6. Kren

Ice struck the floor hard. I knew the moment my fist connected with his jaw he would be down for the count.

I calmly kicked his sword from his outstretched hand and used the cloth of his tunic to clean the edge of my sword.

The crowd watched on but didn't cheer. The problem with being top was everyone wanted a piece of the champion.

They wanted to tear you down and take your place. They didn't know what it took to get to that position in the first place, to know what it took to be at the top maintain it.

They saw only the benefits and none of the sacrifices. The long nights of training, the studying of different alien species, and their strengths and weaknesses.

Above them, standing like God over his domain, was the Supervisor. He stood with his hands behind his back, his glasses drained white by the bright overhead lights in his research lab. He peered down.

At me? At the crowd? At the fallen fighter?

I couldn't tell. It was unusual enough that I peered back at him.

The guards appeared at the exit. I followed them as I slid my sword into its sheath. We reached the waiting room on the other side of the tunnel. I removed my weapons and armor and placed them on the stands. They would be cleaned and prepped for the next day's fight.

There was always another fight.

We wound up the stairs to the Prize Pool. The long tunnel was an achingly long walk.

I removed my gloves and tucked them in my belt. I would hold hands with her, I decided. I would walk her to my room as if we had finished a date.

The moment the door slid shut, I would press her against it and make love to her right there. I would make her scream so loud everyone in the block would hear her.

Yes, I thought with a smile. She would enjoy that.

The guards parted ways, one turning one way, the other in the opposite direction.

I approached the dais where the girls were lined up for me. I had eyes only for the lady on the far right, on the front row.

But she wasn't there.

I snorted and shook my head. She was probably deliberately making me wait for her. She could be very cheeky when she wanted to be.

I glanced at the other girls. The one who stood beside Ivy still wore that terrible perfume that made me think my opponent had wet himself and sprayed it over me. She usually had a bright smile. Today, it was anything but.

There was a look on her face, one of anger, and yes, more than a little fear.

Of me?

I didn't think so.

Her nipple was red and a little swollen through her sheer dress. Further along, Lily had a split lip and a black eye.

My stomach turned to water.

"Ivy?"

The girls and their madam shuddered, quivering with terror.

Now I felt that same terror, a fear I hadn't experienced for years inside the ring.

I moved into the back room where I assumed Ivy would be right now, making me wait.

"Ivy?"

There was no answer.

I ran back into the Prize Pool and bellowed:

"Ivy! Where is she?"

Lily told me where she was.

And the blood drained from my face.