It Rained Red Upon the Arena (15 page)

“Nick, stop talking,” Phillip whispered. “If the wrong ears heard what you just said you’d be a dead man before your next fight.”

“That’s why I whispered it,” replied Nick. “But before I would attempt to do something so drastic, I have a plan A.”

“Most normal people start with plan A, then go over plan B,” said Phillip.

“I thought plan B was more exciting and would grab your attention. Plan A is a bit more safe. So listen here. I have a friend named Thomas that should have passed basic training and be sworn in as a Refect trainee by now. I’ve mentioned him to you before. That means he would be stationed at one of the four barracks located in Vincot. If we could get someone, let’s say a fellow Refect within these walls, to go on the outside and find Thomas to send him a message to meet with me here, then I could get him to send a raven to the king. Since Thomas is a Refect he could make his way through the arena with very few questions asked. Unless you have someone on the outside that you can get a message to, I think this plan could work.”

Phillip thought for a moment, then asked, “So you don’t know if he is or is not a Refect?”

“I have a feeling that he is. It was both of our goals in life to become a Refect. Nothing else. I take that back. It’s not just a feeling. I know he is a Refect. I know he could find it in himself to come see me even if he thinks I am a murderer.”

“Nick, there is one flaw in your plan,” replied Phillip.

“What is that?”

“You have this code of never making friends in the arena, whether it be inmates or Refect.”

“I know, that is the major problem. We have no one to send the message,” said Nick.

“No, you have no one to send the message. Luckily for you, I have a Refect who will do this task. He has done several for me in the past. I have a man on the outside who controls some of my wealth and pays the Refect handsomely for his troubles. Now, Nick, I could also simply have this man send a message to the king. We wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of bringing your friend. Would that be okay?”

“This is heavy information. It is sensitive, and should not be told to the wrong people. I would only want to do this through my friend. It’s not that I don’t trust you, Phillip, it’s just that I only trust you and Thomas.”

“Okay, I will start working on the plan today. Give me a few days. As long as you are right about your friend, he will be here shortly.”

“I can’t thank you enough, Phillip. Tell the Refect that his name is Thomas Bell.”

***

Days went by. Nick conducted his usual meditation at night. His usual training within the dungeon. It had all become routine. He never got used to it, though. He could never get used to seeing bloodied men and women. Seeing faces one day and then gone the next. Meditation allowed him to escape the arena, but only for a while.

It had been three nights since Phillip had set the plan in motion. Nick was deep in meditation. His visions took him to places he had never seen before. He could only imagine. Quiet tranquility.

Interrupted by the tapping of his cell bars, Nick turned around to find a Refect standing in front of his cell. The man was in full gear from head to toe.

“You look terrible, absolutely terrible.”

Nick immediately recognized the voice. It was Thomas, now a proud Refect, in the flesh. Nick jumped up and went to the bars to give Thomas an embrace.

“You look awesome, extremely awesome.”

Nick couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. He couldn’t believe that his friend was standing before him once again. The thought had crossed his mind so many times that he would never see his friend ever again. That he would die in the arena without ever again having a conversation with his best friend since childhood.

“It’s good to see you, Nick,” said Thomas. “The people talk about you everywhere I go. You are truly something, Hetha.”

“You know I am not a murderer, right, Thomas? You understand what you might have heard about what happened that night wasn’t true. I killed the man that killed my father. I retaliated, and I did it in a brutal fashion, which is how I ended up here.”

“I know you didn’t. But there was nothing I could do to help. Even when I became a part of the Refect. I don’t have much time here. Joseph, the Refect who brought me here said I’ll have a few minutes tops. What is it that you urgently needed to tell me?”

Nick leaned in to whisper to Thomas, just in case the inmates nearby could over hear him. He told Thomas briefly what had happened to him with the supreme Reza that was sent to recruit Nick, and his plan to tell the king of the danger.

Thomas agreed but had one input to give to Nick’s plan. “How can you be sure that the king even reads the messages sent to him?”

“I don’t know. I can’t be sure of it. But I want you to put my name on the front of the message. I want you to put that it is urgent, and it is from the Hetha. We can only hope that will draw enough attention, my friend.”

“Done,” said Thomas.

“I presume they will send someone to interview me of the events that transpired when they read the message. To be sure they receive the importance within the letter, I would also like for you to send another message with the same context in two weeks’ time. And do so for as many times over as it takes. Would you be willing to do that, Thomas?”

“I can. They will hear your message Nick.”

“Thank you, Thomas. You don’t understand what a huge favor you are doing for me, and potentially many others. And again, it is truly magnificent to see you again, my friend. How was your training?”

“We can’t stand here and talk casually, Nick. If you ever get out of this terrible place, come and find me. But I wonder every night if I’ll get word that my best friend died in front of the Vincot Arena crowd. I wonder every night, Nick, every single one. I have to go, Nick. Good luck out there. I miss my best friend.”

“I will not lose. I came here with the thought of dying. Now I live here knowing no one here can match my skill. No one here can defeat me. Do not worry for me, Thomas, worry about your goals and your future. I will be out in about a year and a half. I will find you, my friend. Thank you again for coming. And if you change your mind, it would mean a lot if you could visit me once again in the future.”

“Nick, I don’t enjoy what I see in you right now. Boasting about your ability to kill, and thinking I’d want to come back here to see you like this. I’ll see you on the outside.”

With that, Thomas took his leave. Looking at his friend once more, turning his back and walking down the dark hallway leading to the main entrance. After all that time of not seeing his friend it was not exactly the type of conversation Nick wanted to have. He felt as though Thomas felt betrayed that he had ended up in the arena. It wasn’t entirely his fault that fate had sent him on a different path than the one the boys grew up believing in.

***

Nick’s next fight was against another new inmate to replace the escaped inmate Poloski. She was a young Reza girl and was already going around introducing herself to everyone. She was lively and bubbly. Her name was Katherine. She walked around with a big smile on her face and big blue eyes. Nick did not know whether to perceive her as extremely friendly or just another psychotic murderer who was looking forward to being a resident of the arena. Nick chose the latter; it was easier for him to kill a murderer than a sweet innocent girl. But still, Nick was conflicted over the idea of killing a girl. He had never been put in that position before. He simply had to remind himself over and over that every person in the arena, whether male or female, deserved to be there. However, in the back of his mind he knew that was not true; he himself was in there undeservingly.

The fight was slated for the same day as his previous fight against Poloski was scheduled. However, Nick was overly conflicted about the idea of killing the girl. He was not convinced that she was deserving of death. Nick had come up with the idea to talk to the commissioner about changing his opponent.

Nick went to a Refect to inquire about a meeting with George Belan, and to Nick’s surprise he was immediately granted access to see the commissioner. A few hundred steps up a flight of stairs later, Nick was in the office alone with Mr. Belan.

“What can I do for you, my Hetha?”

“I want a new opponent,” said Nick.

“Why is that?”

“You think it’s wise to put me in the arena paired up against a new inmate. I thought we wanted to put a show on for the crowd and make you more money.”

“I’m listening,” said George. “Who do you have in mind?”

“Put me up against Victor. The crowd calls him Rose.”

“Done. I’ll have new flyers made. You’ve got a business mindset somewhere in that head of yours. If you didn’t kill a couple men out in the city, maybe you could’ve actually been making money. Making me money will have to do for the both of us now,” said George. Then he let out one of his uniquely strange laughs.

When George finally stopped laughing, Nick said, “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

“Woah, woah, woah, I remember they told me you were fighting the new girl,” said George in a deeper tone. “Don’t tell me you came all the way up here because you’re afraid to kill a girl.”

“That’s not it, I just want to fight someone who stands a chance of lasting more than thirty seconds. Victor might actually make it to one minute.”

George let out another laugh, his gold chains rattling along his chest.

“I like you. You’re confident and you make me a lot of money. Anytime you need to talk to me, you come and do it. I’ve instructed the Refect to allow you a visit here whenever you wish.”

“Thanks again,” said Nick.

“Alright, now get out of my office. You smell of piss and spoiled meat.”

George Belan, such a nice man. Wealth certainly never got to his head.

He walked back down to dungeon where everyone else was busy training. Nick knew that Victor was both a rapist and murderer in Hentrio. He finally got caught three months ago in Vincot trying to add burglary to his resume. At this rate Nick could see himself setting up the rest of his fights against the people he knew deserved a sword through their neck. He just had to stay on the commissioner’s good side.

***

A few more days passed and Nick’s mind was on the outcome of the letter addressed to King Dedan Hudson. He was worried his message would not get through. He felt as though no one else in the world understood the importance of the knowledge Nick had. The only person he could talk to was Phillip. At this point there were two people whom Nick could trust; Phillip and Thomas. Thoughts rambled through Nick’s head; it was always one of his weaknesses. He sat at the tables with Phillip and discussed his frustration.

“Cities could fall and the king himself is in danger,” said Nick. “If my message doesn’t reach them in time, horrible things may happen. If there were a handful of supreme Rezas they could destroy an entire city. If there were hundreds of them, Hentrio will fall.”

Phillip stared at Nick and exhaled deeply. “They are really that powerful?”

“He lifted me up when I was five feet away from him. Who knows what other powers they have, but my bet is that they have a lot.”

“They will hear your message Nick, they will be prepared. The king has an entire nation behind him, and an army of highly trained and versatile soldiers. Do not worry too much, my friend. With every bad event there comes a good one around the corner.”

It was still not much of a help to Nick that Phillip was so nonchalant about the urgency of the message. However, he was right. Nick understood that if he sat there and worried all the time, there would be no good to come of it.

***

His match day against the man named Rose had arrived. He went through the regular procedures he went through every day. Nothing was out of the ordinary until Nick was summoned to George Belan’s office. He sat face to face with the game commissioner once again, although this time Nick could see the anger on his face. His wrinkles scrunched up like creases in a shirt. His eyes squinted and his eyebrows had a peculiar curve. Nick could almost see a fire raging deep within his eyes.

“Disgusting!” George stared deep into Nick’s eyes. “Absolutely disgusting! They want to take my money; they must think this is all a game!”

“What do you mean, sir?” asked Nick.

“The crown sent me a message last night. They specifically wanted you to not engage in any fights until the king’s men arrive. It says right here that they will be at the arena by tomorrow,” George said while pointing at the paper. “You were to make me money, and now you are taking from me. Tell me now! Tell me what this is all about.”

“I don’t know,” said Nick. “Sir, I have no idea why they would do this to you, why they would do this to me. All I look forward to is fighting in the arena.”

“If it was anybody but the king himself, I would have them thrown into the arena like a dog,” said George. “Get out of my office. You’ll fight another day.”

Nick tried his best to hide his urge to smile. He had never witnessed someone so upset over losing some money. It was quite hilarious to Nick to see the commissioner lose himself like that. And now the king’s men were on their way down to question Nick about the letter. Thankfully, everything was going according to plan. Now that the men would be here, he immediately started to go over the message he’d like to say in front of them. This was Nick’s opportunity to do some good in the world, something he had lacked for nearly a half a year now.

Night came quickly and Nick was lying on his back in his cell. Insects crawled around on the dirt floor on which he lay. Only a blanket between him and the mess beneath him. So fragile and so thin. He had already long forgotten what comfort actually felt like. Tomorrow was going to be a big day. Nick was thankful that Rose never made it back to his cell. He saw his end met in the arena, even though it was not at the hands of Nick. Things were truly looking up now. Nick slowly closed his eyes, and he drifted off into deep slumber.

Chapter Twelve

It was mid day when Nick was greeted by two Refect in front of his cell. They walked in to do a search on Nick. It was a pat down of every area on Nick’s body. Then they made sure his handcuffs were on securely so that his gloves had no chance of coming off. They stepped out of the cell and Nick followed. They walked down a familiar hallway; it was the one Nick had first walked down when he arrived at the arena. He hadn’t seen these walls in ages; at times he never thought he’d ever see them again.