Before I even see him, almost the entire crowd starts chanting his name. A thunderous chorus, rhythmic, encouraging—the cry a city sends up when it summons its hero.
"Cassio!"
"Cassio!"
"Cassio!"
The judge hasn't even announced our names yet, and they already have this much energy. I didn't know Cassio was this popular before I met him on the front lines. After all, this bastard was a cold, soulless bully whose arrogance preceded his fall.
Apparently, in Azure Prime he was loved. He doesn't even hide his real name behind a ring name.
I look up, and above me, the ocean sky of Thirstfall is turning. The blue is thickening into amber along the eastern curve, the trapped sea-light above bending into the long, slow oranges of late afternoon. Strands of water above us catch the lower angle and refract it sideways, throwing rippling caustics across the arena floor in patterns no land sky has ever produced.
Twilight in Thirstfall doesn't fade.
It tilts.
