Page 53 of A Song of Shadow and Starlight

The crowd erupts again before the troll can answer and the announcer hollers, "Your still undefeated champions with eighty-three wins in a row, Makas and Uranji! Can they make it eighty-four? Let's find out next! Bring out the fresh meat!"

I cast a look at the troll who can't be much older than me and see him gulp.

"Guess it's time," he says gloomily.

"What's your name?" I crouch to talk to him.

"Rashi."

I nod. "Listen to me, Rashi. We will not die here, do you hear me? We will escape this place."

"Even if we win, we'll never be free to leave. The champions are still prisoners, they just have nicer cells and better food." He pulls his knees to his chest and shakes his head. "No matter what, we will die here, it might just take longer."

I rest my forehead against the bars separating us. I'm not sure what to say in response. If what he says is true, then maybe it would be better to have a swift death than be enslaved and forced to kill other captives.

No.

I will not die here. Whatever I need to do to escape, I'll do. Even if that means killing everyone from here to the surface.

"You never told me your name." Rashi's voice draws my attention.

I smile weakly. "Shaye."

"I would say it's nice to meet you, Shaye, but given the circumstances…"

I nod in understanding. The last eighty-three pairs of captives who met in these cells perished gruesomely. I'm hoping, nay, determined, to make damn sure we aren't the next ones to die.

The jailer's keys jingle against his hip as he hobbles around the corner and into view. He stops in front of our cells with a wicked glint in his eyes. "They're ready for you." He bangs the baton against Rashi's cell door. "On your feet! And try not to die too quickly. The patrons tend to get fussy when the champions win with little effort."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have your champions fighting untrained and unarmed civilians." I sneer, angering the one-fanged troll.

"You'll do well to keep your mouth shut -"

"Or what?" I interrupt, standing from my crouched position. "You'llstillsend me to my death? You have no power over me."

"Oh, yeah?" He approaches my cell, lifting his baton in a threatening way. "And what if I beat you within an inch of your miserable life?"

"You said it yourself," I flash a smug smile. "Your patrons don't like quick fights. I'm pretty sure if I show up to the arena half-dead, your boss will have something to say about it. Maybe even have you take my place?"

The troll is speechless but doesn't mask his rage.

"That's what I thought," I smirk, rattling the bars, making him jump. "Now, let me out of here, so we can be done with this."

"Little shit," he mumbles as he fiddles with the lock. Once our doors are unlocked, he motions for us to walk down the torch-lit corridor.

The hall is long and narrow, and I immediately feel the panic of tight spaces creep in. I steady my breathing. If I pass out, I doubt the trolls will spare me from the arena, despite the patron's protests. Rashi mumbles some kind of prayer or incantation, but unless he fights for his survival, those fearful last words won't help him.

"Walk faster," our escort grumbles.

I want to fire off a snide remark, but there's no point. Either way, I'm never going to see him again.

Though we're in a cave, the temperature is rising the closer we get to the arena. Sweat beads around my brow and slips down my back. A bright light at the end of the tunnel beckons me forward, but I know I won't like what I find on the other side.

I can hear the crowd before I see them. Their energy is electric and pulsates through my body. I take a deep breath and step onto the overhang and gasp. There must be thousands of spectators filling the colosseum. Between the audience and the arena floor, there's a moat of lava, ensuring the fighters stay in the ring, with no chance of escape.

We're escorted to a wooden platform where an aerial tram is waiting to swoop us down the cable lines to the fighting arena. It's the only way down and from my quick observations, the only way back out. The ride isn't a long one but it's a stressful one. The gondola we're in swings side to side and the lava beneath us bubbles in warning, as if to say, if you fall in, you'll meet a gruesome death.

The second we arrive on the island, we're pushed off the tram and tossed two flimsy swords, before it begins its ascent, reaffirming there's truly no escape from this death match. Rashi and I glance across the arena where two enormous trolls await us. One is armed with a whip and the other has brass knuckles. Neither look like pleasant ways to go. The scrawny troll I'm with is frightened, and I can't blame him. If I could run, I would, but with lava separating us from the only way out of this hellhole, we have no choice but to fight.

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