Prince Aero has been sitting in his cell for hours since his meeting with Governor Dabir. The guards placed him back in his stocks, chained him and didn’t even bother with removing the bag from his head. His mind has been racing with ideas of what the Governor’s deal is exactly.
Aero replayed the conversation in his head over and over. The young prince is baffled by Dabir’s abrupt end to their meeting.
A rustling of the key in the door means that it is time to find out.
Guards come in, a lot of them. Prince Aero is unhooked from the stocks and rebound with his arms in front of him. A guard holds each of his arms as they lead him out of the cell.
The bag that is still on his head prevents him from seeing anything.
He tries to use his senses to figure out where they are taking him. Once they pass through a doorway, he can smell that they are outdoors. While he hears the rumbling of a huge crowd in the distance.
Does Dabir intend to make his execution public?
As they continue to walk, the noise increases. Each step for Aero is agony. Is this the way he dies? For the amusement of a crowd.
Aero remembers now that Dabir said something about the fighting pits and realizes that is where they are taking him.
The rumbling is muffled now, they must have entered the arena. Even with the muffle of the walls between them, the noise is deafening.
Aero is stopped, then double doors fling open in front of him.
A mixture of booing and cheering fills the air.
Aero’s hands are bound to a ring in front of him. Wherever he is, this is where he will be for the event.
Suddenly, the boos stop, and the place erupts once again into cheers. Then the cheers stop. It’s quiet. The silence is so unsettling to Aero. Knowing that he is surrounded by a lot of people, but they are purposefully remaining silent means that whatever is going to happen is about to start.
“Sons and daughters of Meego, I present to you the accused, Aero, Prince of Avodroc.” Dabir yells as the bag is removed from his head.
Again, a mixture of cheers and boos as Aero takes in the scene.
He is bound on a platform just above the arena floor. They are in the massive ancient coliseum of the old city. Once said to be one of the wonders of the world. Fifty thousand Meegans have piled into the old stone arena.
Aero looks up into the crowd above him across the way. In a luxury suite, stands Dabir waving his hands to his people. Aero also sees Rania sitting to Dabir’s right. Next to her is Roasa. Both are wearing formal Meegan dresses. This event seems to be a gigantic social event. Even Lieutenant Rain is stationed in Dabir’s suite standing with a handful of other Meegan guards.
As Aero looks around the arena, he notices that below him in a box are his people. Some of them anyway. David, Stephan, Matthew and Will are all gathered looking around. They seem to not see Aero above them.
“Prince Aero boasted that any one of his people is worth five Meegan warriors.”
The crowd bursts into rage. Dabir allows them to boo and scream. He milks the crowd for a moment before placing his hand into the air. A hush falls over the arena.
“Tonight, we put him to the test.”
The reaction sounds like an explosion. Thousands of Meegan’s roar in approval. Again, Dabir milks the crowd for maximum reaction.
“Prince Aero! You will choose one of your companions to stand against five of Meego’s finest warriors, right now.” Dabir commands.
“I did not claim that my…”
“Silence! We are not here to debate; we are here to learn the truth. Give me a name now!”
“Then if a name is required, then I choose, Prince Aero!”
“You cannot pick yourself; you said your people. Choose one now.”
“Governor Dabir, I…”
“A name now or I will choose for you!”
Aero looks below him. The men seem afraid and confused by what’s going on. They look up to Aero to see the same look of fear on his face.”
“Prince Aero, all of Meego is waiting…” Dabir shouts “Last chance to pick, if I don’t hear a name then I will pick one for you and you will not like it.”
Aero looks to Matthew with desperation and regret in his eyes. Matthew slightly nods back at him. Ser Matthew knows the stakes, and who stands with him now. Stephan would be the only other choice, but he has his sworn mission to protect David.
“Now Prince Aero!”
“I choose Ser Matthew, hero of the Battle of Inland Docks.”
The crowd cheers that the prince has given a name. Everyone who knows Prince Aero already knew that Matthew was going to be his choice anyway.
Guards allow Matthew out on the arena floor. The set up is basic. No obstacles, traps or structures tonight. Just a large oval sand pit with the fifty thousand people watching it. As Matthew is brought out, a door on the opposite side opens. Out walks Matthew’s opponents, ten men dressed in Meegan soldier uniforms, with their faces covered.
“Prince Aero, I failed to mention that I have ten volunteers… You must pick again!”
Another eruption from the crowd!
Aero looks down at his remaining men.
Will shouts to pick him.
“You’re here to observe and report back to the king. Besides, I expect you to return to your wife and children.” Aero responds.
“I’ll fight for you, Aero.” Stephan shouts.
“But who would protect David?”
“It’s either Will or me, pick one of us, we will do our best.” Stephan replies.
“We are waiting!” Dabir shouts which causes the crowd to burst into laughter.
Aero hangs his head in defeat. The choice is overwhelming. How can he send another man out to fight crushing odds? If he picks Stephan, he is asking him to potentially break his most sacred vow to protect Prince David. Even if he survives, shame could follow him the rest of his life. And then there’s Will. Will has risen to the occasion of every task thrown at him on this journey, but he is completely outmatched now. His bravery is admirable, but his skills are lacking.
“Prince Aero, do you need a coin to flip?”
The laughter grows.
“David, what should I do?” Aero shouts looking for advice.
“I don’t know brother, do whatever your heart tells you.”
Aero’s heart? It’s broken. Neither man seems to be right. He just can’t decide.
“Prince Aero, last chance. Meego wants to see your people’s greatness!”
Aero doesn’t have an answer. He has already asked his best friend to stand against five men, how can he do that again?
“Fine then I will pick.”
“No! He chooses Roasa, the Widow of Jose!” Roasa shouts from Dabir’s side loud enough for the entire arena to hear.
The arena falls silent, all eyes are on Dabir. In Meego, women are honored but they are not warriors. Some join the militia for service to Meego, but they never fight in the pits.
Dabir looks around the arena, then to Roasa who has a very stern expression on her face.
“So, you do love him. Do you think he will let you fight for him?”
“Love him? Yes, but I am not in love with him. He has eyes for only one woman, and I will never take another lover. I chose for him; I don’t care what he thinks.”
Dabir is taken aback by Roasa’s confidence.
He slowly turns his head toward Aero. Aero sees all the heads turn toward him.
He pauses for a moment. The silence is awkward. All of Meego awaits his response.
He nods yes, the entire arena electrifies.
It takes Roasa a few moments to make her way to the arena floor. The sight of this small woman in an expensive dress entering the fighting pit is such a sight to see.
A cart is brought before Roasa and Matthew, they select their weapons. Once they do, they are allowed to approach Prince Aero’s position.
“They only gave me three arrows.” Roasa complains.
“Seven on two then, Matt can you do this?” Aero asks.
“They gave me a damn curved sword, why can’t I have my own?”
“Matt!”
“I will protect her, I promise.”
“Like hell you will, I will protect you!” Roasa snaps back. “Besides, these aren’t soldiers, they are the criminals that volunteer to fight in the pits for their freedom, Rania told me so.”
“Good, then I won’t feel bad for what I am about to do.” Matthew responds.
Aero looks to Roasa “Please be careful.”
“These men are the kind I vowed to destroy; this will be fun!”
Fun? Not to Aero. His heart is racing at the thought of what he is about to have to watch.
“People of Meego! These two volunteers stand against ten of our own to see if Prince Aero’s words are true. It’s a fight to the last man or woman on each side. Are you ready?”
The Meegan contingent holds their swords above their heads. Matthew stands at the ready while Roasa nods yes.
“FIGHT!” Dabir shouts.
Roasa lets loose an arrow, and one is down. Another arrow, and another man falls. She ducks an arrow that sticks in the wall behind her head then kills the man who shot it. She then turns, grabs the arrow out of the wall and kills a fourth running up on her.
As Roasa is slaughtering with her arrows, Matthew waits on the approaching men. A parry, then a thrust, a sidestep and a slash. Just like that, three men are dead. He turns to see a man rushing Roasa, he lunges toward him from far too great a distance for an average man to leap and slashes the man from his navel to his chin.
Roasa throws herself inside the bowstring to allow it to sit on her frame and picks up a sword. Matthew doesn’t see the last two men approaching from behind him. She throws the sword into the first man’s chest. Matthew turns just in time to see the last man swing his sword from over his head. He sidesteps the swing, but in doing so trips over the body of the man he had just killed. The man raises his sword above his head to the roar of the crowd.
Aero turns his head away.
Before he can bring his sword down, Roasa rushes him with a sword she had picked up. Swinging away just as Rain has taught her, she causes the man to lose his own balance and fall. She places the tip of the sword against his throat and slowly impales him.
The crowd is silent in shock.
Dabir stands in a rage “Send in ten more!”
“Father, no!” Rania says as she grabs his arm to calm him.
“Ten more!”
Rania looks away, she knows her father well. She cannot talk him out of this.
“Rain, will you accompany me home? I cannot watch this.”
Rain escorts Rania out of the suite, as ten more soldiers run into the arena.
“Stay close, back to back if we have to, they won’t give us a chance to collect any arrows.” Matthew whispers to Roasa.
“Don’t worry, we will get these too. Besides, I’m up six to four.” Roasa responds confidently.
“Governor Dabir! You cannot do this! Please! End this!” Aero screams.
“Guards, if he talks again gag him, but make sure he watches what happens! Fight!”
This time eight of the ten rush straight on, Matthew steps in front of Roasa to slow them down.
Maybe it’s his sense of chivalry or perhaps his hurt pride, either way he intends on killing them all.
He quickly slashes through four of them like without much movement. In doing so, he opened the door for the four others to rush Roasa.
Aero screams and pulls against his restrains in anxiousness. The binds break his skin, and he bleeds. While pulling on the chain, he accidently caused the ring holding the chain to stretch. He notices but doesn’t make a move.
She falls back with each attack; she uses her movements to make the men stumble into each other preventing them from overrunning her. She is able to move them enough that she finds an opening to stab one of them, which causes two of them to fall over the body. Matthew comes behind and quickly ends them, but in doing so is shot in the back of his shoulder with an arrow from one of the two guys that stayed back. He immediately turns to fight them.
Now one on one, Roasa is more comfortable and loose in her movements. For every step her attacker takes, she takes two. Her training takes over and she quickly maneuvers him into position to be killed without a chance to block. She wastes little time in eliminating him.
Roasa quickly follows Matthew, toward the final men.
They are able to separate them from one another. They corner one, and Matthew kills him.
Roasa pulls the arrow out of Matthew’s back and fires it, killing the last one. Again, the crowd goes silent in shock.
“Send them all in!” Dabir shouts in anger.
The doors to the arena floor flies open as dozens of Meegan soldiers flow into the pit.
Aero takes the opportunity to jump the railing, he grabs a sword and meets Matthew and Roasa in the center of the pit. Will runs out to join them. Stephan and David walk out to them carefully. Stephan picks up a sword as they do so.
In the center, they are surrounded. Aero commands David to stand in the middle of them, they circle him and prepare for a final stand.
Dabir stands and prepares to speak but before he can, a shout from the arena door calls for silence.
It’s Ali, he and Rain are standing shoulder to shoulder. They move out of the way and Rania walks between them. Ali and Rain follow.
She walks straight to the group and addresses them “If you want to survive, drop your weapons.”
Without hesitation, Aero drops his sword but no one else does.
He turns to the group. “Trust her.”
They all drop their weapons.
“Father, this is madness. Meego’s issues with the crown have nothing to do with Matthew and Roasa. End this now!” Rania shouts.
Dabir pauses a moment before waving his hand in the air. The Meegan forces leave the pit.
“Take Prince Aero back to his cell, the others will be escorted back to their quarters.”
The guards grab Aero’s arm.
“Rania, can we speak?”
“Not here.” And she walks out as they place the bag back over his head and lead him out of the arena.
Rain walks over to Matthew “You are a true warrior; I will lay with you tonight.”
“What?” Matthew asks.
“A true man warrior needs a woman after battle, and a woman a man. Tonight, two warriors will lay together. Do not worry, tomorrow we will return to our duties.”
“You’re getting lucky tonight, Bellumi tradition.” Roasa responds
Relics of the Old Age 