it head! Its two beady eyes focused on me. I smirked. Then I pulled out the two cutting knives from the set, the Naariyal. The blades were broader but sharpened on one end only.

A hiss began to emanate deep within the throat of the lizard, I could feel its muscles contracting.

With a diving leap I stabbed one of the Naariyal into its right eye! It shrieked and writhed in pain. Then it began to thrash about and the knife dug in deeper as I held on. Black ichor spurting out and coating my hand and arms.

The thrashing continued as each time the dagger sunk in deeper new waves of pain would course through it. Eventually it shudderingly tensed up and roared!

“GGGRRRROOOOOAARRRRRR!”

The scales along its back stood straight up and I took my chance!

Leaving the first Naariyal wedged into its eye I clambered along its head to the base of its neck and stabbed down at the first scale! The flesh underneath was tough and leathery but gave way to the sharpness of my blade. It elicited a new kind of shriek from the lizard, almost mournful and desperate.

Ignoring its pained cries I continued to stab and cut. Its flesh gave way and the black ichor spurted out everywhere as I stabbed deeper. The shrieks continued.

Then became a chocked off cry. Its arms, torso, and tail….all fell limp. I had severed the linkages between its vertebrate! The massive beast slumped to the ground, its neck weakly shifting about as it began to release a keening cry.

My heart trembled slightly in pity as I stood atop its prone form. The poor creature hadn’t asked for any of this. It had probably been starved and was just looking for its next meal. Or maybe it had been tortured until it was enraged beyond reasoning. Whatever had happened, this practice of pitting these poor creatures against equally poor people was sickening. Whoever did this willingly…..I could only hold the greatest contempt for.

I strode down the body of the creature and back onto its head. It was no longer able to thrash about so violently. Its one good eye fixed me with a venomous glare as I pulled the Naariyal that I had left in its right eye out. Its wailing's grew louder after that.

Then it became utterly still. The shock from all the pain probably caused its brain to short out. I could still feel the thumping of its heart as I walked back along the head and neck.

Time to finish the job.

It would die slowly if I left it. I didn’t want that, I wanted to ensure that its death was as quick as possible.

So I knelt down at the bloody pool I had created at the base of its neck and using both knives began to cut.

It took only a few moments when I felt the entire body completely slack after I had severed enough veins and arteries.

By now the vermin in the stands had ceased cheering and were conversing as I finished my work. They didn’t feel an ounce of pity for the poor beast.

I retrieved the two Nigala from its fetid mouth as well and used its tongue to clean the knives of its blood.

Then I retrieved the rags of my shirt and wiped off the black ichor coating my arms and chest as best I could.

I’d have to give it a very good clean later, I didn’t want its blood getting into my system.

Then after I had tidied myself up I gave a deep bow to the corpse.

I’m so very sorry.

Then I left. The demons behind me crowed and cheered, “’Silent Prince’!”

I turned to the guard on my way in.

“Send it to the kitchens.”

He nodded. I then made my way over to the betting booth. The masked old man cackled at my injuries and handed out my earnings for living again.

By now Yuli had located me, but as she came running up she must have noticed my expression. She remained quiet as we left the waiting area in silence, the next gladiator already being called out to compete.

We stayed in a tense silence until we made it to Zla’s office. Then Alephi and Marin broke the silence with cries of shock and horror. I must’ve cut a pretty sorry figure.

I muttered out, “You should’ve seen the other guy.”

But the words were muffled by the floor.

Huh? Why am I on the ground?

Why does my skin feel like its burning?

“””KITLING!”””

_______________________________________________________________________________________AAAAannnnd There you have it! A run of 4 chapters all at once! I had sometime to sit down and contemplate where I would go next and what would happen so I could write again! A thanks goes out to Kari who broke me out of the tunnel vision I had on this story. So thanks to her/him, though I guess since they dropped this series they won't see that.....eheheh. Anyways Hope you all enjoy, if you saw mistakes please comment on them, also rate and review and comment as you see fit!

Cheers!