". . . Hold this for me, Kaela."
I grabbed Cement's shorts with the tips of my fingers.
"Lyra, hold this for me."
Zafrom removed all his armor.
"Ah, this feeling of freedom… this fire that burns in my heart.
All of it takes me back to the old days."
Cement is standing there in nothing but underwear, arms wide open.
"I completely agree, my friend."
Why did they take their clothes off?
". . . Brick, did you change the music?"
"I can't hear anything. Can you guys hear it?"
None of my friends can hear it. Did the speaker burn out?
"It's not that, Kaela. Did you forget that Cement asked for a forbidden song?"
Brick is right—his father requested it a moment ago.
"I've heard people talk about the forbidden song. The ones who can hear it are the ones inside the ring."
Donkey twitched his ears.
"Why can only the ones in the ring hear it?"
Dorian got down from Donkey and handed Brick's mother to Seraphine.
"I get it. That line in the arena and the stakes carved into the ground aren't ordinary objects—they're magical."
Donkey rubbed his hoof over the line in the arena, but it wouldn't fade.
"Donkey… your horseshoe."
Donkey's horseshoe cracked right down the middle.
"No… where am I going to get another horseshoe like this? I worked so hard to obtain it."
I picked up the horseshoe to see what had happened, and suddenly my hand started to go ice-cold. I threw the horseshoe away.
"Calm down, Donkey. Later we'll buy you another horseshoe."
Seraphine and Lyra were stroking Donkey's hoof.
"Let's begin, my friend."
When we heard that, we all got alert. . .
Cement grabbed the embers and tossed them into the air.
"Pay attention. I'm not repeating myself, Zafrom. You're a coward. You think you're superior to me, but you never lived what I lived."
"Oh, yeah."
So it was you guys making those "oh yeah" sounds when Lyra and I were fighting.
"Cement, why would I live a loser's life when I can live a dreamer's life?"
Zafrom picked up the thorns and chewed them.
"Everybody, get back."
Whew—I managed to dodge the ember.
"Ai, my back."
An ember fell on Donkey.
"How funny. HA ha h a."
Lyra laughed at what just happened.
"How can I respect an ogre who has friends wearing aprons? Any minute now they'll demand my prenatal checkups."
Zafrom turned his back to Cement.
What is Zafrom going to do?
"We don't just wear pink aprons—we also wear pink underwear. Cement, be jealous. You'll never have one of these."
Zafrom showed everyone his pink underwear.
This ogre looks like he's into the wrong side, huh. . .
"Ha ha ha, is this guy really who we're afraid of?"
Donkey leaned on Dorian.
"You're right, Donkey. An ogre wearing pink underwear… I feel stupid for being afraid of Zafrom."
Is Zafrom not going to do anything to Dorian and Donkey?
"Zafrom, you sold yourself cheap to that half-baked god. Who would've thought the ogre who won the great war would be dressed like a little woman today."
The first war… what war is that?
"Father, you didn't have to say that. We promised we wouldn't bring that up again."
The happiness on Brick's face turned into sadness. Brick's eyes lost their shine.
"Cement, the tribes agreed not to comment on that event. But you, my friend, violated the agreement like it didn't matter."
The tension between Cement and Zafrom exploded.
My voice won't come out—why?
The leaves that formed the arena's circle caught fire. The wooden pillars did too.
"Kaela, what's happening?"
"I don't know, Seraphine."
My friends and I stepped back, because the heat was unbearable.
"Cement, you and I fought side by side to defeat that evil being to keep peace between our tribes and ASTERIUM, but you became a coward who hides. Where did that man go?"
"Kaela, what light is that shining from your bra?"
What light is Lyra talking about?
It's that toy die I found behind Lyra, but why is it glowing blue and blinking?
The toy die floated out of my bra, rose into the sky, and created a huge force field over the forest.
"So we're going to settle the game like this, Zafrom?"
Zafrom raised his hand. The arena fire went out, and smoke from the burned wood spread everywhere.
"You mean like THIS!"
Zafrom clenched his fists, and his ogre allies began to appear.
"GRRRRRRR"
"We're going to destroy all of you, inferior creatures."
All the ogres were wearing pink aprons, carrying swords and shields—around thirty ogres.
"Today we'll have that battle. No one is going to stop us."
I think this is the end for us.
"I'm loving all of this, Kaela. I'm going to them."
"You're not." I grabbed Lyra. "Not this time. She can't go. This isn't a joke."
How are we supposed to escape? We're trapped.
"I don't want to die. I don't want to die."
Seraphine curled up and started repeating it over and over.
"Ha ha ha—no, Zafrom. Not like that. Like this."
Cement put on his sunglasses.
"AAAAAAAH!"
Swords clashed, loud screams shook my body. Dorian, Donkey, and Brick formed a circle around me.
"It's them!"
"Them who? Who are you seeing in all this chaos, Brick?"
The smoke started to clear. . .
"It's the Tribe of Men."
Seraphine ran.
"Come back here, Seraphine, you lunatic!"
Twenty-five men appeared. They have the same facial features as Brick. They carried swords and shields, wore shorts and sandals, and no shirts.
"You came."
Seraphine hugged all of them.
How does Seraphine know them?
"We saw Cement's call. And we stayed on alert for the moment he put the sunglasses on."
We all moved to the Men's Tribe side.
"Traitor, you planned all of this already?"
Zafrom put his armor back on.
"Little girl, give me back the sword."
Zafrom held out his hand to Lyra, waiting for the sword.
"Don't give it back. . ."
I held the sword tight.
"Which side are you on, Lyra?"
Lyra tilted her head. Spat on the ground.
The smile that appeared wasn't playful.
"Which side am I on. . .?"
The wind sliced through the arena.
"You still don't understand?"