He should have let Clavius fight,” Amber hisses at me. “Or Demian, or Adriano. All are total badasses.”

“You’re saying Titus isn’t?” I ask.

The Desert Clan man holding us pokes us with the gun, but I just hiss back at him. It’s not like he’s going to shoot us when we’re worth so much money. Or honor. Or whatever the hell they care most about.

“Look,” I whisper to Amber. We’re speaking English, so the Desert guys can’t even understand us. “Titus isn’t in your clan so even if he lost, you could just send one of your guys to fight. Technically he’s just fighting for me, right?”

“Hmm,” Amber says. “I think I know their crazy honor system well enough to think that might work.”

“But he’s not going to lose,” I say.

“If your logic follows though,” Amber says. “Then if he does win, it doesn’t save me.”

“Maybe they won’t think that far ahead,” I say, grinning.

She scowls at me.

“Then you just get one of your badasses to fight,” I say. “And Titus will have already taken down this insanely huge guy, so it’ll be a walk in the park for either Demian or Adriano.”

“I just hope Clavius is okay,” she says.

The man is still on his back. His eyes have opened a few times, but he’s definitely not going to be dueling anytime soon.

“They should at least let your guys take him to a tent or something,” I say.

I look up and see the weapon Bacillius is going to use, and my jaw drops. No way.

“You still confident?” Amber asks, her voice cracking with fear.

“Yes,” I say, my voice sounds solid, but I feel less confident now. I assumed Bacillius would fight with a skullspear, not a mace the size of a small car.

The circle that forms around the two men is split in half: Twilight Clan on one side, Desert Clan on the other. Amber and I are still tied up, and on the wrong side.

I stand shoulder to shoulder with Amber, and we watch together as Bacillius and Titus lock horns, signalling the start of the fight.

They break away, and as they raise their weapons, I think about all that talk of honor from Titus. I remember his promise to me to fight for his own life, and to do everything he can to not die. I’ve found Amber now, so Titus dying wouldn’t mean I’d be totally alone, but I’m fucking bonded to him. I need him. He’s my man, my alien man, and I’ll settle for nothing less than him skullspearing Bacillius’ ridiculously oversized skull and standing triumphant over his corpse. Okay, maybe that’s taking a bit too far.

“Please just win, Titus,” I whisper to myself, too softly for even Amber to hear my over the roar of the crowd.

Bacillius starts to walk toward Titus, but makes no motion to swing his mace. Titus back away, holding his spear forward and ready, but he doesn’t strike either.

They begin to circle each other, and once Titus has circled around so that his back is facing the Desert Clan, Bacillius swings. It’s a huge sweep of a swing, and Titus jumps backward until he’s just a foot or so away from the shouting jeers of his former clan.

Someone steps out and shoves him forward. Titus struggles to regain balance, and because Bacilius still hasn’t brought his massive weapon back around, he settles on a half-hearted swipe at Titus’ legs on the backswing.

Titus tries to jump over, but the mace catches his shins. I fear I’ll see his legs shatter apart, but he makes himself airborne before impact, and the mace just swats him through the air rather than breaking his bones.

Titus rolls across the barren ground toward the Desert Clan. They kick his ribs until he rolls back into the arena.

“Isn’t this supposed to be one on one!” I shout at the Desert Clan cowards all around me.

Amber leans over and shouts into my ear–the only way I can hear her over all the other sound–“Our side can do the same, if Titus gets Bacillius closer to them!”

Bacillius swings his mace down like a hammer, as if Titus were a nail that needed pounded down. Titus barely manages to roll away, and Bacillius mace smashes into the ground. He gets the heavy thing up faster than I expect he’d be able to, but Titus thrusts his spear forward just as fast.

The tip of the spear almost misses Bacillius’ arm, but it cuts a clean line all cross the muscle and sinew of his forearm. I see blood drip down as Bacillius jumps back and clutches his mace. The blood gushes out faster as his muscles bulge. Bacillius just smiles at Titus.

Titus thrusts again, this time aiming high above Bacillius’ waist. Bacillius swings the mace up and deflects the spear. As Titus tries to pull the spear back in, the hooked edge of the tip catches on the metal grip of the mace.

Everyone shouts and cheers, and Bacillius starts laughing, pulling hard against the spear as Titus struggles to get his weapon–his sole hope in this fight–back in his grasp.

The two men start circling around, and as soon as Bacillius moves to the Twilight Clan side of the circle, Demian rushes forward and kicks Bacillius on in his back, putting his full bodyweight into it.

Bacillius stumbles and loses balance just long enough for Titus to unhook his spear and pull it back, away from Bacillius’ grasp.

“Just lay down and let me squash you,” Bacillius’ voice booms. “You little pissbug.”

Bacillius has stepped forward, and he’s out of range for any of the Twilight Clan warriors to hit his back again. I suppose they could, but it would mean taking several strides into the arena, and there is probably some unacceptable loss of honor in doing that.

As Titus moves sideways, trying to edge over so his back is no longer facing his enemies, Bacillius feints as if he’s going to swing.

Titus dodges pre-emptively, but the real attack is coming now from the other side. I see Titus fall, and I scream. I feel someone tearing me back by the ropes that bind my eyes, shouting in y ear to stay put.

Then I hear a gasp, and when I look up I see that Titus didn’t fall, he slid. His spear is sunk into Bacillius’ thigh, and Titus is gripping the mace his hand touching Bacillius’.

Titus swings his foot up, never letting go of the mace’s handle. His foot connects with the back of the spear, and I see the point explode out right through the other side of Bacillius’ thigh.

Bacillius lets out a pained growl, like a bear caught in a trap, and he collapses down onto one knee as he tries to step backward.

Titus tears the mace from Bacillius’ grip entirely, and he raises the huge mace in both hands, his back and biceps bulging from the effort.

Titus spins around a few times, slowly at first, then faster. He lifts the mace high above his head on the final spin, then leaps and drives the full weight and momentum of the oversized weapon straight down.

The mace turns the top half of Bacilliu’s head into pulp, but I don’t look away this time, because I’m still behind enemy lines, so to speak, and I need to be ready in case they don’t accept the outcome of this duel.

There’s an extended moment of utter silence, as everyone on both sides of the circle takes in this unexpected outcome.

Demian and Adriano start to cheer, and the rest of the Twilight Clan all starts shouting and growling.

Both Demian and Adriano move toward us–though it’s probalby more accurate to say that they are coming toward Amber.

Titus turns around then and makes eye contact with me. He smiles wide and drops the mace to the ground beside Bacillius’ corpse.

He starts to walk toward me, but then I feel rough hands grab me, and I’m torn backward.