Page 35 of Ironhold, Trial Three

Except he seemed disappointed in himself for it last night. As if he feels heoughtto change to be more like me. Or perhaps to be worthy of me.

It's a thought that carries me most of the way down to the Colosseum. The crowds are even thicker there, although there is one surprise, which is that the arena is empty, leaving a broad expanse of sand surrounded by the rows of spectators and the high walls. I can see commoners looking down at us from the lowest tiers, the nobles in their boxes. Even the emperor is there for the beginning of these trials, when normally I would expect him to arrive once we have all moved into position within the colosseum, so that he can make a grand entrance.

Instead, he waits there, gesturing to the middle of the sand. It's obvious that he wants us all to stand there, so we go there, holding our weapons, but without any helmets on so that the crowd has been able to see us. I wonder if I should put mine on now, because I can only think of one reason that the emperor might call us to the center of the sand, and that is to fight immediately.

I don't do it though, because I suspect readying myself for battle in the presence of the emperor would count as some kind of insult. Vex is bowing low. Ravenna curtseys, In an elegant gesture that seems far more demure than her usual attitude. Some of the others raise their weapons in salute. I don't do any of those things but stare upwards instead, looking at Emperor Tiberius as he stands up there in his box.

The crowd are clapping and cheering, but the emperor holds out his hands for silence, and quiet descends over the arena like a shroud. I see the trainers and the guards hurrying to get past the iron gates leading to the spaces below the colosseum. They clearly know that something is coming, and they don't want to be in the arena when it happens.

“Gladiators,” the emperor says. “On the previous days, my master of games and my arch magistrate have tested you with contests where you have fought one another, fought your way through deadly mazes, survived elementals. You have faced eachother in a complex of traps and deadfalls. Today, your objective is simpler. All you need to do is capture a mount.”

Capture a mount? What does that mean? I have no time to wonder about it, though, because moments later, one of the gates into the arena opens, and the sound of thunder rumbles across the sand.

The creatures that charge in are thunder hooves. They look like horses, although they are larger and stronger looking than the most powerful chariot horses or riding animals. They come in every color that a normal horse would come in: chestnut, grey, black, piebald. But their eyes glow with the power of lightning, which seems to crackle through them as they move, and their hooves strike thunder as they hit the earth.

There is a whole herd of them, and they are stampeding, driven forward by whatever means to terrify them the beast handlers in the colosseum have been able to come up with. They charge and circle, thundering around us, not stopping even for a moment. Some of them run at me, and I must throw myself to the side or be trampled. Another gladiator isn't so lucky. He is crushed beneath the hooves, the thunderous impact breaking his body apart.

The noise of it all is deafening, the power of the Stampede impossible to contain. The horses run at me again, and now I reach for my power, doing what I can to reach past the dampener on my wrist, to ignore the dizzy sickness that is the aftermath of the drugs. I reach out for one of them, forcing myself to stand my ground. The thunder hooves run around me, parting like the onrushing tide around a rock.

One of them slows as I concentrate though. This close, I can connect with it, even with my limited powers. It helps that the thunder hooves are not vicious predators set on destroying us all. Instead, they are simply frightened, and their instinct whenthey are frightened is to use the power of their hooves to destroy whatever is threatening them.

I force myself to find a well of calm deep within myself, putting aside my own fears at the sight of the onrushing creatures. If I project that fear, I will only fuel the charge. Instead, I push calmness into creature, slowing it little by little, until it stands before me. I reach out with one tentative hand, touching its flank. Slowly, carefully I mount it, sitting atop it while around me the others are still dodging out of the way of the creatures, and the rest of the thunder hooves continue to charge this way and that.

I ride atop it. I could wait out the rest of the challenge. Perhaps I should. I should give the crowd the blood and death they want by letting the stampede continue unchecked. I know it is what the emperor will want. He will want to see gladiators crushed and killed.

Can I really risk angering him?

I can’t just sit there and do nothing. Now that I have one mount under control, I turn my attention to another. I pick one of the herd, riding beside it and extending my mind to it. I slow it and calm it the way I did with the one I am riding. I lead it, guiding it next to me until we reach Alaric. He seems to be trying to distract the herd with illusions, forcing them to move around him and scatter. He looks surprised when I ride up on one of the beasts, but only for a moment. He quickly mounts the creature beside me, sitting there and breathing a sigh of relief.

“What now?” he says. “Do we just ride this out until the challenge is done?”

That would be the easy option, but there is at least one more person I want to help. I can see all of the others attempting to survive in different ways. Vex has his swarm of knives around him, keeping the creatures from getting too close. Ravenna is whipping around her spiked chain, while a gladiator throwshimself into the path of a thunder hoof to protect her, obviously pushed to it by her powers.

Finally I see Vesper, alone and cut off from the others. I ride over to him, reaching down my hand. I pull him up behind me, and as I do so I can feel my powers starting to expand. His presence means I can do more than I otherwise would.

An idea comes to me: a chance to make a statement.

It is an idea I know the emperor will not want me to go through with, one that runs counter to the whole point of this challenge. But we are here to survive if we can, and if I can help the others survive, shouldn’t I do it?

Again, I wonder if I can risk the emperor’s anger like this. But can I stand by and let more people die?

“How about we deal with this together?” I suggest to Vesper. I know that, together, we can.

Vesper nods, and I reach out with my power, not to one of the creatures this time, but to all of them. I can feel the herd, and it is like a single entity in some ways, the power of the creatures seeming to connect them to one another. I reach along that connection, spreading the calm of my mount from one thunder hoof to the next.

Slowly, the maelstrom of on rushing creatures slows, the thunder hooves coming to a halt one by one. They stand there, looking around peacefully, most of them not moving. No sounds of thunder erupt from the ground now.

Because they are still my fellow gladiators are able to mount them with ease. Vesper dismounts my beast with a grateful nod to me and claims another for his own. Even Ravenna and Vex clamber up onto the backs of two of the creatures, although Vex shoots an unhappy look my way. I'm tempted to make his mount rear up and unseat him, but I hold back the urge. I want to demonstrate my control and restraint today, not engage in petty vindictiveness.

It seems to take a while for the crowd to realize that all of the surviving gladiators have succeeded in the task, and that the trial is over. A horn sounds to declare the end of it, and now the crowd is noisy, but it is not cheering my efforts. Instead it is booing and jeering, because once again I have cheated them of the blood and death that they believe are the point of the games.

I ignore them, riding my steed back in the direction of the iron gates, returning it to the trainers as the others dismount. Lord Darius himself is there waiting for me. He does not look happy. I feel fear rising in me. I know that this is the moment when I will pay for what I have just done.

“The emperor commands your presence.”

Chapter Twenty Four

This time I am not led through the city by guards, but am instead brought up through the arena, to a box overlooking everything. My weapons are taken from me, and I am allowed inside.

---