Junior Gladiators

The naked young boy shrieked in pain as the sword sliced its way through his firm stomach. He buckled to his knees, dropping his own short sword as he looked down in horrified fascination at the thick, pink loops of intestine slipping out of the bloody gash. Lora felt pity, as the child seemed no older than her own little brother, but she quickly clamped down on her emotions. With an experienced twirl of her muscular arms, she beheaded the lad in a single stroke. The head tumbled to the sand and rolled a few meters before coming to a stop. The headless body keeled over, fresh blood pumping forth from the stump of his neck.

Lora leaned over and picked up the head by its long, tangled hair. She looked her victim in the eyes, and silently prayed for forgiveness. The boy didn't respond, his eyes dulled in death and his mouth slack and open. She raised the head in the air as the audience roared in approval, bloodlust thick in the dust.

The staff came by and hurriedly removed the nude boy's corpse, sweeping fresh sand over the pool of blood left behind. Lora stumbled back to her bench and gulped from a water bottle offered by one of the staff. She stretched her arms and laid back as the announcer hyped up the next contestant. At the sound of the horns, she hopped back into the hot sand of the stadium.

Another lad, this time slightly older than the last. She took a guess that he was about 14 years of age. He crouched down and readied his sword. Lora stood still as the boy circled her, her eyes analyzing her opponent. He was muscular and tall, his blonde hair cut short. She sensed a freshness to him, a nervous newbie sent into the arena for the first time. She would make sure it would be his last.

The boy charged, youthful impatience overpowering his nerves. With a yell, he struck at Lora with a downward swipe. The gladiatrix sidestepped the clumsy attack, and counter-attacked, sinking her sword in between the ribcage of the blonde boy. He froze, his blue eyes wide. Lora savagely pushed the sword deeper, until the hilt bumped up against the boy's smooth skin. The blade punctured his left lung and plunged into his frantically beating heart. The young blonde could only open his mouth in a silent gasp, before crumpling to the sand, his eyes rolling up. Lora gripped the sword and wrenched it out of the still body. She wiped the blood off on the boy's loincloth and slipped it back into her scabbard.

Lora slumped into her chair and sighed. Over her career as a gladiatrix, she had killed about 200 people, mostly other women. But now, they had her going up against children. The face of the 12 year old boy haunted her. His brown eyes empty of life, his soft cheeks coated in his own blood and tears.
The way he had softly moaned in terror as his guts drooped out of his stomach. But soon it would be over. She only had 3 more fights before her contract expired, and she would be let free from the arena.
Lora thought about her retirement. The fights had netted her enough money to do nothing but laze around for the rest of her life, which sounded real nice to her. Perhaps a little cottage in the middle of the western range, far away from anyone or anything.