CHAPTER 5

★ E A R T H     R E A L M ★

★ H A V A Ñ A K ★

A R E N A O F S A N D

The people were gathered, the Arena of Sand had never been so full. They were all waiting for the last great battle. This was the day when the last member of the Brotherhood of Seekers would be chosen. Lotino, who was eligible to be the leader of this brotherhood, had already been summoned by the ruler's advisor, who was also the announcer. He had realised that with Lotino's fighting abilities, anyone who could overcome him and win the battle would be worth the last place. For the journey to the forests of Eslava, they needed men with great fighting skills.

"Is there one man! Only one man bold enough to stand against the Warcraft, Lotino?"

The ruler's advisor spoke with such enthusiasm, patting Lotino's bare chest. Lotino chuckled when he saw that there was no one in the crowd willing to accept the open challenge. He was not the only one looking forward to the fight, Lotino himself wanted nothing more than for the bell to sound. He could not wait to break the bones of whoever would come out as his opponent.

The two looked around silently to see if they could find anyone, but they all seemed to like the positions their bones were in, none wanting to fight the brutish man.

Normally it was civilian against civilian and soldier against soldier, but the announcer had received explicit instructions from the ruler to make Lotino, who had already joined the brotherhood, the first fighter, to reduce the chance of giving last place to a weakling.

"Cowards!" roared Lotino, and a stream of saliva from his mouth splashed on his chest.

"I!" cried a voice from the crowd. And the crowd parted, leaving a narrow entrance through which the person who'd spoken could enter the circle from behind.

Lotino's eyes widened, people's mouths couldn't stop murmuring, they were all shocked to see the white-haired young man striding into the circle.

Kinada was back. He made his way around Reeda and broke his promise to her just because he couldn't back out. He was tired of being treated like a disease. He wanted to belong, and he fell short. He wanted to be accepted throughout the land, he wanted to prove to them that he was willing to sacrifice his life to join the Brotherhood of Seekers and help find the missing heir.

"Kinada, you know what you're up to," the ruler's advisor said to him, and he gulped as he looked into Lotino's eyes, which betrayed bloodlust.

"You've already lost twice to The Warcraft, which means you'll be at the mercy of your opponent if you lose again. It means he's not bound by the law if he decides to kill you in battle, but you don't have the same freedom as he does since you're the challenger," he told Kinada and Lotino smirked.

Kinada looked around and couldn't find anyone in the crowd who'd be sad if he was killed in battle. Reeda was the only one in all of Havañak who cared about him, and she wasn't even there. Reeda had been oblivious to it all, sleeping off the last night with Kinada by her side after he'd promised her not to return to the Arena of Sand at the next opportunity.

Of course, he knew she would not let him go if she knew, so he had to tell her he was going to his house to clean up a bit.

"I'll take the consequences that come with it," Kin told him, and he nodded.

"Then let the fight begin!" The announcer yelled and the crowd cheered.

Who does not want to see the fall of the outcast? The only thing that kept Kin alive until that day was the law of the land, which strictly forbade the taking of human life. That is how much people despised him. For every Havañite, it seemed like a dream come true. They all already knew that Lotino would not miss this opportunity, and they were rooting for him and following the fight with great enthusiasm.

"You fool!" shouted Lotino, throwing his first clenched fist at Kinada's head. He was thankful that he was able to duck in time. Lotino's angry face expressed all that this blow could have done to Kinada's face.

They walked around in a circle, each examining his opponent. Each was waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Lotino did not hit the target the first time, and he did not want to miss it the second time either, letting his pupils sink into Kin's, wanting to keep his gaze up and keep him guessing about where he was going to strike next.

He lunged for a swinging kick through the sand, hoping to knock Kinada off his feet, but even without averting his gaze, Kinada knew he had to jump at that moment. He could not explain how he was able to anticipate Lotino's every move without looking anywhere but his face.

Lotino was done with tactics, he was done with military intuition and strategy, he could hardly wait to get his hands on the young man standing before him. He was frustrated, he just wanted to grab him, if only for a second, and dislodge every bone in his body.

In his frustration, he charged forward, hoping to grab Kin, and Kin, confused and not knowing how to repel his attack, kicked the pile of sand in front of him, and it rained down on Lotino's face. He lost control at that moment and blinked repeatedly, hoping to get the sand particles out of his eyes so he could quickly see and avert what Kinada was going to do next.

Kinada knew that this was the right moment. He knew he had to come up with a finishing move as soon as possible to get the win and get the point. He charged toward Lotino, and just when he was close enough, he threw himself into the air, slightly above Lotino, and right where he could see the middle part of Lotino's head, with his elbow raised and pointed directly at Lotino's head, he knew he just had to slam down on him.

He gasped the moment he felt Lotino's grip around his neck. Kin's eyes lit up like a torch as he was held in the air by Lotino's massively built hands. His legs dangled and fluttered in the air as Lotino lifted him even higher and stretched his hands even further into the air.

Everything went dark in Kinada's eyes as he felt his whole body plummet into the sand of the arena.

"Finish him!" In his subconscious, he heard everyone around him telling Lotino to finish him off. He wanted to regain consciousness, he wanted to regain any lost energy and fight for his life, or at least get up and run away, but he was too broken.

Lotino stood over him, spat on his chest and kicked it with his right foot.

The rejoicing was over. The cheering, the singing, the noise, all came to a halt the moment Lotino stepped on Kinada's chest.

Everyone was silent, because whatever Lotino had done, it was not what they had all been waiting for. His actions pointed to something else entirely. They had all hoped that he would take Kinada's life, but whatever he meant by that was not what they wanted.

Everyone was aware of this act. It was a code of the military, and even those who were not in the army knew it.

"I'll take the Reit!" shouted Lotino, and the crowd grumbled. The ruler's advisor came up to him and whispered in his ear, "What are you saying? I thought we all wanted the same thing?"

Lotino ignored what the ruler's advisor said to him and instead spoke to the angry crowd.

"By the words of my saliva he shall live and henceforth follow my steps," Lotino said, and the crowd continued to murmur.

"I take him as my servant from this day forward, and he shall live only to serve me, for I have shown him mercy and spared his life," said Lotino, and Kinada opened his eyes. He never expected Lotino to show him mercy, but he wondered if he would not be better off dead than being a servant to a man like Lotino.

He lay there resting under Lotino's boot, and he knew that life had just gotten worse for him. He wished he had never returned to the arena of sand to challenge Lotino, he wished he had listened to Reeda.

A few moments passed and the disappointed crowd left, including Lotino, and Kinada had to pick his broken self up off the ground and trudge home.

When he got there and had just closed the door to tend to his wounds, he looked to his left and his lips parted. He could not take another step forward.

"You lied to me," Reeda said to him, getting up from the chair she was sitting on.

Kinada averted his eyes. He could not look her in the eye. He would have had something to say if he had won the fight, but instead he lost what little freedom he had.

Reeda walked past him, and he had nothing to say to her. He was disappointed in himself, too. She walked out and closed the door behind her.