The cell was a rough stone square a few feet from wall to wall, with a hardpacked dirt floor. Walking to the wall opposite the barred door Alpheric sat on the ground with a sigh, resting his naked back against the cool stone, his gaze fixed on the flames of the torch attached to the wall opposite their sale. His vision was shadowed every few seconds as a grumbling Doraka paced back and forth, "She never seems to run out of energy," Alpheric thought to himself as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, planning on getting some much needed rest.
A few moments later though he shifted as he felt Doraka settle down next to him, close enough to him that he could feel the warmth of her body. She was silent for a few seconds before she was able to gather herself and ask him, "Why did you come back?". He cracked his eyes and looked over at her, those blue eyes seeming to pierce past his own and bore into his skull for an answer. Unable to hold that gaze he turned his head to look at the fire once more and shrugged. "I told you when we got captured that we would work together to get free," Alpheric said slowly. "I might have done some things I am not proud of in my time, but I cannot go back on my word."
Doraka shifted a bit closer as she worked things out in her head, "And what happened to not caring about the Horde or Alliance hmm?" Alpheric stared at his hands and clenched them, "I don't care about them, you are not the Horde though. You are a strong warrior, but I would not wish this fate on anyone. Even a enemy." He looked over at her with a sarcastic smile, and was surprised when she returned his grin, the humor showing a softness that he had not noticed before. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts he leaned back again, "I must be more tired then I thought, thinking like that about an Orc," Alpheric thought to himself. He was almost on the verge of sleep when her felt her strong hand wrap over and squeese his own before she whispered, "Thank you." Lost for words he simply nodded, and sleep was that much harder for him to find...
He woke with a start the next day with the rattling of metal, Gorp was walking up and down the cells tossing food and water to the slaves. Rubbing sleep from his eyes he looked down to see Doraka still sleeping, her head was leaning on his shoulder. Looking down at her he shoke her shoulder gently till she woke, looking up and blushing furiously at her position. Giving her a moment to compose herself he grunted "Food", and walked his way to the bars.
Leaning with his arms out and crossed over the bars, and looked at the Ogre defiantly as he shoved two small bowls and a waterskin at Alpheric. "Games today, you and pretty Orc will be eaten today I think," Gorp said with some glee as he moved further down the hall. Grunting Alpheric took the food and water over to Doraka and sat in front of her with his legs crossed, bowl resting in his lap. "Well at least it is better than just bread," He said to Doraka as he swirled the mystery stew in the bowl. Her brows arched, she watched and then let out a small laugh as he drank deep from the bowl and grimaced, "I take that back!" He said chuckling with her, the sound of joy, even at his own expense, lifting his spirit.
Not long after they had finished their food though, they began to hear noises from above. Pounding feet, loud speech, and laughter heralding the arrival of the day's crowd. Alpheric and Doraka's faces turned grim. "If we are in this together, we fight together," She said to him. "We need to plan and find a way to stay alive." Alpheric nodded to her, "You are much faster than I am, if it is one creature, I will try to keep their attention so you can try and flank them." Doraka took a drink from their skin and offered it to him. "And if there are many?" She asked. He drank deeply and wiped his mouth before answering, "Then we try to say back to back and don't allow anything to get between us. And we pray to the Light and your ancestors that we make it through the day."
They waited in their cells for hours, pacing and streching their muscles, as Gorp came down again and again. Sometimes he did not come down though, but the sounds of combat could still be heard. "Must be the paid fighters," Alpheric muttered to Doraka. Finally though their turn came at last. Opening the cell door Gorp grunted for them to move it, and lead them up the stairs. At the top, they walked into the sunlight and blinked away the dazzling pain. The large doors leading to the pit of the arena were shut at the moment, blocking the sight of the crowd and muffling their cheers. Several Ogres were in this makeshift staging area, two of which came up to Alpheric and Doraka shoving weapons into their hands. Two armed and rather large Ogres at the doors making it clear what would happen should they try to use the weapons for anything other than the games.
Looking down at the sword he was handed, he turned it this way and that. The metal seemed sound, and the edge sharp, but it was rather large, better suited for a two handed grip, something that Alpheric did not prefer. Looking over at Doraka he noted a short hafted axe in each of her hands. She looked just as unhappy about her weapons, but schooled her face and brought forth the look of the fierce warrior he knew so well.
The two were ushered towards the doors and after a moment they were swung wide open, a wave a shouts and jeers hitting them as the crowd of hundreds looked down at them. Crush was shouting over the crowd, his voice having to be enhanced by some spell as they walked slowly out into the sand. "Ladies and Gentlemen, for your entertainment we give you new meat! Fierce warriors from both the Horde and Alliance, will these two warriors sand a chance against an old crowd favorite? I give you Blackscale!" Crush gestured grandly, and on the opposite side of the arena, a large gate raised up high and a black horror dashed forth into the sand.
Blackscale lived up to his name, a large and towering Saurok with glistening black scales, Alpheric was able to see his fiery yellow eyes before the creature dove in the air and pounced right at him. Raising his sword horizontally and resting the flat of the blade agaisnt his opposite palm, he was able to stop the creatures gasping claws from gasping him, but the force of his spring left them both rolling in a choking cloud of sand. As both man and beast rose from the ground, Doraka came running from behind the lizard man a battle cry on her lips.
Her axes came down, managing to bite her axe deep into the Saurok's shoulder before he turned spitting with rage and pain, his tail lashing out and hitting her in the midsection with a hard thump, doubling her over. Blackscale turned to the orc, his forked tongue flicking out in excitement as it readied to pounce on his prey. Alpheric shouted at the beast and swung his sword wide. The Saurok dodged the blow by inches and swung his clawed hand at the human, growling with joy as bood splattered on the ground, a deep gash over Alpheric's stomach exciting the watching crowd into a frenzy. Roaring in pain and rage Alpheric swong his sword hand at Blackscale punching the beast in the muzzle with his hilt. The Saurok blinked in more surprise than pain, but the human would not let the lizard have time to bounce back and began swinging wildly, putting all his power and speed into the blows.
Blackscale was so caught up in avoiding the humans blurring blade, that he did not notice the Orc had recovered, the crowd drowning out the sound of the swirling axe as she tossed one of her weapons, the axe blade finding its mark and sinking deep into the Sauroks upper leg. Screaming with pain Blackscale fell to one knee and the crowd went silent when, wasting no time, Alpheric swung his sword in a mighty blow and nearly took of the lizard man's head with one blow. Falling to the ground and retching from the exertion Alpheric looked from his knees as the body of Blackscale fell, his dark blood flowing out and being drank up by the sand. The crowd went up in a roar, whether in celebration or in hate, Alpheric did not know, his senses numb as Gorp appeared at his side and lead him out the arena and back down into the cells.
The dank cell almost felt like home as he sat hard in the middle of his cell, his breathing and senses slowly turning to normal as he looked over his injuries. His stomach was covered in blood, but the bleeding had slowed and it didn't look as bad as it felt. He turned Doraka, "Are you ok? Any injuries?" He asked. She nodded at him from across the cell, undoing her braid, her hair fell down her back like a wild mane. Kneeling down beside him she reched out, her fingers tracing just above the scratches. "And you ask me if I am ok...You fought well out there Alpheric," She said baring those beautiful eyes on him. He shrugged uncomfortably, his own eyes drawn to her, but at the saem time trying so hard not to get caught up in them. It was just the excitement of battle he told himself.
They sat in silence for some time, her hand resting on above his wounds, her eyes searching his. The noises from above were beginning to die out when he dared to speak "Doraka I..." Was all he managed to get out as she leaned in with a fierce growl losing self control and pressing her lips to his hard. "Just like a Orc to take what they want without asking," He thought to himself the laugh in his throat dying as the pain in his stomach burn as she pulled him closer. That burn was soon replaced with a new fire though, as their hands wandered over eachother. Her loincloth and his soon finding themselves on the opposite side of the room as their owners as they continued to explore each other. Whether this attraction was always there, or it was just the thrill of the fight, Alpheric would worry about that later, as Doraka pulled him down and ontop of her and wrapped her legs around him...