"I was supposed to fight you, right?" Eudora's khopesh nearly slices my chest open. "Right? Then why are you running away?"
I jump back to avoid her wild slash, but in the exchange, I lose track of Lucky. That's until I feel his claws dig into my arm, carving a trio of deep cuts into my fur. I spin around, kicking out with both my feet at Lucky's nose.
Out of the corner of my peripheral vision, I see a flash of orange light. I slam my claws into the sand beneath me, stopping my momentum. Brownspot sends a massive fireball between me and Lucky. It continues for a moment before exploding into the coliseum wall. The wall erupts into flames, which immediately spread to the empty stands.
"How are you still able to move? This shouldn't be possible." My attention is drawn to Liaz, who is slowly standing from the sand.
The figure with the dragon skull mask, named Sneaker, I believe, takes a few fearful steps back. Something didn't work out as he had planned. From what I know, Liaz is a retired adventurer. He's probably the strongest one in our group at the moment. There's no telling the battles that he's been through.
"Focus!" Eudora's khopesh shaves a bit of fur off my neck. "Otherwise, you might lose your head! Ha ha ha!"
I roll away from her and onto my feet. Lucky is getting ready to pounce, but as he moves to jump onto me, the air around him shivers. The panther is yanked down from the sky mid-jump and slammed into the sand below. Goldenclaw appears in front of me, knocking Eudora's khopesh away with his rapier. A golden aura seeps from the blade and, without saying a single word, Goldenclaw unleashes a fury of stabs and slashes on Eudora, Lucky, and Brownspot.
Eudora flies into the sky and out of Goldenclaw's reach. However, Brownspot and Lucky both take significant damage. A deep gash runs diagonally across Brownspot's face, across her nose. Lucky, on the other hand, gets stabbed in the back. Despite the serious injury, Lucky stands. It tries weakly to swipe at Goldenclaw, who calmly steps back and buries his rapier into its skull. Without a sound, Lucky falls. This time, he appears to be fully deceased.
I lunge at Brownspots, aiming for her eyes with my claws. She leans back, dodging slash after slash, and points her index claw directly between my eyes.
"See you in hell, you bitch." She whispers, and a red dot appears at the tip of her claw.
I lean so far that my feet touch my back. From Spots' claw, a long red beam fires. It soars over me and through the coliseum wall, like butter. I flip into a back handspring, putting distance between Brownspot and me. Eudora charges towards Goldenclaw.
"I'll kill you!" She screams, tears streaming down her face as she thrusts her khopesh toward Goldenclaw multiple times. "Y-you killed my best friend! You, you heartless fuck! I'll never forgive you for this!"
"If I recall correctly…" Goldenclaw nonchalantly dodges. "... you tried to kill my friends first. That, my dear, is what killed your best friend. Your own foolish decisions and the foolish decisions of those with whom you align yourself."
He parries Eudora's last strike and outstretches his palm. It glows with a golden light. The air around Eudora quivers. She fights it for a second, flapping her wings as hard as she can. The second is just long enough for Goldenclaw to plunge his rapier into her chest.
"I hope it was worth it." He says softly, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her further onto the blade until it's sticking out of her back.
Then, he pulls his sword out and slices horizontally. Eudora's head slides off her neck, and her lifeless body crumples in the sand.
"No…" Brownspot steps away, but Goldenclaw appears behind her and attempts to stab her in the spine.
Before Goldenclaw can, Ironvine slams into him. They both tumble across the sand, stopping just short of the flaming hole in the coliseum wall. I barely dive out of Vanhiel's way, who crashes down seconds after.
"Ye-yes!" I hear a mangled voice gasp. "Hiel! Help us!"
Liaz, with fresh cuts on his scales, holds up the dragon-masked figure by the throat. The figure is full of gunshot wounds and is bleeding heavily.
"They killed everyone!" Brownspot screams, running to Vanhiel, who struggles to stand. "Fraken, Ash, Eudora! They even killed Lucky!"
Another figure crashes from the sky in front of us, kicking up a small sand cloud. When the cloud clears, Hawk Wind stands. He looks just as wounded as Vanhiel, both severely bruised and bloody.
"Is this what you wanted?" Glimmer's dad shouts at Vanhiel. "You wanted everyone to die? You rebelled against me for... for this? Don't you see how pathetic you look? Don't you see how much pain you've caused?"
"Like you're any better than me!" Vanhiel roars back. "You stole everything from us! You made Fraken lose his mind because he didn't want to experiment on our people, so you forced him to experiment on himself! You turned Eudora into a whore! You're the reason Ash and Spots had to fight for their lives as children! You killed my whole family because you thought they were too dangerous! You. Did. This!"
Liaz tosses Sneaker at Vanhiel's feet and helps me stand. Goldenclaw and Ironvine stand back up as well. Behind Glimmer's dad, Renald lies motionless, and shirtless, in the sand. Next to him is Ash's body.
"I…" Glimmer's dad hesitates. "...I'm sorry."
"Really? Hahahaha!" Vanhiel laughs hysterically. "You're sorry? No, no, no, no, no. You'll be sorry! You don't even know half of it! The deals I had to take to get this far! Oh, hoho, but you will! Everyone will!"
As if cued by Vanhiel's speech, the ground shakes all around us. I look to Goldenclaw, but his paws aren't glowing. I don't know what's happening, but something doesn't feel right.
"Everyone run!" Goldenclaw yells. "The sand is sinking!"
"Sorry, but nobody is moving anywhere." Chills shoot down my spine, the sound of a familiar, bored voice echoing from the stands at the front of the coliseum.
I look up to see where the voice is coming from and spot Blackthorn, sitting with his legs crossed in the stands. He wears a white, button-up shirt and black pants. In one hand, he holds a small plate and in the other is a cup he sips out of. He places the steaming cup on the plate and aims his hand out towards us.
"Vanhiel…" He calls out. "... I believe this settles our debts. I will be taking my scroll back, as agreed. I assume you will do what needs to be done after that, therefore I will do the same."
The face of his paws glows purple. A crushing weight suddenly slams onto me. I fall to my knees, all my attention devoted to standing. Goldenclaw was right. The sand is loosening and causing me to sink into it. I use my remaining strength to find Renald. The sand slips out from underneath me completely, and I barrel down into the newly formed pit at the bottom of the coliseum.