Page 28 of Soliv Four
“Emon, what’s going on? Why is Tomak looking like that?”
“I think he’s pissed because they’re making us kill people who are not our enemies. We’re all being used in the warden’s enterprise with the threat of being sent back to the mines where the females would be in constant danger.”
“His rival was a damn good gladiator. It was a shame Tomak had to kill him,” D’aktan added. “Our kind will do almost anything to protect our females… Even this.”
“We were trained to kill in combat during our missions, not for sport,” Emon said.
It took a quarter span to clear the arena for the next match Coraz and the last opponent.
Ri’atee resumed her prayer chant while they waited for the next match. Angie sat staring into space, wishing she could go to Tomak, even while she considered he might need some time to decompress.
It seemed almost a paradox in terms. During the hunt in which he claimed her, he ended his rivals without hesitation. But he held no malice against the gladiators he killed in the arena that day. If he forfeited, he and Angie would go to the mines.
Coraz entered the arena at a jog carrying his sword and shield. His opponent seemed reluctant to join him. After seeing his team member killed, he decided he didn’t want to fight. The handlers tried to push him into the arena, and he turned on them. He knocked both out with the flat of his sword.
Moments later, Tomak entered the ring instead, carrying his sword and shield.
“No, no, they can’t,” Angie cried and started to jump up. She had to stop this. They couldn’t make him kill Coraz or Coraz kill him.
Emon grabbed her wrist and urged her to sit back down. “Easy, Angie.”
Angie looked at his hand on her wrist and slowly sat back down. “The commander is not going to kill Coraz. I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but we don’t kill each other.”
SEVENTEEN
Tomak saluted Coraz with his sword and nodded. Coraz stood at attention and saluted his commander back. Moments later, they crouched slightly, circling each other.
Tomak made the first move, slashing at Coraz, who blocked him with his shield. Swords repeatedly clashed as they battled for an opening fast and furious. Their precision was impressive.
Angie was still worried that something could go wrong. She couldn’t believe Tomak would hurt Coraz, but she wasn’t so sure when he drew first blood. It was just a nick, but a small rivulet ran from his shoulder down his torso. That barely slowed them down.
Tomak cuts from the other matches had been sealed by the medic. However, as the fight went on, both he and Coraz had a new set. It almost seemed like they were doing it on purpose to bloody each other for the audience. Emon’s next words confirmed it.
“People want to see blood, so they’re giving it to them.”
The two men did an excellent job of making it look real. They locked swords at the hilts and got into a shoving match, trying to push each other back and free their blades. No sooner than they had parted did they resumed the sword fight. When it was clear that they were both tiring, Tomak levered Coraz’s sword from his grasp. He touched the tip of his blade to Coraz’s throat, causing a new rivulet of blood to seep down his chest.
Some of the other inmates in the audience started shouting, “Kill, kill, kill,” and stamping their feet in rhythm. Even some of the guards joined the chant.
Ri’atee jumped up, shouting, “No! No! Stop saying that. No kill, no kill, no kill.”
Angie and W’lena jumped up and joined that chorus, along with Emon and D’aktan.
Coraz dropped his shield and raised his arms, palm turned toward Tomak. “I yield!”
Tomak bowed his head to accept and turned toward the live audience raising his sword and shield in the victory salute. Then the audience relented and stopped urging Tomak to kill Coraz.
Coraz picked up his sword and shield and walked back into the gladiator chambers under the spectators’ seating.
“Assholes,” Emon muttered, casting a murderous glance at the chanters. “Maybe someone should killthem.”
“Enough men died here today,” D’aktan muttered, “Let’s go.”
Getting out of the stands was a slow process. Because almost five hundred inmates filled their section of the seating with the guard units in a separate area. The security teams were technically on duty to prevent altercations between the inmates, but they also got to watch the matches for free.
Security teams left first and lined the hallway to the exit to keep things orderly. Their presence caused the path to the door to bottleneck. By the time they reached Tomak and Coraz, medics had cleaned and closed all their wounds with a healing gel. He was still sitting on the stool, where his injuries were treated.
Tomak smiled faintly when he made eye contact with Angie. She wished she could go to him and hug him, but she could see the warning in his eyes as though he’d read her mind.
