I sat in the antechamber, eyes closed, mulling over my future. I was ready to face death, but if these Siroth motherfuckers didn't show up like they'd promised, I was definitely going to haunt the shit out of them.

The door rattled, and I looked up. Captain Estwin was standing there.

"Show time, Earl."

I got to my feet, grabbed the spear and buckler then hobbled out past him.

"Good luck out there," he said, his voice heavy with something like guilt.

I gave him a lazy salute and made my way to the arena doors. Once settled there, I looked back at the retreating Captain.

"You know what, Estwin? I might not be a good person, and given the chance, I'd burn this whole damn arena to the ground. I especially want to kill the Monarch. But I want you to know, if I ever do get the chance to come back, I hope you're not here. And if you are and you see me, do yourself a favor and run. For you, I won't follow."

His brow furrowed, a mix of confusion and disbelief crossing his face. "You know that's never going to happen?"

"Never say never." I winked at him, and then embraced the warm late morning sun as the doors swung open to the arena and the sound of roaring spectators hit me like a wave.

It took a moment, but I noticed a distinct lack of cheers, and while the boos died down as the crowd realized the state I was in, they'd still annoyed me. I desperately wanted to flip them the bird for this fight, but my left hand was holding a buckler and missing a middle finger, and my right had a death grip on the spear that kept me upright.

All I could do was trudge forward to my opponent. She too watched me like a hawk. Big, green eyes and flame-red hair, taller than me, and just as broad across the shoulders. Though, I reckon I could fit my hands around her waist, it was so narrow.

She bore a striking resemblance to Talla Domina—the woman whose skull I'd bashed in during my first official fight here. If this was another one of her sisters, then I was seriously screwed. Mercy would not be forthcoming.

I checked her identifier.

Name: Intha Anasu

Title: ---

Level: 20

Class: Warrior

Not the same name at least. "Please don't tell me you're here for revenge for your sister?"

The woman frowned. "What?"

"Talla Domina. You look alike."

She shook her head. "No relation. Why have you been sent out like this?"

"I refused to be sign an Archon contract."

Considering she was about to try and kill me, she looked horrified. "So they beat you?"

I shook my head. "Nah, just refused to feed or heal me properly."

"Despicable behavior. I cannot tolerate such treatment. I promise I will make this quick for you, Earl Henshaw."

"Thanks. And I promise if I get the upper hand, I'll make it quick too. I'm starving, and the quicker your dead, the sooner I'll feel better at having a little nibble."

She recoiled, eyes going wide. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I've no idea."

Her jaw dropped. Then she laughed. Whatever she was about to reply was lost under the announcer's booming voice.

"WELCOME, LADIES AND GENTLEME! TODAY WE HAVE THE SECOND FIGHT OF THE LAST EIGHT, AND THE COMETITION IS GETTING WILD NOW.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"SO CAN I HAVE A BIG CHEER FOR EARL HENSHAW OF THE VELKYN ARENA POOL FIGHTERS!"

The crowd was subdued this time, most likely due to my condition. I blanked it all out and focused on trying to hold my stance together on a wobbly knee.

Once settled and as the announcer called her name, I met her eyes. She was staring at me like a hawk.

"FIGHT!" the commentator roared, but it was drowned out by an almighty boom.

And then another. All around us, the arena was exploding.

Intha wasn't looking at me anymore. She'd turned, eyes darting around the arena in terror. I lunged with all my might and stabbed her in an opening in her armor on the small of her back. The spear went, and as I had no other choice but to fall into the blow, we both ended up on the floor, with me landing on her legs pinning her to the floor so that she couldn't get at me with the great sword.

She wriggled and tried to toss me, but pinned with the spear, she had no chance. Just to make sure, I smashed my buckler down on her knee several times until I was certain she wouldn't be able to walk either, and then I shimmied up her legs to get into a better position to remove the spear.

"You, bastard," she cried as I worked my way up.

Once I was certain I had her well pinned in position, I pulled the spear from her back and eyed the bloody welt. For some reason, it didn't look half as appealing as it had in my hunger-riddled daydreams.

"Don't eat me," she sobbed as if reading my mind but getting it twisted.

"Nah, I'm not hungry any more. Don't worry about it."

She tried to turn and get free again.

"I never said I'd let you go though." I raised the spear. "We promised each other we'd make it fast, didn't we?"

Armed men had begun to pour through the breaches. I strained my eyes to see if it was the Siroth, but it was hard to see anything properly with all the dust and smoke in the air.

"The tournament is over," she protested. "Look at this place. It's a rui…"

I rammed the spear through the back of her neck and throat. Her constant babbling was making it hard to concentrate.

More fighting broke out nearby and attack magic flared in different colors, illuminating the fallout of the blasts.

Then out of nowhere, the spider guy appeared, gripping hold of me, and with incredible strength, he hauled me up then shoved a bottle into my hands. "Drink. It's the same stuff as yesterday but stronger. It has healing properties, and I need you using that leg."

"Probably won't heal it," I said, taking a long swig.

"No, but it'll help. We're aware of your special resistance."

"I'm not complaining," I replied before draining the rest of the bottle and planting my spear into the ground to set off walking.

He half-carried me out of the arena, his head flicking from left to right, nervous but controlled. "We need to get you to the edge of the city. We have a portal prepared, ready and waiting for you."

I let out a breathless laugh as we got further and further away from the arena. I looked back as we turned a corner away from the main street and saw the smoking arena. "Can't believe you bastards did all this just for me."

"Not just for you," he corrected. "There were Archons watching you today. One in particular is high on our kill list."

"Did you get him?"

He shook his head. "I have no idea. My task was to get you. There are others targeting the Warden."

"What did he do?"

"He's responsible for the deaths of many thousands of our people. He hides in the halls of his Prime these days, but we have not forgotten."

A few minutes later, we were away from the main areas and clear of most of the carnage and the panicked people filling the streets with their bullshit.

"Just up here," he said, trying to pull me faster despite my obvious disability.

We rounded a corner and came face to face with a group of the most bad ass motherfuckers I'd ever clapped eyes on in my life. To a man, they were in the late twenties, early thirties for level. Vicious weapons, or crackling balls of magic held ready in gauntleted hands. A strong mix of mages and warriors all relieved to see us arrive.

"He's here," one of them shouted, and a portal spun into existence behind the group.

We charged straight for them when I heard Spider falter. Hissing and clicking, he went down hard as fighting broke out all around us. I went to pull him back up when I saw it. A second portal had opened nearby, and golden armored dickheads poured from it.

"No, no, no," Spider dude clacked. "It's him. This isn't part of the plan, Earl. Quickly, get to the portal."

He shook off my hold as the golden-armored warriors surged toward us. I couldn't help myself and identified the leader of the group.

Name: Gorian Anso

Title: Warden of House Garazal. UCPF Field Marshal 2nd Rank

Level: 45

Class: Warrior

He had a saber-style sword which he used to deadly effect, hacking left and right as the Siroth tried to slow him down. His armor flared with magical defenses, and he was able to propel people away from him with a touch of his hand which looked suspiciously like magic.

That wasn't to say that the Siroth were useless. Far from it as they matched the rest of the troops blow for blow.

I continued to half crawl, half stagger my way back to the portal, when a bolt of magic hit me. I heard a shout.

"I've found the Earther!"

"Secure him, I will focus on the Siroth," came the shouted answer back.

I turned just in time to see the answer had come from the Warden, and now an Archon was making their way directly toward me.

I was torn between fighting and running when a barrier appeared around me. One of my Siroth rescuers tried to drag me away, but his hand smashed into it.

Then he was blasted in the face with a wicked blast of white power. I stared at him for a moment, then still facing away from the approaching mage, I delicately pushed a finger at the shield. I felt a little resistance before my finger passed through.

Fuck magic, I giggled. I staggered before making it look as though I'd been stopped by the shield as well.

"You're coming with us Earther," an arrogant voice said.

I closed my eyes for a solitary second, focused on where the slit in his visor would be, then I spun, jabbing with every ounce of force I possessed.

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