Felix sat against one of the pillars, trying to catch some sleep. He wasn’t in a good shape to fight a duel: looking at his face in the HUD mirror program, his skin was pale, dark circles hung around his eyes, and his cheeks became hollower since the last time he saw himself in a mirror.

He decided he was going to escape, even if it might not be the decision in the long term. He hated being imprisoned, and there wasn’t even no guarantee that he’d be freed if he won. He had been dead for five hundred years, and it wasn't as bad as they said. He wasn't going to spend his new life in a cell, or blindly obeying other people like he did in his past life.

Tired from days of walking in the desert, his lids closed.

“Wake up”, said Marie, shaking his shoulder, “We’re moving”;

“Where?”, Felix rubbed his eyes;

“There’s a new duel, and they’re making us see it”. Two soldiers were waiting for them at the elevator, “Move on”, said the one with a greatsword. They all followed them inside, except for Sam, who was still squirming in her ties. She screamed in her gag, staring wide-eyed at Felix as the soldier closed the grate, until she disappeared as the elevator rose. He was sorry he had to leave her here, but he was sure she'll find a way around all of this.

They were back in the balcony, but the two soldiers who brought them there guarded the entry to the tunnel. After the same announcement of before, the blue door opened, and somebody inside pushed a small guy forward, making him fall on his knees. The door slammed itself shut on his face when he tried to go back, making the public laugh and jeer as he banged his fists against it.

“What are you waiting for?”, said the Announcer, “Fight!”.

The public booed as the red one remained still, and the other one was still banging his hands against the door, screaming as loud as he could. It didn’t take long to the public to start throwing pebbles, making both the opponents shield themselves. Pushed by the public, the red one chased the other, trying to whack him with his metal bat. Laughter erupted when the blue guy sharply turned right, and the red one fell in the sand as he dived to catch him.

They booed again when they understood that the red guy wasn’t going to catch the blue one anytime soon.

“Dragon! Dragon! Dragon!”, they chanted, clapping their hands and beating them against the seating or the railing.

“As you requested”, said the announcer, “The Dragon has come!”.

The black door opened. The roar was so loud it made the public silent. Loud trodding steps were nearing towards the entrance, and, after another roar, a spray of fire came out from the door. The two opponents ran in the opposite direction, until their backs were against the golden door. They pulled the handles and pushed against it with their shoulders, without success.

A creature looking like a small dinosaur came out. On its back, it had two moving stumps which beat at the same time, pulling him up in the air, but they weren’t enough to maintain altitude, and when he met the ground again, he thrashed his head and roared. When he tried again, he went higher, but the large chain tied around his neck collar stretched itself taut, making him spit fire high into the air. Even if it was a small dragon, Felix could feel the wave of heat hitting his face and moving his hair.

“Bastards”, said the Asian guy with clenched teeth, the knuckles of his fist becoming white. His eyes darted towards Felix, “Are you the army guy?”, he said and got near him enough that their elbows were touching.

“Have they explained it to you as I told them?”.

Felix nodded.

“The plan isn’t easy”, the guy whispered, hardly moving his lips and keeping his eyes to the fight, “There’s a reason nobody ever escaped from the arena, but the new guy isn’t as paranoid as his predecessor. They still closed the gate to the desert, so they’re not that stupid, but we’ll make it”.

A laugh came from behind them. One of the soldiers left the spear against the wall and was talking in front of the other one, covering his vision.

“That’s what happens when you cheapen on your guards”, said the Asian guy.

“Yes, but what will happen afterwards? All the soldiers will be on us”;

“As long as I am here, you don’t have anything to worry about”.

The public cheered and rose from their seats. Two charred bodies were lying on the ground, looking like statues made of coal. With mechanical sound, the chain was dragging the dragon towards the entrance.

The Asian guy slipped something in his pocket, “When I’ll be in the stands, light the fuze with the match and jump on the beam. Walk left and you’ll find a rope, roll it and lower yourself in the stands, then find me and I’ll protect your escape”.

He slipped a roll of bandages in his hand, “Give them to the others or they’ll burn their hands on the rope”. He already knew that from the Academy days.

“This is all”, said the Asian guy.

That was one of the most absurd plan he had ever saw.

The Asian guy shook his head. “One day they will pay from what they’ve done”, the skin of his knuckles gripping the railing became white, “When everything will be done, I’ll tell you all the truth”;

“You aren't new to this place, are you?”, said Felix;

“Don’t talk. Someone’s coming”.

The young man entered, followed by his soldiers, and they had to stand in line again.

“Does any of you want to fight now?”, he said, and grinned, “If I were you, I’d want to end this as soon as possible, don’t you agree?”.

The Asian guy made a step forward, and the young man walked in front of him. “You”, he said, narrowing his eyes on him, “You look familiar, where else I’ve seen you? What’s your name?”. The Asian guy talked in a language that Felix couldn’t understand. The young man squared him, gripping the hilt of the rapier.

He put an hand on his shoulder, “Whatever. Well, come anyway”. As they were going inside the cave again, the young man turned towards one of the soldiers guarding the entrance, “Let them wait here. We must start soon, or the public will get even more angrier”.

Felix sighed and turned back to the fight. “We must wait until he moves to the stands”, he said to Marie;

“Then what?”;

“He gave me something to distract the guards and these. Roll them against the palm of your hands”. He gave them the bandages.

“Then”, he continued, “We’ll jump on the beam and lower ourselves down with a rope”. Caroline’s eyes widened, “That’s ma-”, but Marie covered her mouth before she could complete the word, “Be quiet”, she said. John hid a laugh behind his hand;

“There’s nothing to laugh”, said Caroline;

“Does he really believe that plan is going to work?”, he said.

“We’ve got no choice”, said Marie, “Or do you want to end up like those two?”. Four men wearing rags were dragging the charred bodies towards the pit.

Caroline cleaned tears from her eyes, “What I’ve done to deserve this?”.

People were leaving their places empty and descending the stairs.

“Disappointing”, said a girl, walking down with her friend, “The longest fight lasted only five minutes!”. On the opposite side, two seated men were counting banknotes on their knees, “And that’s five hundred”, said the one with white hair, “I’ve told you that betting on the dragon was the better choice”;

“We should find someone to party with”, said the other one, rubbing his hands. In another row of seats, a lone man was shaking his head, and buried his face between his hands.

“Please!”, said the announcer, “The night has yet to end! A new duel is out to begin! We’ll pay even losing bets and everyone will receive a free tankard of ale! Return to your seats!”. The public from the stairs cheered much louder than all the times before.

“From the blue side”, said the announcer, “We don’t know his age, and he doesn’t even speak a word of our tongue. Give a welcome to Timur”. The blue door opened, and the Asian guy entered, holding a spear two times his height in his left hand.

Felix was shivering because he didn’t know if he will survive the night, but if he made it could be one of the most impressive feat he had ever done.