"Ceres! Ceres! Ceres!"
Ceres could feel the chant of the crowd as clearly as her own thudding heartbeat. She raised her sword in acknowledgment, tightening her grip as she did, testing the leather. It didn't matter to her that they'd probably only learned her name a few moments ago. It was enough that they knew it, and that it was reverberating through her, so that she could feel it almost as a physical force.
Across the Stade, facing her, her opponent, the massive combatlord, paced the sands. Ceres swallowed at the sight of him, fear rising up in her, as much as she tried to suppress it. This, she knew, could very well be the last fight of her life.
The combatlord paced like a caged lion, swinging his sword through the air in arcs that seemed to be designed to show off his bulging muscles. With his breastplate and visored helmet, he looked as if he could have been carved from stone. It was hard for Ceres to believe that he was just flesh and blood.
Ceres closed her eyes and steeled herself.
You can do this, she told herself. You may not win, but you must face him valiantly. If you are to die, you must die with honor.
A trumpet blast rang in Ceres's ears, rising up even over the baying of the crowd. It filled the arena, and suddenly, her opponent was charging.
He was faster than she thought such a big man had any right to be, on her before she had a chance to react. It was all Ceres could do to dodge, kicking up dust as she got out of the warrior's path.
The combatlord swung his blade with two hands and Ceres ducked, feeling the rush of air as it passed. He hacked down like a butcher wielding a cleaver, and when she spun and blocked the stroke, the impact of metal on metal rang up her arms. She did not think it possible a warrior could be that strong.
She circled away, her opponent following with a grim inevitability.
Ceres heard her name mixed in with the cheers and boos of the crowd. She forced herself to stay focused; she kept her eyes fixed on her opponent and tried to remember her training, thinking through all the things that might happen next. She tried to slash, and then rolled her wrist to send her sword around the parry.
But the combatlord merely grunted as her blade took a nick out of his forearm.
He smiled as if he'd enjoyed it.
"You'll pay for that," he warned. His accent was thick, from one of the far corners of the Empire.
He was on her again, forcing her to parry and dodge, and she knew she couldn't risk a head-on clash, not with someone this strong.
Ceres felt the ground give way beneath her right foot, a sensation of emptiness there where there should have been firm support. She glanced down and saw sand pouring down into a pit below. For a moment, her foot hung over empty space, and she thrust out blindly with her sword as she struggled to keep her balance.
The combatlord's parry was almost contemptuous. For an instant, Ceres was sure she was going to die, because there was no way to fully stop the answering stroke. She felt the jarring impact of the blow against her blade. It only slowed it, though, as it slammed into her armor. Her breastplate pressed back into her flesh with bruising force, while at the spot where it ended, she felt pain flare white hot as the sword cut along her collarbone.
She stumbled back and as she did, she saw more pits opening around the floor of the arena, like the mouths of hungry beasts. And then, desperate, she had an idea: maybe she could use them to her advantage.
Ceres skirted around the edges of the pits, hoping to slow his approach.
"Ceres!" Paulo called.
She turned and her weapon-keeper threw a short spear in her direction. Its shaft thudded into her slick palm as she caught it, the wood feeling rough. The spear was shorter than might have been used in a real battle, but it was still long enough to thrust its leaf-shaped head across the pits.
"I'll take you a slice at a time," the combatlord promised, edging his way around.
With an opponent this strong, Ceres thought, her best hope was to try to wear him down. How long could someone that huge keep fighting? Already, Ceres could feel the burn of her own muscles, and the sweat that dripped down her face. How much worse would it be for the combatlord she faced?
It was impossible to know for sure, but it had to be her best hope. So she dodged and she jabbed, using the length of the spear as best she could. She managed to slip through the massive warrior's defenses, yet still, it only clattered off his armor.
The combatlord kicked up dust towards Ceres's eyes, but she turned away in time. She spun back and swept the spear low, toward his unprotected legs. He jumped clear of that sweep, but she managed to slice another wound along his forearm as she drew the spear back.
Ceres jabbed low and high now, aiming for her opponent's limbs. The big man parried and blocked, trying to find a way past the probing point, but Ceres kept it moving. She jabbed it in toward his face, hoping to at least distract him.
The combatlord caught the spear. He grabbed it behind the head, yanking it forward as he stepped aside. Ceres had to let go, because she didn't want to risk being pulled onto the big man's sword. Her opponent snapped the spear across his knee as easily as he might have broken a twig.
The crowd roared.
Ceres felt a cold sweat up her back. For an instant, she had the image of the big man breaking her body as easily. She swallowed at the thought and readied her sword again.
She grabbed the hilt with both hands as the next blows came, because it was the only way to absorb some of the power of the combatlord's attacks. Even so, it was impossibly hard. Every blow felt like she was a bell being hit by a hammer. Every one sent shockwaves running through her arms.
Already, Ceres could feel herself tiring under the assault. Every breath came ragged, feeling like she dragged it in by force. There was no question now of trying to counterattack, or do anything but step back and hope.
And then it happened. Slowly, Ceres felt the power welling up inside her. It came with a warmth, like the first embers of a brush fire. It sat in the pit of her belly, waiting for her, and Ceres reached for it.
Energy flooded through her. The world slowed, moving at a crawl, and she suddenly felt she had all the time in the world to parry the next attack.
She had all the strength, too. She blocked it easily and then swung her sword around and slashed the combatlord's arm in a blur of light and speed.
"Ceres! Ceres!" the crowd roared.
She saw the combatlord's rage growing as the crowd's chanting continued. She could understand why. They were meant to be chanting for him, proclaiming his victory, enjoying her death.
He bellowed and charged forward. Ceres waited as long as she dared, forcing herself to stay still until he nearly reached her.
Then she dropped. She felt the whisper of his blade passing over her head, then the rough sand as her knees touched down. She threw herself forward, swinging her sword around in an arc that slammed into the combatlord's legs as he passed.
He tumbled face first, his sword spilling from his hand.
The crowd went wild.
Ceres stood over him, looking at the awful ruin her sword had made of his legs. For a moment, she wondered if he might manage to stand even like that, but he collapsed back, turning to his back and lifting one hand as he begged for mercy. Ceres held back, looking around for the royals who would decide if the man in front of her lived or died. Either way, she resolved, she would not kill a helpless warrior.
Another trumpet blast came.
A roar followed it as the iron gates at the side of the arena opened, and the tone of it was enough to send a shiver through Ceres. In that moment, she felt like nothing more than prey, something to be hunted, something that had to run. She dared a glance up toward the royal enclosure, knowing this had to be deliberate. The fight had been over. She'd won. That wasn't good enough, though. They were going to kill her, she realized, one way or another. They would not let her leave the Stade alive.
A creature lumbered in, larger than a human, covered in shaggy fur. Fangs stuck out from a bearlike face, while spiny protrusions stuck out along the creature's back. Its feet held claws the length of daggers. Ceres didn't know what it was, but she didn't need to in order to know that it would be deadly.
The bear-like creature sank to all fours and ran forward, while Ceres readied her sword.
It reached the fallen combatlord first, and Ceres would have looked away if she'd dared. The man cried out as it pounced, but there was no way he could roll out of the way in time. Those giant paws smashed down, and Ceres heard the crunch of his breastplate giving way. The beast roared as it savaged her former opponent.
When it looked up, its fangs were wet with blood. It looked at Ceres, bared its teeth, and charged.
She barely managed to step aside in time, slashing with her sword as it passed. The creature gave a bellow of pain.
Yet sheer momentum tore the blade from her hands, feeling as though it would tear her arm away if she didn't let go. She watched with horror as her blade spun across the sand and into one of the pits.
The beast continued to advance, and Ceres, frantic, glanced down at the spot where the two broken sections of spear lay on the sand. She dove for them, grabbing a section and rolling in one movement.
As she rose to one knee, the creature was already charging. She couldn't run, she told herself. This was her only chance.
It slammed into her, the weight and speed of the thing lifting Ceres from her feet. There was no time to think, no time to be afraid. She thrust with the broken section of spear, striking with it again and again as the bear-beast's paws closed in on her.
Its strength was terrible, far too much to match. Ceres felt as though her ribs might burst with the pressure of it, the breastplate she wore creaking under the creature's strength. She felt its claws raking at her back and legs, agony searing across her.
Its hide was too thick. Ceres struck again and again, but she could feel the tip of the spear barely penetrating its flesh while it tore at her, its claws ripping across any exposed skin.
Ceres closed her eyes. With all she had, she reached for the power within her, not even knowing if it would work.
She felt herself surge with a ball of power. She then threw all her force into her spear, thrusting it up into the space where she hoped the creature's heart would be.
The beast shrieked as it reared back away from her.
The crowd roared.
Ceres, smarting from the pain of its scratches, scrambled out from under it and stood weakly. She looked down as the beast, the spear lodged in its heart, rolled and whined, making a sound that seemed far too small for something so large.
Then it stiffened, and died.
"Ceres! Ceres! Ceres!"
The Stade filled with cheers again. Everywhere Ceres looked, there were people calling out her name. Nobles and ordinary folk alike seemed to be joining in the chanting, losing themselves in that one moment of her victory.
"Ceres! Ceres! Ceres!"
She found herself drinking it in. It was impossible not to be caught up in the feeling of adulation. Her whole body seemed to pulse in time with the chanting that surrounded her and she spread her hands as if to welcome it all in. She turned in a slow circle, watching the faces of those who hadn't even heard of her a day ago, but who were now treating her as though she was the only person in the world who mattered.
Ceres was so caught up in that moment that she barely even felt the pain of the wounds she'd suffered anymore. Her shoulder hurt now, so she touched a hand to it. It came away wet, although her blood was still bright red in the sunlight.
Ceres stared at that stain for several seconds. The crowd was still chanting her name, but the pounding of her heart in her ears suddenly seemed far louder. She looked up at the crowd, and it took her a moment to realize that she was doing it from her knees. She couldn't remember falling to them.
From the corner of her eye, Ceres could see Paulo hurrying forward, but that seemed far too distant, as if it had nothing to do with her. Blood dripped from her fingers to the sand, darkening it where it touched. She had never felt so dizzy, so light-headed.
And the last thing she knew she was already falling, face-first, toward the floor of the arena, unable, she felt, to ever move again.
