The final droplets of rain slid from Alys's chin and struck the stone floor beneath her feet.
For a moment, she simply stood there, breathing heavily as the lingering steam slowly dispersed throughout the arena. The oppressive curtain of rainfall that had accompanied the battle from the very beginning was gone.
Silence followed.
Not true silence, of course. The colosseum remained filled with frightened whispers, distant cries and the crackling sounds of damaged barriers struggling to maintain their form. Yet compared to the relentless roar of the storm that had dominated the battlefield until moments ago, the sudden absence of rain felt almost unsettling.
Alys lifted her head instinctively, above her, the dark clouds had vanished.
The opening in the sky revealed a stretch of clear blue illuminated by the fading light of late afternoon. Sunlight spilled into the arena, washing over the shattered stone and bloodstained ruins left behind by the battle.
