Chapter 3
I was inside a small, almost empty room. There were a few torches lit among the
walls and a closed, red door on the other side of the room. The only object in
the actual room itself was a small cabinet by the wall. The cabinet was closed and
had a dark red stain.
I picked myself off of the ground and made my way to the other door. I tried to
open it, but it was locked from the other side. I tried the door I had come
from and the result was the same. What’s going on here? Do they mean to just
let me stay here forever and starve? Wait… Husk mentioned something about two
men fighting in front of the entire prison. If what he said about me being the
replacement was true, then I’m sure they’re going contact me somehow.
As if on cue, a voice came from the red door, “You’ll be fighting in a few
minutes, there are a bunch of weapons in that cabinet over there and choose one
to your liking. Heheheh, though I doubt it’ll make a difference at all. Try to
do the crowd a favour, and last at least a minute will ya? Well then, the door
will unlock when its time for you to go in, and if ya don’t feel up to it,
we’ll drag ya in instead. I’d say my prayers right now if I were you.” It was
another rough voice. All of them sounded the same.
I walked over to the rack and looked closer at the red stain. There was no
doubt as to what it was, shaking, I opened the cabinet and studied the various
weapons all sprawled and tangled inside.
The weapons ranged heavily, the most obvious ones were the large hammer and sword
on top of the mess, but I could make out smaller axes, and swords underneath. I
tried to pick the sword at the top of the pile, using all of my strength; I
lifted the sword in front of me. Almost instantly my hands dropped the sword
and it fell to the ground with a loud sound. The sound echoed throughout the
room and as I looked down at the sword, I found it impaled in the ground a bit
too close to my big toe for comfort.
Well that was way too heavy for me; if I really want to choose a weapon then
I need something much lighter. As I looked deeper into the pile, I found a
small dagger at the bottom. I picked it up and played around with the weight. This
is a bit too small; something just a bit bigger would be perfect. Looking a
little farther, I came across a small sword: it was almost exactly the same
size as the wooden one I had practiced with since I was small. I picked it up,
it weighed a bit more but nothing I couldn’t handle with one hand.
I was practicing swinging the sword when I heard the sound of a door being
unlocked. The rough voice followed, “All right, it’s been long enough; the
crowd has been seated and is getting impatient. You better give ‘em a good
show.”
I gulped and walked slowly towards the red door. With a moment’s hesitation, I quickly
opened the door and stepped forward.
I was inside the largest room I had ever been in, or even seen before in my
entire life. The room was circular and looking from the top to the bottom,
there were massive stands in place. The stands were easily more then five times
the height of my house and had steps leading all the way to the top floor. They
were completely filled with all of the inmates of the entire prison, too many
for me to count. I was directly in the middle of the room, in which a small fighting
ring was created. There were walls ten feet high in a small circle around me,
and there were only two entrances: the one I had come through and a door
directly in front of me on the other side of the ring. The door was closed and
I was alone in the ring.
I heard a metallic clang behind me, and when I tried the door I came out of, it
would not budge. In other words: I was trapped.
It was at this time that the sound registered through me, it came so suddenly
that I clamped my hands on my ears, trying to block it out. Yelling and jeering
was all that I could hear, the entire crowd was full of blood lust and you
could easily hear it in their voices "
“Hey kid, you better last at least a minute will ya?”
“How do you think hes goin to kill him? Break his head? His neck?”
“Show us something gory! There’s no fun in just dying”
Everyone here wants me to die, and if that wasn’t bad enough, they want me
to die in an entertaining way.... But then again, I can’t really blame them, I
mean in this situation, there’s no way I’m living through the night.
The door in front of me creaked slowly open and I could make out a large shadow
walking inside the ring. A loud dragging sound followed the shadow and as it
came into the light I could make out Husk, slowly walking towards me with that
smile of his. Behind him he was dragging the largest sword I had every seen, it
was easily as tall as me, and nearly as wide.
How can he even lift that thing? Well one thing’s for sure, the crowd is
sure to be disappointed. As soon as he swings that thing once, I’m dead. There’s
nothing I can do.
I had lost all hope; there was absolutely no chance of leaving this ring
alive.
The crowd started to yell even louder once Husk came out
“Yo Husk! Make it plenty gory will ya?!”
“Chop off his head!”
“Just don’t make it quick, give us some entertainment!”
Husk looked around at the crowd, gave them a smile and looked back at me.
“Don’t worry too much kid, I was originally going to make it quick, but you
know, the crowd is really restless today. It would be bad for me if I didn’t
listen to them, so at least try to put up a fight would you? And I’ll promise
to be nice and slow…”
A voice nearby made me jump, “You guys ready?”
Husk nodded, while I just stood still, frozen in fear.
“Alright then, in three, two, one, GO!”
As soon as the man said “GO!” Husk had jumped towards me and planted his foot
straight into my stomach. I flew back a few feet and landed hard on the ground,
but I did not let go of my sword.
“Husk, why are you doing this? What’s the point of fighting; it won’t do
anything for any of us!” I desperately pleaded, knowing any chances of him
talking to me were slim.
Surprisingly he stopped moving towards me and gave me a hard stare. “Don’t you
get it kid? This might be the Eternal Prison, but there’s still a way to get
out of here.”
“What? What are you talking about, there’s no way any of us are ever leaving!”
I was getting angry, what was the point in giving me false hope now? That was just too
much.
“You think I’m joking? You see, there’s actually a way to leave here and you’re
right smack dab in the middle of it. Remember back when I told you that people
would kill to be where you are right now? Why would people want to fight to the
death? Obviously there’s a reason why these matches are even set up. We fight
beca-”
“Husk, what the hell are you doing!”
“Kill him already! Cut the damn chatter!”
Husk looked at the crowd, then back down at me. “Ah, guess the crowd is getting
impatient. Well then, be a good lad and just stay still while I chop off your
arms would you? Oh, and make sure you’re screams are loud too, we need everyone
in here to be able to hear them.”
What did he mean by a reason to fight? He also said something about a way
out of here, and that it relates to these matches… Wait, could it be? Do you
need to-
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Husk’s sword swinging down
straight at me. Without thinking, I rolled to the side. The sword went a few
inches into the rock hard ground. I picked myself up and backed away from Husk,
but this time lifting my sword in front of me. “Husk, what did you mean by a
way out of here?!”
With a grunt of effort, Husk pulled the sword out of the ground, and turned to
look at me. “One thousand” was all he said as he charged.
Though his sword was large and powerful, it was also obviously very heavy. Husk
couldn’t move too fast and so I had time to rush to the side while he charged
at me.
Now that I think about it, Husk doesn’t seem too good with that sword; he’s
just swinging it around like a giant pole.
“One thousand what?!” I yelled at him, as he once again faced me. It was
apparent by the look on his face that he was mad and the crowd was also getting
restless.
“What the hell is this Husk! Hurry up and kill him already!”
“You’re being pushed around by a kid!”
“Shut up already!” Husk sounded livid, “One thousand wins you brat. One
thousand wins is the ticket out of this place. The matches go by winner goes on
and I’m already at my 742nd match! So just shut up and stop moving!”
One thousand wins? Even if you won a match a day, that would still take more
than two years. But… It’s a way out of here… If I want to save Sis, then this
is my only way. I can do this, Husk doesn’t even seem too good with the blade,
if I can just get close to him, then I can…
What, kill him? Just like I killed father? Can I really do it? No… I ha-
My thoughts were interrupted by Husk giving a battle cry and charging right at
me. It’s the same thing, I can just move and dodge again. Once Husk had
gotten close, I dashed to my right, and barely dodged the deadly blade.
However, this time Husk predicted what I’d do and adjusted his body in time to
smash his fist into my face. I went flying into the wall behind me and fell
down, dizzy.
“Did you really think you could keep running from me?! I’ve got you now brat,
there's no running away anymore.”
My vision was hazy, but I could make out
Husk walking towards me. All I could feel was pain in the back of my head.
Blood dripped down my face and I was very close to fainting.
So this is it then.. I thought, as Husk had now stopped right in front
of me and had lifted his sword, ready to strike. This is how it all ends,
the pitiful life of an insignificant kid. I’m sorry Sis, I really am. I tried
my best, but I never had a chance…
“Hey brother, what do I have to do to become like you?” In the brink of
unconscious, a memory of my brother came back to me.
“Well, let’s see. If you really want to become like me, then you need to
become a man. And there’s one thing a real man will never do. No matter what
the situation a man will never, no matter what, ever give up. Do you hear me?
No matter what’s happened, you can never give up.”
Never give up… That’s right, there’s still a chance I can get out! I will
never give up no matter what happens! I need to get out of this place, Sis is
waiting for me!
Husk was standing above me, his sword in the air. “Its over kid, it was a good
try, but there was no chance. Good bye, it was nice knowing you.” With all of
his strength, Husk brought the sword down at my limp body.
I need to survive. I need to get out of
here! I can’t die here, not yet!
Roll to you’re right, and bring you’re sword upwards
A voice deep in the back of my head commanded me.
My body moved on its own, moments before Husk’s sword would have impaled me. I
rolled over to the side at a neck breaking speed. I didn’t stop there, my right
hand went straight towards Husk and the sword it carried with it. The blade easily sliced through the flesh and the weapon Husk was holding fell to the
ground with a loud clang.
The crowd had gotten silent and Husk just stared at me, his mouth open. Then he
brought his gaze down, and looked at what remained of his hand. All he found
was a stump and as he shifted his gaze, he noticed the rest lying a few feet
away from him. In only a few moments, the floor was stained a dark
crimson.
I just stared at Husk, confidently holding my sword in front of me. I brought
the sword up, the same position Husk was holding his blade moments earlier. He
looked back at me with pleading eyes.
“Pl-please d-don’t! I have a f-family I need to g-go to!” He was begging,
pleading for his life.
“Would you have done the same in my position?” My voice was cold, merciless,
even I was surprised at the tone.
“Wh-what?” His voice was weak.
“I’m asking if you would have let me go, even if I begged!”
“O-of course I w-would have. Pl-please, I h-have a w-wife and a d-d-daughter
waiting for me. Please, please don’t do this. Please, please. PLEASE!
The cold look in my eyes did not change,
and with all my strength, I brought the sword down.
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