The Palace Beast

Ambrogio's vampire stared down from his horseback. It was creatures dressed in a greenish cloak made of wool and armed with crossbows, with a peach white face and long pointy ears. "Who are there?" Festus whispered. "They are the elves, guards of Ambrogio and his vampire clans," Eux replied in a tiny little voice.

A couple of elves with crossbows peered into the oxcart. They whispered among themselves for a while and then ordered Festus and Eux to step outside.

Festus climbed out of the cart reluctantly, followed by Eux. The elves scanned them from head to toe and asked them to kneel in front of them. Festus hesitated at first but the sight of the crossbows pointed at him made him submit to their command.

"Look, this human has a pet troll," chuckled one of the elves.

"I am not his pet," Eux cried in an exasperated tone. Though he was used to hearing all sorts of insults being hurled at him he didn't like called Festus' pet. His fellow trolls cast him out because he was calm and not blood-thirsty like them. They said they can't have a weak troll in their fold.

The elves guards laughed heartily and hurled a few more abuses at him. Their merrymaking was eventually interrupted by the arrival of Ambrogio's carriage.

Ambrogio stepped outside the carriage and yelled, "Open the gates of the arena. These two are my slaves."

"We didn't know they were with you Lord Ambrogio, we will open the gate at once. Please follow us." The elves' guards bowed to him as a mark of courtesy.

Festus lifted his head and gazed upon the precious stone structure which lay a few paces ahead. The structure was decorated with lapis lazuli stones. He turned towards Eux and asked, "What's this huge building in front of us?" "It is the largest arena of Yizi and it is run by Ambrogio."

"Do you know why he has brought us here?" he asked with curiosity.

"When I was captured by the warlocks, I have heard that Ambrogio is preparing a war against some kingdoms. But the reason why we are here is unknown to me. And another rumor has it that he makes his slaves fight in that open arena." "Do we have to fight each other?"

"Where I came from, they said slaves fight against different beasts in the arena."

Eux's words made him tremble with fear. He had barely escaped his life a few moments ago and now he had to fight a wild beast in an arena. "I don't know anything about fighting wild beasts. I am just a guard and not a foot soldier or a warrior. I will be mauled to death before I can even swing a sword."

"Even I don't want to fight in the arena. My fellow trolls call me weak and drove me away because I am not bloodthirsty as them. But we are Ambrogio's slaves now. He saved our lives. If we refuse to fight in the arena, we may be executed in front of the crowd."

The conversation was cut short by one of Ambrogio's vampires. "Get up right now. Lord Ambrogio doesn't like to keep the crowd waiting." The two elves approached Festus and Eux and dragged them towards the arena.

As soon as the gigantic wooden door parted its enormous mouth, Festus was awestruck by the sight of the huge arch overhead. The elves' guards escorted them to a large room inside the arena. It was dimly lit with wooden torches affixed to the wall. In the faint glow of the torches, Festus caught a glimpse of the walls of the room. They were smeared all over with bloody handprints.

"Lord Ambrogio wants this to be an entertaining fight, so we have been requested to supply you with the equipment needed," said one of the elves guards pointing towards a weapons rack. "Pick any weapon you like. There is also a basic selection of armors besides the weapons rack."

Festus didn't know what to say. He had never fought to entertain anyone in his entire lie. The weapons rack contained various stone and wooden weapons like spears and axes.

As the guards left, Festus started tapping the walls of the room frantically.

"What are you doing?" Eux asked.

"I am trying to find an opening. There has to be a way out of here. If we stay here, we are going to be killed by the beast or even Ambrogio himself. We must escape."

"I don't think we can escape from here. No slave has ever managed to escape from this place without fighting to the death."

Festus was about to make a reply when he heard the sound of the drumbeats. It was so loud that it made the ground vibrate with every beat. When the beating of the drums finally ceased, the wooden door at the front, with a creaking sound. Beyond the gate stretched out a spacious oval field. All the sounds ceased at once and a deathly silence hung in the darkening air.

Not quite long the silence was finally shattered by a booming voice which echoed in the massive arena, "Greetings to you all, tonight we will witness a thrilling spectacle which will bring you the edge of your seats. Blood of course will be spilled on this field as a human and a troll pair up to face a werewolf."