by Prax Venter
"Well, here we are. I hope we are ready for this."
Vale reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm pretty sure level one will be well within our ability, Master."
He smiled up at her, "Great news, we need to get past level five, though."
"It doesn't look like we have to fight every level today. Mark, stop worrying about the crowd, just focus on a quick victory," Ahnix said.
He looked over at her beautiful, Egyptian goddess face and realized she was right. He was more worried about walking out there in front of the crowd than he was about the combat, which was silly. Their bond was growing stronger by the day, and Ahnix was starting to know him better than he knew himself.
The battle outside seemed to be over, and the skunk-men and owl-men moved away from the bars. They each took a seat on the long bench against the wall, and they all looked shaken pretty bad.
Then Mark heard a loud voice booming from outside the bars.
"Oooh, too bad. But a fitting end for Team Break Neck! Next up we have another level one encounter. The Death Stripes will be facing off against a pair of hungry chimera. Don't leave your seats folks. The battle starts in five minutes!"
The skinny skunk-men looked at each other with wide eyes.
"What? Chimera!" One said, standing up. "No, no, no. That can't be right." He quickly approached the elephant man sitting on the stool "Look, I changed my mind. Chimera? You have to be shitting me."
"Your team has been announced. Sit down," the beast on the stool rumbled.
The panicked skunk stood motionless for a moment in front of the creature three times his size, thinking about his life choices.
Making another bad choice, he broke for the only door out of the room, the one that led back the way the came. The elephant moved much faster than Mark would have thought physically possible and knocked the smaller skunk to the ground.
"You fight. And if you spray me with your foul stench, I will make you hate your own mother for bringing you into this shitty world."
The skunk picked himself off the ground and joined his teammates sitting on the bench.
"I should have never listened to you, Blix. I could be at the dorm, taking a fucking nap, and now we are going to fucking die," he said, looking at the dirt floor.
One of the taller owls in the room looked over. "You stench bags don't belong at our school anyway."
"What did you say?" said one of the other skunks, standing.
"I said, Jitso War College is no place for weak, stench bag runts like you."
Both parties stood up, ready to throw punches when the elephant-man appeared behind them.
"If you don't stop this bullshit I am breaking all your legs."
Just then, a pair of pink flamingo bird-women walked into the waiting room. The newcomers handed their ticket to the elephant-man and looked around the room, assessing the mood.
"Hey, Borf. Rough day?" one of the women said.
"Nah, just some stupid kids from Jitso, pissing their pants."
"Yeah, those were the days," The other pink, feathery woman with a long curved beak said, before moving to one of the benches.
Mark nodded as she walked by, and she nodded back.
A bell sounded from behind the wall where the elephant slid the slips of paper. The big creature moved to the front of the room and pulled on a section of the iron bars, sliding them over to create an opening into the arena.
Then the announcer started up again. "Ladies and Gentlemen, entering the arena we have an unknown team called the Death Stripes. Will they emerge victorious? I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see how they handle the multi-headed, savage fanged, deadly poisonous... chimera!
The elephant-man called Borf focused his attention on the three skunks.
"Out. Now."
They hung their heads and scurried out into the daylight where Mark could hear the crowd boo.
"Fucking losers," the mainly antagonistic owl said to no one in particular.
Mark walked over to the iron bars as Borf slid them shut. He was really curious to see what this was going to be like.
The three, furry skunk-men stood in the center of the arena looking around for any sign of danger. On the wall opposite of where Mark was standing, another iron gate opened, and two strange-looking beasts galloped out.
They looked like lions, but with an extra goat head attached to one side of their necks. He also didn't notice at first, but their tail was actually a living snake. Each head seemed to move independently, and the creatures felt sickening to look at directly.
All three skunks held out their hands, and a ray of blue-white energy emerged from each one, converging on the closest chimera.
The crowd cheered as its lion head started to become encased in ice. The other creature circled around and charged at the pack of skunks, causing two of them to turn their attention on the greater threat.
Without the combined force of all three, the second chimera barely slowed as it took the blast to the face. By the time it had reached the three skunks, the first chimera had shaken off the ice and charged forward again. It was over quickly. The skunks were torn apart, and Mark turned away from the gory scene unfolding outside.
"An unfortunate end for the Death Stripes!" The announcer's voice echoed around the arena once more. "Next up another rookie team, the Foul Owls. Please stand by while the clean-up crew takes care of the mess and our zoo crew pokes the Basilisks for the next fight."
The owl Mark knew as Bon straightened. "Basilisks? That might not be so bad if they aren't a thick armored variety."
"That's the spirit! We hit them from above and rip out their guts." The aggressive owl lifted up one of his sharp-taloned feet and clenched it, making his point.
The time for the next match came quickly, and the process of the bell ringing and the door opening repeated. Once the door closed shut again, Mark's hands started to sweat. They were next.
One of the pink flamingo women looked over to study Mark and his girls.
"You all are not from the war college, are you?" she asked.
"Nope," Mark responded, with a half smile.
"That ring. You're a Collector," the other one said.
"Yep. I'm Mark. This is Ahnix, Vale, and Roo. Nice to meet you."
The flamingo women both had the head, and long curved neck, of a flamingo but the body of a voluptuous human female, with bright pink feathers covering most of the naughty bits. They could have been twins.
"Unfortunately it looks like you have a full party, Lover. We've always wondered what it would be like to be Enthralled."
He could feel Ahnix bristle next to him, her tail flipping slightly. She did not like these women.
Roo, on the other hand, was never shy.
She gave them a bright smile and said, "It's the best thing ever! I highly recommend finding a Collector of your very own."
The flamingo women looked at each other and giggled."
Hey Borf, remember when the last Collector walked through your door?"
"You know I do," he said with a low rumble, staring at Mark with sharp little eyes. He got the sense that Borf was suddenly very interested in him.
"And that's a solid end for those Fowl Owls!" The announcer called out again, pulling Mark's attention away from the elephant-man. "Never look a basilisk in the eye, folks. Next up is another rookie team, The Saviors! Can they save themselves from a murder of giant ravens? Next battle starts in five minutes!”
Mark went to the bars and saw that all three of the young owls had been turned into statues, and a team of heavily armored centaurs were wrangling the remaining basilisks. It looked like they managed to kill one of the colorful, six-legged lizards before it fell apart for them.
Every fight Mark had seen had been a brutal loss. He was starting to get nervous again when he felt Ahnix walk up next to him and weave her fury fingers through his.
On the other side, Vale moved up and took his other hand. Roo pressed into him from behind and
wrapped her soft arm around his neck.
The velvet-girl whispered in his ear, "I just picked a new ability that I think will really help in this fight."
Mark was surrounded by his girls and felt like they could do anything. The five minutes went fast, and it was time to fight their first match.
Borf pulled open the gate, and they all moved out into the bright sunlight as one. Mark looked up into the rows and rows of seats and felt a sense of vertigo wash over him.
He shook it off. The battle was down here in the dirt, and that's where he needed to focus.
The arena was a huge circle at least two-hundred yards across. The walls were mostly smooth stone, broken up by iron bars at regular intervals. Mark heard the sound of metal scraping on metal and saw that one such iron gate was opening across the arena, and three, horse-sized ravens hopped out of the shadows.
Roo yelled out next to him, "Horrible Hooks!"
To Mark's surprise, large metal hooks on chains emerged out of the ground and stuck themselves into the rightmost raven, just as it extended its wings and was about launch into the air.
Ahnix vanished and reappeared about twenty feet off the ground. She completely destroyed the enormous bird on far left, in mid-air, with an impressive looking, surprise Doom Kick. She fell onto the dusty arena floor, landing gracefully on one knee, as black feathers floated down around her.
Vale used Hateful Sting on the remaining raven, and it quickly changed direction, dive-bombing the naga with its sharp beak. She was ready for the screeching, black bird and instantly broke its neck with a perfectly timed Shield Bash.
The final raven struggling with hooks in its flesh was ended with a precision sewing needle to the heart.
The battle was over in seconds, and Mark hadn’t lifted a finger.
The crowd was silent, trying to process what just happened, and then broke out into a deafening din of clapping, whistling and cheering.
His Enthralled were getting truly powerful. Movement caught Mark's eye, and he saw someone waving a green flag by an opening in the arena wall. He called attention to it, and all four of them quickly headed to the open gate.
Mark heard the announcer’s voice bellow out over the crowd as they moved across the sprawling arena.
"Just goes to show you folks you never know what you'll see when you come visit Sizor's Pit! I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of The Saviors in the future. Up next; get ready for another great fight as the sisters in pink, Maxine and Minosa, take on a level three challenge. A singular cyclops!"
Mark and his party stepped into the shade and found themselves in a room with another teller, a door to the left and an iron bar gate to the right.
Above this teller were the words 'Victor's Room - To the victor go the spoils'.
Standing just inside the door, Mark noticed a waist-high creature with an octopus for a head holding the green flag he saw waving a moment ago. The slimy fellow pointed to the teller.
A middle age human woman stood behind the glass and spoke when Mark approached the window.
"Greetings victor! Level two token or fifty silver coins?"
"The token, please," Mark said, with no hesitation.
The woman reached below the counter and slid Mark a wooden coin with the number two burned into its surface.
"There you go, please head through the door to your left, and good luck on your next fight!"
Mark nodded and led his Enthralled through the door. After a short hallway they found themselves back into the combatant entry room they started in, with the weasel lady.
He moved out of the way, against one of the stone walls, and waited for his girls to gather around.
"Holy shit- you guys. That was amazing!"
"Yes, we are,"Ahnix said, crossing her arms.
"And Roo, you just learned the ability 'Horrible Hooks' while we were in the waiting room?"
Roo's big, puffy lips curved into a smile. "Yeah, used all my points... But did you see those beautiful, horrible hooks?"
"I sure did. Holding something immobile like that is going to be huge. And Vale, that Shield Bash!"
"Yeah, I learned a fusion combo; if the creature is charging at me under the Hateful Sting effect, and if I get the timing just right, my Shield Bash will do improved critical damage."
"Nice, that's kinda like Ahnix's teleport sneak-attack combos. Is that what you were saving up for?"
"No, but I really want to get that soon. It's an exceptionally high-level hex, and I know you'll love it, Master!"
"I know you'll make the right choice, Vale. Alright... everyone ready for round two?" Mark looked around, and everyone nodded. "Great. I like the strategy so far. Let's just work together to end the match as quickly as possible."
They navigated the ropes that led to the teller, and Mark placed the level two token on the counter.
"That was fast. The Saviors was it?"
"Yes Ma'am."
The older weasel woman shuffled some papers and filled out some blank spots with her quill. Then hit it with a rubber stamp, and handed it to Mark. This piece of paper had their Team name on it and 'Level 2' stamped in red.
"All set. You know the drill," she said, nodding to the door to the right.
Mark flashed her a grin and led his girls back down the long curved hallway to the room where Borf, the elephant-man was sitting on a stool. No one else was in the waiting room this time.
"Greetings, Borf. No other fighters?" Mark asked, as his enthralled entered behind him.
"You're probably going to be the last walk-ins before the scheduled event. Tonight is centaur wrestling."
Mark nodded handed him the paper.
"Glad to see new talent, Collector," Borf said, twisting to slip the paper into the slit behind him.
"The talent lies with these amazing women behind me." Mark looked behind him and saw only Vale there, a huge grin on her face.
"Aw... Thanks, Master."
He saw Ahnix and Roo standing by the iron bars, looking out into the arena. Mark joined them and watched a human clean-up crew in black jumpsuits carrying off chunks of unrecognizable flesh.
After the dusty arena was clear, the announcer’s voice echoed across the stands once more.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I hope you stuck around to see round two with our new rising stars, The Saviors! In five minutes, they'll face a large family of rabbit monks from the fields of Verdamer! This will be the final public combatant for the day, but the show doesn't stop there!
"A large family?" Mark said, ignoring the rest of the announcements. He didn’t like the sound of that. Vale didn't seem to either and motioned for everyone to get close to her.
She lowered her voice so only the four of them could hear. "I'm so glad they tell us what to expect. Anyway, with too many fast moving enemies any one of us can get overwhelmed, quickly. I have an idea for a tactic that could be risky but might be perfect for this battle."
Mark loved it already.
- 18 -
Mark stood in the middle of the dusty arena and watched as iron bars opened in the wall across from them. He peered into the darkness trying to determine what exactly they were up against.
Then, all at once, seven, sleek, muscular rabbit men and women, wearing red leather armor, rushed out to fight them.
Before the rabbit monks had a chance to spread out too far, Ahnix teleported right to the middle one and landed a basic attack, causing the creature to cry out in pain. Her sharp claws did substantial damage, but the surprise attack wasn’t enough to instantly kill the target.
The cat-girl barely dodged the swift counterattack that whiffed through the empty air where her head had been.
Just like they hoped, all of the rabbits turned on Ahnix and launched attacks. Mark popped up a bubble around her and, directly afterward, shot out the strongest enhance he could manage.
He saw Ahnix convulse with the pleasurable power he was sending into her. The visual effect was mostly lost in the flashes of light caused by the s
even rabbits striking the magic shield with their fists and powerful legs.
Roo launched a needle into the soft furry back of one of the rabbits, and it started to limp away. The others realized that they were vulnerable and turned their attention away from Ahnix.
And that was exactly what they had been waiting for.
Ahnix screamed, "Doom Kick!" much louder than normal, and she executed the enhanced area-of-effect version of her devastating ability.
The bubble popped, and she caught four of the rabbit monks with an impressive spin-kick. All four were instantly split in half.
That only left two healthy, but shocked, enemies and the one Roo had already impaled with her needle.
Vale pulled one with her Hateful Sting melody and Roo shouted, "Horrible hooks!" at the other.
By that point, the fight was virtually over. Ahnix helped clean up the stranglers, and they had won their level two battle with no damage sustained. Mark felt the rush of essence enter him this time, but it wasn't a lot.
The crowd was going insane in the bleachers. He heard some people chanting, "Saviors! Saviors!" over and over.
The green flag was waved by one of the open iron gates, and they made their way over.
"Level two down without breaking a sweat. The Saviors are surging through the ranks, but will they make it to level five? Make sure you come back tomorrow to find out what happens next!"
Mark entered the torch-lit room under the walls of the arena and instantly noticed two centaurs standing there, waiting for them.
One of the human-horse hybrids was much larger and embodied the very definition of imposing with his massive arms crossed on his broad chest. He was encased in thick, black metal plates of armor and had a horned helmet with a crown of thorns on top.
The other centaur was an amazingly beautiful female with long brown hair and piercing, ice blue eyes. Her torso was clad in stiff leather armor and held a long spear in one hand.
The heavily armored centaur bowed his head to Mark.
"It is an honor to meet you, Collector. I am Sizor, and this is my pit." His voice was deep and commanded attention. "Congratulations on another decisive victory."
Mark nodded. "Thank you. I am Mark. This is Ahnix, Vale, and Roo." The girls bowed their heads when their names were called.