As if on cue, the bars slid up and disappeared into holes in the ceiling. Four Sathogs appeared on either side of the now-open exit. I guess they had been standing there the whole time, waiting for some signal to let us out. They all held clubs and formed a wall of hairy muscle in front of our hole.

  A Vajizk with brilliant green scales and a purple sash stepped into view. He held a red crystal-tipped rod and pointed it at Dacrah, Erro, me, and another man before stepping aside so we could exit. With no other options, we shuffled out onto the sandy floor of the arena.

  The people in the crowd erupted as soon as they saw us.

  The Sathogs and humans jeered and shook their fists at us. The Vajizk didn’t make any noise, but their glaring hatred of us was unmistakable. The bars dropped out of their holes and closed off the holding cell behind us before the Sathogs, led by the Vajizk, herded us to the center of the arena. I looked back to see the dignitary, who received so much adulation from the audience before we were released from our cell.

  Box seats were placed in the stands under an awning of bright yellow silk and long streamers of every color. I call them ‘box seats’ because they resembled the ones I’ve seen at stadiums where the rich and famous can watch a game without having to mingle with the lower-class people. The same could be said of this arena. Three iron thrones sat in a line under the silken awning. In each throne sat individuals of a new species of reptilian, who appeared more human than the Vajizk I had seen so far.

  I assume they didn’t have tails as they sat on their thrones just like a human, though they wore the same brightly colored sashes as the lizard-like Vajizk. Their heads and faces were rounder, like a human skull, but still lacked hair or ears. They also could speak, as I saw them lean toward each other and comment on us as we entered the center of the arena floor. The one sitting on the center throne wore a golden headband with a round, purple crystal set just over his forehead.

  After feeling the power of the red crystal in the copper rod and whatever the yellow crystal in my bracer was doing for me, I was certain that the purple crystal set in the Vajizk’s crown was more than just decoration.

  Dacrah and I, along with the other human, turned one way and then the next to look up at the jeering crowd. The sight was quite overwhelming. Only Erro didn’t lift his gaze. He kept his eyes down on the ground. As I scanned the people in the stands, I saw something that gave me hope. Inda appeared in the box seats.

  Her eyes were downcast, and she carried a silver pitcher. I know it sounds like a bad romance movie, but for a moment I couldn’t hear the crowd or see anything else but her. Her slender arms and legs and copper-colored skin moved with a fluid grace. And her long black hair shone in the orange sun. I hoped she would look down into the arena and see me, but one of the noble Vajizk called her over to fill his silver cup.

  “Dacrah!” I said. “Look up there.”

  I tilted my head towards Inda. I didn’t want to point because I didn’t want to let them know she was important to us. A look of sadness and relief came over Dacrah’s face.

  “She’s alive,” he said. “A slave, but alive.”

  “We just have to get out of here, and then we’ll rescue her and get back to your people.”

  Dacrah smiled weakly and nodded. I doubt he believed me. I don’t think I really believed myself either. But false hope is better than no hope at all.

  Once we were in place, the Sathogs backed away slowly to allow a couple of humans to trot over to us. I noticed that, though they dressed like Dacrah and his family, they were lighter-skinned with dirty blond hair. I wonder if the different ethnicities went with different clans.

  They carried stone spears that looked exactly like something from a caveman movie, and tossed them to the ground at our feet before hurrying back to their spot across the arena. Erro was the first to pick up a spear, and the rest of us quickly followed suit.

  “What comes next?” I asked him.

  “I think we’re training dummies,” he replied as his eyes focused on the smaller set of iron bars on the other side of the arena.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Either the Vajizk will send out some of their young warriors to practice their fighting skills or we’ll fight Sathogs for their amusement.”

  “That’s crazy. I mean, I understand that they don’t care what happens to us. But they still gave us spears. What if we kill whoever they send into the arena?”

  He chuckled. “That’s their way. Only the strong survive. In their cold-blooded hearts, the ones that we kill don’t deserve to live anyway.”

  Before I could really process what he meant, the iron bars on the other side of the arena slid up, opening one of the cells.

  I held the spear, hunched over slightly with the flint point aimed at the opening. Dacrah stood next to me with Erro on the other side of him. We were all ready, except for the other human. He was older than me, though not as old as Erro. His arms were thin, and his face held too much terror. He wasn’t even trying to get ready.

  “Hey!” I called to him. “What’s your name?”

  “T-tilk,” he stammered.

  “Tilk, stand closer to us. Hold your spear like this.”

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  He looked over at me, but instead of responding, he just started to shake. I was about to say something to encourage him, at least try to, when Erro shouted.

  “Jolak!”

  I snapped my head around and saw five hyenas run out of the opening. The crowd erupted in cheers and applause as the beasts charged straight towards us.

  I’ve seen many pictures and videos of hyenas, but these were huge, as big as a mastiff with heads almost as large. Even at that distance, I could see their ribs through their spotted hides. The Vajizk were starving them, and we were their first meal.

  The pack ran towards us, and we braced for impact. Except for Tilk. He cried out, dropped his spear, and ran away.

  “No!” I shouted at him.

  Predators, such as wolves and hyenas, chase their prey. Running away just encourages them to run after you. I didn’t know where Tilk thought he was going to go, but at the speed the jolak were moving, they were going to overtake him before he could get anywhere. Two of them split off to chase Tilk, while the audience laughed at his cowardice.

  “Damn it,” I muttered.

  I’ve thrown a baseball thousands of times in my years of playing since I started out with Tee-ball as a kid. But I’ve never thrown a spear. I figured that was as good a time as any to try it. I whirled around, checked my range, and hurled the spear at one of the passing hyenas.

  A spear isn’t the same as a baseball, and it felt awkward when it left my hand. My aim was off. I was going for the jolak’s chest, but I got him in the rear leg instead, and that was only because my newfound strength made it fly faster than I could normally throw.

  The force of my spear slammed into the jolak’s hind leg, causing it to spin around and fall over like I had shot with a rifle. As its companion ran past it, the hyena struggled to get to its feet. I couldn’t let it do that.

  I snatched up the spear Tilk dropped and ran towards the struggling beast. It tried to snap up at me, but I ran the spear into its throat, and it died with a yelp. The audience cheered. Apparently, they just wanted to see something die. They didn’t care much about what died or how.

  I turned and hurled my spear at the jolak chasing Tilk, but I was far off that time. It sailed over the hyena’s back and skidded along the sandy arena floor.

  “Damn it!”

  I grabbed the spear that was still sticking out of the dead jolak’s rear leg and checked on Dacrah and Erro. They were standing back to back, jabbing at the circling predators. They were holding the beasts off, but they weren’t going to last forever. I had to decide who to help. Tilk’s shriek of terror made the decision for me.

  “Run toward me!” I shouted at him.

  I don’t know if he actually heard me over the jeering crowd or if he was just following the curve of the circular arena, but he turned towards my direction. He was running faster than I expected, but the jolak’s loping trot was eventually going to wear him down.

  “I’ll be back!” I called to Dacrah and Error before charging towards the Tilk’s pursuer.

  The muscles in my legs exploded with speed. I’ve run a lot of sprints, but I never moved like that before. When I caught Tilk’s attention, I pointed to my right, towards Dacrah and Erro. He got the idea and turned away from me, which confused the jolak. It didn’t know whether it should chase the easy prey or attack the threat charging right toward it.

  That moment of hesitation was all I needed.

  My foot came up and kicked the beast right under its belly. Even through the bronze plate protecting my shin, I could feel the animal’s ribs break and internal organs rupture, instantly killing it. With my strength and the momentum I built up from running, its carcass lifted off the ground and sailed into the air, landing on a group of Sathogs sitting in the stands. They weren’t happy about it, but the rest of the audience cheered louder than ever.

  “Come on!” I called to Tilk as I tossed him the spear.

  For a second, he clutched at the weapon as if I had thrown a poisonous snake at him. But I patted him on the shoulder as I ran by to encourage him to follow me. Erro and Dacrah weren’t doing so well.

  One of the jolaks had latched its jaws onto Erro’s spear shaft. I could hear the wood splintering under the hyena’s crushing power. That left Dacrah to desperately fend off the other two jolaks by himself. I looked at Tilk and pointed at the jolak that was chewing its way through Erro’s spear.

  “Get that one!”

  I ran ahead of Tilk. I don’t think he could have kept up with me before I came to the Hollow Earth, and he really didn’t stand a chance now. I charged towards the two that were attacking Dacrah. And I was just in time.

  He stepped back to avoid one of the jolak’s bites, but as he did, he tripped over Erro’s foot, who was struggling with his own problem. Dacrah cried out as he fell onto his back, and the two jolaks cackled over his prone body. He frantically swiped his spear at them, but it didn’t bother them.

  One jolak latched its jaws on his leg, and he howled out in pain. The bronze shin guard protected him from its teeth, but not its crushing jaws. The other jolak scrambled over his body, trying to get at his throat.

  I kicked at it, but the jolak was quick and dodged my foot. At least it wasn’t going for Dacrah’s throat anymore. It lunged at me and got so close I felt its hot breath on my skin. I slapped the jolak in midair and quickly tossed it aside.

  It wasn’t hurt, but it landed far enough away that I could get the other one off of Dacrah’s leg. It was so focused on trying to drag him across the arena that it didn’t even notice me until I grabbed its snout. Then it was too late.

  I held its upper and lower jaws in each of my hands and pried them apart until Dacrah could get his leg free. As he scooted away, I pulled the jaws wider and wider. The jolak’s eyes rolled in its skull as its mouth opened too wide. Its body shook as it tried to wrestle away from me. I was losing my grip from the strength of its thrashing body.

  But I was much stronger.

  Something inside its skull crunched, and the jolak’s body went limp as I ripped its lower jaw from its head.

  I tossed the bloody body parts onto the sand and stood up to look over at Erro. He and Tilk were stabbing at the motionless corpse of the jolak until the tip of Erro’s spear broke off in its chest. The last jolak remaining, the one that I had tossed aside, made a run for it and fled across the arena back to the hole the pack had emerged from.

  The audience roared as I helped Dacrah to his feet.

  We smiled and shook hands as we tried to catch our breath.

  “Great job!” I said, particularly to Tilk, who seemed to have found his courage.

  Erro dampened the mood, though. “We’re not done yet,” he said as he pointed across the arena.

  The Sathogs and the rod-wielding Vajizk were approaching us.