The arena under the Clucking Hen was a lot nicer than I’d expected. It wasn’t nice, I mean, come on—this was still an illegal fighting ring, part of the appeal is that it isn’t nice. But it was surprisingly clean and orderly. It was a cut above most fighting rings I’d seen and a completely different league from any I’d ever fought in.

In the center of the room, there was a sand arena, sunk ten feet into the floor. The pit was a circle thirty, maybe forty feet wide with one, long, dark corridor in and out. It was surrounded by a large stone wall that I could probably climb, but not quickly. I saw a few guards standing at the top of the pit, on the edge of the stands ready, watching me, holding long spears that looked like they’d hurt if they stabbed me with them.

The stands themselves were simple but effective. There weren’t any chairs, even for the richer visitors. Like I said, the ruggedness is part of the appeal. Everyone had to stand. Tonight, the stands were packed.

The crowd roared as I stepped onto the sand, barefoot. All I was wearing were my pants, some bandages, and a grim expression. They quickly quieted as Yvlan introduced me, listing off a list of accomplishments that were only half correct at best. I wasn’t sure how she knew that much about me, even if most of the information wasn’t much better than rumor and conjecture. It was mildly concerning, but for now, it was just another thing to add to the to-do list.

Yvlan motioned for me to give the crowd a show, but I resolutely refused to. I scowled a bit at some burghers near the front, who flinched in fear when I bared my teeth at them.

My Hunter’s Mark began to itch a bit and I slapped it. Now wasn’t the time for it to act up, not that I was even sure it could act up. Hell, I didn’t know how the Mark worked, as Yvlan had so graciously told Fiul earlier. But blind faith and dumb luck had gotten me this far—I wasn’t about to change my ways now. I filed the mystery of the Hunter’s Mark onto the to-do list as well, a bit higher than figuring out who’d been gossiping about me to Yvlan.

Yvlan was atop one of the walls and she jumped down, doing a small flip as she fell, landing right next to me.

She grabbed me by the shoulders and yelled, “If he wins, I’ll take him as my husband!” drawing me into a deep kiss.

My eyes went wide and I pulled away.

There was a wide, sinister smile on her lips as she said, “If he loses, I’ll marry him anyway!” The crowd burst into laughter and cheers. She leaned over and whispered, “You’d better win, or I’ll follow through on my threat.”

I grimaced and stumbled away from her and leaned against the far wall of the arena. The crowd was deafening, but underneath the noise, I heard the telltale creak of an iron gate opening. From the darkness of the hall I’d emerged from I heard footsteps, heavier than an elephant’s. The crowd went completely silent and Yvlan scaled the wall in one fluid motion. She gestured to a few of her Arcanists, who began mumbling. I felt the buzz of magic as the ring became encased in some sort of shield spell.

The footsteps grew louder, shaking the sand at the bottom of the pit. My instincts screamed for me to follow Yvlan up the wall, but I forced myself to stare down the dark corridor.

Then I heard the heavy, laborious breathing, and I instantly knew what it was. I’d only seen one before, in the Last War, but I’d never forgotten. I don’t think I could have if I wanted to. A minotaur emerged from the darkness and a jolt of fear surged down my spine.

The minotaur was huge, the size of a carriage, which was unfortunately small by minotaur standards. I could tell this minotaur had seen combat. Its horns were gnarled and marked up from frequent use. Its head was a grotesque mash of a human’s and a bull’s, with a long nose and a decorative gold ring. Its body was muscular and scarred, covered in a thick, brown leather hide. Its legs were as thick as tree trunks and bent like a bull’s. It had hooves the size of shields instead of feet.

A thousand years ago, the Minotaurs were a proud race, but they’d been reduced to near extinction. Now, the few that were left were used by humanity to kill their enemies. They were a brilliant race with a long and great literary tradition that was all but forgotten for their ability to crush skulls. If you ever get the chance, read In My Eyes, it’s considered the seminal minotaur epic. While the decline of minotaurs was a pity, I found myself more worried about my own future.

The crowd went wild, their screams muted by the shield.

“I have no quarrel with you,” I shouted over the drone of the crowd. I saw Yvlan arguing with someone in the stands. Probably a representative of the people who had brought the minotaur. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make out who she was talking to and I wasn’t about to move closer to the minotaur to get a better look.

The minotaur sneered and exhaled.

“I will do as I must,” it bellowed. Its voice was so deep it echoed in my skull. I gritted my teeth.

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“I don’t want to kill you,” I yelled back.

“Neither do I,” it said. “But this fight is to the death.”

There wasn’t much point in more diplomacy but I was willing to try. However, that went out the window when the minotaur lowered its horns and charged at me.

I threw myself out of the way just in time. I was fast enough to catch an arrow fired from a longbow, but the minotaur was just a brown streak as it crashed into the shielded wall, sending blue shockwaves up and down the magic barrier, which rested just a hair’s width from the actual wall.

I got to my feet and so did the minotaur, barely fazed by hitting the wall. It roared and broke into a jog towards me. The ground shook with every step. I considered running but the arena wasn’t big enough, I didn’t have much space to go. Besides, I’d get gored by its horns long before either of us got tired. So I ran toward it, diving under its legs just as it brought its fists down to crush me.

Jumping up behind it, I slammed into, shoulder first. The minotaur barely budged. It didn’t even lose its balance for a second. That seemed a bit unfair.

The minotaur turned slightly and swatted me away like I was a mosquito. I slammed into the shielded wall. Luckily, the shielding was softer than stone but not by much. All it did was stop me from breaking anything.

Ignoring the ringing in my ears, I scrambled to my feet just in time to barely dodge the minotaur as it slammed into the wall. In the second it took to readjust itself, I leaped forward and grabbed it by the horns, summoning all my strength to shove them downwards.

It tried to pull its head up, but I was stronger. Slowly, I was forcing the minotaur to the ground. My muscles screamed in agony as I pushed against its head. Then, it planted its arms on the ground. For just a second, I held on, but then it pushed a bit harder and I was thrown over the minotaur’s head, crashing into its back.

It tried to shake me loose, slamming me into the wall, but I held on. As it stepped away from the wall, I changed my grip and planted my feet on its trapezii. I brought one of my fists down right onto the back of its neck as hard as I could. I felt a bone crack and dislocate slightly under my fist. It screamed and flung me off. I hit the wall with an unceremonious thud.

Remember kids, no matter how big and bad the beastie is, if it has a spine, you can always try and do some real damage. Sometimes, that’s a big “if,” and an even larger “try,” but not tonight.

The minotaur flexed its back and I heard something loudly pop back into place. I swore under my breath. My back was slick with blood and while nothing was broken, I was in far worse shape than my opponent. Hanging onto its horns and back had nearly dislocated both of my shoulders, which were alight with pain.

I gritted my teeth and dove out of the way of another charge. Somehow, I’d managed to barely slow it down. The minotaur slammed into another wall and this time, it took just a second longer to get up. Seizing my opportunity, I ran behind it, wrapped my arms around its neck, and squeezed. It roared, which came out a muffled groan as I pressed harder, and tried to shake me off its back again. I held on even tighter. It slammed me into the wall and my vision went white with pain, but I held on.

Then, it reached around back and grabbed me with one hand, flinging me off its back. My hands were ripped from around its neck, which now had large, bloody bruises on them. Some of that blood was probably mine. Hells, most of it probably was.

I felt one of my shoulders pop out of place as I again slammed into another wall and I crumpled to the ground. I struggled to my feet, blinking away stars, but lost my balance and fell down.

The minotaur slowly rose as I tried to stand, but my legs kept turning to jelly beneath me. My head swam. I probably had a concussion or worse.

Sitting down and steadying myself against the wall, I popped my shoulder back into place. Pain exploded from my shoulder and I let out a hoarse scream. I couldn’t hear the crowd over the pounding and rush of my blood in my ears, but I could see them. As I struggled to my feet, opposite the minotaur, I looked at the crowd. In that instant, I locked eyes with Yvlan. She looked terrified. I tried to smile, but before I knew it, I felt the minotaur slam into me, knocking all the air out of my lungs.

In an instant, I was against the wall, one of the minotaur’s horns sticking out of my side. I heard the shield fizz and crack behind me. The charge must have pierced the shield, embedding the minotaur’s horns in the wall, because as it tried to rip itself free and I screamed as its horns rearranged my guts just a bit, it couldn’t, and the entire arena shook.

My vision went red with pain and rage and I slammed my fist into the minotaur’s eye socket. Something in its eye ruptured and burst. The minotaur screamed and I rammed my other hand into its other eye. It bellowed in pain and the entire arena shook. I felt a small trickle of blood come from my ears as my eardrums ruptured.

The minotaur ripped itself free of me and I collapsed to the floor, a hole the size of a lance in my right side.

The minotaur stumbled backwards, screaming curses in its native language, and began to swing wildly. The crowd, now unmuffled by the shield, roared even louder. I charged into the minotaur and knocked it on its back. It swung its fist at me, but I managed to put my left arm up in time.

The blow nearly knocked me over and I felt the bones in my arm shatter and crack. The minotaur drew its arm back and my left arm fell uselessly by my side. I only had one shot at this. With my right arm, which was still barely functioning, I slammed my fist into the minotaur’s eye socket. The minotaur screamed but I slammed my fist down again, and again, and again, until I felt his skull shatter beneath my knuckles.

The minotaur continued to scream but I grabbed his horn, breaking a chunk the size of a knife off, and drove it into his skull. He roared in pain and threw me off. I slammed into the wall again and my vision swam.

I tried to get to my feet and collapsed. Yvlan was by my side in an instant, shouting something. In my head, I knew the giant hole in my side wasn’t good. I’d never been hurt like this before. I smiled at Yvlan and felt a small bit of satisfaction as the darkness consumed more of my vision. At least I’d died fighting. Now it could all be over and I’d finally have some time to rest.

As oblivion enveloped me, it suddenly struck me that I might be dying. And honestly? That didn’t bother me much. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad, a sweet release from the pain if nothing else. I pressed a hand to my side and felt a gushing of warm blood. So much blood. Was that mine? Blinking through waves of nothingness, I saw the minotaur twitch and stop moving. What was I doing here?

Then, it all went dark.