“What?” Lisari says. “Maru? How do you know?”

Talia swears under her breath. “Come on.” She beckons to me. “We have to get you out of here.”

“Why?” Lisari asks, her eyebrows knit together in confusion. “We were expecting her to appear sometime today. Shouldn’t we be heading out to greet her?”

Images of Maru flash through my mind. Those emotionless, liquid silver eyes. Her stabbing Terimus in his gut. Kicking Rena across the ground. The cruel laughter as they died and bled out at her hand. My shoulder throbs with the memory of her spear lodging into my back.

I jump as a hand touches my shoulder.

“Hey,” Lisari says. “Are you okay?”

I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts. My body is trembling. I thought I’d boxed all this terror away; I thought I’d drowned it with anger and revenge. But I’m still just a frightened kid after all.

“Come on,” Talia says, heading for the door. “There’s an emergency staircase that should lead us back to Fairwood without having to pass back through the arena. Quickly now.”

I stuff Lisari’s book in my bag and force my legs into motion, adrenaline spiking through me with each footfall. I can hear my heart beating in my ears. I can feel my body pulse with each beat.

Your funeral, Cyros had said.

He’s right. I’d die if she found me now. I’m not ready. All I can do is run.

I swallow down the fear that’s threatening to drown me and hurry after Talia. Lisari tips her head in confusion but follows with a gust of wind.

“Why?” I ask Talia as we head out of the Archives, in the underbelly of the stadium once more. She’s helping me get away from Maru, but all I’d told her last time was that I didn’t like her or Widengra. She’s acting like she knows I’m in danger, though. “How did you know?”

“Having a sister on the Council gets you access to certain communications not everyone has access to,” Talia says. “After your last visit I did some digging. I remembered my sister mentioning some murdered adventurers on the outskirts of town a few weeks back—not far from your inn, in fact. From there it wasn’t hard to track down the healer who had been called to help with that event. After speaking with her, your comments about Maru suddenly made sense.” She glances back at me. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. Were the ones who died your friends?”

My throat tightens. “We’d just met. Maybe we could have been. But I’ll never know. She killed them.” I squeeze the strap of the bag. And someday, I’ll pay her back in kind.

“What?” Lisari demands. The anger and disbelief in her voice surprises me. “Maru tried to kill you?”

I don’t have the emotional bandwidth to argue over the morality of demigods, so I just nod sharply.

“That was a mistake,” Lisari murmurs.

Above us, the arena rumbles and thumps, like boulders are being knocked around the field. The bridge we’re on sways and all three of us stop, waiting for the path to stabilize. Unlike the rest of the city, the bridges down here are less permanent streets and more catwalks and wooden plank bridges suspended by vines.

“What’s going on up there?” I ask.

“Tryouts,” Talia says, moving once more. “Maru informed us she would be inspecting the candidates throughout the week and endorsing the finalists who met her acceptance criteria.” She grimaces. “She didn’t say how she was gauging worthiness. Of course it’s probably making them fight each other or something. I don’t know what else I expected from the Champion of War.”

Her derision surprises me. I thought everyone here worshiped the gods. Or maybe they do, but the gods’ champions aren’t given the same reverence.

“Here.” Talia stops next to a tree where a rickety staircase spirals down the thin trunk.

My stomach does a flip when I look down and can see the streets of Fairwood several stories below me.

“This should get you back in the crowds,” Talia says. “And as I said before, I strongly suggest you stay away from the stadium for the next week. In fact, you should probably stay away from Fairwood altogether. I doubt she intends to wander our streets, but it would be best not to risk it.”

“Thank you,” I say, shame filling me with the knowledge that I’m really about to run away like a kicked dog. All that bravado, all that practice and training, just for me to show my real colors when I’m finally given what I want. It’s too soon, I try to tell myself. I wouldn’t be running if I had more time. But even I don’t know if I believe it.

“Just tell me one thing,” Talia says as I linger at the top of the staircase. “Do you know why she did it?”

“Yes,” I say. Because I’m from another world. Because she sees me as some kind of abomination, or something.

“Can you tell me why?”

I hesitate, glancing at Lisari. It’s not that I think Talia would turn me over to Maru. If she put this much together before now, it shows she’s able to keep my secret. But I’m not sure about Lisari. As much as she’s willing to help me with my magic, would her loyalty to the gods prove stronger?

Talia follows my gaze. “Right. We’ll talk about it later. For now, I have to get back up there—I was supposed to greet Maru when she arrived and my absence has likely gone noticed. Lisarihs, let’s go.”

Lisari rests a hand on my shoulder and gives it a reassuring squeeze. “I don’t know what you did to draw this Champion’s ire, but I wish you luck. It is not cowardice to choose to live another day.”

Indignation instinctively swells within me at those words. I didn’t do anything to deserve this. I know Lisari doesn’t mean it like that, but it still stings. I’m not a coward, either! I’m just… retreating for now. That’s the smart thing to do.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

[—]

Lisari drops her hand and hurries after Talia, a breeze accompanying her departure. I take a step down the stairs and stop.

This might be the tactical thing to do, but thinking of Terimus and Rena and Layf, it doesn’t feel like the brave thing to do. It’s not right. They deserve vengeance, not for people to assume they did something wrong to have drawn judgment from the gods. They protected me, while I’m standing here ready to abandon a chance at avenging them.

I close my eyes and scrunch my face up, fingernails digging into the palms of my hands. I can still leave. I can still walk away. Taking Maru on now is suicide.

But if I give up this chance, will I be sure to have another? Sure, there’s always the tournament, but there will be thousands of more people here then. Too many unknowns.

I open my eyes and blow everything out in one breath, weight falling from my shoulders now that I’ve made up my mind.

I have to at least take a look.

I wait until Lisari and Talia vanish back into the maze of bridges, then head back down the bridge as well, leaving the staircase behind. Above me is a network of catwalks and vines, all hanging from beneath the floor of the stadium, and above that are the rows of branches-turned seats, slanting up toward the canopy. I don’t have to make a move just yet. But if I could get up there, I could at least scope out the scene in secret. Maybe, like Cyros said, I could learn something that might clue me in to any of her weaknesses.

I keep my eyes on the stadium seats, trying to chart a path as high as I can climb. The stairs and platforms and wood plank bridges only take me up about level with the stadium floor. Beyond that is all support branches and vines, but no paths with guardrails or handholds. I glance down and immediately regret it.

“Okay,” I mumble to myself, setting my sights on some stadium seats where sunlight is slanting through the slats. They’re about twenty feet overhead and the same distance away. A tangle of plants between me and the bleachers provide a way for me to get there—as long as I don’t slip.

First thing is first. I take off my scarf and wrap in around my forehead and mouth, leaving room for my eyes and nose. Suspicious? Yes, but at least if she does see me, she won’t recognize me at first glance. Checking that my knife is on my belt, I next remove the one item from my inventory: well, items, really.

[Removing bandolier from inventory,] Echo says.

A belt of potions appears in my hands. After further experiments, I discovered that as long as two things were securely attached to each other, they counted as one object. That was why the bag of spices hadn’t worked before. But if I sewed a pot onto the mesh of a bag, then it all vanished and reappeared together.

It took some trial and error to get the belt of potions idea to work, as anything that wasn’t strapped down tight enough didn’t “count” and would get left behind in reality. But that wasn’t anything some leather and thread couldn’t fix.

I strap the potions on now, secured like a bandolier, as Cyros had suggested, running from my left shoulder to right hip. The seven potions I’d made are arrayed across my chest, all sealed with a cork and wax. It’s not a lot, but it’s what I’ve got to work with. I add Iski’s bag back into my inventory so I won’t have to carry it.

[Bag added to inventory.]

The book thumps to the ground and the coins that had been in the bag go scattering across the walk.

“Shit!” I pounce after them, snatching up half the coins and forlornly watching the other half slip through the cracks and fall down into the city. Well. I guess it will be someone’s lucky day.

I angrily take the bag back out of the inventory and put the remaining coins back inside it. I guess Echo didn’t deem them secure enough. I add Lisari’s book to the inventory instead, as it’s the heaviest and most unwieldy of my belongings, and then put the bag over my opposite shoulder, crossing the bandolier. That will have to do, I guess.

Potions out, book secured, face covered, hands free—I grab two support vines and pull myself up onto the guardrail of my bridge. I really, really wish I’d been training some sort of balance Skill before now.

My grip tightens on the vines as I keep my gaze glued on my target and refuse to look down. I step away from the bridge and out onto the nearest branch. It’s thin and bends beneath my weight, but holds. I scoot my hands along the vine, and begin to tightrope-walk my way through the underbelly of the stadium.

The path isn’t actually that difficult. It’s kind of like playing on a jungle gym, climbing between beams and ropes; the only difference is certain death if I slip and fall. Yeah, just like a jungle gym.

By the time I reach the seats, I’m covered in cold sweat. My arms are shaking with adrenaline, and every limb aches from tension. When I finally grab onto one of the benches, pulling my face up to the gap between seat and floor, I’m ready to fall over with relief. Instead, I loop my arms around some nearby vines for extra security, then lean forward, blinking against the light.

The arena looks like a battlefield. There’s scorch marks on the ground where there hadn’t been before, and scratches and dents cover the field, including some of the seats. Even as I watch, a woman summons a fireball and launches it toward me. No, toward the woman standing in front of me.

My stomach turns to ice the moment I see her. Even from behind, over fifty feet away, her form is unmistakable.

Like before, her armor is red, swirled with silver designs that seem to weave seamlessly into her braided hair. Her skin is radiant like the clouds, and the giant spear she wields is decorated with dozens of colorful tassels.

In my mind, I watch as the spear pierces Terimus’s stomach once again. I feel it slam into my back, pinning me to the ground. I scream as Maru gleefully wrenches it out of me.

The hatred kindling in my core bursts into a flame, its heat comforting and empowering.

Maru dismissively slashes her spear through the air, cutting through the fireball and sending a wave of flame to either side. Both dissipate before they can reach my hiding place.

“Pathetic,” Maru says. “Someone show me some real power!”

They’re showing off their magic, is it? Figures a show of force is all she’d care about. Strength is the only metric that matters to the gods, it seems.

Her back is to me. She’s distracted by all the Champion wannabees, each pathetically begging for the opportunity to join her ranks. If I wanted a chance, this is it.

I run a hand down my bandolier, lingering at the bottom one: orchid poison. Would it be enough to kill a demigod? She might be level 92, but she’s not immortal. Maybe it would be enough to weaken her. Enough that other poisons could finish the job.

I pop the cork off the orchid poison and unsheathe my knife, carefully dipping the blade into the sap. I point the blade up, letting the poison slowly drip down its length to cover the knife as much as possible, then I use the lip of the bottle to wipe off the excess and replace the cork. Carefully holding the knife to the side, I use my free hand to touch each of the other six bottles in turn, mentally cataloging their contents. My knife hand trembles.

Maru moves, and my attention snaps back to the arena. Am I too late? Did I hesitate too long? Miraculously, though, I realize she’s not heading away from me, but toward me. Maru leisurely wanders backwards until she reaches the bottom seat of the stadium, then sits down, one ankle kicked up on her other knee, elbow planted on her leg, chin resting in her hand. I stare in awe. She’s only six rows down from where I’m hiding.

“Boring!” she calls to the candidates in the field before her. “And you think you’re worthy of the gods’ time and attention? Don’t make me laugh. Give me a real show!”

You want a real show? I think. Alright. You got it.

I quickly cut through the vines that serve as a guard beneath the seats, then quietly set my knife down, grabbing the lip of the bench and getting ready to pull myself through. My legs are crouched on the branch just beneath me. My arms are shaking with anticipation. Electricity jolts through my limbs, taut and ready to leap into action.

I gauge the distance between us. It’ll take a few seconds to shimmy between the seats. I can probably jump down to Maru in two leaps. It will all be over in ten seconds. All that’s left now is to pick the moment to strike.

I wait another minute, maybe two. The candidates all show off their pathetic excuses for magic and combat abilities. Then, a shadow passes over the arena. Someone on the field is waving their arms as a giant cloud is conjured into existence overhead. Everyone’s looking up as electricity flashes from inside it. It’s the perfect distraction. Now. I have to go now!