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Speed is clearly of the essence, so you opt to take the fastest route. Mae leads you through corridors and up staircases and, although you’re eager to reach your destination, it’s more than a little suspicious that you’re not running into any resistance en route.

“It’s quiet,” Ashur observes, not sounding happy about it.

“Too quiet,” you agree.

Which is why it’s no surprise when, as soon as you arrive at the arena, Neve is frantically signaling at you. She’s right in the middle of the empty space, wrists and ankles lashed to a chair and a strip of cloth serving as a makeshift gag, but she’s rocking the chair back and forth as best she can, trying to gesture behind you with only the motion of her head.

You turn and—well, it would be a lie to say you weren’t expecting to see the Venatori (a good number of whom have appeared in the arena entrances and are rapidly heading for you). But it would be absolutely true to say that you weren’t expecting them to have brought a Great Bear with them.

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