Page 24 of Ironhold, Trial Two
“ I bid you welcome your gladiators,” the announcer calls out, his voice ringing out as Vex, the shadow cat and I stand waiting by the iron gate. The shadow cat growls at Vex, but it stills at my touch.
“He's on our side for this one,” I say softly to it.
I might not be able to control it directly, but we seem to still have that much of a bond. I know it will fight alongside me, and it will do what I ask. It can understand me, even if I don't have the same power that I did yesterday.
“On this team,” the announcer says. “We have the descendant of nobility in the arena, son of a line of great gladiators: Vex!”
Vex strides out, holding his daggers lightly. If he had any lapse in confidence when he heard I couldn't easily controlled the drake, he gives no sign of it now. He walks in, basking in the adulation, while I am left waiting.
“He is accompanied by the mistress of beasts herself, his former foe, Lyra!”
I step out, and the roar of the crowd is almost overwhelming. The shadow cap follows me bounding at my side, settling there on the sand as if it were a pet rather than a deadly predator, capable of stepping from shadow to shadow.
“Against them,” the announcer says. “We have a warrior from the fringes of the empire here to prove the worth of his people. I give you Koda!”
The gladiator comes striding onto the sand. He is tall and broad shouldered, his skin a deep bronze, his eyes a curiously pale blue. He carries a bladed staff, which he spins easily and calmly, while his armor looks like some Aetherian’s idea of what a barbarian would wear. It is made from the furs of different animals, with hints of bronze underneath.
“With him comes the most tenacious of all fighters, the woman who heals all wounds, Naia!”
Naia comes striding out onto the sands, holding her axes in her hands. She looks across to me nervously, then glances to the gates. I can see Ravenna standing there, looking on, smiling.
The frost drake comes next, flowing sinuously through the gates, its ice smeared scales glinting in the sun. The whole arena seems colder as it steps out. It is far larger than I am, with huge wings and claws that are like daggers. It roars and sprays a burst of ice into the air.
“Begin!” The announcer calls out, quicker than usual, presumably because there's no way to hold back the frost drake.
Instantly, we charge at one another. With two beasts involved in the combat, there is no way to have neat plans. All we can do is throw ourselves into the chaos and hope that we come out alive. Vex’s knives scythe through the air, humming with power as they dart at the frost drake, at Naia, at Koda.
The large warrior swings his bladed staff at me, forcing me to dodge and counter with my trident. A blast of cold comes close to me and I swing my net in the drake’s face, buying myself a moment to dodge clear. The shadow cat appears from the drake’s shadow, trying to bite its throat but being battered aside by it. It comes up and steps back into the shadows, ready for another attack.
Our two sides do have strategies of a sort. Vex, the shadow cat, and I must all rely on movement and sudden attacks. Naia and Koda clearly want to charge forward and close the distance. They use the frost drake like a kind of shield, advancing behind it, and the creature seems to know that they're on its side. It only throws blasts of ice at Vex and me.
This would be so much easier if I could take control of the drake’s mind, but the cuff I’m wearing prevents it. Instead I must rely on what I can feel of it to understand when its attacks are coming, trying to relay that information to the shadow cat. The cat darts in and out of the shadows, attacking Koda, then the drake. It seems to understand that I don't want it to hurt Naia.
Vex clearly doesn't care. His knives dance in their customary swarm, and I see one slice Naia’s arm. She heals the wound almost as soon as she suffers it, moving forward with fresh determination on her face.
As much as we try to keep at range, inevitably, the distance closes. Koda is clearly used to those with talents throwing magical attacks his way, and he doesn't give any of us space to get them off. He swings at me with his staff again and again, coming closer and closer to hitting me each time. If it weren’t for the distracting attacks of the shadow cat, I am sure that he would kill me in seconds.
Vex and I both realize at the same time that we are safer close to the drake than further from it. Up close it cannot target us with its ice breath. It must attack us with claws and teeth instead. It means that the combat quickly becomes impossible to follow. The shadow cat is dancing in and out of different shadows, pouncing and leaping away, swiping with its claws. It seems frustrated that those skitter from the scaly hide of the drake. Vex’s knives don't seem to be having much more effect. I manage to use thrusts from my trident to keep the beast at bay, but Naia and Koda Both seem to realize that distracting me will stop me doing anything about the drake.
It is impossible to keep track of who is attacking whom in the melee. Every time I try to give my attention to one opponent, another strikes at me. I swing my net at Naia, trying to tangle her to take her out of the fight without hurting her, she dodges back and Koda swings his blade staff my way.
The shadow cat takes advantage of the opportunity to attack him, but the drake knocks it aside once more. Vex is sending his knives this way and that but he has the same problem with them as the drake has with its frost breath: in close, in all this chaos, it is hard to aim properly.
Around us, the crowd is roaring its pleasure at the pace of the fight. Naia is cut again, and they bellow their approval, even as she heals herself. The two of us move to one another, determined now to enact our plan to give the crowd a good show. We start to trade blows, her axes swinging wildly, my trident and net combining to try to trip or tangle her.
This is the best way I can protect her, by having this fight with her while the others get on with the rest of the battle. The shadow cat is on the drake’s back now, and it is trying to crane its sinuous neck to try to bite the cat. Vex and Koda are facing off, the large null’s fur armor absorbing glancing blows from the knives, letting him swing his blade staff with ferocious speed.
Both of them suffer cuts in almost the same moment, Koda’s blade staff raising a line of gore along Vex’s leg even as a flying knife cuts Koda’s arm. Naia’s flailing axes cut me, and my trident scores her flesh. Neither of us is trying to kill the other, but in this chaos, it is impossible to avoid wounds.
Even the brief stability of each of us taking on a single opponent cannot last. In just seconds I find myself having to block an attack from Koda, to dodge aside from a swipe of the drake’s claws. The shadow cat lunges at Koda, distracting him, but I'm so busy trying to use my net to tangle the drake that I can’t take advantage of it.
I hear our names being shouted again and again around the arena, while the crowd stamps their feet in a furious rhythm to match the tempo of the fight. The drake it's trying to bite down on me, and I managed to jam my trident into its jaws, using all my strength to keep it at bay.
Even as I do so, I see Vex lining up an attack with his knives, half a dozen of them aimed straight at Naia. That's not what we agreed. An attack like that could kill her. I do the only thing I can, shoving away from the great bulk of the drake, hoping that I will be in time to intercept the weapons, before they can kill her.