I heard the sound of another lift and realized it was rising into the center platform. Bit by bit, Horatio appeared, dressed in all his Senate finery. The applause for him was polite, but not enthusiastic. His shoulders fell in disappointment, which made me smile, just a little.
"Friends and Romans," he called into the audience. "Your games today are particularly special, for it pits the gods against the most unlikely of foes." Then he turned and pointed to me. "That boy, Nicolas Calva, is an escaped slave from the mines. You have seen him in this arena before, and you know that he is dangerous. But can he defeat the gods?"
Boos flew at me from all sides, but I tried to shut out the sound. I wasn't here to win their affection, only to defeat Radulf. So where was he?
A popping sound snapped near me, and when I turned to look at it, the floor burst into flame. I jumped and darted away from it, which sent the audience into fits of laughter. Worse still, there were more popping sounds, each one followed by the floor exploding with fire. I thought it was magic at first, but when I ran to another spot, my foot caught in some pipes that had been laid beneath the sand. I was lucky to only have scraped my hands as I fell; at a different angle, I could've been more seriously injured. When I looked more carefully, there seemed to be an entire grid of pipes laid out, probably carrying some s
ort of fuel for these fires.
Another pop erupted so close to me that it scorched the back of my arm. I gritted my teeth but refused to make any sound of pain. I wouldn't have the mob laughing at me again, and I wouldn't give Horatio the satisfaction of knowing I'd received my first injury.
Only he must've noticed, because in a loud voice meant for everyone to hear, he said, "There is only one safe place in this arena, boy."
More fires popped to life around me, forcing me closer to the ramp. Finally, I had no choice but to get on it. The audience cheered when I did, and began chanting, "Fight, fight, fight!"
"Shall this slave boy take on someone with the power of the gods?" Horatio asked. The audience cheered, but my attention was on the arena around me. By now, the entire floor was filled with flame, except for the twelve blocks where Radulf's soldiers stood, and this platform. The fires worried me. Whatever pathetic plan I'd had ten minutes ago was suddenly useless. To have any chance of winning, I would need to put out the fires. I searched the skies overhead, but there wasn't even a cloud, much less a rainstorm.
"Fight, fight, fight!" the audience chanted even louder than before.
"Then here he is!" Horatio threw a red cloak in the air, and when it fell, Radulf appeared out of nowhere from within its folds. He wore a gladiator's uniform over a fine white tunic, but all in gold and not too different from those his soldiers on the blocks were wearing. If he wanted to give the impression of being one of the gods, he had done a good job of it. The audience froze for a moment at his appearance, completely stunned, and then broke into thunderous applause. Standing at the top of one ramp, I wasn't nearly as fast to recover. Radulf was clearly a master at magical skills I hadn't even dreamed were possible.
Radulf used the moment of my surprise to attack first. He struck me with some sort of magical force that knocked me to my back where I rolled to the bottom of the ramp, inches from a fire. I got to my feet and ran up the ramp again where he struck me a second time before I'd managed to gather enough magic for a first hit.
I fell to my back, but didn't get up again until I felt something churn inside me. It wasn't much for magic, but I tried to aim for his legs. When I did, it scooped him off his feet and dropped him face-first onto the platform. The audience laughed at that, though it didn't last long before Radulf was on his feet again.
We exchanged hits after that, some harder than others. Radulf struck with far more force than I had thought possible, but from the expression on his face, I was sending out my magic with power too. It wasn't an easy fight, but thanks to the strength of the bulla's gems, he was struggling as much as I was. Slowly, I was forcing Radulf backward along the platform, feeling power grow within me.
Then as suddenly as he had appeared, Radulf vanished. I stopped, unsure of what to do, and felt a hand punch at my back, exactly on the Divine Star. I collapsed to the ground, and Radulf's knee went to the center of my back. The audience cheered, and somehow above their noise, my cries could still be heard.
"I thought this would be harder," Radulf said. "Do you have any last words?"
"Only that I'm not through fighting, you miserable roach!"
Radulf laughed and dug his knee in harder. "Yes, Nic. You are."
I might not have had anything more to say to Radulf, but someone did. From the imperial box ahead of us, Senator Valerius's voice rang out loudly. "My Roman friends, do not think this is the end of the fight. Senator Horatio would never make it so quick or so easy that you don't get your proper entertainment. In fact, he has given the advantage to Nicolas Calva."
He had the audience's attention, and Radulf's too, for that matter. I thought about what Felix had said, that this was theater. Valerius clearly understood that too.
He continued, "To help Nicolas win the fight, Senator Horatio has given him access to a second magical amulet. It is a key that Nicolas now holds, and it is the reason the slave will defeat a general today!"
Radulf threw me onto my back. "You have the key?"
I had expected a trap from Valerius, and this must be it. If Radulf believed Horatio had already given me the key, he would be angry. Angry enough to kill him.
"I don't have it," I said.
Radulf pressed on my chest with something that seemed to punch a hole through my heart. I yelled with the crushing pain of it and he said, "Where is the key?"
Still gasping for air, I choked out, "I would sooner go to my grave than let you get it."
"That can be arranged," Radulf said.
Valerius called down again. "Or does Senator Horatio play his own games with us? Maybe he wishes to keep the key for himself?"
Radulf instantly forgot about me and swung his attention to Horatio, who throughout our entire fight had somehow managed to seem invisible in the far corner of the platform.
Horatio raised his arms in innocence. "Valerius lies, Dominus."