Gelu's eyes flashed open. What had happened? Where was he? He looked
around. He he seemed to be in Vulcanis – after all, that was where
he last remembered himself to be – but he wasn't in the arena.
Nobody was cheering and calling out. Nobody was even there,
save him.
Gelu stumbled to his feet, then gasped in pain and collapsed to one
knee, clutching his side. He winced. Where did he get that from?
Suddenly, Gelu heard a pair of footsteps steadly approaching him. He
reached for the dagger he kept in his belt.
"Who goes there?" he called. "I'm armed!"
Slowly, two fire agori walked into the room with their hands up.
"Easy, easy," one said. "If we hadn't jumped in when
we did, you'da been in big trouble back there."
"Back there?" Gelu repeated. "What are you
talking about?"
This time, the second agori spoke. "You were fighting a Skrall
in the arena," she explained. "And naturally, being a
Skrall, it... well, it cheated."
At the mention of the words "Skrall" and "cheat",
everything that had happened rushed to Gelu's mind in a single surge
of memory. Skrall. Arena. Win. Turn. Stab. Black.
"Oh, pardon me, where are my manners?" The first agori
broke Gelu's train of thought. "I am Khanva, and this is my
girlfriend, Laani." Khanva gestured to the second agori.
"Well, it's nice to have meet you, Khanva, Laani," Gelu
said. "And thank you for healing me."
"So, why can't you remember what happened?" Khanva asked
curiously. "Did you hit your head or something?"
"I do remember!" Gelu said in a harsher way than he
would have wanted to. "Sorry, I... overreacted. I... I thank you
for tending to my wounds, but I must go back to protect my village in
Iconox. Farewell." Gelu managed to stand up and started to walk
out of the hut.
"Hey—wait!" Laani called. "Where are you going?"
Gelu didn't turn his head. "To my village. I already told you
that."
"But we need help too—and we helped you!"
she cried.
"I know, and thank you for that. But I must go."
"But you can't just leave us!" Laani began to approach
Gelu.
"I can. And I will."
"But we need help!"
"Then help yourselves!" Gelu yelled, suddenly turning and
unsheathing his dagger. "I don't have time for this!"
Laani jumped. Khanva held her steady. He eyed Gelu closely. "...Then
leave us."
Gelu stepped back, realizing how intimidating he looked. He slowly
sheathed his dagger and looked at Laani's look of fear and Khanva's
look of terror mixed with anger. "I-I'm sorry, I..." Gelu
shook his head, realizing that words would not help him—they never
did in Bara Magna, after all—and he sighed and walked out of
Khanva's sight.
Why do I like writing dark stories? :P