“Varick!”
All eyes turned. The pit gladiators guarding the cavern entrance moved out of the way. A mere dragon pushed its head through them, hissing menacingly as it passed. Mounted on its back with reins in hand, My‑re wore finely etched plate mail armor. She guided Koma toward the fighting pit, and they both went down. Varick backed up when Koma bared its fangs. Dismounting, My‑re went to the crumpled and bloody form of Vomarian and helped him up.
“Can you ride?”
“I’ll bloody well ride out of here,” Vomarian muttered weakly and continued, “Don’t fight him. I tried. He’s too powerful.”
Nodding in understanding, My‑re helped him mount Koma.
“I have unfinished business with that Shagornan Elf,” Varick spat, pulling out two backup long swords sheathed on his back. “He is not going anywhere. This is a Dark Arena match. It is not over until someone is dead.”
“You have unfinished business with me,” My‑re replied. She then pulled from either side of Koma two rectangular, large gladiator shields that would protect a person’s body. A dense leather hide of an animal covered the outside with interlocking grooves running their length. The metal was several times thicker than a regular shield, each with a curved dome extension at the top, which could conceal the user's head. She slammed one into the sandy ground. It made a large indention, and its massive weight kept it sturdy and in place.
“Two large shields?” Varick questioned and chuckled. “You think you can tire me out and beat me? I can not be scummed.” This brought knowing laughter from the other pit gladiators.
“Koma, get Vomarian out of here,” My‑re said to the mere dragon. It climbed out of the fighting pit with the Shagornan Elf hanging on.
Varick nodded, and his men permitted them to leave the cavern.
“Now, let Araminth go,” My‑re ordered.
“Of course. All you have to do is defeat me,” Varick retorted.
“There is no need for this grudge match. No need for Araminth to be involved,” My‑re said.
“No need you say? I’ve been thinking about this moment since I was a child and was dragged from that cage since everyone abandoned me. I endured unspeakable horrors you could not imagine in your worst nightmares,” Varick spat.
“I am sorry. What unspeakable horrors?” My‑re asked.
“Do you not understand the word? They’re unspeakable,” Varick snapped, agitated.
“I was a child, like you, during the Rirorni war. What was I supposed to do? Even if I kept that Rirorni from taking you from that cage, do you think it would have stopped them? I was eight years old,” My‑re retorted.
Varick shook his head and chuckled. “I know you are right. I accepted this truth some time ago. We were both innocent children. Injustice done to us. I no longer blame you, My‑re.”
“Finally some reason. Let’s end this now,” My‑re pleaded.
“It will end, but by my own means. We were taken by the Rirorni Empire and abandoned by the Alastarians. This will end, but not before both nations suffer. As I suffered,” Varick said, motioning to My‑re and the other pit gladiators. “Like we all suffered.”
“Both nations have already suffered enough at the hands of each other,” My‑re countered.
“No, neither is innocent. You have seen it with your own eyes. The Rirorni overbreed like rodents, and then when their natural resources have diminished and they have a surplus of warriors, they expand and conquer until they obtain enough resources to sustain their population or enough Rirorni are killed to drive them back and restore balance. I will end this cycle,” Varick informed.
“How? You only have a few men. You can’t cause the change you want,” My‑re said.
“Very true. I can not, but dragons can,” Varick replied, then pointed a long sword at Araminth. “When I found you were alive and in the Rirorni Empire, my revenge was at hand. You were looking for Araminth, someone important. By her own words and slips of the tongue, I deduced she was not just some young woman hiding from her parents to be married to someone, like property. She was in disguise. Not by mere clothes, but her very nature was in disguise. She is dragon, living in human form. She even took a human lover.”
“Perhaps, but you won’t convince her. I doubt she’d even light a bonfire for you,” My‑re replied.
“True, but her parents will,” Varick retorted.
“How?”
“Not that smart, are you?” Varick said, “With Araminth’s death within the Rirorni Empire, her kind will seek revenge. A raw, pure emotion both our races understand. Then, when they find out I killed her, an Alastarian, they will desire revenge on the entirety of Alastari.”
“But you’ll be killed too,” My‑re replied.
“I’m a pit gladiator. I accepted death long ago. I died as a child when I was taken from that cage so many years ago,” Varick explained.
“So, both nations will burn? That’s your goal. All cities will be razed? Mordant, Niania, Valamantis, Rocanis, and Shadowspire?”
“Yes, all those cities and more. I suspect Shadowspire, particularly, will be turned to sand and glass. Araminth’s parents will likely choose their daughter’s perversion of mating with that human Westwind turned to ash,” Varick commented.
“And there is nothing that can convince you otherwise? Sparing Araminth’s life and letting us all go?” My‑re asked.
“Convince me? I am counting on this. Araminth will die, you will die, and both the Rirorni and Alastari will perish,” Varick explained, raising his long swords to strike.
“Me? Why? You said yourself, you don’t blame me,” My‑re said, inching backward to the planted large shield and bringing the other to bear.
“Yes, old grudges die hard. Besides, this is a Dark Arena match. Only one of us will leave this pit alive,” Varick said and then continued. “You will not talk yourself out of this. Whoever said words were mightier than the sword was not in any gladiator matches. They are not enough to defeat me.”
Sighing heavily, My‑re replied, “I’ve been in many matches, and I find words equally, if not more powerful.”
Varick snorted and quipped, “How so?”
“You’re already defeated. I’ve been attacking you the entire time, and you didn’t even know it,” My‑re informed.
“Woman, I will cleave you-” Varick began before being interrupted.
“There is another thing our two races share, male. Arrogance and overinflated egos,” Araminth said from her cage. She began to disrobe behind the iron bars as she spoke. “You threaten to take my freedom. Threaten the city I call home. You threaten the man I love. And when given the opportunity for redemption, you cast it aside for the pitiful concept of revenge that will not right any wrong. Pathetic. And above all, you have the audacity to threaten dragon.”
Varick’s eyes went wide in realization. He screamed in panic, pointing at Araminth, “Kill her!”
The pit gladiators hesitated, but My‑re wasn’t sure if it was due to Araminth’s perfectly symmetrical nude female form before them or the moment later, as she began to grow and transform. Leather wings sprouted from her back, and a tail emerged from behind and went through the bars. Araminth’s hands turned into heavy, sharp claws. Her neck stretched, and her face elongated. Her silky, tawny hair turned into thick spikes along her back. The iron cage squealed in protest. It could no longer hold its occupant. It burst! A thirty-foot dragon with a golden supple hide with green highlights replaced the woman Araminth in the now destroyed enclosure. Her golden-brown eyes stared daggers at the men before her.
As Varick and the other pit gladiators watched the transformation in horror, My‑re hurriedly moved to the specially crafted large shield planted in the ground with a head cover. Both were covered in thick, mere dragon hide. She used the other one in her hand to enclose herself into a metal cylinder crafted by the dwarf, Kildo Hammerhand, back on the Isle of the Eye. No light came in, and she was shrouded in darkness.
The moment before it locked into place, she heard Araminth.
“Know my fire!”