A Warrior's Redemption (The Warrior Kind)

The outspoken glee of the crowd at the spectacle before them turned to screams of fright and pain, as the three bull elephants rampaged out of the arena an up into the bleachers creating complete havoc and pandemonium within the crowd. Those of us left alive picked ourselves out of the dirt and slipped through the smashed remains of the arena wall following in the wake of the elephants' destruction.

People were running everywhere in mass panic and had payed us no attention as we slipped through them and away from the arena and into the city. Looking back I had seen several of the men from Rauin hobble up to their feet from where they had been playing dead on the arena floor and make their way towards the gap in the arena wall. One of them started to follow us, but then hesitated. I had gestured him onwards and he had broken into a run to catch up to us.

We had made it to a narrow alley between two buildings and I had held a heavy rug back that had been hung out to dry. The stray fighter from Rauin ran hard towards us, even as I could see doing so hurt him greatly. All was still complete pandemonium around us with people running to and fro as they screamed hysterically in fright over their escaped entertainment. The fighter made it to the alleyway and stopped before continuing forward looking as if he needed to say something, but couldn't frame the words.

"Don't mention it, get going!"

I had said as we both ducked under the rug and ran down the alleyway towards the other fighters gathered at the far end of it waiting for me. After running through side streets and down alleys for over an hour we had reached the edge of the city and from there we had headed for the open country beyond the city as fast as our legs could carry us. The chance at gaining freedom giving power to our legs as no other inducement could ever have.

It had been a long run to make it past the crop fields needed to feed such a large population, but finally we had reached the edge of a forest. I had fallen against a tree heavily and let my burden, the man from Rauin, slide to the cool spongy forest floor.

He hadn't been able to keep up so I had helped carry him along the last part of the mad dash from the city limits. I slid down the tree with my back to it. My lungs had felt like the bellows of a blacksmith's forge. Sweat had been running into my eyes causing them to burn, but the sting of the sweat couldn't dampen how I had felt inside. Freedom!