The forest vanished before Kael could properly register the transition. Damp earth disappeared beneath his boots, along with the last glimpse of the prisoners moving between the trees. Bright light struck his eyes, and he narrowed them as a roar of voices rolled over him.
Thousands of people were shouting, cheering, and whistling at once. The noise seemed to come from every direction.
Kael looked down first. His boots rested on packed red dirt, churned by countless feet and stained darker in places where blood had soaked into the ground. High walls enclosed the space around him, with enormous tiers of stone seating rising beyond them.
The stands were almost full.
Spectators in white, gray, cream, and faded yellow robes leaned over the rows, shouting toward the arena floor. Some waved strips of cloth. Others threw coins, while a group farther up chanted a name Kael could not make out through the noise.
"What the hell?" he muttered.
A blue window opened before him.
