They shoved Hitaru from behind and he fell forward.
The impact knocked the air from his lungs and his hands slammed against the hard ground. A sharp pain tore through his left palm when he put weight on it without meaning to. The arrow fragment still embedded there shifted slightly, but it was enough to make him gasp and clench his teeth.
Blood flowed again.
A goblin guard approached and pointed at the ring with the tip of his weapon.
—Move.
Hitaru got up slowly. His left hand hung uselessly, fingers stiff, slick with blood. Every heartbeat sent the pain spreading up his arm.
"Perfect," he thought. "I'm not even making it in one piece."
He walked toward the ring without looking back. The open ground was lit by scattered bonfires and torches stuck into the earth.
Shadows moved with every step, distorted, restless. The air smelled of smoke, sweat, and iron.
He climbed into the ring.
The ropes scraped his skin, but he barely noticed. His focus was on keeping his balance and on not placing weight on the injured hand.
From up there, he saw the crowd.
On one side, the human slaves. Silent. Tense. Some closed their eyes.
On the other, the opponents. Cold stares. Expectant.
Then he saw her.
She was in the human corner, covering herself with her hands. Her body trembled, but her eyes were fixed on him. She did not look away. She did not lower her head.
—Don't lower your head— she said—. If you do, you've already lost.
Hitaru took a deep breath. The air scraped his chest.
—That's what I'm trying.
The rival goblin entered the ring.
It was short. Much shorter than Hitaru. It barely reached his chest. Its height was not intimidating, but its body was. Compact. Dense. Every muscle defined as if carved from stone. Its short arms looked made for close-range blows.
It walked without haste.
Confident.
She looked at it and spoke quickly.
—Don't let it get too close. It's strong. Very strong.
"Great," Hitaru thought. "Small and strong. The worst."
The signal sounded.
The goblin attacked immediately.
Not with technique.
With violence.
It lunged forward and the blow came low, straight to the abdomen. Hitaru couldn't block in time. The impact folded him and drove the air from his lungs. He took a step back, then another, staggering.
"Breathe."
He couldn't.
The second blow landed on his ribs. Short. Sharp. The goblin slipped under his guard and struck with its whole body. Hitaru felt something crack and dropped to his knees.
The ground scraped his skin.
Laughter around him.
The goblin did not pull back. It pressed the attack.
A charge to the chest threw him onto his back. Hitaru fell badly and the pain in his left hand exploded. The arrow shifted again.
He saw blood on the ground.
"This is going badly."
He tried to get up, but the goblin was already on him. A punch hit his face. Lights burst in his vision. Another blow to the shoulder. Another to the chest.
There was no pause.
Hitaru rolled as best he could and got up clumsily, retreating. The goblin advanced without bothering to guard. It knew that every hit it landed was enough.
"It's short," he thought. "But it gets under me."
He tried to keep distance using his height, but his left hand didn't respond. Every time he moved it, the pain threw off his rhythm.
The goblin lunged again.
Hitaru raised his right arm to block, but the impact shook his entire body. He lost his balance and fell onto his side. The goblin fell on top of him, heavy, compact, like a rock.
The air left him.
He rolled. He crawled.
He got halfway up.
"It's going to kill me."
The goblin caught him and kicked his leg. Hitaru fell again. The ground was cold. The bonfires spun in his vision.
"This could end here."
The thought came quickly, without drama.
The goblin raised its arm to finish him.
—Get up!
The voice cut through the noise. He turned his head and saw her. She was still there. Trembling. Looking at him as if she still expected something from him.
"If I lose," he thought, "I'm not the only one who loses."
Fear changed shape.
It didn't leave.
It became useful.
He rolled just as the blow came down. The impact shook the ground where his head had been. He got up as best he could and retreated, breathing badly, his chest burning.
The goblin growled and advanced again.
"It's strong," he thought. "But it doesn't think."
He let it come closer.
The goblin attacked with a straight punch. Hitaru moved to the side and let the momentum carry it past him. He didn't counterattack. He only dodged. Stepped back. Gained space.
The goblin grew frustrated and attacked again, faster, sloppier.
Hitaru dodged again. He felt a blow graze his shoulder and the pain tore a groan from him, but he kept moving.
"Tire it out," he thought. "Make it tire."
The goblin was breathing harder now. Its attacks were still powerful, but less precise.
One caught him in the chest and threw him backward. Hitaru fell, rolled, and stood up again, his body screaming in pain.
His left hand still hung uselessly.
Then he looked at the blood.
He saw the arrow fragment protruding slightly from his palm.
"That."
The goblin charged again.
Hitaru waited.
At the last second, he slipped his body under the attack and, with a quick motion, closed his left hand around the arrow fragment. The pain was immediate, brutal, like fire racing up his arm.
He screamed.
But he didn't let go.
He drove the sharpened piece of wood into the goblin's neck, just below the jaw.
The goblin screamed too. A sharp, startled sound. It took a step back, clutching its neck.
Hitaru gave it no time.
He lunged at it, ignoring the pain, and wrapped his right arm around its neck. He locked his legs.
He pulled back with everything he had.
"Now," he thought. "Now or you die."
The goblin struggled. Pounded the ground.
Kicked.
Hitaru tightened his grip.
The neck gave with a dry crack.
The body went limp all at once.
It fell.
Silence.
Then cries of pain.
Hitaru released the hold and moved away, trembling. His left hand wouldn't stop bleeding. His whole body hurt. He breathed as if he might not make it.
"I won."
A goblin guard climbed into the ring and grabbed him by the arm.
—Down.
Hitaru obeyed.
They pushed her toward him. They walked together to the front of the ring.
In front of them now lay the other tyrant girl on the ground, unable to move.
Carts lined up.
One stood out.
A man watched them from the shadows.
Hitaru remained standing.
Pain.
Blood.
Alive.
"Still alive."