The Wolf and The Bear close in on him from either side. They’re so perfectly synchronized, so rehearsed—but there’s no circumstance under which they could have prepared for this.
I step forward. “Are you here to fight? Or die?”
His eyes flicker to his brothers. “I’m prepared to die here today. And I will take my dishonor with me.”
The Bear pulls out a sleek silver knife from a hidden sheath. It glints under the moonlight, betraying how deadly the blade is. “If only it were that simple. Your dishonor taints us all. You know the rules as well as I do. You know the punishment for betrayal.”
The Tiger looks resigned to his fate. “Death by a thousand cuts.”
“And I shall make each one hurt,” he snarls. “You will stay alive until the last of them.”
The Bear’s jaw quivers as he vibrates with
