Chapter Title: Reborn In Blood
Walking through the opening and onto the pit, I was immediately met with the loud sounds of cheering and laughter. And taking a look at my surroundings, I realized why it was called the pit.
The place was like an amphitheater with tiered seats and the spectacle of the fighting pit in the center. And in the lowest row, under the shade of a canopy, sat Lady Kandaq and other wealthy-looking individuals, while on the topmost row sat people in rags. Clearly the closer to the pit you are, the wealthier while the farther up you are, the poorer.
The fighting area itself was rather sizeable coming in at around half a football field, either American or International since both sports had almost the same size field, and it was made up of brick covered in a layer of sand.
Sand that had very noticeable patches of red.
Seeing those patches of blood in the sand made me want to gag a little, but I was able to hold it in. Still, the fear that I had been feeling ever since I discovered what was in store for me started intensifying a little at the sight of it.
"Our next bout is going to be a little different than the previous one because it's a debut match!" shouted the announcer who stood in the center of the pit allowing his voice to be amplified by the amphitheater, and whose words caused the crowd to erupt in cheers.
"Lady Mezzara Kandaq has been gracious enough to choose our fighting pit as her newest slaves debut, and for that, we humbly give our thanks!" he said bowing his head in her direction while she merely received his thanks without any change in her expression.
"As you all know, our fighting pit's debut matches are a little different than other pits! Before a man can kill another man, he must first prove himself worthy by slaying a beast, bare-handed!" he said pointing at another portcullis that opened up, allowing a roaring and scarred tiger, that was held back by a chain, to show itself.
'Fuck!' I thought, my trembling hands returning even fiercer than before.
"This tiger has stopped many a man's debut matches! We shall see if he will do so again!" said the announcer as the crowd continued to cheer.
"And since he is Lady Kandaq's slave, she shall be the one to begin the match." said the announcer as he quickly made his way out of the pit while Mezzara stood up and looked right at me.
As I stood in the pit while everyone cheered at my potential demise, as the tiger looked at me like I was its next meal, as the nobles and wealthy people looked at me like an ant, and as my impending death approached, I could feel my heart beating at a speed I doubt was humanly possible.
And the fear that had been seeping its way into my mind, had covered my every thought.
But as much fear as I was feeling, I knew that if I wanted to live another day, if I wanted to make this second chance of mine worth something, I needed to fight.
Fight until either I was dead or the tiger was, and if anyone took one glance at the tiger, they would be able to tell that it was a beast that had fought and won many battles. And since I was not dumb, I could tell the same, which meant that the fight would be very difficult and it would take everything from me to win.
'I'm not going to die.' I thought as I slapped my face with both hands to drive the fear clouding my mind away, and put my entire focus on the tiger.
CLAP
As soon as Mezzara clapped her hands, the crowd cheered, and the tiger was unchained, making a beeline right for me.
I, on the other hand, crouched down while keeping my eyes on the beast and picked up two handfuls of sand. And it was not a moment too soon, as the tiger was much faster than I had anticipated, closing the distance between us in the blink of an eye.
'Wait for the perfect time.' I thought as I laser-focused on its movements, waiting for the signs that it would pounce, something I had learned to notice from having grown up with many a cat. And what was a tiger but a giant murderous cat.
A second later I noticed that the tiger looked like it was about to pounce, which I preemptively reacted to by throwing the sand I had in my left hand at it while simultaneously rolling to the right.
Thankfully, I had predicted correctly and heard the tiger growling and roaring from the sand that had entered its eyes, mouth, and nose. But as much of a nuisance as the sand was, I knew it would not matter unless I managed to drown it in the sand. The only other thing on my body was the shackles which did not have a long enough chain for me to use in any way that would matter.
'I know cat-like creatures aren't known for their endurance but I doubt I'll be able to outlast the tiger.' I thought before noticing that the tiger had its eyes on me again, 'Fuck.'
Again the tiger lunged at me and again I managed to thwart it with another dodge and a handful of sand.
And even though I was surviving, for the most part, it seemed my tactics were not popular with the crowd, if their booing was any evidence.
'Fuck you, you come down here and fight a tiger.' I thought with gritted teeth as I reached down to grab handfuls of sand but my right hand did not meet only sand, it met a hard cylindrical object.
Grabbing it and pulling it out to see what it was, I saw that it was a pommel with a few fingers-length of the broken blade.
'Looks like the Being does not want me to die in the pit.' I thought with a slight smile as my hope of leaving alive had just increased, but not by much.
'The blade's broken which means I'm going to have to get really close and personal.' I thought before seeing the tiger roar loudly in anger and beeline at me.
As the tiger neared, I once again saw it get ready to pounce and threw the sand in my left hand, but instead of hitting the tiger's face, it missed.
'Fuck!' I panically thought as I saw that the tiger had faked me out on the pounce to get me to throw my sand early, and instead it had dodged before pouncing for real.
Hastily dodging the pounce, I felt four razor-sharp claws tear into my left arm, making me feel pain so intense that my mind blanked for a moment. And even though I wanted to scream and cry from the pain, I knew I had even less of a chance to win with an injured arm which meant it was now or never.
With its pounce and raking of my arm, the tiger was now standing in front of me, leaving its back and flank wide open for attack. So, I jumped on the tiger's back and used the remaining strength in my left arm to wrap it around its neck before using the broken blade in my right arm to stab it in the eye.
ROAR
Roaring in pain, the tiger started thrashing around to get me off but I gritted my teeth from the pain of the intensifying wound on my left arm and pulled the broken blade out of its eye before stabbing it in again. And again, and again, and again, and again, and again.
Feeling the blade go into the tiger's flesh, the sound of the blade entering and exiting, the blood splashing on my face, the drowned-out sound of the crowd, the pain radiating from my left arm, my rage and fear at the situation I was placed in, it all caused me to go into a trance.
By the time I snapped out of it, the tiger's face was nothing but a pile of mangled flesh.
As I sat on top of the tiger's body gasping for breath, I looked out into the crowd and saw that everyone was silently staring at me. But I knew what they wanted, and I would give it to them.
Using the broken blade, I hacked at the tiger's neck, cleaving through flesh and bone with great difficulty before decapitating it.
And as I looked down at the tiger's head, I knew that my other life was truly over and I had accepted the situation. Whatever was to come, I would take it in stride and live my life how I wished to live it.
No more was the boy who gave up on his dreams for mediocrity, now there was only a man reborn in blood.
So I dropped the broken blade, picked up the tiger's head, hoisted it above me, and shouted in victory.
And the crowd went wild.
As the crowd cheered my victory, I looked in the direction of Mezzara and she looked very pleased, if the smile on her face was any indication.
Yet, that smile did not fill me with anything but annoyance, so I decided to be defiant.
I threw the tiger's head in her direction, causing the crowd to quiet down and her to continue to smile.
"A present, My Lady." I said as I stared right at her, locking eyes with her.
"A fine present indeed." she said, her smile not wavering for a second before walking off.
~
After Mezzara walked off, the pit healer escorted me to a resting room where they tended to my wounds, while also showering me with compliments. And by the look in the healer's eyes and the looks of some of the pit workers, I could see that pit fighters who won were held in high respect.
Once the healer was done tending my wounds, after having said I was lucky that the tiger had such sharp claws because the wound would heal better since the cut was so clean, Mezzara entered the room while her retinue of guards stood outside to guard the door.
"Lady Kandaq." said the healer, bowing his head to her.
"Leave." she said, not giving him a single glance as he left, and shut the door behind him, leaving us alone.
"Your fight was thrilling." she said, as she pulled out a chair and sat on it.
"Did you think I would survive?" I said.
"No." she said so nonchalantly, making me grit my teeth in anger, "I hoped you would."
"I want answers."
"And you shall have them." she said with a smirk.
"Who am I?" I asked, going right for the most important question.
"You don't know?" she asked with what looked to be genuine surprise on her face.
"No. I only remember waking up in a cell. Nothing more."
"I see." she said falling into thought before snapping out of it, "Well, I only know your name and where I found you."
"Found me?" I asked.
"Yes. I was on a return trip from my family's estate in the hills when I came across you in a hole in the ground." she said.
"Hole in the ground?"
"Yes, you are as confused as I was when I found you. I was intrigued by you so I approached you and you suddenly woke up and said one word before falling unconscious. I was even more intrigued so I took you and told my family you were a slave I had bought. And the rest, you know." she said.
"What word did I say?" I asked.
"Atreus." she said.
"Atreus." I said as I thought of Pantheon from LoL whose given name was Atreus.
"Yes. I have no clue what it means, but I assumed it was your name. An odd name one wouldn't find in Meereen but perhaps in other parts of Essos or maybe even Westeros." she said, but one word, in particular, caught my attention more than anything else.
"Westeros? Did you say Westeros?" I asked.
"I did. Is that where you are from?"
'I'm in Game of Thrones. Holy shit.' I thought.
"I asked if you are from Westeros?" she asked again, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"I don't know. It sounded familiar is all." I said.
"Is that so? Well, no matter, Westeros is leagues away even if you wanted to go there. Besides, I doubt you are from there." she said.
"Why do you think I'm not from there?" I asked since she seemed so sure of it.
"Because you are too fluent in Valyrian."
'Valyrian? I've been speaking English this whole time and everything else I've heard sounds like English too. A boon from the Being? All-Speak?' I thought.
"Are those all the answers you wanted?" she asked as she stood up, while also snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Yes."
"Very well. Let us depart then." she said, heading for the door.
"Wait. I want the tiger's pelt." I said.
"A reminder of your first triumph?" she asked with a smirk.
"A reminder of my new life." I said.
"Fine, consider it a reward from your master." she said her smirk getting smirkier when she said the word master.
~
After a tiring walk back to the Kandaq pyramid, I was escorted to a much better room than the cell I awoke in. When I asked why, the guard said it was a reward from Mezzara for a job well done. And considering the new room had a mattress and was private while the cell didn't, I wasn't going to complain.
'God this sorry excuse for a matress feels like shit.' I thought as I laid down on a bundle of hay, 'Better than nothing I suppose.'
'Game of Thrones, huh? I sure am regretting never watching it, although I do know some of the stuff that happens thanks to my teammates who did. War, dragons, and ice zombies what a shit show. I'm a slave now so I guess it doesn't matter. Oh well.' I thought as I closed my eyes to get some rest after a long and tiring day.
[Template System Activated]
'What the fuck?'