The Hunter on Arena Read Free

he had used in the past while rock climbing in the mountains.
     So long as the distance between the walls remained constant and he had the strength to support himself, he would be safe.
    The journey, such as it was, continued for an interminable period of time, measured only by the degree of his exhaustion.
     For even though Braldt was in prime physical condition, the activity he was engaged in was most unusual, putting an unfamiliar
     strain upon his muscles as he scuttled sideways—hand, foot, hand, foot— resting only when the occasional large stone provided
     adequate support. The instant relief which resulted was followed by an involuntary trembling of overstressed, aching muscles.
     Then, far too soon, the journey resumed, for to stop too long was to risk exhausted muscles locking up, stiffening, refusing
     to function. And beneath him, the floor grew hotter still, now a bright, fiery crimson from which rolled wave after wave of
     blast-furnace heat.
    It was after one such brief rest that it happened. A sense of dizziness came over him and he braced himself hard against the
     stones on either side, fearing that he was about to fall. However, the whirling sensation was not a trick of his mind, but
     reality. The fiery floor suddenly appeared above him, and he shrank back despite himself,fearing that it was about to fall on top of him. In doing so, he lost his hold; his fingers, raw and bleeding from the constant
     abrasion of the rough rock, were unable to support his weight.
    He fell, twisting in mid-air, throwing out his arms to catch himself, expecting to land on what had been the ceiling only
     seconds before, the little lights shining up through the darkness below him, but then, an instant before he landed, the lights
     and the ceiling fell away and once again he found himself falling into nothingness.
    Despair fought with confusion as well as anger, although against whom or what he could not have said, but it was then that
     he first began to suspect that someone or something was purposely manipulating him, and a resolve grew within him to fight
     back, not to give in, or to allow them to win, to defeat him. He was Braldt the Hunter, a warrior protector of the Duroni.
     He would not be vanquished by unseen enemies who played upon his fears of the unknown. Somehow he would survive.
    He had half expected to find himself surrounded once again by the whirling tunnel of bright lights, but such was not the case.
     Turning in mid-air, he suddenly found himself in yet another corridor. Startled, he barely had time to take a deep breath
     before he smacked face down in a roaring maelstrom of water which raced through the narrow channel formed by the metal walls.
     Instantly, he was seized by the turbulent water and flung headlong, only to be pulled beneath the surface by the foaming torrent.
     He surfaced briefly and sucked in a gasp of air, as well as a mouthful of water, before beingdragged under yet again. The current was as fierce below as above, but lacked the violent turbulence which resulted from currents
     crashing into the walls and rebounding.
    The walls were smooth, without purchase, and he began to grow desperate for it was all but impossible to take in air without
     swallowing equal amounts of water. Then his fingers found a seam, a narrow, raised edge of the wall, and he clung to it in
     desperation, meeting the flow of water head on so as to give himself the most leverage; to have turned the other way was to
     risk being washed away. It was not much, merely a fingerhold, but it was enough to allow him to raise high enough up out of
     the water to breathe. It also afforded him the first look at his surroundings.
    Initially, it appeared to be no different than the first corridor, other than the race of water. Then, glancing up, he saw
     that the ceiling was crisscrossed with numerous, thin beams of light. None was even half as wide as his littlest finger, but
     all of them shone with an unnatural intensity.