Pride of the Pit

Chapter 2: Menace of the Machine

Once again I found myself pondering why I am here. I had almost forgotten the passion and lust of battle. I felt like it was a part of me now. The more I denied my hidden desire, the more I wanted more of it. My soul fought for dominance over myself. Should I continue to fight and either die a warrior or rise victorious at the cost of many lives, or desert my people and become an outcast to my race and many others so that my conscience remain pure? All this raced through my mind like a stream of water. Eventually I decided to sleep on it. But now was also not a time for sleeping. I could hear the crowds, calling out to me, calling my name. And as I entered the arena once more, the people roared and lauded at my coming. I realized that it was the praise and glory that kept me going, that kept me from turning from this life and making my exodus of this place.

I looked upward toward the host's stand. This time the famed Beastmaster Rexxar was hosting the fight at his arena in the area of the Ogre clan that he conquered by slaying their warlord. The arena seemed different in that it was more made of rock and boulder than of stone. To me it looked unstable, but I had some faith in the Gladiator Council. Like last and possibly every time from that point on I knew not the name or the race of my opponent. But my question was answered when my foe made his way onto the battleground. A clanking sound came from the corridors he emerged from and then the noise came from himself. At first I thought it was a machine of some sort, but the little body at the controls of the machine and the immense applause from the Goblin portion of the crowd swayed me otherwise.

It was a Goblin. To be more specific in battling classes, a Goblin 'Tinker'. He wore a flat helmet on his head and from his backpack emerged two deadly looking steel claws. He giggled and snickered at me as we approached each other in the center and await Rexxar's signal. We looked up, and thus Rexxar began.

"Combatants, you enter this arena, each having won one fight." he began.
"But by this coming twilight it will be a second victory for another and the first lose for the other. One will emerge triumphant and the other dead. I wish you both a clean fight. You may begin!"

And so I assaulted the little Goblin with my twin-blade. It was soon countered, however, with one of his mighty claws. With the other he took my blade from me and used it as a projectile to the other side of the arena. I then had to combat the two incoming claws with my own two hands, each blow making me weaker and weaker. I was battle-scarred and very much wounded.

"Hehehe." chuckled the Goblin. "Little elf, little elf, what are you gonna do? What are you gonna do when I come slay you!?"

He attempted to hit me with both his claws at once and I caught each with one hand. It was now a game: who will hold out longer? My muscles were tired and my vision grew fainter. The Goblin crowds lauded and praised as I was becoming the underdog of the fight. It was not until I was down on my knees that something in me snapped.

The rush of power came to me suddenly and without provocation; or did it? I had felt this once before. The power, the strength, the bloodlust. The 'bloodlust'! It was clear to me now. I was under the Bloodlust spell, but how? There was no time to think of an explanation as my intelligence left me and all I could think about was to fight, hinder, and kill all who opposed me. And at that moment, that annoying Goblin was my opponent, and for some reason or another I wanted to see his head on one of my blade's tip.

My size grew larger and my hands glowed red with rage. I then ripped (more like tore and mutilated) the two claws that once held me down. I threw then far and then went for the Goblin's head. But the Goblin backed away and revealed a cylinder. He lifted the lid of the cylinder and out came thousands of bullet-shaped objects coming at me at a dangerously alarming rate. As each hit me they exploded, one after another. Soon there was a cloud of smoke from where I stood, and the Goblin continued to laugh. But his laughter soon turned into squeaking cries for help as I emerged unscathed and grabbed his head. I then jettisoned the puny Goblin across the arena. All gave an applause with great joy.

The tiny, machine-less Goblin surprisingly stood up, but filled with fatigue. But my thinking he was machine-less was quite wrong. For from his backpack erupted a series of mechanical parts that then engulfed and surrounded the Goblin. I then stood before an incredibly large machine with arms armed with a buzz saw and a hammer. It was twice my size and its shadow cast over me.

"What are you gonna do now, little elf?" snickered the Goblin. "Are you gonna cast some sort of spell on me? Hahahaha!"

"Well, I was going to smack you around and pulverize you." said I. "But your idea seems much better."

I then made motions with my hands and soon an ethereal mist covered the gigantic machine.

"What are you doing? My robot is impervious to magic!" wailed the Goblin.

"I'm not hitting the robot, you stupid Goblin!" I exclaimed.

The mist arose to the passenger seat of the Goblin and he jumped out of the robot in a great state of panic. But it was too late. The Goblin was now enshrouded in ethereal and looked a ghastly green. I then reached my hands out to him and shouted, "Flaming Strike!" In an instant a circle of green appeared the ground beneath the Goblin and made a strange noise. The Goblin attempted to run, but because he was now ethereal his movement would only rival that of a snail. Before he could reach two feet he was engulfed and consumed by flaming pillars of chaotic and destructive fire. When the flames settled there was nothing left but his skeleton. The Bloodlust then disappeared and my stature was returned to normal. The audience (except the Goblins) cheered and praised my victory. Rexxar also gave a satisfying nod and I left the arena in one piece.

I still did not know how or why I received Bloodlust when I did. I had not stolen it from him and I certainly did not know the spell myself. Or did I? In either case, I immediately looked for Kael that he may answer by plight.