Break the targets

The centaur had led us into a huge battle arena. Along two sides were the seats; gigantic slabs of stone that had been carved to serve as benches for an audience. Between the seating was the actual battle area.

At that moment, the centaur was moving sets of what looked like targets into the ring, putting them in some kind of formation. He had incited Glaze and Tank to help him move them around, but had insisted that I stay put on the wood bench. I could do little other than twiddle my thumbs and gaze at my surroundings.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Chiron whistled, "All the greats fought here once: Perseus, Achilles... are you going to be great?"

I had the Chainsaword, didn't that mean I was already a great hero?

"How do you know so much about heroes, Mr. Horse-Man, sir?" Tank asked.

"Cause I'm a hero trainer," the centaur said gruffly, "The name's Chiron."

"Can I ask another question, Mr. Chiron?" Tank continued, "Uh, how come you're half-horse?"

Chiron glanced over at Tank as though he'd never been more annoyed by anyone in his entire life.

"You never seen a centaur before?"

"Uh... No."

The centaur shook his head from side to side, clearly annoyed. Tank laughed nervously.

"So, if you're a hero trainer, who've you trained so far?" I asked curiously.

He scoffed, as though this was the silliest question anyone had ever asked him.

"I've trained all these heroes; Jason, Achilles, Odysseus, Perseus, Theseus," Chiron paused, "A lot of 'eus's," a small smile crossed his face briefly, "But none o' those guys were as good as she was."

I was just about to ask who "she" was, when Tank and Glaze came forward.

"We're all done, Mr. Hero Trainer, sir!" Tank said.

Chiron looked over at the work that had been done and nodded his approval, "Good work," he said firmly. And then he turned back to me, saying, "This trial is tough. You ready?"

I practically jumped to my feet, "Am I ever! So what do I gotta do?"

The trainer pointed towards the targets, "Okay, kid. Let's see what you've got. The rules are simple: Break all the targets within the time limit."

"No problem."

I ran forward, willing the Chainsaword into my hand. I positioned myself in a place where I could see all of the targets. Then, gripping the handle tight in both hands, I looked over at Chiron and waited for his signal, "Ready!" He dropped his hand as though it was a flag, "Go!"

Almost immediately, I took off to my right, holding the Chainsaword to my side. The Chainsaword struck every target, destroying them as I passed.

Chiron raised his hand, "Time!" The centaur's eyes were wide with surprise, "Thirty-two seconds!" He looked at me and smiled slightly, impressed, "You know, you ain't bad."

"Looks like I'm headed for the games," I said.

The centaur's face immediately hardened, "Afraid not," he stated simply.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Two words!" Chiron barked, raising two fingers for me to see, "You guys ain't heroes!"

Glaze sighed, her head hanging.

"Come on!" I pleaded stubbornly.

"Yeah, that's four words!" Tank said.

"That's not my point!" I said.

Chiron merely folded his arms over his chest. After a moment of tense silence, I relented. I gestured to my companions and led the way out the arena in complete silence. We trudged through the lobby, out the front doors, and down the stone steps. What would it take?

Then mysterious voice sounded, causing our steps to slow and eventually come to a half.

"A rather stubborn old horse, wouldn't you say?"

We turned to look at the speaker and were shocked to see a strange imposing tall woman in a loosely fitting black stola and black hair. It didn't help that she looked right at us with a pair of yellow eyes. She grinned at us and idly waved a hand in the air.

Glaze narrowed her eyes and pointed one finger at the woman accusingly, "Who are you?" she demanded of her.

The woman began to move forward, closer to us. She laughed suddenly as though she just realised something interesting about us, "What, so you're gonna let that old horse-man show you the door? I thought you were one of those hotshot, world saving types. Well, hey, if you're a quitter, then who am I to stop you? But, you know, real heroes tend to be… y'know, gutsy. They don't take 'no' for an answer."

"I can't exactly **** my way in," I said.

The woman laughed, "I'd say you chumps are already leagues ahead of Jerkakles."

"Jerkakles?" Tank tilted her head, "That sure doesn't sound like a hero."

Laughing, the woman looked over to Tank, "Now here's a girl I can agree with!" Turning back to me, she held out a hand and added, "But let's cut to the chase, shall we? You want into the games, right? Well, then, hey, get a load of this. It's all yours," the woman said with a mysterious smile.

She put one hand on my shoulder. I looked down at the hand. Suddenly in her hand was a slip of paper, "A pass?"

Why was this woman helping us?

My eyes locked on the pass, and I slowly reached for it, yanking it out of the woman's hand, "So, what's the catch?"

"No catch. It's all yours. Good luck. I'm pulling for you, little shorty," she said.

With that, the woman slipped on through to the other side, disappearing without a trace.

With this pass, there was no way that horse could turn us down.

I turned excitedly to Glaze and Tank, "We can get into the games!"

We all grinned, and they all turned back towards the Coliseum. Glaze snickered a bit, rubbing both her hands together. Together, the we marched back up the stairs and shoved the double doors wide open.