Chapter 7:

Black Handed Overlord

The Marksman Odyssey


Seems the crowd is finally getting what they wanted. The murderous bug, that abomination with the ravenous head and mandibles of a locust, the spiked front legs of a mantis, and the bulbous abdomen of a wasp, is still after Luach, harassing her with unrelenting attacks while she hunts for an opening to strike back. They chase each other at blurring speed across the arena as their arms spark with each fearsome clash.

And all the while, the crowd cannot stop erupting in euphoric cheers at the spectacle, though none in support. “KIIIILL HER!” they venomously chant. “KIIIILL HER!”

Normally I would be angry for Luach, but this time I’m… actually a bit relieved, shamefully enough, because while the crowd is busy looking at her, they’re not paying any attention to how much of a fool I’m making of myself.

I’m still stuck clinging to the hellcloud dragon’s back. At this point, the original plan of climbing up to its head to fire point-blank into its skull is pretty much a bust; with how violently it’s thrashing about in its efforts to shake me loose, letting go of its scales to line up the shot will no doubt send me flying. I think it would be far more sensible to cut my losses, climb off the monster and rush to see if there’s anything I can do to help Luach.

The challenge, of course, is how to do so without ending up as paste smeared on the arena.

“Buddy I ain’t trying to kill you anymore!” I scream at it in frustration. “So just let me get off!”

The dragon only hisses in response, accelerating its efforts, shaking its upper back violently from side to side to throw me off. I hug its scales with every shred of strength I have, but my feet slide off the perches I’d found for them. My lower body is left dangling, whipped by the dragon’s aggressive jerks against its own almost stone-hard hide. “FUUCK!” It feels like every bone under my waist will be pulverized, but surely even that is better than being catapulted at full speed against the wall or ground.

Surely, maybe, debatably. The jury is still out on that.

Next, my monstrous mount decides to try ramming the wall again, quickly accelerating towards the opposite end of the arena. That did almost work the last time, but I won’t let it get me twice. Just ahead of me is the iron collar the creature has locked around its neck, same one with the cruel barbs on its inner surface that dig into its flesh. I’m willing to bet I’ll have an easier time enduring the impact if I’m clinging to it than the scales.

So I take the risk of reaching for the collar and pulling myself to it. Like the first time I touched it, the dragon screams, a raw, painful scream, but I do my best to ignore it and put my feet down against its hide to fully brace myself against the force of the imminent impact.

In a stroke of luck I didn’t intend, the pain of me pulling on its collar causes the dragon to stumble, losing a small yet precious amount of momentum right before the crash. Still, I was optimistic to think I could absorb the whole impact. When the dragon hits the wall, I’m pulled at an angle I didn’t expect and end up flipping right over its collar and crashing back–first and shield-first against its head. Even the dragon winces from me hitting it.

At least I braced myself correctly this time and avoided losing my breath, but the dragon angrily shakes its head and sends me rolling down. I end up clinging to the right side of its neck, but that is fine, as the dragon remains a little stunned by the impact, giving me perhaps the only chance I’ll get to make my escape.

Though before I hop off, something catches my attention. The opening of the dragon’s iron collar is on this side. The ears at each end of the metal circle are pinned shut with a heavy padlock, holding the collar tight with its inner barbs dug into the creature’s neck.

The dragon groans, a surprisingly soft, yet threatening hiss that nonetheless sounds exhausted. Suddenly, it occurs to me that the dragon’s frenzy was not malicious, or even predatorial, but simply the result of torturing a creature to the point of unthinking fury. The countless sores and cuts that were already covering its body when it entered the arena are a testament to all it has endured.

Heck, it has even lost both its eyes.

I hear the crash of metal against metal somewhere behind me. The audience above us roars with feverish excitement. For a moment, Luach and her bug opponent clash, halting their savage chase as Luach’s sword locks with the barbs of the bug’s mantis legs.

The monster suddenly leans forward over the clashing arms. Luach pulls back just in time to avoid its mandibles, but her foe uses that as an opportunity to push her guard towards her injured side. Blood spurts from her mangled left shoulder thanks to the effort of holding the monster back. Luach grits her teeth in pain.

“KIIIILL HER!” the crowd chants, louder than ever. “KIIIILL HER!”

I can’t sit here and deliberate. Luach needs me. If the barbed collar is what’s causing the hellcloud dragon to attack, then removing it might appease the monster long enough for us to handle the bug. It’s a shot in the dark, yes, but I know for certain that if I go help Luach only for the dragon to catch up and join in against us, it will be our death sentence. This might be our only hope.

“You better thank me for this.” I fetch my slung musket and thrust the bayonet into the ring of the padlock with the barrel braced against its body. The dragon twitches from me touching its collar, but before it can do anything else, I pull the trigger.

I turn my face away from the erupting gun to protect my eyes from the acrid smoke and the flying pieces of padlock. The dragon roars in panic, but the shot does its job, leaving only a mangled iron pin connecting the ears of the collar. It only takes one more pull from me for the ears to break loose and the collar to open, pulling out the barbs as well.

The dragon stumbles against the wall, panting anew. I could only release half of the collar, the other half is still buried on the top side of its neck, but I hope this much already feels better than before, at least enough to quell its rage for the moment. I’m hit by a stench like rotting flesh that makes me gag, and I try not to look too closely at the injuries left by the barbs.

But there are more important things to worry about. “Please stay here, rest,” I plead with the injured dragon as if it were to make any difference at all, though it does ease me a little. I can only hope this really puts it out of the fight.

Meanwhile, Luach remains stuck in her head-to-head clash, trading swings of sword and talons with the monstrous insect. At one point, she manages to hook the talons with the handguard of her katana and force them down to pry open its defense. Her injured shoulder must burn at the effort, but she grits her teeth and pushes forward, desperate to seize the advantage if for only a moment.

The bug suddenly extends its wings and swiftly darts back and away from Luach. Her eyes widen as all the effort of her push leaves her stumbling forward, and her foe wastes no time taking advantage of it, quickly zooming behind her. Luach tries to fall forward enough to slip away from the danger, but the bug nonetheless manages to cut her back with a swing of its talons.

“Guh!” Luach grunts as she desperately turns to face the monster again, but the bug presses its advantage, once again zooming around to stay on her exposed flank. It gets closer for its next attack, too close for Luach to get away in time. The pinpoints of its bulbous eyes fix on her head as it raises its talon for the finishing strike.

But all its swing connects with is the hard surface of my shield as I rush between them, covering Luach. “I’m here!”

The monster angrily clicks its mandibles at me for only a moment before trying to maneuver its way past me. Luach anticipates this and swings at its path, hoping to catch it, but her blade only scratches its chitinous shell as it quickly pulls away and retreats.

Just the breathing room is victory enough for now. “We can’t stay in the open like this,” I tell Luach and point towards a nearby boulder. “Go there, we need the cover.”

Luach only nods, panting. “And the dragon?”

“Out of it for now, I hope.”

She doesn’t press for more information. We move back-to-back, covering each other in case the bug tries to strike again, but it seems we scared it off for the moment because it makes no attempt to do so. Frankly, I can’t even tell where it is, having lost sight of it when it retreated, but the droning buzz I hear under the roar of the audience is all I need to know it’s not far.

Luach leans against the boulder, gasping and grunting in obvious pain. The cut on her back doesn’t seem all that deep, but her shoulder looks awful, with deep gashes where the monster’s mandibles tried to rip out flesh. It’s fortunate she still has her arm at all.

“If you need a moment to rest-”

“I’ll manage,” Luach interrupts, struggling to stand back up straight. “First we need to take care of that thing.”

“Not before you dress that wound,” I insist. “You can tear off a piece of my shirt for a band-”

Her eyes widen, looking past me. “Watch it!”

No need to tell me twice. I brace for the hit even before I see what’s coming. The bug only swoops in for a hit-and-run, striking at an angle to check my balance, but I deflect the attack and hold myself steady. As skilled as Luach is with her sword, a shield still has her beat in terms of straightforward protection. This monster seems smart enough to realize this, so it’s taking its time probing for any weak points in my defense.

I can tell because a fair few fighters have lost their life to this thing, or others like it. The Prisoner remembers it clearly.

Luach steps up behind me, holding her sword ready. “Hey, no,” I tell her. “Take care of that wound first.”

“I’m fine,” she insists. I turn to give her a chiding look but notice she’s already torn a strand of cloth from somewhere and stuffed it into the biggest wound, pressing on it with her free hand.

That is no condition to fight in anyway, so I think of something else. “Alright alright, look,” I start, offering her my musket, “I’ve got this handled, could you reload this for me? Just pass the bayonet.”

She locks her eyes with mine, glaring, but I don’t relent. As admirable as her resolve is, she cannot continue fighting in that state, and if I know that, then she definitely must realize it as well.

She’s testing me, her own way of asking if she can trust me. I hold both my gaze and the musket towards her firmly, hoping that’s proof enough to her that I don’t intend to falter. Then I hear the bug’s buzz quickly rising in pitch and turn just in time to once deflect another of its prodding passes.

While I’m distracted with that, Luach takes the gun. “Alright.” She twists the bayonet free and hands it to me, then gets to work, fetching the rest of what she needs out of the gunner pouch hanging from my belt. I may not have expected a chance to reload, but that’s no excuse for me not to be prepared.

A ring bayonet is not really designed to be wielded by hand. There is no handle, so the best I can do is hold the near end as best as I can and brace the ring socket against my palm. Slashing with such a grip will probably not work very well, but I can still thrust.

I hear the zoom of the monster’s wings swooping in. I turn my shield towards the noise and prepare to deflect it again, but this time it tries something different. Rather than hit and flee, its talons grasp the edge of my shield and pull. That almost throws off my balance, but I tug the shield back, intending to drag the bug close enough to stab with my bayonet.

Its face peers over the edge of my shield, giving me a clear view of its snapping mandibles. If it’s trying to intimidate me, then it couldn’t have chosen a worse way to do so. “Eat this!” I yell as I thrust the bayonet to its face, aiming for those creepy eyes.

The bug takes that literally and catches the bayonet with its mandibles. That I wasn’t expecting. I try to push the bayonet further, hoping to maybe pierce the back of its throat or something, but the blade doesn’t find its mark and I end up just giving the monster more length to leverage. We end up locked into an awkward struggle for both my shield and my weapon, with neither side getting a clear advantage.

Or at least that’s what I think, because the bug then starts flapping its wings faster and faster, pulling with more and more strength. It’s only when my feet lift off the ground that I realize the bug wasn’t really interested in the tug-of-war, as it already had a hold of me.

“Leo!” Luach screams. I get the feeling that she barely fails to catch me by my foot, but I can’t tell for certain because I can’t take my eyes off the monster, near frozen in panic. Its myriad lower legs hug my body tight, trapping me as we gradually float up towards the distant skylight.

I had read somewhere that some species of birds know they can crack open hard foods, like nuts or bones, by dropping them from a high enough altitude. If it takes me much higher than this I definitely won’t be returning back to ground safely, so I abandon the bayonet that’s still firmly stuck between its mandibles and just punch its face, anything to get it to release me.

“Let me go!” I swing at it again and again, but it’s clear my knuckles will break before its chitinous shell does. I try clawing its bulbous eyes as well, but it simply leans its head out of reach whenever I try. “DAMMIT!” I yell as I go back to struggling for the bayonet, hoping the tip might still pierce its neck or something, anything.

But my heart is starting to sink. I don’t even have the stomach to check how far up we are now.

In a final act of desperation, I start bashing the base of the bayonet with my palm to ram it further in. It’s after one of those hits that the insect suddenly shudders, its wings sputtering. I feel slightly weightless as we start descending, rather quickly at that, but it doesn’t seem like the insect is dropping me. Its head twitches, twisting further and further in a painful angle while the legs wrapped around my body loosen up and leave me hanging just by the strap of my shield.

I’m not entirely sure what is happening nor how high I still am, but I have to escape. I quickly pull the straps of my shield loose, though I hold the brace tight for another moment until I feel the bug’s sputtering wings achieve a bit of lift, anything to limit how fast I’ll go down. When I feel my weight bounce, I let go and fall.

I can’t tell how high the fall ends up being, but I land pretty hard on my feet and slam on my back. “Ack…” I groan, rolling side to side. I think I sprained my ankle. My luck was nice while it lasted.

Yet that’s the least of my concerns. Above me, the insect monster recovers control of its body, its wings once buzzing at full capacity. It throws aside my things, then turns its attention back to me.

…I may not have thought my decision to discard my shield well enough.

The bug snaps its talons together, rubbing them as if stroking its palms before a tasty meal. The Prisoner’s apprehension grows stronger, filling me with dread, or perhaps it’s just a sober realization. In any case, I try to pick myself up, struggling against my sprained foot.

“Get up, Leo, get up!” Move, run, hide, anything, but don’t just sit back and die.

As I turn my back to the insect and try to run, managing only a sad limp, I catch notice of the hellcloud dragon. I’m not sure how it did it, but it managed to dislodge the other half of the collar from its neck and seems to have recovered a bit, faster than I had hoped. It’s sniffing the ground and air, hunting once more?

Suddenly it locks its head in my direction and, letting out a high-pitched hiss, sprints in my direction. As if things weren’t bad enough already!

“Leo!” I hear Luach scream. I turn towards her voice just in time to catch the musket she’s thrown at me, loaded I hope, I trust. Without the bayonet, the bullet might be the last thing that could still save me.

…no, there might not be any chance of that with two monsters charging me at once. At best I can take one of them with me, and just like before, I know which one is the biggest threat.

So I turn towards the sound of the insect’s buzzing wings and lift the gun to my shoulder, aiming at the green-and-brown blur shooting towards me while ignoring the rumble of the dragon’s steps also coming closer. It’s amazing that even while moving straight at me, the bug’s silhouette is smeared by its speed. Anyone might panic at the stress of this situation.

But the Prisoner helps me clear my thoughts. I don’t need to see where the bug is when I know where it’s headed. With a deep breath, I pull back the hammer.

A rumble shakes my whole body, but it’s not the blast of the musket; my finger is still hovering over the trigger. It’s the massive step of the hellcloud dragon as it sprints past me and steps in the way of my attacker.

The flying bug quickly tries to shift its direction and rush around the dragon, but the huge dragon predicts its movements and tackles the bug with its full weight, swinging its head to catapult the monstrous insect into a nearby pile of wreckage that collapses atop it.

…huh? Wait, what just happened?

The dragon roars angrily at the pile of wreckage. Its legs shudder and buckle, dropping its weight on the stone ground. It lets out a long sigh.

I stand there gawking at it for a moment.

Did it just… help me?

I lower my musket, uncocking the hammer. “Uhm, thanks.”

Luach slides in front of me, pointing her sword at the dragon. “Leo, stay behind me!”

But I grab her uninjured shoulder to stop her. She glances at me, a mix of confusion and anger in her eyes. “Relax,” I tell her, “I think we’re on the same team.”

She hesitates, but after a few moments of standing there without the dragon making any sudden movements, she relaxes a small fraction. “What did you do?”

“Did it a favor, I guess.”

The dragon growls again, facing the pile of wreckage. Then Luach and I hear it as well, the clatter of wood being tossed aside along with an angry chitter. A moment later, the bug breaks out of the pile, climbing free of the wreckage. It looks completely unharmed, but then it extends its wasp-like wings and I notice a piece of them is missing.

I shoulder my gun, determined to put an end to this, but before I can line up the shot, it quickly climbs behind the pile of wreckage, hiding from my sight.

So close, but enjoying a moment to analyze the situation is also good.

We have a new ally on our side, I think. Can’t be entirely sure of what it’s thinking, but I’m willing to be optimistic and presume it’s paying me back for opening its tortuous collar. That being said, all three of us are injured and tired.

With the damage to its wings, our foe might not be able to fly anymore. I feel tempted to rush its hiding spot, chase it down, but the Prisoner’s instincts caution against it. The bug might draw us back into a hand-to-hand fight, which hasn’t gone great for either Luach or me thus far, not to mention we’re in no condition to engage like that again. The dragon could stand a better chance, but it’s just lying next to us, breathing heavily while keeping watch. I’m not sure how I’d even go about directing it even if it wasn’t exhausted.

A bullet may be the best option we have, but again, approaching the insect defeats the purpose. If I miss the shot at the crucial moment, without my shield or bayonet I’ll be as good as dead.

Rather than go to it, we need to force the insect out in the open.

“Luach, could you use your breath?”

But she only looks at me with her mauled shoulder and a slash across her back, and shakes her head apologetically. Guess it’s not possible. I don’t press her further; she’s already done plenty enough.

What else can we do? I rake my brain for an answer. If only Siabahn were here to use his flames…

Then I look at the dragon, the hellcloud dragon standing next to us, patiently standing guard.

Oh, that might work.

“Hey!” I yell at it. I’m not sure if it can understand language, but it does tilt its head towards me ever so slightly. “Can you breathe out your smoke cloud? Like uhm…” I take a dramatically deep breath and blow it out with my mouth wide open, spreading it around.

“...what are you doing?” Luach asks, giving me a weird look.

“Communicating.” I continue my small act, swinging my arm wide to mimic the spread of something.

“...Leo, it’s blind.”

Sometimes I wish I was a mole so I could bury myself.

I abandon the hand gestures, but keep breathing out big gulps of air, just being loud about it.

After a moment, the dragon lets out a green puff from its nostrils. It opens its mouth and a stream of the smoke begins flowing out.

“Aha, see? We communicated.”

Luach, however, is alarmed by the spreading smoke, taking wary steps back. She narrows her eyes at me, demanding an explanation.

“Look, we’re in no condition to keep fighting that thing hand-to-hand, right?” I pick up my musket and start limping my way to the opposite side of the arena, furthest from the hellcloud dragon. “So we smoke it out, literally, make it come to us.”

“We could also suffocate,” Luach points out.

“It won’t come to that.”

“If it catches fire…”

“We might need it to.” Though seeing her worry, I add, “Sorry.”

She shakes her head and catches up to lend me her shoulder for my sprained foot. “Just don’t get us killed.”

I nod with fresh resolve. “I don’t intend to, but I’ll need a little help. Where did you put the rest of my gunpowder?”

Luach and I get a couple of minutes to prepare. In that time, the smoke gathers enough mass to fully envelop the resting dragon and billow over the arena, covering more ground than the first time. The modest corner we choose to huddle against is the furthest away from the green cloud, hopefully enough to keep us safe. More importantly, once the bug starts running out of ground, it will have no choice but to come to us.

The crowd jeers at the slump in the action, but I couldn’t care less what they think.

Luach is busy setting things up while I lean on a loose stone sitting atop a pile of rubble, keeping watch. I can no longer see the pile of rubble the bug was hiding behind, but it won’t take long for it to be engulfed by the smoke if it hasn’t already. The bug will make its move soon.

“Almost done?”

“Mhm,” Luach murmurs as she pours a long, thin line of gunpowder on the floor leading to our position, keeping it precisely straight with the powder evenly spread. She puts a surprising amount of care to it.

Then I hear something, like a chitter or skitter. I look over in the direction of the sound and spot our foe, the monstrous insect crawling out of the edge of the smoke cloud, its bulbous eyes fixed on me. “Here it comes,” I announce as I cock back the hammer of my musket.

The creature suddenly shoots forward, sprinting, following the edge of the arena. Even without flying it’s surprisingly fast.

Not as ideal as I had hoped, but what ever is? Huddled against the boulder, I take a knee and shoulder my musket, aiming slightly ahead of the sprinting bug.

Then the monster surprises me again by flapping its damaged wings and jumping sideways away from the wall. It’s not flight, not really, simply a boost to throw off my aim, but it’s difficult to track it as it hops from side to side, zig-zagging its way to my position.

But I don’t need to hit it, not yet. I let my aim purposefully lag behind its movements, forcing it to move further out towards the smoke cloud.

“Luach, light it now!”

Luach grasps a spare flint from my gunner kit between her fingers and strikes the side of her sword, showering the line of powder she made with sparks. A burning flash quickly shoots down the line, with its other end already engulfed by the hellcloud gas.

The bug monster is almost atop us, but we don’t care. We throw ourselves over the pile of rubble and cover our heads.

The arena is flooded with flames in an instant. Heat licks our backs, enough that I fear my hair and clothes might catch fire. Hot air scalds my lungs and I hold my breath until it’s all over. All I can hear beyond the roar of the blaze are cracking pops along with a high-pitched shriek.

And a moment later, it’s over, leaving only an acrid scent of smoke. I glance over at Luach. “You okay?”

She glances back and slowly nods. We pick ourselves up slowly.

Lying on the pile of rubble that covered us is the bug. Its shell has been darkened with soot, steam billows from its body, and all that’s left of its damaged wasp-like wings are darkened, crisped remnants. The creature does not move, utterly still.

“Is it dead?” I wonder.

“Shoot it, make sure,” Luach warns.

Might as well. I press the barrel of my musket to the bug’s head.

One of its talons suddenly clasps the length of the barrel and pushes it aside. The other talon lifts over my head and almost cuts into my shoulder if it wasn’t for Luach sliding in front of me and blocking the swing with her sword. This thing really doesn’t know how to give up.

But by now I’ve all but run out of patience. I roughly yank my musket away from its grasping talon and slam the stock against its head, denting its bulbous eye. The monstrous insect makes a high-pitched chitter, what seems to me as its version of a scream, and its talons twitch away from us, stunned by the pain.

Once more, I aim the barrel of the gun at the insect’s head. “Fucking die.”

The blast cracks open its shell and splashes my cheek with bug viscera. Its body once again collapses onto the pile of rubble, twitching uncontrollably, and finally lies still.

Luach sighs, throwing her blade aside. “Now it’s over.”

I lean on my musket, using it as a walking stick. “Common, we need to get that shoulder checked out.”

“Leo?”

“Yes?”

Luach looks at me, her pretty face smudged with soot and dirt, yet her lips curl ever so slightly into almost a gentle grin. She gives me an acknowledging nod. “Good work.”

I can’t help but smile candidly back at her. “You too.”

Helping each other, we walk back out to the center of the arena, where the hellcloud dragon is lying and waiting, completely unharmed by its own flames. Above us the crowd sits in stunned silence, watching us slowly make our way across the stage of the fighting pit, battered, but alive.

Until finally they erupt in frustrated jeers. “BOOO!” they scream. “CO-WARDS! CO-WARDS!”

But that’s just the way that they are. They came to see someone die, so I’m to take their venom as my price. Luach doesn’t pay them any mind, but I stop her by grasping her hand and lifting our arms up towards the skylight to proclaim our victory as so many aspiring champions did before us.

Though man, we’re completely exhausted.

Luach and I walk into a big chamber, followed by a stumbling hellcloud dragon. Without a word, both of us find somewhere to sit, a spare stool for her, a discarded box for me, and settle down to rest. The dragon follows our example, slumping on the ground and resting its head next to me.

After we proclaimed victory, the audience was not willing to acknowledge it, demanding that we execute the dragon, fight each other, anything. I wasn’t about to yield to their demands no matter what they did to us, but then Nuren spoke up.

“The Bewitched duo have stolen victory from the jaws of defeat!” he announced. “This is their day!”

The crowd roared angrily, but didn’t make any more demands. We were let out after that, surprisingly with our new friend in tow.

I lie back against the wall of the chamber, sighing tiredly. My body feels like lead, so exhausted that even my sprained ankle barely seems to hurt. Luach does much the same, closing her eyes. We’ve already bandaged her injured shoulder and the cut across her back, but with how much blood she lost, I can imagine she’s feeling lightheaded. We should get treatment as soon as possible, but a guard said they’d send healers down to check on us and right now that seems more than good enough for me. Let’s just sit back and wait.

The hellcloud dragon turns its head towards me. Though it’s blind, I get the feeling it can see me well enough by my scent.

“Hey buddy,” I tiredly say. “Good job out there too.”

It nudges me a bit, softly. I reach out and stroke the scaly hide of its snout. “Guess that collar had you in a lot of pain. Look, it’s nothing. You saved me too, so I’d say we can call it even, right?”

The creature only groans in response. Honestly, despite how terrifying it was at first glance, now I can’t help but find it a bit cute. Yet I glance sadly at all the injuries it has, the myriad scars and cuts covering its body, some of which we inflicted ourselves, its gored eyes and the worrying, rotting odor it’s emanating. What more can I do for it?

As I’m busy ruminating, the dragon sticks out its long, purplish tongue, keeping it rolled at its tip and sets it on my lap. I jolt with surprise and no small amount of disgust, but I make no sudden movements, paralyzed in confusion for a moment.

The dragon simply unrolls its tongue and a rugged, oval-shaped green stone marked with sulphur-yellow lines wrapped around its width rolls onto my lap, still moist and glistening with glops of sticky slime.

I glance quickly between the stone and dragon, utterly confused. “Uhm, thanks?” I slowly pick up the mysterious item, wondering if it might be a piece of food it’s sharing as a show of appreciation or just some sort of gall stone it’s vomiting out. It’s a bit heavy, but not as heavy as I’d expect a solid clump of stone that size would be. I try tapping it gently and hear a hollow reverb.

Is it… Is it an egg?

“Uhm, look, thanks for the gesture, but I don’t know what to do with this!” Panicking a little, I offer the rugged, precious egg back to the dragon.

But it, or I guess her? She pushes back with her snout, pressing the egg back against my chest, gently insistent. She makes a low, guttural murmur, almost like a whimper.

I have it wrong. It’s not a gift, but a request. If I don’t take it, then the only other option is for it to fall in the hands of Nuren’s people. Who knows how long she’s kept it hidden until now.

It’s not a matter of wanting to, not for me, and especially not for her. Even so, being trusted with such a precious thing is deeply humbling.

“Alright,” I say with as much resolve as I can muster in my tired state. “I’ll look after it. Don’t worry.”

The dragon sighs, a long, relieved breath.

On the far side of the chamber, the locks on the door leading out of this place clatter open. Panicking again, I look around and spot an old tarp stashed in a bundle right next to my resting spot. I quickly hop out of my seat and set down the egg between the folds of fabric, wrapping it fully to hide it from sight.

I stand up just in the nick of time as a large, burly man walks into the room. He has no facial hair, but a full head of long, greasy blonde hair combed back against his scalp. A long scar runs down from his forehead, slipping between his nose and eye, and ending about halfway down his cheek. He is wearing a leather jacket with white fluff adorning the collar and a sash of Nuren’s yellow for a belt. On second glance, his shade of blonde is almost identical to the gang color.

“Alright, where are today’s victors?” he asks as he enters the room. A couple guards enter after him, but they stay by the door. The man, meanwhile, spots me first and walks decisively up to me. “There you are.”

He smiles wide, bearing large feline fangs that make me uneasy. As he approaches I also notice two round, golden ears sprouting from the sides of his head and a long, thin tail ending in a tuft of brown hair hanging from his rear. “You lad, deserve congratulations. Damn fantastic fight out there, really great show!” His voice kinda sounds familiar.

“Uhm, thanks?” I hesitantly say. The dragon next to me starts growling. Luach doesn’t do anything either, still sitting on her spot across the room without moving, her eyes closed.

Wait, is she still conscious?

The man doesn’t give me time to worry about that, however, as he naturally ignores the dragon’s growls and approaches me with a hand extended. “Leo, right?”

“Yes.” I politely take the hand as I glance at Luach to check that she’s fine, but the man surprises me with a strong pull that almost yanks me off balance.

“Don’t feel bad about the jeers of the crowd out there,” he says as he shakes my hand, digging his long, sharpened nails into my skin. “They were really expecting at least one of you to bite the dust, couldn’t get over that. But that fantastic comeback you pulled was absolutely top notch. Well worth the show.”

I struggle to pull my hand from his rude grasp, but I’m forced to endure it until the man lets me go himself. “Excuse me, who are you?” I ask with an edge of anger to my voice.

“Pfft, don’t you recognize the voice?” he asks. That’s when it clicks for me. “How about this? Lord of Zedia, leader of the Wardens…”

“Nuren,” I complete for him, eyes widening in surprise.

“You got it. See? You’re pretty sharp when given the chance. I like that about you.”

“U-uhm, glad you think so, sir?” I venture, trying my best to be polite and avoid any trouble.

“Heh, no need to be so tense,” he chuckles, grinning even wider. “As I said, I’m just here to congratulate you in person. Too bad your partner is out of it,” he comments, glancing at the seemingly unconscious Luach, “but that’s no issue. You’re the one I really wanted to get a word with.”

“Me?” My stomach feels heavier. “What for?”

“I see potential in you, lad, real strong potential. You’ve got the brains to think on your feet and the guts to take action. And as if that wasn’t enough, you’re the right sort of crazy that manages to turn the tables around when most other people would think it hopeless. That’s all the makings of a legendary warrior.”

Despite my better judgement, my lips curl into a smile and my face feels warm. I have to shake my head to refocus myself. “Look, I appreciate it, but I’d be dead if it wasn’t for my teammates. They deserve all the credit. Besides, I’ve only been in two battles and got lucky both times.”

“Hmph!” Nuren scoffs. “Drop the humility, lad. It doesn’t suit you. The Bewitched are strong, I’ll give them that, but the one that’s carried them these last couple of fights, not the other way around. Sure, you’re still green in some areas, but we can work on that. There’s so much more you could do with the right team backing you up.”

The compliments are nice, yes, but he’s starting to lay them a bit too thick for my liking. “What are you proposing?”

“Right to the point? Good.” Nuren looks at me directly in my eyes. “I’d like to offer you a position in my gang, the Wardens.”

Holy shit, really?

“U-uhm,” I stutter, flabbergasted. “I-I mean, thank you, but I’m kinda already involved with another team.”

“Right, the Bewitched,” Nuren finishes for me. “Look, let me handle Cethlenn; we’ll make some sort of arrangement. You just say the word and I’ll consider you one of mine.”

“What about the others? Luach, Siabahn, Gunther?”

Nuren shakes his head. “I don’t care for them. I’m asking you. Though if you’re that concerned for them, we could see what we can do. So what do you say?”

Let’s consider this for a moment.

On one side, joining Nuren might be my ticket out of here. No more fights in the arena, no more being held prisoner underground, maybe even save Rosa. Besides, if he does business with Cethlenn, I’d be willing to bet he does with Celmund as well; he could help me find Kim.

“Common lad, it will be well worth your time,” Nuren says as he notices me deep in thought. “Work with me and anything you want can be yours. Riches, women, power, you’ll have it made.”

But there’s also the other side. For one, this decision might not even be mine to make given my deal with Cethlenn. And even if it was, I would just be trading one master for another. There’s absolutely no guarantee he would actually help me find Kim, and once he finds out that’s what I want, he might just dangle that in front of my face to control me the same way Cethlenn does. Not to mention Nuren is an outlaw, so I’d rather not know the sort of jobs he’ll have for me.

Above all, however, I’d be abandoning Luach, Siabahn, and Gunther to their luck after they accepted and supported me.

Kim is constantly on my mind. Of course I want to save her.

But I will not, must not simply use and dispose of others in pursuit of that goal.

I shake my head slowly. “Thank you for the kind offer, but I will stay with the Bewitched.”

Nuren just stands there for a moment, looking… amazed? “Seriously? Lad, this is a golden opportunity for you.”

“Maybe,” I concede. “But it’s not the right one for me, so I must decline.”

“The right one? Heh, not the right opportunity for you? Okay, so you want to die out there in the arena, is what you’re saying?”

“If I’m as skilled as you say, I’m sure I’ll be fine, but thanks for the concern.”

He scoffs. “Yeah well, I’ll admit that you surprised me today. I picked the hellcloud dragon and the maneater locust to kill her specifically,” he declares, glancing at Luach. “I considered the big guy and the cat as well, but I did not anticipate you.”

His confession doesn’t surprise me as much as it probably should. Truth is I had suspected something was off from the moment the bug appeared in the middle of the match, right as we were getting the upper hand on the dragon. It was just too much of a coincidence, not to mention that Nuren did not announce there would be a second monster.

It was an ambush from the start. Nuren set us up to fail. All the injuries Luach suffered were a direct cause of that.

And besides my own feelings, the Prisoner grows heavy with indignation as well. All the ‘promising warriors’ that Nuren invited into his gang, but who didn’t accept for whatever reason, each and every one of them met their end at the arena soon after. Just how many of them died due to Nuren setting them up?

My fist tenses in anger. “If I don’t have a choice in this, you should just come out and say so.”

“Oh but you do,” Nuren counters. “I believe firmly in free will, but there’s consequences to every choice we make.” He then turns to Luach, taking a step towards her. “You should carefully consider who yours will affect.”

“Leave her out of this!” I move towards Nuren, determined to step between him and Luach if necessary.

Pain suddenly erupts in my neck as if I had been bitten by a swarm of ants. My feet refuse to take my next step, letting me drop forward on my face. I can’t even raise my arms to catch myself as my whole body twitches uncontrollably.

Nuren steps in front of my view. He squats to my level, smiling, and I notice a small yellow light on his finger, shining from a small gemstone on a ring. He notices me watching and reaches his hands closer to give me a better look. “This must be your first time experiencing that. I hear it’s quite painful.”

A rumble shakes the room, followed by a recognizable roar. Nuren looks away from me to the corner outside my vision where the hellcloud dragon was resting. “What?!” he demands defiantly. Another rumble shakes the room and he laughs. “What a sad sight you are. Fine!” He takes a step out of my view. “I’ll be the one to finish you off!”

I try to raise my voice but all I can manage is a guttural moan. All I can do is listen to Nuren’s battle cries, the growls of the dragon, the crash of clashing strikes and, finally, the whimpers of my new friend. I desperately beg my body to move, to at least turn and witness what is happening, but every muscle is painfully locked stiff, seized by a constant current spreading down from my neck, or more accurately, from the shackle locked around my neck when I first arrived at Zedia. Any attempt to power through and recover control is only rewarded with sharper anguish.

There’s a whimper, a sharp, agonized whelp, and then the sickening crunch of ripping flesh and breaking bone. The chamber falls quiet. I grit my teeth in frustration.

Nuren steps back into view. Both his boots and his dripping claws are smeared with blood. “Sorry about that,” he nonchalantly says, “but you saw the state of that thing. Someone had to put it out of his misery.”

Fuck you. I’ll never serve a brute like you.

But I can do nothing, not even speak, still seized by the shackle’s spell. I only lie there before Nuren as his tufted tail swings side to side proudly and his grin mocks me for my powerlessness.

“Anyway, congrats again on your fight. I’ll ignore your answer just now and give you more time to think about it.”

He leaves me there, paralyzed in the middle of the chamber. Only after he and his guards have left the room does the current stop. My already tired body feels even heavier, and I spend several moments merely rolling on the floor, moaning in pain. It takes a few more moments for me to gather the courage to look at what remains of my dragon friend.

She is dead. Nuren drove a spear up through the roof of her mouth and out the top of her head. Blood is pooling at the bottom of her mouth and dripping down her lip.

I had never met this creature before today. Even so, we tried to kill each other multiple times, ended up helping each other, and finally she entrusted something precious to me. I’m not sure if I really have the right to feel so upset, but the tightness in my chest remains all the same.

After stumbling to my feet, I rummage through the bundled tarp to recover the egg I was entrusted with. Thankfully it’s still where I left it, completely unharmed. My empty gunner pouch gets repurposed as an egg pouch where I carry it safely.

Perhaps the dragon knew that her time was almost up. I pass by the now silent corpse and rest my hand on her snout. “I’ll look after it, don’t worry.”

Suddenly I think of Luach. Despite all that just happened, she didn’t so much as make a movement from what I could notice. She is still soundly asleep on her stool, leaning against the wall and a crate.

But is she merely sleeping? On closer inspection, her lips and face look pale and her skin feels cool to the touch. My heart sinks for a moment, but I’m relieved to feel her breath against my hand. The anemia from all the blood she lost plus the exhaustion of the fight must have just knocked her unconscious.

Even so, she needs treatment, the sooner the better. I’m not in great shape myself, but I will carry her to the infirmary if necessary.

“Leo!”

A familiar voice surprises me. “Rosa!” I call out as I spot her entering the room and rushing to us.

“Are you okay?!” she asks me, immediately grabbing my face and inspecting me closely. “You broke your nose!”

Did I? It’s only after she mentions it that I feel a warm drip from my nostril that stains my finger blood red when I touch it. I must have broken it when I slammed face-first on the ground, paralyzed by the electric shackle. Frankly, it’s incredible that I hadn’t noticed.

“Forget about me,” I insist. “Check on Luach. She’s lost a lot of blood.”

Rosa inspects Luach for only a moment before she gasps at the state she is in. “Dear Ariadne… Please give me some space. I need to check her vitals.”

“Please do.” I step away and let Rosa do her job.

I see someone else from the corner of my eye. When I look over I’m unpleasantly surprised to see none other than Cethlenn standing by the door, arms crossed and a couple of her guards flanking her.

I’m not exactly in the mood to speak with her, but there isn’t much I can do to help Rosa or Luach. A bit reluctantly, I limp over to her.

We stand in silence for a moment as I wait for her to start berating me, finding something to complain about like last time. To my surprise, she doesn’t, simply observing me coldly with her arms crossed. I think back to the fight, the close calls Luach and I had; something’s been on my mind.

“...thank you,” I finally say.

She narrows her eyes, confused. “You are thanking me?”

“Back during our fight with the bug, when it abducted me and almost dropped me to my death, I noticed that it suddenly lost control of itself, as if it was in pain.” It reminded me of what happened to Gunther when she hexed him. “That was you, wasn’t it?”

Cethlenn’s confusion vanishes. She almost looks impressed. “I’m not here to collect your gratitude. Think of that merely as me protecting assets, nothing more.”

Gunther’s warnings echo in my mind, that I should be careful about owing Cethlenn anything, that’s it’s all a ruse to lure us into her service. But it’s impossible for me not to feel at least a little indebted to her after she saved my life.

Plus, I thought Rosa was confined to the upper levels with the other healers. Since she is here, that must be Cethlenn’s doing as well. The fearsome Witch of Agony is not without a heart, it seems.

“Since you intervened, I’m guessing you didn’t know anything about that bug monster either?” I venture.

She sighs. “Nuren set up the fight, I was as surprised as you were. To him, competitors dying in the arena is an essential part of what makes his fighting league special. The Bewitched had gone a long time since they lost their last member, so he took drastic measures in an attempt to correct that.”

“Meaning he will try again…”

“Mhm,” Cethlenn agrees.

“Are you okay with this? I thought you had only brought me here to train.”

“Of course I’m not okay with this,” Cethlenn counters, raising her voice angrily. “The Bewitched are of no use to me dead.”

“Then take us out of here already!”

“Watch your tone,” she warns coldly.

Dammit, my emotions are getting the better of me. I shouldn’t forget who I’m talking to. After taking a deep breath, I rephrase, “Couldn’t you get us out of here, please?”

Before this, she was waiting for me to pledge my loyalty. I shouldn’t cross my fingers on her forgetting about that, but for the sake of saving us, I would be willing to go that far. Though if this is yet another one of her ploys…

Yet she shakes her head. “That won’t be possible.”

“What? Why?”

“Nuren has taken an interest in you,” Cethlenn explains. “Members of his sponsors’ teams are supposed to be off-limits for him to recruit, but he likes to ignore that rule when someone catches his eye enough.” So she already knew about what Nuren offered me. Cethlenn continues, “I’ve already invoked my right to release you from Zedia, but Nuren will just drag his feet until you die or agree to join him. There’s very little I can do about it that won’t result in open conflict.”

Truth be told, I can’t fully picture what that would entail, but with us held deep in the heart of the Nuren’s stronghold, I can guess it wouldn’t end well for us. Even so, “What other choice do we have?”

Cethlenn looks over her shoulder at her two bodyguards who are waiting by the exit, watching and hearing for anyone that might be prying. Then she takes a step closer, lowering her voice. “With my blessing, escape from Zedia. I will support you in any way I can.”