Kai left the inn early before heading to the coliseum. The stalls hadn't been set up after being packed down the night before.
He wandered inside and turned down several hallways to where the last fighters would be gathering.
The waiting room was cold with tension, despite the thick stone walls and torch-lit sconces. Kai sat with his fingers laced, elbows on his knees. He hadn't slept, not even a moment of rest. His thoughts had churned all night, Tarnil's superheated strikes, Redford's whirlwind blades, Grim's monstrous mana. All possibilities. All threats.
He felt it in his bones. Today would be brutal.
Vepice had curled up beside him the night before, murmuring her worries, her disappointment that he wouldn't sleep. But the day's excitement had eventually knocked her out, and she drifted into peaceful dreams before Kai had even shifted from his place.
