Page 14 of Ironhold, Trial Four

Even as I think that, Callus lunges for me, not with his trident, but with his bare hands. I barely dance back in time out of range, sweeping my spear around to keep him at a distance, because the last thing I want is for him to get close enough to be able to touch me.

I reset at a distance from himand he advances, with his weapons held tightly. Suddenly the net feels like a far greater threat than usual. Ordinarily it exists to tangle an opponent long enough toget a clean strike with the trident, but that takes an effort, and the seconds it takes to move into position for the finishing strike are ones in which an opponent might scramble free from the net.

But if all he has to do is touch me, trapping me in that net might cost me my life.

He attacks, and somewhere in that attack he throws his trident at me. I barely deflect it, but then must dodge back, avoiding the reaching hand that follows. Now, Callus is advancing on me with just his net, but that's all he needs.

One touch was enough to kill the crow I sent at him. One brief, fleeting instant of contact and he was able to suck the life from it. Would he be able to do as much with as little contact on me? I am larger and havemagic of my own. Maybe it would take a few seconds, maybe it would take longer. I don’t want to find out.

“What are you doing?” someone in the crowd calls out. “Kill him!”

I realize what it must look like, me backing away from Callus, while he advances on me with only a net. He seems to have no weapons capable of killing me, but that is just because not all of the crowd understand what he has done to the bird. I circle around him, knowing that my spear gives me some advantage but wanting to make sure I don't give him the chance to grab me as I attack.

“Lyra! Lyra! Lyra!”

A portion of the crowd is still chanting my name, while others are just cheering generallyfor the violence unfolding before them. Another chant joins the rest, though.

“Callus! Callus!”

It seems that myapparent timidity is making the crowd restless. They understand that I'm the one on the defensive even if they can't quite understand why. So they're chanting for the one who looks like he might be about to win.

“Do you know how many of your kind I've killed like this?” Callus says.

“Do you always talk this much when you're trying to fight?” I ask.

He smiles and swings the net at me. I dodge it, using a thrust of my spear to keep the distance, then swinging my chain at his legs. He avoids the attack nimbly. I have already seen that he is fast and dangerous, even without the addition of these new powers that mean I can never come into close contact with him.

I reach up for another of the birds around the stadium. I'm not going to send it at him, because it's clear that's sending it to its death, but I need the extra eyes on the bout, need the extra scraps of speed and agility to keep away from him. I briefly wish that I had my full powers for this fight, but honestly what good would they do? Maybe I would be able to takeon the attributes ofmore animalsto make myself faster and more deadly but I would not be able to summon any to my side without risking their lives. If the shadow cat were to come now… if it were to pounce on him… Callus would drain it the same way he did with the bird. Just the possibility of that makes me shudder.

I can feel the pounding of my heart, feel sweat start to run down my skin. There are distinct phases to every fight. There is the initial rush in which two people try to get a quick kill. There is the slow feeling out process, testing for weaknessesand seeing which tricks if any will work. Then if I typically settles into something slower and more attritional, each fighter trying to outlast the other.

Can I outlast Callus? He's breathing a little harder than at the start, but it's obvious he's not going to slow or stop anytime soon. I move around him, not trying for finishing blows anymore, just trying for the kind of small cuts to the arms and legs that will slow him down. He shifts and parries, and now the crowd’s noise intensifies, because it thinks this is an even contest.

He seems less deadly when he's on the back foot, so I try to keep the pressure on him, try to keep him busy defendingblows from my spear and chain. If he still had his trident, he would be able to attack into the gaps I leave as I strike, but I make sure that I am between him and the weapon, so that his net is the only thing he can use.

That is dangerous enough though, when he only needs to tangle mefor long enough to get his hands on me.

The net sweeps in, wrapping around my legs, pulling them from under meso that I hit the ground hard. Thankfully I'm able to kick free of the net, and a thrust with my spear keeps Callus back long enough for me to regain my footing.

I tried to kick sand up to distract him. I tried to feint one way, then attack another. I tried to overwhelm him with multiplesmall attacks. None of it seems to work. It's obvious that, while this is the first time Callus has fought in the colosseum, he has fought elsewhere.

But he seems to be tiring a little now. His feet are a little heavier, and his breathing a little more ragged. I just need to find a way to finish this. I look over at the dead crow, lying on the sand. I will not meet the same fate.

Callus starts to swing the net at me again, but the attack is slowand I'm able to move inside it, my spear thrusting for his unprotected torso. In a moment like this I'm not holding back. I throw everything I have into the strike, hoping it will do enough damage to finish this.

Too late, I realize that it's a trick. Callus changes the direction of the net, using it to wrap around my spear and drag me forward. He pulls me into him, and his handtouches my forehead.

Instantly I can feel the connection of magicbetween us, a kind of dark glow around his handas he starts to pull energy from me. I cry out in sudden pain, because it hurts to have my very life dragged out of me with magic. I let go of the spear but I try tobring the hooked bladeon the end of my weighted chain up to attack him.

My movement is slow and weak, the strength already draining from me. It means that Callus can knock the weapon from my hand, sending it spinning away over the sand. I don't have the strength to fight backas he pushes me down to my knees. That dark glow from his hand seems to be spreading over me. I can feel my own power trying to fight back against it buteven in fighting back it is losing itself, pouring it into an endless pit somewhere within Callus.

“You’re strong,” he says. “But that doesn't matter now. Give in. Let death claim you.”

I keep fighting, even though I'm down on my knees now, looking up at him, looking around at the crowd. I can see the faces of some of them, demanding a finish to the fight. I half hope that Lady Elara might be able to do something.

No, she isn't even my patron anymore, and even if she were there would be nothing she could do to interfere in a fight.

Yet there are those who can. Even as the darkness closes around me, threatening to consume me utterly, I can see Selene Ravenscroft engaged in a hurried whispered conversation with Lord Darius. Lord Darius looks furious, but he nods, standing.

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