"You're better than this, Vral."

The goblin's eyes grew darker, and the veins in her forehead bulged. "You don't know a thing about me, human..." The air around her swirled as she spat my race at me. "You have no idea what I've been through. What I've done to survive." Her canines grew longer with every word she spoke. "To lose is to die. That law is absolute. So I'll stop at nothing. I'll win no matter what." Her eyes, despite being wild, had a hint of sadness in them. "Winning is all I'm good for. It's the only thing the Slasher has ever been good for. It's who I am."

I shook my head. "You deserve more."

"THERE IS NOTHING MORE!" Spit flew from her lips as she screamed at me, the veins in her neck bulging.

Those were the Dark Lord's words. Everything he said was so absolute. So black and white. It was easy to fall into that kind of thinking. And the second you did, your world shrank and shrank until there was nothing left. But nothing was absolute. Everything had nuance. Arden taught me that. And he taught me to always dig deeper. To find the truth about people. The things that made them who they were.

In the end, even genuinely awful people like Aerell didn't wake up one day and choose to be evil for evil's sake. Life was complicated, and bad things happened all the time that broke people who otherwise would have been good. It was the job of people like me to make sure that they didn't hurt more people and make the world worse, but it would be better if people didn't get broken in the first place.

And Vral wasn't awful. Not at all. I knew it. She was a good person deep down. Since the first day I met her outside the Galden mine, I knew it. She had standards. She had hopes and dreams. She had virtues, even if they were more lax than mine. She'd been a mercenary her adult whole life, after all. She didn't have the luxury of being as stalwart as people like Tristan or Ro or Na-Ya, or even me for that matter. She'd just been hurt too many times. She was just hurt and tired and scared. She needed one person in this life to not let her down, and I was determined to make that person me.

But, even if she were awful, I'd still fight for her. I wouldn't have made it nearly six months in the Pit without her. I knew that deep in my soul. I owed her everything.

"Don't do it, girl." I held out my hand to her. "Let's wrap it up and move forward. We have a hard fight ahead of us. Come with me." I held my hand out to her.

"You would dare offer your hand without defeating me first?" Her voice was guttural and promised death.

"I just want to end this. Why can't you see that this isn't everything?"

"Stop me, then..." Her features almost looked like they were warring with themselves. In one blink, she was Vral. The next, the Slasher. "And help me see..."

Blink.

"PROVE IT!" She looked wild and untamed. "Fucker! No one can tame me! No one can own me!"

Fuck!

How the hell could I get her to stop this?

Could I appeal to her better nature?

Hell no.

One of her nicknames down here was "Tiny Murder Machine."

Probably not.

What about the power of friendship?

Did that ever work?

No.

But fuck it. Let's go.

"Vral." I pulled deep. I wasn't good at this. "You've been there for me. Every day, we've talked. You're funny. You're sharp. You're sassy. You're kind of an ass, but in an endearing way. You've had a hard life, but you want more. So much more. And you deserve more, too." I smiled at her. "You're not some piece of goblin trash like you've said a thousand times. You're more than that." The Dark Lord's vision came to me then. I could see her whole life in my mind. She'd been through so much hardship. "You deserved more than being snatched away from your tribe. You deserved more than being some shithead lord's slave, and some plaything for some little girl. And you definitely deserve more than to be thrown into a cell and forced to fight for your life. You deserve more, and that Dark Lord fuck's not about to give it to you. This isn't the way forward."

She snarled. "I never told you about any of that..." Her eyes were glowing now. Like, for real. Actually glowing.

No one else I knew who'd been in contact with the Dark Lord had that happen. Were goblins different?

"I never told you about when I was a girl. And I definitely never told you about her." Vral growled. "Those are my memories. Mine! Stay out of my fucking head!" She stepped forward, snarling.

"Yeah, well, I know about it. And..." I reached out to her. "You know what else I know, Vral?"

"What?!"

"You're my friend. The only one I've had these past six months. I don't want to lose you." It was a cheesy line, but I meant it.

She bared her teeth, her teeth growing longer and more pointed as the shadows roiled around her small body. "You think you can tell me some bullshit like 'you're my friend' and make me set my blades down? Fucking loser. And, even if I fall into the darkest depths of this world, didn't you say you were going to save me? Then PROVE IT!"

Shit! The power of friendship never worked! Especially not with someone whose personality was basically half sass, half trust issues.

Um... What would get to her, then? What would work?

She was proud as hell. Arrogant. She always claimed she didn't need anyone's help. That she could do everything on her own...

... She didn't need anyone's help...

"Pssh," Flicking my wrist dramatically, I used her mannerisms against her. "You're so pathetic that you need to lean on someone else just to have a chance of winning against me. What a loser." I lowered my sword into a fool's guard, making it look like I wasn't taking her seriously. "I thought you might actually be worth a shit. Turns out, you're just a weak little girl who needs a daddy figure to come save her when things get tough." I scoffed. "I thought you were better than this. Looks like I was wrong." I looked away from her then, only keeping her in the corner of my eye so she couldn't shank me.

"I..." The shadows coiled around her. "You think I'm nothing? Me??!"

"Less than nothing." What would get to her the most? Her words from back when we first sparred together flooded into my mind. I could have strangled her back then. "You're a little bitch."

She sputtered, and her face went bright red. "W-w-what did you—"

"You heard me." Oh damn. That got her good.

"You... fucking... asshole!"

"Yep, that's me." I kept up the nonchalant asshole thing. "Alex the Asshole. That was actually the first title I ever got." It wasn't even a lie. "Thanks, Mom."

For the first time since she'd gotten worked up, she cracked a smile, and a hint of the Vral I knew appeared. "It suits you..." She stepped closer, her smile wavering. "Now say what you said again. See what happens."

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"I told you already. I know you heard me." I turned to her and smirked. "A. Little. Bitch."

"I..." Her face twisted. "Is that really what you think of me?"

"Yup." I looked up then, taking in the crowd while pretending like she wasn't worth looking at.

She snarled beside me but didn't move.

"Take your time. I know it's hard to accept the truth." Pretending to be uninterested in her anymore, I took in the crowd. I needed to find those voices. Plus, I knew being ignored would drive her crazy.

"Look at me!"

"Not worth it," I said through a yawn. "Only real ones deserve my full attention." She wanted a good fight more than anything. She wouldn't attack. I hoped.

Some noise between a growl and a whimper escaped Vral's lips.

Using her hesitation, I looked around the audience. After a quick scan, I saw Aerell sitting at my nine o'clock. She was up in a box seat looking down at us, her eyes narrowed, and her usual nasty smile spread across her face. Two people were sitting beside her: a man and a woman by the shape of them.

My throat caught. If Aerell's aura was black as night, the other two were black holes. As strong as I'd become, they made the hairs on my neck stand on end.

Worse, the woman was the person who'd been cackling. She was still doing it... But why?

My Helm's enchantment let me see her as clearly as if she were in front of me. I could just barely make out her long brown hair from under her hood. The curve of her jaw. Her little nose. She seemed so familiar... Had she been the same woman that we'd fought outside Goodfield?

This wasn't good if that was true. I was stronger than Jorn was when he fought her, but not by much. She was holding back and nearly wiped the floor with him. I wasn't confident I'd do much better.

Alex.

Tristan?

Scanning, I saw that, a few boxes away, at my eleven o'clock, Elise's box was filled with people now. In it, Elise was standing and looking straight at me with an intense expression on her face. Beside her, I saw a black-haired, veiled woman who could only be Tristan. Her face was covered with a sheer blue veil that covered half her face, but her beautiful sapphire eyes were locked on mine and glowing in the dim arena light. There was nothing but love in those beautiful orbs. On Elise's other side, I saw Ennel standing too, looking grim-faced. And, behind them, there were others, too. I knew their faces.

Ro. Renard. Varga. Na-Ya. Jorn and Maven, Claws perched on his spot on her shoulder. Nivan. Nel. Silan.

My family.

Raising my sword, I pointed it at Tristan and winked.

She gave me the biggest eye roll I'd ever seen, but I could tell she was smiling behind her veil. She followed her eye roll with a blown kiss.

I pretended to catch it and pressed it to my lips, and the crowd went wild.

"What's this? Does the Iron Sentinel have a clandestine lover?! Say a silent prayer for all the maidens in the audience today. If the Goddess's blessings are with you, he and the lady with the deep blue eyes up above are looking for a third; otherwise, you're out of luck!"

The ladies in the audience began booing. I'd pissed them off something fierce, but...

They were here.

Real, unrestrained hope entered my heart for the first time in a very long time.

One way or another, we were all getting out of here. That left only one thing. All I had to do was save Vral.

"Hey." Vral's voice was close now.

Looking away from my family and back toward Vral, I saw that the shadows had pulled away from her. "You rethinking your life yet?"

She nodded. "Yeah." With a big sigh, her eyes lowered, and her voice came out as barely more than a whisper. "Alex?"

"Yeah?"

Vral stepped toward me, her eyes shimmering. "Am I allowed to want more?"

My heart ached for her. She was so afraid of believing that her life could actually be better. I understood her completely. That's how I felt back on Earth. In that way, we were the same. Maybe the intensity of the hardship was different, but the feelings were the same. "You are."

"I..." Her chest shook, and tears began to stream down her cheeks. "I want to believe you."

"Then do it." I stepped toward her. We were close now. Barely two feet separated us. "Believe me."

She swallowed.

The announcer's voice rumbled around us. "What is this?! Are our combatants resuming their match? Are they calling a truce? Are they sizing one another up before the bitter end?! What's happening, folks? Give our two champions some encouragement!"

The audience rumbled so much, I thought the ceiling might actually fall down on us this time.

"Kill him!"

"Crush him, Slasher!"

"You can do it, Murder Machine!"

"Fuck you, Sentinel!"

"Cheating bastard!"

That last one made me chuckle as I took in the little woman in front of me. "You hear that, Vral? They're cheering for you. Looks like they believe in you, too. Just like I do."

She looked up at the audience. Took the crowd in. Her lips turned upward, and the shadows in her aura faded further. "They're... cheering for me? They never cheer for me."

"Yep."

I watched as her eyes cleared. "When did that happen?"

I didn't know. She'd always been the biggest heel down here... but, somewhere along the way... the audience began cheering for her as hard as they'd cheered for me. No, even harder. "People believe in you more than you know, Vral. You are more than you know."

Her breath hitched. "You think so?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "I know so."

"I..." Her lips moved, but no sound came out.

"And you know something else?"

"What?"

"It wouldn't matter if you took that deal with the Dark Lord." I laughed at my upcoming words. This would be the cockiest thing I'd ever said. "I'll still kick your ass. No weak ass little bitch can beat the Iron Sentinel, and she definitely couldn't beat the Hero of the Pit." I pointed my sword at her. "You might as well stay you. Trust issues and all. I like you. I like you a lot. I'd prefer it that way."

She stepped backward, crossing her daggers in front of her as if my words had been an attack. "Why?"

"I just do. I don't need a reason." I stepped forward. "So stand tall, girl. You've never needed anyone to help you before. Why start now? You that afraid of losing that you'd give up your pride?"

As my words rattled around in her head, the shadows pulled away from her entirely. Her eyes brightened, and the veins in her forehead relaxed. Slowly, her aura lightened until there was nothing left but Vral. Until she looked exactly as she always had: fierce, determined, and beautiful.

With a big grin, she said, "You know what?" She twirled her daggers, threw one into the air, did a backflip, and caught it between her fingers. "You're right!" Her grin turned into a smile. "No one will ever say that Vral Tu'vigh was a little bitch in the end." She laughed. "I'm a badass." Pointing one of her daggers at me, she added, "And don't you fucking forget it, boy toy!"

Was that her full name? It'd always been the Slasher in the past. "Tu'vigh?"

Her face dropped, and her cheeks got red. "That's my clan's name. I'm the only one left, but still..." Her cheeks got darker, and I got the impression that she was seeing me for the first time.

"It's pretty. What does it mean?"

Her blush grew deeper. "Ash Eater."

"Damn!" I was a Clark. Clark meant clerk in medieval or something. What the shit! Clark wasn't nearly as epic as Vral fucking Ash Eater! "Hell yeah, Vral Tu'vigh. That's a badass name."

She shuffled, looking bashful for the first time ever. "I've never told anyone that before."

"I'm proud to be your first."

Smiling shyly, she asked, "You like it?"

"Love it."

"Good."

The crowd held its breath as we started readying ourselves once again.

Pointing my sword at her, I asked, "You ready to finish this?"

"Yeah. Now I am." She stepped forward and tapped her daggers on my sword. "Round three?"

"Fuck yeah. Let's do it." The end of this fight was here, and I was going to win.

With a bright smile, Vral stepped back a good ten feet, then said, "I may not fully believe you yet, but I think I'm ready to start trying. The problem is, it's only right and proper for a high-quality goblin woman like myself to test you to the very end. That's the only way she would ever..." Her blush reached her ears. "Beat me, okay?"

"I will."

"I know you will." She stuck her tongue out. "But for this last round, no tricks. No skills. No bullshit. No Goddess powers and no Dark Lord. Just you and me. One last exchange. You down?"

"Come at me, then, Tu'vigh. Show me what you got."

She giggled, then crouched low, assuming something between a fighting stance and a pounce, daggers held forward. "Ready?"

This time, I wouldn't move. I'd take whatever she had left. I dropped low, shield forward, and said, "Fuck yeah."

Her body blurred, and she vanished. Reappearing in the air in front of me, I realized she'd leapt. She was going high, aiming right for my neck. Not a bad call.

I angled my shield upward, intercepting her attack at the very last instant before I died.

One of her daggers sank into my shield, scraping along my bracer and opening up the metal like it was a tin can. Twisting my arm, I watched as her entire body was thrown to the side. That's when I saw her other dagger coming straight for my liver. With the flat of my sword, I caught her arm at the elbow, pressed the blade into her arm just hard enough to slice through her armor, and watched as her weapon clattered to the ground. With everything I had, I punched downward with my shield, catching her in the stomach and launching her into the dirt.

She hit to the ground with a loud thud. Once she got her bearings, she looked up at me with a wide smile spread across her face. "Finish it." Her red eyes were locked on mine.

"Kill her!" Aerell's scream echoed from high above.

I pulled my sword high, roared, and slammed ithe blade downward. Sinking the weapon up to its hilt in the arena sand, I fell on top of Vral.

The audience went silent.

"Did... Did The Hero of the Pit just kill the Slasher?" The announcer asked. "Judges?"

We were looking at one another, panting. Smiling. Satisfied.

"Good fight."

"You beat me." She sounded like she could hardly believe her words. "I've never lost a fight before." Tears were streaming from her eyes, but she was smiling more than I'd ever seen her smile.

Reaching out, I grabbed the hilt of my sword and pulled it out of the ground, where I'd buried it an inch from her head. A small trail of blood leaked from her ear where I'd cut a notch in it. "I told you I would." Sheathing my sword, I extended my hand to her and said, "Take my hand, and let's get out of here."

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