Now I held a pair of long, curved daggers, made from sharpened stone with engraved runes.
I wasn't sure what the runes meant or what they could do, but their weight and range immediately felt comfortable.
"I see you two have found fitting weapons. Shall we bring you two into your chambers?"
The short yet muscular man had appeared in the doorframe again.
We followed the man through the dark, dusty tunnels. At some point, I started hearing the distant roar from the crowd in the colosseum.
The noise got louder and louder until we finally arrived at the chambers in which we would wait for our fights, as the man explained.
The entrance to the arena was shut by a thick portcullis.
In contrast to the dark tunnels, the light falling through the iron bars was blinding.As I got closer to the bars, my eyes got used to the light.
Behind it lay a wide circle of red sand. I didn't want to know if the sand was naturally red or not.
Around the arena was a high wall, engraved with reliefs of gladiators struggling against beasts, dueling each other, or posing for the masses.
The walls were regularly interrupted by more gates, some even big enough to fit entire boats.
Above the edge over the wall rose hundreds of rows of seats, on it tens of thousands of viewers.
The sand stormed up into a small storm, a cylinder that formed a human body.
A tall man, covered in heavy chains and small armor plates.
His face was covered in a helmet, a lion devouring a human, the man's face making for the mask between the lion's jaws.
"YOU ALL HAVE COME FROM AFAR TO WITNESS A TRUE SPECTACLE! YOU CAME HERE TO SEE GLADIATORS RIP EACH OTHER APART, AND THIS IS WHAT YOU ALL SHALL SEE! I PRESENT TO YOU THE FIRST MATCH OF THE GAMES:"
I heard the rattling of a gate next to me opening, the cell in which Thessa must have waited.
Thessa strode past me.
As she stepped on the warm sand of the pit, rumors ran through the audience.
The voice of the man in the arena echoed once more:
"OUR FIRST GLADIATOR IS THE UNDERDOG OF TODAY! SHE MAY NOT SEEM LIKE MUCH, BUT IN THE ARENA, EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE!AND FOR OUR SECOND FIGHTER:"
Another gate rose at the other side of the arena. From the darkness arose a wiry warrior; like a shadow, he stood there, unmoving, almost uninterested.
And yet, his eyes followed every move Thessa made.
Every small shift in her stance was reflected in the man's glassy eyes.
He was covered in black iron plates; a deadly-looking longsword lay across his shoulders.
Combined with his lanky arms, this made for a devastating range.
Was this even a fair match?
I had never seen Thessa fighting before, but I had imagined her to be not much more experienced than me.
The confidence she radiated was convincing.
Wether or bot she had a chance would soon show.
"AND WITHOUT FURTHER COMMENTS, LET THE GAMES...BEGIIIINNNN!"
He exploded into a small sandstorm again; the gates crashed shut.
The fight had started.
The two silhouettes were now circling each other, the shadow with fluid and elegant motions, Thessa with chopped-off, almost mechanical movements.
Something about the way she moved was strange, unnatural. Maybe it was some sort of fighting style?
Several more excruciating seconds passed; nothing happened.
Thessa's leg rammed into the ground as she shot forward, her spear a lightning strike hitting the shadow.
But he was gone.
The shades moved.It rose over her back and towered over her.
But before he could strike her down from behind, the shaft of her spear rushed backwards again, hitting the shade into his chestplate.
Thessa jumped forward to gain distance again.
How had she reacted so quickly? She seemed a lot better than I had anticipated.Her spear shot forward again and again, multiple times a second, trying to find a hole in her enemy's defense, but every time she moved forward, her foe moved back, like in a dangerous dance, like a shadow.
As her thrusts weakened, the shade's flow changed, the long dark sword skewering towards Thessa.
The shade noticed every minimal shift of his foe, thrusting his sword towards every weak point that opened.
Thessa tripped and stumbled back.
The fight was over.
The shadow warrior was certain.
To end the fight, he shot forward, preparing a final thrust towards the girl's torso.