I stood behind the portcullis as the sun shone in the middle of the sky. In my left hand, I had a recurve bow. I also had a broadsword over my shoulder next to my arrows and a one handed axe on my belt. Owyn had informed me that the first round would be a pack of wolves. He didn't know exactly how many there were in this pack, but that they would only be released three at a time.

I'd forgone taking a helmet or shield for this battle. Against wolves, they'd just be dead weight. I could feel the warmth from the sands outside. The crowd was talking excitedly in anticipation of my fight. There were lots of people making bets on the first bout. They all were silenced by one announcer.

"People of the Imperial city, welcome to the day of blood!" He paused briefly to allow for the cheers that erupted. "As you know, there was recently an attempt on the Emperor's life. Rather than spend a lifetime in prison for his treason, one of the assassins has chosen to try his strength here for all of you to enjoy." Once again the crowd cheered. "My people, it's time for the first round. I give you, HAN-LU URSHAR!"

The portcullis raised to show that huge blocks of marble had been scattered around the arena. A row of drum players set the tone from the stands. I knocked an arrow to my bowstring and proceed toward the trap door in the middle. It swung open and three gray haired wolves climbed out.

My reaction was fast. As soon as the first arrow was buried in the wolf's skull, my hand drew for another. They still hadn't even seen me when the second one fell.

As I aimed for the third, they released another three. My third arrow missed the head and buried itself into the dog's shoulder. It howled and barked, not the least bit interested in me.

The next group advanced on me panting. I ignored the injured one and concentrated on the greatest threat. One more fell to a headshot, but the others tried to flank me. I yelled and waved my bow in the air, knowing all animals were afraid of noise. They hesitated long enough for me to get another shot, an easy kill at this range, but the third group was already on the way.

The remaining wolf from the second group lunged and bit my shin. The leather boot protected me and I grabbed the axe off my belt to give a swift chop to the neck. The dog withdrew, yelping, but now I was being circled by four. Another one bit my leg from behind and the others rushed in. I chopped indiscriminately, keeping my arms high enough to avoid their teeth. I felt one sink into my left thigh and I instinctively fell backwards on top of it. It kicked with its feet, but I grabbed one of its hind legs and chopped at the belly while another chewed on my shoulder armor.

I reached around with my left arm and hooked my last attacker around the neck. It drew back, releasing my shoulder and I grabbed its mouth, the teeth biting into my hand. I pulled the animal close with my left and pushed its head backwards with my right until I felt a snap.

Standing up, I saw that there were three dogs wounded, but still alive. I chopped the neck of the one with the stomach wounds and one other until it was just the one with the arrow in it. He was reaching his head around, trying to bite the arrow off. I picked up the bow and killed it quickly before limping back to the bloodworks. I ignored the cheers and jeers from the crowd. I didn't care what they thought of me.

The announcer yelled, "Wow, what a show. Han-lu has displayed that he can stay cool under pressure, but can he defeat overwhelming odds. Find out at the stroke of one."

Owyn was waiting for me just inside the portcullis. He helped me inside where I tended to my wounds.

"Do you need a potion to recover your magic?"

"No," I replied, unstrapping my boots. "I have plenty of time to recover on my own." I laid down on my cot after I was healed. "Who do I fight in the next round?"

"There's four convicts who volunteered to fight you. I haven't been told if they have any fighting experience, but you'll be fighting them all at the same time, so watch your back."

I acknowledged his advice and napped until it was time to prepare. I jogged in place and stretched to avoid straining anything during the fight. I armed myself the same way as the first fight, but replaced the axe with a mace in case of heavily armored opponents and covered my head with a boiled leather helmet. Once again, I came out of the portcullis with my bow drawn.

The drums started as my first arrow released. I'd picked the enemy with the lightest armor, so when the arrow struck him, it slipped right through his chain mail. This time, there were two bows pointed at me, so I dropped mine and grabbed a shield off the rack. The two enemy arrows thudded into the wood before I'd secured it to my wrist. I rushed forward and ducked behind one of the marble blocks so I could attach my shield properly. I tightened the strap around my forearm and flexed my grip on the iron rung.

I peeked around the rock to find the three convicts advancing slowly in a group. Two wore heavier plate armor and one was in light armor matching mine.

"These jokers will be easier than the wolves," I said to myself. The dogs at least knew flank and surround me.

Having abandoned the bow, I summoned a knife to my right hand and threw it at the other lightly armored man, immediately dodging back into cover to avoid the arrows that flew past. Then I charged before they could draw more arrows. The one man was stumbling backward, concentrated on the knife in his chest. My boot shod legs drove me forward right between the two heavies and right at the lightweight. The heavy on the left dropped his bow and drew for his sword, obviously a somewhat experienced fighter. The one on the right held his bow up in surprise, trying to ward me off.

Without hesitation, I angled myself at the one on the left, plowing him over with my shield before he got his sword out of his scabbard. He fell dazed to the ground and the one with the knife wound lunged at me with his sword. I rolled out of the way, then returned and advanced, swinging my mace to scare him off. Clearly inexperienced, he gave ground easily and allowed me to deliver a crushing blow to the back of his dazed companion's neck. In his rush to scramble up, he'd left his badly armored back to me. The mace crunched his vertebrae near the neck and he fell face first in the sand, unmoving.

Seeing this death made the other two lose their nerve. They threw down their weapons.

"I submit!" They yelled, backing away slowly. The crowd became hushed as I advanced, backing them up to the wall.

"You're going to answer a question for me," I commanded, giving them a fierce look. "Have either of you heard news of my father's fate?"

"Who's your father?" One of them pleaded.

"We don't know who you are," the other one begged. "Look, they just let us out of our cells to fight. They didn't say anything about your family."

"Fine." I drew back and searched the stands for instructions. I hadn't considered that they might forfeit the match. I realized that I hadn't even looked at the crowd during the last round. Of course, I'd been a little preoccupied with my bites after the last fight.

My gaze was drawn to a part of the bleachers that was walled off like a box and decorated in purple. There, the Emperor and his family were seated all together to watch me die. Uriel whispered to a servant who ran to deliver a message to the announcer. Princess Lunia caught my gaze and I smiled for a moment before I remembered that she probably hated me. I toyed with the idea of blowing her a kiss, but settled for an insulting salute at her father who ignored my gesture.

The announcer leaned down to hear the Emperor's message then stood magnanimously. "The Emperor says these criminals lives shall be spared. Han-lu, return to your side and prepare for the next match."

Before doing so, I turned to the survivors and threatened them. "If you tell the Imperials what I asked you, my friends will find you after your sentences are served. You'll be sorry." They both nodded enthusiastically. I had no doubts the blades would question them.

I left the field uninjured this time. Owyn had some food set out for me. I attacked a salad while he briefed me on the next round.

"Have you ever seen a troll before?" I shook my head. Trolls usually dwelt in caves and abandoned dungeons. I'd fought plenty of wild animals and people, but never trolls. "Well then, you should know that they're nasty. They stand like a hunch backed man, but six foot or taller. They're heavy with muscle and have a nasty attitude."

"Do you have any good news for me," I asked sarcastically?

"Yeah, their hair is oily. If you can catch it on fire, it'll roast pretty good. Do you know any fire spells?"

"Not a one. Destruction magic is generally beyond my reach. My mother's a bleeding prodigy, but I can't do anything with it."

"In that case, your best bet would probably be a big warhammer or an axe."

"Right." I put the empty salad bowl down and laid back on the cot.

"You sure you don't want more to eat? They brought in plenty of food."

"No, I need to stay light on my feet. You know that."

Owyn bit his lip for a moment while I tried to sleep. "You know, I've never had a gladiator who rested so well between rounds."

"This is easy. There were a lot of times I had to sleep in the rain at night with daedric cultists looking for me. This is nothing compared to extorting scary people." I left him with that and rested.

For the next round, I did as Owyn suggested and picked up a square headed war hammer with a spike on one end for impaling. The announcer yelled louder than usual, trying to pump up the crowd after the last lackluster event. "Ladies and gentlemen. Today we bring you fierce creatures from far to the north. May I present to you, the trolls of Skyrim!" The gates opened and a green haired beast thumped its way out onto the field on all fours. I stepped out of the shadows and it saw me. The creature roared at the sky in an attempt to intimidate me, then charged over the marble blocks. I waited for it to climb the one in front of me and jump at me before swinging. I hit him square in the stomach while stepping to the right, avoiding his grip.

It crumpled to the ground, but came back up resiliently. I got a good look at his face. There were two black eyes and a number of bony bumps on his forehead. His mouth had wide flat teeth meant for crushing instead of tearing. I swung the hammer again and smacked it right in the bony temple. Once again, it seemed to collapse under my blow, but returned to its feet seemingly unharmed."

I retreated, sliding over the marble to get some distance. The thing was powerful but slow and dumb. I let it climb another stone before swinging right at the trolls knee. This time, I hurt it bad. The knee snapped and the troll fell backwards. Before it could recover, I twisted my hammer and followed up with the war spike, driving into the face.

The crowd went wild at the skillful kill. I turned back to the trapdoor to see a second troll. This one was much bigger and had white fur. Tension gathered in my stomach. I was doubting whether I could kill this one the same way.

I used the same tactic and let it come to me, standing on higher ground. I tried a knee shot, but it only made the troll angry. I rolled to the side when it jumped down at me, but it followed up much faster than I expected and punched me full on in the chest. I sailed backwards, losing my hammer and crashed into the wall.

The troll jumped, stomped, and growled in a show of strength. I stumbled dazed to my feet and reached for my magic. I summoned the ghost of my favorite bow along with nasty barbed arrows. I put two of them in the troll's face with no effect. It charged, taking another arrow in the chest, but as it took a swing at me, I battle rolled past him on the left side and crossed the arena. I put arrow after arrow into the beast with no apparent benefit. He just followed me and followed me until he looked like a pincushion.

I could hear scattered laughter from the crowd as it chased me around the arena. I had to change tactics. In desperation, I tried to conjure a flame, a spark, even an ember, but it was to no avail. I didn't have any fire in me.

Owyn told me I could use any means to win. I slid across a piece of marble to hide and crawled away to lose the troll. I peeked over my cover to find him angrily searching for me. Up above him, the Emperor was sitting on the edge of his seat, anxious to see if I'd survive. All around him and all around the arena, there were still archers and battle mages standing guard. Battle mages with fireballs at their fingers, I realized.

I stood and yelled, firing another arrow at the beast. It roared at me and charged. I aimed another arrow and waited, scanning around the Emperor. There was a decorative solid oak table with cross beams between the legs near his family. I raised my bow away from the troll and pointed it at the crossbeams. From the crowd, I heard a collective gasp when everyone assumed I was aiming for the Emperor. Many of the guards dropped food they had been eating as my arrow scraped the side of the bow. I caught the gaze of the Emperor as he realized I wasn't aiming at him.

As soon as my arrow was away, I dropped to the ground, let my bow fizzle away, and covered myself with a ward spell. When the troll hit the ground, it was pelted with whatever spells the mages could come up with. Some had cast fire or frost while others thought to cast a paralyzing spell first. The effect was that the troll landed unmoving on top of me on fire. My ward protected me from the flames and the trolls hide protected me from the arrows.

"Stop, stop," Uriel yelled! I kept my ward up, because I couldn't tell if the troll was still burning. "Are you alive assassin?"

I groaned, trying to push the hulk off of myself. The whole front of my body was covered in sand. With a great effort, I half crawled half dug my way out from under the troll. The cheers of excitement were deafening when I emerged unharmed. I stood and brushed myself off as best I could, then raised my arms to the crowd. Many turned to jeering, but all were impressed.

After a few minutes, the Emperor held up his arms and all fell silent. "Han-lu, what did you just do? I saw that the arrow wasn't aimed at me."

I cleared my throat and answered loudly. "I was told I was allowed to use any means necessary to defeat my opponent. I couldn't overpower the troll, so I made use of your battlemages."

"A bold move. I doubt many would have taken the risk."

"Yes well, stabbing you was also a bold move, but that didn't pay off as I'd hoped. This, however did." I indicated the charred troll with my hand.

You could have heard a pin drop. Not only did nobody talk, but nobody seemed to move either. Had anyone ever spoken so frankly to the Emperor? Possibly not.

All eyes were on Uriel Septim. I stood casually, as if I killed trolls and offended Emperors every day. He decided to break the silence with laughter, dispelling all the tension in the arena. The crowd followed suit and laughed, giving me an impression of a herd of sheep.

Uriel sat back in his special throne. "The day of blood will continue!" He spoke simply.

He could have had me killed for that, I thought. He did say he had plans for me. As I returned to the bloodworks, I wondered whether I wanted any part of them.