Chapter 19: Fire in the Lion's Mouth

Emmet's first round in the Arena... Might be a bit bloody

“Release him!” Umbris snarled, flame sparking at the back of his throat.

“You breathe and you’ll roast your Slayer with us.” The guard warned, yanking Emmet closer to him as they walked out of the cell. 

Theo was locked into the Cell, but he pressed against the bars and watched them go. “Remember Clair!” He shouted. “Fight to see her again!”

Emmet barely heard him as he was marched down the hall. On either side, criminals glared and jeered at him while the dragons hissed and snarled. Emmet could feel his heart thud heavily and slowly against his chest with terror. 

He tried to not hear the slurs and slanders that the other criminals and dragons threw at him, but they still stung him, even if he never completely caught what was said. 

Roughly the guards shoved him into a larger cell that opened from the back and into the arena. Emmet tried to keep away from the other gate as it opened and the crowd roared with anticipation. But when no one came out the cheers died and turned to murmurs. But even these turned to chanting that made Emmet’s blood go cold. 

“Slayer! Slayer! Slayer!” 

Each chant sounded like a pounding drum, almost matching Emmet’s thudding heart. He could see the arena in front of him, beyond the open gate, but he desperately prayed to not go there.

“Get out there!” Shouted a guard at the gate behind Emmet shoved him forward and into the arena. 

Emmet dug his heels into the soft sand, but he was was soon standing against the bars of a closed gate in the arena. At the sight of him, the crowd laughed. Emmet could hear those closer to him as he tried to control his shaking hands. 

“That's a slayer?!” 

“A bit scrawny ain't he?”

“Someone get him a sandwich if he wins this!” 

“Whats a boy doing with the Slayers?”

“Duh! The money and glory! A Royals egg is worth your life five times over!”

Emmet took a deep breath, squinting his eyes against the brightness of the arena. The sand bellow his feet was hot and almost reflected the suns heat back up on him. He shielded his eyes best he could, but the sound of another gate opening caught his attention. As well as a growl from inside a cage.

“Move!” Came a voice.

Theo was standing on the stool in their cell and watching Emmet just stand in the arena. “Come on boy! MOVE!”

Emmet jumped as the lion jumped out and Emmet dodged, tucking and rolling away and getting back to his feet but kneeling. The lion skidded in the sand, kicking up a cloud of dust. The crowd cheered, but Emmet was still shaking. 

He and the lion met eyes, and the lion crouched, stalking around him slowly. Emmet followed him with his eyes, the lion was keeping his distance, but each circle was getting closer to Emmet.

He needed a weapon! Something! He took quick glances around, ensuring to have his eyes off the beast for only a moment. 

“Emmet!” 

That voice made him pause and look up and around. He knew that voice. “Esther?!” he called, soon spotting her in the balcony with the royals. What was she doing there? How could he get to her? What if he died here before he could get to her?

“EMMET WATCH IT!” Theo shouted from his cell.

The lion roared as it charged Emmet.

Esther held her breath as Emmet again dodged the lion. She was leaning against the Royal’s balcony with Alchos beside her and Nym on her shoulder, and her shout had caused the Dukes and Duchesses to look at her. 

“You know this slayer?” Grand Duke Raul asked her.

“He’s not a slayer!” Esther blurted. “He’s my brother!”

“He was discovered at the Blue Prince Pub.” The mage said. “He holds a Shadow Dragon’s Clavis. Only Slayers carry those.”

“My dear did you know your brother and his Shadow Dragon were with the Slayers?” Grand Duchess Teresa asked. 

“He was never with them!” Esther answered, almost glowering at the mage.

Axel stepped forward and put a hand on Esther’s shoulder. “Father, shouldn’t he have a fair trial?” He asked. “As he is her brother?”

“What would a trial prove?” The mage asked. “He would be found guilty and sent right back here. All it is for us is a waste of time.”

“But he’s innocent!” Alchos said, looking over at the royals. “He’ll be killed in there!”

“As the slayers should be.” The duke answered. “They torment the dragons and steal away their souls, using them as conduits of power. Each of them deserve a worse fate.”

Alchos growled, but noticed a flick of red fabric as the woman he saw earlier silently vanish away from the balcony. Esther watched as Angelo stood up and tried to reason with his father and mother, but Esther turned to see how Emmet was fairing.

Emmet was now in the structures that acted as obstacles. He had run off from the lion and was trying to get cover. He turned a corner and met the claws of the lion against his arm. He cried out in pain and fell back. He could hear the lion approaching to finish him, but he moved without thinking. he grabbed a handful of sand and threw it into the lion’s eyes. 

The lion yowled with discomfort and shook his head while Emmet got back to his feet and looked around. Finally, he spotted a rack that held several weapons. He raced for it, hearing the lion roaring behind him.

He was half way to the rack when the lion tackled him to the ground, claws digging into his shoulders painfully. Emmet yelled in agony but turned with a balled fist and connected it to the side of the lion’s face. Pain ripped through his fist, but the adrenalin made it barely noticeable. The lion stumbled off of Emmet, allowing him to get up and race again to the rack. 

“Emmet!!” came another shout, the window to his cell being just right of the rack. Theo could see the Lion get back to his feet and lunge at Emmet angrily as he reached the racks. 

Emmet grabbed the first weapon he laid hands on and turned, pointing it at the lion and closing his eyes as the beast tackled him.

“EMMET!” Theo shouted. He had seen many gruesome deaths in this place, but his hands gripped the bars on the window so tightly his knuckles turned white.

The crowd was silent as the guards approached the still form of the lion, waiting in anticipation to see who had won. The guards started pulling on the lion when a whimper caught their attention. The larger guard knelt to get a better look, seeing that the though the lion was dead, it’s teeth were gripped tightly on Emmet’s shoulder. The boy’s eyes were wide as he held onto the sword he had grabbed is if he would die if he let go. The business end of the weapon was buried deep into the big cat, and it’s blood was coating Emmet’s hands and chest. 

Emmet was holding very still, both from shock and because moving made the teeth on his shoulder sting harsher. Though as the adrenaline drained away, he could now feel how injured he was, and how stiff his right hand felt from punching the lion in the face…. did he actually do that? He took slow, shaky breathes as he trembled everywhere, looking over at the guard with large eyes.

The guard chuckled. “And here I hoped that lion had you, Slayer.” He said before standing and signaling that Emmet lived. 

The crowd was a mix of cheers and boos, some impressed that the boy survived, but others upset that the Slayer didn’t meet his end. 

Theo relaxed and leaned his head against the window sill before looking at Umbris and nodding, letting the dragon know the boy was alive. Umbris visibly relaxed, as he was unable to see the battle, all he could do was lay tensely on the stone floor of his own cell. 

* * *

“You should be pretty proud of yourself kid.” Theo said as he inspected the doctors work on Emmet’s injuries. 

Emmet was still shaking. His right arm was bandaged and his left shoulder was stitched with bandages covering the stitches. On his shoulder blades bandages criss-crossed behind his neck and over his torso while his right hand was bandaged with a brace against it. He didn’t realize that he had punched that hard, and was surprised when the doctor informed the guards that he had fractured the center bone in his hand. Thankfully the fracture was small, and would heal in time, but for now it hurt to move anything.

“At least the doctor took his time with you,” Theo told him. “Then again you did give the crowd quite a show.”

“A show,” Emmet answered. “I was almost mauled out there!”

“That you were,” Theo said. “So close you have the teeth marks to prove it.” He smiled and stood as their meal was delivered. More gruel. He returned with the tray with the plates and set one in front of Emmet. “But you showed that you won’t go down easy. You’ll be moved up to the next Bracket. Hand to Hand combat with a prisoner. Or higher if the guards really want you offed.”

Emmet looked up at Theo as the man took a spoonful without batting an eye. Emmet looked down at his plate and sighed. 

“I’m not gonna have to spoon-feed you am I?” Theo asked. 

Emmet looked up at him, his movement making his shoulders ache, but he ignored the pain for now. “No, I’m fine.” He said, slowly picking up the plate and spoon, using his injured hand to balance his plate, using his left hand to handle the spoon. This felt awkward as he fisted the spoon in his hand to hold it steady enough. 

“Hey, whats that?” Theo asked as he set his plate down and picked up something that was hidden under Emmet’s plate. 

Thankful that he could put off eating the grey grossness for now, Emmet looked up to see what Theo had found. From what he could see, it was a piece of paper, and he was reading something on it.

“What is it?” Emmet asked. 

Theo looked at him and smiled, handing him the paper. Emmet looked at it and blinked. It was nothing but gibberish. 

He squinted to read it, the words not making any sense to him.

“Echo, Sierra Charlie and Alpha Papa Echo.

Whiskey in India with the Tango Hotel

Tango with Alpha Lima and Oscar November’s  Sierra.

Uniform is Papa.

Mike, Echo, and Echo are with Tango.

India in November.

Juliet’s Uniform is in the November Golf with Lima, Echo.

~Juliet”

“What the heck?” Emmet asked, reading over the message again and again, but it made less sense than the first time he read it. 

Theo chuckled. “It’s an army code.” He explained, taking the message back. “It’s called Caps Code. One of the lesser known codes because depending on who uses it and how makes it easier or harder to read. This person hadn’t played around with it, but they know it fairly well. An expert could use it to write out instructions or a map.”

He took two bits of stone and set the message on one knee of his lap and used the other to support the larger, flatter stone, to write on with the small sharp stone. He took a few moments, scratching out a smaller message on the stone before reading it. He blinked at the message before showing it to Emmet. This time the message was easier to make sense of.

“Escape With Talons Up.

Meet In Jungle.

J.”

Emmet raised an eyebrow, reading the message over again. “How do they expect us to do this?” He asked. 

Theo stood and looked out the window, mostly at the announcement board. The activities were long since over, but he knew that they would pick up again tomorrow. He looked under the category for Talons Up and spotted his name with Umbris, but he grimaced when he saw Nex’s name across from his and his rider was a rat of a man dubbed Skeet the Skink. He looked at the window and gave the bars a shake, seeing some of the stone holding it place crumble it away. He smiled, an idea forming in his mind. 

“Oh, they expect us to be creative is all.” He said, looking over at Emmet and spotting Umbris’ amethyst eyes watching them from his darkening cell. “And if it’s anything that this thief is… it’s creative.”

Author's Note

I'm hoping that this chapter hold's up well enough ^_^ I'm keeping in mind that this book is still the first draft, and all this may be changed in the future. So your feedback is very much welcome ^_^