Sara choked back a laugh. “Shawn?”

“Yes,” said the knight. “I know not the circumstances to which hath brought me into this darkness, and I know not the world from which I hath been taken from. But this I do know: My purpose of existence is to stay in these shadows, and cut down all those foolish enough to seek glory from-”

“Blah blah blah,” said Sara, putting down her lantern. “The only glory I want to do is take your severed head and plonk it down in front of the kiddie king.”

Jack snickered. “I’m beginning to think you have a thing for heads.”

Sara flicked him, then dropped down into the ready stance with her sword in both hands. “Let’s do this.”

The knight shook his head, the plates of his armor shrieking like ghosts. “No.”

“What? Why not?” Sara demanded. “I came all the way down here.”

“No,” said the knight once more. “I know not why you are here, but I know you are a child girl. I will not do this.” He lowered himself back onto the sand. “Return to whence you came, and tell those above they should be ashamed to send a child girl into a dragon’s fight.”

His head bowed, the knight went still.

“I’m not a child,” Sara said. “I’m 17. I can get married if I wanted to.”

The knight stayed silent.

“I crossed mountains to get here. I survived on raw meat, lied and stole and murdered…” Sara’s voice wavered just when she didn’t want it to. “I killed people. Lots. Even innocent people. Just to survive till now.”

“But mostly they were guilty,” said Jack, “of one crime or another. Don’t give yourself too much credit, kid.”

Sara looked down at her fists, clenched around the black grip of the sword she took. “You’re wrong, Jack,” she said, raising the blade over her head. “I always had a choice. I just happen to choose very wrongly very often.” She brought the sword down in a beautiful downstroke, aiming right between the knight’s eyes.

Sparks ignited in the dark. The knight’s arm shot up, blocking the blade. Moving faster than his body suggested he could, he threw a punch at Sara that sent her skidding to the other end of the arena.

“Holy Mary,” exclaimed Jack. “What just happened?”

Sara’s arms shook from the impact of the knight’s fist. Her blade quivered with her, throwing light across the sand. “I might’ve just picked a fight with the wrong dude.”

Twenty yards away, the knight reached down and drew his greatsword from the sand. It was less of a sword and more like a golden obelisk flattened into a blade. As the knight swung, it caused winds to blow across the arena.

Sara flinched as sand got into her eyes. She blinked, feeling the sting under her eyelids.

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The blade came flat across her body. Sara first felt a slight pressure on her shoulder, then she was flying sideways into a wall. She heard the sound of her bones cracking. When she tried to get up, darkness loomed over her.

“You are a child, still,” said the knight, his obelisk blade poised over Sara like a guillotine. “Go now. I will not give you another chance.”

Sara sucked in a breath and pushed herself up off the sand. She could see her reflection in the knight’s knee pads.

“One chance is all I need.”

Clenching her fist, she threw an uppercut straight into the knight’s groin. The arena echoed with the sound of knuckles breaking against metal.

Sara pulled back her shattered hand. “Shit! Are you-”

The knight backhanded her into the air. Sara soared majestically into the bleachers, reducing them to rubble.

As the dust settled, she climbed up again. “Not even my brother dared to hit me,” she said, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

The knight leaped into the air, crashing a few rows down. The entire arena shook from his impact. Sara turned and ran, weaving between the seats as behind her, an earthquake followed.

Jack yelled above the noise, “Do you have a plan?”

“Course I do,” Sara shouted back. “It involves a complicated system of distractions and-” A chunk of the ceiling fell down. She dived out of the way, tumbling down a few rows towards the arena.

Her leg caught between two seats. It twisted, shooting hot pain up Sara’s spine. She tried to pull herself loose but it was too late. The knight’s massive hands wrapped around her, lifted her up and threw her back into the arena.

Sara hit the sand rolling. She scrambled out of the way as the knight descended, the force so great she was trampolined off the ground.

That was bad. She was airborne. And that meant…

The knight swung his sword and swat her like a fly.

Sara skidded across the arena, stopping only when she hit another wall.

“I have seen kings fall and princes slain,” the knight said, his footsteps booming across the sand. “As long I exist, none may use this arena for needless bloodshed again.”

Sara struggled to get up. Her head was ringing and her body was on fire.

“Don’t forget you can’t use magic,” Jack said. “You’ll end up in a worse situation than him.”

“I am painfully aware of that,” Sara said between clenched teeth. She studied the surroundings, each second a precious source of information as the knight neared.

She spotted her sword, lying in the sand a few dozen yards away.

“I know not why the Dragon considers you worthy,” the knight said, raising his massive sword. “But to me, you are both dishonorable and rude!” He charged, swinging in a wide arc. Sand and stone swirled in his wake. Sara clutched onto Jack, dropped low and sprang forward. At the last second, she threw herself onto her knees and bent back her body, letting the sword pass overhead. Then she spun around, dived for her sword, and stood with it held ready.

The knight turned, bright eyes flashing with cold malice. “You move quickly.”

“So can you,” said Sara. “Is this a Berserker thing or did you put all your points into agility?”

“I do not know what kind of man I was before becoming what I am now,” said the knight. “But I will tell you this: My attributes are many times that of yours. I can move faster than you and cast magic you do not know.”

As the knight talked, Sara inched towards the right wall. In the corner of her vision, she could see the flickering lines of fire burning running across it.

“What else do you know?”

“Many things,” the knight answered, turning to follow her. “Over the years I have honed my abilities to be as sharp as my blade. I have slain the best in all of Arcadia. Even those blessed by the Dragon fell before me.”

Sara stopped moving. The knight was now in direct line to charge into the wall.

She smirked provokingly. “I’m sorry to break your streak but this is one fight you’re not going to win.”

The knight lowered his huge body.

“Kid?” said Jack. “What are you doing?”

Sara dug her heel into the sand, ready to sidestep.

Then, the wall behind her burst apart. Two massive steel arms wrapped themselves around her, lifting her up.

Sara screamed and kicked. Dark metal froze her skin as the knight’s gravelly voice pierced her ears.

“You have incredibly high attributes, but mine are higher.”

Sara opened her mouth and managed to choke out a, “How?” before all the air left her.