Blood on the Sand

Chapter 1

"If you are a gladiator, then that means you live a life lower than that of an animal. Delude yourself if you wish, try to prove me wrong with tales of a gladiator's glory, how the people love and adore them. When you are a gladiator, you are immortal; you can never die, for your name will live on in tales until the end of time. You could not be any farther from the truth you pitiful little worm.

Those people you hear, calling out your name in admiration. They will also cheer with thunderous applause as your opponent plunges their sword into your stomach. After that, your time will be over, blotted out by the next gladiator and the gladiator after that one, and so on, until you are a joke, then you'll be nothing. Gladiators live their lives like dogs, except to my knowledge goblins don't own dogs, so perhaps we are worse off than dogs.

You ask how I know these things. How am I certain that your illustrious career will end with you bleeding on the ground, looking up at the sky, wondering what you did wrong? Don't take it personally, it'll just be because the other guy was better than you, or you just weren't on the top of your game. All in all, being a gladiator is a pretty useless choice when it comes to jobs. That's why I didn't choose to be one, I had to. The question is, more importantly, why do you want to be one?"

The young orc wanted to choose her words carefully, this I could tell. Shouts thundered down at us from the outside, the bloodthirsty crowd wanting me to be torn asunder for my tardiness. For all I cared the crowd could fall on my sword, this was more important. This orc woman, this Morska, as they called her, was supposedly my biggest fan. She told me how she had watched all of my matches since she was little, and now that she is grown up, she wants to follow my example. In response, I promptly told her the cold truth about this profession, and for a moment, I could see something of regret in her eyes. Perhaps she truly did not wish to be a gladiator, I'd say it would most certainly extend her life expectancy, but once you're in, there is no escape.

She was certainly muscular, common for an orc like her, but she was leaner, more agile. Her path was not a warrior; she chose the path of a rogue, which works well enough in the arena. A rogue had almost bested me once, before I sank my blades into his chest. There was a way about her that seemed odd. Something about her brown eyes that just happened to look down yet filled with determination, or rather how she ran her fingers through that black hair of hers. Doubt crept into her, but I knew it would not stay for long. When I looked over her, I saw the brand mark that crept over shoulder. Memories of my own started to flash before me, making the brand on my own back start to itch. That was the mark of a goblin lord, just like mine, perhaps I would ask him if he owned her or not.

"I joined because I plan on making my legend stronger, proving you wrong and killing you all in the process." Morska said flat out. This was surprising to me, though I guess it should not have, besides the part where she said she planned on killing me. There were better ways of doing that, so why risk losing it all this way?

"So you wish to prove me wrong, and to kill me? To kill me would hardly make proving me wrong worthwhile, since I won't be around to fully gloat over." It was difficult to find a gladiator with intellect these days. Mages and the rest of the spellcasters were smart, but they lacked the type of social etiquette I wanted, especially the other blood elves. All they wanted to do is mock me for either being a warrior or not being pretty enough for them. As a fellow blood elf, I take offense to that, but then the reflection from my swords tells me their right, and I cease to care afterwards.

"Killing you will make me more famous, as no one has killed you. You are currently one of the top ranked gladiators in Azeroth. If I kill you, I'll become the most deadly woman in the arena, and then I will stay that way for as long as it takes. Once my legend has been cemented, and my name is forever known until the end of time, then I will prove you're wrong. It doesn't matter that you'll be dead, your spirit will be proven wrong well enough." A sound theory, though I suppose it should unnerve me more than impress me. I chuckled softly, not as an insult, but like a refreshing sip of water that cools your lips. "Good."

Now it was her who was surprised, this time it was much more than mine. "I...I don't understand."

"Don't disappoint me now Morska. You understand completely, I know you do." My tone became more serious. If she didn't understand, then she was just another glory seeking fool to bleed from me.

Thankfully, she seemed like she completely understood, and explained why. "As I watched your matches, I would look at your face, during the times the sun was too hot and you pulled it off afterwards." That much was certainly true. There have been times where the sun was just too much for me, and I had to remove my helmet. At first I did not want to do such a thing, as my face had been left terribly scarred by the attack on my home of Silvermoon. Before then I was known as the Deadly Tornado, but after that, I was the Hideous Hurricane. I did not see Morska during those times, or perhaps I did not remember her, but I gave the crowd a certain look.

"At first you sneered, but then you became indifferent to the crowd. That is why you do not care if they yell for your death, and it is why you have such a view about being a gladiator. You don't want to be a gladiator, but you refuse to die, because you are searching for something. I do not know what, but that does not matter now. We have all chosen this life, so we know how it must end. I know that someday I will die to another, but before then I will have killed you. By then, all will know me as a legend, and even if I do die, I will live on in their memories whether they like it or not. You enjoy this fact, because it means someone may be worthy of killing you, and because perhaps someone is willing to make things better. I plan on becoming the best, so that I can bring honor to the gladiators, so that we will become greater than the beasts you think we are. Perhaps that will give your spirit rest." She shrugged. "Perhaps it will not, even so, I will do all these things. So remember me, Selandra Windfall, Hideous Hurricane, for I will bring you death, then I will bring you peace."