It had been three days since my last fight in the arena and I was mentally preparing myself for what was coming. The only thing I knew what was going to happen was that I was not a main contender in the tournament. I was the warm up round. The preentertainment. In the morning after I had woken up I pinned Bongani against the wall before he went to work. My hammering heart was soothed by his magical aura.
I locked my lips against his, our tongues tangling with one another while I felt every desire and want in his mind and soul. His devotion to me was a sweet flavor upon my tongue. It tantalized my senses, filled me with knowledge that I had someone here that loved me. I pulled away from Bongani resting my forehead against his. “Work hard for me, your next day off you’ll have to do something for me. I’m going to need you to be as smart and knowledgeable as possible.”
“I’ll sp-p-pend my b-blessings,” Bongani hovered his lips near mine, the breath filling my lungs. “Fight hard,” he gave me one last peck and left to head to the restaurant he was working out.
I rested my head against the wall now that he was gone. I ached for Melokuhle, to show her how much I had grown for her. Show Aphiwe that there was a different way to live. That the world didn’t require only strength. My hands pressed against the wall, my hands curling into fists. Opening that avenue for myself would take time.
I gathered my things and dressed the way this city needed me to. Tension began building in my back and arms. My mind focused, senses sharpened. I began to meditate to be in the mind of a fighter. Sharpen myself to a point, a spear that could pierce through flesh. Looking at my ascended information I realized that I had spent too much experience broadening my fighting abilities. Blunt, Spear, and Unarmed were all the same level. Though my shield wielding ability was the highest. It would be foolish to fight without one.
Like cleansing my skin I wiped away the excess thoughts I didn’t need. My feelings for my mates, the dissatisfaction that I had only Bongani when I should have had many. The losses. The look upon Ade’s face. Oda’s words of superiority lording over me. I became nothing but a weapon, unworried about the ways of pleasure I had before me.
I left the hut we called home. The brightening sunrise bathing the world in pale red. With controlled steps I walked through the streets on my way to the arena. My heart turned cold, no rage burned in my blood, like all the other fights I had been in.
The arena loomed above me as I walked inside the entrance I’d used since being accepted here. There were few people here, no doubt attending and preparing for the day of games. The smell of food, drink, and animals filled my nose. A roaring snarl filled the air as I entered the preparation room.
I was alone, my nocturnal eyes adjusted to the barely perceivable light in the room. I walked along the walls. One hand trailing across the shields that were going to protect me. I had been outdone in agility in the previous fight. Been so outclassed by someone that had been also ascended. I was behind. Needing to grow was a constant need. I just needed to find somewhere I could flourish.
Getting to the armor bits that were communally able to be used I grabbed enough to cover my legs, arms, and as much of my torso as I could. Tightening everything I could feel the room get brighter each minute that I waited. I knew I was early, but I had nothing to do today. I would practice. I would integrate the knowledge given to me by the Gods into my body.
A spear, tall as I was, in hand I reached for a club. Tying one to my hip I rolled my shoulders and stretched inside the armor I was wearing. Making sure I knew my limits of movement while being more protected than before. The stiff leather helmets would do little against another blow from a blunt object like the dueling weapons we were given but I had to be better.
I strode out into the open arena. The shallow wall all around me leading into the stands were no longer an area of my victory but a remembrance of my defeat. Each time I had run into another ascended I had learned the stark difference between me and those that had embraced their nature. Taking my spear I started to go through the motions of a single handed style. Pulling from the depths of both what I learned as a girl to what I was given by the Gods. I could see beaten tired men walking through the stands, dusting and cleaning the seats for tonights entertainment.
I had lost to grace, speed, someone that had focused themselves into one area. I would not be fighting her once more today. I would be facing something else. A mystery I was not being prepared for. I let all these thoughts wash over me and behind me. Not letting any of them cling to me. Each placement of my shield would allow me to use my weight in a counter attack. A bash here, thrust, step, sweep, and backstep. Push and retreat, burn offensive.
A voice reached me, one that I had been learning to loathe. Tala, I stopped my movements and turned. With a straight back I looked down at him, filling my stance with pride and a knowledge that I would succeed. “Tala, I did not hear your words. What can I do for you?”
His smile sent shivers down my spine. “I was coming to inform you about your opponents today. It’ll be quite the show for others. I’ll need you to subdue them without killing. They are worth more money than you are to my fellows. At least until you prove yourself more than you have.”
I wanted to clench, to lash out. Instead I nodded. I flipped my spear, stabbing it into the soft ground to keep it in place. “I will do my best depending on who I am fighting. What can you tell me about them?”
“You aren’t fighting people. You are fighting primals. Two of them. And it is going to be quite the show.” I hated the smile he gave me. A sense of apprehension filled me. I had never fought primals. Only hunted them. I wondered what he could possibly be bringing against me to earn him some coin.
“What form of primals will I be facing?” My heart was beating faster. Excitement that this was a new challenge.
Tala shook his head, “Sorry, the man I am facing on the financial layer has paid me handsomely not to tell you the full truth of it. But your odds are not great. Five to one odds that you are going to lose. That is about all I can tell you.”
I promised myself that I would fuck his wife. My dream from last night about how else I could make a living between the battles came to mind. “What are the odds of my survival if I do lose? I know what happened to the last man that fought a primal here in these walls.”
“Oh, I’ll have some people on standby to pull them off. Once I am sure that it is obvious you have lost. Can’t have them intervene too soon. That wouldn’t play well with the audience.” Tala turned, looking at all the seats around us both. “I could see it in your eyes during your first victory. You’re addicted to the applause. Even with the loss I know the hunger it can bring into the hearts of fighters.” He walked along a wall, dragging his fingertips along the rough stone. “Are you going to thank me for pulling you out of poverty and giving you a chance.”
This was a chance I couldn’t give up. “How much will it cost me to be out from under your thumb? How much does your shelter, and gifts cost for me?”
Those slit eyes looked back at me, surprise on his face. “I see you’ve been doing more than sulking in the hut I’m renting to you. I don’t have the exact numbers, not that you would understand them. You owe seven silver per month in the house I own. I’ll compromise and not charge you for the food I have given you. Sponsoring you in the arena, sixty percent of your earnings. All your gear and clothes you were given come out to around ten silver, if not a little more.”
I slipped into thought. Bongani’s wages would do very little to help me recoup these costs. It would rely on me and my ventures to gain money to make an impact. Unless I could find something more lucrative than working in the restaurant. Which was our supply of food. I nodded to myself. With pushing him into learning more from the church of Thoth I couldn’t use him too much.
“I take it that none of what you earn from me from the fights actually goes against my debt to you?” Guessing the answer I wasn’t surprised when he nodded, “Why is that?”
Leaning against the wall Tala scanned me once more, “As your sponsor it takes me money to arrange these fights. I make some money based on the bets on your side. But most of it is what we get from other sources involving the fights.”
Crossing my arms I tried to be smarter than all this. “Any way this fight goes you get money. I get more money for winning.”
“That is correct.” Tala started walking towards the preparation rooms.
“How much if I win tonight?”
“One silver, five coppers if you lose. We get less money for primal fights. And try to make it showy. Get the crowds riled up.” I watched Tala disappear.
Looking up at the sky I took a deep breath and started motions involving the club this time.
