Written by: Chris Chret © 2026
The colosseum came alive once again.
The stone walls echoed with shouting, metal, and footsteps. The smell of blood was still there, soaked into the sand, like a curse that never leaves.
King Kael sat high above, his gaze cold.
"Bring the fighter from last time," he ordered.
"The one who killed the giant man."
Then he paused briefly.
"And his group."
The crowd murmured.
"And all the others who wish to fight — bring them out," he continued. "This time there will be no interruption. The fight ends when only one remains alive."
That was the order.
The guards moved quickly. Cells opened. People were dragged out. Not all of them were taken — but one group was whole.
Edric's group.
They prepared for battle.
When they stepped into the colosseum, the sun blinded them. The sand beneath their feet was heavy. Slippery.
Edric stepped forward, his men with him.
The gate opened.
People rushed in.
Like a wave.
They approached the king.
They knelt.
The king raised his hand.
"Begin."
Edric's group formed a circle again — but this time, something was different.
There was fear.
The attacks were brutal. Unrelenting. From all sides.
Edric moved, struck, defended.
But he could not be everywhere.
One by one — his people fell.
Blood soaked the sand.
"Fight!" he shouted.
"For the dead! For those who still breathe! Not just for yourselves — for all of us!"
Something awakened within them.
The men gathered strength and began to strike harder, more desperately.
King Kael watched them — and was impressed by Edric's leadership.
The colosseum became a sea of blood.
Edric struck without pause.
In one moment, a man charged at him — and Edric stabbed him straight through the heart.
But when he fell…
Edric recognized him.
He was one of his own.
Panic struck him like a hammer.
Attacks came from all sides.
The man looked at him, blood flowing from his mouth, and grabbed his hands.
"Enjoy it…" he whispered. "This is how it was meant to be. Don't abandon the others. I believe in you… even though the Ashen City is gone."
He fell.
Edric felt something ignite inside him.
His heart burned.
Tears filled his eyes — but his hands tightened.
With a scream that was not human, he plunged into the chaos.
He began to kill without mercy.
He struck one man with such force that he tore his head open — it didn't fly off, only blood sprayed.
Another jumped onto his back and stabbed him in the stomach repeatedly — Edric broke him, threw him down, and trampled him.
A third struck him in the chest — his ribcage shattered. The sword remained stuck in the body. There was no time to pull it out.
Another attack.
Edric dodged it, grabbed the man by the neck, and strangled him.
They fell into the sand, rolling, Edric forced his head into the sand and choked him.
The man released his last breath.
Edric stood up, took a weapon from a corpse, and continued.
He struck another man — the sword lodged in his skull.
When he turned, his group was much smaller.
He ran.
He saved one man at the last moment — but within a few heartbeats, almost all of them fell.
He carried the last survivor.
Edric killed another — straight through the eye.
But the man in his arms released his breath.
Now he was alone.
He gently laid the body onto the sand.
Tears streamed down his face.
He looked to the sky.
"I will avenge you," he whispered. "One day — Ashkar will be mine."
At that moment, a man ran toward him.
Edric simply extended his arm.
The man impaled himself.
The axe fell from his hands.
Edric kicked him to free the sword.
Six remained.
Then — a roar echoed.
A gate opened.
From the darkness emerged a lion.
Hungry. Enraged.
It attacked everything that moved.
Two fell instantly.
The others fled.
Only Edric and one man remained.
"Let's kill it together," the man said. "Then — you and me."
"The only way to survive," Edric replied.
The lion charged.
The man stabbed it from behind — but the lion tore him apart.
Edric was alone.
The fight could not be stopped.
The lion was valuable.
It had to fall.
The lion leaped — the sword flew from Edric's hands.
They fell.
The lion was on top of him.
Unarmed.
Both roared.
"One of us will die!" Edric shouted.
"It's too early for me! I must take revenge!"
He struck the lion between the legs.
They rolled.
Edric punched with his fists.
The lion clawed him.
Blood flowed from both.
Edric bit the lion's ear and tore it off.
The lion went mad.
It rose.
Edric threw sand into its eyes.
The lion attacked — missed.
Edric rolled, grabbed a sword.
The lion leaped at him.
Edric knelt.
He slashed the lion across the belly as it jumped.
He charged.
He stabbed it directly in the throat.
The lion roared — and fell.
Edric fell to his knees.
The colosseum exploded.
The crowd screamed.
"He has the heart of a lion!"
"Unbeatable!"
But Edric heard nothing.
The sounds vanished, as if swallowed by the sand beneath his knees. There was no applause. No voices. Only the weight in his chest and the emptiness left behind by all those he lost.
His gaze fell to the ground.
"I have… no one to fight for," he thought.
No friends.
No brothers.
No home.
Only him — and the memories that would never fall silent.
Kael did not rise.
He did not shout.
He only watched.
It was not the killing that impressed him. Nor the blood.
It was something deeper — the way Edric's body refused to die. The instinct. The hunger to survive. The way he led even when there was no one left to lead.
"This man," the king thought, "does not fight to win… but because he does not know how to surrender."
And that — was dangerous.
The lion lay dead before him.
A creature made to kill. To rule. To be fear.
And Edric stood above it.
Something new appeared in his eyes.
He saw death. He felt it beneath his hands. And it… did not take him.
Fear disappeared.
The lion did not make him stronger only by being defeated — but by showing him that he could survive even when there was no hope left.
There was no one left to fight for.
But now he knew what he would fight for.
For revenge.
For survival.
So that he would never again be a victim.
The crowd saw a legend.
A hero of the arena.
A man with the heart of a lion.
But Edric did not see them.
He saw faces.
People who fell. People who died. People who believed in him — and he remained the only one alive.
The sand was soaked with their blood.
"Why me?" he thought.
There was no answer.
Only silence…
and a man who survived when all others did not.
End of Chapter 14