The man dressed in black stopped abruptly about 10ft. in front of Strider's sword. "Listen to what I say." A harsh scratchy voice came from the man. "Four men on horseback are going to come out of those doors." He pointed across to the other side of the coliseum at a pair of large doors that were slowly creaking open as he spoke. "Don't stand in a group like a bunch of idiots! At least run around to buy me some time before you die." He quickly turned to face the new threat. The three prisoners were a bit confused but had all quickly realized that this man was actually a survivor of a previous event, and was now their only ally against what was to come.
Four men on horseback wearing light armor came galloping out from behind the huge set of doors. Two carried large steel shields in one hand and longswords in the other. The other two were equipped with shortbows. Also, a massive, shirtless, man slowly came walking out behind the riders. He wore a skintight helmet that wrapped completely around his head with only holes for his eyes and mouth. He was swinging a large flail over his head and seemed to yearn for bloodshed.
"I need a bow." Strider said out loud to himself.
Odin turned toward Strider and with an unseen smile said; "Ask, and you shall receive."
Strider turned and gave Odin a startled look, suddenly realizing he had spoken out loud. Odin once again bowed his head slightly and began to murmur to himself. Meanwhile, the darkly clothed man sharply ran to the left side of the coliseum toward a horse rider carrying a sword. Patty had taken off in the opposite direction to the other rider bearing a sword. The large man with the flail remained in the back, observing the battle from a distance. The two mounted archers were riding down the center and prepared to kill both Strider and Odin in one swift attack.
"This is not good." Strider again spoke out loud to himself. Odin either didn't hear him or chose to ignore him because his chanting continued. The first volley of arrows came flying toward the two stationary prisoners. The first embedded itself deep into Strider's shield and the other was just wide of him. "Time is not with you wizard, I suggest you hurry!" Strider said impatiently. Odin fell silent, raised his head to face the bowman nearest to them and threw his right arm in front of him with unexpected speed. The end of his cloaked sleeve lit with a bright light and suddenly shot out a white streaking missile. The rider's eyes went wide with fear just before he was knocked clean off his horse from the unexpected blow. Strider's eyes too went wide and a smile crept across his face. He wasted no time in running full speed toward the fallen archer. Odin reacted just in time to block the next arrow with his shield, no longer being guarded by Strider.
The unnamed ally was running full speed toward the bladed rider on the left. It appeared to the audience that he was going to be trampled by the horse, which they did not like at all. After seeing him do so well in the previous battle they were quite disappointed in this display of apparent suicide. With no warning, he drew his dagger and threw it end over end at the rider. To the amazement of the crowd, the dagger stuck clean into the rider's throat! The crowd jumped to their feet with excitement and once again filled the coliseum with loud shouts and cheers. The rider limply fell off his horse and the stranger coolly pulled his dagger from the man's throat. Wiping the blood off on the dead man's shirt. He took a few bows to the crowd, clearly loving the attention, which was much against his normal nature.
Patty was on the opposite end of the field preparing to face his rider. He, however, was waiting for the rider to come to him instead of running head on as the stranger had. The swordsman was coming along side Patty to make a swing with his blade. Patty dropped just under the reach of the blade and swung his leg out as the horse passed by. He kicked the side of the horse's back right leg just as he was passing by. It took the horse by surprise and threw him off balance. His leg buckled and twisted under his own weight. The horse tripped a moment and was unable to regain its balance before running headlong into the tall wooden barriers protecting the crowd. The horse was knocked unconscious by the impact and tossed the bewildered rider onto the yellow field. Patty ran over to finish the man off, but not before he was able to get to his feet and hold Patty at bay with his longsword. The crowd on this side of the field fell silent as they waited in anticipation for more bloodshed. The swordsman waited a few seconds to regain his bearings, then made a stab at Patty who jumped back just in time to avoid the tip of the blade. With haste the man took a large swing at Patty's side, but Patty dropped underneath the reach of the sword and kicked out the man's leg. He fell forward and curled the sword underneath himself falling squarely on the blade. A clean cut was put straight through the man's chest. After a few gasps for air, the body went limp. The crowd exploded with loud cheers and hollers to show they were pleased with the execution.
The last mounted rider circled to come around for another pass at Odin who appeared quite helpless standing alone and backed up nearly to the door he had entered from. Strider had reached the fallen bowman by now and quickly laid waste to him with his shortsword. He picked up the man's bow and turned in time to see the mounted archer preparing an arrow intended for Odin. Strider quickly fired a shot at the man and hit him in the side just before he himself released an arrow. The man winced in pain and let his arrow fly way off target, nearly killing a small boy in the crowd. The rider turned toward Strider now, who was reaching for one of the many scattered arrows on the ground. With the arrow still in his side he drew back his bow and again shot way off target as Odin had fired another of his lighted missiles, this time into the man's back. He fell from the horse and landed so the arrow wedged itself further into his side, finishing him off. The scattered group now turned and looked at the large ox of a man who had been watching the whole time. The beast grinned beneath his helmet as he began to walk toward the center of the field.