In the dark, all Ronin could hear was the pounding of his own heart. The gloom mirrored his emotions and fear almost perfectly. Today would be the day he would either attain freedom, or die trying.
Even if he did achieve it, how about Roth and Ben? Would they be doomed to die in this hell hole? Where were Sean and Lucas? Ever since they'd been brought to this nightmare, he'd never seen or even heard anything about them.
There was a creaking sound as gears began to turn and light poured into his dark space as a metal gate was lifted up. Filtering beneath it was the sound of cheering from a large crowd, excited to witness death and destruction from the safety of their stands.
It made his blood boil.
His teammates beside him began to rustle; preparing body and mind for the slaughter that would soon ensue.
"Alright guys." Jonathan said. "Stick to the plan and we'll leave this shithole as free men!"
The other 2 roared their approval.
The gate grinded to a halt above them and they rushed forward into the light.
Ronin squinted his eyes in the face of the brightness. Eyes slowly readjusting to the light, he began to make out the lay of the arena. It was a different one from where they'd had the death races. Where that one was in the shape of a large oval, this one was in the shape of a circle as big as a stadium.
The spectators sat above adorned in their plush, luxurious clothes as they sat and drank. Interspersed between various columns of seats, armed guards stood vigil.
Lining the edges, dozens of tunnels could be seen traversing the arena; and pouring out of each of them were their enemies.
Most looked eager and couldn't wait for the slaughter that would soon follow. Others looked frightened but followed their team into the ring for the promise of freedom was to great to resist.
It was also the first time Ronin had seen women participating in the slaughter. 3 of the teams comprised solely of them.
He counted 8 teams in all excluding his own team who stood ready and prepared. The opposing groups eyed each other, sizing each other up to see who the weakest and who the strongest were but they didn't attack. Not yet.
The handkerchief for the start of the battle had not yet been raised and the silence of the crowd fell upon them as they all waited. However, no one stood on the podium above. All of them, including the commentator/announcer sat down quietly and stared down upon them as if waiting for something... Or someone.
"What are they waiting for?" Soren asked.
No one answered.
CLANK!!!
It was the sound of gears moving as a small circular hole appeared in the center of the arena. Every team's attention honed in on the hole as they each wondered what would happen now.
Rising out of the darkness like a snake from its hole was a sole figure. Dark hair, tattered dirty clothes and lost, empty eyes; Silent, still and ominous, the girl surveyed her environs taking note of all the things around her. The hair-trigger teams in particular.
Robin suddenly felt it very difficult to breath.
There was a mummer from the crowd as the piece of cloth was raised above and the announcer, now on his feet, finally spoke.
"Let the 8th tournament of Zeigh begin!"
The hanky fluttered to the ground and landed.
But nobody moved. The arena was so silent that you could hear a pin drop. This wasn't a fight for points. This was a fight for freedom and no one was taking the chance of attacking a team that might end up destroying them.
One team however had set its sights on the solitary girl in the middle of the ring.
How better to eliminate the competition than by taking out the weakest and the smallest group?
A young man began the assault on the girl and was quickly backed up by his 4 team members. They surrounded her ensuring that their attacks would not miss and assuring them of first blood.
They were so wrong.
BOOM!!! BOOM!!! BOOM!!! BOOM!!!
4 of them shot blasts of fire at their target whiles the 5th chucked a large boulder at her.
The girl dissapeared in a haze of smoke. There would be nothing left to find of her.
The assaulting team turned their sights of the wreckage and peeked at the crowd. But for once in the entire history of the games, the crowd kept mute in a show of violence.
Not a sound... Not a whisper... The quiet was so eerie. So much so that it was like time had stood still. The intense silence began to seep under Ronin, filling him with a fresh wave of terror; for he knew what would happen next.
'None of us are gonna live through this...'
A still, small sound could gradually be heard in the quiet. Ascending in loudness as slowly as the rising sun. It was like the sound of water made by a gently, rippling brook. However, this wasn't a sound of tranquility and peace but a harbinger of death.
CRACK!!!
A whip of water suddenly appeared in the smoke. The attacking team began to turn back.
ZHIPPP!
The whip cut through each of them as smoothly as a hot, sharp knife through butter.
"Urkkk!"
One by one, they all fell. Not as one piece but as two. A torso before the legs for one, a head before a body the other... One had been divided from top to bottom exactly in 2. They all died without knowing they had even come close to death's angel.
Like a tail of a scorpion, the icy, blood tipped blade arched over their bodies and a lone girl could be seen with her arm outstretched, controlling it. Those eyes were as cold, empty and unfazed as ever as they stared dead ahead at their next victim.