Chapter 15 · Voidbound - Chapter 15: The Champion's Hound

"Kill it fast." Garrick's voice cut through the roar above. "They want blood in under three minutes or they start throwing bottles."

Kael didn't answer. The gate was already grinding open in front of him, rust flaking off the bars. Beyond it, the Pit floor stretched out under sick yellow floodlights—sand mixed with old stains that never washed out. Crowd packed the railings three deep, faces blurred into a single howling mass.

He stepped through. The gate slammed shut behind him with a clang that rattled his teeth.

Across the ring, the opposite gate shrieked upward. What came out wasn't human.

Four legs. Plated hide that looked like it had been boiled in tar. Eyes that didn't blink, just tracked him with the cold focus of something that ate meat and nothing else. A Riftbeast. Low-grade, maybe, but big enough to take his head off if he screwed up.

The hatchling stirred inside his coat. He felt its panic spike through the bond—a jagged pulse that scraped against his ribs.

*Not now,* he thought. *Stay down.*

The beast across from him lowered its head. Muscles bunched under that plated hide.