Page 48 of Echoes of Fire

Thanks for the vote of confidence, girls.

“Run fast, leech,” a guard hissed, shoving me forward with a push that sent me stumbling across the scorched ground.

The gate slammed shut behind me, a boom louder than the entire crowd. I spun, heart hammering, taking stock through the adrenaline-fueled haze. Jagged pillars rose around me, their shadows crisscrossing over thin crusts of stone hiding lava’s glow. To the east, a geothermal vent coughed superheated steam in irregular bursts. My fingers twitched, itching for my journal’s grid paper to calculate patterns, to cling to something orderly in this bedlam.

A pebble clattered to my right.

I turned just as the ground erupted, a nightmare uncoiling from the shadows. The monster’s maw yawned wide, rows of serrated teeth glowing like filaments in a furnace. Its scales weren’t just black—they drank the light, a void edged with ember cracks that pulsed with each thunderous heartbeat. Steaming saliva dripped from its jaws, hissing where it struck the sand and sending up acrid plumes that seared my nostrils.

Acid spit. Great.

The crowd’s roar became a distant buzz as the lava lizard’s throat rattled. Its tongue lashed out, forked and flickering with actual flames, testing the air. I felt the heat of it from six feet away, a dry slap against my sweat-slicked skin. My thoughts scattered with a single directive:Survive first. Panic later.

It lunged.

The world blurred.

I threw myself sideways, shoulder slamming into a jagged pillar as claws the size of steak knives carved through the space where my throat had been. Hot stone tore at my shirt, branding my ribs. The lizard’s momentum carried it past me, its spiked tail whipping my thigh hard enough to bruise. A thunderousimpact shattered rock behind me, bits of obsidian scattering like glass shards across the steaming sand.

A second predator exploded from a fissure to my left, smaller and faster—a juvenile, maybe, its scales dull gray but eyes burning with the same unending hunger. It scuttled sideways like a crab, claws click-click-clicking on stone, herding me toward the arena’s western edge. My pulse pounded in my ears; panic tried to grip my throat. I forced a shaky breath, stuffing that fear to the edges of my mind.

I risked a glance over my shoulder.

Bad move.

A third lizard dropped from a ledge above, all rippling muscle and furnace stink. It landed in a crouch, tail lashing, black claws digging grooves into the sand. This one’s scales shimmered with a nauseating oil-slick sheen, and a heat mirage rose from its spine like a ghostly halo.

They fanned out, driving me backward. My heel brushed something brittle—the sand here was thinner, the stone beneath glowing faintly orange through cracks. Something lay under there, and every inch of my body screamed that Ididn’twant to find out what.

The juvenile struck first, springing with a guttural shriek. I ducked, its claws snagging my hair as I rolled. Purple strands fluttered to the sand, instantly singed in the heat. This was not good. The largest lizard charged, maw gaping, and on instinct, I dove between its legs.

Putrid heat engulfed me as I slid beneath its belly, scales scraping my back raw. Its underbelly wasn’t armored, just a leathery hide. I drove my elbow upward, aiming for a soft pocket. My bones shook with the impact.

The beast bellowed so loudly it shook stalactites. It bucked, tail slamming down where I’d been half a breath before. I scrambled upright, lungs burning from the sulfur stink.

“Come on, you overgrown gecko,” I snarled, voice trembling despite the bravado tearing through my veins.

The oil-slick lizard answered by vomiting a stream of liquid fire.

I hurled myself behind a pillar. Flame splashed against stone, droplets spattering my boot. The synthetic material melted instantly, searing my ankle.

I screamed, and the crowd cheered louder.

“Not fucking today.” I edged along the pillar, trying to suck in scorching air without passing out.

The nearest lizard’s tail lashed out. I scrambled upward, rock-climbing instincts kicking in as I scaled the unstable column. A claw snagged my boot heel, and I kicked hard, feeling scale crunch under my foot. The lizard recoiled with a shriek, buying me two seconds to scramble up as high as I could.

From this vantage point, the arena spread below me like some demon’s playground: cracked stone, churning pockets of lava, spouts of toxic steam. The crowd’s jeers shifted pitch. All three lizards circled, acid drool pooling, jaws grinding in anticipation of a meal. One began scaling the pillar, its toes finding purchase in the porous stone. Others prowled below, yellow eyes glinting.

I fumbled for Vyne’s vial. The acid sloshed inside, its surface shimmering like liquid rage.

One drop melts steel.

The lizard’s head crested the ledge, jaws unhinging. I hurled the vial. It was my only shot, and each heartbeat pounded in my skull as though time itself slowed.

It struck between its eyes.

The explosion of sizzling flesh drowned the crowd’s gasps. The lizard tumbled backward, its death throes scattering the pack. I slid down the pillar, boots skidding in gore-streaked sand. My hands shook, the adrenaline a sickening high.

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