Chapter 10: Chains Break, Ash Rises
983 AN
Sep 03
Location: Zaun – Meat Row, Renni's Main Pit
The stink of sweat, rust, and blood clung to the air like a second skin. The main pit loomed below, a crater of violence sunken into the heart of Meat Row, lined with railings and grim-faced spectators waiting for blood. Ashryn walked through the main gate like it belonged to her.
She didn't sneak. She didn't posture.
She strolled in with her long coat fluttering behind her, boots echoing on cracked stone. No mask, no emblem. Just Ashryn—smiling, humming something off-key under her breath.
Two guards at the front spotted her and reached for their rifles.
Ashryn sighed, her smile twisting. "You'd think word would travel faster."
The guards never got the chance to fire. She drew her pistols and put them down with sharp cracks—one in the knee, the other in the shoulder. Non-lethal. For now.
The entrance flared into chaos. More guards poured from the upper catwalks and side corridors. Ashryn dashed forward, bullets whizzing past, cloak trailing behind her as she vaulted onto a rail and dove into the pit.
She landed on her feet like a dancer, then slid into a forward roll and came up firing. Two more fell. A third rushed with a club—she dropped low, sweeping his legs and smashing the butt of her pistol into his jaw.
They came in waves, maybe twenty in all. Some had swords, others makeshift clubs or shock batons. Renni hadn't been cheap with her defense.
Ashryn grinned, heart hammering in her chest.
"Time to test the toys."
She holstered one pistol and flicked a switch on her belt, activating her pulse-round launcher—a sleek, short-barreled chem-powered device strapped to her hip. With a sharp hiss, it fired a low-yield shock round into the densest group.
They dropped like dominos.
The fight turned fast. Ashryn ducked under a pipe, kneed a man in the gut, and disarmed another with a sharp twist of the wrist. One tried to flank her—she spun and knocked him unconscious with a boot to the temple.
Still smiling, she muttered, "Still got it."
A bullet grazed her shoulder. She hissed, rolled behind cover, and popped off a retaliatory shot.
She was bleeding now. Just a nick. But it brought back memories.
Eight years ago.
Ashryn on the floor, ribs cracked, vision blurred. A man twice her size standing over her, laughing. She couldn't breathe—but she didn't stay down. She never stayed down.
Her eyes narrowed.
Ashryn came out of cover like a storm. She dropped the shooter, broke another's elbow with a quick lock, and emptied her second pistol's clip into three more.
The pit was emptying. Only a handful of fighters remained—those too scared to run, or too loyal to Renni to care.
Ashryn adjusted her gloves. "Alright then."
They rushed. She met them halfway.
She wasn't brute force. She was technique, grit, and timing. One lunged—she sidestepped and grabbed his collar, pivoted, and used his momentum to slam him into a steel crate. Another tried a wide swing—she ducked low, drove her shoulder into his gut, and flipped him with a leg hook.
The last one managed to grab her. He lifted her off the ground.
She grinned. "Bad idea."
She drove her knees into his ribs, once, twice, until he let go. Then she spun, grabbed his arm, and dislocated it with a crack.
He dropped.
Ashryn exhaled hard, blood on her lip, one pistol hanging empty.
Then came the slow clap.
Renni stepped out onto the highest catwalk above the pit. Hair tied back, arms crossed, eyes like knives.
"Well," she called down. "I'll give you credit, Ash. You still make a damn mess."
Ashryn leaned against a pillar, panting. "Been saving this one for you."
Renni smirked. "I remember the last time you tried. Took down one of my side pits, didn't you? Crushed two of my men with a winch."
Ashryn shrugged. "That was an accident."
"No, it wasn't," Renni said. "But that was a kid's tantrum. This—this is war."
Ashryn raised her pistol. "You coming down, or do I have to climb up and drag you?"
Renni smiled. "Come and get me."
She turned and vanished into the upper walkways.
Ashryn cursed under her breath, reloaded, and started climbing the ladder on the far wall.
---
Location: Catwalks Above the Pit
The industrial maze above the arena was built like a trap. Narrow walkways, blind corners, rusted pipes hissing steam. Ashryn moved fast, blood dripping from her grazed shoulder.
"Should've brought backup," she muttered.
Footsteps echoed behind her. She pivoted and shot—just a decoy. Renni's tricks were already in motion.
"I was raised in these bones," Renni's voice echoed through the rafters. "You think I'd let you waltz in and take it?"
Ashryn chuckled, lips tight. "Pretty sure that's exactly what I'm doing."
Another volley of bullets from the side. She ducked, rolled, and returned fire. Hit one, winged another.
She dashed through a maintenance corridor, bootsteps slamming against rusted grates. She caught a flicker of motion, then another decoy.
Then a real one.
Renni appeared from the shadows, slamming into her. They grappled—Renni was strong. Older, but still vicious. She jabbed Ashryn's ribs, twisted her wrist, tried to disarm her.
Ashryn fought back dirty—headbutt, elbow, knee. They crashed into the railing. Metal groaned.
"You always had a mouth," Renni growled, wrenching at Ashryn's arm.
Ashryn grunted. "You always stank of dead dreams."
She let Renni pull forward, then twisted, dragging them both down through a scaffold to the lower walkway. They landed hard—Ashryn on top. She punched Renni square in the face.
Renni spat blood, laughed. "That all you got?"
Ashryn stood, cracking her neck. "Nope. Just warming up."
---
Elsewhere in the Pit – Callum's POV
Callum had seen chaos before. Had lived through it, even thrived in it.
But this… this was calculated. This was someone carving her name into the marrow of Zaun.
He moved silently through the lower corridors, dispatching fleeing guards, cutting off retreat paths. He didn't say much. Never did.
But his eyes kept drifting up—toward the crashing and shouting overhead.
Toward her.
Eight years ago, he'd watched her bleed and get up again. Every single time.
He found one of the larger guards trying to rally a crew. Callum didn't hesitate. He used his short blade like a scalpel—silent, precise. When it was done, the guard gurgled on the floor and the crew had fled.
"Still following her," he murmured to himself.
Not because he believed.
Because she did.
---
Back in the Upper Catwalks
Renni was on the defensive now. Bleeding from her nose, limping slightly.
Ashryn stalked her like a wolf.
"No more pits," she said. "No more chains."
Renni snarled. "This city eats girls like you."
Ashryn raised her hands,and brought it down. "Then I guess I'm done being the meal."
Renni dropped. Ash climbed over her.
Started punching. Over and over.
Until Renni stopped breathing
---
Ashryn stood alone in the catwalks as sirens in the distance echoed faintly. Blood dripping from her hands.
She exhaled, finally letting the tension leak out of her shoulders.
"Chains break," she whispered.
Then, quieter—almost an afterthought—
"Well... That was therapeutic."
She turned and left the pit behind, footsteps fading into silence.