The Xalinor Chronicles

The Arcadium

Jake climbed out of the cart reluctantly, followed by Zill. The elves scanned them from head to toe and asked them to kneel in front of them. Jake hesitated at first but then the sight of the crossbows pointed at him made him submit to their command.

“Look here, Asildor, this human has a pet gnome,” chuckled one of the guards.

“I am not his pet,” cried Zill, in an exasperated tone. Though he was used to hearing all sorts of insults being hurled at him, he didn’t like being called Jake’s pet.

The elven guards laughed heartily and hurled a few more abuses at him. Their merrymaking was eventually interrupted by the arrival of Illanor’s carriage.

Illanor Saville stepped outside the carriage and announced, “Open the gates of the arena. These two are my slaves.”

“We didn’t know they were with you Lord Illanor, we will open the gate at once. Please follow us.” The elven guards bowed to him as a mark of courtesy.

Jake lifted his brows and gazed upon the colossal structure which lay a few paces ahead. He turned towards Zill and asked, “What’s this huge building in front of us?”

“It is the largest arena on Xalinor and is run by Illanor Saville.”

“Why do you think he has brought us here?” he asked nervously.

“I have heard that Illanor makes his slaves fight in the arena.”

“Do we have to fight each other?”

“I don’t think so. My grandfather told me that slaves fight against different beasts in the arena.”

Zill’s words made him tremble with fear. He had barely escaped with his life a few moments ago and now he had to fight a wild beast in an arena. Jake had never been too fond of hunting and it was his firm belief that he wasn’t even capable of swatting a fly. He looked at Zill and whispered in a feeble voice, “I don’t know anything about fighting wild beasts. I will be mauled to death before I can even move a finger.”

“Even I don’t want to fight in the arena. We gnomes are terrible fighters. But we are Illanor’s slaves now. He did save our lives. If we refuse to fight in the arena, we may be beheaded in front of the crowd.”

Their little conversation was cut short by Illanor’s bodyguards. “Get up right now. Lord Illanor doesn’t like to keep the crowd waiting.” The two elves grabbed their chains and dragged them towards the arena.

As the gigantic wooden door parted its enormous mouth, Jake was awestruck by the sight of the huge arch overhead. The guards escorted them to a large room inside the arena. It was dimly lit with wooden torches affixed to the ground. In the faint glow of the torches, Jake caught a glimpse of the walls of the room. They were smeared all over with bloody handprints.

“Lord Illanor wants this to be an entertaining fight, so we have been requested to supply you with all the necessary equipment,” said one of the guards pointing towards a weapons rack. “Pick any weapon you like. There is also a basic selection of armors beside the weapons rack. We also know that some of you humans are Craftsmen, so we have also placed different herbs and other pieces of junk at your disposal. Craft whatever you like. As for the gnome, he can also take what he wants.”

Jake didn’t know what to say. He had never wielded any weapon in his entire life. The weapons rack contained various stone and wooden weapons like maces, clubs, spears, and axes. All the weapons looked extremely bulky. He was certain that he couldn’t even lift any of them, much less wield them in open combat.

‘The armors might prove to be useful’, he thought, but as soon as he looked at the armor rack, he realized there were just a couple of patched-up pieces of linen in the rack along with a worn-out leather chest piece. It didn’t seem like they would be able to offer any protection against a wild beast.

“We will leave you to it then. Do try your best to put up a show before you die,” saying this, the guards left the room and shut the wooden door behind them.

As soon as the guards had left, Jake started tapping the walls of the room frantically.

“What are you doing, Jake Wiley?” asked Zill.

“I am trying to find another opening. There has to be a way out of here. If we stay here, we are going to be killed by the beast. We must escape from this arena.”

“I don’t think we can escape from this arena. No slave has ever managed to escape from the arena without fighting.”

Jake was about to make a reply when he heard the sound of drumbeats. It was so loud that it made the ground vibrate with every beat. When the beating of the drums finally ceased, the iron door at the front, opened with a rusty groan. Beyond the gate stretched out a spacious oval field. All the sounds ceased at once and a deathly silence hung in the darkening air.

The silence was finally shattered by a booming voice that echoed in the massive arena, “Lords, Ladies, and our most esteemed guests of honor, tonight you are about to witness a thrilling spectacle that will bring you to the edge of your seats. Blood will be spilled on the battlefield as a human and a gnome pair up to face an adult zolvan in the great Arcadium!”