Blood Oath (Book 2 of Alfireán age)

The Arena

"He built this when he was still a child?"Alf asked in disbelief.

"To an extent," Drake answered. "He had other earth and fire magic users underneath him helping him, but the design and art is all his."

Olivia walked closer and gasped. "Alf, look at this."

Alf started to move closer for a better look, but a massive, circular structure towering above all the others caught his eye. He stopped and pointed up. "What is that?"

"The arena," the prince answered.

"No way," Alf exclaimed, "I never knew it was so big."

The arena stood over twenty stories tall, and appeared to be constructed entirely out of earth magic. From what Alf could tell, the builders had pulled up the entire arena from deep within the ground, and its architects had chosen to leave the natural formations of sediments visible. In turn, this gave the structure a rather fascinating appearance. The upper levels of the arena appeared as a sun bleached brown that slowly faded into polished, glistening layers of white limestone. The white stone then gave way to rings of red clay and various other sediments. Finally, the bottom of the structure turned into the black obsidian of bedrock.

What really drew Alf's attention, though, was the gargantuan banner hanging down the wall, depicting a stunning redhead with the words: Grand Champion taking on all challengers.

"I have got to see this up close," Alf blurted and took off running towards the arena.

"Wait up Alf," Olivia shouted for the second time that day. "I swear sometimes you have the attention span of a five year-old," she complained as she ran after him.

Reaching the plaza in front of the arena, Alf's jog puttered to a slow walk. Two endless lines weaved back and forth through haphazardly constructed rope barriers almost as far back as the eyes could see.

"That's a long wait," Alf moped in disappointment.

"That's not all. Look up," Olivia added catching up to him.

Above the lines were two signs. The first read, 'Admission: five hundred crypto per person'. The other sign read:

'To register a group to fight: two thousand crypto.

If group larger than ten members: 4000 crypto.

If larger than fifty members: 5000 crypto.

One hundred or more: 10,000 crypto.'

"The guard wasn't kidding when he said the arena is making millions off their champion," Olivia said.

"Hmm, it appears that I should start taxing the arena," Drake mumbled in the background.

Alf stared at the ground and kicked at the gravel. "Well it looks like we're not getting in. I can't afford the admission price, much less the price to challenge her."

"With a building this large, I am certain they have servant's quarters," the bubbly voice of the youngest sister said.

Alf turned in the direction of the voice. "Servant's quarters?

"Yes, you know, where the caretakers can come and go freely without disturbing the customers," another of the maids replied.

"You're not thinking of sneaking in are you?"Alf asked.

"Sounds like a good idea," Drake whispered. "I could go in and open one of the doors for you in the back."

Alf shook his head. "No."