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I did not birth a fool, Zyair. I did not raise an impatient being who would risk all for a moment’s pleasure.
“No, you did not,” Zyair whispered to himself, moving back toward the Arecaceae trees once more. He hit the trunk of one hard, a dull hollow sound greeting his efforts, and seconds later a brown and green orb fell into his waiting hands. He used his dagger to puncture a hole into the hard shell so that he could drink the pale liquid inside. It tasted of flowers and spring air.
He would not go back to the rations and muddy water given to prisoners of Vanguard. He would not go back to the isolation of it and watch his family continue to wither and decay.
Zyair began to drift into sleep. He would allow himself a nanomoment to rest.
He’d barely closed his eyes when the ground beneath him vibrated. Someone very heavy was walking nearby.
Scrambling quickly, he checked that Kaio and his bond mate were still near the pool. They were.
Another gladiator was nearby and moving toward Kaio. The human mate was not far behind, a bousain crossbow in her grip. For once, Zyair was glad for his Vanguard upbringing. His night vision was second to none.
“You have picked the wrong opponent,” Zyair breathed out.
Kaio was Zyair’s prey. And no one else could end his life. That was his birthright, and his alone. And the woman could not die either; Zyair did not know if that would recuse Kaio from the final arena.
So he would save them.
Only so he could be the one who struck the final blow.
He jolted upright, the dead body against him jerking around. The ropes needed adjusting, but there was no time.
As he skidded down the hill, he cast a simple flow of magick toward Kaio and the woman. The king would not wake until Zyair was out of sight again. It surprised him to see that the woman resisted his power. She was still moving, still conscious.
There was no time to subdue her though.
The gladiator was almost to the edge of the jungle. The human was aiming her bow.
An Indosi. An easy kill if you avoided the four tusks and the curved talons.
Zyair cursed as he watched the woman stand and move toward the pool. He could not avoid being seen by her.
