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We’d stick to the plan. Runa could easily cast an illusion to distract the dragon while concealing our actions. Drazen and I would protect our allies while they used their gifts to open the grate.

With any luck, we’d be gone before Idris even realized we were missing .

Once more, Idris stepped to the edge of his pavilion.

“Oh, and one other thing. Today, the competitors’ torques will remain active.

This final lesson is one of humility. A great number of these criminals believe themselves to be predators.

Today, they will learn what it feels like to be prey.

” He smirked, glancing in my direction. “Let the trial begin.”

Bloody bastard. Dread turned my heart to stone, plunging it into my stomach. This was a disaster. With the torques on, Kronk couldn’t shift the sand, and Runa couldn’t create a diversion. There was no possible way we could dig through several feet of sand to the grate without being slaughtered.

I dared to meet Runa’s stark expression. Even if we managed to defeat the other competitors before Idris’s beasts ripped us apart, only one of us would leave this place.

Mind racing, I reconsidered my strategy. One, there was no escaping. Two, my alliance was now worthless. With our plan gone to hell, Runa’s brothers would kill me in a heartbeat. Three, the only way I’d survive was to outlive the competition. That included Runa.

This last part gave me pause.

Because I needed her.

For the portal. Yes. Except the portal was no good to me if I was dead.

“She is mine,” the voice growled.

Silence!

My legs wobbled, the disk shifting beneath me.

Caught in the grip of Idris’s magic, the competitors sailed around the arena like stones skipping across water.

Kronk drifted toward me. Ruddy expression tinted green, he clamped a hand over his mouth.

Apparently, sailing through the arena didn’t agree with the athos.

I could use that weakness to my advantage if I struck quickly.

It was him or me. Conclusion?

Runa’s brother had to die.

I braced to jump when my disk wobbled and tilted. My ass struck the platform, and a sword whizzed over my head. Some bloody bastard had snuck up on me from behind. This was unacceptable.

I sprang to my feet and faced my attacker. Heavily muscled, the horned demon snarled, baring three rows of razor-sharp teeth.

“Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?” I taunted. The gibe was a classic I’d learned from watching my well-paid soldiers train. Former soldiers who’d quickly abandoned me when my assets were frozen.

“Kiss yours,” the demon snarled and lunged.

I ducked beneath the arms he tried to sling around me and sliced my sword along his ribs.

The demon roared and nearly plunged off the side of the platform. The edge forced me to stop as well. As I recovered my balance, I discovered a new issue. The disk I stood upon sank beneath our combined weight.

Below us, in the sand, several of Idris’s creatures had gathered. They smacked their lips, salivating and peering up at me. Any second, we’d be low enough for them to jump onto the platform.

The demon seemed to notice as well. He lunged, and I braced for impact instead of dodging. This time, I managed to tuck my shoulder, slam it into his gut, and hurl him over my head into the pit.

His high-pitched scream rang in my ears. Snarls and snapping followed, then gurgling.

At the violence, the crowd erupted. Their bloodthirsty cheers threatened to turn me deaf.

Before I could recover, the disk tilted, and I hit my knees.

Behind me, two clawed feet gripped the rim of my platform.

The horned creature struggled to get a grip, dangling several feet above the sand.

It must have jumped. With its heavier weight on one end, the platform tilted dramatically.

I struggled to find a handhold, finding nothing as I skidded on one hip .

Eager for its meal, the creature licked its bulbous lips and opened its massive jaws. Rows of serrated teeth waited eagerly to saw me into bite-sized morsels.

Not today, miscreant. I planted a foot on its upper and lower lips. Bracing myself above its gaping maw, I slashed my sword through one of its feet, severing the appendage. Screeching hit my ears. As the creature fell, I sprang back, propelling my body back to the center of the glowing platform.

With the monster gone, my disk floated higher, rising above the danger in the sand. I breathed a sigh. Though my relief was temporary.

Across the arena on a wobbling platform, I spotted Runa. The sorceress battled with a contestant with scaly skin and pointed ears. Their swords clanged. She seemed to be holding her own until a second attacker drifted closer.

“You idiot. No,” I snarled. Already, Runa and her adversary had sunk halfway down. The added weight would put all of them on the ground.

Uncaring of the danger, the second competitor jumped. Runa’s disk tilted, and the three of them plunged to certain death.

“Runa!” Kronk’s bellow spun my head around in time to watch the athos jump off his platform. His massive form exploded against the sand, raising a cloud of dust.

“Kronk, you fool.” Now, two members of my former alliance were in the pit.

I glanced from them to the swinging platforms nearby. No one on the ground could possibly survive. Letting them die would improve my odds. All I needed to do was to maintain my lofty position and wait for the others to fall as well.

Below, Runa’s scream sank steely fingers into my chest. I clenched my jaw hard enough to crack my molars. Don’t look. You can’t help her. Only one may survive.

Another scream, and those fingers cracked my ribs apart and ripped out my heart .

I peered over the side.

Below me, Runa stumbled before righting herself.

Four bloody claw marks scored her shoulder.

Crouched before her was a creature that was part saber-tooth panther, part velociraptor.

The sorceress backed away from her prowling attacker.

I held my breath, surprised the beast had yet to pounce when a blast of heat and flame demanded my attention.

Flark. That was why. While trying to escape the panther, Runa was now dangerously close to the dragon.

“Runa. Hang on. I’m coming!” This time, it was Drazen’s bellow. He hit the sand before racing in her direction from the far side of the pit. He’d never make it in time. Where was Kronk? I searched and discovered he’d been intercepted by a crustacean-type creature with large pincers for hands.

Their sister would be dead before they reached her.

Once again, my disk shifted beneath me and sailed across the arena, stopping directly over the sorceress. What madness was this? It couldn’t be a coincidence. I glanced over at the king. Idris smirked back and fluttered a two-finger wave. Bloody bastard.

It was a test. He was playing with me, curious to see how I would react. To see if I would come to her aid. No doubt, he’d wagered a vast number of coins on the outcome.