Chapter 7 · Tamer of the Ash Wilds - Chapter 7: The Winner's Brand

Lin's ears were still ringing when the crowd noise hit him.

Crunch stood over the bone-plated beast, chest heaving, grey fur matted dark with blood that wasn't all his own. The black light leaking from the cracked armor puddled on the sand, hissing where it touched. Lin could smell it from here. Burnt metal and rot.

He should've felt relief. He didn't.

The cage door clanged open. Two handlers in leather aprons dragged the losing beast out by its hind legs, leaving a smear. Crunch didn't move, just watched them with yellow eyes that hadn't blinked once since the kill.

"Good boy," Lin muttered. His voice came out hoarse. "Come here."

Crunch's ears flicked. He limped toward Lin, favoring his left foreleg. There was a gash along his ribs, shallow but long. Lin pressed his palm to Crunch's skull, felt the heat radiating through fur and bone. Still running too hot. He'd need water, meat, and twelve hours of sleep they probably weren't going to get.

"Hell of a show."

Lin looked up. The pit boss stood at the cage edge, arms crossed, grinning like he'd just won the bet himself. Maybe he had.