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I lay back on the pit floor but the staff was quick to pull me up onto my feet. The crowd cheered and I waved at them as I headed for the nearest exit.
I had passed my final round. Nothing was stopping me from facing Druin now. And as I entered the cool darkness of the tunnel that led to a waiting area, I opened my hand and saw the little metal beacon of hope in my palm.
The key to the iron mask on my head. And, quite possibly, the key to our escape.
* * *
Just as I predicted, Druin sailed through his last round with barely a single scratch to his armor. As he came out for our final bout, he’d clearly topped up on Quet-Dreai. His body almost burst from his armor, he was so artificially pumped.
He strutted into the ring and raised his arms to the audience once more. They cheered, but not for him. Still, it stroked his ego to think it was.
We met in the middle of the ring and stood less than two yards apart. He looked me over, spat, and snorted snot that dripped from his nostrils.
“Whoever let you out is going to pay,” he said. “But I suppose it’s good that it ends this way. I want everyone to see what happens to those who defy me.”
“You mean defy the Supervisor. So long as he’s around, you’ll only ever be second best.”
He bored into me with his tiny black piggy eyes. “It might seem that way on the surface. But everyone knows who really has the power in here.”
He was a total fool. The Supervisor always had the power and any that you thought you had, you had because he allowed it. I couldn’t believe his reign of power would last long. And once again, I was shocked that Thillak had managed to let this asshole get the better of him.
“Do you want to warm up?” I said. “Your previous ‘opponents’ didn’t stretch you very much. Your muscles might have gotten cold.”
Druin snorted. “Your cheap mind tricks don’t work on me. I’ll make short work of you and everyone will forever associate your name with humiliation.”
The first siren wailed and we both stiffened. On the second, the battle would commence.
He wore a fancy helmet with tall horns. He was overcompensating for something…
“If you want to prove you’re so tough, take off your helmet and armor and prove it to everyone,” I said.
He glared at me. “I want to look my best when I defeat you.”
He tightened his trotter around the hilt of his sword and the moment the siren blared for the second time, he immediately withdrew it and struck.
I recalled the first time he had tried to prove himself before everyone else — that day after I had challenged and beaten him outside his cell. And I could see he had learned nothing. He was making the same hasty mistake.
Striking fast to destroy me quick.
I ran at him, getting too close for him to be able to use his sword effectively, stepped on his coiled thigh, leapt up, seized the horns of his helmet, and yanked it free as his own momentum launched him forward and down. The helmet came off easily and I landed softly behind Druin.
He grinned as he turned to face me. “You’ve got a real problem with helmets, huh?”
“No,” I said. “Only yours.”
“It makes little difference. You’ll never get yours off.”
“If only I had the key…” I said, and extended my palm toward him. The metal shone like solid hope.
Druin’s face fell. “No…”
I reached up and removed my mask, the heat leaving my face and a cool breeze swept over my features. I breathed in a lungful of fresh air (fresh for Ikmal, at least) and let it out slowly.
Druin turned to run at me but he could not move his legs. He stared at me helplessly.
“Don’t do this,” he said. “I’ll give you whatever you want.”
He was genuinely terrified now. And he should be.
