I moved away from Hrig, giving Kyren space to minister to her in peace, and approached Stone.

“Hrig thinks that Donyin is seeing through Talen’s eyes, and I think she's right.”

“His movements did seem a bit clumsy when he was under the dais, didn’t they?” said Stone. He scratched his beard thoughtfully. “You leave it to me lad, distractions and the sort are my specialty." I nodded and left him to his plotting.

I walked out onto the sand of the arena, my boots leaving imprints as I made my way toward Donyin. He hadn’t left since he’d fought Hrig and her blood was still dripping from the cloth wraps over his hands. I noted with satisfaction that he still had blood running freely from his mouth where she had struck him.

Talen rose to speak. “Ladies and gentlemen! We now come to the final fight of our little tournament. A bout between a classic chivalrous knight and our very own beast of a brawler. Who will be our champion? Who will win this epic test of might? I’ll allow an additional two minutes for bets to be placed while you consider those questions for yourselves.” His voice was unencumbered by any worry, but I could tell, even behind his dark glasses, that he was disturbed by Donyin’s injury. The fight hadn’t been very close, but seeing his favorite toy damaged seemed to distress him.

I looked at Donyin, he was scowling standing with his arms crossed. This close I could clearly see that in the areas Hrig’s axe had struck there were golden scales. I could sense him radiating hatred in my direction as I sized him up. I wavered a bit, standing under the weight of his disdain. I hadn’t sensed that in his other fights, just contempt and annoyance.

“You’re not human are you?” I asked.

Donyin ignored the question and continued pouring concentrated loathing in my direction.

I took a page from Hrig’s book, “What? Did losing a few teeth leave you with a lisp? Embarrassed to talk?”

His nostrils flared, but he didn’t answer.

“That's okay, don’t answer. I'm sure I’ll find out when I run you through.” With that last barb I stood and waited for Talen to start the fight. I focused on my skin in the same way I did to repair dents and chinks, but instead of repairing it I was thickening and strengthening it. Unlike the other fights, there was no winning this one without relying on my inhuman abilities. I then left myself in an open position, inviting a strike. I needed him to hit me at least once, it was the only way to confirm he was what I thought he was.

“All bets are in,” Talen’s voice rang through the arena, “Let’s not test our fighters' patience anymore.” He gave one last sweeping look to the audience, raising his hand above his head before bringing it down in a chopping motion. “Fight!”

Donyin smiled. He wasn’t missing teeth anymore and the replacements were pointed and sharp. He leapt forward and struck me full in the chestplate launching me backward.

The blow confirmed my suspicions even as it cracked my reinforced armor. It hurt. In the same way the goblin leader’s strikes had hurt. I pulled up my shield and blocked his second strike, feeling the shield take a small bite of his energy and strength. I raised my sword and attacked with a flurry of swings. Donyin dodged the first few before blocking the last one with his forearm in a shower of sparks as his scales absorbed the blow.

I changed tactics, aiming my swordpoint for his mouth. He leaned his head to the side to avoid it and kicked at my knee to buy space, but I lowered my shield to block his kick before launching into another stab at his mouth. This time he caught my sword in his teeth. His lip curled up in a smile. I gave him a kick of my own and he launched backward taking the tip of my sword with him.

He spat the sword tip into the sand and I risked regenerating the knicks and growing breaks in the sword and reinforcing it as much as I could. It took more effort than repairing my skin, but it was doable as long as I was holding it. He charged again and started attacking without letting up. I managed to block most of his strikes on my shield, but several grazed my helmet and one blow took me square in the chest. His hits tore at my essence and before long I was leaking black ooze from my helmet. I wasn’t sure of exactly what it was, I only hoped that from the distance of the stands everyone would assume it was blood.

Despite my new shield's enchantment, Donyin showed no signs of slowing. His strength must’ve been as inhuman as my own to be so minimally affected by it. The hits kept coming and I was losing my footing one step at a time as I recoiled again and again under his blows. I let a particularly strong blow knock me back so I could have a moment to adjust.

I threw down the shield and brought both my hands to the hilt of my sword while planting my feet deep into the sand to steady my footing. I was giving up on blocking Donyin’s hits, and shifting my attention to hitting him as much as possible. He closed the distance and began striking, his fists rocked and dented my armor and cut my essence while my sword crashed down on him in a shower of sparks. No matter where I hit there was no clear weakness and since I’d already made a play for the part of his face I knew he was wary of any strikes in that direction. I could feel my essense draining with every hit even as my own blows failed to leave any marks.

There was a popping sound from several directions and smoke began filling the arena. Donyin was distracted and I took that opportunity to back away, leaving a trail of black bile. Stone's idea, I assumed. The stands were soon filled with it rendering Talen, and thus Donyin, blind.

I stayed still and circled around him. The sounds of the panicking crowd covering that of my movement. I struck his back, knocking him forward, but not managing to cut him, then I slid away again. I repeated the tactic several more times, but with no luck.

Donyin laughed and ripped away what remained of his gray tunic revealing a heavily muscled body covered in golden scales. “Even if you take Talen’s sight from me, I cannot be harmed. My father’s gifts make me invulnerable to any blow,” he started angling his head, listening for my movement, “Eventually, I will catch you. Then I will kill you for what you did to my brother.”

His brother? I searched my memories and found no one in my own experience or Sevald’s who could possibly be related to Donyin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Donyin leapt at the sound of my voice, but his fists struck only sand. I’d already moved.

“The leader of the camp. He was noble and strong. Our father had blessed him nearly as much as me and far more than he had Talen.”

“The goblin!?”

Another leap, another strike that hit sand. Talen and Donyin being brothers was a stretch, but Donyin and the goblin chief being relatives was, as far as I knew, a biological impossibility.

“He was more than that! Once father awakens within us we all become more than what we were. You will die for the death you’ve brought to a son of Aurum.”

I emerged from below him in a shower of red sand and leapt onto his back wrapping my arms around his neck and squeezing with all of my strength.

“Your skin may be tough, but let’s see how strong your lungs are.”

He roared, letting out valuable oxygen, and started twisting and turning trying to throw me off like a wild bull. I didn’t shift an inch. He switched to punching at my helmet and trying to pull at my arm, but the only change was another thick clump of black ooze spilling out of my helmet and down his shoulders. Finally he threw himself backward onto the sand, trying to crush me. I held fast, squeezing tighter and tighter as the air left his lungs to ensure he couldn’t fill them again. His struggling began to grow weaker and weaker until his swings at my helm were down to the strength of a normal man. Finally, he stopped moving. I gave one more squeeze with all the effort I had to make sure he was dead.

I removed myself from under him and retrieved my weapons. The crowd was still panicking and smoke obscured the pit. I needed more information. There were too many unanswered questions. I moved back toward the body, preparing myself for a large meal. A few feet from him I hesitated. Donyin was a violent, prideful monster. If I ate his essence, how would it influence me? The goblin hadn't had any impact, but he'd been dead for some time and didn't have a strong personality to begin with. Did I want something like Donyin's essence rattling around in my armor, changing me?

The decision was made for me when Talen burst through the smoke where the dais had been, rolling into the sand and landing just on the other side of Donyin’s body. His glasses were off and there were tears running down his cheeks, flowing from golden eyes. He knelt next to the body.

Before he could turn his attention to me, I ran, returning to where I’d left my companions. I was too injured, inside and out, to attempt another bout with a so-called ‘Son of Aurum’. As I moved I focused on stopping the black fluid from leaking and consolidating myself as much as possible.

I made it back to find Stone waiting for me. He looked relieved. “Let’s go lad. The others are already waiting for us, but we need to move quickly.”

I nodded, falling in behind him. We weaved our way through the panicking crowd for a bit until Stone ducked off into a side passage. I followed him as we wove our way through until we were out in the open air. We then ducked through several alleys, backtracking a few times.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“The docks. I’m trying to make sure as few people know where we’re headed as possible.” I nodded, and fell back in step behind him.

Eventually we came to the larger part of the docks, where the ships that were meant for the sea were docked. He walked confidently up a plank and onto one of the larger vessels. I followed him. On the deck we were met by Kyren and, surprisingly, Dorsia. As I boarded, the crew began launching their vessel.

“Hrig?” I asked.

“Down below decks with Jade. She wanted to be up here waiting for you, but I insisted she rest,” said Kyren.

“She insisted with a sleep spell, in fact,” said Dorsia, a wry smile on her lips.

“I’m surprised to see you here. Though, I suppose I’m surprised to be here myself,” I said.

“I’ve been thinking of leaving for a long time. When Stone asked me to help him find a way out I introduced him to the captain,” she pointed at a large man with a thick blonde beard bellowing orders, “I’ve known him a long time, helped him with some smuggling here and there.”

“And Jade?”

“Well, she heard us talking and asked to join. She’d been looking for a way out too. Besides, she says she owes us and I'm in no place to turn down help.”

Kyren was looking at me, a concerned look on her face. “You should probably join them below decks. Would you like me to heal you? I should be able to work around your armor.”

“No… save it. We don’t know what other complications might arise. We should stay as prepared as we can.” That was a good enough excuse. If she actually cast a decently powerful healing spell, it might actually kill me. “I think I’ll stand on deck for a while. I need to settle a bit after all the excitement.” I walked to the stern and leaned against a railing.

The ship began to shift underfoot and move. It made its way out of the docks and soon the city of Cirros began to fade. First the docks, then the stone walls, and finally even the bright flags that dotted the towers were gone. I was grateful to have at least the memories of my meal's tepid exploration of the city; I was unlikely to be able to return and truly experience it for myself.

I left the railing and let Kyren lead me below decks to our cabins. Hrig lay, snoring peacefully, in a hammock that swayed gently with the motions of the ship. Jade was similarly situated at the other side of the cabin, likely to avoid the noise Hrig was making. I took a spot in the corner and sat, placing my faceplate to my greaves and feigned sleep while I slowly worked to repair my essence and hoped for a peaceful voyage.