"There is no dishonor in losing the race. There is only dishonor in not racing because you are afraid to lose."

― Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain

Twenty second Yuga, Yaksa calendar (1623 C.E. Earth Date) Ancient ruins four Yo'hanas west of Saubha.

The Gallu charged, taking advantage of Skan'dha's recent injury, but Rava'an intervened and used his spear to deflect the monster's attack. The latter screeched furiously and attacked again and again, not caring about the wounds Rava'an dealt with his family heirloom. Rava'an saw that the superficial cuts healed fast. He would not be able to keep it up for much longer. Skan'dha opened his Ci'kitsa with his remaining hand and applied a phosphorescent blue liquid to his amputated limb, cauterizing it.

On the other side of the arena, Ujesh' now armed with the whip and the Cha'kra, battled the last Gallu. The creature adapted fast. It no longer tried to kill the large Raksasa by launching itself forward. It kept a safe distance from the whip and dodged the Cha'kra easily. Then it did something Ujesh' had not anticipated; the gallu climbed a pillar and from above, the monstrous creature released a spray of light greenish bile that hit Ujesh's right shoulder. The shoulder pad sizzled and started to melt. Ujesh' tore it off. He was furious.

Rava'an prepared himself for the next charge, but the creature didn't propel itself into the air like it did before. It flicked its tail and knocked Rava'an to the ground with a circular sweep. Now with Rava'an out of the picture, it launched itself against the unsuspecting Skan'dha. Its sharp claws tore into the giant Yaksa's abdomen. Skan'dha roared in pain, but it was not enough to kill him; he grabbed the skeletal creature by the tail with his remaining hand and threw it against one of the columns. The long, pointed head of the Gallu exploded like a melon, releasing a shower of greenish and putrid liquid; its body fell limp to the ground.

"Great!" Rava'an scoffed, there was only one creature left and he needed to kill it to stay in the competition.

The last Gallu was now facing three adversaries, one of them badly wounded but still deadly. It stayed perched on top of the column, spitting its venom and waiting for the perfect opportunity to kill.

Rava'an watched as the creature's bulbous brain pulsed beneath the semi-translucent skull. It was without a doubt considering its next move. Ujesh' was preparing to throw the Cha'kra again and Rava'an made a decision: He jumped and climbed up the nearest column to attack the Gallu at the same level, aware that Ujesh' would try to kill him if he lowered his guard but for a second.

Rava'an calculated the distance between the two columns. He could do it, he would jump and using the spear, he would kill the last of the abominations.

- "Anu'sha will be mine," he tried to convince himself, although now it depended more on who she would choose, rather than one of them outshining the others in battle.

Without thinking, he jumped, surprising the monster who was still distracted by Ujesh'. When the creature became aware of the new threat, it turned and screeched, its jaws extended. Rava'an could feel the creature's hot, putrid breath. There was no point in waiting any longer, Rava'an attacked.

The spear, made with the tail of one of the same abominations, penetrated the monster's side and it screeched in pain but didn't die. The Gallu thrashed and clawed at the spear pinning it to the column.

Rava'an, meanwhile, struggled not to fall from the pillar. When Ujesh' realized what his rival was trying to do, he unrolled the whip once more and wound it around the base of the column. With a strong tug, the rock crumbled and everything collapsed.

Rava'an fell to the ground and landed on his back. The gallu tumbled on top of him and rolled to the side. It stood up quickly, ready to attack when the huge stone toppled over, crushing it. Rava'an would have been flattened as well, if not Skan'dha had taken him by the leg and pulled him to safety.

With all four creatures dead, the Trial was over and Ujesh' gave a victorious roar.

- "I have won!" He shouted mockingly. "The female is mine!"

Rava'an could only feel defeat. The Raksasa had cheated shamelessly. Maybe he had lost Anu'sha but he still hoped she would choose wisely. No female deserved to be tainted by a dirty killer like Ujesh'. Now everything depended on her and her Sire.

The stones closing the exits were raised and soon four Yaksa servants entered to take Ghatok's body. They put him on a stretcher with his weapons and carried him to the center of the arena, where the surviving warriors were waiting.

The Elder Vaharaya and his daughter entered, followed by the members of the council and the other assistants. As was the custom, the contestants knelt down awaiting sentencing. Rava'an almost expected to hear the old leader order him to kill himself for his poor performance. That would be better than listening to Anu'sha accept the dirty Raksasa.

- "The test is over," the Elder announced. "It is time to make a decision."

Anu'sha rose from her bone throne and stared at the three survivors. In her mind, she had already made a decision that would shock everyone.

Anu'sha walked towards the center of the arena, having already decided who of the three she would choose. She had watched the fight closely and couldn't ignore some of the situations that had occurred. She stopped right before Gathok's body.

-"According to our oldest traditions, and your performance in the fight, I will announce the winner." Anu'sha said. She unsheathed her ceremonial dagger.

-"Gathok' son of K'Satr. You shed the first blood, but now you hunt in the lands of the Black Warrior, teeming with R'ksas. She carved the symbol of Paya on the fallen warrior's chest and moved to stand in front of Skan'dha.

"Skan'dha, son of Mahok'sa. You have fought with honor and courage, proof of this are the scars that you will now carry with pride." Anu'sha marked a small symbol between his neck and shoulder.

Skan'dha rose and looked straight ahead. His clan regarded him with pride, especially Abhi'tha. This did not go unnoticed by Rava'an... or Anu'sha.

"Rava'an son of Adhi'natha" she said, continuing towards the youngest contestant. He lowered his head; usually the last one to be named was the winner. He tried not to let his disappointment show.

-"I will kill myself gladly if you ask me to. I have failed to kill even one of those abominations," he said with shame, but she stopped him.

-"No need to go to such extremes," she said consolingly. Murmurs of astonishment could be heard from the listening attendants. "You are still young and have a lot to learn." Anu'sha waited for him to raise his head and look into her golden eyes before she continued. "You have fought well and also shown honor, young warrior."

That said, she marked his neck as well. Phosphorescent green blood trickled down his chest and dripped onto the stone floor.

-"Ujesh' son of S'harva," Anu'sha proclaimed and faced the Raksasa. "You have killed three Gallu and come out unscathed…" Ujesh' made a gesture of satisfaction, but he stopped when he noticed her hesitation. "However, despite that, I couldn't help noticing that you denied the other warriors the right to kill the creatures. You took advantage and caused the death of one of them, making it look like an accident and also tried to kill the other two with the destruction of that column."

Ujesh' was angry, that damn female, his trophy blatantly accused him of cheating. She continued her accusations.

- "Not only that, you used the fallen warrior's weapon treacherously, that is not the practice of an honorable warrior. This is why you and your clan have till Su'rya N'traG'ra to leave this sacred land of the Yaksa. You have passed the test, but you will not have me... nor will your people return here, unless you all want to die like honor-less criminals."

-"This is outrageous!" Ujesh' roared. "How can this female bend the rules at her will?! Giving preference to that Mur'kha?!" Ujesh' couldn't restrain himself anymore.

-"Watch your words, Raksasa," a warrior of Gathok's clan warned. He had a huge scimitar fastened on his gauntlet. "I will not forget you killed my clan brother."

Ujesh', and his companions drew their weapons, but they were surrounded and outnumbered. Attacking the others would have started a bloodbath. He spoke:

-"Who are the Raksasas now… you lured us here with the promise of a trial and a chance for peace, but you insult us and surround us while you have the advantage of numbers. A not-so-clean fight for a clan who calls themselves honorable!" He bellowed.

Three bright red dots appeared on Ujesh's forehead, then two more sets on his chest. Ujesh' watched as the old Vaharaya, Adhi'natha and one more warrior pointed their Vaj'ra cannons at him.

- "And now they will use a divine weapon against one of their own. I thought that was prohibited," Ujesh' sneered, turning to his companions.

- "I remind you, that you are no longer one of us." Vaharaya said coldly. His cannon glowed with a blue light, ready to fire. Ujesh' understood that the Elder was serious and put away his weapons, the rest did the same.

- "This is not over... We'll face each other again," Ujesh' threatened.

The Raksasas left the temple and walked towards the ship parked on a landing pad. Soon their engines started and the ship took off towards the stars.

- o -

Meanwhile, inside the temple, tempers calmed when Ujesh' ship disappeared from the monitors.

The winner was yet to be announced and everyone was certain it would be Skan'dha. Anu'sha had made a decision, based on what she had seen at the trial. Skan'dha surely was a great warrior, by crushing one of the abominations with his bare hands. The young Rava'an had shown resourcefulness, by climbing the column and facing the gallu on its own terms.

Besides, the young warrior had helped his rival and in turn Skan'dha had saved him from a shameful death, crushed instead of falling in battle. They had repaid their debt to each other but more importantly, to Anu'sha a living warrior was better than a dead one.

That young Yaksa had something she couldn't quite explain. He wasn't like the rest of them. He certainly followed the honor code, but lacked the dogmatic rigidity present in Elders and Warriors. For her, such a narrow mindset could in the long run be detrimental to the Yaksa way of life, make them unable to adapt to new threats and situations. In the future, they would need not only strong and spiritual males, but also ones more flexible in their beliefs and actions.

She wanted to hunt and not only become a child-bearer for a narcissistic seasoned warrior, and for that she needed an open-minded male. A male such as the one she had in front of her...

-"I chose Rava'an, son of Adi'natha," she finally announced.

- o –

Finally, this chapter is over. Thanks to AO3 user iterations for the editing (It would be a mess without her advice). Now, wait for the next chapter: Mating time! Meanwhile, check the other story Predator: Amnesia. Another chapter is coming.
Oh, and here's the glossary:

Ci'kitsa – Medikit.
K'satr – Warrior (Name)
Mahok'sa – Great-Bull
S'harva – Destroyer (Name)
R'ksas - Wild beasts
Mur'kha - Stupid
Su'ryaN'tra G'ra - Su'rya closes his eye(s), sunset.