Three days before the Arena, Ren Kai owned eleven copper coins and one rule.The rule was simple. Never spend money on yourself.He had earned the coins by digging through the rubbish heaps behind the rich restaurants of Azure City. He had found bones, broken tools, and once a whole boot. Every coin had a job. Four were for rice. Three were for rent. Four were for noodles.The noodles were not for him. They were for Ren Lan.Ren Lan was ten years old and weighed less than a sack of flour. She had a sharp tongue and a cough that never stopped. Every night she lay on her straw mat and made jokes about how loud her own chest was."I sound like a broken flute," she said that morning."A flute is a nice thing," said Ren Kai. "You sound like a goat.""A goat that wants noodles." She smiled with her eyes closed. "Bring me a hot bowl tonight, Big Brother. The kind that burns my tongue.""I will."That was the promise. He dug through rubbish all day to keep it, and went to buy the noodles at d

Running with a full stomach is a terrible idea.Ren Kai learned this in the first ten steps. Two bowls of noodles, a plate of dumplings and a sweet bun sloshed inside him like water in a bucket. A sharp pain stabbed his side. His legs felt like wet rope."Left!" shouted Lu Zhen, far behind. "He went left!"Right, said Old Crow."He said left!"Exactly. So go right.Ren Kai went right. He held the clay pot above his head and ran through the narrow alleys of the Gutters. He had known these streets since he could walk. He knew which walls had loose bricks, which roofs were low enough to climb, and which doors were never locked.The guards did not.He slid through a gap in a fence, ducked under washing lines, and jumped over a sleeping dog. Behind him, armored boots clanged on the stones. Someone shouted, then cursed as he fell into a puddle of something very bad.At the end of Rope Alley sat a row of rain barrels. Ren Kai chose the biggest, climbed in, and pulled the lid over his head. I

Ren Kai did not wake his sister.He tucked the blanket around her shoulders, slid his sleeve out of her fingers, and walked to the door. His legs felt like they belonged to someone else. He opened the door, stepped outside, and closed it again, very softly. The night air was cold on his sweaty face. Down the lane, a dog barked once and went quiet, as if it had thought better of it.The man in the white robe was already waiting.He stood in the middle of Crooked Lane with his hands folded in front of him. He was tall and thin, with a long, calm face and eyes like a still pond. The lane was full of mud and rubbish water, but the hem of his robe was perfectly clean. Even the moon seemed to avoid touching him."Good evening, Ren Kai," he said.His voice was warm and gentle, like a doctor speaking to a sick child. That was the worst part. Ren Kai had expected a monster. He had not expected someone who looked like a kind teacher."I hope I did not frighten your sister. I could see she was s

The Azure Peak Sect came at noon.Ren Kai heard them before he saw them. Heavy boots, marching in step, shook the stones of Crooked Lane. Neighbors slammed their shutters. A dog ran under a cart and refused to come out.He had not eaten for a day and a half. He was learning something important. Hunger gave him power, but it also made his hands shake and his thoughts drift like dust. This morning, the number on Ren Lan's back had read 989. He had not looked at it again.They are early, said Old Crow. Good. I was hoping for a fight before lunch."I have no lunch."Exactly. Perfect timing.Ren Kai looked at Ren Lan, asleep on her mat, still pale after her bad dreams. He closed the door softly. Then he picked up a small clay jar from the table, one he had taken from Auntie Du's shelf, and walked out into the lane.Ten guards in black armor stood in two neat rows. In the middle stood an old man with a red face and a beard like a burning bush. His hands were thick and scarred from old fires

Ren Kai had a plan for the Sect Master. It was a very short plan. The plan was: run."Come here, boy," said Sect Master Lu again. He did not shout. He did not need to. The fire behind him leaned toward his voice like a crowd leaning toward a speaker. "I am a patient man. My fire is not."Do not touch him, said Old Crow, fast and low. Do not eat him. He is Saint Gate. His fire is a river, and you are a teacup."Then what do I do?"Be a thief. Old Crow sounded almost happy. Take what you can and leave before anyone counts.Boy, said Madam Du crisply. The paper bag the shopkeeper gave you. Throw it on the fire."The herbs? Those are for Ren Lan."Cheap cough herbs, mostly smoke moss. Useless as medicine, wonderful in a fire.Ren Kai pulled out the little paper bag. The Sect Master raised one eyebrow."A bag of herbs," he said. "Is that your weapon?"Ren Kai threw it into the nearest burning house.WHUMP.Thick green smoke burst out like a giant's breath. It rolled across the road in one