nds on you. Yet, here we are. It'd nice thinking I could have a Snow and Slaughterhound on my show."

Swillow asked him, "Your show?" She understood how the crimsons worked. Still, the king couldn't have a show? Unethical, a kingdom dealing with business.

"You're an outcast. A criminal. A rogue. A murderer. You know what I hear?" He pointed to her. "A good, damn story. It sells like ice in a desert. I am offering you a permanent spot in our company, in our gladiator show."

Swillow showed her fangs. "I'll join you as soon as each hell freezes over, and melts! You shouldn't be working with a company. Haven't you ever heard of corruption?"

"Corruption?" Talizarin asked and scoffed. "Corruption? My money established this building, this business, long before I even knew I'd take the crown. A distant thought to me."

"Yet here you are, still protecting your company afterwards," Swillow said.

"I rule this kingdom, therefore what I say happens with this company goes. Besides, that's why a certain Twayt is supposedly in charge. Then again, she's more or less a casting agent."

"I fought against officials like you back in Canida. I lobbied and brought awareness. I blew all the whistles," Swillow said.

"Yet look where you are now." Swillow gasped. "Have you ever felt like being part of the winner's circle?" Talizarin asked, shaking his head to her.

He turned towards the window."Who cares what's morally right? Boredom is the root of all evil."

"As is the love of money," Swillow said as she upstarted from her chair.

"You think this is hurting others," Talizarin said. "A subsidy here or there never hurt anybody. Besides, we have one of the best economies for it."

Swillow said, "You have lost your mind."

"Have I? Even more money, and our government could raise war efforts against Canida. Then we can simply put them on the show. We can fight the hyenas. We could fight the wolves."

Swillow lit herself on fire. "Lemme give you some practice."

She charged Talizarin, jumping on the table. He ducked underneath. She threw herself out the window with her momentum.

The glass broke, and Swillow found out what it was like to fall for three hundred feet.

*

The beating of wings filled the air. Talizarin walked down the hallways, taking some time to admire the scenery. "We do need some reparations, such as maybe a roadkill shovel next to our fire extinguishers? In case someone else goes splat."

Dryph chuckled at the darkness of his humor, until her eyes widened. Talizarin shook his head. "What the hell!?"

Swillow pushed away at the several guards fighting her off. Her fur barely hid the blood. Despite her staggered gate, she managed to grab someone's throat and chokeslam them.

Archers fired arrows, the twangs of their bows like strumming harps. Two arrows pierced her right side, and electricity coursed into her body. It failed to bring down her massive bulk, as adrenaline flooded her systems. She jumped on an archer, front paws on shoulders and bottom paws on chest. As the archer fell, she stomped his chest out.

Talizarin clicked his claws against each other as he saw his forces fall apart. He clapped. "Good show, good show."

Swillow turned a death gaze to Talizarin, but he waved her off.

The smell of iron wafted around. She stepped on a thick pile of liquid. Her dragon blood slowly healed her wounds.

"You better back down. I fight until the bitter end."

As more crimsons converged, she did a flaming tackle which launched them into the air. One cracked his skull against the stadium. Another she bucked in the face, a click from his teeth being her receipt. She seemed indomitable.

Still, her final power revealed itself once again once she bit into the backside of one fighter. She drained his life force until he was unconscious. Too long since she feasted.

"Such power, which is why I know you'll bring us success. Too bad you probably won't survive this battle. If you fight until, as you say, the bitter end."

Several fireballs surrounded Swillow while she kept hitting guards. An endless sea of red engulfed her.

"I have to get to the ocean, I have to get to the ocean," she said. "I have to get off this damn continent and never look back."

The words gave her strength as her muscles slackened. She tried to clench some again, make them move, but her body wouldn't give in to the demands.

The distant voice of Talizarin asked, "Why are you trying to cross the ocean?"

She already told Wasting why, but she wasn't prepared to tell Talizarin the truth. "I have to get out of here."

"You would have done that already. You have had many opportunities to cross the ocean. You could have gone to Canida, or does that harbor negative memories?"

"The waters are too hard to navigate." She summoned a wall of flames to get time to rest.

"Then cross Southern Torn."

"I was getting to that, but someone interrupted me." She raised her hackles as she took deep panting breaths.

"I see. Still, you have had fourteen years since your incident."

Swillow fell onto her belly. "It's because of this damn war. We're not staying to fight hyenas and wolves. Well, Citrus isn't."

"I think the answer is that you aren't a fan of oceans. I know all about you being a void creature. You ran into a leviathan, the Corruptor."

A rumbling came from Swillow's throat, still she nodded.

Talizarin said, "You feel like you can't cross an ocean. Good news is that a Snow's ultimate goal is wealth. You could make major money working for me."

"I already lost the tournament," Swillow said. "But Citrus will win."

Talizarin said, "How about we change the game? You win. The Slaughterhound wins, and then you and Citrus will continue being gladiators. The other two can go about their lives."

"Again, I already lost."

"Yes, but who makes the rules?"