Chapter Four

One of the first things Strakk learned as Glatorian was 'read the situation.' Was his opponent confident or fearful? Was he a fan of your audience or did they not care? Could the characteristics of the arena be used to gain an edge? These questions must be answered before the village leader announced the start of the fight. This technique was useful for keeping silence and organizing thoughts. It allowed him to forget the fear and focus on the challenge he faced. The situation now allowed him to hide his fear. But considering all the facts, options and risk factors... Strakk was ready to panic. Being surrounded by Vorox as he was, Strakk believed he could be forgiven for experiencing such an emotion.

“And what shall I do with you now?” Malum said. “I have a huge amount of Vorox to feed.”

“Okay, I'll tell you everything,” said Gresh. “We have nothing for you. We just want to go to Vulcanus. Take what you want from us, and let us continue.”

“What are you talking about?” Strakk whispered. “He will take the Exsidian.”

Malum laughed. “I’d listen to Strakk. Our senses in the desert are very sharp. Your lives depend on them.”

“Listen to this...” Gresh said suddenly, pointing with his launcher. “I’m pretty good with the shooting. If any of your Vorox shoots us... I'll do the same to you, Malum. They may beat us, but you will die first.”

The tone of Gresh's voice caused anxiety among the Vorox. Several of them began to growl menacingly, wagging their tails, ready to attack.

“Quiet, aggression is not the answer,” Malum replied indignantly. “I came here to kill a small group of old friends.”

“What did I say?” Strakk muttered under his breath.

“I do not want your Exsidian. What would we use it for? The Vorox aren't toolmakers. What they cannot eat, drink or use in a fight is not useful. For me, either.”

“What do you want?” Gresh said.

“The Skrall have something that belongs to me,” Malum said calmly. “I want it back.”

Strakk laughed. “Is that all? They have the strongest army in Bara Magna, Do you want to knock on their door and ask for a refund? Then go have fun with that, and I'll do the same with your Vorox.”

“Shut up, Strakk!” cut in Gresh. “What do you mean, Malum? Why are you here? The Vorox live in the Dunes of Treason. The Skrall have not entered that territory.”

Malum climbed on a rock. Two Vorox left the circle and grabbed Tarduk and Kirbold. Strakk and Gresh wanted to respond, but they were cut off.

“Pathetic heroes. I will ensure that your friends will not leave without saying goodbye... I would not want something to happen, right? With regard to your question, Gresh... the Bone Hunters recently attacked one of our camps. We managed to beat them, but they stole a sword. Then he sold it to the Skrall. We came to retrieve it, but since you're here, you can do this favor for us.

“You're crazy!” Strakk cried.

Malum's eyes flashed with anger.

“No! I'm surrounded by friends who want to rip you into pieces! I am the owner of the fate of his two small friends and his Exsidian! So I advise you to think how to retrieve my sword before my Vorox lose patience.”

Gresh and Strakk watched the Skrall city from a hiding space. It was night, but Roxtus was always in motion, as in a hive. The soldiers kept watching, or returning to the city. The Agori monitored or repaired weapons. From inside the walls they could hear the sounds of the warriors in training.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Strakk said.

“I know,” said Gresh. “You’ve said that three times.”

“There are at least a hundred Skrall there,” Strakk continued. “Not to mention that Agori with glowing swords, whom I have never seen in my life. The walls are two feet thick, probably to stop an attack by a great army, and anyway, I see no invitation for two Glatorian.”

“Well,” finished Gresh. “That means they do not expect us.”

“And how do we get in, genius?”

Gresh looked toward the desert. A caravan approached the city filled with Rock Agori. Each wagon was pulled by two-headed Spikit, with a torch strapped to the front acting as a flashlight.

“They're probably transporting food and water,” said Gresh. “We only have to enter a carriage and get through the door.”

“Did I say that I had a bad feeling about this?” Strakk asked.

The two Glatorian ran to the carriages. They were beyond the reach of the torchlight on the walls of the city, so they were invisible to the guards. They saw a small Skrall group returning from their rounds, but at the last moment managed to hide behind a dune. When the caravan slowly crept by Strakk then Gresh climbed under the wagon. When the vehicle stopped, he used a rope hanging from the rear of the vehicle and hid inside. Nobody could see them unless he deliberately looked under the carriage. Gresh had a more difficult task: hiding under the trailer. Moving quickly toward it, he prayed that Spikit wasn't hungry and would take him as a potential meal, and then he hit Strakk's feat, hiding under the carriage with his companion. Upon reaching the Roxtus' door opened which took longer than expected. Gresh's muscles were burning from the effort required to stay close to the sand. When he heard the voice of the guard - an Agori named Atakus - allowing entry of the caravan, he was relieved. The first part of the mission was successful. The carriages stopped. The Glatorian left the caravan and hid in the shadows, hiding from the Skrall guards approaching. They waited until the carriages finished unloading, and then entered the city.

“Do you have any idea where to look?” Strakk asked.

“I think so,” Gresh said. “The largest building in town, Malum's sword must be a spoil of war. Such things would be kept in a safe place.”

“Only one guard in front… and unless you know how to get rid of him,” Strakk grabbed a piece of rusty chain that was lying in the sand. “Wrap this around your hands.” They went to the building with their hands chained. They walked slowly, hunched, with their heads between their arms.

“What are you doing here?” said the guard. “You must remain in your cells. There is no fight today.”

“Oh yeah,” Strakk said. “I forgot.”

The Glatorian rushed to the surprised Agori. Strakk silenced the Agori with one punch, who was knocked unconscious.

“Good job,” admitted Gresh, dropping the chain. “Where did you learn that trick?”

“I learned to lie and deceive, with practice,” Strakk grinned. “The two things Glatorian practice regularly, don't you think?”

“Then start to look around,” said Gresh. “When dawn breaks...”

“...we will not be able to get out of town. I know.”

The Glatorian efficiently separated to search the room. In no other village was a place like this. The Rock Tribe didn't use the room for sleeping or eating, or to store inventory. Apparently, all their treasure was gathered here. Gresh noted a map of Bara Magna placed on a large table. Was used as a source of information, or a mapped out war plan? It was Strakk who found the treasure. There were a lot of different things. Some of them - helmets, armor and other that objects disappeared long ago - were easy to recognize. Others he had never had seen for the first time in his life. Malum's sword was under a pile of objects unknown to him, surrounded by six stones with symbols, which were of no importance. Strakk wanted to take everything he could. But, after a moment's thought he quickly abandoned the idea. He had nothing against robbing the Skrall, but with all the baggage would seriously hamper his escape. Strakk looked at his discovery. The sword was unique. Its elaborate ornamentation looked like a flame. The sword was made of Exsidian and the handle had been carved from volcanic rock. No wonder Malum wanted to retrieve such a beautiful weapon. He must have been attached to it, as even his name was written on the handle. But something was wrong. Strakk sword looked closely. The inscription on the sword said... “Ackar.”

Whoa, Malum is a thief, thought Strakk. He dared to steal the sword of his fellow Glatorian Ackar, and when the Bone Hunters stole it, he asked us to steal for him! Did he stab Ackar in the back just for spite?

“You found it?” asked Gresh, entering the room with his shield, and a large sword in his hand. “I thought this might be useful, for retrieving the weapon.”

“Of course I found it... look,” Strakk showed Gresh the inscription on the sword. “Now what do we do with it?'

“We will return it to Ackar,” Gresh replied without hesitation.

“Maybe he will give us some kind of prize,” Strakk proposed. “But on the other hand, if we give it to Malum, perhaps the Agori live long enough to see Vulcanus again.

“First, we must leave Roxtus,” Gresh said.

“I saw something that could help,” Strakk said. “Give me the sword.”

The two Glatorian left the building quietly. Gresh followed Strakk to a smelly yard, something common with Spikit Pens.

“The Skrall have a weakness for monsters with two heads,” Strakk whispered. “Probably because they are the only things uglier than they are. Let's see how they like them running loose.”

Strakk brandished his axe, breaking the gates with a single blow. Seeing the open structure, the animals hesitated, but after a moment they began to run through the city. Stopping a herd of Spikit would not problem for the Skrall. Block off some streets, kill a few Spikit, and quickly and easily could be controlled. Unfortunately, the Agori feeders had forgotten to feed them. The hungry Spikit were devouring everything, or everyone, within reach of their claws. A dozen wild and furious hungry Spikit ran throughout the village. Chaos engulfed the city. The Agori ran in panic as the Skrall used Thornax Launchers to try to subdue the creatures. Gresh saw one of them trip and fall right in front of the pack. He did not rise again. Taking advantage of the confusion, Gresh and Strakk climbed a wall near the gate of the city. The closed door kept the Spikit and the Glatorian from escape. On the other side, Atakus was still on guard, with orders to attack them. Strakk jumped on him from above, stunning him and then supported the guard unconscious against a wall. The Glatorian ran into the desert as fast as they could. They paused for breath when they were at a safe distance from the Skrall city.

“Do you think this was too easy?” Gresh mused.

“Don't worry. We have a sword, and let some Spikit enjoy a meal. And besides, why should we worry about the Skrall? Do you think they will want to retrieve this sword?” Gresh shrugged. Maybe he was worrying too much. However, he had a bad feeling.

“Give me that sword.”

The moonlight was not enough to see with, but all he needed was to check the sword. The sword was not anything special, but at the base of the handle Gresh felt a little atypical depression. When he pressed it, a small compartment opened, which carried a small metal object.

“What is it?” Strakk asked. “Exsidian? Ice crystals? Answer me!”

Gresh looked at it a good while before he recognized it. Suddenly, he threw it into the sand and crushed it with his heel.

“What are you doing?” Strakk protested. “That thing could have been valuable!”

“Our lives are worth more,” said Gresh. “We better get out of here.”

They ran. Gresh occasionally looked anxiously behind him to see if someone was chasing them. But he did not see the Skrall following them out of the city.

“I saw something like this before,” said Gresh they ran. “Once in the desert, I saw an Agori fleeing something. He had a metal collar. He mumbled something about being enslaved by the Skrall... at least it sounded like nonsense. I took the necklace and saw that in the middle was a foreign object. It sent a signal...”

“A tracking device,” Strakk concluded. “But why would one be on the sword?”

Gresh climbed some rocks. He saw the Skrall approach the place where he had destroyed the transmitter. Even without the opportunity they had had before they continued to give chase, following the steps in the sand. However, daylight would be needed to find the footprints that belonged to the armored feet of Strakk and Gresh.

“The Bone Hunters sold the sword to the Skrall. I don't think they knew what they had achieved,” pondered Gresh. “Perhaps they thought that the Bone Hunters captured it from Ackar, and that he would come to get it. Maybe it was a trap for Ackar.”

“But why would they be interested in him? Ackar was a champion of the Arena, but lately we have hardly heard of him. I have no idea why anyone would be interested in him.” “Maybe it was a plan for Skrall hunting practice...” said Gresh.

They managed to finally reach the Vorox camp. They saw no one chasing them. Recalling the great sense of smell that the Vorox had, they saw a cave with the wind in their favor. They climbed a small hill that was near the camp and hid in the small cave. At the camp Malum was standing next to the caravan and the two Agori.

“We also need to rescue the Agori,” reminded Gresh. “You take care of Malum while I distract the Vorox.”

Gresh approached some stones glittering in the depths of a cave. Their brightness meant that the stones were a mineral that emitted light. Gresh broke the stones, and covered his armor with the dust. After a moment, he began to glow in the dark.

“Give me a minute, then you go for the caravan,” Gresh said and then walked away.

Strakk occupied a good position, and waited for the right time. Suddenly he heard a scream so horrible that even he jumped in fear. Gresh was as bright as the stars when he jumped from behind a rock and ran straight into the camp. The Vorox fled. Superstitious by nature, they mistook him for a vengeful ghost who had decided to stay in the desert. Malum was not fooled. Gresh came to disperse the terrified Vorox.

“Do not panic,” he growled. “He isn't a spirit... but soon will be.”

Strakk felt that this was the right time - when the caravan was not monitored. He took a breath and entered the camp. He jumped on the wagon, took the reins and had the Spikit gallop. The caravan moved forward so violently that Kirbold and Tarduk almost fell out of the wagon. Before Vorox discovered that the caravan was gone, they were already far away.

“Where is Gresh?” Tarduk cried. “He was back there!”

“That's your problem,” Strakk said.

Tarduk grabbed an Exsidian doubloon, ready to strike Strakk.

“Now you're in trouble too. Go back.”

“No need,” Kirbold announced. “Look!”

A shining being was running toward them with a group of Vorox at his heels. Gresh leaped forward desperately. Strakk reined in, slowing the Spikit enough that the Glatorian was able to jump on the wagon.

“Come on! Hurry!” Gresh shouted.

However, the Spikit could not pull that much weight and the furious Vorox approached rapidly. Strakk frantically sought a way to lose their pursuers. Then he saw a hope of victory. If they could reach the other side of a hill they were approaching they would be out of the sight of the Vorox for a moment. They could leave the carriage hide somewhere and wait until dawn. Strakk took the reins and had the Spikit run faster until they disappeared behind the hilltop. Then Strakk realized his mistake. It was not a hill; it was the deadly Dark Falls, leading the Spikit, cargo and passengers to their doom.