A deafening roar shook the stone foundations of the grand crater arena. Caleb Conway stepped onto the crimson sand of the fighting platform as fifty thousand spectators screamed for violence. He stood in the center of the Iron Gauntlet bracket where the sect threw their most violent combatants to bleed. The air tasted of crushed granite and old copper.
Caleb did not look at the screaming crowds lining the stone tiers. His gaze swept the massive circular pit and the nineteen other competitors circling the perimeter. The Iron Gauntlet was designed as a chaotic melee where survival dictated advancement. However, the other eighteen fighters immediately backed away to press their shoulders against the arena walls. They wanted no part of the center ring.
A single man remained in the middle of
