The crowd erupted into wild cheers and slamming boots as the wooden gate across the arena slid open.
A massive woman stepped out into the sand. She stood over six feet tall, with broad, muscular shoulders, shaved sides of her head, and a face covered in old, jagged scars. She was holding a heavy, leather-wrapped wooden club in one hand, flexing her arms as she let out a guttural, terrifying roar toward the spectators.
"AND IN THE SOUTHERN CORNER..." the announcer yelled, glancing down at his parchment with a confused frown. "...THE NEW RECRUIT! RED!"
The wooden gate behind me opened with a loud creak, and the guards gave me a violent shove from behind, sending me stumbling into the deep gray sand. The heavy wooden gate slammed shut behind me, locking me inside the ring.
The crowd took one look at me—a pale girl in a torn tunic, barely five-foot-five, covered in dirt—and burst into a storm of mocking laughter.
