'Haaa! Haaaa!'
The sound didn't arrive all at once.
It rolled in, stretched thin, as if time itself had been pulled taut.
'Haa! Haaa!'
Each cheer warped into the next, a distorted sound that pressed against the mind rather than the ears.
The arena glowed under the heat.
Air bent above the sand, blurring the edges of everything. Figures in the stands moved like shadows behind glass, their raised arms slow, almost weightlessly... as if they were all moving in slow motion.
Grains of sand lifted with each faint tremor, drifting lazily before settling again.
Some stuck where they shouldn't have, clinging to something darker, something... wet.
The color spread in uneven patterns, soaking deeper with every passing second, turning the golden floor into something darker.
Red...?
A weapon lay a short distance away, half-buried beneath the stained sand, its edge catching the light in brief, flickering flashes.
A sword?
