I enter the ring, replaying the rules in my head: any weapon or magic is permitted, but the other duelist must not be killed, or you forfeit your life and possessions to the other’s relatives. Simple, really, as long as I can gauge how durable he is.

I morph out Justice, and let the youngster make the first move. He morphs into his dragon form and blasts me with a full breath-attack. I don’t even bother to dodge it, letting the fire wash over me. Although the flames obscure my sight of the young male, I can hear him chuckling and calling something to his friends about how long it lasted. I decided now is a good time to step forward, out of the tail end of the rush of flames. His mocking voice falters as he sees me seemingly unharmed. I open my arms in a taunt, and he rushes at me, striking with his talons. I go intangible, and his left arm passes through me, but his right talons glow as they reach me and I get tossed to the ground. Ouch. That actually hurt.

I get up slowly, not taking my eyes off him. I might have underestimated his reaction time, but now he made me mad. I use Lillith’s trick from the other day, making the ground swallow him up to his belly and then turning it into solid stone. He struggles for a moment, then shifts to human form, easily escaping the stony grasp. He charges at me, pulling a sword from a pocket dimension, and I defend with Justice. When I match his blow, I grow almost annoyed that I can’t even feel a vibration through Justice from him hitting it. I really will have to tone down my strength if I want to keep playing with him. Then again… he made Lillith afraid. Faster than he can react, I bring my sword up. He tries to thrust at me, but I block it with my arm. It cuts deep, but nothing that won’t heal. I slam the pummel of Justice to his head and he collapses to the sand of the arena floor. I kick him in the belly, just once, because he hurt Lillith, then stalk off the arena floor, my arm already finished dripping blood.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

I lead the girls back to the hotel, the shapeshifter left in the dust behind us, with two medics crouched over him. Lillith looks worriedly at me, scanning up and down my body.

“I’m fine, the couple of hits he did land are mostly healed already,” I say.

She doesn’t look convinced but lets me guide her back the way we came. Once we get back to the hotel, I take off my morphing belt and let the girls look me over for injuries. Twila nods, satisfied, but Lillith still seems worried.

“Did he hurt you at all…?” She finally asks, and I’m unsure if it's wonder or worry in her tone.

“He left a couple of bruises, one more major injury, but nothing that hasn’t already healed.”

Lillith nods slowly, then crosses to the bed and sits down on it. I sit down next to her, still not wearing anything. She smiles, a bit tentatively, then runs her hand slowly down my chest. I cover her hand with mine, then lean over and kiss her nose. She smiles a bit at that, tilting her head forward to touch her forehead against me, and I squeeze her hand in response. She sighs and finally relaxes against my body. After a few minutes, I stand and kiss her forehead, murmuring something about taking a shower. I leave out any mention of the fight, even though the look in Lillith’s eyes makes it hard to forget.

She seems okay with me leaving, though I do ask Twila mentally to check on her. She’s already ahead of me though, sitting on the bed and wrapping her arms around Lillith, talking softly against her hair. I purposely don’t catch what she’s saying, but based on the uneasy look Lillith is throwing in my direction, I decide it’s best to let them have their privacy.