The Arena: Ch. 10

Chapter 10: Books and Bed Bugs&nbsp
That night, Nova and I returned to the Library Infinite. As the giant doors swung open, a gust of fresh parchment hit me in the face...but so did the smell of burnt parchment. We peered into the darkness and as Nova lit the floating braziers on the walls, my jaw dropped and a tear streamed from my eye. The entire Library had been set on fire. The books were scattered across the floor, black and charred.

Nova's lip trembeled as she caressed a pile of history books. "No...how?"

I looked around as Nova hugged me and cried into my shoulder. "The officials must've found it...they must've known what we were doing. They've-they've probably been watching us..."

Nova drew her head out of my shoulder, eyes red and tearfull. "All this history...gone. Just like that."

Suddenley there was a gleam of light from the far end of the room.

"Hey, what's that?"

Nova pivoted on her heel and peered across the room. Then she gasped. "Maybe...maybe a book? One that was saved from the fire?"

We moved over to the gleam and found a small, metal book that read: "Tribute Dictionary" on the front. Grabbing it, Nova began to flip through it.

"Torrin! It's the book from the Archive!" she smiled. "It has all our files in it!"

I laughed, "Thank goodness! We wont be left in the dark any-"

There was a screech from the cieleing and a glob of green slime splattered down into my hair. In disgust I looked up. Just as Nova screamed I saw them- three giant ticks crawling across the cieleing. They were the size of four book shelves stacked ontop of eachother, and about that long. Their giant butts were full of red liquid- blood most likley. The one that had drooled on me looked straight at me...and leaped.

The giant bed bugs attacked, jabbing with their giant legs and hissing with their pincer mouths. I hadn't brought my sword with me so I picked up the next best thing...I grabbed a giant, bronze book off the shelf and through it at the bugs. It hit one of them and their blood sack exlpoded, sending scarlet liquid across the room. Nova grabbed her torch and chucked it at the wounded bug, sending it screeching away on fire.

The next bug that attacked was smarter though, and he had wings. Flapping the short buzzers twice, a hum began to shake the room. The vibration of his wings was making the ground shift and shake.

The bug flew at us, but I dodged. It clacked its pincers twice and lunged at me. I grabbed another book and chucked it. The book flew backwards, smacking the humongous bed bug in the face. It screeched then hissed at me, flying faster and lower.

Nova went after the other bug, but I had no time to pay attention to her. I raced towards a 50 foot tall book shelf and began to climb up it. I yanked out book after book, sending them into the bug that climbed up after me. Finally I came to the top. I looked around for any weapon besides a book- then I saw it.

It was long and black, one of those decorative swords you hang on the wall to make your place look fancy. I ripped it out of its brackets and unseathed it. The blade was a dusty, yet clean silver. The bug flew up onto the top of the shelf, which was big enough to hold both of us. I brandished the sword, holding it towards him.

The bed bug tick hissed at the cold metal, fearing for its life. Recognizing its fear, which I had seen in so many of my opponents, I leaped over it and chopped its wings off in one clean sweep. I landed behind and jammed the sole of my foot into its butt, sending it flying off the shelf. It fell 50 feet...and exploded in a splatter of blood and bug guts.

I climbed back down to see Nova running towards me, a tick hot on her tail. I stepped in front of her and slid the sword down the creature's throat. It gargled up slime and blood and then fell dead to the ground.

Leaving the blade in the bug, I swilved on my feet and ran to hug Nova.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She nodded. "Just a few scratches. Nothing much, what about-"

''Clap! Clap! Clap!''

We turned to see The Caller, Mr. War, The Librarian, and Solus walking towards us. All four of them were dressed in long black coats, with a different colored medallion- maroon, red, gray, and gold- hanging from their necks.

"Very well done," The Caller hissed at us. "I see you've managed to defeat my little devil spawns."

"The bed bugs?" I said.

She laughed at this. "Foolish boy...those weren't bed bugs. They were Hecatian Ticks. They drink blood from their victims and give the blood back to their masters...me."

"You?"

"Yes, I. For you see children, I am not The Caller. They call me that as my name for the public..." she began to remove her hood as did the others. "But I am in fact Hecate, goddess of magic and sorcerry."

My jaw dropped, as did Nova's.

"What?" Nova said. "You're who?"

The Caller- or Hecate, I guess- laughed. "I am Hecate. And he, Mr. War, is actually Ares, the god of war. The Librarian is Athena, goddess of wisdom, and Solus is actually Apollo, god of poetry, healing, and the sun...Is that enough explenation for you, mundanes?"

My jaw was wide opened as were my eyes. Four gods stood infront of me, people who I'd thought were just normal.

"Now," Athena said, stepping forward. "Let's talk about this plan you have...this plan to overthrow the Olympians."

Next Chapter: Chapter 11: Escape?!