*Gladiator

Intro: What kind of parent would happily hand their kid a sword and let them fight evil monsters?

When I was fourteen my mother handed me a sword and wished me luck. She had no other choice. There were tears in her eyes as she stood in the doorway of our apartment and watched me leave with my seventeen year old sister Grace. We were off to kill the dragon and save the world. Mother had planned four years for this. And she cried because she sent her daughters to die in the dragon's den.


“Hope. Pick your feet up.”

I glanced up at Grace acutely aware of the weight of my sword strapped to my back. The heat from the cement felt like it was melting the soles of my tennis shoes.

“Are we there yet? I want to go home.” I knew my voice sounded whiny but I was beyond caring.

I nearly ran into Grace when she stopped. I stepped back quickly and peered around her, confused. The large dragon skyscraper in front of us milled with people. Most of the people were around the same age we were although not many of them carried swords like we did. We fell into line and handed over weapons while we walked through the metal detectors. I blushed when the female security guard gently patted me down. Grace helped me reattach my sword and we walked down the sterile halls to the waiting room. I had heard of the building but had never imagined it would be so clean.

I sat close to Grace who was trying to act brave in front of everyone else. As we waited names were called and the room slowly emptied.

“Hope, are you alright?”

I nodded slowly but my stomached knotted in anticipation. I cried out when Grace's name was called and she had to pry herself from my hand. I wiped my eyes as she spoke softly. “Follow your name and you'll do fine. Remember, this is for everyone, especially mother.”

She squared her shoulders and walked out of the room. I was the last person left in the room and the silence was deafening. I waited for hours confused as to why my name hadn't been called. I told myself I should be glad our names had been called so late. That we had a last name at the end of the alphabet.

“Hope.”

I wiped the stream of tears from my cheeks and got shakily to my feet. I left the room behind me as I walked into the large arena. The grandstands were filled with a cheering crowd. I looked around and noticed the grand box filled with the scaly blue aliens that had invaded our home four years ago. Dragons. Feeding off of the fear of children.

Hundreds of speakers around the arena vibrated as the commentator spoke. “For the last event this evening we have Hope.”

There was a dull chuckle as the audience took in the irony of my name. I fumbled with the straps around my shoulders and my sword fell to the ground. The crowd laughed maliciously as I pulled the too long sword out and advanced into the ring. I looked around nervously as a wrought iron gate opened across from me. A large lion ambled out of the door and gave me a lazy look. It gave a jerky movement as the exposed gears in its haunches skipped a cog. I looked up at the box and saw one of the dragons smirking as he played with remote control.

The gears that were visible had a tint of blue. Grace had done what she needed to, now it was my turn. My hands shook as griped the hilt of my sword tighter and charged. The crowd chuckled as I swung wildly. I was knocked to the side and the lion grabbed my sword in its mouth. I smiled as the metal teeth connected with the transceiver my mother had built into my sword. The radio connection from the lion to the remote caused a large explosion.

I covered my head with my arms as the building collapsed around me. The dragons had been defeated. Their death fell with their Colosseum. The reign of fear was over.