My saber-toothed tiger is dead.
It took me twice the time it should have to make it back to the fountain where I last saw Stranna in Tenebra. I came here for my tiger, assuming he’d be pacing and waiting for me. Hoping he would be. I’d been working on a backup plan in case the tiger had run off while I was in the Real World.
I didn’t expect to find his carcass with a nightmist spear through his skull.
I stroke his enormous muzzle and give him a little scratch behind the ears. “You’re a good tiger,” I whisper, feeling oddly sentimental about seeing him dead a second time. He’s still warm, almost like he’s merely sleeping.
Which means this was a recent killing.
I snatch my hand away. The tiger stayed in this spot for hours, waiting for me to return. Then someone came and killed it. It could have been anyone, but the timing and the spear imply it was an intentional strike against me.
Maybe Stranna. That would mean she’s nearby. But it’s been so long since we spoke here. I can’t picture her sticking around or killing the beast after it saved her, even if she sees me as an enemy. She saves strangers from burning tiny houses.
I manage a pained step. Now I have nothing to ride. My emotions are too muted beneath my pain for me to create the tiger again. I’m not even sure how that would work since it’s dead. Would I create the same one or would it be like a sibling?
Nightmist is confusing.
I pull myself together and look around. “Stranna?” I whisper. Luc said Spores can enter the Real World at will, so she needs to wake up, to get up there and save us. Contact her people.
A shadow moves. “Oh thank good—”
Crixus steps forward. I swallow my words. He looks around, frowning.
“Who were you talking to?”
I casually avoid his question. “What are you doing here? Does Luc need something?”
He’s assessing my dead tiger but doesn’t seem surprised. Did he kill it? I don’t know why that makes me so angry. He doesn’t have a right to kill my nightbeasts.
“I’m here because you created a deadly saber-toothed tiger in the middle of the Macella and then ran away with a Spore. I’m sure you can see why I’m suspicious.”
“I’ve already talked about it with Luc. If you want to know the details, take it up with him.” I turn my back on him. “I’m busy.”
“Leave the Spores be, Cain. You’re endangering everyone. You’ve killed one and earned your citizenship. Now go live your life.”
“What life?” I growl. “I don’t have a LifeSuPod. I’m on borrowed time.” Crixus has never seemed worried about his own existence, which tells me his physical body is tucked in its own LifeSuPod somewhere. He wouldn’t be Luc’s right-hand man otherwise.
I turn back around. “How do I get out of the city?”
“The gate,” Crixus responds unhelpfully.
I stride away as best I can with my injuries. The pain has lessened—possibly because being awake in Tenebra distances my mind so much from my physical body. Or maybe the pain is lessening because I’m dying. How deadly is a shoulder wound like mine?
I think I leave Crixus behind, but then I hear footsteps following.
“Leave me alone.”
“Are you injured, Cain?” This is the first note of true concern I hear.
“What’s it to you?”
“You’re a citizen of my city.”
“Your city?” I jab. “Are you the Emperor now?” I don’t know why I’m so irritated. It’s this blasted Nightmare world heightening every negative emotion. It makes me angry, which the Nightmare will exploit.
Crixus doesn’t bite. I don’t give him any information about my injuries. He stays right behind me as I slowly walk. My shoulder hurts the most and breathing is labored, but I gain energy with every step.
There should be several gates spread around the exterior wall of the coliseum. I suppose all of them are fair game for the citizens, but then I see crisscross chains across the face of the first one. No handle in sight. There’s a crank on the wall, but before I can give it a try, Crixus speaks up.
“You’ll be killed in minutes if you go out there.”
I round on him. “Have you been assigned to watch me or something?” It can’t be coincidence that he’s always popping up wherever I am. And now he’s following me. Trying to deter me. I get it. Luc wants to find the base of the Spores. But he asked me to do that. If he’s sent Crixus to follow me, that means Luc doesn’t trust me.
“You’re injured, Cain. And you’re a new citizen, not able or ready to fight for survival out there. Even seasoned citizens don’t go out.”
“I thought the whole point of the Arena was to teach me to survive in Tenebra.”
“That was the hope. You’ve taken an unconventional path.”
“Meaning I got out because I murdered someone, not necessarily because I learned anything.”
“You said it, not me. But you’re valuable to the Emperor. I can’t let you throw your life away with your recklessness.”
“I’m dying already!” I kick the door crank, but it doesn’t move. “We all are!” My ribs scream. “Now open this gate.”
“You may have done us a great service, killing that Spore, but I don’t think that makes you any safer to our society. Your emotions are still beyond your control, and who’s to say they won’t lead you to killing a citizen next?”
