Page 11 of Ironhold, Trial Three

Vex seems to take that as his cue to step forward and raise one armored arm, holding a dagger so that it catches the light.

“We have Ravenna, noble and beautiful.”

She curtsies as if the movement is for the emperor alone, then blows a kiss to the waiting stands.

“Here we have Alaric, the trickster champion of illusions.”

Alaric steps forward. Only three of him do so at once, all bowing in different directions to the crowd.

On and on the introductions go. The free gladiators are introduced first by the emperor, because this is Aetheria, and such distinctions matter within it. The others are introduced, and I'm conscious that the emperor has not said my name yet, has not called me forward.

Could this all be some vicious trick? Could he have decided not to include me in these trials after all? That possibility fills me with a strange sense of dread. I should be grateful for the possibility of getting out of these trials, avoiding the danger of them, but instead, I want this. I want this chance to prove myself in front of the crowd. And I want this chance to progress one more season towards my freedom.

Just when I think the emperor is not going to say my name at all, he gestures my way.

“And finally, the dreaded beast whisperer. The one who set a wraith among the crowds and who freed a frost drake above Aetheria: Lyra!”

The emperor makes me sound like a villain, and it means that the booing and jeering almost drown out the cheers of those who wish to support me. Even so, with the huge numbers of people in the Colosseum, there are more than enough who wish to cheer me on, too.

I remember my part in this show just in time. I step forward, raising my spear in acknowledgement of the crowd’s support. That seems to intensify the sounds from the crowd, both positive and negative. I'm sure some of them would be happy to see me fall, while others are hoping that I will succeed. I wonder how many have put money on me. In my first games, almost nobody did. In my second, people saw me as powerful and backed me. Now, with the dampener around my wrist, how many people really believe that I can succeed?

There is no way of knowing that and no chance to really think about it, because the emperor is speaking again.

"Those are your gladiators. Each of them is prepared to die for the honor of Aetheria and the glory of your entertainment!"

That is a lie. For how many of the gladiators is it really about honor? Maybe for Alaric, although even he seeks glory mostly as a way of impressing his family. The other free gladiators all have their own reasons, while the rest of us have no choice in the matter. If I were to declare that I did not wish to face these trials, I would probably be executed. Certainly, I would be punished harshly.

But that is not the story the emperor wishes to tell, nor is it a story that the crowd wishes to hear. They want tales of daring fighters, ready to give their lives for the crowd’s entertainment.

The emperor is speaking again, explaining the terms of this first challenge.

“A Champions Trial is different to the normal games,” he says. “These gladiators will not just be facing one another on the sand. Instead, they will face the most cunning situations my master of the games, my arch magistrate and my artificers have been able to devise. The first challenge is the maze. At intervals, each of the gladiators will enter the maze in front of you. You can see it from above, but they have no idea about its twists and turns, or about the dangers that await within. Rest assured that there are dangers, and if any of them is unwary, they may well die in there.”

I feel as though the emperor is looking my way as he speaks. Does hewantme to die in this maze? It seems that again and again he has played a role in giving me challenges that would kill most gladiators, even most beast whisperers. Does he really think I'm that much of a threat to his rule?

"The goal of the gladiators is simply to make it to the other side of the maze," the emperor says. "In this challenge, they are not required to fight one another, although they are welcome to do so if they think it will be more entertaining. If they make it through the gate at the far side, they have succeeded and will face the next challenge tomorrow."

He makes it sound simple when I doubt it will be anything other than dangerous at every step. We line up, ready to go. I'm not entirely surprised when I'm the first one to wave forward.

“The first gladiator to face the maze will be Lyra Thornwind!” the emperor declares.

I step up to the entrance, readying my weapons and taking a deep breath. I don't know what waits for me beyond the entryway, but I'm determined, whatever it is, that I will find a way through this.

Accompanied by the cheers of the crowd, I plunge into the maze.

Chapter Seven

The first thing that hits me is the silence. The noise of the crowd is gone, somehow kept at bay by magic. Perhaps it is designed to stop people from calling out directions to me, making it harder for me to find my way through.

The second thing I notice is that the passages seem to shift around me. I’m sure it is illusion, but the walls of the passages feel real. I edge through the corridors of the maze, moving slowly and carefully, certain that there is danger around every corner. Almost immediately, I'm forced to make choices about which direction to go in, turning left and right almost at random to start with.

I can hear the sounds of beasts around me, but I have yet to run into any. I keep moving forward, and then I feel the floor shift beneath my feet. I hear something click, and pure instinct makes me throw myself into a roll. Darts flash over my head, embedding themselves in the far wall. I come up to my feet, knowing that if I'd been a fraction of a second slower, I would have been wounded or even killed by them. My heart beats faster as I move on.

I find another trap a couple of corridors later. I am probing the ground in front of me with my spear, and so it is that which triggers the trap. This time, the ground gives way ahead of me, revealing spikes beneath as I fight to keep my balance on the edge of the pit. My arms wheel, and I fling my weighted chain back, digging into the sand with the curved blade on the end and pulling myself back from the edge.

I breathe harder as I make it to safety. If I had been walking forward, or worse yet trying to hurry through the maze, I would have plummeted to my death on those spikes.

Are the crowd roaring and gasping with my near misses? I have no way of knowing. I am cut off, alone. I'm sure by now that some of the other gladiators must have entered the maze, but I have no way of knowing where they are, or if they are facing similar dangers.

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