In BID THE GODS ARISE, readers were introduced to the hardened gladiatrix, Dania. Now, in this standalone prequel novella, we learn the story of how the orphaned pickpocket comes of age and grows to become the Blood Goddess of the gladiatorial arena of a distant world.Young Dania never imagined a life beyond the caravan and her cutpurse youth, but when she is kidnapped and sold as a slave, her life takes a violent turn. Raised in the barracks of a pit-fighting compound, she yearns to return to her beloved home. Misled, seduced, and betrayed, will she choose freedom... or revenge?