They Were Born Upon Ashes by Kenneth Champion

superior officers who had received word of the travesty kept their words to themselves. They knew that rumors spread like wild fire in the arena. The Refect and the superior officers in the city still wanted nothing more than to entertain the good people of Vincot and make as much money as possible from betting on the combatants.
    Phillip found himself on the bloody sands of the Vincot Arena fighting to the death with one dark skinned Paplon named Downfall. They stood face to face at the center of the arena waiting for Game Commissioner George Belan to ring the bell from the stands.
    Phillip breathed calmly. The sun beamed down heavily as it broke through an array of thick clouds. A few drops of sweat fell to the ground. His opponent stared at him without blinking. Both men had their hands near their weapons and were ready to engage. Neither of them opted to wield a shield. That was always a risk considering how skillful some Paplon were with a bow and arrow.
    The bell rang.
    Downfall pulled out his two steel short swords and came hurling at Philip while letting out a mighty scream.
    Phillip placed both hands on his steel battle axe and placed it across his body at a diagonal angle.
    The crowd erupted. They screamed and cheered as the two men made their first moves of the fight.
    A flurry of Downfall’s attacks came at Phillip and he calmly blocked them with ease.
    Whether the attack came from the left, right, or at an upward angle, Phillip was too quick to block.
    One sword came from the above and the other was swung towards his shin. Phillip jumped backwards to avoid a blow.
    He hooked the sword in the curved edge of his battle axe and whipped it to the side. The sword came hurling out of Downfall’s hands and fell onto the sandy arena floor.
    It was Phillip’s turn to attack. He swung the heavy battle axe like it was a wooden stick. His opponent stepped backwards with each blow he defended with his insignificant short sword. Downfall would block an attack, but the strength behind Phillip’s battle axe would send the short sword slinging towards his own body. He would not only have to dodge the swing of the battle axe, but he would also have to dodge the blow back momentum from his own sword.
    After a flurry of a dozen swings Phillip sent out his signature attack. He jumped in the air and spun around a whole three hundred and sixty degrees with his mighty axe in hand.
    Downfall put both hands on the grip of the sword and aimed it in defense as Phillip came around with his attack.
    The battle axe cut through the steel short sword like a knife would cut through a piece of string.
    The top half of Downfall’s sword came speeding towards his face and left a gash above his eye.
    Phillip did not stop attacking. Downfall dipped and dove out of the way of the onslaught of deadly attacks. He narrowly escaped each attack. The battle axe came so close to landing a blow that Downfall could feel the hairs on his body sway from the wind that Phillip’s axe created.
    Downfall did a back flip as Phillip swung his axe. As Downfall stood up his hands were closed into fists. Phillip came closer to swing his axe once more only to have a hand full of sand thrown into his eyes.
    Phillip yelled in pain and annoyance as Downfall took the opportunity of Phillip not being able to see and ran around him to pick up his other steel short sword that was still on the ground near the center of arena.
    The crowd booed as Downfall made his cowardly escape. Phillip rubbed the sand out of his eyes and ran towards Downfall with a new determination. He had never wanted to kill someone quite as badly in the arena as he did in that moment.
    He continued his sprint towards Downfall while he simultaneously swung his axe from left to right. It twirled from hand to hand flawlessly as if it were weightless.
    Downfall stood his ground.
    Phillip jumped in the air with his mighty axe fully stretched behind his back. Downfall stood there helplessly and tried to