Ascendants of Ancients Sovereign - By Phillip Jones Page 0,193

confrontation.

Sam shook his head in amazement. As he looked below Farogwain’s booth, he saw two rows of criminals. The rows consisted of two giant cats, a Minotaur, one wolf, and the rest were human. They were all standing beneath the headmaster’s box, bound to the wall in chains. Sam thought to himself, Damn, she really cleaned house. There’s nobody to fight. So, where’s the bear?

Helga entered the serpent’s booth. She had a dagger in her hand and handed it to Shalee.

Shalee spun the knife around in her palm and then tossed the blade down to the arena floor. The dagger stuck in the sand, not far from Sam’s foot.

Shalee shouted, “You go on ahead and fight your little fight! I got everything under control!” She pointed down at the criminals. “They won’t be bothering you!”

As Sam grabbed the knife, the growl of the bear filled the air as the gate on the opposing side of the arena opened.

Surprised, the kodiak-looking beast quickly adjusted to the emptiness of the battlefield. He turned and looked above his gate toward a larger group of bears who sat growling at their champion. It did not take long before the beast realized he only had one enemy to kill. The bear turned and charged.

Sam secured his footing. He gripped the knife in his right hand and waited for the bear to close the distance.

The beast’s heavy paws thumped against the sandy surface as the people of Empire filled the stadium with their cheers. As the bear drew near, it stopped running and rose up. His mouth opened wide and a powerful roar covered the screams of the fans.

Sam did not wait for the beast to lower onto all fours. Instead, he dove into a roll. As he exited, he stabbed the bear’s right, rear paw, then ripped the knife free and began running to the far side of the arena.

Limping, the bear gave chase. As Sam passed one of the pools, he spotted a heavy chain meant to harness one of the criminals. He grabbed it and with all his god-given strength, ripped the chain free from the block it was secured to and spun the linked weapon around in his hand.

Again, the bear stopped and lifted up as the chain whipped around in front of him.

Sam gathered the chain into a ball and tossed it skyward. As the bear watched the weapon arch over its head, Sam removed the dagger from his mouth and dove into another roll. He stabbed the bear’s left, rear paw, yanked the knife free and ran again.

Passing a second pool, Sam ripped another chain free. He tossed the majority of the links into the fiery oil which filled the pool and then waited for the bear to limp his way back into battle. Once the animal was close, Sam pulled the chain free in a slinging motion and ensured the weapon landed across the beast’s back.

As the bear rose up to free himself of the irritation, Sam pulled the chain free, and moved to the far side of the pool. As he passed the corner, he made sure the heavy links also passed through the oil, reigniting the fire.

As he waited for the bear to follow, he laid the chain onto the floor of the arena, parallel with the edge of the pool. He hoped to use the fire as a natural barrier and also hoped the bear would take the bait—placing himself between the pool and the fire covering the chain to draw the beast in.

As the animal closed in, Sam jumped to the opposite side of the flaming barrier and threatened to stab the bear in its flank.

The beast rose to defend itself.

Seizing the opportunity, Sam jumped toward the bear, planted both feet on the center of its exposed chest and kicked. The heavy-coated animal fell backward into the pool and was engulfed in flames.

Sam came down hard. He landed across the hot links on the same side where he had injured his ribs only Peaks earlier. Despite the cracking sound beneath his sizzling skin, he forced himself to roll off the chain, suffering additional burns to his back, stomach and opposite side.

The crowd of the arena erupted as Sam stood. Holding his side, he stumbled over to BJ who waited above the gate he had entered. BJ tossed the fighter a pouch filled with Soresym’s essence.

Sam did not drink right away. Instead, he poured some in the palm of his hand, splashed it against his burns