“Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,” said the ringmaster. “It is time for the first semi-final of our tournament. Please bring forward Eustace Greaves and Tony Ayles.”

The men were forced onto the stages facing each other and their feet placed in the holes of the lower blocks. Then the halves of the upper blocks were returned to their original positions and secured with clips, trapping their ankles.

“Our opening rounds tested the rebels’ strength; now we’ll test their skill,” explained the ringmaster.

As the guards brought out large heavy buckets and placed them all around the feet of the rebels, the ringmaster continued. “You will have fifteen minutes to stone your opponent. I hope you played cricket as kids!”

Back at his seat, the ringmaster shouted, “Your fifteen minutes start now!”

“Maybe Eustace will have an advantage?” I opined to my son. “Tony’s lanky frame has more surface area to hit.”

“Yes, but it looks like he is struggling anyway,” replied my son. I looked and saw that Tony was indeed having trouble even bending down to pick stones from the buckets. The slashes in his legs given to him by Randy were bleeding and causing him significant pain.

Even so, the battle was brutal, and the audience roared every time there was a significant hit on the head or groin. The men’s head’s and bodies were soon covered in cuts and bruises, and their blood flowed freely.

Eustace definitely had the edge though, settling into a rhythm where he would pick up four stones, then lob them in quick succession at Tony’s head. He soon learned to compensate for Tony ducking down and covering his head with his arms, and more often than not his stones met their mark.

After ten minutes Tony had had enough. He slumped forward with his arms and head down and just cried, no longer attempting to protect himself.

Eustace paused and looked over at the ringmaster.

“He must die,” the ringmaster called out. “You have five more minutes.”

Eustace stared at him for a moment in disbelief, and then looked down around him. “I’ll need some more stones then,” he said.

The guards brought over more buckets and Eustace saw that they contained larger, heavier stones. He picked out two, and used all his strength and skill to send them into the back of Tony’s skull.

Tony was unresponsive, so the paramedic came into the arena to take his pulse.

“Not quite!” she reported, stepping back to allow Eustace to throw two more stones.

The audience was silent as Eustace was forced to throw six further stones before the paramedic confirmed Tony’s death.

“Please show your appreciation for our first finalist, Eustace Greaves,” said the ringmaster.

The audience clapped respectfully as Eustace was led back to his post.