Anala was right: she was an expert at starting fights.

Not three hours after they had made their plans, Anala turned to the prisoner in her neighboring cell and sneered.

“Are you really so bad at fighting that you got three scratches on your back, of all places?” she taunted. “Almost like you can’t keep your guard up at all. You’re so weak.”

Now, normally, the prisoners of Section 2 wouldn’t rise to the insults. But this particular prisoner—a large, muscly lizard—had an abnormally large ego and was very proud of his fighting skills.

“Weak?” he snarled, gripping the bars and baring his teeth at Anala, who grinned back toothily.

“Yep,” Anala said gleefully. “Weaker than a puddle. I could beat you to a pulp even with my wounded paw. You’d cry for mama at the first swipe.”

The lizard roared. “How dare you!”

“Hey!” guards were coming along the corridor, but the lizard kept arguing.

“I’ve had enough!” he shouted. “You’re annoying! You all are! I hate you!”

The other prisoners began protesting, Rogue and Maximon adding to the mix.

“We’re not annoying!”

“You’re overreacting!”

“You’re annoying!”

Soon everyone was yelling at each other. More guards began coming to try and resettle the situation. In the confusion, Kira spotted Liraz slipping past the soldiers and flapping frantically down the hallway.

Twenty minutes later, everyone was settled. Kira could hear Anala making a whispered apology to the lizard, and he seemed utterly surprised to hear what was coming out of her mouth

“Since when have you changed your ways?” he asked incredulously, but his eyes flickered to Kira as if he already knew the answer.

Anala only winked mysteriously.

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Liraz didn’t return that night. Nor did he return the next day. It wasn’t until sunset that he came flying back into Kira’s cell.

“I found a way out,” he whispered squeakily. “I did it, I did it!”

“Awesome!” Kira whispered back, smiling. “Tell me everything.”

“The distraction worked,” Liraz started. “I got past the door. It was really hard to pick the lock, but I managed to make it look like it was still locked when I got through. Maximon was right. There were a bunch of doors that led to these rooms with beds and stuff on them—the guard’s homes, I think he said? Anyways, I reached the second layer and immediately got to tunneling. But then I found something that will change everything.” He took a deep breath, and Kira leaned in close to listen. “There are tunnels below the arena. They go everywhere, to each section, and past every layer. They don’t go outside, however,” he added sadly. “I explored all of them. But it’s a start.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“After that revelation, I examined the exit to outside. The doors are huge, and really really thick. They’re made of some sort of metal that’s practically impenetrable. But I discovered something else: There are vents to the outside, hidden behind these metal panels in the walls. I dug around one, so that really big animals could fit through, then put the vent back in place. We should be all set, whenever you’re ready.”

Kira hugged the bat. “Thank you, Liraz. You’ve been a really big help to us. I don’t know what we would’ve done without you.”

Liraz smiled humbly, exposing his tiny, adorable fangs. “Thank you!”

Kira smiled back. After seven months of fighting and worrying, they could finally get out of here.

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When Rogue heard the news, he could barely contain his excitement. But soon his excited energy disappeared when he asked, “Now how do we tell everybody else?”

Kira had no idea.

“The best plan would be to move out all at once,” she speculated. “That way we can take all the guards by surprise. The problem is, there’s no way we can get word throughout the whole arena without the guards noticing.”

“We need to ask Maximon,” Rogue said.

Kira sighed. She was tired of waiting to get out of here. Her languished thoughts turned to Deya, and guilt crashed over her. Who knew what the Dragon was going through as of right now?

But she also knew that Maximon would have the best idea of what to do. And Laila and Anala deserved to know as well.

So they waited, and when Mess came, Kira could barely keep her mouth shut about the escape. She buzzed with energy, and even forgot to take a chicken leg as she bolted to their table and sat down, her tail wagging eagerly. Liraz looked just as excited.

“Whoa, Kira,” Rogue teased. “If your tail wags any faster, it’ll carry you out of the arena!”

Kira blushed. “Sorry! I really want to tell them!”

“Tell us what?” Maximon asked, sliding next to her. Laila and Anala were behind him.

“We found a way to escape,” Kira whispered.

Maximon’s eyes widened. “Tell me.”

Kira told him what Liraz had found, with Liraz filling in what she had forgotten.

“But we can’t find a way to tell everyone,” Kira finished with a touch of dismay.

Maximon thought for a long moment. His odd, deep blue eyes flickered in the torchlight, combining with his green scales and making them look teal.

Finally, he straightened, and his eyes flashed. “We can use Liraz. He can fly throughout the entire arena and tell everyone of our plan, and to keep it secret. Then we strike at night.”

“Liraz, are you up for that?” Kira asked.

Liraz nodded. “I can fly through the windows all around. Nobody will see me.”

“Just hurry,” Kira said.

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Kira sat in her cell, worrying her claws and picking at the bindings on her wings. Eventually, they would be removed, but Kira didn’t know how, and she didn’t want to waste more time trying to find a way to get them off.

What if someone spread the secret before Liraz could get it throughout the entire prison? What if something went wrong? What if they all died, and it was Kira’s fault?

“Stop worrying,” Anala said, as if she could read Kira’s thoughts. “That little bat has ore spirit than any other creature I’ve ever seen. Except maybe you, of course.”

Kira tried for a smile, but she knew it probably looked fake. “I know. It’s just…everything comes down to this. Everything. What if I fail?”

“You won’t,” Anala promised. “You’ve done a lot of planning for this. I assure you, if anyone can do this, it’s you.”

Kira tried to believe it, but her mind was still flashing through all the horrible things that could happen.

“Hey, if it helps, imagine the look on the announcer’s face when we escape,” Rogue pointed out from behind the wall.

It did help. Kira pictured the smirking crocodile realizing that his arena was collapsing from right beneath him, and her spirits rose.

By the time Liraz returned, Kira was smiling pleasantly. He plopped on her shoulder and hugged her neck with his wings, wheezing.

“You’d think…I’d be used…to being out of breath…by now,” he panted. Kira let him catch his breath.

“I told everyone,” he said after a little while, wiggling to perch more securely on her back. “And I also told them not to discuss it at all with one another.”

“Good,” Kira approved. “Tomorrow, we go through that hole you found, and then we use the tunnels to break everyone else out. Then we revolt and destroy this place to smithereens.”