Excerpt: The Tribes of Managi

Louis hushed them as Sahale turned around and started down the rows to the arena. Will tossed him the rope and he tied it to a seat and threw it down the high wall. With one last look at Louis who gave him the thumbs up, he smiled and went down. A thumbs up was a common thing to do. To see Louis do something he’d always disdained to do was comforting.

His feet touched down on the bare earth that made the floor of the execution arena. His goal, the opposite side, was 200-yards away. Three boys egged him on; William stayed silent.

Sahale ran across, trying to ignore the dark stains and claw marks that had yet to be smoothed out. He touched the opposite wall. Looking back at where the others were waiting for him, he realized he’d crossed all that distance without anything happening to him. Relieved he started on his way back.

About halfway though he saw one less figure standing at the edge. He didn’t think anything of it until he heard the roar. That telltale roar that caused him to freeze in terror before he could understand what he had heard. Weren’t the cages located twenty feet under the arena floor? No matter how he thought about it, it sounded unfiltered, like it was up on the surface with him.

Spinning around, Sahale had his worst fear realized: a swamp dragon. This was one of the creatures that had torn the prisoners apart in seconds. It was a large beast, twelve-feet tall and three men long. Its slick scales were dangerously sharp and lethal-looking. Two long incisors jutted out of its muzzled mouth and its spiked tail wagged almost playfully, striking long gashes into the soil at every contact. He remembered the stories from the swamps that these were the most deadly creatures beyond the dome. And there was one not even a hundred yards from him.

Its yellow slitted eyes locked onto Sahale’s fear-struck browns.

He tried to force his body to move but every limb seemed frozen. His mind had gone blank with terror at the hulking monster before him.

“What are you doing? Run!”

Sahale didn’t know who said it but it shocked him out of his fear induced haze. He turned and ran back towards the others. With his sudden movement, the dragon bounded after him. The ground trembled under its weight and he ran faster than he ever had in his life. Still, he knew it was closing in on him quickly. Three grown men didn’t offer a challenge so he didn’t stand a chance if he didn’t get out quickly.
However, when he neared the wall he had a horrible realization: the rope had come loose and fallen into the stadium.

“Sahale, look out!” Will yelled. Without turning, Sahale dropped to the ground and the dragon sailed over his body into the wall. If he hadn’t ducked, he would have lost his head or broken his spine just like the unlucky convicts. He couldn’t think about them like that anymore. He was in the same position as those criminals: nowhere to run, no one to help, and no chance of surviving.