Drake’s head swiveled to look at all the snaking passages as the pair walked the labyrinthine tunnels under the mansion. The winding paths were shockingly no less busy than the giant party on the ground floor. However, these were not joyful souls engaging in the debauchery he witnessed previously. The faces he saw down here were serious and devoid of any hint of the festivities above. Troops of the serving bats marched and flew through the halls. Drake had to duck quickly to avoid getting struck in the face.

“What are they doing?” he asked.

“Making sure the show happens, duh,” she said as if it were obvious.

As they walked, they passed a reptoid lying on a stone bed carved from the wall. Howls of pain echoed from his long snout, razor-sharp teeth gnashing in agony. Drake noticed that his arm appeared to be bending the wrong way at the elbow. The soldier frowned, trying not to imagine Gigi suffering a similar injury.

“Looks like Lyle lost,” she whispered back to Drake.

“Is that what losing looks like?”

“That’s actually not that bad,” Gigi said. Drake Grimaced.

Before long, they came to a brightly lit open oval room. This room had the same false sky as the main hall, but it was an idyllic summer day. Strange for a vampire to pick. He surveyed the room and the many hulking inhabitants inside of it. He saw creatures he couldn’t identify lifting weights while others stretched or taped up what nagging injuries they held. It reminded him of the mess tent before a battle, everyone honing themselves to a pointed edge.

“There she is! ” Gigi shouted as she dashed toward the other side of the room.

“Wait!” Drake called out as he ran after her. He nearly collided head-first with what Drake thought looked like a walking tree—spinning on his heels as he apologized and put distance between himself and the angry vegetation.

The soldier saw his excited companion run up to the fighter, who appeared to have the largest crowd around them. The massive combatant in the center was a creature Drake recognized. She was a Minotaur, the biggest Drake had ever laid eyes on, dwarfing any he had fought on the battlefield. The entourage around her only came up to the top of her rippling six-pack. Longhorns protruded from a shaved head. It was impossible not to notice the myriad of scars carved into her form.

Drake turned his attention back to Gigi as she pushed her way through the crowd of trainers and coaches. The minotaur didn’t seem to notice and continued doing warm-ups. He was beginning to wonder how close of friends Mai and her actually were. Mai looked to be a veteran of the sport, and from what he had learned, Gigi had just started.

A much smaller minotaur stepped in front of Gigi as she approached the prized fighter. He looked annoyed. Drake did his best to stay behind her, but the trainers Gigi had pushed through were now glaring angrily at the two of them.

“Gigi, we talked about this,” the male minotaur said in exasperation.

“Screw you, Frank! I want to wish Mai luck tonight,” she said, leaning into her words.

“You shouldn’t even be down here. You’re not on the card tonight,” he said, waving his hand. “I can’t believe Lili even let you into the league. It’s honestly a little embarrassing,” he scoffed.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“What was that?” Gigi hissed. “At least I’m in the league,” she snapped back.

“Yeah, I guess Lili thought we needed another comedy fighter,” he snickered.

“Shut up, Frank,” came an authoritative voice behind him. Frank turned to see Mai towering above him. “Leave her alone,” she said, toweling sweat from her brow. Drake saw Gigi’s eyes come alive with devotion as the fighter approached. “It’s Gigi, right?”

Gigi stared at the minotaur and, for a moment, seemed to have lost her voice. “You remember me?” She said with reverence.

Mai laughed. “How could I forget? You do this to me every fight.” The minotaur put her hand on Gigi’s head, palming the top of it easily before tussling her hair like she was a child. Gigi looked entirely star-struck for him. He doubted highly that she would have let anybody else treat her like that.

“G-good l-luck tonight, b-but I’m sure you w-won’t need it!” Gigi stammered.

“Thanks, friend.” Mai put her massive fist up to Gigi’s eye level. The goblin hesitantly gave the minotaur a fist bump before seeming to melt. Mai laughed warmly.

Definitely not a friend. Drake smiled; apparently, Gigi had a bit of an idol. He thought who you idolized said a great deal about who you really were, or at least who you wanted to be. It wasn’t difficult to figure out that whoever this Mai was, she was a big deal down here. Even still, she had indulged Gigi, and he was certain the goblin would never forget it. She may never wash that hand again, he laughed to himself.

“Pathetic,” cut in a gargling icy voice. Drake saw Mai’s eyes flick to the source. She stomped a hoof.

“Jörg…to what do I owe the pleasure…snake,’ Mai asked tersely.

Drake turned to meet the newcomer. He immediately wished he hadn’t. Slithering up to them was a beast that he didn’t recognize. It was covered in aqua-marine-colored scales that made up a natural suit of armor. Each piece shimmered under the false daylight as its muscular, ropey body prowled across the ground.

The soldier thought it looked like a nightmarish caricature of the lamia he had met. It possessed the same mighty serpentine lower half, but Jörg looked far less human from the torso up. While he had humanoid arms and a chest, that was mostly where the similarities ended. His face was flat, with bulging black eyes, yellow slits cut vertically through them. Rows of needle teeth were visible as Jörg snarled. Long orange quills protruded like a mane around a gilled neck.

Jörg extended a web finger toward Mai. “I was going to say you should be honored to have your career ended tonight by a future champion such as myself.”

Mai snorted. “You’ll never be champion.”

“How long did you hold the belt for? Like a week?” Jörg let loose a gargling laugh that burned Drake’s ears. Gigi’s ears collapsed down to try and shield her from the sound. He saw her twist with fury, squaring up to the serpent that loomed over her. She knocked Jörg’s hand away. The laughing died immediately.

“She was champion for a combined seventy-eight days, which is seventy-eight more than you will ever have,” Gigi roared. Jörg hissed at her menacingly, but Gigi didn’t flinch. Drake was both proud of her and felt a mounting dread of what this could escalate into. He wasn’t enthusiastic at the idea of needing to cut off any more body parts tonight.

“Quiet goblin, adults are talking,” he sneered. Gigi balled her fists.

“What did you just say? I dare you to say that again,” she said with rage smoldering from her words.

“Gigi…” Drake tried to interject.

“The only reason you’re even allowed in is because you just wouldn’t go away, I guess. Lili just felt bad for little, insignificant, nobody…”

“I challenge you,” Gigi cut him off with lightning in her eyes.