As the dust cleared, we found Kull standing away from the pillar on the opposite side of the room, holding the rope in his hand.
“What?” Heidel gasped. “How did he do that?”
“As I said,” Maveryck answered, “you underestimate him.”
The dragon soared lower and snapped at Kull, but he dodged aside. He found a discarded mace inside the arena and grabbed it off the ground. Kull swung the mace around his head, stirring the dust around him. His muscles rippled as he swung the weapon, and his face was set with grim determination. Kull was in his element, in the heat of battle, sweat beading on his naked torso and dripping down the ridges of his muscles.
The dragon dipped toward Kull once again, but this time, Kull swung the club and knocked the beast’s joint where the wing met the creature’s body. Smart move on Kull’s part, as the dragon shrieked and crashed to the ground. The injury was enough to take away the creature’s ability to fly, which gave Kull an advantage as long as he could avoid the dragon’s fire.
The monster rounded, limping, with one wing dragging the ground. The beast snapped at Kull, but he jumped back, out of the dragon’s reach. Brown exhaled a breath of fire that streamed toward Kull, but the warrior ducked and rolled away. Fire ignited the wooden posts and several of the wooden tables, crackling as it consumed the fuel, making smoke and embers flit through the room. The smell of burning wood pervaded the air.
Brown limped toward Kull, slowly sizing him up as he paced from one corner of the field to the other. Kull looked savage with the mace swinging in his hand, his hair damp and slicked to his forehead, sweat making the skin on his bare torso shine in the light cast from the fires.
“Come,” Kull yelled, swinging the mace.
The beast continued pacing, the way a lion would size up its prey. As the creature came closer toward me, I noticed long, feather-thin spines around its face, most likely venomous.
Firelight glowed through the billowing smoke, giving the cavern an eerie, orange cast. My eyes watered as the smoke’s pungent scent filled the room. I worked my hands open and closed, feeling empty without my magic. Sweat slicked my forehead, and I tasted its saltiness on my tongue.
As I watched the monster circle Kull, my heart pounded in my chest. I’d seen him take down a dozen men. I’d seen him fight goblins and slaughter dragons twice his size. I should have been confident in his abilities to take down one dragon, so why did I feel so nervous?
The beast struck out, faster than I thought it was capable of moving, and rammed its massive head into Kull’s chest. Kull fell back, and the monster nearly trampled him, but Kull rolled to the side and avoided it.
“He’ll be all right,” Maveryck said.
“You don’t know that,” I said.
“You don’t have confidence in him?”
“I have plenty of confidence in him, but I also realize he’s mortal.”
The dragon roared and let out a massive fireball. Flames exploded around us, deafening me. In the chaos, I could hardly make out where Kull had gone and feared the worst. The crowd surrounding the arena clambered away from the flames. Chunks of burning wood fell from the ceiling and crashed to the ground. Frantic screams echoed through the domed room.
“Maveryck, untie me,” I called over the chaos.
“But Jahr’ad—”
“I don’t care about Jahr’ad. Untie me!”
He huffed, but then knelt beside me and loosened the knots in the ropes. Heidel did the same, and then they helped me stand as flames engulfed the cavern.
A hoarse, primal scream cut through the noise, and the sounds of yelling died down until we were left with only the sounds of crackling flames.
“Jahr’ad,” Kull yelled.
Through the flames, I saw Kull’s silhouette standing atop the lifeless form of the dragon. I almost didn’t recognize the man, shirtless, covered in blood, his hands clenching the mace as it swung back and forth, making the chain clink. Embers drifted past him on waves of hot, shimmering air. He looked like something from a legend—something primal—a force of destruction. Was this really the same man I’d spent my time with, who’d discussed building libraries, who spent his time reading books and making friendly chitchat with elven nobles? No, this wasn’t the Kull I knew.
My breathing grew shallow as I stared at the man atop the beast. Was this really the person I intended to spend the rest of my life with?
“Jahr’ad,” Kull shouted. “Show yourself!”
Silence answered. As I stared around the empty balconies, the thought struck me that perhaps Jahr’ad’s men had been prepared for the fire and they’d all headed into the inner chambers until the flames died out.
“Jahr’ad,” Kull repeated. “Where are you?”
Jahr’ad and Zariah appeared from the flames. Streamers of crimson magic wrapped around the two as they approached Kull. Maveryck, Heidel, and I also approached the room’s center. Ash flitted on invisible waves of overheated air, creating a maelstrom of flickering embers funneling around Kull as he stood atop the dragon’s corpse.
Blood trickled from a small wound in his chest. The cut didn’t look deep, but with the angry red streaks fanning outward around the gash, I was fairly certain he’d been infected with dragon venom.
“You killed my dragon,” Jahr’ad shouted.
“So I have.” Kull swung the mace and embedded the spiked ball with a low thunk deep in the dragon’s hide. He leapt to the ground. His eyes smoldered as he stood straight and faced Jahr’ad.
“Now, you will tell us the secrets of the witch’s spell.”
“Not so fast, Wult. That dragon gave you a good dose of poison. As I see it, you’ll be dead soon, so you haven’t won at all. I
