Morwen had bested Andy in combat, and now he was on his back. His face had been bludgeoned with the hilt of her katana.

He felt the heat radiating off of his left cheek and ear as they began to swell rapidly.

He closed his eyes.

"Good game."

He heard someone running. It sounded like Kermit.

"Don't look," he heard Kermit say.

Then, the darkness behind his eyelids flashed a brilliant red, then white.

"Gah!" he heard Morwen cry, her swing interrupted by temporary blindness from Kermit's Arcane Gesture, Blinding Light.

When Andy opened his eyes, he saw his opponent stumbling back with her hand over her face.

Another burst of purple flame, with a burst of force that slammed Morwen into the wall of the stone structure behind her.

Andy opened his eyes as Arlene and Kermit were helping him up.

"Kermit, you're not supposed to be here," he said.

"Shush," Arlene said.

Arlene and Kermit dragged Andy back toward their side as Morwen struggled to regain her footing.

"AND NOW, BEYOND ALL EXPECTATION, THE NEW ARRIVALS HAVE GOTTEN A BIG HIT ON THE CHALLENGER."

They dragged Andy behind a stone tower, out of view of Morwen.

"Can you heal him?" Arlene said.

"I can try, but it will take a long time," Kermit said.

"Do your best," said Arlene as she disappeared around the corner, back into the shadow. "I'll hold her off as long as I can."

Andy's face was throbbing, and he was incredibly sore all around. His shoulder burnt with pain from the slash wound.

But he knew he wasn't in as bad of shape as Morwen. That woman had taken multiple vials of alchemical explosive, as well as a head-on slash from his great sword.

The announcer flew overhead and approached Kermit and Andy, hovering just a few yards away from them.

"NOW THE BOY IS ATTEMPTING TO USE INTERCESSION. FOR THOSE WHO MAY NOT KNOW, THAT IS A TWENTY-MINUTE RITUAL FEAT. NOW THAT IS RISKY, ISN'T IT?"

This announcer was really starting to piss Andy off.

"Don't listen to him," Andy said. "Thank you for what you did, Kermit. That was clutch."

"It was what?" Kermit asked, confused.

"It was extremely brave, very effective, and well-timed," Andy said.

Kermit nodded.

"You're welcome," he said with a smile.

The child laid his hands on Andy's shoulders and bowed his head.

Andy heard another bomb go off.

The announcer continued without moving from his new spot.

"LOOKS LIKE MORWEN IS CATCHING UP TO OUR ARCHER NOW!"

He heard a cry, it could have been Arlene or Morwen. Someone was getting closer.

"We don't have time," Andy said.

"What?" Kermit said. "No, I've got to do this, otherwise you could die soon."

"No," Andy said. "You need to run. You're more of a threat than me at this point."

"I don't–"

"Kermit. I love you little bro. I don't want you to get hurt. You have to run. If Arlene goes down, resign."

Kermit huffed.

"You did so, so well today," Andy said. "You should be very proud… I know I am."

Kermit nodded. Andy spotted a single tear welling up in the child's eye.

"Thank you for being my friend," Kermit said as he stood up and brandished his cast iron.

He turned to run, but then he hesitated.

And hesitated.

And hesitated.

"But I'm not leaving," Kermit said.

"Go!"

"What kind of person leaves their friend in the sand to die!" Kermit cried.

"WELL WE HAVE A BRAVE LITTLE BOY ON THE FIELD TODAY!" the announcer said.

That fucking guy, Andy thought.

Then he had an idea.

"Kermit," Andy said. "There should be a grappling hook on my belt, see it?"

"Yeah," Kermit said, reaching for it.

"Awesome, do you think you could hook the announcer's floating platform with it?"

"I can try," Kermit said, looking toward the platform.

"Just throw it so it hits the railing. If the hook catches a rail, maybe we can reel him in."

"Why do we want that?" Kermit asked.

"Because I hate that fucking guy," Andy said.

Kermit looked confused, but he nodded.

"Ok," he said.

Andy heard Kermit stand up and unwind the rope of the grappling hook. He heard the hook spin a few times…

"AND NOW THE BOY HAS A GRAPPLING HOOK, BUT IT'S UNCLEAR WHAT HIS PLAN IS. PERHAPS HE–"

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The announcer's words were interrupted by a metal-on-metal clink.

"WAIT. WHAT'RE YOU. HEY. YOU CAN'T–"

"I got him!" Kermit said.

Applause began picking up as the crowd saw what was happening.

"Hand me the rope," Andy said, "I can help you reel him in."

Kermit handed Andy part of the rope.

"You keep your hands in front of mine. Pull him in, but don't let go with both hands at once. I've only got one good arm."

Kermit began pulling on the rope, leaning back as far as he could. Admittedly, it wasn't much, but it was enough to prevent the announcer from floating off to a different part of the arena.

"STOP IT," the announcer said.

The audience erupted in a confused mixture of gasps, laughter, applause, and outrage.

"STOP THIS AT ONCE. THIS IS ILLEGAL. AT LEAST I ASSUME IT'S ILLEGAL."

No officials responded, at least not immediately.

Andy took the rope with his right arm and pulled it across his torso, then he stuffed the rope under his right hip. He repeated the motion, gathering rope, rocking back, and anchoring it under him. Together, Kermit and he were making progress reeling in the announcer.

Andy pulled himself up by the rope. His body was really protesting in pain now that the adrenaline from his fight with Morwen began to wear off.

But this was a different kind of thrill.

Andy leaned back hard, pulling the announcer in closer. His floating platform was less than five feet away.

Andy accessed his hatred. He looked at the announcer, the man in red robes. He was clearly a sycophant of the Noble Court. He had attempted to coerce Morwen into using high-level feats to snuff them out.

He was an abuser of power.

Andy pictured himself tearing into the announcer with his great sword. And he allowed himself to enjoy it.

A green thread of energy formed between the announcer and Andy's chest.

"WHAT, WHAT IS…" the announcer's voice grew panicked. "NO… DON'T… YOU CAN'T DO THAT… HELP!"

Andy felt the energy flowing from the announcer to him, sealing up his wounds and reinvigorating him.

As Andy was slowly revivified, the announcer grew weak and gaunt, his eyes sickly and sunken into his face. He stumbled and leaned on his platform railing, whispering, barely holding himself up.

The loud bastard was in bad shape.

Andy felt the inflammation in his face reduce to normal. He felt the gash in his left shoulder seal up. He felt exhaustion turn into energy.

He also felt a lingering hatred, still there under the surface. He felt a strong desire to murder that announcer.

Andy took a moment of intention to allow the feeling to subside. No matter what was happening, he had to allow the hatred to pass. That was the compromise he had reached.

Use the feat, don't let the feat use you.

"Ok, we can let him go now," Andy said.

They both released the rope, which sent the platform launching into the sky.

"I CAN'T STEER," an amplified whisper came from the platform's speakers as it carried him out of the arena's airspace at astonishing velocity.

Andy stood up, good as new, and picked up his weapon.

The crowd roared with a combination of thunderous applause, boisterous laughter, and cries of concern.

Andy caught himself anticipating a line from the announcer to egg on the crowd, but of course, none came.

"Thanks buddy," he said to Kermit. "You did good. Now, stay in the back and watch yourself, ok?"

Kermit nodded.

Andy rounded the corner where he expected to find Morwen and Arlene, but neither were there.

There were, however, easily legible sets of footprints.

Andy was no expert tracker, but it wasn't too difficult in a sandy area where only four people had been.

There were the drag marks from where Arlene and Kermit had carried him. There were the prints of the fight between Morwen and him, and there were footprints against the wall where Arlene had been sniping from.

He found another set of prints that had broken away, coming from where Morwen had been.

Some of the footprints had drops of blood, but then there was a more complex pattern, like she had shuffled and sat down for a moment. Then a set of footprints continued, no blood.

She must have dressed her wounds, Andy thought.

"What are you doing?" he heard Arlene's voice.

"I'm healed up," he said. "Where did Morwen go?"

"Off around the corner somewhere," said Arlene, stepping out of a shadow, bow drawn.

"Let's find her. If we can finish this quickly, we may stand a chance," Andy said.

Arlene nodded and sank back into the shadows.

Andy followed the bloodless footprints around a corner and into a veritable maze of stone blocks of varying sizes and shapes, like a miniature city skyline.

This uneven terrain is prime ambush territory, Andy thought. She could drop on me at any moment. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled so I'm not attacked from above.

Andy continued slowly. The blocks had pushed up dunes of sand when they rose from the ground, so it was difficult to stay close to either side. He needed to be in the middle to keep his footing.

But that was also the most vulnerable position, out in the open.

He'd just have to keep his sword ready and trust that Arlene had his back.

Andy continued down the corridor, one foot in front of the other.

He imagined Morwen's form emerging on the top of each block he passed, planning out how he would move his greatsword and shift his weight to protect against projectiles, or how he would dodge out of the way if she leapt down.

Andy was tense, but he used the opportunity to feel around for his feat triggers: spirit, fight, rage. He detected them all and held them at the ready.

He still couldn't muster any hatred for Morwen. But if he couldn't finish the fight with his current health, then he could live with that. He would lose fair and square. After all, he had siphoned off half a life's-worth of energy from the announcer just a few moments earlier.

Andy turned to check for Arlene. He couldn't see her, which made sense, given how shadowy the corridor was. She had been using her Blend into Shadow feat almost the entire second round.

Then he saw it: Morwen exploded out of a sand dune behind Arlene.

He heard three things at once: Morwen's cry of exertion, multiple plunges of a dagger into flesh, and a pained scream from Arlene as she tumbled out of the shadows, doubled over.

Morwen took Arlene's bow from her hands. She cut the string with her knife.

Arlene writhed on the ground, holding her abdomen, groaning.

Morwen turned toward Andy and sank into an athletic position. She moved toward him with a brisk walk, then a jog, then a run, and finally a sprint as she brandished her katana.

Andy's mind raced. She was moving quickly, more quickly than he could defend against with his great sword. And he had already established that he didn't have enough levels of combat to reliably use his great sword in combination with Fluid Strike. Not yet anyway.

He hadn't yet used Wallop in the arena. It could apply to any melee attack, sword or otherwise.

As much as he loved using his great sword, he knew what he had to do to win the fight.

As Morwen approached, Andy extended his sword. He spun around and threw it straight at her.

Morwen clearly hadn't been expecting it. She dodged to the side, falling off balance but quickly getting up.

Andy closed in on her. He let his mind go blank as time slowed and he entered a fluid state.

Just like his lesson with Sammi, Andy struck each of Morwen's shoulders and her forehead. But this time, he struck hard, accessing his rage. He pictured the corrupt nobility, he pictured the announcer, he pictured Gar, he pictured coach Bellefonte. He pictured all abusers of power and superimposed them onto Morwen. He imagined her as the locus of injustice, if only for a moment.

As much as he didn't associate her with the corrupt establishment, as much as he respected her honor, her fighting spirit, he had to make himself believe that these strikes were somehow righting a wrong. And in a way, they were. They were proving to the Noble Court that they couldn't just execute newcomers.

Andy's rage came online. He used Wallop as he thrust his fist into her shoulder, feeling bones crack. Another shoulder, bones cracked. He thrust his palm into her forehead, sending her flying backward as time sped up.

Wild, thunderous, ecstatic applause broke out as Morwen's body landed next to Arlene, who still clutched the wounds in her stomach.

Andy sprinted over to the two of them.

"How bad are you hurt?" Andy asked Arlene.

She took her hand off her abdomen to reveal a lot of blood spilling onto the sand, then winced as she reapplied pressure.

Morwen didn't move at all. She was out cold.

"Medic!" Andy called.

The crowd continued to applaud, the stone structures began to sink into the ground.

"Medic!" Andy called again.

The stones locked back into place. The arena was now perfectly flat again.

Andy waved back toward the archway where Dilgur, Tobo, and Brea stood. He saw them trying to open the gate, but it remained shut.

Blood continued to stain the sand under Arlene. She'd bleed out soon.

And he knew that Morwen was seriously injured.

"The gates won't budge!" Tobo called.

"Medic!" Andy called again. "Goddammit! Bring out a fucking medic!"

But the gates remained shut.