A Warrior's Redemption (The Warrior Kind) (10 page)

“Creator I’m not sure about where to begin here. I’ve done a lot bad things, which I’m very sorry for! Things I had to do to survive. At least that’s what I tell myself. Well, anyway here I am with a chance to do something noble with my life. As
You
know I’ve been trying to turn my life around and the journey I’ve felt led to go down by You has led me to here. I have a chance to do something meaningful; in concern to these children the priestess has saved. Som
e
thing I know my father would have done if he were alive and able to do so. I guess what I’m saying is that even though I don’t deserve Your consideration, I’d really appreciate your help in staying alive in the arena tomorrow so that I can help those children get to a safe place. I guess that pretty much says it all. Oh one more thing, be with Larc tonight and help him stay strong and help me get him to safety too.”

I felt a tingling sense of peace descend upon me as I prayed for the others, which calmed my spirit about tomor
row’s troubles.

As an afterthought I added, “Thank you for the time I did have with my mother. She tried to teach me about
You
, but I’m afraid I didn’t pay much attention. I regret that! If
You
would consider teaching me about Yourself again in some way I would really appreciate it!”

The night air was still and quiet. No answer. Remember
ing my mother, I thought of how some of her prayers weren’t answered right away either. She had said that it was up to the Creator, if He chose to do what was asked of Him, but the important thing when waiting for an answer was to be faithful and keep praying. Maybe an answer would come in the morning, hopefully in time for my date with the arena. I wasn’t nearly as confident of surviving the first round as I had led Treorna to believe that I was. Moving over to the cell wall I leaned up against it, as I had many times in the past, and went to sleep almost instantly.

The darkness in the cell started to glow slightly and like a warm wave it washed over Roric repeatedly as he slept, and it kept the dark memories and insecurities that wanted to intrude his sleeping mind at bay all through the night.

.

“Roric.”

“Yes, mother?”

“Time for your study of the Holy Words”

“Mother, can’t we do that later?”

“Roric you will find out that in life you can’t always put things off to a later time and have everything still workout right.”

“Then maybe we can skip study time for a third time and that will be once and for all! Ouch! Alright, I’m ready!”

“Sit down over there Roric. As I’ve told you before we only have remnants of the Book that the Creator wrote, but those remnants that we do still have can help us to live a righteous and pleasing life. A life that honors our Creator and that serves His purposes.”

“It always seems like we have to do everything for the Creator. What does He do for us?”

“He did everything for us Roric. When Adam and Eve sinned in the beginning on the first world He could have washed His hands of us and we would have all been doomed to everlasting death, but He didn’t leave it like that. He gave us His Holy Word and even sent His son to die for us that we might have life for evermore, if we believe.”

“I don’t understand that part.”

“You have to take it by faith Roric. Until you actually believe in the Son of God and what He did for us, you aren’t saved.”

“Well, I guess He’ll just have to make Himself real to me for me to believe.”

“Oh, He will
Roric. In His good time He will make Hi
m
self real to you in a powerful way. He will use you greatly
in some great endeavor to the benefit of His everlasting kingdom.”

“How do you know He’ll do that?”

“I have faith that He will even as I ask Him for it every day in my prayers Roric. The Creator has done everything for us and not the other way around. Simply trust Him and have faith, and in the passage of time all will be made right, you’ll see.”

“Wake up tiger bait!”

Jarred awake by the kick to my side I jumped to my feet. The memory of my mother quickly faded as the reality of my current situation set in. I was quickly outfitted and shoved through the tunnels of my old haunts. I could hear the noise of the crowd roaring in anticipation of the coming bloodlust. Protesting loudly, the rusty arena door slowly rose upward. I stepped out onto the sand of the arena not waiting for the push from behind.

The sandy floor of the arena stretched out before me and I advanced into it. The dusty tan color of the sand was mottled in places to a dark red, which helped mark the spots where mortal life had been lost. Casting my gaze upwards I took in the crowd assembled in the bleachers rising on all sides above the arena walls. They were shouting, as they usually were in a mixture of anticipatory excitement and blood lust. They were eager to see suffering and blood
letting.

All the old memories came flooding back to me now. Mentally attempting to shake them off I remembered my dream from the night before. I hadn’t dreamed about my mother in years, but her lessons of yesterday were very real today too. Emboldened by the need to survive and the belief in my new found faith that I could I stepped into the center of the arena boldly. I stood waiting there patiently for what would come next as obscenities and jeers were thrown my way by the crowd of onlookers all around me.

A sense of excitement rippled through me as it always did when the fight was about to start. I didn’t have to wait long for it. Seven arena dungeon doors began to creak open and through the half open doors seven starved Attorgron tigers clawed at the dust in eagerness to get into the sunlight. They sprang into the open arena giving each other cautious looks at first. Not liking the roaring of the crowds or their expo
sure to an unknown situation, they slunk around the arena as they got their bearings.

One tiger maddened by the need to get free of the exposure and noise of the arena tried to climb the arena wall, but it was too high and he slid back to the arena floor, to the tune of jeers from the crowd at its failed escape. I had seen it all before many times, except I had never faced so many tigers at once, and I usually had other companions to help whittle them down or at least be chewed on while I took care of my own skin and that of my friends when I could. I had no ar
mor this time either, just an arena short sword and a small round shield.

Soon the inevitable happened; they noticed me in the cen
ter of the arena and their first instinct to escape was taken over by their second great need, hunger. They approached me from all sides their eyes glowing with intent to rip me apart. I had to admit that faced with these odds it was an extremely likely scenario. The crowd’s anticipation was a palpable sensation in the hot still air of the arena. Sweat coursed down my back in rivulets under the tunic I wore. I couldn’t win this one! If there had only been three or four maybe, but seven! I remembered my mother’s words and her belief in her Creator that He could do anything. I really couldn’t win this one. The sword dropped from my hand to plop into the dust of the arena floor. I took the shield off of my left forearm and dropped it too. Spreading my arms wide I looked up into the blue sky over head.

“Creator it’s all yours.
Thy will be done.”

I waited with baited breath, as did everybody else in the arena for what would come next. The husky roars of the tigers intensified. It wouldn’t be long before they attacked. I heard the scramble of claws scraping on dirt behind me and I couldn’t help but flinch, as I waited for the subsequent im
pact of fangs and claws ripping into me, but it didn’t come.

“I Am
mighty to save and intercede on the behalf of those who put their trust in Me. My creation knows
My authority and obeys.”

I heard the words as clear as day, as if they had been spoken against my ear and yet nobody stood with me in the are
na. The roars of the tigers were gone and all I heard was a choked whining.

I opened my eyes that I had shut reflexively, when I had heard the scramble of claws behind me and looked for the tigers. They were all slinking away from me as fast as they could go, each heading to their respective dungeon cham
bers. The crowd watched in stunned disbelief, as the tigers disappeared back into their holding cells.

The crowd broke out into angry muttering, which was only a façade to mask their unease at what they had just wit
nessed. The governor stood up in the royal pavilion and screamed, “Seize that man at once!”

The main doors of the arena burst open and a group of thirteen horsemen spilled into the arena. Turning to face this new threat I watched the guardsmen sweep across the arena toward me. They weren’t guardsmen! I recognized Seth first and then the others. Seth broke from the bunch and reached his arm out to me. I grabbed it and using momentum I flung my body up onto the back of the horse behind him. The other riders formed a protective shell around us as we wheeled around to race toward the still open doors of the arena.

We peeled through them in a cloud of dust, as we headed into the city at large. I could hear shouts of dismay ringing out behind us, as the crowd reacted to my unexpected es
cape. Chaos ensued in the marketplace, as we rode down merchants and merchant’s wares alike in our mad scramble
to get free of the city before the street gatehouses were closed.

Approaching the eastern gate at a full gallop I saw that it was still open. The guards were still laying at ease to either side of the street. We made straight for the open gate. The hooves of our horses pounded hard on the cobble stoned street surface announcing our approach to the guards. Half
way to the guards we charged through a flock of chickens that parted before us in a flurry of feathers, as they squawked madly at our sudden disturbance of them.

The guards hesitated in the face of our head on charge toward them unsure as to what was taking place. They seemed to come to a consensus of the minds and threw themselves to the sides of the alley to avoid the hoofs of our horses as we streamed out of the street gate into the glorious freedom of the countryside. After several miles were behind us we pulled up to check for signs of pursuit. No dust clouds were visible in the shimmering heat waves of the plain. The escape had been such a complete surprise that they hadn’t even yet been able to mount a chase. We rode on through the day leisurely, until we camped early that evening.

I got down from the horse and greeted my old compan
ions warmly. The hulking form of Olaf was last to come forward. Gruffly he held up one huge hand that grasped three chickens and asked in his deep gravelly voice, “You hungry?”

I laughed, knowing his gesture of food was his simple way of saying ‘Welcome back I missed you.’
“Yes, Olaf now that you come to mention it I’m starving!”

The rugged terrain of his battered face creased up in an expression I knew to be a smile. “Good!” He said with a voice like thunder that fairly rocked me back on my heels.

Everyone laughed and we began the preparations of mak
ing camp all the while talking and catching up on what each of us had been doing since we had parted company. “Seth what happened back there at the swamp base? It was a wrecked mess when I passed back through it.”

“Traitors that’s what!”
Replied Seth angrily. “As soon as you were out of the mix various members of the group we hired on started fighting for the leadership of the group. We wouldn’t have it. Instead we insisted that you would return, and that none of them were fit to fill your shoes as leader. Some of them must have gotten jealous and reported our base’s location to the Zoarinians for the reward they were offering. We barely had time to get away before they were upon us! What was left of the group split up and we haven’t heard from them since and good riddance it is to be away from them I’m thinking!” Seth finished heatedly.

I shook my head solemnly. It was times like this that a man found out who his friends were. Later, after we were through catching up and were lounging around the fire with full bellies I looked around at my friends and said, “I’m go
ing back to the city tonight.”

None of them were too surprised at my declaration of in
tent. Rolf spoke up from a dark corner of the camp near the edge of the firelight, “To get the boy?”

Looking at his shadowy outline silhouetted against the deep blackness of the night behind him I nodded yes.

“I will go with you. You will need someone to hold the horses and help clear the way.”

Looking at him now I remembered back to that day in the alley when we had escaped the arena and I had motioned for him to join us. Looking back now I realized it had been one of the best decisions of my life.

It was far better having this man as a loyal friend then a potential enemy that was for sure. I smiled, “It will be dan
gerous my friend. We may not come back.”

I could detect the form of a rare smile in his voice when he replied, “Such is life my friend. When do we go?”

“Now.”
I said as I got up.

“We will go too!” Seth said as he got up from the ground followed by the rest of the group.

Turning to look at them I shook my head no and said, “I do not deserve the honor you give me to be your leader, but as you do give it, even so must I honor it and give you direction as to what I feel is best. Rolf is right, the job I must do tonight is one best done by only a few, as too many of us may be recognized before we complete the objective of free
ing Larc. I have made a change in the way I wish to live my life. When we escaped from the walls of the arena three years ago my one thought and purpose was to remain free,
and to make those who wronged me pay for what they had done. At the very least I wanted the option to die as a free man. We have done much to repay what was done to us, but we can still never kill enough of them to get back what was stolen from us. Instead we have become more and more like them. We have continued the cycle of violence that was first used against us. But something that we can do to break the cycle of useless violence that we’ve been caught up in is to use the skills and the experience they taught us.”