I emerge from the coliseum shadows. Smoke surrounds me. Ash rains down from the sky. I can hear screams from the stands. A large form barrels through the smoke towards me. I run at it and slide on my knees, narrowly avoiding the massive, bony tail swinging over me. The smoke disperses momentarily. I can see Ironvine dodging a punch from Fraken and smacking him away with the flat part of a duel-bladed stone sword.
Two figures appear on either side of him in a flash of light, and smoke covers them again. A burning sensation fills my lungs. I've inhaled too much smoke, but I don't know where else to go. It's everywhere. I cover my mouth, coughing up the fumes—the ground trembles. I see a flash of blue light and look up. Falling, right on top of me, is the body of the undead dragon.
I use the ever-growing shadow cast by the falling dragon and allow myself to be swallowed by the darkness. I am spit out directly in front of the holding cell that Glimmer, Renald, and I were in before. Across the coliseum, the massive dragon slams into the ground and completely disperses the smoke in the air. I'm looking for a way to help, but the forces in this battle seem completely out of my league.
"Hawk! Stop hiding behind that beast and fight me!" Vanhiel screams, his clothing burned and sliced to ribbons. "Hawk!"
"You're going to make an outstanding servant." Glimmer's dad appears behind Vanhiel faster than my eyes can blink.
He smirks and throws a right hook into Vanhiel's head. There is a loud crack as Vanhiel flies across the coliseum and slams into the wall. Dust, sand, and debris fly everywhere. He has to be dead after that, I think to myself. However, to my absolute horror, Vanhiel walks out of the hole in the wall with nothing but scuff marks on his yellow scales. Blue electricity crackles around him, and he spits out a blood-covered tooth. He looks pissed.
"Awe! Look at this, Lucky!" a familiar voice says. "It's Whispershade!"
Leaping over the now unmoving body of the undead dragon is Eudora, riding on the back of her pet panther. I take a cautious step back. The last time we fought, those two and that crazy human almost killed me. In my peripheral vision, I see Renald standing to his feet in the stands, facing the shirtless senat. This whole situation gives me déjà vu. No, I shake away my fear; this time we'll beat them.
"For the last time..." I stare Eudora down, unsheathing my claws. "My name is Whisperclaw!"
"I see your attitude hasn't changed in the slightest." Eudora hops down from Lucky's back and removes her khopesh from her side. "I wouldn't worry about it, though, dear. I'll fix it right up for you."
Lucky growls, likely remembering how I cut its stomach open. I laugh at the memory. That's what you deserve for trying to eat me, I think. Eudora and Lucky separate from each other, circling me. No matter how I look at it, these are losing odds. I'm in a two-vs-one fight against a bounty hunter and her pet.
"Fuck it." I move to charge Eudora on my right side, only to hear a series of gunshots fire off in rapid succession.
I duck, but it quickly becomes apparent that the shots weren't meant for me. I see Lucky take a staggered step forward, blood pouring from three newly opened gunshot wounds on its side. My eyes dart from side to side, trying to find the shooter. Liaz, with both pistols drawn, stands between me and Ironvine, who's fighting Fraken. He looks serious, more serious than I've ever seen him before.
"There." He smirks at me. "That should even things up a bit."
"Liaz!" I can't help but smile.
"You-" My eyes snap back to Eudora, who, for the first time since I met her, has some semblance of shock on her face. "You shot Lucky! I'll kill you for this!"
Eudora rushes past me, heading straight for Liaz. I frantically attempt to leap onto her, but miss as she zooms by. She's already closed the distance between Liaz and herself. She tries to slash across his chest, but Liaz calmly leans back, dodging the attempt. I drop to all fours and run towards Eudora at full speed. She's so focused on attacking Liaz that she doesn't even turn around to look at me. I leap on her back and stab my claws into the holes in her armor, which are meant for her wings.
"You're supposed to fight me, remember?" I whisper confidently into her ear.
"Arghh!!" Eudora shrieks with pain, blood pouring from her wing joints. "Get off me you bitch!"
Liaz's eyes glow with fury. He jumps into the air and plants the bottom of both his boots into her chest, knocking Eudora off balance. We fall backwards, and I lean to make her fall faster. I feel my feet touch the sand and use the remaining momentum to throw Eudora over myself. I slam her onto her neck. I hear something inside her crack, and I let her go, scrambling back to my feet.
"Don't ever talk to her like that again." Liaz snarls, flames flickering inside his mouth.
A severely wounded Lucky leaps over her limp body, blocking us from reaching her. I don't care anymore, this fight is over. Lucky is bleeding out, can barely stand, and I assume Eudora's neck has snapped. If she isn't dead, she'll be paralyzed for the rest of her life.
"Let's move Liaz, we're done here." I turn away from the pair and towards the battle unfolding between Ironvine and Fraken. "I'm glad you showed up. Things looked pretty grim for a second there."
"Eudora! Lucky!"
My eyes are drawn to the sky. A blur flies past us and slams into the sand between us and Eudora. The impact kicks up a small sand cloud that covers our view of the duo. I try my best to see who spoke, but the cloud makes it nearly impossible. A golden-hued green flash appears within the haze. Somebody is using healing magic.
"Liaz!"
"I know!" Liaz gently shoves me behind him and aims his pistol at the now dispersing sand cloud.
A spike-covered whip shoots up out of the ground beneath where we stand. Liaz shoves me out of the way, and the whip wraps around him tightly. It locks his arms by his side and forces him to drop his pistols. Emerging from where the whip connects to the sand is a figure I don't recognize. They wear a dragon skull as a mask and a black jacket with a hood covering their head.
"It took you long enough, Sneaker." The cloud of sand settles back to the ground, revealing a fully healed Eudora and Lucky.
Standing away from me, helping Eudora back to her feet, is a figure that boils my blood. A jackal woman with grayish-bluish spotted fur, wearing a small leather jacket. It's the same woman from Wolfy's Tavern who sold us out: Brownspot.
"Woah!" Eudora is laughing hysterically, her face buried in one of her palms. "You tried to kill me! Hahahaha! You almost did it, too!"
I prepare myself, my eyes flicking back and forth from Eudora to Spots to the man who has Liaz wrapped up. Eudora staggers back up, arms dropping limp by her side. Her grin splits too wide, twitching. Foam spills from the corners of her mouth, and her eyes glaze over. Her head twitches at an unnatural angle, barely holding steady. She's not laughing anymore.