From the Ashes

Chapter 2: Death to Justice

I had no idea where to look first, but I focussed on Luke and Justice. She narrowly avoided a swipe of one of his scimitars, ducking as the other swept inches from where her head had been. I saw the panic in her eyes. Her golden hair danced behind her as she dodged his blows, finding no time at all to counter them with some of her own.

Someone was commentating, I didn't know who- not King Edgar or Hades, but a pot-bellied, red-cheeked man with a jaunty voice. One of the Living. The first words that came through to me were- "and Ravenna is DOWN!"

A burst of cheers came from the stands. Next to me, Addison whooped.

"Addy, shut up," said Zack irritably. Her nose twitched as she thought of a way to counter this.

One down, three to go, I thought. And Living had triumphed over Undead, leaving Avery to go through to the next round. I felt relief before dread made me shiver. Avery's parents- I located them in the stands, hands clutched together, gleaming with pride- cheered for her. She took a sweeping bow, waving to the crowd. Her opponent, Ravenna, was on the floor with a scimitar skewering through her heart. It was an admirable feat- it was very hard to kill an Undead, especially with a crowd pounding at your ears.

"Oh no! Justice!" Addy screamed in my ear. I located her, blood streaming from a gash in her shoulder, frantically dodging Luke's attacks. Tears were running down her face, and she was frantically countering his blows. Then, just as she raised her sword to block a scimitar, the other sunk into her chest.

I looked away, and found my heart was beating faster than it normally should. Justice. She was dead. Justice, the girl who had stood in front of the whole school and sang in the end-of-year plays, who had kindly turned me down when I asked her out in eighth year and not gossiped about it at my expense. Justice, who had been so gentle and welcoming and inclusive, pushed into this contest by her parents, eager to win the sum of money that had been promised to the victor. Justice Adamik was dead, and there was nothing I could do about it.

I looked away. I didn't want her body to be my last memory of her.

I wanted to be down there. I wanted to come down and comfort her in her dying moments. I wanted to hug her and tell her she was going to a better place now, tell her that she didn't need to be scared, even though I was scared too. She deserved that.

"Damn." Addy's eyes were fixated on her until her body was pulled across the dust and away. Then she turned to me, and her eyes were glossy with tears. "Xavier, I don't want to do this anymore."

I reached out and squeezed her hand.

"Why didn't I run away?" she said. "Xavier, I don't want to die. I want to be a mom before I die."

"You will," I said. It was an empty promise.

"And another one bites the dust!" boomed the man. I looked round and saw Xander kicking Aahan to the ground. I looked away before he struck the fatal blow. Next to me, Addy flinched.

"Two contestants left in this round," said the man, speaking quickly. "Reo from the Living and Asp from the Undead."

Why was he making out a deadly competition to be some sort of game?

Asp and Reo were circling like wolves. The crowd quietened. I heard muffled sobs from Zack, Addy and Mason, and looked to the Undead, who were all expressionless. Justice's mother was openly sobbing, and her father surveyed the scene with a clenched jaw. I wished I could punch their lights out. They had sent Justice into that arena, with their talk of fame and money and 'connections'.

Reo struck first, aiming for his heart. Asp deflected the blow and struck out again. Reo dodged in, rolling across the ground and coming up standing before burying the dagger into his opponent's back. Asp whipped around, reaching for the wound to estimate the severity- when Reo lunged and plunged the dagger, burying it into his chest.