Perth poked his head out. Roran waved at him. Carefully, Perth descended from the maze and slid down to the bridge. Roran was tempted to cross the bridge again to help him across, but decided against it. He was already risking his neck for the kid.
Slowly but surely, Perth made it across the bridge. A pair of gladiators eyed him as he made the crossing, but Roran squared his shoulders and raised his sword. The gladiators left them alone.
Once Perth was across he collapsed to the ground shaking. The kid was pale and drenched in sweat.
"Are you okay?" Roran asked.
Perth nodded. "Yeah, I just need a moment."
"We don't have a moment. We need to get these into our basins."
When Perth didn't respond, Roran bent down and dragged him to his feet. Perth's skin was clammy and cool to the touch. He was in shock. Roran started dragging him along, heading back towards his basin.
"Did you see how I handled them?" Roran asked, trying to keep Perth conscious.
Perth nodded. "You tricked them."
"I didn't trick them, I just got them to fight each other. My mother did the same thing, she told the trolls she would only surrender her gold or her body, and forced them to fight to see who would claim their prize. In the end the one asking for gold won, so she took a gold coin and threw it into the river. The troll dived in after it."
"Your mother sounds like an amazing person."
"She was, she really was. Stay here for a moment."
They had reached Roran's basin. He took his medallion off the hook and gently placed it inside. Relieved to be rid of the weight, Roran rolled his shoulders and tossed the hook into the basin as well. Above them, the crowd roared and Kell's whistle split the air again. She was waving at him, a giant grin plastered onto her face. Beside her, Nul was staring at Roran with a grim expression.
Turning back to Perth, Roran asked, "Where is your basin?"
"This way, four over."
Roran nodded. Perth's basin was between him and Morena. "I'll walk with you."
As they walked, Perth started stumbling side to side. Roran put a hand on his shoulder to help steady him.
"Thank you for helping me," said Perth. "My village needs the favors. People are dying and won't survive much longer without food or medicine."
"My people are in a similar situation."
"How many people do you have?"
"Forty seven," said Roran.
"We're down to thirteen, mostly kids. It will be twelve soon."
Roran wasn't sure if Perth was referring to his own impending death or if there was another person in his village that was going to die soon. Unsure of how to respond, Roran placed a hand on Perth's shoulder and squeezed it gently.
Arriving at the plaque with Perth's name, Roran watched as he haphazardly dropped the medallion into his basin. Perth's body slumped with relief seeing the medallion settle into the steel basin.
"It's over." Turning to Roran, he said, "You're not murderer, are you? You're actually a good person. I think your mother would be proud of you."
Roran swallowed the lump in his throat. "You're wrong. I am a murderer. I've killed people. I killed them for money."
"Your mother would still be proud of you," said Perth, smiling. "You seem like you need to go do something."
Roran nodded.
"Then go do it."
Roran nodded again and turned away, heading straight for Morena. He wasn't sure how he was going to handle the cruel swordsman yet. A straightforward fight would probably get him killed. He had hoped to sneak up behind Morena while he was guarding the bridge, and then push him into the moat, but it wasn't meant to be. Morena was comfortably sitting out the rest of the round.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't everyone's favorite little murderer," Morena said when he saw Roran approach.
Roran frowned at him. Morena was sitting in his own basin, his butt planted squarely on top of a medallion. Two more medallions lay in front of him, one under each foot.
"Didn't feel like going for a fourth?" Roran asked.
"What, and give you the chance to sneak up on me and put a knife in my back? I'll pass. I'm going to wait until the final round when I can fight you on my terms." Morena took out a cigarette and lit it, taking a puff. " You know, it was real sweet watching you help that kid. It's gonna be a pity when he dies."
Roran didn't respond.
"Do you think he'll make it to the next round or die from his injuries first? If he does make it, are you going to be the one to kill him? Gonna do him the favor of making it quick? Cause if you don't I might just get to him first, and as you know, I'm not exactly gentle."
"What is wrong with you?"
Morena shrugged and sucked on his cigarette.
"How am I supposed to answer that? Am I supposed to go on some stupid diatribe about how the strong survive and the weak perish? Am I supposed to tell you my sob story, about how my sister was raped to death in front of me. How the only time I don't hear her screams echoing inside my head is when I'm making someone else scream twice as loud? Am I supposed to tell you that I can't get hard unless I make someone cry?
"The fact of the matter is that I enjoy killing people—in painful ways—and this arena pays me to do it. I spend that money on things that make me happy, like a nice bed, strong wine, and the occasional whore that's willing to take what I deal out."
Roran's grip tightened on his sword. "Stay away from Karyn."
"Or what? You'll kill me?"
"Stay away from Karyn or I'll tell Kell that you want to kill her."
Morena winced. "That little trollop would be crazy enough to sleep with the living storm, wouldn't she? Oh well, no accounting for taste. Hey, did she tell you her little secret? I guess it's not that little but who am I to complain about the details. That's the reason she sleeps with psychopaths like me and Kell. Anybody she sells herself to might freak out and decide to kill her, so why not take a risk on violent champions with deep pockets. Have you slept with her yet?"
"She's my friend."
"You didn't answer my question."
"No."
"You should try it some time, she's real pretty when she cries. She doesn't cost too much either, just a fistful of coin."
His anger boiling to the surface, Roran stabbed his sword into the ground, getting it out of his hand. At this rate he was going to lose his cool and attack Morena.
"Aw, is someone getting grumpy? Oh, I get it. You're one of those people that I can insult all day and night and you won't bat an eye, but the moment I comment on your friends you blow your top. That's honestly a little disappointing. I didn't expect the murderer of Millgrove to be so predictable. You know, if you do manage to win this little tourney, they'll make you a champion and saddle you with a stupid title. I wonder what they'd call you. Maybe Roran, the murderous little monster, beloved by whores and hated by everyone else."
Grinding his teeth, Roran debated grabbing his sword and attempting to plunge it into Morena here and now. If what everyone said was true, the final round would be a straightforward deathmatch. Roran would have to fight Morena one on one, on even ground. Now would be as good a time to get it over with as any.
Pausing, Roran stepped away from Morena and looked around. People were still attempting to get their hands on medallions, either by risking the maze or by guarding the bridge, waiting to ambush those that came back with medallions. Except...there were a couple gladiators milling about the basins on either side of Murrin. They were a comfortable distance away, but they kept glancing at Morena and Roran, their hands on their weapons. Glancing down, Roran once more saw the two medallions under Morena's feet. Calming himself, Roran stepped towards Morena, his hand falling to the hilt of his sword.
"I didn't think you liked working with others," Roran said.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Roran gestured to the gladiators on either side. "They're keeping a close eye on us, and I know for a fact that one doesn't have a medallion, I saw his basin when I walked over. What was the plan, goad me into attacking and have them ambush me while I'm distracted?"
Morena cursed and tossed his cigarette to the ground. "You're too observant for your own good. I should've figured that when I saw you climb the damn walls." Morena spat on the ground and looked at his two goons. "You know, I could still signal them to attack you."
"It wouldn't work," said Roran, "I'd sprint for the bridge behind me. If they're dumb enough to follow me onto it, I'll just take them out one at a time. You might be a better swordsman than I am, but they're not, not since Kell started training me."
Growling, Morena climbed to his feet. He took a step towards Roran, looming over him.
"Don't get cocky kid, I could kill you here and now."
"But you won't."
Morena leaned in close, close enough that Roran could see the yellow tint of his eyes and smell the acrid stench of tobacco on his breath.
"Don't test me kid, I'm a champion."
"So was Duran."
With that, Roran pulled his sword out of the ground and turned his back to Morena. Calmly, Roran walked away from the cruel swordsman, not looking back once.