Igun was the name of this goblin. Once a mercenary, he traveled the middle islands with his companions, risking his life for money. But in the middle of a mission, he found what he never thought he would get to know: the love of his life.
Leaving his past as a mercenary, he decided to form a home with his first and only love. Arriving in New Tensis he realized that he did not have the skills to get an ordinary job. All he knew was war. And while deciding whether to pursue crime or dark business he met the owner of one of the arenas.
From then on he took the pseudonym of the Stinky black cloak. His work was quite simple and not very dangerous. Three times a week he fought an animal in the free performances of the morning. Although he did not earn as much money and fame as the gladiators of the night or even of those of the afternoon, that did not matter to him because he did not risk his life and he could enjoy a simple and calm life together with his family.
Today was a little different from the others. A wealthy Neanderthal was sponsoring the fights and thanks to his reputation as the children's favorite warrior he landed one of the performances.
His opponent was a Laigard, a poisonous creature that very few knew of in New Tensis. So no one would notice that it lacked the horns that developed while maturing. And not only was he going to earn more money by taking the life of the Laigard cub, but it was also going to be easy as before the combat he had received the antidote to guarantee his victory.
He just had to make the match look a lot more difficult than it actually was to satisfy the sponsor. Which unfortunately meant that the animal in front of him would have to suffer enough before it could die.
But neither the animal's suffering nor that of the fighters mattered to the children and parents who came to see these bloody shows every day. And this not only happened in Nueva Tensis, in almost all Almawarth the culture of violence reigned.
However, today, one of the spectators was unable to continue watching when the Laigard received a second injury to its ribs side.
“That’s not right, I have to rescue the animals,” Theodor murmured sliding down the grass bleachers.
The little boy slipped away among the spectators and without anyone realizing it he reached one of the tunnels that served as entrances.
Turning and walking through the rustic hallways, he found the stairs leading down to the lower levels of the arena.
The entrance was sealed by metal bars and the door that made the place look like prison was closed by a huge padlock. On the wall to the right of the bars was a red sign prohibiting unauthorized personnel from entering.
But the four-year-old didn't know how to read, so the first thing he did was put his head through the bars.
Once he squeezed himself through the metal bars Theodor began to descend the stairs and before long reached the lower level of the coliseum.
Looking sideways, Tod tried to decipher the direction in which he would reach the door that would allow him to enter the arena. But after several seconds he had no idea what path to follow. It was then that he heard a growl coming from the left hallway.
“Grrrr.”
Little Theodor knew where he should go at that moment and without hesitation, he started walking.
As he approached the animal that was growling he was soon able to hear the noises made by other animals. Some also seemed to growl, others barked, others howled, and some cried.
When Theodor arrived he could see the large cellar where dozens of animals were trapped in different cages.
If the young man in charge of guarding this place had not been watching the fight through a small window, he would have noticed the boy who had just entered the cellar.
“I’m going to help you,” said Theodor approaching the first cage.
The creature inside it, having been deprived of food for several days to guarantee its aggressiveness, opened its four green eyes when it smelled the tender prey that was approaching it.
Getting ready its claws the creature prepared to attack as soon as its prey got close enough.
The stands at that time were euphoric. The match between the goblin and the Laigard had reached its climax, but by the time Stinky black cloak set out to end his opponent's life ...
“Boom!”
A large explosion destroyed much of the arena. The bodies of the goblin and Laigard flew off.
“Damn it!” Darthañan couldn't help cursing at that moment.
One of the protection seals he had placed on his children had just been activated.
After what happened in Lhimkio Darthañan and Frigglene had invested a lot of resources to place these single-use seals on the children.
But there was no time to complain, the fact that one of the seals was activated meant that one of his children had almost lost its life.
Making various movements with his hands, both he and Frigglene disappeared from the stands.
“Take care of Elizabeth.”
Frigglene's voice arrived at her followers the moment she disappeared with her husband.
In the center of the explosion was a shocked boy who still didn't understand what had happened. He was approaching one of the cages when suddenly everything went white. And before the smoke of the explosion disappeared several figures appeared around him.
" You're not going to get out of here alive, " said an angry young voice.
If it were not for the fact that two of the three terrorists were of the second magnitude, he would have attacked immediately.
Darthañan moved his hand and cleared the dust of the place. And he could see right away who had just threatened them.
Lord Amgu, the sponsor of this morning's events. His face was so red that it looked like it was going to explode.
Darthañan did not know what to say but had to clear up this misunderstanding before things took a route of no return.
" This is just a misunderstanding, " said Darthañan standing in front of Theodor.
Frigglene caught Theodor in her arms and with a little spell made him sleep.
“A misunderstanding? Are you fucking kidding me!” shouted Amgu with such rage that the veins in his face seemed like tumors.
The owner of the arena who had arrived with two of his guards and Lord Amgu was about to start arguing when he saw behind the man who had spoken the woman carrying a child. From the way they acted, they seemed to tell the truth. Also, who would attack Lord Amgu’s event with a child who would hinder them in a fight?
" Lord Amgu, I think the wisest thing to do is wait for the viscount's soldiers, " said the owner of the arena, trying to appease his client.
Surely the feudal lord's soldiers would have noticed the explosion and were on their way.
Lord Amgu looked at the owner of the arena as if he wanted to blow him to pieces. And when he was preparing to order his men to attack the voice of one of the spectators who had not yet escaped the coliseum interrupted him.
“Mom dad!” Elizabeth cried, escaping from Sigurd's arms.
The powerful Nerthus was so scared of what had just happened that the elusive girl managed to escape. At that moment, he and the other followers of the family came after her trying to stop her.
Elizabeth turned out to be faster than her pursuers so she jumped onto the arena thinking that it was lower than it seemed. At that moment Sigurd's body reacted instinctively when he saw the little girl in danger, and without the limitations of his mind, he moved as when he was in his best days.
Catching Elizabeth in the air, Sigurd landed on the sand.
The appearance of a new character of the second magnitude made Amgu swallow the words he was about to pronounce.
And not only that, a group of almost thirty people was in the stands watching what was happening.
“What’s going on here!” shouted a hoarse voice entering the coliseum.
“You know that the most dangerous battles have to be supervised by us!”
Lord Amgu smiled when he heard the voice of the captain of the soldiers of sector three. Seeing that he could not win in a fight against these imbeciles who had dared to sabotage his event, he decided to use all his influence and money to make this affront to his honor cost these foreigners dearly.
