For a breathless span, the coliseum had no heartbeat.
The audience stared into the curling ash where Ragius had stood, as if they might will a body out of smoke. Mothers clutched the rails until their knuckles blanched; highborn fathers drew breath through their teeth; apprentices forgot to blink. Was it a trick of light? A mirage born of heat? Flames were supposed to hurt, not erase.
Yet Damien's fire had eaten flesh and left only glistening puddles where blood refused to burn, and even the gods' woven script inside some minds stuttered and failed to advance. This was one of Damien's secret arts.
Fire Eater!
Then the hush split.
Damien moved.
He seized Crystal by the arm with a snarl and flung her like a javelin. The air boomed; rows of banners snapped. She tore across the stage toward Ragius's surviving teammates, eyes wide, a perfect portrait of terror. Gasps spiked into screams.
Crystal folded around the panic and wore it like a veil.
"Ahhh! No!" Crystal cried.
