The dungeon smelled of damp stone and rot, a chill settling deep into the bones of those confined within it. Kia, Lucia, Eve, and the others lay scattered across the cold floor, some nursing their battered bodies, others too shocked to even move. The echoes of the crowd’s cheers from earlier had faded, leaving only the steady drip of water from the walls and the distant shuffle of guards.

Kia leaned against the iron bars of the inner cell, his fists clenched and jaw tight. Pain radiated ...