• The Iron Gauntlet (7)

Standing rooted to his spot, heart hammering inside his chest, Spheris continued to shake his head in anxiety.

'No. No. No.' His thoughts continued to echo.

He could not believe what he was seeing. He did not want to believe what he was seeing. Perichan, his friend, his short term mentor, his teacher, and in all honesty... his hero. The person who didn't have to, but still chose to help him, heal him, feed him and also teach him everything that he knew now of combat.

He was Thorin's opponent. He was the Bloodsport that Thorin needed to defeat to maintain their hopes of escaping this Mountain City.

Spheris shook his head again, clashing emotions in his eyes. It was an unbelievably difficult thing to witness. Who was he to root for in such a situation? Even though he and Thorin had never had any personal issues, Spheris had grown a stronger bond with Perichan over the few days that he had taught and taken care of him.