The arena reeked of blood and damp sand, the air thick with copper and rot. Temple servants had already begun dragging the beast's corpse toward the disposal pit, its massive bulk leaving a dark smear across sacred marble—a wound carved into the very foundation of divine ground that refused to close.Flies appeared from nowhere, drawn by the scent of fresh death. They buzzed around the blood pools in lazy circles, their droning the only sound in the terrible silence.Kael stood at the arena's center, barely upright. His legs trembled like saplings in a storm, threatening to give out with each labored breath. Ears rang from the beast's dying roar, a high-pitched whine that drowned out the world and left him isolated in a bubble of sound.Every step sent agony screaming through his body. Each rib felt like a bell struck by an iron hammer, the vibrations spreading through his chest until breathing itself became an act of will. His vision tunneled, edges going gray and soft, until the cro