Page 39 of Ironhold, Trial Two

“I wanted to talk to you about our bout,” she says.

“I want to talk too,” I say. “I hate that they're making us fight one another.”

She nods. “It's the kind of thing they do sometimes. Just the luck of the draw.”

I don't think it's down to just luck though. I suspect that this has been arranged deliberately, to produce the maximum emotional anguish for me, and probably thus the most entertainment for the crowd.

“We’ll have to fight each other,” Naia says. “If we refuse, we’ll be punished.”

I have already suffered such a punishment for refusing to fight in training. I have no doubt that it will be worse if we refuse to fight for real. Maybe they would even execute us for it, and I have no wish to let that happen, either to myself, or to Naia.

"We might have to fight," I say, "but that doesn't mean we have to kill one another. The fight continues until one team is down, right? Maybe I can find a way to bring down the frost drake without killing it. You and I can fight and avoid hurting each other too badly. We win, or we lose, but we don't kill one another."

“And Vex?” Naia asks.

The truth is that I don’t know what Vex will do. He might try to kill Naia. He might just as easily try to killme.

“I can’t make any promises when it comes to Vex, but if you and I are fighting, he should focus more on Koda.”

Naia nods. “Maybe it will work. I don’t want to hurt you, Lyra. If it comes to it, maybe I can give you a wound I know I can heal?”

Maybe. That is asking for a lot of trust, but I know that Naia is more than capable of undoing whatever damage she does to me. Since we won’t be having some knockdown, drag out fight to the death, she will have more than enough strength to undo some incapacitating wound.

I can see the shape of our plan coming together. The crowd at the arena want an entertaining fight, so we give them one, but that isn’t the same thing as fighting to the death. If we do this right, all of us might come through this alive.

I just hope that we can do it all right.

Chapter Twenty Three

“I bid you welcome your gladiators,” the announcer calls out, his voice ringing out as Vex, the shadow cat and I stand waiting by the iron gate. The shadow cat growls at Vex, but it stills at my touch.

“He's on our side for this one,” I say softly to it.

I might not be able to control it directly, but we seem to still have that much of a bond. I know it will fight alongside me, and it will do what I ask. It can understand me, even if I don't have the same power that I did yesterday.

“On this team,” the announcer says. “We have the descendant of nobility in the arena, son of a line of great gladiators: Vex!”

Vex strides out, holding his daggers lightly. If he had any lapse in confidence when he heard I couldn't easily controlled the drake, he gives no sign of it now. He walks in, basking in the adulation, while I am left waiting.

“He is accompanied by the mistress of beasts herself, his former foe, Lyra!”

I step out, and the roar of the crowd is almost overwhelming. The shadow cap follows me bounding at my side, settling there on the sand as if it were a pet rather than a deadly predator, capable of stepping from shadow to shadow.

“Against them,” the announcer says. “We have a warrior from the fringes of the empire here to prove the worth of his people. I give you Koda!”

The gladiator comes striding onto the sand. He is tall and broad shouldered, his skin a deep bronze, his eyes a curiously pale blue. He carries a bladed staff, which he spins easily and calmly, while his armor looks like some Aetherian’s idea of whata barbarian would wear. It is made from the furs of different animals, with hints of bronze underneath.

“With him comes the most tenacious of all fighters, the woman who heals all wounds, Naia!”

Naia comes striding out onto the sands, holding her axes in her hands. She looks across to me nervously, then glances to the gates. I can see Ravenna standing there, looking on, smiling.

The frost drake comes next, flowing sinuously through the gates, its ice smeared scales glinting in the sun. The whole arena seems colder as it steps out. It is far larger than I am, with huge wings and claws that are like daggers. It roars and sprays a burst of ice into the air.

“Begin!” The announcer calls out, quicker than usual, presumably because there's no way to hold back the frost drake.

Instantly, we charge at one another. With two beasts involved in the combat, there is no way to have neat plans. All we can do is throw ourselves into the chaos and hope that we come out alive. Vex’s knives scythe through the air, humming with power as they dart at the frost drake, at Naia, at Koda.

The large warrior swings his bladed staff at me, forcing me to dodge and counter with my trident. A blast of cold comes close to me and I swing my net in the drake’s face, buying myself a moment to dodge clear. The shadow cat appears from the drake’s shadow, trying to bite its throat but being battered aside by it. It comes up and steps back into the shadows, ready for another attack.

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