Bonus Chapter 1 - Beatrix Mungar (Exclusive)

1.       Excerpt from the diary of Beatrix Mungar. Before the Great War.

The air stank. The Arena itself, in fact, stank. Everything stank. I remember it as I write these pages because it was so prevalent in everything we did down there. But the Arena was never a place of beauty. Never a place people went to try to relax, or find a comfortable existence. No, the Arena was there to provide a training grounds, as I came to understand it, for those who offered their lives up for the safety of the City. Of humanity.

The usual revelry of the crowd was always muted by the gravity of the battle ahead. Whenever I was amongst them, it was loud. Much louder than anytime I’d taken to the sands with my friends, but it wasn’t because of the distance or because they just weren’t cheering as loudly as they would for the other fights. It was more simply because my mind dulled my senses. That way I could fight. And I could deal with whatever happened to us out there.

I adjusted the folds of my robes. They weren’t anything special although they did give me a little boost to my Mana, but if I ever took a hit head on wearing these things, it wouldn’t end well for me. But that was something I’d always known, and something I’d simply had to come to accept in this place: that without a good team by your side, you were nothing. Your friends were everything.

As it did every time I stood there in the centre of the Arena sands, the weight of the moment weighed heavily upon my shoulders. I remember looking down at my feet, down past the robes that fluttered slightly in the arena’s harsh breeze, carrying with it the scent of sand and sweat. And death.

To my left, Hannah, my dearest friend and trusted ally, clinked her dual daggers together. In her lightweight leather armour – very different to my own as it was designed for stealth and agility - she was the epitome of a Rogue. The hood of her cloak cast shadows across her face, but her eyes, sharp and focused, missed nothing. I’d had many fights alongside Hannah and that was something that would always build a friendship with much greater foundations that in any other way. We were friends, best friends, but we were teammates too. And nothing had got between us yet.

Torin, our Warrior, towered beside us. He was always clad in heavy steel armour that gleamed under the harsh sunlight above. He actually preferred to wear this armour more often than not, even outside of battle as we carried out the mundane tasks of the day. He always said if he could live in it then he could fight in it. It wasn’t a bad statement in truth. Seeing him out there you’d be forgiven if you mistook him for a ballerina with the way he moved about the place effortlessly.

But then Torin’s battleaxe was a massive piece of craftsmanship and heavy as it looked, it rested easily in his hands as If he had no problems holding such a tool.

Torin’s presence was reassuring, a bulwark against any uncertainty that might have faced us.

And that was our team. Three young Contestants standing out there alone, the Arena crowds cheering, chanting and whooping like this place wouldn’t eventually mean the death of us all. Of course we didn’t really know what was going to happen from one day to the next either, but we were young then. Not naiive really, but young.

As the beginning of the fight rolled closer to us, I remember feeling the adrenaline wash over my entire body. But there was nothing new, nothing different about that. It seemed to just always be the way my body responded when I knew I was about to fight.

The roar of the crowd swelled to a crescendo, a wave of sound that seemed to wash over us. We were not just fighters; we were performers in a deadly dance, where the line between glory and death was always just so perilously thin.

The creature of Chaos was awaiting the beginning of the fight too, and on the far side of the arena sands, I could see that the iron gates had started to rise, allowing our singular foe its entry into the battle.

With my staff in my hands, I gripped the weapon tightly, feeling the familiar thrum of magical energy coursing through it, ready to be unleashed. Again it wasn’t anything too special, but it made my spells inherently more powerful – something I’d been taught was of great importance alongside Mana management.

The iron gates creaked fully open with a final clang that reverberated through my chest, and there it was – our opponent, the Hydra, a creature as fearsome as the tales whispered in the darker corners of the City. It slithered into the Arena, its myriad heads weaving through the air like sinister serpents, each one a grotesque mirror of the other. The crowd’s cheers turned to gasps and murmurs, the reality of our challenge dawning on them as it had on us.

But I’d seen the Hydras fight before, and I forced myself to think ‘better the devil you know’ over and over until I believed my own lie.

I felt Hannah tense beside me and I wanted to reassure her, but I kept my stature. Torin, ever the stoic Warrior, adjusted his grip on his battleaxe, a slight nod acknowledging the gravity of our task. I remember wondering how he was managing to remain so confident when he was going to have to be the one who got up close and personal with that thing.

“Stay focused,” I whispered, more to myself than to my friends. “Remember, aim for the heads but be wary of its regeneration. This isn’t going to be easy but it’s not impossible.”

The Hydra moved with a terrifying, almost mesmerising grace, especially for a creature of its monstrous size. Its many heads then immediately darted forward, a coordinated attack that left little room for error on our part if we wanted to avoid it.

Torin charged as Hannah and I remained still. His battleaxe was a blur and it met the first hydra head with a resounding clash. One silly head versus Torin and his axe wasn’t going to be a fair fight and as soon as he made contact, the head disappeared into a fountain of blood and gore.  

Then I noticed that Hannah had disappeared. Using her Rogue ability that camouflaged her for a short period of time it was a tactic she’d often use to both remain out of harm’s way, but also to strike critical hits and blows that her enemies hadn’t been expecting.

Entering the fight myself, I unleashed my magic. I couldn’t do many actual spells because my Class was somewhat unique and focussed elsewhere, but arcane bolts of energy streaked towards the Hydra from my hands.

It was clear quite quickly that I wasn’t strong enough to take this thing on alone – but that was the whole point of a three-Contestant team, wasn’t it? Each one of my strikes seemed to only enrage the creature of chaos, its heads as they exploded into blood and viscera regenerating almost as quickly as I could cut them down.

But combined with my friends, we could wear this thing down, I was sure of it.

As long as I didn’t run out of Mana.

I watched as Torin did his thing. It was always impressive to watch him as the axe he used seemed to grow, sending out cuts and slashes much further than the physical weapon should’ve been able. But that was all a part of his Class and abilities.

Heads exploded, were lopped off and fell to the ground. They regrew quickly, but joining my own attacks and those of Helen as she appeared and disappeared, we were winning. As we always did when we worked together, we were unstoppable.

But all good things had to come to an end.

Suddenly, a searing pain shot through my arm. One of the Hydra’s heads had managed to make it through the folly and landed a glancing blow, its teeth tearing through my robes and skin. Gritting my teeth against the pain, I retuned to the true horror of our situation.

“Beatrix!” Hannah’s voice cut through the chaos as she reappeared next to me.

I looked over to give her a reassuring smile, but as I did another head appeared and punted her away from me. One minute she was there and the next she was gone.

Torin was only a few steps away as he engaged two heads at once now, his armour dented and scuffed from the constant and unyielding battle.

The realisation hit me like a cold wave – we needed to do better than this; we hadn’t been winning. The hydra had been toying with us and although it’d taken a lot of damage, it was still right with us in the fight – and it didn’t look like it was going to fall any time soon. But if it carried on for much longer, we’d all be out of Mana, Stamina, and Health.

I searched around for a moment before my eyes fell on Hannah. She’d been thrown clear of the main battle behind the invisible line that me and Torin formed. But a fighter down, things were only going to get worse.

I knew now was my chance to cast my spell. That unique ability that I’d mastered over long days, weeks and months. The one thing the God of Balance had gifted me.

I closed my eyes and slowly breathed out. It had taken a long time to get that part just right and as I did I felt the Mana infuse with my very breath, twirling like a leaf caught in an updraft, dancing towards the hydra. When this spell landed, when the hydra breathed in my intent, we would have our chance.

Because the intent that was imbued in my spell, was for the hydra to cower in the corner of the arena. To shrink away from battle and become completely petrified and unable to move, allowing us to tear it to shreds without retaliation.

It’d worked so many times before.

And then the spell hit.

I watched as one of the many heads of the hydra inhaled the spell and immediately cowered away from the fight as best it could, whilst still attached to the main bulk of the creature.

And then the realisation hit me: only one of the heads had been affected, and it was nothing more than a drop in the ocean. My spell was useless.

The hydra heads flailed about, continuing their tirade against my spells and Torin’s axe slashes. Hannah still wasn’t back on her feet but at least she was alive.

Torin let out his own coup de gras and holding his axe on the end of the shaft she swung it about himself in a huge, terrible arc and dozens of the myriad heads fell lifelessly to the ground.

That was when I saw it. The central, or main head of the hydra that shimmered with a golden glow. It was right there for all to see and I knew that if I could take that one down, we’d be able to finish this.

And then as soon as the main head was visible, unprotected it struck out. It shot past the rest of the heads like it had twice the speed and power and I didn’t even have the time to scream as it tore into Torin, through his armour, through his body and that was the first time I’d seen a friend killed. And the monster acted like it was nothing.

The central head retracted, but with no more targets for the rest to pester, they all came for me at once.

I didn’t have enough spells to cast to save myself from that many enemies all at once.

I backed away as fast as I could but as I did my heel caught on the sand and I fell to my back with a thud and the air was forced from my lungs.

Scrabbling as fast as I could all the while doing whatever I could to keep the heads from tearing into me I knew the end was just moments away. I needed a distraction, anything to give me the few moments I’d need to cast my spell on the central head.

And then I saw Hannah. She was still alive for sure, but she hadn’t managed to raise herself from the ground yet.

I had no choice.

I made my decision, knowing there was no other was and as I continued to back away, with a heavy heart, I began to exhale, the spell feeling like ash in my mouth.

The moment the magic took hold, Hannah leapt to her feet and her movements became jerky as she fought against the spell and her damaged body. She laid eyes on the hydra heads doing their best to reach me as I scurried away from them, and without a thought for her own safety she began to run directly at my opponent.

I was sure I saw something in her eyes. Something that begged me not to do this.

But I had no choice.

Swirling her daggers around at the hydra heads and taking their attention away from me, Hannah threw everything he had at the creature without a moment’s thought for her own safety. At least, if she was worried about herself, then she didn’t show it.

It gave me the time I needed too. With the heads occupied by Hannah and doing their best to keep up with her immense speed, I found myself able to find that golden head. The main head and when I did, I recast my spell.

This time it landed.

The second the hydra inhaled my magic, it immediately shrunk down and retreated away from me like it was a terrified, petrified puppy.

I didn’t waste any time. Licking up Torin’s discarded axe I walked over to the hydra and swung the axe high over my head and bore it down onto the shimmering golden neck of the main head.

Again and again I chopped into the creature and not once did it try to stop me. It howled in pain though. That was a sound that I wouldn’t soon forget.

It was finally done. We had won the fight and I fell to my knees as the hydra lolloped to the ground before me, its central head entirely removed from its body.

The crowd was silent though, and when I looked behind me to Hannah, I saw why. My friend, my best friend in the entire world was on the ground, body bloodied and broken, and I could see that she hadn’t survived.

I’d done that to her. I’d forced her to fight a battle she couldn’t win. And it was all just to save myself.

I did the only thing I could in that moment: I placed my head in my hands and began to sob.