CHAPTER 4

★ E A R T H    R E A L M ★

★ H A V A Ñ A K ★

[ H A V E R N Y A K ]

THE ARENA OF SAND

He raised his head from the golden desert sands and forced himself to his knees with the last vestige of strength in his triceps. The coarse grains of sand, the very hot ones that had burned under the sun that shone without mercy over the entire north, could not leave him lying there a second longer, even if he had not recovered from the last blow.

Since the bell was rung, he had not touched his opponent. If it had been a fight to the death, he would have been dead. Lotino, who was his opponent, enjoyed the show to the fullest, he was fast, nimble enough to nullify all his attempts.

"You should not be fighting here, look around... they are all qualified to be here," Lotino whispered, and Kinada turned a deaf ear. He knew the mind games Lotino was trying to play. If he wasted even a thought on it, it would weaken him quickly enough for Lotino to achieve victory.

The chants, the cheers of the crowd, which seemed to sing only the praises of his giant opponent, reached his ears and he closed his eyes angrily. . .

The sun cast a shadow on him as his opponent moved closer to him, he barely felt his surroundings darken as his eyes were closed, and before he knew it, his opponent was only an arm's length away from him, he received a kick to the head, and the dust welcomed him again as he fell face down in the desert sand.

As he lay there in shame and disgrace, he heard the laughter of the people surrounding them. He did not bother to look up or try to get back on his feet, because he knew that the third time he would definitely collapse.

Everyone was happy to see him defeated. They all hated him, and it gave them great pleasure to see him humiliated in this way.

"Kinada, you are an abomination. You should be living with the spirits in the forests of Eslava, not here where you hang out with freeborns," Lotino whispered in his ear as he leaned over him and spat on Kinada's head. Lotino chuckled with the crowd as he walked out of the circle while Kinada was completely incapacitated.

Among the voices he heard, a significant voice, the loudest, came forward with an announcement.

"Lotino wins the rematch just like he won the first one!" Kinada heard a voice say as he gradually began to slip into nothingness. . .

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

R E E D A’S H O U S E

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

He opened his eyes and found himself lying on a bed. He was no longer lying in the arena of sand. There was only someone who cared to take him from the field and save him from being roasted under the intense sunlight.

He saw the barefoot woman walking gently toward him.

"You are awake," she called to him from the entrance of the room, and he sighed.

"You promised that you would never try again. You promised never to go with the army into the arena of the sands," she whispered. Her voice was cold, as cold as the cold water.

Kinada gave her no answer. He just stood there staring at her as she continued to walk toward him. He was far too impassive to give the right answers or at least say a "thank you."

"Are you going to get yourself killed? Going up against someone like Lotino?" she said softly as she sauntered over to the bed and sat down next to him. Her black nightgown was as shiny as her hair.

"So what! Lotino is like any other man out there, he's like me, we are all citizens of Havañak," he said to her and she heaved a sigh of concern.

"Kin, you know they do not see you like that," she said, and he stroked his white hair, where there was no room for any other color.

There was silence. The moment she said those words, it dawned on him again. She reminded him of something he never wanted to remember. He would give anything to erase the reality of what he was in the eyes of others and perhaps make them see him differently.

He'd give anything just to be treated like the others. He wished everyone was like Reeda, who looked at him like a true citizen and did everything to make him not feel like an outcast.

"K-Kin... I... didn't mean to remind you of those things, I'm just trying to protect you, I don't want you to get hurt," Reeda said to him and he turned his back to her and curled up with his hands between his knees.

His left pupil, which always glowed like flames, his amazing white hair, which made one think, and his face, which looked more like one from the West or East, were the things that distinguished him from all the other people in Havañak. At one point he tried to blind that eye and used an eye patch, but Reeda was there just in time to stop him, as she always was. And he could not cover his hair with any dye, no matter how good. Dyes had never stuck to his hair before.

"I just wish..." whispered Kin.

"You've had the same desire since we were kids. I think it's time to let it go. It doesn't matter what or who they think you're. To me, you're the best person I've ever met, and without you, my childhood would have been very boring," Reeda said, chuckling softly.

She lay quietly and curled up behind him and put her right hand under his arm. Kin grabbed her hand and held it tightly, supporting her head on his shoulder.

"I just think when I earn the spot and become one of the seekers, they'll look at me differently," he said, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

"Why do you think they allowed you to accept the challenge in the first place? It was never a fair fight. Lotino was drafted into the army when he was only 12 years old, you're just a civilian, they just wanted to humiliate you, can't you see that?" said Reeda.

His ego bit him the moment he heard Reeda. He would never accept being weak just because he was not part of the army.

Civilians were recruited for the Brotherhood of Seekers: a search team for the missing heir to the throne of Great Havañak, who had been reported missing after failing to return from a mission to expand Havañak's borders.

Kinada knew that, he knew that civilians were recruited, he saw their opponents, he saw that they were treated fairly, their opponents were never part of the army. It was supposed to be civilian against civilian. Random civilians who signed up were just pitted against each other, and whoever won got a spot. But he had to compete against Lotino, who was part of the army.

These citizens are now all fighting for a place. Not all of those who were successfully recruited came forward because they cared about the ruler or his missing son, so many of them came forward for the money, which was good enough to risk their lives for.

Kinada thought about all this and he realized that if he wanted to get a place as a seeker, he had to get through Lotino, no matter what it cost him.

Reeda, who had not heard from Kin in a while, thought he had already fallen asleep, but that was not the case. He was thinking.

"Then I'll prove to them that he's no better than I am just because he's in the army," Kin whispered, and she was startled, shocked. She thought she would succeed in convincing him.

Kin turned to her and let his eyes circle around her pupils. She did not know what to say to him.

"Have you lost your mind?" She said. She was angry, but she could control her emotions very well. Kinada knew that, and he took advantage of that. He knew she'd never agree to get angry with him for any reason he didn't know either.

"No, I'm not. Okay? Listen to me, Reeda," he whispered in her face.

"I've to do this, for me. I can't go on living like this," he added.

"Can you even hear yourself speak? You've already lost twice to Lotino. You know the rule, don't you?" she said, raising her voice slightly, just barely above a whisper.

"Don't you even think how I'd feel if Lotino were somehow-" she said, breaking off.

"Nothing will happen to me, I promise you?" He said to her, looking at her already watery and tired eyeballs.

"Okay, fine. I'm not asking for a third round. After all, I've been living like this since I was a kid. They can't hate me any more than they've for the last 24 years." He said, and she listened.

"Promise," said Reeda, and sighed.

"Must I?" he said, and she nodded.

"Okay, I promise you, Reeda Dreja, never again to go to the arena of sand for a fight against the melon head named Lotino," he said, and they both burst out laughing.

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