I couldn’t look away, couldn’t even blink for fear of missing a single movement.
“Is that all you’ve got?”he taunted, a smirk curling his lips and flashing his white teeth.
Mira’s expression was pinched, her eyes darting away from the brutality.
“They’re willingly doing this?”I asked, my voice just audible over the roaring crowd.
She nodded, still grimacing.“It’s an honour to fight him, even if it means getting destroyed.”
Below, the last challengers staggered to their feet, shaking their heads to clear them.Grinning despite the black blood dripping from their wounds.No one else dared to step forward.
Dalkhan stood tall, arms wide in invitation.His chest rising and falling steadily.
“No one else?”he called out with mockery.
Then the crowd parted.
My stomach dropped.
Jasila.
I snapped toward Mira, eyes wide.“She’s going to fight him?”
Jasila strode into the pit, her movements fluid as a cat’s and a venomous grin tugging at her lips.She spun twin daggers effortlessly in her hands, the metal glinting in the sunlight, sending flashes across the arena.
Dalkhan smiled, a genuine expression that transformed his entire face.
Not a smirk or a mocking twist of the lips, but something real and warm.I’d seen him furious, cold, disgusted.But this?This was something entirely different.This was pleasure, anticipation, and respect.
They stared playfully at one another, an easy familiarity between them.Something stirred in my chest I didn’t quite understand.I cleared my throat, trying to sound casual.“Is Jasila…closeto him?”
“Not inthatway, but she is his most trusted.She’s been by his side for centuries.”
“He’s going to destroy her,” I muttered with silent hope.I wouldn’t mind seeing Jasila pummelled into the ground.Anything to wipe that smug look off her face.
Mira huffed.“Jasila is extremely powerful.Don’t rule her out just yet.”
Tavrik’s eyes were locked on Jasila, something like amusement—no, admiration—tugging at his features.
No.Anyone but her.
Below, she and Dalkhan circled each other, eyes locked in silent communication and bodies perfectly balanced as they waited for the perfect opening.
The crowd had fallen silent, holding its collective breath.
Jasila struck first, daggers slicing through the air with terrifying precision.Dalkhan dodged with inhuman speed, his body twisting just out of reach before he drove a flaming fist into her side, the air rippling from the impact.
She skidded back several feet, dust clouding around her, but her smile only deepened.Her eyes were alight with challenge as she regained her footing.
The fight was a blur of movement—slashes that just missed, fists meeting flesh with thunderous impact, a fury of dodges and counters.The crowd roared, chanting their names.Relishing every brutal second.
In one sharp motion, Jasila spun, ducking down under Dalkhan’s swing before driving her dagger up and right into his chest with enough force that the blade disappeared up to the hilt.
I gasped, the sound embarrassingly audible in the silence that had descended upon the pit.My heart beat inside my ears, blood rushing in a deafening roar before a thunderous cheer broke out, shattering the moment.
Tavrik clapped—actuallyclapped, grinning brightly.
Dalkhan didn’t even flinch.He looked down at the blade embedded in his chest, directly over his heart, and wrenched it from his flesh.Dark blood flowed briefly before the wound began to close.
