Chapter 48

After the stadium lift reached the ground level, Centurion Lumus stepped out onto the sand and dirt, which was heavily stained with blood of the former Gladiator matches. The audience cheered wildly, even though they had no idea who Lumus was, other than he was a decorated Roman soldier. Lumus fought as a secutores. He wore a shiny, loose fitting helmet. In the center of the ring, he drew his gladius, his double edged sword and raised it skyward as his greeting to the gathered thousands. Next, attention turned to the other lift that opened. A prisoner of war from Gaul stepped off. It was Orandes, a champion retiarius. He was lightly armored, and dragged his fisherman’s net behind him. He smiled, and raised his spear trident to the sky. Wild response arose from the audience. Both men bowed to the emperor. The games-master gave the wave to start, and the retiarius faced the secutores. They circled. The retiarius cast his net quickly, but Lumas side stepped as he backed up. Missed. Lumus stepped on the net, and speeded in toward the exposed opponent. Orandes counted with his trident but Lumas bushed it aside with his sword. Orandes knew the next thrust would be to his chest, so he pushed his armored shoulder toward the oncoming Roman. Lumus’ blade glanced off the metal armor. Orandes dropped his trident, and grabbed Lumus’ throat. Lumus plunged his sword to the bare stomach of his adversary. Orandes spouted blood, and fell in slow motion. Lumus’ scores his first victory in Rome. The emperor even applauded.
Drima finished telling the story and I looked at her. The fight was two hours away, and I did not yet know who was going to be my opponent. But I knew that this was the final battle. And Drima was gearing me up for that. I was not going to ask her why she was telling me this at this hour.
“I have told you earlier this story, but there is a reason why I am telling you this now is because this is the final battle and you gotta prove your mettle and even though you know that it does not hurt to remind or remember things which are going to be important. I have always taught you that in battle there is no mercy and no compassion at least not when you are dealing with someone like your cousin, Rubina. I know that this is not what I should be telling you at this moment but you need to remember. That crown is yours, and if you don’t have it then you would not be able to do anything at all which you want to do since your childhood,” said Drima and I nodded.
“What do you think that I should do in case that I am paired with Rubina?” I asked Drima and today I found no mercy in her eyes.
“You have been taught what to do, Synthia. There is no intelligence in keeping your worst enemy alive. You need to kill her, once you get the chance because know this very well that once she gets the chance she is not going to let you live. So it is more like protecting yourself, self-preservation if you think about it in a manner. So do not hesitate to kill her because she will not hesitate to finish you off,” said Drima when suddenly Serafina materialized in the room.
I almost squealed in shock.. I was never going to adjust with this coming out of nowhere like a ghost but still she would not do this unless it was very essential.
“What is it?” I asked as I stood up. Serafina was out of breath like she had been running for quite some time at high speed. I stared at her and then she said,” I found out, what is Mason so scared about and what he was growling about the day before yesterday when it was time for the touching of the Crystal. The Ambrose Crystal was hoodwinked but Mason’s wolf was not.”
“What was it about? What has this bitch done this time?” I asked. I knew that I should have been calm and quiet but I was incensed so badly that I could not even think about calming down yet.
“She has made a deal with a demon,” said Serafina and Drima gasped out loud hearing that. I did not know what to feel with this piece of information. The demons were creatures of another realm and world altogether and even contacting them was a grave crime and my cousin had gone over her head and made a deal with them.
“Did you come to know anything else?” I asked her but she nodded her head saying no.
“It is more than clear that she can go to any lengths in order to claim and achieve what she particularly wants. It does not matter to her who lives or who dies in the process because the only thing that matters to her is getting hold of that crown and when she does that she is going to do what knows to whom. So that cannot be allowed to happen under any circumstances. Are you sure that, Serafina that this is the only thing that I am going to carry in battle?” I asked her and she said.
“That is the only thing that you are going to carry in battle. You have a secret weapon and at this point of time it is the only thing that is going to make Rubina sloppy. And since she is going to choose a weapon she will be relying too much on it rather than trying to take you on. But you will know that Luke is your biggest asset, he can both kill Rubina and Salazar for your sake. So protecting your familiar comes first and foremost when it is in the battle. Alright?” she asked me and I nodded.
Luke was standing beside me. He had a leather armour on his body so that it would not be easy to cut his belly which was the softest part in a wolf’s body.
“Then say it.” Said Drima and I knew what I had to say.
“I am not going to lose. I am going to win the throne and the crown. I am going to kill that bitch who is nothing but a disgrace to every one of our Kingdom and what else we stand for.”
Even though I was well aware that we did not stand for any kind of violence but when it came to protecting our own, female wolves were the worst. They could tear your throats out in your sleep and piss on your carcass and not look at you again if that suited them.
And today I was going to kill. I was ready to kill. I could not leave the fate of Amorentia in the hands of that cold, callous, calculating, murderous, and manipulating bitch.
“Fine. Now let’s proceed to the Great Hall. Everyone will be waiting for you,” said Serafina but Drima said no.
“Today we are going directly to the venue of the training room where the final contest is going to take place,” she said. The training room I was well familiar with because the time that I had not been resting or was competing challenges, I had been training their hard with my team.
“Come what may, you are going to win this challenge today, Sin. And I shall make sure of that,” said Luke in my mind. I knew that I was ready for battle but there was an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach making me feel that I was not ready, and there was something bad which was going to happen if I lost my focus.
“You might be scared now, Sin. But once you step on that battle ground you need to remember, there is no place for mistakes any longer. And nothing will give Rubina more pleasure than killing you slowly. And if you die then all the hope is lost. Not only for your pack but for every one in the wolf Kingdom and Amorentia. You are destined for great things sweetheart. Because you are the promised one to bring every single land back to peace and prosperity and finally win over darkness,” said Luke.
I did not know what he meant by that but I knew this that there was a lot riding on me and I could not lose under any circumstances.