"Who are you?"
Roran woke to the sound of Murrin's nasally voice yelling across the dungeon. He sat up and stretched. His body ached from all the fighting and running from yesterday.
"Is Roran here?" asked a familiar voice.
"Maybe he is, maybe he isn't. What is it to you?"
"I'm here to fetch Roran."
Looking out of the dungeon, Roran spotted Nul standing next to the door, a hand over their nose to block out the stench.
He rose to his feet and dusted himself off. Waving a hand he called, "Hey Nul."
Nul waved back.
Murrin scowled at Roran, but stepped aside as he approached.
"What's up?" asked Roran.
"Kell is fighting in an event today, we want you to watch."
"Oh, sure. Lead the way."
Nul stepped back out into the hallway and Roran moved to follow. Murrin's hand came down on his shoulder, stopping him.
"Now hold on, you can't be going out there alone," said Murrin.
Nul looked from Murrin to Roran. "Why not?" they asked.
"He means he wants to come along," said Roran.
"Unless he has city rights, he's not allowed to walk around unchaperoned," said Nul.
"I don't need a chaperone!" Murrin crossed his arms, incensed.
"Do you have a medallion?" asked Nul, flashing theirs.
"A what? No, what is that?"
"Then you can't walk around unchaperoned," said Nul. "You'll be arrested if you're found out."
"Then I'll just get one of those coin things," said Murrin. "How much do they cost, I have plenty of favors."
Nul glanced at Roran, who could only shrug.
"It only costs two favors," said Nul, "but you need a sponsor and to file the paperwork."
"So sponsor me, I'm a very important person," said Murrin, lifting his nose. "I was the head councilman for all of Millgrove and handled all of our political communiques."
"And how did that work out for you?" said Nul, deadpan.
"Listen here young man, I will not be talked down to by a child!"
"I'm neither a man nor a child," said Nul. Then, turning to Roran, "You ready to go?"
Roran nodded and slipped past Murrin. Murrin tried to go after Roran, but the warden slammed the door in his face.
Murrin snarled and yelled, "You will answer for this boy!"
They ignored him and began heading for the gate.
"Is he always like that?" asked Nul.
Roran nodded. "Yup. Thanks for coming to get me."
"Yeah, next time I'll just send a message though. Your people are weird."
Roran nodded again. "Yup."
Once on the surface again, Nul made a beeline for the main streets. Unlike Kell, they didn't mind pushing through the crowded streets.
"Where are we going?" asked Roran.
"To the King's Arena," said Nul. "Kell is fighting in a war game."
"A war game?"
"It's a team death match. You'll see."
They worked their way along the main street until it merged with an even larger road. The cobblestone turned to a smooth brick path. Large storefronts and taverns towered over the road, each of them covered in gorgeous tile facades. The closer they got to the center of the city, the more glamorous everything became. Roran noticed that there were fairy stones hanging from every doorway and dangling from large posts lining the street.
"This is West Road," said Nul. "It divides Tasos and Vassilis. It will be crowded near the arena so stay close."
The further they went, the taller the buildings became and, as Nul had warned, the more crowded the streets were. Soon, they were wading through people, unable to avoid physical contact. Roran was grateful Kell wasn't there, she would have snapped at being this close to so many people.
After walking shoulder to shoulder with the other denizens of Kings City, Roran realized they were heading down a slope. The road was declining, taking them into the deepest part of the valley. When he spotted the King's Arena, he realized why.
The arena stood at the lowest part of the city, while still standing taller than any other building. Shimmering bronze and gold in the sunlight, the Arena dwarfed every other building around it. Large archways circled the base, serving as entrances for people to funnel into.
And funnel they did. Like ants returning to their colony, people poured into the arena in an endless stream, disappearing into the behemoth building and vanishing from sight.
The longer Roran stared at the structure, the more he began to feel a sense of vertigo. He and Nul kept walking but the building never seemed to get closer, it only got bigger and bigger. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the building stopped growing and began looming over them instead.
The stream of people pulled them towards an archway that stood twice as tall as any building from Roran's hometown. He wanted to stop and admire the structure, but the flow of people dragged him along, pulling him across the threshold and into darkness.
Once his eyes adjusted, Roran saw that the inside was well lit with fairy lights hanging from the ceiling and the walls. They illuminated a myriad of tunnels and staircases shooting off from the main passageway. Grabbing Roran's arm, Nul pulled him out of the stream and up to a staircase.
"We'll be watching from one of the lower balconies," said Nul.
Roran followed them up the staircase to another hallway and from there to another staircase that led them to another hallway. The building really was like an anthill, each passageway leading to more passageways.
"This place is like a maze," said Roran.
"It's meant to be," said Nul. "Occasionally hunting games are played inside the arena and they rearrange all of the hallways and staircases."
"They rearrange the entire building?"
Nul nodded. "And when they change it back it's always a little different. I swear their earthwork teams are nothing but amateurs."
Roran blinked at them.
"They have a dedicated team of earth movers and builders," said Nul. "You'll see more of their work in the bout."
They traversed another handful of staircases and hallways before coming to a doorway blocked by the city guard. Nul pulled out their marker medallion and handed it over.
"This is my guest," Nul said, gesturing to Roran. "He's a gladiator."
The guard returned Nul's medallion and held out a hand to Roran. He forked over his own identification and waited. Satisfied, the guard handed back the medallion and said, "Enjoy the match."
They passed through the door and out into the open sunlight. Roran found himself on a steeped balcony, with rows of padded benches along each tier. A handful of servants bustled about the balcony, hustling up and down the steps with trays of fruit and pitchers of wine and ice water.
"Where are we?" asked Roran. He'd never been anywhere so lavish or nice.
Gesturing for him to follow, Nul led Roran to a bench near the front of the balcony, giving them an unfettered view of the arena below them.
"This is the champion's balcony. All titled gladiators are allowed to come watch matches here."
"Wait, you're a champion."
Nul nodded.
"What's your title?"
Scowling, Nul said, "I'm Nul, the world breaker."