Nightsea Outlaw

They spent the night together in the camp. Sayed was able to scrounge together new clothes, a ragged shirt, and a sort of blanket he could wrap around his legs. He told his new brothers some of the stories of his old days on Hajh, the bloody battles fought in the civil war, and his transport to this new world with Abed.

As the orange light of the single camp torch burned to low embers and had to be put out, they all went to bed. As always, each person in the camp had to take a watch to ensure that no one came upon their camp unnoticed in the night. Even Sayed took a watch. He was not so weak that he could not perform a watch after a fight.

The man called Alex approached him during his watch, sitting beside him in the darkness as Sayed listened to the quiet maze around him. Besides their breathing, Sayed felt a faint breeze on his ears. He had told the newcomers that almost everyone who came to the maze eventually made it to his camp, but that was only partially true. The times he had newcomers were very rare. Most people didn't survive the maze at all.

"You should get some sleep, brother," Sayed said after sitting in silence for a while.

"I don't need much sleep anymore," Alex said with a quiet laugh. "Besides, I always find it hard to just sleep before a fight I know is coming. My mind gets too focused on what could happen and what I could do."

"There is not always something to be done," Sayed said, nodding. "But I understand the feeling."

"Well, in this case, there is," Alex said, and Sayed heard him shuffling on the ground next to him. "This place is perfect for one thing, practicing with limited aether. So, I'm going to be here meditating for a while."

"Meditation, I understand, but this is the second time I have heard you speak of this 'aether.'"

"If you haven't had anyone to teach you about it, that's not surprising," Alex said, breathing deeply in and out next to Sayed a few times before continuing. "For people born in this world, it seems to be something they've always had around them. They don't even need to think about it. For people who were forced here, like us, our bodies adapt to it over time, but it's very noticeable."

"Ah," Sayed said, nodding. "That is why I can use my powers outside of this maze."

"You're cursed?"

"Blessed." Sayed shook his head. "Blessed with the fire of God to fight off my enemies. This aether must be the breath of God that fuels all to be stronger."

"Your god from your old world?" Alex asked.

"God is not bound to just a world," Sayed said, tapping his chest above his heart. "It is with me even now. I can feel it here. It is the fire that fuels me."

"Did you have your blessing before you came to the nightsea?" Alex kept up his steady breathing next to Sayed.

"We did not need it in Hajh. The strength of our blades was more than enough. No, this blessing was something that was needed when I came to this new world. I only wish Abed had received the same blessing."

"Interesting," Alex said and resumed his breathing exercise. "Did Hajh have giants, by any chance?"

"Hah, giants!" Sayed laughed. "You speak of legends. Giants were creatures my ancestors fought off to find our land before the destruction of Xing. There were no more giants in Hajh after my people's first war to claim the sands of Hajh."

"I met a man on Tombstone," Alex said again and resumed his breathing. "He was as tall as a house, and he said he also came from Hajh."

"Then he would not be from my Hajh. The giants were killed far before my time. There were no more giants in Hajh."

"I wonder," Alex said but didn't finish, only resuming his deep breathing.

"Perhaps I should join you in this meditation," Sayed said with a chuckle, crossing his legs beneath him and holding his hands flat together. "I will call out to God and commune with him."

Sayed took a deep breath and felt just a tiny amount of the power one would feel outside the maze enter his body. He was used to going in and out of the maze daily, so he knew the difference between the two states. He knew the difference as well as he knew his blade when he swung it in a fight.

Since coming to the maze, he had noticed that the experience down below the arena had made his abilities easier to use. He felt he could push his blessing and body further after all his time in the maze. It was a lot like fasting. Fasting during the Holy Days showed him real hunger and told his body what it could handle if pushed a little further.

He did as he had been taught back on Hajh and quieted his mind. He imagined the tranquil rock gardens of a temple. He imagined each stroke of the stone gardens. He imagined feeding the fires of the furnace in the center of the temple as the high priests did. He imagined standing out at the center of the temple, looking down the Grand Line that allowed anyone who stood on the hallowed ground to see the sun from sunrise to sunset. In his heart, he felt the warmth that pushed back the cold of the maze. God was watching him, even now, guiding him in this new world so that he could grant all he could the freedom they should always have.

Hours passed in the dark maze, and Sayed fell into a slumber at some point. He did not break his pose, and he did not falter. He did dream. He dreamed of fights from long ago. He dreamed of battles to defend his home from the heretics. He dreamed of a world that he may never return to.

Bump. Bump. Boom.

A familiar sound stirred him from his sleep, and Sayed almost fell over as he regained his conscious mind. His dreams were swept away, and he looked around him in the darkness. People in camp groaned, and one person lit one of their precious torches to shed orange light on the camp all around them.

"It is time," Sayed said, standing up and cracking his neck back and forth.

Others in the camp rose, and Jack was soon at Sayed's side with his gauntlet and khopesh. Sayed strapped on the gauntlet and held his khopesh ready. He was about to start a prayer when the white light came out faster than usual. Something was wrong.

"What is this?" Abed yelled out, and others expressed the same.

Sayed opened his eyes and looked out from a white spotlight. All around him, the camp members were surrounded by their own light. Thoughts ran through Sayed's head, but he didn't know what to do. What was happening? Did the people who ran the arena finally run out of patience? Was there a mistake?

Sayed looked over and saw Jack running from his own light. The boy was fast and could almost stay ahead of the light. However, it was always right behind him, and he couldn't run forever. Everyone who had been underground knew what that light meant: fighting, death. There was nothing to be done down below. It would only be resolved in the arena.

The light consumed him and consumed every other person in the camp.

Sayed took a deep breath and felt renewed strength fill his body. He opened his eyes again in a ruined and crumbling building. Light shone down from above through holes in the roof, but his line of sight was blocked on all four sides. A set of stairs on the far side of the room went down to the floor below, and a broken ladder led to a hatch on the other side. Broken furniture, a bed, and a few chairs were strewn about the room.

He went to a hole in the wall and looked outside. As far as he could see around himself, there were buildings of varying heights, all in a state of ruin. Sayed had seen many arena setups. However, this was a first. He couldn't even see the wall that marked the start of the stands.

"Ladies and gentlemen!"

The announcer's voice echoed through the stadium. His tone rattled through Sayed's bones and even the walls of the building. Dust and dirt shook down and fell to the floor. Sayed looked up to the ceiling above and waited.

"Today, we have a special performance for you! One hundred fighters have entered the arena!" his voice lowered to a conspiratorial tone. "For one hour, they will fight to the death. The survivors will continue to fight for their freedom. Only those who survive the hour will make it to the top!"

Sayed thought of Jack and Gramps. Where were they in the city, huddled together and hearing these words? He thought of Abed. One of them needed to reach them. They would have to protect them for the hour, or all was lost.

"The time begins now!"

In the sky above, Sayed saw a timer appear, the clock ticking down from one hour to fifty-nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds before ticking down again. Fifty-nine fifty-eight. Fifty-nine fifty-seven. Several screens also popped up in the sky above, displaying different people fighting and dying.

"May you be protected, my brothers," Sayed said, silently closing his eyes in prayer as he drew his khopesh up and in line with his nose. "This is cruel, and I cannot change what has happened. Only God can protect you all."

With that, he charged down the stairs, pushing past furniture and rubble before bursting out the door and into the streets. A single man stood outside in the street as if he had been waiting on Sayed.

The man was large and muscular, holding a sizeable bearded axe in both hands as he stared down Sayed. He wore a leather harness and the fur of a beast as a cloak. His skin was dark from a life in the sun, and scars covered his body. Yellow eyes stared Sayed down.

"I do not have time for this," Sayed whispered, holding his khopesh ready in a wide stance, his sword above his head, and his clawed gauntlet facing out.

He opened the gate in his chest and gave himself over to his blessing. Heat surged through his muscles from his heart, pumping with each beat through his chest and limbs. The blade of his khopesh began to glow a hot orange as the heat transferred from his body and into the sword.

"Ohoho," the announcer's voice called out, and a screen appeared above where Sayed and the other fighter stood. "Here we have what we're looking for, folks. 'Sword Saint' Sayed faces off against Grabnar 'the Barbarian.' Both are strong melee fighters, but Grabnar might have the edge with his rage. What do you think, audience?"

Boom. Boom. Thump. Boom. Boom. Thump.

Cheers erupted through the crowd.

"Oh?" the announcer said. "You think Sayed has the advantage?"

Boom. Boom. Thump.

"GRABNAR!" The warrior across from Sayed yelled, holding up his axe with one hand and looking up to the sky.

Sayed would have cared to do a show for the crowd on a normal day, in a normal fight. He was always willing to give a good fight. That was part of storytelling. It gave meaning to those who needed it, like the poor who watched the fight from the bottom tier of the arena.

This day was different, however. This day, the arena had taken people who did not want to fight and could not. This day, it had taken people from his camp and thrown them into danger. He had to break past this man and find his brothers. There was no time for a prolonged fight.

"Demon's Thrust."

Instantly, he threw his body forward and cut the distance between himself and Grabnar. His khopesh pierced through the right side of Grabnar's chest, glancing down across his exposed armpit as Sayed carried through with his thrust. Sayed's blade cut through the muscles and tendons that held the axe like a blazing hot knife, searing the skin closed even as the cut went through.

Sayed took a step back in the next moment, standing in front of the stunned Grabnar as he lowered his blade to the side. Grabnar stood still momentarily as he looked up at Sayed. Then he dropped his axe and fell to the ground, clutching his shoulder and screaming in pain.

"Grab-"

Sayed walked past him. "I will find you, my brothers."