Nightsea Outlaw

Sayed stepped away from his story and toward where Alex and Erin stood. Shocked wasn't the right word to describe Alex's feelings when he heard the story, but it was the closest. Sayed had spun a story for the three men, and they had listened to his every word. It must have been a daily occurrence. After every fight, Sayed would tell the story of the fight to those who stayed behind in the maze. Alex had so many questions.

"Saint, wait." A man dressed like Sayed had been before came forward and bowed to Sayed.

"Yes, Abed," Sayed said as he turned to him, smiling.

"Your robes, Saint. What has happened?"

"There is nothing to worry about," Sayed said. "I gave them up so that we could help that man. I will do what I can with what I find. Such is a small price to pay to honor such a brave warrior."

Sayed currently just wore a loose-fitting cloth around his groin. In Alex's eyes, Sayed was a lifelong fighter. Scars covered his skin across his chest and down his legs. However, there was only one single long scar down his back.

Abed frowned at the answer but bowed and returned to the two other prisoners. Sayed again came toward them, a broad smile on his face. He bowed to them before rising to introduce himself.

"While we have met, it was not in the best circumstances. I am Sayed. In this world, I am known as 'Sword Saint' Sayed."

"I thought I recognized you," Alex said, nodding as he thought back to the various posters he always saw plastered across towns. "I've seen your poster before."

"Yes.” Sayed nodded back. "I am wanted by the authorities of this world. All for the simple crime of wanting people to be free."

"My full name is Alexander Ortega.” Alex held out his hand. "I'm also wanted by the Military Police. They call me 'Tin Man' Ortega, but call me Alex."

Sayed clasped his hand, and they shook hands. Sayed's grip was firm, but it wasn't crushing. They met eyes, and Alex already knew he would like Sayed. He smiled as they let go, and both turned to Erin.

"Erin, as before," she said, not looking either of them in the eye. "Just Erin."

Silence filled the air around them, but Alex wouldn't push. You couldn't force people to say things they didn't want to tell you. You could try. Torture was one way. But it wasn't right to push when another person didn't want to say.

"So.” Sayed broke the silence. "You are both new to the island or at least new to this arena. You are welcome to my camp and can stay safe from the fights above. I volunteer for every fight here so the most vulnerable can be safe."

"That's why you fought every day," Alex said. "For the last month."

"It is a burden one such as myself should bear." Sayed nodded. "For God has blessed me to be a fighter."

"That reminds me.” Alex held up the sword and the gauntlet, letting his staff fall against his shoulder. "These are yours."

"Thank you, my brother.” Sayed reached forward and took the sword and gauntlet before returning to the group. "Jack, can you please take these to my tent."

"Yes, sir." The boy with a mess of long black hair dressed in rags ran from the other two men, taking the sword and gauntlet before rushing back into the camp.

"On Hajh, he would have been an initiate," Sayed said. "I met him for the first time a month ago in the maze, asleep in what I think was his father's arms. The father had died soon after coming here, as many do."

"The people who run this place don't care much about who gets put down here."

"Far too true, brother," Sayed said. "The poor take the worst of it. That was why I came here to begin with. I was going to free them all. However, I did not know how the entire thing worked. It was only after I was captured that I found out how hard it is to escape from here. The only exit I have found is when going up to fight."

"Whoever set this up has access to a lot of power," Alex said, carefully not mentioning that he knew the source of that power.

He liked Sayed, but that didn't mean he would spill all his secrets out in the open. Sayed seemed like the type of person who would honestly say whatever he thought despite how he had spun the story about the dragon earlier. However, there were too many unknowns to throw out everything he knew.

"What was with that story from earlier?" Erin asked. "You said yourself you didn't even know that man, yet you lied about what happened in the fight, didn't you? Why would you do that?"

"Ah," Sayed said, looking back at the small group of prisoners that had gathered around the unconscious man. "It is for a very simple reason. People often need a good lie to hope for a better day tomorrow. There are many harsh truths in the world, but we are blessed to be able to believe in lies so that they may one day become the truth."

"They dream of a better tomorrow, so you can make it better?" Alex asked.

"Something like that," Sayed said. "Everyone needs a good story, or, as you said, a lie, to help them be better. All I did was take the fight and make it a story to help those people sleep better tonight."

"What happens when they figure out it won't get better?" Erin asked. "Lying isn't going to help them when they see that they're not getting out of here."

"By then, they will at least know not to dash the hopes of the young." Sayed turned back to them, smiling. "The old know that the young are the future. The old know to tell the story so the young may hope."

"You don't ruin Santa for kids." Alex shrugged, but both of them looked back at him, confused. "Don't worry about it."

"Is there anything you two wish to know about the maze or the fights?" Sayed asked. "You are newcomers, and I will not have you go into this world as blind as I did the first few nights."

"Are there other groups in the maze?" Erin asked.

"Several. We have met many of them," Sayed said. "We are at the highest point in the maze, and most people come here at some point. However, they don't always survive to come here. Most choose not to stay, or they perish in the arena."

"Have you ever heard of a man calling himself Roald?" Erin asked. "He would be an old man and very secretive."

"Never," Sayed said, raising an eyebrow. "Is he a family member?"

"No." Erin frowned. "He might have gone by another name."

"When would he have gotten here?" Sayed asked.

"About half a year ago," she said. "We were hoping..."

She stopped. Alex wanted to hear more, but Erin looked down to avoid eye contact with either of them. Both Sayed and Alex waited, but Erin didn't continue.

"How do they call you into the fights?" Alex asked.

"A white light appears near groups of people in the maze. If no one goes into it, it goes and takes them."

"Have they ever forced people in beyond that?" Alex asked.

"Only if no one takes on the fight," Sayed said. "In my time here, no light has ever just appeared above anyone."

"It makes it more of a choice," Alex whispered. "I imagine they want people who are willing to fight, not people who run."

"They do find that more entertaining," Sayed said, a grim smile cracking his face. "I've seen the crowd throw rocks and other things at those that run away."

"Hubert said something about it being for entertainment," Alex sighed. "If the people who watch are that wrapped up in it, that'll make anything I want to do harder. I wanted to poke around more before I came into the arena."

"You wouldn't have been able to," Sayed said. "The only way into the stands is through the maze. The rest of the people are born and die inside the structure."

"I know how they do it," Alex whispered, shaking his head.

Whoever ran the island used the island core to provide for everyone they wanted on the island. If there was a heavy stratification between the rich and the poor, then he probably didn't even have to feed the whole island. The people of Glory Plateau were trapped in a cage, and anyone who fell out of line would be sent to die fighting for the entertainment of the people they ran from.

"I hate it," Alex said.

"Both of us do, brother," Sayed said, patting his shoulder firmly. "But for the moment, I can only fight. I can only protect those around me."

"What if you could do more?" Alex asked.

"More than being trapped here?" Erin said, shaking her head. "If Roald isn't here, I need to get out myself."

"There is no escape from the maze." Sayed shook his head. "The only chance to even try is when fighting in the arena. The walls there are high, and there is always a fight before immediately being sent down below."

"But they call more than one person up," Alex said. "And it isn't like down here up there, right?"

"You will feel stronger in the arena than down in the maze." Sayed waved at the walls around them. "There is a hunger in these walls that eats away at you. It draws away your strength and leaves you weak. Going into the arena is like a breath of fresh air."

"Which means aether," Erin said.

"Which means I can use my curse at least," Alex said, running his boot across the stone below him.

He would be able to sense weaknesses in the area around him then. He would also have access to his two paths. Alex smiled. The situation looked grim when he was first brought into the maze, but now it was looking up.

All in all, it wasn't a great plan, but it was a start. If he went up the next day for the fight, he would be able to get a better sense of the situation. Once he did that, he could develop a plan and at least not be sent back to the arena. Unless the person operating the island core knew more about it than him, Alex was confident he could keep himself from being caught again. He cracked a smile.

"Do you know who is in charge of the fights?" Alex asked.

"A man named Gulantry." Sayed nodded. "He will watch the fights from a protected balcony. I have never seen it pierced by man or monster, but he enjoys watching the fights and rarely will not be there."

"Alright," Alex said. "This is something I can work with."

Sayed looked at him, and for a moment, Alex thought he saw disbelief on the man's face. He didn't have to speculate much to guess what he was thinking. When confronted with this situation, most people wouldn't immediately react by thinking through the possibilities and developing a plan. They might go into shock or break down when a situation seems hopeless. That just wasn't who Alex was.

If he were given a problem, his mind would not stop until he solved it. It was how he had escaped from the lab. It was how he had made it this far. He would not let himself be beaten without a fight. That was who Alex was at his core.

"So, my brothers." Sayed smiled, returning to his camp and beckoning them both to follow. "Let us eat together tonight so we can go into glorious battle tomorrow."