The sun had not yet risen when the arena had already changed its face, during the night hundreds of workers had worked tirelessly and in the center of the red sand now stood a monstrous structure, black, four stories tall, it was a labyrinth, walls of rough stone, watchtowers, and everywhere metallic reflections, blades, spikes, things that didn’t even have names, the hundred survivors from the previous day were lined up in front, bandaged, limping, their faces closed, no one had slept, no one had really recovered.
A heavy silence hung over the group, then footsteps echoed and a general in full golden armor climbed onto the platform, his helmet hid his face and only his amplified voice came out: “SOLDIERS OF THE SIXTH KINGDOM, LISTEN TO ME.” He raised a gauntleted hand, “SECOND TRIAL: THE BLADE LABYRINTH.” He pointed at the black structure behind him, “100 ENTRIES, 20 WILL LEAVE, RULE: REACH THE TOP, TAKE THE ROYAL SEAL PLANTED UP THERE, BRING IT BACK HERE.
IN THIS LABYRINTH, ANYTHING CAN KILL YOU, TRAPS, BLADES, POISON, AND YOUR OWN COMRADES, NO OUTSIDE HELP, NO MERCY, YOU HAVE 2 HOURS, TIME STARTS WHEN THE GATES OPEN.”
A murmur ran through the ranks, 20 out of 100, worse than yesterday, Raider turned to Rambo, his brother’s face was pale but his eyes were burning, he squeezed Rambo’s shoulder, hard, “listen to me little brother, rule number one, we stay together, if we get separated, we die, got it, rule number two, we trust no one, not even those who cry, rule number three, we come back with a seal, for Nanu.” Rambo nodded, gripping his armband 148 “got it brother”, at the back of the crowd, Mito was alone, he closed his eyes and breathed slowly as if he was meditating, as if the other 99 didn’t exist.
BOOOOM, the four massive gates of the labyrinth opened with the sound of chains and black dust poured out, it was a stampede, from the very first room, hell began, the floor was made of stone tiles, except that some tiles sank down and SHING SHING SHING, blades shot out of the floor, 30 centimeters, 1 meter, at random, holes in the walls spat arrows, the ceiling dropped maces, it was a test of reflexes and luck, Raider grabbed Rambo by the back of the neck as soon as they entered “WATCH THE FLOOR, DON’T LOOK AT THE OTHERS!” he pushed his brother, pulled him, shouted orders “LEFT!
DUCK!
JUMP NOW!”
Rambo slipped once and a blade came out two centimeters from his calf, he felt the wind of the edge on his skin, he screamed and rolled to the side, his heart was pounding so hard it hurt his chest, they weren’t the only ones suffering, screams echoed everywhere, candidates shouted as they were pierced by blades or arrows, guards below were already dragging them out of the labyrinth, in a narrow corridor, they saw him, Mito, he hadn’t run, he was walking slowly, looking at the floor, not the blades, the floor, the cracks, the wear marks on the tiles, when a tile sank in front of him, he just moved his foot ten centimeters to the left and the blade shot out into empty air, he didn’t even speed up his heart rate, he looked up at Raider and Rambo, one second, no emotion, then he turned right into another corridor and disappeared.
Raider spat on the ground “he’s going to be a problem…” and kept moving forward.
They climbed a stone staircase and fell into thick fog, a gray gas that stung the eyes and burned the throat, you couldn’t see more than two meters ahead, the smell of metal and blood was even stronger here, “stay close to me” said Raider, but ten seconds later, a shove, people running in every direction, someone pushed Rambo and he fell, “RAIDER!” he shouted, but there was no answer, just the sound of footsteps walking away, Rambo was alone, the fog, the silence, and sounds of footsteps, breathing, two shadows appeared in front of him, two tall guys, a knife each, they had found a map on a corpse and they wanted his even though he didn’t have one, “hand over what you got kid” sneered the first.
Fear hit Rambo, then rage, the rage of Kisolo, the rage for Nanu, he didn’t answer, he charged, the first hit got him in the shoulder, a burn, Rambo screamed and hit back, elbow to the throat, knee to the groin, the second went down, the first too, Rambo was on his knees, vomiting, when he realized he had knocked them both out, he stood up staggering, blood was running down his arm “I can’t quit, not here, not for mom”, on his side Raider was fighting four guys, he had a cut on his forehead and blood was running into his eye “RAMBO!
WHERE ARE YOU?!” he shouted while striking relentlessly.
Forty minutes remained when they reached the third floor, forty people remained in the whole labyrinth and to reach the roof, they had to pass through a large hall where five elite guards waited, armed with spears, their job was simple, stop anyone from passing, the first to arrive was Mito, he stopped at the entrance, looked at the five guards and said nothing, the leader of the five smiled “turn around kid, you’re going to die”, Mito moved, it wasn’t a fight, it was an execution, he dodged the first spear, struck the second’s throat, broke the third’s knee, punched the fourth in the liver, the fifth tried to run but Mito grabbed him by the ankle and threw him to the ground, twenty seconds, all five were on the ground, unconscious.
Mito walked to the pedestal in the center, there was a royal seal, golden, with the emblem of the Sixth Kingdom, he took it, the first one, he didn’t smile, he just walked up the next stairs.
Raider and Rambo met at the bottom of the last staircase, hurt, bloody, but alive, “are you okay?” asked Raider, “yes” Rambo lied, “let’s go, together”, they went up back to back, as their father had taught them, two candidates attacked them, Raider handled both, at the top, on a small platform, three seals remained, Raider took one and handed it to Rambo “here, 19 and 20, we’re the last”.
BOOOONG, the final gong, long, it shook the whole labyrinth, silence, out of 100 survivors, 20 remained standing on the roof, the wind blew, below you could hear the screams of those still trapped in the lower floors, the general reappeared “THE 20 CHOSEN, CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE SURVIVED THE SECOND TRIAL, IN 3 DAYS THE FINAL DUELS WILL BEGIN, SINGLE ELIMINATION TOURNAMENT, ONLY THE BEST 6 WILL BECOME THE PRINCESS’S PERSONAL GUARDS, GLORY, GOLD, POWER.”
Raider collapsed to his knees, spat blood and laughed, a tired laugh “we’re in the top 20…
little brother, we did it”, Rambo held his seal number 20, his hands were trembling, he looked up and saw Mito sitting on a rock at the edge of the roof, first to arrive, first seal, he was cleaning his knife with a cloth, he looked up at Rambo and his gaze was neither hatred nor friendship, just a silent recognition, he nodded, once, then he looked at the horizon.
Raider stood up limping and put his arm around Rambo’s shoulders “3 days, we sleep, we eat, and we train like crazy, because those 6 spots…” he clenched his fist “they’re ours”, below, 80 bodies were being evacuated, above, 20 warriors looked out over the capital, the selection continued.
End of chapter 5
“20 candidates out of 500, Mito was the first to reach the top, but Raider and Rambo are still in the race, in three days the final duels begin, who will be the Princess’s 6 guards?
The answer in the next chapter!”
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