Writer's Games Entries

Task 4: " 'Til Death Do Us Fight "

Not long into their escape in the hidden tunnel that would take him and his allies out of there safely, they met a dead end. Just before the water hit them with a deadly force, their watches went active. Skylar looked down to see the arrows spinning wildly and the scenery around them was changing drastically. The arrows were slowing on the watch as the scenery around Skylar became more and more permanent. He noticed that whatever time the Head Gamemaker wanted to send them to, was moments away from reality as the blurriness of the swoosh disappeared...

...and the sound of metal hitting metal became one of the many sounds around the three tributes as they looked around them. There wasn't much lighting as Skylar looked around to see that the metal hitting metal was from the blacksmith working on sharpening knives and swords. As Skylar looked further to the left, he saw an entire station of ancient weapons, shields, body-armors and helmets. The humidity and the dust filling the area set the scene as he realized what time they had now come to.

"Take in the scenery in front of you, tributes. You are right in the middle of the great empire of Rome. In fact, you're right underneath the empire's greatest arena of entertainment – the Colosseum. The people you see around you, the fighters picking their weapons, are in history known as gladiators. They were known for fighting either each other or wild animals to the death for the entertainment of the public and for the entertainment of the emperor, Julius Caesar. Gladiators either arrived as slaves and was forced to fight, or they volunteered from lower ranks in society to create a name for themselves..."

A weak smile spread across Skylar's face. He recognized everything the moment the blurriness disappeared and he saw the time on his watch. When he looked at the weapons, he knew that his skills with the sword was favorited as the weapons in this time were only of the primitive kinds – swords, spears, knives, bow and arrows...all weapons that he knew how to handle. "You are all about to enter this proud tradition. There are two rooms underneath the Arena. Those of the tributes not in your room might very well be your opponent as you ascend to the arena. If you win, you will have beat half the field that's left."

Skylar looked up towards the dark, black ceiling as he sensed the sweat run down his back. The heat and humidity was heavy despite of the coldness of the walls surrounding them. The other half of the tribute-pack was on the other side. At least to his relief, he and his allies were in the same room. They were standing right next to him. He knew he would've been able to handle either one of them if he had to, but they were still useful to him.

"Well, at least we're all on the same side. Sorry to say it, but if I was facing either one of you two, I'd show no mercy..." Aline said as Skylar turned his head towards her with a cocky smile on his face. "I wouldn't expect anything less..." Skylar said in a cool voice. Zephyr was a little more nervous. "What kind of Games is this? First Egypt, now Rome...is the Gamemaker even in control of this? What if he loses it?" Skylar shook his head relaxed. He knew that the Gamemaker was in control. He was still as intrigued by the man as he was after the training session. He was still eager to learn more about this mysterious figure.

As silence came over them, all three of them envisioned what they were going to face on top of that tunnel when they were standing on the rising platform. They could hear the crowd above them stomping their feet on the tribunes. For each rumble from above, clouds of dust fell down from the ceiling like drops of rain. Some of the tributes around Skylar got more nervous for each stomp that they heard. They all knew what they were facing. They all knew what they had to do. Some were just better prepared than others. Skylar knew he was one of them.

"So who are on the other side then?" Skylar asked Alina and Zephyr as they looked around themselves. "Oh God..." Zephyr let out and Skylar and Alina looked at him. "That sociopath isn't here...she's on the other side. Oh my God, she's gonna rip me to pieces if I end up with her..." He mentioned. Skylar and Alina soon confirmed it. She wasn't there along with other possible contenders of the Games like Charlemange, Cassandra, Zoran etc. The other half was with them and Skylar noticed that there was a mix of stronger and weaker tributes in this crowd.