The Tournament of Gladiators

Five~Battle

      "Merlin?!" Arthur's shout rang out as the second fighter stepped out. The servant was armed only with a single sword, and not a stitch of armor covered his body. The knights watched, horrified as he stepped out in the arena, towards his opponent. The crowd booed, most of them calling out that this wouldn't be a fight at all.

      "Why is Merlin fighting?" Lancelot demanded. Thane turned to face his prisoners, not getting up from his throne, and a small smile crossed his face. "He's never trained, do you really think he will survive this?"

      "Probably not." Thane said thoughtfully. "But a little bit of bloodshed always gets the crowd going." His smile curled upward as the knights struggled against their chains, fearing that they were going to lose their friend right before their eyes. Arthur, however, regarding Lancelot carefully. He was acting off. But the prince's attention snapped back to the arena as the female announcer yelled for the fight to start.

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      Merlin stared at his opponent, eyes wide with fear. His first thought had been that he could use magic to get out of this, but the sight of Arthur and the knights was making him second guess that plan. Time to improvise.

      "Please, you don't have to do this." Maybe begging wasn't the bravest action, but it was all Merlin had. "Is Thane forcing you to do this?" The warlock tried to reason with the man, but only watched as he raised his axe high, prepared to bring it down on the boy. Merlin gasped, his instincts screaming for him to run. He dove to the side just as the blade crashed into the ground. As the large man tried to heft his axe back into the air, Merlin did the only sensible thing that came to mind.

      He ran.

      Merlin sprinted in the direction of where he entered, hoping to find safety. But the gates had been closed, leaving Merlin without an escape route. Any sense of hope he'd had seemed to shrivel up and die in that moment.

      "Face me, coward!" The man yelled angrily. He charged Merlin again, axe raised. Quietly. Merlin whispered a spell, causing him to trip, and giving the warlock a few precious seconds to put space between himself and the barbarian.

"No thanks!" Merlin yelled back, moving away from yet another axe swing. The warlock had been pressed up against the wall, and the axe had been swung right into it. With a few whispered words, Merlin's eyes flashed gold, and the man's axe was stuck fast. He grunted, trying to pull it free. The guard's above from earlier echoed in Merlin's head. Steeling himself, he sped behind the man, sword raised high, ready to thrust it into his opponent's back.

The crowd went silent as this young man seemed to be going on for the killing blow. But at the very last second, Merlin deviated the sword from its path, sending it into the man's leg. The man howled in pain, swinging his fist blindly behind him, but froze when the cold steel of Merlin's sword touched his neck.

"I don't want to kill you." Merlin said, loudly enough for the crowd to hear. They began to voice their displeasure, causing the announcer to become irritated. The knights were wide eyed at the fact that Merlin was still alive, but Arthur groaned at his foolishness. His opponent would not share the same sentiment as soon as the sword left his neck. "If you surrender, I will spare you." The man snarled angrily, but nodded. Merlin sighed in relief, panting from exhaustion. However, the sense of relief did not last long. The crowd began to chant for one of them to die as a few of Thane's men filed into the arena, restraining the fighters. The woman in the announcing box faces the angry crowd,

      "Shall we spare the lives of these cowards?" A booming chorus of "NO" echoed. The woman waited for the shouts to stop. "Master Thane, what would have us do with these cowards who refused to finish the battle?" Thane stood from his throne, and the crowd fell into complete and heavy silence.

      "Kill the one who lost." Merlin gagged when the body of his opponent fell to the ground beside him, now headless.

      "And what of the winner?" The woman's voice drowned out the cheering crowd. Thane regarded Merlin carefully, then the knights who stood behind him.

      "You will see him fight again." Thane promised the spectators.

Heeyyyyyy, short chapter. Sorry guys. So, I've decided, imagine the arena to be the length of about half a football field, (maybe just a little bit over.) I hope you liked this chapter.
It seems like Thane has some interesting motives for keeping Merlin alive, huh? And what's up with him having the knights watch Merlin's fights?
Thanks for reading! Please vote!
-InkFanatic