A choice was to be made.
The gladiator's blood flowed. His remaining eye locked on to the monster of the Colosseum. Raspy breaths tumbled out from a damaged rib cage and lungs. Shaky fingers reach out toward inky black scales. Soft whine-like growls echo out to the distant crowd. Shocked slavers, the audience, and fellow slaves held a shared silence. A choice was made and death would follow.
…
In the barren dunes far deep in the continent. Hunters spent their days in caves. One such hunter had been blessed with a son and had brought an offering to the tribe temple. The exposed heart of a giant desert scorpion. It lay at the center of a stone altar. The father knelt and prayed for the strength of his son to grow and for his future wife to be wise and gentle.
Days passed after his son's birth turning into five full years. His son grew stronger every day under the care of his mother and the protection of his father. The tribe enjoyed the comforts of flourishing food and plentiful rains. For these years were said to be blessed. This year though trouble has arisen. Scouts picked up the trail of horses on the outskirts. Desert winds sped up showing the agitation of the tribe gods. Prey was skittish and hunters were weary of a threat. Children stuck to their mother's sides. While mothers whispered comfort.
The devils had come to the desert. Men with shiny hard clothing and spears. They brought with them cages of red metals. No creature was safe from their passing. Giant scorpions, swift lizards, and gentle drakes were all imprisoned. The tribe hid in the caves hoping to be spared the devils' attack. They prayed to the gods for the safety of their wives and children.
Then one day the devils came to the caves. The warriors fell one after another. Unable to defeat the dark magics of the devils. The women and children were caught. The son watched his father slain at his feet. His mother was taken away by the devils. He witnesses his tribe erased from the desert. Taken away with the beasts to a faraway land. Land green with giant foliage. Land filled with other devils and their children. The son prayed like his father before him for the strength he so desperately needed. He prayed year after year in the Colosseum with no answer until…