Live and not Die

 As Fortu faces off against the four chitinous creatures he almost buckles.

 The suns glinting off their crescent spears, the baying of the blood hungry crowd takes him back to his worst days of being a slave to the pits. Days that he thought long behind him of fighting for the pleasure of others, of living and dying at the whim of 'owners'. Tears fall from his squinting eyes and his sword starts to slip from sweating trembling fingers. As his head begins to bow he notices the other shadows beside his own, the shadows of his friends. He realises that he now has so much more to live and fight for.

Bending a knee he thrust his hand in the hot sand, to dry his clammy hand, then standing to his full height he roars his defiance to the crowd and his opponents "I am Fortu and I will not die today"