Emeric stood in a deadly anticipation as he waited for the starting horn to blast. The crowd was smaller than usual...His doing...but the fact didn't ease the tension that was steadily growing in Emeric. His wrists were released as the lock clamped shut onto his cuff. As the guards left, he glanced up at the pole above him.
He was still stiff and sore after Hyatt's relentless beating, and wasn't ready for the fight ahead.
He stood frozen with shock when he saw a guard standing on the pole, armed with a spear.
He would not allow Emeric to repeat his evasive ploy.
Emeric swallowed his fear when he realised that there was no escape of what he was about to do...
He was going to have to kill if he wanted to live.
As he waited for an eternity, he wondered why people killed to protect themselves. What made their lives more valuable than their opponent's? What made them to decide that their opponent should die, and not the other way around? Why?
The thoughts tormented Emeric up until the moment that the horn blew...the mournful cry signalling the beginning of a battle that would yield only one winner...one man alive.
Emeric climbed up his chain with unexpected stealth. The guard on the pole tensed as Emeric wrapped his legs around the pole and unlocked his cuff. To the guard's relief, Emeric dropped to the ground and landed steadily before glancing at his opponent.
As Emeric's eyes landed on the lean man on the opposite side of the arena...His heart leapt into his throat. The man had mirrored Emeric's tactic of unlocking the cuff and he too had just landed back on the sandy ground. Free from the chain...
Emeric sprang away like a race horse as he surged towards the stand that housed a single weapon...a short sword.
The other man, in his thirties, was fit and easily matched Emeric's speed. They were going to reach the weapon at virtually the same time. Emeric ran as fast as he could, but he knew that it wouldn't be fast enough. With his sore body, he couldn't run to his fullest potential.
Events suddenly went into slow motion as Emeric and his opponent were a few feet from the short sword. Emeric watched as the older man wrapped his fingers around the hilt of the sword...he was turning the weapon so that Emeric's momentum would carry him straight into the blade. Emeric reacted with lightning instincts and he launched himself sideways at the stand. He jumped onto it and the flipped over his opponents head.
Emeric landed slickly behind his opponent and spun on his heal. As he was midway through his turn, he brought his leg up in a mighty kick that connected to his opponent's jaw with a sickening crunch. The older man grunted with pain as he fell to the ground, but he didn't relinquish his hold on the short sword.
He hastily got to his feet, watching Emeric with hawklike attention...doing his best to determine his next move.
Emeric dodged to the side as his opponent thrusted the sword at Emeric's torso. However, the older man pulled his weapon back before Emeric could disarm him.
The second attack was aimed at Emeric's throat. The man attacked with a vicious side cut and nearly succeeded.
Emeric felt a sting at his throat, followed by pain, as the knife arched at him. He raised his hand to his neck and felt warm liquid...blood...dripping from the wound.
Emeric was lucky though, the cut hadn't been deep enough to cut the artery...Emeric wouldn't die from the incision.
As he lowered his hand, which was velvet with his blood, Emeric prepared himself for the next attack.
The warrior lunged at Emeric...the knife traveled down at Emeric's heart. He deflected the short sword with a shove of his lower arm and then knife-handed the assailant in his throat.
The blow left the soldier choking for breath through a crushed esophagus...
Emeric was overcome with quilt as he watched the man choke, trying...but failing to draw in a successful breath.
But even in his weakened state, the warrior didn't relent in his attack. He struck out at Emeric once more. Emeric tried deflecting the blade, but ended up with a decent sized cut on his forearm.
He grunted with pain as he grabbed his opponent's wrist, trying to work the blade out of his grip.
They struggled for control of the blade, but Emeric was slowly gaining over the older man, who had a slight blue tinge to his face...lack of oxygen.
As the short sword hovered over the assailant's heart, fear suddenly reflected from his eyes...It hit Emeric like a physical blow.
He let go of the short sword without realizing...the man attacked with one last surge of desperation. Emeric deflected with all his will power...their arms moved in a fuzzy blur as both reluctant warriors fought for their lives.
In a blinding second, Emeric managed to grip the blade, twist it out of his opponent's grip and plunged it into the other Domer's heart.
Emeric met the shocked eyes of his opponent...for a moment time stopped and they were just there...staring into each other's disbelieving eyes...
Emeric was shocked into silence about what he'd just done...His opponent was silent too, but he was in that state because realization had fallen over him...he was dying...he wouldn't ever get out of the hell hole he'd been thrown into...he'd never have a chance to right his wrongs...to undo his regrets...
"I...". Emeric stammered as the man dropped to his knees, and then silently fell to the ground with a soundless thump...
"I...". Emeric stammered as disbelief and self hatred over came him...
"I'm sorry..." Tears started springing to his eyes as he realised he had broken his promise to his mother...he had just killed another human being...he had taken a life...he had deemed his life more valuable than other's.
"We have a winner!" Hyatt yelled over the crowds in a loud, echoing voice...more words floated through the air, but they never reached Emeric's ears... He was staring down at his fallen opponent...
"What have I done?" Was the only thought that thrashed around in his scull...
What have I done...
*****
Emeric ignored Axel when he was shoved into his cell. The other man questioned him about his victory...but Emeric simply moved to the back of his cell and hunched up into a ball of regret.
What have I done?
He couldn't get the man's disbelieving, yet pleading eyes out of his head... he knew that they would haunt him forever...
How did he allow himself to become the monster everyone believed him to be? He hated himself for the beast that he had turned into...
"So, silent treatment it is..." Axel muttered as he sat by the bars of his cell. Instead of paying him attention, Emeric rested his head on his knees, which were pulled up to his chest....
Minutes slowly ticked by. No sound could be heard in the cell hall accept for the occasional sneeze of one man who seemed to have a cold...
"Alright, so by the lack of Hyatt's loving presence, I take it you didn't sit on the pole again..." Axel ventured, trying to squeeze a reaction out of Emeric ...he got none.
"Come on, tell me what happened." He blurted out after a while, desperate to hear something that would distract him from his life.
Instead of answering Axel's plea, Emeric raised his tormented eyes to the other man, but he gazed at him with a thorough death stare...
It successfully made Axel think twice before bothering the Rogue again...