worse planned for the otherworldly stranger.
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Sinbad made it all the way to the gateway of the arena. His escorts tended to each door and opened them to reveal Zhar Akhdar’s coliseum. Without hesitation or being forced onward by his oppressors, Sinbad walked into the battleground.
The arena was impressive and filled with grandeur. However, no matter how magnificent it was for the dignitaries and spectators it was also terrifying. The entire structure was formed all over the caves. The viewing terraces resembled honeycombs in a buzzing beehive. The ground floor was surrounded by numerous doors and gates with at least two guards stationed in front of each and every one. Sinbad and the rest of the gladiators knew what was at the other side. Only a lucky few had survived to tell the horrifying tales of what savage beasts that been collected all over the planet. Only to be summoned again to encounter another bizarre monster again to gratify Akhdar’s bloodlust.
Like a merciless child, Zhar Akhdar, treated his prisoners like insects trapped in a bell jar. Watching sadistically how long they could survive without any air. And how he relished pulling the wings off them in order to prolong their suffering.
Sinbad lifted his head to the royal balcony to see Zhar Akhdar accompanied by his lovely sister Aella, several alien notables, robed courtiers, advisers, and bodyguards stood in attendance. Akhdar was tall and slender with light green skin. He wore the traditional attire of his regal family, including many valuable golden rings adorned on his thin claw-like fingers. They were drinking wine and eating very rich delicacies native to the Thulian culture. Towering marble columns supported the high ceiling. Carved Martian hieroglyphs embellished the decorative cornice running along the tops of the walls.
Akhdar enjoyed being the center of attention. He just couldn’t get enough of it. In all the evil he has done, his
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greatest sin would have to be vanity, followed by greed and pride.
His sister Aella wasn’t as conceited. Her greed wasn’t as equivalent because she had everything her heart desired. But all except for one: companionship. Aella’s beauty was unlike all the other females in the kingdom. Many suitors were drawn by her loveliness and would give anything to run their fingers through her long, red luscious hair. Only to be rejected by her triviality. Aella didn’t find politicians appealing with their big round bellies, their arrogant behavior, and of course the pungent stench of wine and smoke that stained their clothes and breath.
Akhdar found his sister’s insincerities a thorn to his side. He continually evoked her to stop being such a child and finally consider marriage. Especially to a prince from a neighboring realm, so Akhdar would forge an alliance and expand his influence throughout Mars. Aella cared for her brother, but hated being treated as one of his subordinates. If she would marry someone it would be for love, not for her brother’s personal gain.
Akhdar sat on his throne with his sister by his side. The young zhar looked down to the arena and saw the puny Earthman known as Sinbad meeting his eyes.
“I am here, Akhdar,” Sinbad called up to him. “I have honored my half of our agreement. I trust you will honor yours.”
Akhdar paused and briefly meditated on the subject. A look of confusion was on his face. It was as if he couldn’t understand what language Sinbad was speaking. The zhar looked at his sister in misperception.
“‘Trust,’ dear sister?” he asked in bewilderment.
“A foreign concept, my brother,” Aella replied, staring at Sinbad. A small lascivious smile crept on her delicate face. She couldn’t take her eyes off this far-off creature’s
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physique. Such strong arms and brightly tanned skin. “A rare quality his kind infrequently possesses.”
“Ah,” confirmed Akhdar, grinning savagely.
He signaled Tarkhun, his right hand man and loyal bodyguard, to bring Sinbad’s confiscated scimitar from the armory. Tarkhun presented it to his lord and master. Akhdar merely waved it away for his majordomo to throw the sword out the balcony and landed several feet in front of Sinbad.
The sailor pulled his reliable sword out of the ground. He took several practice slashes and showed off some of his swordsmanship skills. Aella admiringly watched him from the royal terrace. She fantasied him as both her lover and her guardian. Even though he wasn’t a natural inhabitant to this advanced civilization, this made her infatuation more taboo.
She stared at the handsome outlander and studied him with half lidded eyes at the fluidity of the way he moved. She had seen several of his fights and gathered enough evidence of his power and skill. Then she wondered if he had talents of similar magnitude in other areas of life.
In the corner of his eye Akhdar noticed her coarse ogling and followed her gaze to the human. Disgusting, he thought. Such an affair would damage his image to his faithful followers and his high-class peers.
Akhdar quickly rose from his throne and motioned to his guards on the combat zone.
“Release the moktar!” he yelled at the top of his lungs.
His bellowing gave his sister quite a jolt. She broke her fanatical gazing and turned her attention to the arena.
The two strong guards pulled the heavy chains under extreme duress. The sound of gigantic feet thundered behind the door and the vibrations shook the coliseum. Bits of rock shook loose and several stalactites fell into the arena. Sinbad and the guards maneuvered away from the debris. Then the sound of demonic trumpets and growls emerged through the door.
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Massive and slow-moving, rapid movements sounded at the other side. Shadows obscured the light that had been pouring through the thin crack of the door.
Sinbad stood ready. Through everyone else’s eyes, they all considered him lucky for staying alive for so long in his imprisonment. But Sinbad didn’t believe in such a thing. He believed a man could control his own fate by the actions that define him. Not by playing as destiny’s puppet. But he didn’t argue with divine intervention. Sinbad believed Allah had kept him alive because this world needed him. The sailor had no qualms on that notion. All he cared about was the wellbeing of others.
Before the guards could fully open the door, the massive beast broke loose onto the arena. Its monstrous strength knocked the enormous door off its hinges and broke in two with its colossal feet. Two great eyes blazed from the wavering shadows. The moktar gave out a primal roar, with his small trunk swinging in the air with fierce rage. The hideousness of its face transcended more beastly.
Sinbad’s hair rose up and he grasped his sword very tightly.
Cries of amazement rose amongst the assembled members of the audience and many scattered away from the creature.
He stared in the unknown at the creature, which sat with such uncanny patience before the closed door. He shuddered at the sight of the giant feet, thickly grown with hair that was almost fur-like. The body was thick, broad and bushy. It growled as it breathed.
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