by Hicks, Aaron
Uktesh turned to see that Arreis was swarmed by twelve gladiators, with most of the rest heading that way. Those that weren’t on their way toward Arreis were on their way toward Uktesh; about a dozen in total. At the front of those heading his way was the gladiator that had told Uktesh he was foolish to attack Arreis. Uktesh Stepped forwards and threw his sword at that lead gladiator in the true form sword throw Lightning Flashes. Ordinarily there were no forms for a sword throw, but Uktesh adapted Lightning Flashes, and then spun into the titanic attack Crescent Moon, a two-handed spinning attack--that for the first time in battle Uktesh performed correctly. He saw a wave of deadly energy cut into the front row of the gladiators that ran his way. All of them that were hit by the invisible wave--six in total--were cut in half!
Three on the right side in the second row had a long horizontal slash along their ribs. They fell to the ground and the three that remained skidded to a halt after Uktesh killed nine seasoned gladiators with one attack. Uktesh Stepped behind them, and quickly finished them off. He walked over to one of the corpses and pulled his sword from its body. He could see that Arreis was struggling against the forty or so gladiators that remained attacking him. Uktesh saw that Emexida was down; an axe was embedded in his shoulder and neck. Uktesh frowned, tucked one of his swords under his armpit, picked up a spear and threw it at Emexida, who parried the attack away.
Uktesh took his sword from his armpit and stalked toward Emexida. Emexida looked to the dwindling number of gladiators fighting Arreis and took a step toward them, as if he were going to join in, but instead shrugged and charged toward Uktesh. Uktesh used a trick that Ceftin had taught him. Uktesh Stepped back, used a true Crane in the Weeds and then a titanic Palm Strike. Because he wasn’t unarmed the titanic shock wave went diagonally downwards into the sand. Which had been his plan. Uktesh used the sand to obscure Emexida’s vision. Uktesh threw one of his swords at Emexida, then Walked in front of both the moving sword and Emexida. Uktesh held his hands out wide, which left his chest exposed for an easy kill. Emexida took the shot, but as he moved Uktesh Walked back to where he’d been as his sword, that he’d thrown right after the sand diversion finally struck the lunging gladiator in the throat.
Uktesh walked back to Emexida and said, “You should’ve stuck to the plan, I probably won’t get out of a fight with Arreis uninjured.” Though now that you’ve literally stabbed me in the back, I might not get out of a fight with Arreis at all. Uktesh saw Arreis decapitate the last of the gladiators, with his giant broadsword, that he somehow held in one hand. Then he turned toward Uktesh. Uktesh saw that Arreis had killed dozens, but fortunately they had wounded the draconic gladiator. There were dozens of open wounds on the massive gladiators hide. Uktesh nodded and Arreis nodded back. Arreis was too far away to Step into attack range, so when he disappeared Uktesh knew the draconic gladiator also knew how to Walk. Uktesh Stepped to the side, and as he attacked Arreis, Arreis Stepped to Uktesh’s side and Uktesh Stepped behind Arreis.
For the next several minutes Uktesh and Arreis Stepped around the arena each trying to find an opening. Uktesh hardened his skin as much as he could and accepted a hit to his manica that bit through the manica, the fasciae beneath it, and into the skin of his right forearm. His only weapon is now blocked! Uktesh enhanced his true attack with spirit and used Sword Raises the Sky to cut off Arreis’ arm at his elbow.
Uktesh grinned as victory was within his grasp. Then followed up his attack with a spirit enhanced-titanic Crane in the Weeds. As he moved he saw that Arreis had a bracelet that morphed into a sword! Uktesh simultaneously lifted his left leg and sword to block the attack against his ocrea. The attack snapped his sword, cut through his ocrea, the fasciae beneath it, the skin beneath that, and was halted by his shin bone. His enhanced attack, however, stabbed thorough Arreis’s chest and the discharge of the combined titanic and spirit power blew apart his chest. With a flash of light the magical sword turned back into a bracelet and Uktesh fell forward onto Arreis and quickly took the bracelet and stuffed it into his loincloth.
Once he’d stolen the magical bracelet Uktesh fell back and quickly untied his orcea and the fasciae wrapping beneath it. He winced as he rubbed sand in the wound, then quickly rewrapped his leg with the fasciae, and tied it tight. Uktesh stood on his good leg and looked around to see if anyone was faking being dead. Uktesh stood as wave after wave of pain radiated out from his shin. Finally a horn was sounded and the crowd burst into a loud cheer as the Fates stood again. “The tribute was found lacking.”
Uktesh felt his jaw drop open. What in the nine hells does that mean? The crowd fell into a confused silence as the Fates asked, “Are there any nobilis who would finish the tribute?”
Then Uktesh understood. What’s better, your gladiator winning the Ultimate Rumble or your son? Uktesh realized he was correct in his assumption when Astiau stood and said, “I will-”
He father backhanded him into silence, stood and said, “Who would dare state that my tribute is lacking?”
Oh awesome! He’s so angry. He doesn’t realize it was his own son that had orchestrated this dishonor. The Fate’s, clearly not fools, saw that the one who should’ve challenged had been silence said, “In ancient times the tribute was four hundred and the gods deem this year should be the same. Therefore, ‘Uktesh the Unarmed’ shall fight once more for the glory of the gods. His opponent shall be that peregrini,” they pointed as one to someone near the top of the stands. All eyes turned toward that section and a fight quickly broke out as two people fought to prove they hadn’t been picked.
Unfortunately for the winner, he hadn’t realized that the unconscious fighter would not be deemed a fit tribute. The winner was dragged down to the edge of the arena and tossed over the wall. He fell the twenty feet to the sand and landed on his shoulder with a loud pop. He screamed and held his shoulder, the Fates shouted, “Begin!”
Uktesh limped over to the man and the man shifted into the shape of a large bear! With reflexes born of hundreds of fights and several battles to the death Uktesh swung his sword and quickly decapitated the bear. The bear turned back into the man and Uktesh thought, I need to ask Ceftin about that! He turned to glare at Astiau who held a cloth to his bleeding nose. Uktesh next turned to the Fates and shouted, “If you find me lacking again, come down here yourselves!” The crowd roared its approval and started chanting, “Uktesh!”
The Fates stood and once the crowd had quieted said, “The tribute is complete! This year’s Ultimate Rumble champion is Uktesh the unarmed!” He raised his arms in victory, and the crowd started chanting, “Uktesh!” again. The Fates continued, “In thanks for your tribute you are awarded twenty-five, ‘kills,’ one-hundred platinum marks, and the freedom of any slave you choose. Who do you choose?”
Uktesh had known who he would pick ever since last night, “I pick my friend and teacher, Ceftin!”
Uktesh could see that the Storm lord was not happy with that decision, but Uktesh knew that there was nothing he could do about it. Uktesh had publicly awarded him his freedom. The Fates said, “Granted, your payment will await you at your ludis.”
Uktesh turned and limped to his gate. Talia rushed into his arms and the other three girls all congratulated him on his victory. Uktesh said, “Lets head back. I need to get my leg and shoulder looked at.” Uktesh put his left arm around Talia’s shoulder and his right around one of the other girl’s and let them hold some of his weight as he limped his way back to the ludis. Now that the fight was over he could barely put any weight on his injured leg, and had a bad feeling about the quality of care he was going to receive. When they reached the gate he pulled his arms from around their shoulders and limped in on his own, with his head held high. The gladiators circled him and congratulated him on his victory.
One gladiator asked, “How far did the other three make it?”
Uktesh replied, “Cielex and Omero survived round one but not two. Emexida died in the final round.”
Another gladiator as
ked, “Do you know the name of the gladiator that killed Emexida?”
Uktesh said, “I killed him, after he stabbed me in the back and gave me this,” he showed them his shoulder.
Another asked, “Were there any god form failures this year?”
Uktesh said, “Yes three. A centaur, a minotaur, and a draconic.”
A gladiator asked, “Did you kill any of them personally?”
Uktesh replied, “I killed all three of them.”
There was a stunned silence until yet another asked, “How many gladiators did you personally kill?”
Uktesh replied, “I don’t know, but probably about twenty-five.”
Another asked, “Were you allowed to use weapons?”
Another immediately asked, “Or what he meant was, ‘were you given weapons at the beginning, or did you have to kill for a weapon?’”
Uktesh said, “I’m, ‘Uktesh the Unarmed.’ Of course I had to start each round unarmed.”
He let them ask questions for a few more minutes and continued to answer patiently until Ceftin said,
“Enough questionsss you jackalsss,
he’sss injured not bound to you by shacklesss.”
Uktesh smiled and nodded his thanks to the naga before he limped down, with Talia, to a place he’d never needed to go previously. The medical room was near the entrance to the ludis and Uktesh could have found it by smell alone. Uktesh walked in and found the doctor pulling teeth out of Emexida’s mouth. Uktesh asked the question he didn’t really want an answer to, “What are you doing?”
The man looked up as he twisted a tooth out, “I’m taking his good teeth. Someone will need a replacement soon.”
Uktesh felt his stomach threaten to release its contents. Instead he said, “I’m here for you to check my shoulder and leg.”
The man stopped what he was doing, thankfully, and walked over to Uktesh. He poured water on the cut on Uktesh’s shoulder and Uktesh winced as he dug his fingers into the cut. He said, “This one will by fine, let me just sew it shut.” Uktesh endured the next ten minutes of the man stabbing him with a needle and sewing up his shoulder. While he was sewing up Uktesh’s shoulder Talia was busy removing his balteus, both manica and his right ocrea. Once the man finished he rubbed a cream on the sewed-up wound and said, “Let’s see your leg.”
Uktesh carefully unwrapped the fasciae from his left leg, while Talia began removing the fasciae from his waist. Now that Uktesh got a good look at it, one without the threat of imminent death, he saw that it was pretty bad. If I hadn’t hardened my skin that attack would’ve severed my limb from my body. Uktesh looked at his right arm and saw that the cut there was shallow and barely more than a scratch. Why was that attack so much weaker than the one that hit my leg? The manica is less protection than the ocrea, yet the ocrea injury is by far the worst.
The man grunted, poured water on the leg, and jabbed a finger in the wound. Uktesh could’ve swore dug his finger around in it. The man said, “This leg will have to go.”
He walked away to get a bone saw and Uktesh said, “Hell no!”
The man said, “It’s cut into the bone, it won’t heal properly.
Uktesh said, “I don’t care, you’re not taking my leg! I have limp now, if it doesn’t go necrotic the worst I’ll have is a limp. If I lose my leg the best I can hope for is a limp. Don’t sew it up, just wrap some maggots into the wound, and we’ll take a look at it tomorrow. If it’s become necrotic then you have my permission to take the leg.”
The man said, “You know your stuff. We’ll try it your way, but if I think it needs to go tomorrow, it goes.”
Uktesh didn’t say anything, he just raised any eyebrow that he hoped conveyed, “Do you really think you can force the issue?”
The man said, “Did you get hurt in practice? I thought the only thing happening today was the Rumble.”
Uktesh nodded and said, “Yeah, I won it.”
The man said, “You shouldn’t practice so hard.”
Uktesh said, “No, I was in the Rumble, and I won it.”
The man’s jaw dropped, then he broke out in a huge smile, and said, “You won! That’s great news! Every year I put a gold mark on the Storm ludis to win and this year it paid off! So you won, that means you’re a free man! Are you getting your Rudis tonight? Or do they have to carve it and you’ll get it tomorrow?”
Uktesh said, “I didn’t have enough ‘kills’ to win freedom.”
The man said, “So? They should’ve given you the right to free a slave. You freed yourself, right?”
Uktesh felt his face heat, “Uh, no. I didn’t know that was an option.”
The man said, “Maybe they’ll let you buy your freedom with the hundred platinum marks. Who did you free?”
Uktesh said, “I freed Ceftin.”
The man’s jaw dropped open, “You freed the monster that seduced the Storm lords daughter and impregnated her. Then when he failed his god form he forced the Storm lord to kill his own daughter. That Ceftin?”
Uktesh nodded and said, “I obviously didn’t know all that.”
The man sighed and put his hand on Uktesh’s shoulder, “You need to hope that he allows you to pay all those coins for your freedom, because if he doesn’t he’s going to set you up to lose your next fight.”
Uktesh said, “I’m at ninety-seven ‘kills’ so at worst I’ll have to fight three people.”
The man nodded, “That’s at best. If you anger the Lord of your ludis they can had you fight a hundred people in your final fight if they want. They plan it under the guise of, ‘a fitting farewell tribute,’ though for you it’s a, ‘I’m going to keep throwing people at you until you die,’ tribute.”
Uktesh said, “Damn, and I’m guessing that if I’m not fully healed and he’s of the second mind set, I get to fight injured.”
The man nodded. Talia stroked the man’s shoulder and said, “But you’ll tell the Storm lord that while he is injured, it’s not serious.”
The man said, “I don’t care how good a piece of ass you think you are. My life is worth more to me than you flirting with me.”
Uktesh said, “Well, no harm in trying, you tell him the truth if he asks. I’ll be fine.”
Uktesh limped out of the room and said, “Talia, I may need you tonight. Please make sure you’re given permission to come to me, if possible.”
Uktesh headed to the kitchens where he ate as much meat as he could before he retired to his cell. He sat in a meditative position, though with his left leg extended, because bending it hurt. He closed his eyes, and almost immediately fell into a meditative state. He poured spirit into his wound as grand master Dayho had taught him. He felt like if he added water it would help purify any infection so he combined spirit with water, and focused on the bone, muscle, and skin and pictured it knitting itself back together.
He woke up and saw that the sun was out, how long was I meditating for? Where’s Talia? Did she come and go without my noticing her? He unwrapped his bandages and saw that there was a bulge in his bandages. As he unwrapped it completely he saw the maggots that had been in the wound, fall to the ground. He looked at his leg to find that his leg was whole with only a long, thick, scar to show he’d ever been injured. Uktesh smiled and put his weight on his left leg and found that outside of a small twinge of pain, it felt completely healed. Uktesh rewrapped his bandages and limped to the kitchens to get some breakfast.
When he arrived all conversation stopped. He expected some kind of continuation of the congratulations that he’d received yesterday, but the silence was ominous. Where’s Talia? Uktesh skipped breakfast and headed to find Ceftin. Oh that’s right I freed him! Will he even be here still? What is the process for freeing a slave? I had planned on giving him some of my victory money. Uktesh walked out on the training sand and saw what had caused the other gladiators to stop their conversations. Nailed to the west wall was the body of Ceftin.
“No!” He heard himself shout, as if from far away. Uktesh Wa
lked to Ceftin’s side and started pulling spikes from the wall. Ceftin had been impaled by dozens of spikes, and as Uktesh continued to pull the stakes out, he felt his eyes begin to water. “What did they do?” Uktesh pulled out the stakes holding his snake-like body to the wall first and then Uktesh was blinded by tears as he pulled the last out of Ceftin’s hands. Uktesh slowly lower Ceftin’s body to the sand. What have I done! Where’s Talia? Why didn’t she come to me last night?
Duktesh had an answer. Because you told her you didn’t want her, and because you’re now clearly out of favor with the Storm lord. He ordered her to someone else’s bed, and there she was raped until she died. Uktesh tried to ignore his own dark nightmare thoughts.
“This is what happens when you try to outsmart me, boy!”
Uktesh turned and saw the courtyard had filled with soldiers. The Storm lord stood on his balcony and looked down at Uktesh. Uktesh shouted, “I wasn’t trying to outsmart you! They asked who I wanted to free, and I didn’t think I was an option! So I said Ceftin, because I owed him the most, for all his help training me!”
The Dominus said, “Not your night-time wife Talia? She couldn’t stop chattering about how you’d requested her to your bed last night.”
Uktesh stood, balled his fists, and said, “You better not have hurt her!”
The Dominus said, “Or what? You may be a skilled gladiator, but I am the Storm lord! Commander of all the armies of the Empire! No. Don’t try to threaten me. It’s like the mewling of a kitten. And besides, hurt her? Why would I hurt her? To think that after spending every night with you for more than three months that she would still be a virgin! Well we remedied that last night.” The Storm lord was clearly enjoying this as he smiled widely. “Though I think we, my sons and I, were a bit too violent for her first time. You should’ve heard her crying and calling out for you, but you never came? Did you?”
