The First Sighting

A story inspired by, and devoted to, my dear friend, Kiro (http://www.writerscafe.org/MrIguana). Based on our two characters from our Dragon Age-based RP site, I, sadly, do not own the game.

The crowd was roaring in excitement and the sun was shining on a bloodied battle field littered with body parts and entrails. The air was full of heated anticipation for the next bloody battle, but Laius found himself board beyond words. He rolled his eyes and yawned while those around him watched with baited breath, including his mother.

Cassandran Nevus had forced her son to come here today, but why was well beyond Laius. As magisters of the Imperium, he would have thought they both had better things to do than watch people be hacked to bits, not that the hacking bothered Laius. He’d seen more blood than this be spilled at Solstice parties thrown by some of the more wasteful magisters throughout his life. Instead, it was the lack of artistry and passion the arena combatants showed during their little life or death contests.

Most of them were slaves and could hardly be termed ‘gladiators’ or even considered warriors. Most of them simply went right at each other and started hacking away. Some of them would make a few fancy flourishes or use an interesting battle tactic, but that was simply to impress those watching them. None of them enjoyed the fight; none of them enjoyed being the center of attention even though that attention belonged to many high-ranking mages and magisters, much like Laius himself. Frankly, it was a bit insulting and he was well beyond the point of ‘not impressed’.

However, just when Laius had decided to excuse himself, the entire crowd grew hushed and a decidedly enthusiastic silence fell over the arena like a heavy blanket. Looking around himself, Laius allowed his gaze to follow the direction of everyone else’s eyes. He found himself staring at one of the many entrance gates spread around the arena, but this one had yet to be used throughout the entire day’s sport. Now though, it shuddered and released a loud groaning sigh as though it were someone’s lover. Once it was fully opened, the shadows within its depths seemed to shudder and move as a figure came looming out of the darkness.

Laius’ breath suddenly caught in his throat as he looked upon one of the most wonderfully fearsome warriors he had ever had the pleasure of seeing. He was an elf, but he seemed to be tall for one of his race. His long hair was black and unkempt, but Laius could see its potential to shine like the raven’s wing if properly cared for. His skin was a dusky gold and his body was nothing but muscle while showing a littering of scars from his presumably long years as a fighter.

Beyond all of that though, Laius zeroed in on one particular feature that he had never seen before. The elf’s eyes were the most stunning, otherworldly shade of blue. It was the blue of lyrium, pure, unrefined lyrium as one might find in the tunnels surrounding Orzammar. The gaze was piercing and the expression the elf wore was one of exultation. He had every eye on him and he alone and he loved it. No member of the audience looked away from him; no one even registered who his opponent might be.

Suddenly realizing the travesty of not knowing the warrior’s name, Laius leaned over to his mother and whispered to her in an awed voice. Yes, he was awed by someone other than himself, a rare thing that Laius would have abhorred had he not been enthralled by the gladiator.

“Mother, this fighter… Who is he? What is his name?”

Hearing his voice, Cassandran looked at her son with a peculiar look on her face. It was as though something she had hoped for had come to pass, but she couldn’t quite believe it. She answered her son in a restrained manner, obviously waiting to see what he was thinking.

“His name is Ledo. He is the slave of Magister Hersilia Lucretius and I dare say he should be her prized possession. She bets large sums of money on these fights and loses, purposely, so that she can make one last grand bet, just when she knows it is Ledo’s turn to take the field. Those she’s betting against assume they will win yet again and accept her final, grand offer only to lose everything they had gained and then some. Very clever that one…”

Laius had stopped listening to his mother’s words the moment he learned the name of his newest obsession. Ledo… The name rolled around in his mind and he found himself completely taken in by the man who was even now raising his fists in the air to the roared approval of the spectating crowd. Dropping his hands, he drew his weapon. Laius could tell it was a greatsword due to its length, but the blade itself was thinner than most two-handed weapons. Ledo gave the weapon an experimental flourish and the elegance of that simple movement was fascinating, but not as much so as the rippling play of muscles throughout the elf’s body.

Ledo pointed his blade in the direction of his opponent and Laius saw the foolish whelp for the first time. Obviously a slave like Ledo, the other man was larger and wore more armor than the elven warrior while carrying an oversized maul, but you could tell from his nervous movements and agitated stance that he was not the elf’s equal. He was a brute, someone who would attempt to overwhelm his smaller opponent with his sheer size and armored musculature.

Without warning, Ledo released a mighty roar at his enemy and charged forward. Laius felt his heart jump along with another part of his anatomy. The way the elf moved, the graceful lines of his body, the tautness of well-defined muscles… Laius wanted this man like he had never wanted anything else in his life.

Just as he reached the hulking fighter, Ledo stopped dead in his tracks and swung his entire body around to the right just in time to avoid a crushing blow from the man’s maul. As his movement carried him around, Ledo moved behind the man and lashed out with his own blade. Somehow, the elf had spotted a weakness in the armor that had eluded Laius and probably everyone else watching the drama unfold and when his blade hit that weak point… The armor encasing the man’s entire left leg simply shattered.

The man tried to turn around and face his smaller foe, but Ledo was too quick for him. He rolled to the right again keeping him in line with the now exposed leg. When he rolled back to his feet, he lashed out at the appendage once more. This time, his blade cleaved through flesh and bone as though both were warm butter. The giant screamed while blood streamed everywhere and a severed foot flew across the field.

The crowd shouted and whooped their approval and stomped in a frenzied show of excitement. Laius though, remained silent, but his eyes were wide and his jaw ever so slightly slack, but the battle wasn’t done. With a great effort, the giant made one, last-ditch move to crush his opponent, literally.

Heaving all of his weight off of the ground from his one remaining foot, he launched himself into the air in Ledo’s direction with every intention of landing on the elf. Instead, Ledo rolled to the right again and as the man crashed to the ground, the hilt of the elf’s weapon suddenly burst forth through the unlucky slave’s thick neck. The crowd shrieked and Laius was stunned. Ledo had stabbed his sword into the ground at the last minute and let the giant kill himself on his opponent’s weapon.

Standing in a graceful movement, the elf strolled over to his defeated foe’s lifeless corpse and gripped the hilt of his sword. With one, strong pull he forced the rest of the weapon through and out of the giants flesh. As an arc of blood followed the blade’s tip, Ledo raised the sword to the sky and let the crimson spray coat him in the most fantastic shade of red.

He let loose a roar which was echoed by the entire crowd. Every person in the stands stood up to clap their hands and stomp their feet for the gruesome victory of the elven slave before them. Laius though, remained seated with his eyes glued on the exultant expression of the killer elf and allowed only one thought to flood his mind: he will be mine…

Author's Note

Please tell me what you think of the characters, particularly Laius as he is the focus of the story... for now.

Reviews

[Kiro]

I have already told you that I love this, but I figure I can tell it again, so you may never doupt it.
I enjoy the way Laius' egoism shines through in your text; how he seems self-centered and proud, yet it doesn't consume everything you write but is carefully layered in. I like how he wants to posses Ledo, just like that just because he know he can, and how he doesn't seem anything odd in it, even if he claims to oppose slavery. To me it shows how the culture around him effects his views ever so slightly. I also keep wondering what was Laius' mothers motive to bring him along. They are magisters after all; there has to be ulterior motive. ;)
And of course I enjoy just reading your writing in general; it has this flow that is easy to get in yet is never simple. I admire your skills and enjoy our games.
Thank you for writing this.

[Slithering Angel]

I love you. ;-)