The Rainbringer

V. The Colosseum

AFTER WAITING FOR WHAT felt like eons for the Enochi and her friend, Raya decided to ring the bells for a Fray. The fire in her belly soon turned to irritation at her colleagues' lack urgency. Raya's chamber Fray swiftly glided in, giving her a short bow.

"Where is Seria? I'm ready to tour the colosseum," Raya was geared up with Tarius strapped to her back. The Fray cocked its head, almost looking perplexed, before giving another bow and gesturing her out of the lounge.

The pair headed through the back, exiting the building to a magnificent garden. The sky all around was a bright azure, complete with soft cotton looking clouds. The garden was lush and brimmed with a rainbow of assorted flowers and vegetation. Sprinkled throughout the garden were marble busts and statues of divine figures and soft running water. The path was narrow and cobblestone, but not too narrow to feel imprisoned to it, but rather narrow enough to feel like the safety of being in an embrace from a loved one.

They turned a corner and from around a large tree. Raya saw Awen and Seria hunched over a long white table, as if studying a map. Her chamber Fray gave one last bow before excusing itself.

Raya glided to the pair with her hands on her hips. "Out for a bit of fresh air?"

Awen and Seria looked up with wide eyes, Awen looking like a child who was caught doing something against the rules, while Seria looked absolutely delighted. Between them on the table was a wooden board checkered with black and non colored spots and a handful of small pyramid pieces, complete with each of their own pair of dice.

"Are... are you teaching the Enochi how to play Collision?" Raya stammered in slight disbelief.

Awen smiled sheepishly. "We were waiting for so long in the lounge for you, we kind of wandered off."

"You still keep a Collision set in your pack? It's been so long since we've—"

"Tarius!" Seria gave a squeal, jumping up, "these humans are quite wonderful! The ingenuity, the creativity!"

Awen scratched the back of his head, "it's really no big deal, Seria, this is a game that even children play in Farnloss."

"Children? Oh, wow. Even the youth of humanity have mastered the wisdom of battle," Seria cradled her chin with her forefinger and thumb, looking pensive.

Raya and Awen exchanged an odd look before Raya cleared her throat, "Well then, I apologize for keeping you waiting, I guess. I believe Awen and I are quite ready to tour the colosseum."

Seria clapped her hands together, "Of course! Let us be on our way. Follow me, young mortals."

***

Whatever Raya had expected to see when she thought about the colosseum was certainly far less in its magnificence when compared to the spectacle in front of her. She did not feel any shame in admitting that her imagination had greatly failed her.

The colosseum, though made of the same marble as the rest of the Oratorium, gave the deep sense of centuries of hard work and perseverance. Its structures and archways left the mortals dumbstruck.

The entryway looked upon the stage where Raya guessed the Enochi and mortals prepared for their training. The area between the entrance and stage, a large arena surrounded with walls containing bolts and holsters of a range of weapons. One fleeting look around the whole building showed that it was built in an elliptical shape specifically to hold more spectators, Raya guessed it was enough to accommodate more than fifty thousand Enochi.