Token (Token Chronicles) (17 page)

He stares back at me with a frustrated expression. He tosses me a sword and runs off to take on the remaining opponents. I am confused, but thankful. He has given me the opportunity to keep fighting. I have a second chance, and I must take advantage of it. With my left arm now useless, fighting with my sword may be out of the picture. I need to get to the weapons cache and see if there are any other options. Maybe there is another crossbow. I run towards the center of the pit as fast as I can. I pause and wait for the jagged saws to retreat back into the ground. I quickly jump through to get to safety. I scan the arena and see there are only four more Tokens and myself remaining. They are paired off, each locked into combat. I search through the weapons cache, but I am finding only weapons that will be of no use to me. If my shoulder were healthy, I would wield the axe. Then I see them. A pile of sharply tipped spears. I have the vantage point. If anyone wants to get to me, they will have to time the mechanism to get in here. I can pick them off one by one if necessary. I see the remaining Tokens battling it out. The battle on the left has just ended. One of the Tokens beheaded his opponent. As he spun around to take on his next opponent, I see the battle to the right has just ended as the Token from Ridian who saved my life has just thrust his sword into his opponent’s chest. The victor on the left is wasting no time. He wants to get the kill while the Ridian Token has his back turned.

NO! I pick up one my spears and launch it across the arena. The Ridian Token turns around just in time to watch my spear impale his attacker through the neck. He looks to me with surprise as I am bent over in exhaustion. The strength I mustered up for the throw has only added to my ever-increasing weakness. I am losing too much blood. The Ridian Token takes his sword and finishes the kill I started. He begins to walk towards me. This is it. Just him and me. We have both saved each other’s lives. We owe each other nothing now. Even.

The entire arena flashes in a bright blue glow. We are both readjusting our eyes as the light disappears. I look behind me to find all of the weapons from the cache are gone. He too is confused as the very sword in his hand has now disappeared as well. What does this mean? What are we supposed to do?

“Congratulations to our remaining two Tokens. Our final competitors are from Silon Elite and Ridian Elite.”

Both of arms are automatically raised when our corresponding Elite camps are announced.

“The final showdown is a first for the Melee. No weapons are allowed. The last Token alive wins. Good luck gentlemen.”

So it has come to this. I must kill a man with my own bare hands. But if it means I can save Isamar and make Yency’s death worth something, I will not fall short. I begin to loosen up to get ready. My strength will be my greatest advantage, but then I notice it. My wound on my shoulder is gone. It is healed. It must have happened when they illuminated the arena. They wish this to be a fair fight. May the best Token win.

I begin to make my way towards the Ridian Token still remaining vigilant for any booby traps. When we get within hearing distance of each other, he stops.

“Just you and me now, eh Benja,” he says with a smirk.

“How do you know my name? Who are you?” I ask.

“Kincaid told me to be on the lookout for you. I promised him I would not let you die if I could help it. But that promise only goes so far. After all, only one of us walks out of here. It’s nothing personal. He told me you were a good man. But I have been training for this moment for years. I promise you, your death will not be meaningless.”

“My death? I wouldn’t be so confident if I were you. I can hold my own.”

“We will see then. Won’t we.”

We begin to circle each other. Each of us eyeing the other. Sizing up our opponent. Contemplating our plans of attacks. Not wanting to make a mistake because it could very well be our last. No. No. No. I won’t make a mistake. This is my battle to win!
I WILL WIN!!!
He begins to charge at me, and I reciprocate. I come at him with all the strength in my body.

Chapter 11

Ridian Elite Camp

Token: Kincaid

My feet carry me as fast as they can move. One foot after the other in a steady rhythm. I cannot stay down here anymore. I have never felt more like a prisoner in my entire life of captivity. At least on the Island, I got to roam freely. I was fortunate to get to experience the beauty of nature every day. I have not been outside since we arrived here. All I have to look at are our insipid never-ending walls down here until today, of course. The day of the Melee. I could not bear watching it anymore. General Ridian and my mother invited a few of us to watch the battle take place. I thought I would be able to handle it, especially if a Ridian victory meant getting Hadley back. Once I saw Benja in the arena fighting for Silon, everything became much more real. I thought I would be able to dehumanize all of the Tokens in the Melee. To see them just as depraved men trying to kill each other. Once I saw Benja make his first kill, my delusions quickly dissolved. They were all someone’s friend. Perhaps they even had a loved one they were trying to get back to, as well. None of them deserved to die. I let my selfishness temporarily blind me.

Now, the only two left were Benja and Nash. I have had the chance to watch Nash closely over the past couple of weeks. My mother refused to let me go into the Melee insisting I was not ready. The words were always the same when they came out of her mouth.

“You are too valuable. We cannot risk sending you outside again until you are ready. Be patient, my son.”

I had to know the man who would be fighting for Hadley’s freedom. I needed to trust him. I went to the training sessions everyday to watch them fight. He was so skillful with a sword. I watched him defeat opponent after opponent in the training ring. I had grown to like Nash too. I spent as much time as I could getting to know him. He was about to become a very important person in my life. The first time I saw him fight, I was lost in the beauty of his expertise with the sword. Everything was so fluid, so smooth. All of his movements seemed to flow in such a choreographed sequence, as if he were dancing. I did not even hear him when he first spoke to me.

“You want to try?” he said gesturing with his opponent’s sword extended out to me.

I quickly agreed. I needed to make sure he could defeat me with a sword before he was sent to fight in my stead. I was idiotic to think I could beat him. He had my sword disarmed within seconds of each bout and was set for the kill time and time again.

He would always smirk at me while I was lying on the ground defeated and confidently say, “Come on Kincaid. You can do better than this.”

“How do you know who I am?”

“We all know who you are. You are the one who is supposed to be the key to everything. They say there is something special about you, but it definitely is not your ability with the sword.”

He heartily laughs at his own observation.

He was unquestionably right about that. I never came close to defeating him once. But he was patient with me. He continued to help me train with my sword every day leading up to the Melee while he probably should have been facing opponents with more skill to prepare. But I can tell him wasting his time with me did not diminish his skills in the least bit. He has held up both of his promises, as long as he could anyway. The last day he was in Ridian, the day before the Melee, I had to know why he volunteered for this assignment. Why he would volunteer to help spill the blood of fourteen innocent men?

“I do not want to, trust me. I have been here for years though, Kincaid. I have seen what happens when one of us loses to another Token compared to what happens when we win. No matter who wins, fourteen men will be dead. Only one leaves the arena. There is no changing that fact. The difference is, when one of us wins, we get the satisfaction of knowing we freed fourteen more Tokens. To know those men’s deaths were not in vein. That they died for something other than some stupid bet the Elitists are making on us. When I got here, I enjoyed the benefits of my freedom. I met a woman named Solara. You should have seen her Kincaid, she was so beautiful. She was my flower, and I lost her because one of the men we sent to the Melee lost. She was the prize claimed by the Agemo Elite Camp. That exact moment is when I volunteered for this assignment. I wanted to win her back, but I was too late. One day, there she was. A one on one battle with a particularly brutal beast. She must have done something to anger Agemo. I had to watch as she was murdered for the world to see. I will not let it happen again. If I can save Hadley for you, I will, or I will die trying.”

I cannot even imagine having to witness such a terror. I would never be the same if I had to see Hadley in the arena fighting in the Melee. But it is a possibility. Someone I care about could be fighting against Nash in the arena. It could be Benja or Yency, or even Hadley. I described each of them in detail and made Nash promise me he would not kill them.

“If they are there, I will help them for as long as I can, but when it comes down to it, I will do what I have to in order to win. If I do not win, then everything I have done will have been for nothing. In Solara’s memory, I have to win this Melee. You do understand, right Kincaid?”

I understood, and he held up his end of the bargain. I do not like Benja’s chances against Nash, however. The only chance Benja has is Nash’s overconfidence. He may underestimate Benja. But nothing positive will come of this without someone I care about suffering.

I hear someone shouting behind me. “Kincaid! Kincaid!” I stop and turn around to see a familiar face following me.

“What do you want Nayze?”

“Where are you running off to?”

“I just had to get out of there. I cannot take this anymore. Who would want to watch that? How could they get any satisfaction from watching those Tokens kill each other?”

“I know. I had to leave too. I can’t watch Benja anymore. I never thought he would be capable of such things. If he wins and kills Nash with his bare hands, I don’t see how he can come back from it. I don’t see him being the same person after this. I don’t see how anyone could be.”

“We don’t know what it is like in the arena. Would you not do the same if you were there? If it meant I could get Hadley back, I would do just about anything.”

“I know, but have you talked to some of the past champions here? There is something off about them. They are so consumed with their revenge. You can tell they want blood. I just hope Benja does not wind up like them. Maybe he can put it behind him and get on with his life. He does not have to let it control him.”

As much as I love Hadley, I hope Benja wins. Nash and I have developed a good friendship, but it is Benja. He can’t die. He just can’t. I will find another way to get Hadley back. A way that does not involve me trading his life for hers.

It is almost as if Nayze sensed what I was thinking.

“What are you going to do if Benja does win? If he manages to kill Nash, Hadley may be stuck in Silon.”

“I don’t know. I have to get out of this prison though. I need to get outside. I need to clear my head. I need to come up with a plan.”
He smiles at me as if he knows something I don’t.

“I just may be able to help you out. Follow me.”

We head towards a set of staircases and begin to speedily ascend to the top level of the base. I have no clue as to where he is taking me. I have already explored every single square inch of this base over the past two weeks. I have not managed to find any way out of here other than the way we came. By flying in one of the Ridian hover transports.

We begin to navigate the halls. Most of the rooms on the top floors are like every other room in the upper levels of the base. They are used to house the soldiers of the Rebellion. The base floor contains the training areas along with the armory and transport vehicles. We all spend most of our days down on the bottom floor. If we are not training and preparing for the upcoming war, we are in the base headquarters with the other commanders. Rogan, Butler, and Cydnee will be the commanders in charge of liberating Island 3 when we go on the offensive. Nayze and I are both members of the commanding group who will raid the capital. I personally look forward to meeting with Cromus face to face. I have not desired to kill many men in my life, but I will feel no regret watching his life end at my hand.

I have learned many facets of the Rebellion since I have been heavily involved in all of the daily briefings. There are moles for the Rebellion on every Island, even in Hub City. I was relieved to find out Zeke was the mole on Island 3. He will be safe when we raid the Islands. The moles in the Hub City range from lowly soldiers or to street vendors in the poorer sections of the city. It is amazing what Grodarian soldiers will talk about when they think no one is listening. According to several reports, Cromus has grown increasingly suspicious in his old age. He has alienated most of his upper military staff. The Grodarian Federation has even been late with payments to their soldiers. Most of the soldiers are not fighting out of loyalty to Cromus and Grodar. They would prefer they were not in charge of Knav just as we do. But in order to feed their families, they have made their choice. But now the ranks are beginning to quarrel. They are beginning to suffer just as the rest of the citizens are being forced to. When we attack, they may not be so loyal this time around. Perhaps they will even turn their own guns on Cromus. We can only hope. The time is close for attacking. But we are apparently not taking any chances this time around. I will fulfill my father’s destiny. If he had been able to defeat Cromus the first time around, so many lives could have been saved. I will not fail this time. I am the secret weapon. They are all patiently waiting for my abilities to develop. But it has been two weeks, and I don’t feel any different. My mother just keeps telling me to be patient, but it’s hard to maintain fortitude especially when I know I can use my abilities for good. To put an end to this system, to this debauchery. If I had gotten them already, I could have stopped the Melee from ever happening. Now Benja’s, Hadley’s, and Nash’s lives all hang in the balance.