A week goes by until the next battle in the Pits, yet another opportunity for Drakthar and those accompanying him to gain more points towards their freedom. Every day Gwendolyn has made a trip to the ground floor of the tower where she and the other women are being kept.

Audra continues using similar methods to wash away Gwendolyn’s resolve but they remain unsuccessful, the only result being disorienting Gwendolyn more and more to the events occurring around her.

Most think little of it, not wanting to talk with Gwendolyn as it reminds them of what they went through themselves in the beginning, except Klara, for better or for worse, she is unable to overlook what is happening to Gwendolyn, noticing the slow reactions and dazed expressions of the woman who has endured so much in her time on the island.

Gwendolyn finds herself in such a state after making her way upstairs to rejoin the others as they get ready for their visit to the Pits. Lazaro does his best to make the bags under Gwendolyn’s eyes go away as he works on her.

“Is she going to be okay?” He asks Klara as the two of them quietly question her mental state.

Given that Gwendolyn isn’t able to comprehend what they are saying even though they are having this conversation right next to her causes Klara to respond doubtfully, “I don’t know”.

Meanwhile, beneath the arena known as the Pits, Drakthar, Pravin, Lorens, and Cenred ready themselves for the battle ahead.

“What is the plan?” Pravin asks the others so they are on the same page once they are in there.

“That man from last time, Radek you called him, I’m going to kill him. The rest of you just make sure no one gets in the way,” Drakthar tells them.

“Do I look like someone who is going to take orders from you?” Cenred starts to stand up to Drakthar.

Drakthar responds by glaring back down at Cenred, using his mere presence to intimidate the much smaller man as he growls, “Yes”.

Cenred gulps in fear, unable to move as he timidly agrees, “Okay”. He knows from what Pravin told him that he has a chance to see Gwendolyn if this goes well and that isn’t one he is going to squander.

Unfortunately for Cenred, Drakthar notices him smirking and can only think of one reason for it. As Lorens and Pravin walk ahead and enter the arena, Drakthar stops Cenred, grabbing him by the collar.

“If you spend your points on a night with Gwendolyn I will kill you the next time we are together in these Pits. Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” Cenred squeaks before Drakthar lets him go and they both join the others standing in the middle of the arena, waiting for God to start things off for today. As they stand there Drakthar stares at Gwendolyn, trying to gauge her reaction to seeing Cenred here next to him, but he doesn’t notice her react; she is staring blankly at the arena stuck within her own thoughts.

At this moment, Drakthar tightens his resolve to succeed, whatever they are doing to Gwendolyn is slowly getting to her and because Xander isn’t here it is up to him to get her out.

He doesn’t really listen to the guard in the Pits give his opening reminder of the rules as things kick-off. He has already located the one they call Radek and is making his way to him followed by Pravin, Lorens, and even Cenred.

In the stands, the elderly gentleman, Cyprien, joins God as he does for every battle. He looks to his left and sees Gwendolyn’s expression, causing him concern over her well-being.

“Don’t feel too sorry for her Cyprien, she brought this upon herself,” God tries to get him to ease up, having read the tense thoughts going through his head as he looks at the disoriented woman.

“You can be too forceful, I would suggest you take it easier on these poor girls but I know it would be pointless. Tell me, what is she thinking about with that blank look on her face?” Cyprien inquires; seeking to know exactly how much God has done to her.

“Believe it or not, old friend, she is partially focused on the battle before us,” God reassures Cyprien.

“What about the other part?” Cyprien dares to ask the imposing man next to him.

“Oh, yes that. It would seem she is focusing on her breathing. I get the idea that has become more and more important to her given what she is forcing herself to go through,” God lets Cyprien in on what is going through Gwendolyn’s head.

Klara, who has been listening in on their conversation, frowns, knowing she misjudged Gwendolyn; she had never met someone so stubborn that no matter what wasn’t going to give in to God.

“You mean what you are forcing her to go through,” Cyprien corrects God, knowing no one would willingly submit themselves to such a thing.

This small act of defiance from the old man causes God to smirk, “You know how I operate Cyprien, no need to get flustered just because of our new guest”. Cyprien’s face hardens, his eyes narrowing upon whom God is speaking of, a young man named Drakthar who is making his way across the Pits.

Drakthar finds Radek in a similar position as he was the last time they met in this arena, helping a group of men in attempting to slay one of the beasts kept at the edge. This time the beast is a large bird, its wings already clipped so it is unable to fly away and cause harm to the audience comfortably watching from the stands.

The bird’s blue feathers rustle as it struggles against the many men that seek to slay it for points. Drakthar watches as Radek deals a decisive blow as he buries his spear deep inside the bird’s head.

Radek calmly removes his spear once the beast’s corpse is steady on the ground, the moment it is removed he points it behind him, turning to meet Drakthar whose presence he could sense mere feet from him.

“Wait, you are going to make a mistake if you kill me now,” Radek warns Drakthar, having felt the bloodlust from the man pointed in his direction.

“Why?” Drakthar hears him out, knowing it will take an extremely compelling reason for him to back down.

Radek doesn’t relax, keeping his spear pointed towards Drakthar as he carefully explains, “I don’t know how smart you are but if you kill me now or I kill you then the entire economy of this place will collapse. As top point-getters, if we kill the other, half of our points will disappear”.

Drakthar contemplates what Radek could mean by this, he knows that half the points will go away but the other half will be his. Radek can tell he isn’t getting through to him.

He continues his explanation, hoping to explain to Drakthar that they need each other, “Notice how I am only going after these beasts? That’s because they are the only things that bring new points into the Pits. Killing others might get you their points, but it causes just as many points to disappear from our economy. Do you understand now?”

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Drakthar lowers his axe, Radek’s words finally starting to resonate with him.

“I understand,” Drakthar notes, starting to run off towards the next beast before others can get to it and split the points with him if he kills it.

The audience watches in awe as Drakthar goes from beast to beast, effortlessly dispatching one after another before moving on to the next. Before the day in the Pits is through, Drakthar has played a part in felling every beast that entered the arena.

“Interesting,” God says to himself once it is all over, smart enough to realize that Drakthar is quickly going to become a greater problem if he continues to follow Radek’s lead.

“Why didn’t you kill Radek like you said you were going to?” Pravin asks Drakthar as they wait in line to hear how many points they have earned.

“He pointed out something interesting about how this place works. I think things are going to take more time but it is better this way,” Drakthar tries to explain it to Pravin without being overly explicit since others surround them.

“Okay… I’ll follow your lead,” Pravin doesn’t question it, knowing Drakthar is his best chance to make it out of this place.

“Name?” The same unenthusiastic man who tells people the points they have asks Drakthar as he approaches, still not looking directly at who it is he is talking to.

“Drakthar,” Drakthar responds, prompting the man to look up at the familiar name.

“Oh, it’s you. Drakthar… um, yes… it looks like after today you have seven hundred and twenty-one points. Wait, that’s enough to leave!” The man almost screeches at the realization.

Whispers break out around the place, everyone realizing that this man could leave the Pits after only having fought within them two times. The legends surrounding the only other man who accomplished this say it took over a year, so for Drakthar to have accomplished this in only a week is near incomprehensible for those who have seen the Pits many times.

“Hey, congrats. We all know you have a couple more to go though,” Pravin whispers to Drakthar, knowing his goal is to gain one thousand five hundred points so he can free himself and Gwendolyn.

“Well, are you going to free yourself?” One excited man who is standing next to him asks. Drakthar responds by walking wordlessly back to his cell.

“I don’t understand. Is he insane?” The same man asks the larger group.

“Yes,” Cenred answers him before following Drakthar back to their temporary home.

“I think we are supposed to walk off looking cool too,” Pravin whispers to Lorens as the two of them follow their cellmates.

The name Drakthar spread around the island like wildfire, everyone who watched him fight in the Pits all had the same question, if he could leave why was he still there? Most believed God wouldn’t let him leave because everyone loved watching him so much, others speculated that he enjoyed it and chose not to leave, almost no one actually guessed the truth that he was fighting for the freedom of someone else.

While Drakthar thrived, Gwendolyn was suffering, barely holding onto her sanity throughout each session of being drowned repeatedly, her head being held underwater by Audra and those working under her.

As a result of this, God realized something, a mistake he would not repeat again, if he ever encounters a woman as stubborn as Gwendolyn he wouldn’t push her this far. A dazed person who is barely able to understand his demands is less likely to give into them.

Despite her outward appearance, Gwendolyn was still holding on, able to comprehend what was going on around her if only just barely. She was able to hold a conversation if it really depended on it, others just decided she wasn’t worth talking to anymore.

Things continued on like this for months, until the day came where Drakthar had gained one thousand five hundred and seven points. God, wanting to play up the excitement around the Pits’ newest champion, decided to have him endure one final test to prove himself. He invited Drakthar to one last event in front of the audience that loved him, one where he would fight a man God noted as the ablest of those loyal to him.

So once again Drakthar found himself in that arena, this time face to face with a blonde-haired man with a boyish face, clearly a lamb left to slaughter. Watching above them was God, accompanied on his left and right by Cyprien, the elderly gentleman, and Gwendolyn respectively. This fight determined her freedom as well after all.

“Now, you have fought for many months and have shown impressive displays of skill during your time here that has captivated all of us. Drakthar, before I can let you go free I put one last task in front of you, defeat the strongest among my followers and I will grant you the freedom you earned in these Pits,” God reintroduces the stakes to the audience and the combatants.

As the battle begins, Drakthar does not walk forward, his eyes carefully studying his opponent and the sword he wields, evaluating what tactic he would need to take if the young man is truly a worthy foe.

The way the man holds the sword feels off to Drakthar, it’s somewhat familiar but he can’t quite place it. He looks past this for now and begins to trade blows with him.

As the fight goes on, an eerie feeling comes over Drakthar, it's almost as if he had been in this fight before, not just once but many times. It suddenly dawns on him, this man is fighting with a sword style completely identical to Kali’s.

Drakthar, knowing exactly how to exploit her style, stops playing games, effortlessly knocking the sword from the young man’s hand before grasping him by the throat and shoving him against the side of the arena.

The man looks into Drakthar’s eyes as he starts to lose air, he sees pure rage as Drakthar screams, “Where’s Kali?” The man is confused, having no idea who or what Drakthar is talking about.

Despite his anger, Drakthar can tell this mere boy is confused, he knocks him out by thrusting his head against the wall before dropping him in the dirt.

He turns up towards God and repeats the question, “Where is she?”

God begins to smirk, everything having gone according to his plans.

He whispers to Cyprien, “I believe it is time old friend, are you ready to see her again?” Cyprien nods before standing up.

“She is here,” the old man addresses Drakthar, a grave tone easily sensed in his voice.

“Take me to her, now!” Drakthar demands, not caring to hide his anger even if there are thousands of people watching them right now.

A few minutes later, Cyprien and God, who is guiding Gwendolyn along with him, arrive in the arena.

“Well, if you want to see her follow me,” God demands, his grand plans for Drakthar he had crafted since his arrival finally coming to fruition.

Drakthar follows him up to the top level of the arena, a room covered in cobwebs far above the stands, clearly a room that is not visited often. As the torches around the room are lit he sees her standing there, her body completely made of gold and at her leg is Fore also seemingly turned into the precious metal.

“What did you do to her?” Drakthar asks, completely ignoring Fore’s presence.

“I helped her, she was the one who wanted this. You see this woman came to me one hundred years ago telling me of a story of when she traveled through a portal and was separated from her comrades and the man she was in love with. I made a deal with her; I would use this curse to halt time for her, freezing her in this state until the curse is lifted,” God explains to Drakthar how he came across her.

“How do I lift it?” Drakthar asks, his tone getting more and more furious as the conversation goes on.

“I will tell you. But you see Drakthar there is this one thing I have to tell you. You have one thousand, five hundred, and seven points. That is only enough to free one of these women and yourself,” God takes great pleasure in informing him.

“Fine, I will go back and fight for the last thousand points,” Drakthar states begrudgingly, annoyed that he will be forced to be shown off in front of all of these people again after he gets another thousand points.

“No, Drakthar you have escaped the Pits, I will not let you re-enter them. You must choose between these two women,” God explains his ploy, slowly smirking more as he awaits Drakthar’s reaction.

Instead of getting more incensed by this twist of fate, Drakthar makes a quick decision, one he does not need any time to ponder, “I choose Kali”. God’s grin widens, this being the result he had been hoping for.

That wicked grin is the last thing Gwendolyn can make out before everything collapses. She heard what Drakthar had just said and knew what those words meant. That single thread of hope that she had been grasping onto snapped, and she felt herself descending into the maddening waters below. The lifeless husk that used to be Gwendolyn is pulled from the room to be returned to her tower where she will live out the rest of her days in madness.