Two versus one.

  The crowd had already decided the winner. Now it was just an execution.

  My knuckles turned white around the hilt.

  I looked into their faces, at the familiar cruelty. I had seen those expressions too many times. In Morganvale. Wherever I went. Back then, they were always bigger than me. Always free of my burden.

  The curse had made me a target.

  But now, I was no longer alone.

  Lumi hummed.

  Corvin leaned in close to Mack and murmured something. Mack gave a short nod. Then they drifted apart, slow and deliberate, boots scuffing through the sawdust as they split wide.

  My jaw tightened.

  They were going to hit me from both sides.

  A shout rose from the crowd and something skidded across the lane. A battered training shield bounced once and thudded to a stop against my boot.

  I did not flinch.

  I hooked it off the ground and drove straight at Corvin.

  He snapped his foot through the sawdust with a sneer, already shaping the same blinding sweep he had used on Rob.

  I pressed through the rising cloud with the shield.

  The dust burst aside as I swung Lumi.

  Corvin twisted clear as footsteps thudded behind me.

  Pain tore across my back.

  Mack laughed and swung again.

  The blow slammed into me and sent me stumbling forward, my shoulder brushing the rope. The shield bit into the sawdust as I caught myself.

  Still in.

  “Oi! What the heck? That was a cheap shot! Ref! Mate!” Rob shouted.

  A boot planted too close.

  My perception rune pulsed as I realised what was coming. I slid half a step sideways as a blade hissed down through the space where my head had just been.

  “Corvin. No head shots.”

  He did not answer.

  He lunged instead and drove a kick toward my ribs. I rolled to the side away from the ropes and went straight into Mack’s boot. The air punched out of my lungs and, for a split second, an old, familiar panic crawled up my spine. The same hurt. The same foot. The same bullies.

  “Get up,” Lumi said.

  I clenched my teeth and rolled with the impact, dragging my guard up just in time to catch the follow-up strike on my blade. They gave me no space. No breath.

  Corvin chopped for my head. I raised the shield.

  Mack’s sword slammed into my leg from the side.

  I stumbled, pain flooding up my leg as it went numb.

  They were working me. Together.

  A pocket of recruits cheered every time I took a hit. Others watched in tight, uncomfortable silence. The next few blows came in a tight rhythm. Shield. Leg. Shoulder.

  Too fast. Too clean. If these had been real weapons, I would already be bleeding out.

  I caught a glimpse of Amelia in the corner of my eye, her hands clenched white around nothing.

  “Focus Red!” Corvin leered. “Don’t look at the merchandise!”

  Anger flooded my chest.

  I hurled the shield at Corvin’s face. He knocked it aside with his sword, the edge ringing as it clipped the rim.

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  But I was half a step behind it.

  His eyes widened as I drove my shoulder into his stomach and bowled him over. The impact tore a wet cough from him as we crashed into the sawdust together.

  For a heartbeat, I had him.

  Then he twisted and shoved me off.

  I was stronger with Lumi. Not heavier. And both of them had blessings of their own.

  I knew I could not trade blows for long.

  I had to end it fast.

  So I did not stop.

  I lunged at Corvin. It was sloppy. Desperate. A few recruits laughed.

  The moment I overcommitted, dense force snapped tight around my ankles.

  My feet were ripped out from under me. I hit the ground flat. Sawdust slammed into my face and scraped my lower lip.

  “Stop it!” Amelia shouted. “Brent, that’s enough!”

  Her voice cut through the noise, sharp with panic.

  Corvin and Mack loomed over me, boots planted, shadows falling across my face. I held my blade up with both hands, wrists shaking, already knowing it wouldn’t be enough. Together, they would get through my guard.

  Then I saw it.

  A tiny patch of violet, no bigger than a coin.

  My thumb brushed the mark.

  The corrupted rune stirred.

  At the edge of my vision, the lantern light dimmed, then bled violet. Energy surged through my arm as the infected power spread through my entire body.

  Wooden blades whistled down toward my head.

  I twisted Lumi.

  Two hollow thwacks echoed across the ring as I rolled to my feet. Both blows had missed me by inches.

  A ripple of gasps moved through the crowd.

  Planting my feet, I took my stance. Lumi hummed in my hand.

  “Fuck yeah!” Rob called. “Kick their asses!”

  A grin split my face. My body felt lighter. Stronger. My breathing steadied.

  Across the ring, I met their eyes, more confident than I had ever been. Both of them took a cautious step back.

  My gaze swept the ring, searching for anything. A plan. Then I lunged for the shield.

  With everything I had left, I hurled it at Corvin, pouring every scrap of corrupted strength into the throw.

  He reacted on instinct. Sawdust burst up as he snapped out the same blinding trick, but the shield cut straight through and cracked into his face.

  The impact drove him back two unsteady steps.

  When he stumbled into view through the dust, blood ran from his nose and his mouth twisted into a raw snarl.

  “Get him!” Corvin shouted.

  Mack swung.

  Lumi caught the blow. The jolt raced up his arms and tore a fresh chunk from his sword.

  A grin tugged at my mouth. They were slower now. For the first time, their openings were easy to read.

  I tested him with a few timed strikes and a feint. The one Rob always used on me.

  But Mack was slow. Much slower than Rob.

  “End it,” Lumi said.

  I smiled.

  Mack blinked, and I was already inside his guard. My pommel slammed down on his hand.

  The crack sounded like splitting wood.

  His fingers folded. His grip collapsed.

  He screamed.

  At the same time, Corvin was on me. Something in his face had shifted. The focus was gone. So was the restraint.

  “Corvin! No!” someone shouted.

  His eyes were bloodshot and wild. A blessing burned in them.

  He swung as hard as he could, his arm and blade blazing white as he poured everything into the strike.

  Screams tore through the crowd.

  The blade came down. Instinct took over and I raised Lumi to block.

  White light smashed into my sword. The shock drove me down, but I held. Corvin screamed in fury.

  The training blade splintered. Then the light vanished.

  Lumi cut through both magic and wood.

  The glow flooding Corvin’s arm was swallowed by the holding rune. He froze, staring at the splintered stump in his hands, as a whistle shrieked.

  “Winners! Challengers!” “Fuck yeah!” Rob yelled.

  It took another beat before the clapping started. Uneven. Hesitant. A few hands came together out of obligation, then others followed after quick glances around the ring. Some faces looked impressed. Others only curious.

  Corvin turned in a slow circle, blinking at the ring of faces. A couple of recruits were already laughing at him, not loudly, not yet, but enough. Across the ring, Amelia and Rob slipped past the ropes and hurried toward me.

  Corvin’s gaze flicked to them, then back to his friend on the ground clutching his ruined hand. Nearby, Brent had already dropped to his knees beside Mack, fumbling with a small glass vial, his fingers shaking as he fought the stopper.

  Rob bumped his fist against my shoulder, breathless and grinning. A moment later Amelia stepped in and hugged me.

  Over her shoulder, I caught Corvin’s face.

  The rage hadn’t faded. It had sharpened.

  He was moving.

  His hand rose, the splintered remains of his training blade clenched like a dagger, the jagged point lined up with Amelia’s back. Anger surged in me and I shoved her sideways, hard.

  “Hey!” she called.

  It slammed into my shoulder.

  The crack of impact vanished beneath a sudden explosion of shouting as the crowd broke. Pain tore through my arm as splinters drove deep. Corvin ripped it free and lunged again.

  Something inside me snapped.

  The violet in my vision darkened.

  I lunged.

  Corvin’s face twisted into a snarl just as my fist smashed into it. The sound was wrong. Wet. Heavy. Blood burst from his mouth and a tooth flew into the sawdust.

  I didn’t stop. I couldn’t control it.

  The rage I had buried for years tore loose.

  He tried to swing again, clumsy and desperate, but Lumi moved without hesitation. The strike crushed his arm, and bone gave with a sharp, ugly crack. Corvin screamed and fell backward.

  I was already on him.

  My knees hit his chest, and I drove my fist down, once, then again.

  Screams ripped through the ring. Hands seized my shoulders, my arms, my back, pulling hard, but I still landed another blow. Then another.

  Lumi rose in my grip, the pommel lining up with his face.

  Someone grabbed the blade.

  Lumi answered instantly.

  Life energy tore away through the contact. Not theirs. Mine.

  The sudden pull slammed into my chest and locked me in place. Nausea rolled through my gut as the hollow, tearing drain ripped the breath from my lungs and cut straight through the fury.

  They dragged me backward.

  This time, I let them.

  The pain in my shoulder still burned, but it barely registered beside the brutal pull as Lumi kept feeding, forcing the curse down. I dragged air into my lungs and held it, then forced another breath as the violet glow thinned and faded back to its usual pale white.

  When my vision cleared, Jerald was standing above me.

  His jaw was locked tight, eyes burning into mine.

  He was absolutely furious.