The thrum of noise awoke Fia. Her heart rate immediately elevated. It's time, she thought—the precise words which Viliant had said to her last week.

As she got up, she elected to do a series of stretches. In particular, she flexed her clawed toes and opened her jaws wide in a yawn. Her teeth closed with a snap. Good morning, Fia said shyly to Viliant.

The black dragon lay quietly in the shadows. Try saying that any other day of the week. I might say it back.

Fia chuckled softly. Sorry. You're right. It's not exactly a 'good' morning.

The dragons moved to wait in front of the iron bars. The guards fetched them to bring them into the arena's holding room.

Fia paid close attention to the path in which they walked. While Viliant said that attacking the guards and running away was a bad idea, she might need the layout of the coliseum's facilities mapped for when they had a more carefully planned escape.

Like last week, Fia and Viliant took their seats at the bench. Together, they watched the fights until Fia's chain was selected first this time.

Wait, no! I'm not ready yet! Fia snarled at the man who yanked on her chain. Snapping her head back to Viliant, she looked to her friend with desperate eyes.

He did not even glance her way as she was dragged into the arena; that was where he would watch her.

"Enter Favilla the dragon!" the announcer said. Her entrance inspired some cheers as she bounded out this time around.

Her talons dug into the tightly packed ground. Fia adopted a readied stance as she awaited her opponent from the other side of the ring.

The doors opened to an inky black beyond. One of the guards tossed a small cube into the arena and promptly shut the door. The box bounced on its various sides before coming to a stop. The object lay there, harmless.

What is that? Fia tried to project to Viliant.

Your opponent, he replied. Some kind of demon or spirit has been bound to that chest.

As if on cue, purple and black smoke accumulated around the cube. It began to rock and shake violently. A loud pop resounded as the sinister energy catapulted into the air, spiraling as it ascended.

"Enter Domina the banshee!"

The smoky body was in constant flux, making it hard for Fia to focus her eyes on the banshee's form. Some massive claws, longer than the entirety of its body, hung down from its folded hands. The bone-chilling white color of a skull was blazoned across its face. A burning, orange light resided within the otherwise empty eye sockets. The banshee floated peacefully in the air as those eyes focused on Fia.

The announcer added on more than his usual description, and Viliant provided the translation in her head. "The banshee is a vile, twisted creature. Her most ugly attribute—aside from her face—are the screeches she belts out while annihilating her target. Only those who care about the victim can hear her screams. So anybody who's a fan of Favilla…. You might want to cover your ears for this fight!"

The banshee let out an ear-splitting scream, so intense that Fia's vision immediately blurred. The sides of her head felt damp, as if blood trickled from her eardrums. Her heart had already been racing, but now it seemed to triple in pace. Her breath came out in shortened gaps, overcoming her with an intense need to run away.

The subsequent screeches did not disorientate her so badly, but it was already too late for the dizzy dragoness to avoid the banshee. It had appeared directly in front of her, ready to strike.

The small hand of the banshee lifted its massive claw. Fia stuck up her own claw to clash with it and jumped back before its superior strength could break through her defense.

Ah…. It's small but so strong! What do I do? Since Fia could not think straight with fear lighting up her head, she delegated the decision-making to Viliant.

Run! he replied immediately.

That was exactly what she wanted to do, so Fia sprinted her fastest along the edge of the arena. As she rounded the curve, she saw the banshee trying to follow her on a tighter line at the arena's interior. Its incessant screeching inspired her to run faster. Fia blindly stuck with this pattern, even though the banshee kept up with her—and with less effort expended on its part.

As a reptilian species, dragons were primed to listen to their base fight or flight response. The banshee's screams innately caused an aspect of fear in all those who heard it. Fia ran and ran, tears ebbing at the corners of her eyes. Adrenaline helped her keep at it for this long, but she would soon exhaust herself early into the fight.

Fire! Viliant gasped in her thoughts. It's a ghost. Blast it with magic.

Right. Fia knew she could not keep doing what her instincts bid her if she wanted to win this fight.

The banshee had stopped chasing her in favor of a more efficient method. It floated in a direct line to her, endeavoring to clip her off with another massive swing of its claws.

Just in time, Fia brought herself to a skidding stop. Every talon dug into the ground, along with her arrow-tipped tail and the tops of her wings. She lowered her neck close to the earth so that the banshee could sail overhead.

Its claws bounced off the arena's cage with a ring of metal. A magical barrier made its ephemeral body careen off the side. The banshee tried to drift to her left so that it could flank Fia.

She had practiced this hundreds of times in the comfort of the dungeon. Fia gathered a fireball between her jaws and launched it ahead of the banshee's path.

Her aim was perfect; the banshee and fireball crossed paths in the next seconds. However, the fire sailed clean through the gaseous abdomen.

At first, nothing happened. Soon, licks of flames erupted throughout the banshee's figure. Every inch of its body—inside and out—caught on fire save for its claws and bony mask. The savage hues of fire appeared behind its eye sockets, giving the orange orbs in its eyes all the more ferocious effect. The shrieks increased in volume now that the banshee was in agony.

Fia cringed under the pain of its shrieks. Since she already set the enemy on fire, this monster could die the same way as the terror birds. Fia just needed to outlast the banshee now, so she turned to flee once more.

It's putting itself out! Do something! Viliant snapped at her.

When Fia tilted her head back to look, she saw the stationary banshee was moving in a tight circle with a heavy haze surrounding it. The banshee attempted to use its own shadow magic to suffocate the flames.

For the first time since the banshee split her ears with its terrorizing scream, Fia had a moment of clarity. If the banshee tried to snuff out its body, Fia simply needed to foil that plan by fanning the flames. She approached the banshee as near as she dared. There, she rose on her hind legs and beat her wings in its direction.

The wind that she created was enough to dislodge the film of shadows and reignited the dwindling flames beneath. They roared back to their full intensity, and the banshee bellowed out its shriek once more. It barreled at her in full force.

When Fia tried to jump out of the way, the banshee disappeared. The fiery body flashed out of existence, then reappeared right in front of her. "Ah!" she let out a terrified screech that rivaled the banshee's wail.

She could do nothing but throw a claw into the banshee's face. Her attack was a success, but it did little to avert the attack against her when its claws were so much longer than hers.

A horrific pain sunk into Fia's chest as the banshee sunk its claws into her. On the right side, the claws had slipped between her ribs and punctured her lung. On the other side, she had been lucky enough that its claws were misaligned. Her ribs bore the brunt of the damage, protecting her other lung. Most importantly, the banshee had missed her heart.

She could still manage some labored breaths, wheezing in intense pain. Through her big, watery tears, she saw that the glowing light of the banshee's eyes had gone out. The orange orbs had been punctured by her claws.

Gingerly, Fia removed her claw from the banshee's face. The shadows which made up its body were rapidly dissipating. The flames hissed into a last trail of smoke as they went out. The plate of bone which made up the banshee's face fell to the ground with a thunk. Its massive claws were left embedded in Fia's flesh.

"Favilla the dragon wins!"

There was an eruption of cheers.

Fia felt incredibly dizzy. No… she thought dolorously. Favilla the dragon loses. I'm gonna die from these injuries! Without any particular intention, she broadcast her thoughts out as if she were shouting in misery.

Remember the healer? Viliant replied. You'll be fine. Just get back over here.

As she stood, her entire body shook violently from the injury. She could barely stand, nevermind walk. Do I have to get all the way back there?

Concern seemed to fill Viliant's head. Even so, he kept his thoughts brusque as always. Take a step and pretend to fall down. Someone will carry you out.

Thanks, Viliant. Weary and overcome by pain, Fia did not have to pretend. She collapsed to the dirt and lay beside the banshee's skull.

Two guards rushed to carry the dragoness back to the holding room. They needed to keep the competition moving so that it was exciting for the audience.

The healer from earlier that week tended to her hastily. His cure spell was applied before he removed one of the banshee's claws. From there, he focused on repairing her body so that she would not lose too much blood. This process repeated for the rest of the claws.

Fia thought to herself, I guess they want to keep me alive till next week….

He spoke to her in a soothing, friendly way. Once he had finished, the healer asked her something in a rising tone of a question.

Without Viliant around to translate, Fia could only guess that he asked her how she was feeling. Her body now felt better physically, even if she still felt shaky from the severe injury. Fia forced out a happy chirping sound and said, "I'm all better now. Thank you!"

The human had a big grin spread across his face, and he patted her head. He said some words of farewell, and the guards dragged Fia back into the holding room.

Her tail still hung low as the banshee screams echoed around in her head. Fia lifted her eyes to observe the black dragon who had remained on the bench.

As always, Viliant watched the fights as Fia had undergone treatment.

I don't understand! she moaned at once. The healer just fixed me up like new. How come he can heal holes in lungs but not holes in wings? I'd think that internal stuff is so much harder to do….

Viliant turned back to regard her with considerate eyes. Oh, I have no doubt that he could heal our wings if he wanted to—or was allowed to. We need our lungs. We don't need our wings. Why would the humans repair something that we'll just use to escape when we're old enough?

Fia heaved a sigh. Maybe we wouldn't wanna escape if they were nicer to us.

Doesn't matter how they treat us. We'll want to leave regardless. It was nice enough they didn't slash our wings or clip them as soon as we got here.

A shudder ran up her spine, not wanting to think about that. Yet again, Fia found her thoughts returning to home—wondering if anybody missed her as badly as she missed them. Was anybody still looking for her and trying to save her?

Fia, Viliant called, bringing her back to the present. I'm glad you're back. Watch the fights with me.

As she looked up, she observed Viliant's state closely for the first time since her return. A slight tremor had entered his frame. His tail flicked in agitation while his eyes bore into the arena. Perhaps he had been more worried about her than he had let on.

When she hopped onto the bench, she sat a bit closer to Viliant than usual. Leaning to one side, she bumped shoulders with him. You okay?

Why're you asking me something like that? If anything, I should be the one asking you that… if I cared enough.

Those were not the words that she wanted to hear, especially not after she had come so close to death. Fia stared at her crossed talons and bit back her anger with Viliant. Instead, she tried to focus on him and sympathize with why he was shaking. Did your fight happen immediately after mine?

No.

Well, why are you shaking like that?

You're shaking too, he snapped. That's just the aftereffect of the banshee's screams. It has a physiological aspect of fear to it.

Fia fell silent for a long while. That piece of information reminded her of what the announcer had said before the fight. I thought the only people who could hear the banshee's screams were the ones who cared about the victim….

Viliant's eyes narrowed at her. Well, maybe I do care about you a little bit. Isn't that what friends are for? With his shoulders hunkered over and his neck curved in an arch, his body kept trembling feebly.

Aw, thanks Viliant! Truly, she was shocked to hear him admit to such a thing. The fire in her belly bubbled with a new degree of warmth. Fia leaned to the side so that her shoulder could maintain contact with him.

Gently, Viliant rested a bit of his weight against her in return. The dragons helped resolve the banshee's effect over them more quickly, thanks to each other's presence.

We really are friends, huh? Fia asked.

Yeah, Viliant said. This was the last time where you burn something and run around helplessly till you win. It's a terrible strategy. I'm going to teach you how to fight properly from now on.

A gasp caught in her throat. Fia beamed at the prospect of them training together.