The plump man a few meters in front of me cleared his throat before his sickly voice echoed softly through the room.
"It's a very large audience, yes, yes, a very large audience. Small kindergarten fights are no longer tolerated there. I'll tell you, the wolves that will be watching this time are not like the others..."
A fit of coughing interrupted the grey-haired man with the gut. It was anything but unusual that Mr. Morrep had a fit of coughing after a few sentences. No one knew if that was because of the many cigarettes, the alcohol or the pills he threw himself. But nobody was interested either.
Mr. Morrep was an obnoxious little old man. He was the owner of the fighting arena, so to speak, but only showed up very rarely and on special occasions. No one knew how the clumsy and not very intelligent man got into the service of the wolves. But the assumption that he had betrayed the other people for this was obvious. Maybe that's why he threw in more pills than there were hours in the day.
But not only that made the gentleman an extremely unpopular person, he was also not a pleasant person in character. He would whine, nag, and scold whenever you met him. He would get upset over every little thing, no matter how irrelevant that thing was. At first he scared me, but I quickly understood that he wasn't going to throw anyone out.
The plump man's voice was just as uncomfortable. It was quiet and trembling, but it had a squeaky undertone, like scratching your fingernails on an old blackboard. It sent goosebumps down my spine every time.
After a few minutes, Mr. Morrep calmed down and continued his speech as if nothing had happened.
"Well, these wolves, they're really tough. Towards evening, even the king and his bodyguard will be present. I'm saying it's a big deal. You guys have something to celebrate, don't you?"
His own giggle interrupted him.
I was very thankful for that. Exactly 10 years ago today I lost everything that had ever meant anything to me. Listening to drunken banter from a treacherous idiot wasn't exactly high on my list of favorites.
As always when Mr.Morrep visited us, I wondered why he was here at all. His drunken speech in the dining room never seemed to interest anyone. It was neither motivating nor demotivating. She was just being an idiot.
Just as Mr.Morrep was about to continue his speech, we were relieved by the squeaking sound of the wooden door opening. I had seen the boy entering several times before, but I had never heard him speak. Only his childish voice made me aware that the boy, who was a head taller, was still a child.
" It starts." he announced in a trembling voice.
"Good, good boy. Come on recruits, let's fight even if the war is long lost." Mr.Morrep giggled again. I would have loved to smack him in the head.
As always, we left the room quietly. We were about 200 people I would guess. That would be over 100 one-on-ones, depending on how many other fighters would join us. But since it was not even 12 noon, there would still be enough time for all the fights.
I was surprised how professional most of the fighters had become in the past few years. There was no emotion on either face, no fear, anger, sadness or at least nervousness. I knew that nobody would be able to read anything from my face either. Maybe that was because I didn't even know exactly how I felt.
The big arena where we would fight today was not directly at the training building. First we had to walk a few meters through a small side street.
It was an incredible feeling to feel fresh wind on my skin again after all this time. Usually the fights for the wolves took place in another arena, which could be reached through a tunnel directly from the training ground. For us, that meant the only way to get some fresh air was to be in a public fight. Most of the time you didn't have time to enjoy the air.
But this time it was different. The sun's rays settled on my light skin and I could breathe in the fresh scent of the air without having to worry about someone killing me.
But beautiful moments always pass too quickly and accordingly quickly we arrived in the front of the arena. We all stood somewhat uselessly in the white-painted room. None of us were allowed to wear armor, meaning we'd be as good as dead if we made a wrong move. We didn't have any weapons with us either. As a few minutes passed, you could slowly see the increasing nervousness of the other fighters. Trembling hands and restless movements. Maybe we weren't that professional after all.
Only after another ten minutes did one of the 4 white doors of the room open. It didn't surprise me to see Mr.Morrep, after all he had walked up here with us before and then suddenly disappeared.
"Ray Tyson." he read from a crumpled piece of paper and motioned his head for Ray to follow him.
I knew the tall, raven-haired handsome boy, but I'd never known his name. It was unusual for us to award more than was necessary. This made it easier to KO someone else or give them a bloody wound with your sword. Or in this case kill him.
And so the room gradually emptied. Again and again Mr.Morrep came back alone and took one of us with him.
I didn't know which was worse, having to wait here for hopeless fate or simply getting the matter over with.
Hour after hour passed until there were only 12 of us in the room. I was leaning against the cold wall and had to keep blinking trying to keep my eyes open. And then it happens. I hadn't even heard Mr.Morrep enter the room. But I heard him read my name: "Alex".
Even after it came out that I was a girl, I kept the name Alex. Alexandra or Lexa, as my family called me, just didn't suit me anymore.
Heart pounding, I pushed off the wall and followed the obese man. But instead of being led into an arena, I found myself in an anteroom again. An armory to be exact.
"Pick what you want, but hurry." only grumbled Mr. Morrep.
To my regret there was no armor here either. There wasn't even a shield to protect yourself with. They really wanted to see us die. Without thinking too much, I chose two light but long swords. I briefly considered taking a knife with me, but I couldn't have stowed it anywhere and there was no weapon belt either.
Before I could even think about equipping myself further, Mr.Morrep roughly dragged me out of the room through the next door.
In fact, it was already dark when we stepped through the door and into the arena. Suddenly the pressure of Mr.Morrep's hand on my forearm eased and the sound of a closing door confirmed that he had gone.
The arena was gigantic. It appeared to be a replica of the Colosseum in Rome. The ground consisted entirely of sand and the square battlefield was surrounded by large walls. Various seats were lined up and on top of each other on the wall, and almost all of them were occupied. Just opposite me, there was another small platform with seating for a small group of people. They were the only empty seats and I was pretty sure they must have been reserved for the king and his people. I didn't know if I should be glad he wasn't here or not. Unfortunately, I have to admit that I would have liked to have seen him once.
But my gaze was quickly distracted from the protest when another person entered the arena. In that moment I knew I was going to die. The man who ran towards me was probably 2 meters tall. He wasn't shirtless so I got a good look at his muscular chest. In his right hand he held a large, broad sword that I could not even wield with both hands. His other hand was equipped with a scimitar. I wouldn't even stand a chance against this guy if he were unarmed and I was wearing armor.
I automatically ran towards him. We got into a fighting stance and began circling each other.
It wasn't long before he swung his sword and tried to catch me. I could just dodge to the side. That's how it went on and on. He attacked and I dodged.
Until he got impatient and launched a more complex attack. I had no way of avoiding it. Like all the hours of fighting and training before, I blocked the blow with my sword. Exactly what I feared from the start happened. My strength wasn't even remotely enough to block the punch. With little effort he snatched my gun from me. It wasn't long before the second followed.
Now my only option is to run away, but I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't run away like a coward, not if I was dying anyway.
I saw the blade shimmering in the moonlight as he drew back.
I remembered the words my mother had talked me into.
I'm Alex, I'm a boy, I'm a fighter and I will survive.
But my name is not Alex. My name is Alexandra.
I'm not a boy either, I'm a girl.
I'm not a fighter, I've given up.
I will not survive, I will die.
Here and now.
And suddenly there was a deafening roar.