"Run!" Nolan screamed as he scrambled toward the safety of the stone platforms.
Before anyone could even process what was happening, the draconic serpent burst from the sand. Its massive body soared overhead, obsidian scales glinting beneath the midday sun, before it snapped down and bit a man clean in half. Then it vanished beneath the sand as quickly as it had appeared.
Despite being far smaller than the one I had learned to fear, this creature was faster.
It darted beneath the arena floor, the sand subtly shifting in its wake. People sprinting for cover stumbled as the ground betrayed them, only for the serpent to erupt again, tearing chunks from fleeing bodies and dragging them screaming beneath the surface.
I stumbled through the sand and dashed for the stone. The ground ahead of me twisted violently as its jaws surged upward to consume me.
I reacted on instinct.
Void twisted in my hands, forming a spear as I lunged forward. The tip slid uselessly across its scales, as if striking impenetrable armor, but the contact was enough. I used the resistance to shove myself sideways just as its jaws snapped shut with a deafening boom.
But before I could react, the creature dove, its tail whipped around, and slammed into my chest with tremendous force, sending me flying across the arena and into the hard stone of a raised platform.
I struck the edge hard.
The breath was torn from me. I lay there gasping, lungs burning as air refused to come. Panic clawed at me as seconds stretched on, my body screaming for oxygen that wouldn't arrive.
Then the ground trembled.
My eyes widened in horror. I rolled desperately aside as the creature lunged again, its jaws crashing into the stone where I'd been moments before.
It struggled to free itself, thrashing violently, and when it did, it tried to swat at me again.
By then, I was already too far away. I dragged myself farther onto the platform, vision blurring as my chest seized. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't draw in a breath. I kicked weakly at the sand until I was certain it couldn't reach me, yet the pressure only worsened.
My vision flickered.
Come on… breathe.
"Breathe!" I croaked, rolling onto my side and sucking in as hard as I could.
Air finally rushed back in.
And with it, I retched, coughing up a pool of blood onto the stone beneath me.
The pain hit a heartbeat later.
A sharp, stabbing agony erupted through my chest, and with a single, terrifying breath, I knew just how badly I was hurt.
"H-help," I croaked, reaching weakly for Nolan as he rushed to my side, grimacing at the blood spilling from my lips.
Sandra shoved him aside without hesitation and rolled me onto my side, her face tightening. "Summon a knife," she ordered.
I coughed up a thick glob of blood and shakily extended my hand. A blade manifested a split second before she grabbed it, and to Nolan's horror, she drove it straight into my back. I screamed as she wrenched it sideways, something shifting deep in my chest. A wet, choking sound tore from me, and suddenly I could breathe again.
I retched, spitting more blood onto the stone, then sucked in a shaking breath. I looked up at her and gave a small, unsteady nod.
With no time to rest.
The platform beneath us shuddered violently. My mind flashed back to the last moments in the Barren Sea, and with a strangled cry, I tried to scramble forward as another tremor rocked the platform, forcing us to the next. Before the entire stone sank beneath the sands.
The creature shrieked as it surfaced again, but its attention snapped elsewhere.
A man was pounding on the dungeon bars nearby.
"Let me out!" he screamed. "Let me out, you bastards!"
He barely had time for another breath before the beast slammed into the gate. The impact turned him into nothing but pulp, yet my eyes locked onto something else.
The bars bent inward as cracks formed all around the ancient stones.
"Those bastards," Nolan hissed. "They know Zarru'keth are sacred, and they still expect us to kill one?"
Sandra sank to the ground, breathing hard. "I don't think we're meant to," she said. "Even with my core, I'd struggle to seriously hurt it."
"Well, I have a power," I rasped. "So let's find a way."
She didn't answer right away.
Her eyes scanned the arena, the collapsing platforms, the sinking stone. Before stopping at the gate.
"What if…" she murmured.
I followed her gaze and nodded slowly, understanding her intentions.
Confused, Nolan raised a brow.
"Atlas," Sandra said, already moving, "can you keep it off me?"
I shifted my shoulder, grimacing at the pain, but nodded. "I'll try."
She turned away, but Nolan grabbed her wrist. "What are you doing?"
"Getting us out of here," she said.
"How?" he asked, the word slipping out. "Sandra–just tell me."
Another pillar sank. Stone groaned beneath them. In the distance, screams rose as people fled, only to be cut short, folding back into the constant roar of the arena.
She met his eyes, calm despite the chaos, though it wavered for just a moment. Her gaze flicked away, searching, as if she were trying to find the right words and coming up empty.
She opened her mouth, hesitated, then closed it again.
Then she grabbed him and pulled him into a kiss.
It was brief. But just enough to steal his breath and shatter the questions forming on his tongue.
She pulled back just as quickly.
"Trust me."
"I—I—what?!" Nolan sputtered.
She was already moving.
Grinning, she slipped from his grasp and danced from stone platform to stone platform, heading straight for the nearest gate.
Still grinning at Nolan's utterly stunned expression, I parted ways and stepped into the sand, bracing myself for what was coming.
"Hey!" I shouted, drawing the Zarru'keth's attention.
It worked a little too well.
A split second later, it launched itself forward, flying through the air with the force of a bullet. I ducked aside and managed to slash at it, but the blade slid uselessly off its scales. Grimacing, I reoriented myself just as the sand beneath me began to warp.
Its jaws snapped up where I'd been standing. I dodged and slashed again, this time at its mouth. To my shock, the blade sank into flesh, only for the wound to seal almost instantly, knitting itself back together before my eyes.
I froze.
Just for a heartbeat.
My foot slipped in the sand as the creature dove beneath the surface, the ground erupting beneath me a split second later. Its tail whipped up where my head had been. I barely managed to throw myself low, sliding beneath the strike and rolling clear as it crashed back down.
"Get onto the platform!" Sandra shouted.
I didn't hesitate. I sprinted forward, barely missing its snapping jaws as I slid onto the stone.
"Over here!" Sandra shouted, waving frantically from the base of the gate.
Frustrated, the creature swerved sideways, charging straight for her. She ducked just in time as its massive body slammed into the wall, nearly crushing her. With quick footwork, she dashed onto a nearby stone, but stumbled as it rammed the platform, shattering it in a single blow. The stone began to sink as she scrambled back onto the sand.
My chest tightened as I realized how fast it was recovering.
It burst from the sand again, jaws wide, lunging straight for her–
–only for a fist to slam into the side of its head.
The impact knocked it sideways, its body crashing back into the sand.
"Get to the stone. I'll back you," Nolan hissed.
As the creature turned for another pass, Nolan grabbed a chunk of stone from a shattered pillar and hurled it sideways. The Zarru'keth darted toward the impact before launching itself again toward where it last sensed movement.
That distraction was enough.
Nolan hauled himself onto the platform with a sharp exhale, cradling what was very likely a broken fist. He let out a rough laugh. "Who would've thought I'd get to punch a Zarru'keth one day?"
"Don't get crazy on me now," Sandra scolded. "I expect all of us to make it out of here alive."
"That starts with you," he grinned, before dashing toward the gate, a mad gleam shining in his eyes.
Seeing that it was gaining on him, I summoned a spear and thrust it into the sand ahead of Nolan. With a quick glance, he grabbed it, and with a thought, I willed it into a hammer. He swung sideways, smashing it straight into the face of the Zarru'keth and knocking it off course as it slammed into the base of the gate, sending another violent shudder through the stone.
"It's working!" Nolan yelled, though his expression dropped a moment later.
From within the creature's maw, sparks flared to life. Before either of us could react, a massive burst of greenish flame engulfed Nolan's arm. He screamed in pain, stumbling in the sand and trying to roll away, but nothing could extinguish the otherworldly fire consuming him.
"Nolan!" Sandra screamed.
She shot forward, and in a swift motion I didn't even have time to process, she snatched a broken sword from the ground and severed his arm cleanly before shoving him to the side just as the Zarru'keth burst up and snapped his arm out of the air.
Scrambling to the safety of the stones, I rushed back to them. "What the hell was that?!"
Nolan grimaced. "A Zarru'keth's flames can't be put out. Hence—" he motioned weakly to where his arm had been, blood pouring freely.
"We need to bandage it," Sandra hissed, already trying frantically to stop the bleeding.
I tore off my shirt and wrapped it tightly around the wound, pulling as hard as I could before tying it off. The blood slowed, just barely.
We turned back toward the arena, only to jump as the Zarru'keth writhed just a few feet away, its mouth alive with sparks that sputtered in and out uselessly.
That's when Nolan let out a hysterical laugh. "Ha! I knew it. The little guy's too young to control its flames, so it burned through everything it had."
Sandra smacked him on the head. "And look at the state of you. You're missing an arm!"
He grinned anyway. "Yeah, well, if it weren't for me, that gate wouldn't be one good hit away from breaking."
"And how do you suppose you're making it there in that condition?" she snapped.
Nolan sat back with a groan but didn't argue.
"I'll do it," I muttered. "You two just be ready to run."
Boom.
The platform beneath us shook violently. Another hit followed, leaving us no choice.
I took the lead, sprinting forward and summoning a shield. I slammed it repeatedly against the stone, making sure I had the creature's full attention. When it finally locked onto me, I felt a grim sense of relief as Sandra staggered along with Nolan toward the gate.
Now came the hardest part.
Sighing, I drew in a deep breath that burned like hell and shifted my shield into a spear.
This is going to suck.
It shot forward, slower than before, enough to make it seem like it was finally growing tired. Still, its strength was nothing to scoff at. Darting aside, it missed me by an inch. I twisted and slashed at its fins, carving a long gash through them, only for the wound to knit itself back together moments later.
It smashed into the sand, creating a massive crater that dragged me in slightly, the shifting ground burying my foot. I yanked it free just in time, bending backward in what must have looked like some twisted game of limbo as it soared overhead, snapping at where my head had been.
I smirked.
I was starting to get the hang of this.
As it rounded back, I remembered the Graveborers and the way the sand always shuddered just before they struck. Using that same logic, I shifted sideways and, instead of being there, drove my spear straight into its waiting jaw, plunging it deep.
It shrieked.
The creature tried to regenerate, but with the spear lodged in its mouth, it struggled even to dive back beneath the sand without choking itself on steel.
Grinning, I dashed backward, and it followed.
We entered a dance of madness, where one mistake would mean my life. Somewhere in the middle of it all, I felt a thrill I hadn't known in a long time begin to reignite within me.
Shifting to the side, I summoned a shield, not to block, but to hurl it away, throwing off its sense of my position. Then, with a war hammer in hand, I spun and smashed it into the side of its reappearing face, utterly enraging it.
And just like that, I was at the gate.
The Zarru'keth circled back, furious. And with a stomp, I planted my foot and waited.
Once.
Twice.
On the third stomp, I lunged aside as the sand beneath me stirred.
Boom!
The Zarru'keth slammed into the gate with such force that the stone wall burst inward with a deafening bang.
With the gate destroyed, the creature dove back beneath the sand, preparing for another strike.
But it was too late.
Nolan, Sandra, and I burst through the shattered stone into the tunnel beyond before it could surface again. Behind us, its mouth glowed with dozens of furious sparks, screeching in outrage at being so thoroughly humiliated.
With a small nod toward the beast, we left it behind and disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel.