The crowd is silent.
I can feel my heart beating rapidly in my chest. The proximity of Cobra's face to mine is practically non-existent and I can feel the heat of his breath through my mask.
A blush rushes to my face before I summon fire magic, melting the ice that binds me. I shove against him, but he doesn't budge.
"Let go of me," I snap, my voice sharp with irritation.
His grip tightens on my throat. The cold dagger he stole from me pressing deeper against my skin. "We need to talk after the match." He says darkly.
"Why would I want to do that?" I asked, gripping his hand, the one holding my dagger, and digging my nails into him.
"Because..." He leans in, his lips brushing against my ear as he whispers, "I know who you really are, Miss Raven Montez."
I freeze beneath him.
No... That's impossible.
How does he know?
My grip falters around his hand.
Crap.
If he exposes me now, Pepe and I are in deep trouble. I'm talking imprisonment or, if I'm truly unlucky, even death. Thanks to the narrow-minded men who run this kingdom, women are seen as weak. Undeserving. Forbidden from fighting, let alone wielding magic.
We're expected to be quiet, obedient, and powerless.
Unfortunately for them, I am none of those things.
I clench my jaw, anger surging through my body, "What do you want?"
"I already told you. I want to talk," he replies, his voice a low rasp against my ear.
Under different circumstances, his voice might have been attractive. But right now? It only makes my blood boil. I lost the match. And now I'm at his mercy.
"Fine," I snap. "But if you expose me, don't expect me to go quietly. I'll burn down everything in my path if that's what it takes to survive."
To prove my threat I channel fire into the blade he's holding. It sears red-hot in an instant. Cobra hisses in pain, dropping the dagger as it hits the ground with a sharp clang.
The crowd erupts. El Cuervo's name gets dragged through the mud as furious shouts and curses ripple through the masses serving as a reminder that I lost everything the moment I hit the ground.
"And there you have it, people! The undefeated champion El Cuervo has finally been taken down, and by none other than the mysterious newcomer, The Cobra! What an unbelievable twist! Are we witnessing the rise of a new champion?" The announcer's voice booms through the arena.
My stomach twists into knots as it sinks in that my title is gone. The only thing that kept me connected to Pepe was now decimated.
My victories were the only reason he ever acknowledged me.
I know this because before my magic awakened, he barely spoke to me. And when he did, it was only out of necessity. To him, I was invisible.
However, that changed when my fire magic manifested. When I was finally blessed with power that was even beyond his, suddenly, I was worth noticing. For the first time since my mother died, someone cared. Or at least, it felt like they did. Twisted as it was, I clung to that scrap of attention like it meant something.
It was pathetic.
Still, it was enough. Enough to push me to train harder than anyone else. To master every fire spell until I was strong enough to face any foe.
Or so I thought... until today.
The Cobra suddenly rises to his feet, extending a hand towards me.
I glare at it, a scowl on my face, before choosing to stand on my own two feet.
"Pride is a very useless thing to have," Cobra taunts.
I shrug my shoulders, "So is the opinion of sheep, yet here we are."
"I'm not a sheep. More of a lone wolf, really," I can tell he's smirking under that mask, which pisses me off.
I resist the urge to set him on fire then and there and glance up at the arena. The crowd is already dispersing, most losing interest now that the fight is over. A few linger, no doubt fascinated by the man who dethroned me.
I discard my failure aside for now. First I needed to deal with Cobra. If push came to shove I might have to kill him. For now I would play along and find out what he wanted.
"Meet me at Fantasia Oscura in half an hour, the closest tavern," I say to the man before me. Without waiting for a response, I turn on my heel and walk away.