The back wall rumbled as it slid opened. Dwarven engineering at its finest, the underground network of cells and cages were hypothesised to once have been used by dwarfs to keep prisoners thousands of years ago at the peak of their civilisation. At least, that was the theory Raven had given Arbor.

“And the sliding doors?” he had once asked.

“Yard time,” she stoically replied.

And thus, they now proceeded out into the cavern for their 'yard time'. Zen pricked her ears up, her head swivelling as the four of them exited. Were they fighting their own kins again, or were monsters their foes?

From across the cavern, another pair of gladiators shambled out of their cells, fatigue visible even in the dark. When they view the team of four, the pair visibly sighed and readied their weapons. Arbor drew his daggers in response and Enthes summoned a set of bow and quiver in a burst of fire.

Before they could engage, a loud rumble came from further down the cavern. It was the room that released monsters for combat. Even at the distance of a field apart, they could hear the familiar scratching of claws on cave stones, yet nothing lined up in their field of view.

In a snap of clarity, Arbor yelled, “Light!”

Enthes snapped up and fired an arrow of fire, shooting straight into the sky as a flare would, slowing down then sparkling as a miniature bulb against the glow of bioluminescent stars of the cavern walls.

Figures of shadows that mimicked giants rats zipped through the hedges of stones, drawing closer after every effort made to hide. Though there was certainly more than dozens of monsters attacking, only a couple ever appeared in their field of view at any one time. Arbor knew of only a single species that attacked in such a manner and random hive coordination.

“They're goblins!” Arbor shouted as he sprinted for the two other gladiators across the cave. “Lure them with light!”

Zen, being overall faster than him, cantered behind as a vanguard.

In the rear, a goblin jumped out from behind a rock. The creature was only knee-high, and had appendages that jutted their naked dirt-caked skin unnaturally, yet still able to produce fast burst of speed. Its bat-like face extended its jaws, raring teeth to bite at Raven. Though this particular one was missing an arm, it did not stop the carnivore from jumping to an ambush.

Enthes fired a flame arrow. Lacking the piercing nature of its physical counterpart, the arrow exploded on impact, scattering giblets of the monster on the ground and lighting up the immediate area. Beady eyes reflected the flames drew visual lines to Raven. Together, the goblins jumped out of hiding.

“Tsk!” The dwarf clicked her tongue in annoyance. “That Arbor, always leaving the clean-up to us.”

She got down into a sprinting position and pushed off at an explosive pace towards the nearest enemy. Her body shrunk into her magic circuit in a swirl of white energy and electrical sparks. Golden feathers sprouted but were quickly overshadowed literally by black tinge. Only while moving did Raven's bird form's feathers ruffled enough that the edges of black gave way to the blonde gold below as she streaked through the air, straight as an arrow, piercing through a goblin's chest like a bolt of lightning.

Out the other end of the dead monster the large bird burst, blood splaying across everywhere as lightning sparked off each of them. Behind the first goblin was a second, and with her speed slowed from the initial impact, she twisted her bird body around as it grew larger back into the size of a dwarf. But her arms stayed wings and feet remained taloned scaled to size, the latter appendages slashing through the air with a kick, ripping off the second monster's head.

That was Arbor's last look back at his teammates, making sure they could handle themselves as he raced off to their fellow gladiators. He found a spear wielding human woman and her partner elf with two swords, piercing and slashing away at goblins that charged them. The pair had moved to an opened area, apparently figuring out the identity of their mysterious assailants early, using the wider space to prevent being ambushed. That quick thinking was one of the things they were looking for.

“Zen! Scarf!” he gave the order.

Shadows enveloped him as his wolf swallowed him whole in a dark magic. His body, weightless, was carried over tides of shadows forward. He kept his eyes squinted, as the moment light broke, it was slightly overwhelming, and he needed that split second time to adjust his vision. But his body and instinct moved him, his daggers sliced reverse in opposite directions, bladed ends piercing into a single target's head and neck. The forward force from the shadow rush and cut violently ripped and decapitated the goblin.

Zen's shadow fire waved forward, scorching half a dozen of the creatures in screeching pain. A pair of goblin leapt at his head. He sidestepped one, punched his dagger into its small chest and smashed it like a kebab into the second target, slamming both into the ground. The dark elf then curb-stomped both their heads into the dirt, smashing the bottom's skull in half.

That's... gratuitous...

Just be quiet and watch the show.

The spear wielding female sees Arbor's approach and threw her spear at him. Or that was what it looked like at first. But the polearm flew by his face and made a noticeable squelch as it planted itself into a goblin.

“Fetch!” Arbor pointed to the spear as he kicked at the head of another tiny beast that attempted to rush his knees.

The wolf ripped into the corpse with the spear until the polearm could be pulled out by her. She then dragged it to Arbor, who picked up the weapon and tossed it back to its owner who had just punched a goblin out of the air and onto the ground. She then caught her spear and stabbed through the downed creature as her partner leapt across the corpse and cut down two more.

Frantically, they returned to their fighting stance, but the surrounding was quiet. Zen's tail also lowered, which usually meant she smelled nor heard threats no longer. With a breath out, Arbor sheathed his daggers as the other two gladiators stood down.

The female spear wielder approached him with an outstretched hand, though keeping a safe distance from his weapon and within range of her partner. “Thanks for the help,” she admitted.

With a sleight of hand, Arbor reached under his coat and palmed one of the master keys. He shook the woman's hand and could see the light flicker in her eyes as she realised that an object had been given to her. She gripped harder.

Arbor instructed, “Thirteen days. You can't miss the signal.”

She gave a knowing nod.

The cavern rumbled as their cell doors opened. It meant Raven and Enthes had also handled their end, as otherwise, the fight would continue until either all goblins were dead or themselves deceased.

Arbor split off from the other two without another look, whistling for Zen to follow. He met back up with Enthes and Raven.

The dwarf asked with a tone of frustration, “You got it done?”

“Yeah,” he answered. “They have a key.”

Enthes had a look of worry on her face. “Why does she think you're not entirely happy about it?”

“You're just imagining things,” Arbor replied curtly, cutting pass her back to their cell.

They spent an hour washing off the goblins' blood from their bodies. The kill count was definitively one of the highest they had participated in, leaving them a bloody mess. Afterwards, Raven tended to Enthes, who had received a light cut across the back of her right shoulder. A tray of their meal was unceremoniously shoved under their door. Moments after they ate, the lights in the cell dimmed to candle orange, signifying the end of the day. For the past half a year, that was their routine. They fight, gather allies, tend to their wounds, eat, and sleep. It was a long con that felt overdue.

Raven and Enthes cuddled in their bed and snores soon went up their side. Arbor turned to face the wall and his fingers slipped through a crack between his stone bed and the partition, pulling out a small piece of paper that had been left inside while they were out fighting.

The monster fights are indeed more profitable.

What a shame we'll only be working together this once.

Your freedom will come soon, and you've proved your worth.

I'll grant your request as asked.

Arbor crumpled the paper and ate it.