Chapter 7

Coliseum

It was a day's travel to the Dragon Fang Coliseum. Shinon and Hrothgar made the trip by foot, and the Paladin allowed his Lord to ride on his horse. In the day's time, Shinon noticed something interesting. Hrothgar was very protective and mindful over Eli, in more then just an uncle or guardian's way. Frequently he would ask his nephew questions like "Are you okay?", "Do you need to rest?", "Are you hungry?", or "How are you feeling?" and the answers were always a variation of the slightly annoyed, "I'm fine...let's keep going." Shinon was impressed at the youth's ability to keep moving and not tire, for his age. At the same time, the archer wondered why Hrothgar frequently was checking in on his young Lord. It led Shinon to believe that there might be a reason that Eli wouldn't be fine. Perhaps he was afflicted with a sickness?

In addition to the frequent over protective uncle check ups, Shinon noticed something else interesting as the trio moved on through the Draiper Forest to the Dragon Fang Coliseum. Occasionally, Shinon would notice that on Eli's left wrist he wore a heavy, dark grey steel bracelet that had a few glowing green crystals. Eli did his best to keep the bracelet concealed, and frequently his eyes would shift in Shinon's direction if he caught himself adjusting his cloak's sleeve to cover up the gaudy piece of jewelry. Shinon was no stranger to magical objects, and assumed that this bracelet was more then just an ugly looking accessory. It was clear that the boy did not want him to notice it, but what Eli failed to see was how little Shinon cared about whatever it was that Eli and Hrothgar were trying to hide. As long as whatever their secret was didn't stop them from paying the Crimson Archer, he genuinely didn't care what it was.

After a long walk, Shinon and his new companions finally made it to a large clearing in the dense forest that was the home to a massive coliseum made from heavy, thick, and old yellow rock. It was several stories high and essentially a big ornate circular wall surrounding a large fighting ground that crowds would come and spectate massive acts of violence for sport and profit. On several points of the massive coliseum wall, Shinon noticed statues of ferocious dragons. There was no doubt in his mind that they had finally made it to the Dragon Fang Coliseum.

The trio walked in and were greeted in the front lobby area by a strong man with a red sleeveless shirt, tight tan pants, a white bandanna, a black eye patch, and a body full of scars. He looked well older then Hrothgar, and as if he had seen his fair share of battle and time within the arena. He greeted them, and introduced himself as Titus, the owner of the Dragon Fang Coliseum.

Titus surveyed the three newcomers and as his eye noticed Shinon and Hrothgar he spoke. "Alright, it's 100 gold to enter in the next contest..." and then he noticed Eli and continued to speak, "200 gold for the boy...if a child is going to die in my arena, I want to make sure I'm well paid for it."

Hrothgar reached into his armor and withdrew a small blue bag and paid the arena owner one hundred gold as he pointed to Shinon. "He'll be the only one entering today."

Shinon was rather surprised at this, especially when Titus explained what matter of battle the archer would be participating in.

"Very well then." Titus gruffly stated as he looked at Shinon. "The fight starts in a few hours, I'm expecting a full house of paying customers. Tonight we're going to host a special event. Where as usually the fights are one at a time, winner of everything takes all, tonight we're going to do a free for all. I'll have five combatants, last one standing wins."

Titus didn't stick around for any more conversation, and walked off to mind his own business and prepare for the upcoming event. Shinon glared at Hrothgar and spoke coldly, "So you're not going to enter too? So much for teamwork!"

"You're the one being paid for the job." Eli responded coldly, "You're here because you can fight and you're good with a bow. Hrothgar has seen you with his own eyes, but I haven't yet. Consider this an entrance exam, if you will."

"You got to be kidding me..." Shinon rolled his eyes. He thought the mage was being a snobby brat in that moment. "You're really starting to bug me, kid."

"And we are about to bug you more, because let me tell you your very precise instructions for this battle." Hrothgar interjected. "Here at the Dragon Fang Coliseum they very much encourage fights to the death. The crowds want to see them, and contestants prefer them because then they do not have to split the prize money. Remember though, we aren't here to win this blood thirsty contest, we're here to recruit capable fighters. So your job in that arena is to stay alive, battle each warrior so that we may see their fighting potential and gauge there ability, and then when the time is right...Eli will interject and stop the fight in a very sudden way that will clear the room."

"What the hell do you plan on doing?" Shinon asked the mage, completely unsure how someone as young as him could clear an entire audience of bloodthirsty spectators.

"It's really a more "see it to believe it" kind of thing." Eli responded with a wry smile, "But trust me, you'll know when I get involved. But the key is for you to stay alive, and don't kill any of the other fighters...Got it?"

Shinon rolled his eyes as he refused to respond to the snobby Lord. He walked away towards the room that Titus had instructed all the fighters to go wait in before the battle started. As Shinon left, Eli turned to Hrothgrar and spoke.

"He...he never really acknowledged our plan did he? Do you think he can survive, and go without killing anyone?"

"I believe so..." Hrothgar replied thoughtfully, "Let us go find some good seats. I want you to watch Shinon carefully during this battle, Lord Eli...I have some suspicions about him that I believe you will be able to confirm as you see him in the heat of battle. He seems to have an...unnatural...bloodlust to him."

"You don't think..." Eli asked, his attitude changed from cocky to grave concern.

"I do not know..." Hrothgar interrupted, knowing exactly what Eli was asking, "But I do have my concerns..."