Chapter Forty Seven
"Wake up! Your turn to fight!" A heavy booted foot kicked Jea solidly in the ribs. She sat up instantly, ready to kill her attacker.
The guard looked hard at her. "I said 'Get up!' It's you peoples' turn to fight." He moved to wake the others in a similar fashion, but Jea stopped him.
"I'll wake them. We'll be right there."
The burly guard nodded and stomped off.
The ranger/druid systematically woke her companions up, dragging them from sleep. The guard returned a few minutes later and led them back the way they'd entered the cavern. The iron door opened and the group of guards urged them through another iron door with sharp spears.
The adventurers found themselves in a long, damp, rather large tunnel that opened up into a sort of crevice/dugout in the huge Arena. They stepped, blinking out into the blinding sunlight. With them was a man in a painted red and black mask. He started slightly at the sight of the group, but they dismissed it as the common reacion from the locals.
There wasn't time to confirm this though. A gate across the sandy Arena opened and several dozen lizardmen swarmed out.
Jea and Laguna swung away from the group in tandem, and attacked the first saurians t get close. Jea viscously smashed one of them in the face with her mace, shattering it's snout and driving it to it's knees. Her husband cut another one down as she kicked her enemy in the throat. Wolf fought at their side, his sharp, wicked fangs hamstringing the scaly monsters.
Ambermist and Dumbugg scattered away into the fray. The thief was laughing maniacally; even heavily pregnant, she was still faster than her opponents. The monsters backed away from her in alarm—not that anyone blamed them. Yarū Dumbugg was almost as bad, his eyes gleaming with battle lust as he swung his two handed sword.
Phalyssa motioned to Aruka. "Change form and let's fight!"
Grinning, the young man began to grow in size, changing into the half cat, half man body. Between twelve and fifteen feet tall, his body became leanly, yet powerfully muscled, and was covered in thick fur. Gripping his large scimitar tightly, he battered the skull of one saurian in two.
Phalyssa gave a battle cry and swung her own sword in a downward arc, cleaving her opponent from shoulder to stomach, all the while twisting away from some swords and a shower of sticky blood.
The two youngsters fought together; sometimes back to back, other times side by side. Aruka savaged his enemies brutally, first tearing this one's throat out with his fangs, then gutting that one with his sword, meanwhile choking a third with his free paw.
The crowd cheered, delighting in the spray of warm blood.
Jea hissed as a lizard's spear scored her side and grated against her ribs. She smashed him in the face even as Laguna impaled him on Quar. The two comrades grinned at each other, calmly thrusting weapons behind them to kill more attackers.
Ambermist delighted in playing a game with herself, testing her impaired dexterity—how fast she could move and strike. She darted in and out of the ranks of enemies, carving quick chunks from them.
Dumbugg, on the other hand, relied on brute strength, and his enormous two handed sword. A grin plastered across his ugly face gave even the nasty lizardmen pause.
Aruka roared as a sword scratched lightly across his arm; for the first time in his life, his voice reached the full thunder of the king of ancient beasts. His voice reverberated across the Arena, and caused almost everyone to freeze—even the crowd. Then everything picked back up in a more frenzied pace than before.
The masked fighter was picking off various struggling saurians. In a blur of blades he moved close to Ambermist, tossed her a thumbs up, and moved away again in a rapid dance.
Phalyssa flicked her fingers at Aruka to get his attention. As he turned in her direction, a saurian gashed the distracted girl in the side with a wicked blade. Phalyssa grunted in pain and staggered forwards toward her friend. Aruka roared again, pausing only long enough to scoop Phalyssa up with one arm, and beheaded the lizard—incidentally, the only remaining monster.
Aruka sheathed his sword and gently carried Phalyssa to her mother. Jea immediately cat a healing spell on the wound. Then the party picked up their things and headed back down to the pens under the Arena. Unbeknownst to them, the masked man followed.
* * * * * *
Aruka laid Phalyssa carefully on a pile of hay and curled up next to her. The silver haired teen smiled up at him and scratched behind his ears. Purring, he nuzzled at her shoulder.
Jea quietly tended her own wounds and the minor scrapes and bruises on the others.
Phalyssa watched her mother work, and pondered escape from this place. Her thoughts were interrupted, however, when a form darkened the door.
It was the masked man from the Arena. Phalyssa hissed out a warning, reaching for her knife. Everyone turned toward the door, hands on weapons.
The masked man laughed and held up one dark skinned hand. "Easy…Geez, Jea! Is this how you treat old friends nowadays?" he asked, pulling off the wooden visage.
"Shikatsu?" Jea groaned in mock agony. "Why do you insist on haunting me?"
Ambermist snickered as Shik hung his head in fake hurt. "Jea, I'm surprised at you. I thought you would welcome me with open arms…"
Phalyssa stood, Aruka cowering nervously behind her. "Mom? Do you know this IDIOT?"
Shik looked confused. He glanced at Jea, then at the teenage girl. "What? Who? …Huh?"
Jea smirked. "Whasa matter, assassin? Dragon got your tongue?" She turned to her daughter. "Yes, Phalyssa, unfortunately, I do know this idiot—good word to describe him by the way. His name's Shikatsu." Returning her attention to the half drow, she said, "I don't believe you've been introduced. This is my daughter, Phalyssa."
"But…How—"
"I used the Dimension Egg. Instant teenager."
The man shook his head. "I can't believe you did that…What in the gods is THAT?!" He pointed at the cringing Aruka.
Aruka, who'd been edging out from behind Phalyssa to greet this stranger, felt his insides crumple. This new person, a possible friend, had just crushed him. He didn't want to play—not with Aruka. Aruka wasn't good enough; he was just a thing.
Tears sprang from his eyes, burning hot tracks down his cheeks. Dropping to all fours, he scurried to a corner and hid behind a hay pile.
Phalyssa gave the assassin a death glare that would have frozen a maralith in its tracks. "Bastard! Leave him alone!" she spat, before going to Aruka.
Jea shook her head. Looking at Laguna, she motioned him down.
Ambermist sniggered as Shik turned toward them. "What? What did I say? Would somebody please tell me what's going on?"
Dumbugg looked up from his breakfast. "Stupid," he commented.
"Way to put your foot in your mouth," Ambermist murmured. "Maybe you should start chewing now, before you choke."
He gave her a dirty look. "Putting on weight, my lady thief? Maybe you should lay off those between meal snacks."
The pregnant elf pulled out a throwing knife and took aim. "One more peep outta you and I alter your voice octave—permanently."
Shikatsu backed away, hands in the air. "Whoa! Easy…Uh…No hard feelings?"