Yagrax Read online

  There were these tough pieces of meat in this porridge like substance. I looked at it and over at him and he shrugged. He began sighing while gazing back down at the liquid and shaking his head.

  "I don't know. It's Kasorian so don't blame me." he stated and I frowned while glancing at it, my body was shaking and I grabbed a utensil from the package included, luckily there was a spoon. I suppose that every animal that had hands was accustomed to such a tool. I slide it into my mouth and sighed as the warm grain like substance melted and the meat tore against my teeth. It was tough but at least it wasn't disgusting, I couldn't imagine how this would taste raw. By the time I was done with the first spoonful he had torn through the majority of his bowl.

  "How the hell?" I asked aloud and he smiled.

  "Old habits I suppose." he muttered.

  I gazed at him as he sets the plate down beside him and I continued to eat. He leans against the wall for a while and watches me and I blushed as I see his eyes unconsciously sway over body. I was still unchanged so I must have looked a mess to him but yet those eyes...they held such hunger, such passion. I suppose I wasn't the only one feeling so impassioned but perhaps that was just the look of a man that hadn't seen a woman in so long...but I wasn't even Jorathian! What was I talking about? Was I seeing things? Was I hoping that he was looking at me that way?

  God this was embarrassing.

  "You know the good thing about winning is that you tend to get upgraded to better amenities and get better rooms." he said offhandedly and I smiled.

  "Well why don't you try and fight then?" I asked him.

  "It's better to have not felt the light and remain in the dark than to have felt it once and continually fall knowing that you may never live in it eternally. Besides I don't mind my life here, this is fine. I've lost my care for food, for comfort." he stated and I frowned.

  "So why do you go on?" I asked him and he shrugged.

  "Because the love of combat is the only thing I have left. I will do it until I meet someone that may be my match. It's all that I will ever care about from now on. Thought I would tell you about what you could get though, if only to motivate you." he said and I smiled.

  "I could really use some pizza or something instead of this so you bet your ass that I’ll be tiring." I stated and he shrugged.

  "Don't be so sure." he stated and I stared at my empty plate, gazing back up at him after a bit and frowning.

  I wondered how this arena even worked amongst this small talk with him. Would it be a ring? A pit? What could it be? He said there were crime lords and this facility seemed to be pretty well run so how would things be arranged? Would I be stuck in some cage with other competitors? What weapons would I have?

  And so I asked.

  "How does this work? Well...we're sent into a series of 16 arenas, each one has a different theme. Some are grassland, some are Jorathian forest, some are island, some are desert, and they vary from area to area. Each area is rather large and a series of weapons are planted around the arena for us to collect, the key is getting to them although if you know what you're doing you might not even need them." he stated.

  "So we're just sent into an area to collect whatever we can find and kill the others. Then?" I asked him.

  "The entire round lasts as long as it needs to, that is until someone dies. An entire team has to die before the match can end. If you survive with both team members then you get to move on but if only one of you dies you may survive but will lose your rank without any hope of moving upwards, sent back down to the first match with a new partner. That's the gist behind it." he stated with his arms folded, gazing down at the floor while his hands pursed around his elbows. The yellow light of the lantern shines on the right side of his face and his hair flickered over his forehead while he keeps his gaze on me. Those red eyes seem to pierce me, they seemed to engulf me in his warmth and I could detect the same lust that inhabited me rushing across his gaze.

  Why was I feeling this way?

  #

  Yagrax

  The days before the matches were approaching and in the last few days she was inconsolable.

  She was a blubbering mess and was shaking with fear each time I saw her and it only got worse. During mealtime all that she could think about was the inevitable battle that we would be having. During this time I had the opportunity to learn quite a bit from her, she was from Earth, sheltered from the true nature of the galaxy i'm sure, Earth was famed for its beauty. She departed in search of some sort of...political position on the outskirts of the galaxy, perhaps a large ambassadorship, a want for some sense of adventure that she had been lacking back home on that blue planet. She hadn't expected any of this, certainly hadn't expected to have become a gladiator.

  "I'm scared." she admitted while we ate one day and I nodded while glancing over at her. The match was in a couple of days.

  "Not feeling so hopeful anymore are you?" I asked her and she growled.

  "That doesn't....that doesn't give you the right to mock me! Weren't you scared the first time you went into battle?" she asked and my face adopted a wry smile.

  Ah yes. The old days in the military.

  "I do...it was a cold night on Jorath. We were searching for an escaped convict at the prison that I was first working at before I was assigned to a warparty. I was literally shaking as I retrieved my weapon and went into the woods. Ended up killing my first man that night too, the thrill of the hunt always excited me. I found him hiding behind some bushes and he was unaware that I was even there so I hurled a spear into his back and well...the rest is history." I stated and she shuddered.

  "You liked it?" she asked.

  "I liked the thrill of testing my mettle against someone else, that's all." I state.

  "That's how you held on for this long huh? You had to fall in love with the idea of fighting." she stated.

  "I didn't need to. It's something that has been in me since the beginning, the only thing is that now it's the only real passion I have left. Everyone has to have their own reason otherwise they just wither away. You would be wise to get used to the idea if you abhor it, the idea of violence that is. If you want to survive I can't be dragging you around." I stated and got up from my spot next to her bed where we usually were while we conversed.

  I had no idea what brought me over to her side of the cell to converse with her and I hated that I did so but something kept on dragging me over. There was such a strong desire to hear her voice and to watch her as we conversed, to just look at her once, to just observe her and see what lurked in her eyes. I wanted to gaze at her and feel her presence dueling with mine, it was another side effect of this strange feeling pestering me I suppose. I don't know what it was and it might have been the mating but I tried not to think about it, to think about it would be the start of the compassion taking over and we didn't need that. It had no place in the life of a warrior.

  "Can you teach me?" she asked and I gazed at her with widened eyes before laughing.

  "Teach you? What? Teach you what human? What could I possibly teach you in two days?" I asked her and she shrugged.

  "I don't know just anything! Come on there must be something right?" she asked me and I sighed with a smile. I guess this could be amusing, to see a human try to fight, it was a curiosity that I would cultivate.

  "Fine.....I guess we'll start with some basic rules if that's fine by you? First will be...well never underestimate your opponent. You don't know who they are but always expect the strongest and hide once you're in the arena. Leave the fighting to me at first until you gain a bit more experience. I can teach you some movements but the first thing you'll need is to learn how to run." I stated and she nodded.

  "So what you want me to just practice running away?" she asked me and I nodded.

  "Chances are that you can overpower both Kasorians and Neborans but once it comes to other humans and certainly Jorathians you won't be able to overpower them so your best bet is to run a
nd use ranged weaponry whenever you nab it. Since i'm Jorathian, every melee encounter is likely going my way so I can confront them close up. Your best bet is to be my support and run, find a ranged weapon and hide and let me take care of the rest. The only thing that you should do is provide support." I stated and she nodded, listening intently while I only laughed at her enthusiasm. She really did think we were going to do it. I suppose I was fortunate as she was making my job of protecting her a bit easier.

  Why was I taking such an interest in this? The question did boggle me but I didn't want to admit it, I just kept telling myself that it was all for amusement. A fun little project but why hadn't I attempted such a thing with anyone else that was locked in with me?

  I knew the answer but I didn't want to dig any deeper, I wanted only the surface level truth.

  "So run and hide. Any spots?" She asked me.

  "In the beginning we'll usually end up in the forest or the desert to make things a bit easier on us so...find rocks or shrubs. Hide underneath them or behind trees. I can take you up into the trees if we do get a forest stage but the main concern is your ability to flee. Kasorians traditionally attack by swooping down with their talons at quite a high speed but the best weapon to use against them would be a large pole. In fact...Yeah. Forget the whole ranged weapon idea. Just find a big stick, they're pretty common and should be able to hold off anyone that launches at you. Stay hidden and find something to keep them away from you and you should be fine." started with a great deal of fascination. Not once before have I taught someone how to fight like this, not in the sense that the arena required anyways.

  "So grab something long to hold them off, hide, and that's it." she said and I nodded.

  "Yeah. Good luck." I laughed with my head in the air and she stands in front of me, growling.

  "At least i'm trying! Surely you tried at one point right?" she asked.

  "Oh I did and it always ended up the same way. Disappointment as far as the eye can see. Never again will I try to get my hopes up like that girl. I'm not a fool." I stated with a great deal of bitterness and she snarled back at me.

  "No. You let this place break you!" she accused and I begin to feel the anger swell back up as I leaned into her while we stand next to one another near her bed.

  "Foolish human! What do you know about the pain? You just got here!" I shouted and she shut her eyes before snarling back.

  "I know that you don't just give up! What use is living if we're all like you? Unlike you I don't enjoy being in here and want to leave!" she shouted.

  "I don't enjoy being in here either! Who are you to accuse me of that?!" I asked her.

  "Stupid brute!" she shouted and turned around so her back was facing me.

  "Foolish human." I snarled and stormed back over to my side of the room.

  We don't talk for the rest of the day and I fester in my rage. When she shouted at me I felt it bubbling but there was also something else. When she spoke to me in that way...god it made me want to pin her down right here and pleasure her in all the ways that my mind was telling me to. My instincts were telling me to claim her right then and there but I would not be subjected to such foolish lust. To do so would be to acknowledge this festering warmth that was lurking in my stomach and I would not do that.

  And besides, how could I adore something so stubborn and naive?

  Did she not understand that our chances were slim? What was she holding out such hope for? The light in her eyes was something that had existed in me once and I knew that it was foolish in nature, that it shouldn't be there! What did she know about my suffering to accuse me of such outrageous claims of brutality and enjoyment? I didn't enjoy this place! I hated it!

  And then I see her step over to my side of the room.

  I looked up from my bed and scowled as she knelt in front of me, her feet pressed together and her eyes low while she glanced me over.

  "Listen...i'm sorry about what I said back there. I don't know everything about you so I was wrong to...you know. Say what I said." she said in a quiet voice, something in those brown eyes that peek through that curtain of black changed something inside of me. Each time she glanced me over I could feel something swelling, something that lurked in the depths of my heart was threatening to pop back up when I glanced at her during such a state.

  "I...I apologize as well. I shouldn't have been putting you down." I stated, glancing down at the sheets. If I was going to be hopeless I didn't have to share it with her, not if she wanted to strive for that semblance of belief that she would make her way out to this. I would let her indulge herself and I wouldn't ruin her mood because of my own selfishness.

  I stay in place, she glances over at me and I looked over at her before she slipped back behind the wooden divider and laid down. I feel her slipping against the wood paneling as it shakes while I laid down. I think of her on the other side and long to go over there, not only to satiate my lust using that body of her's, that curvy body, but also to simply sit there and converse with her for a little while.

  Just some little words that would be said.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Melissa

  To say that I was nervous was an understatement.

  The cell door opens and two of the guards walked up to us while four others focused their rifles onto us. They slipped the cuffs around our wrists and grab us from behind, ready to lead us through the doorway into what I presumed would be the arena. We walk down the hallway until we reach a large metal door which slips open. Once we enter, we are in something akin to a large round field, a courtyard of some kind.

  "How far is it?" I asked Yagrax who was with me every step of the way, tailing just behind me with his arms tensed, all of that grey muscle of his flexing while he stepped further along the dirt path on the field. Our feet were bare and I could feel the cool soil contort under my weight while the orange and red grasses around my feet flickered, their tubular and smooth shape slides against my ankles.

  "Not far. You'll know." he said and I nodded as we continued along.

  We continue walking until we get across the field and another large metal door opens. This time we are placed into a rather large circular room with about an 8 foot long radius. They toss us in there and undid our cuffs, the last I see of the guards is of them pointing rifles at us while we waited in the circular room, that is until the door shuts and I am left with Yagrax in the cold darkness.

  "Hold on. The first time is a little weird for everyone." said Yagrax.

  "What do you mean?" I asked.

  "Just be careful." he said.

  I began to feel us moving ever so slightly, a feeling that only continues to increase in intensity as time goes on. I hold my ground but I was getting rather dizzy, rather disoriented by the movements. Eventually we reach our destination, the door opens and I stepped out into what seemed like a pretty ordinary temperate forest, kind of like the ones that you would find in the northeastern United States. And sure enough an announcer calls out "Arena: Human Forest"

  "What do we do?" I asked him as we stepped out, he immediately grabs me and presses me low on the ground before looking around himself.

  "Keep your head down and do what I said and we'll make it out of this." he said. Alright geez, didn't need to be so forceful.

  We continued to crawl and hide behind the trees before I saw a large spear hiding behind some bushes near the oak tree that I was hiding behind. I duck down and grab it and look to see that Yagrax already has a large knife in his hands. He must have picked it up while we were moving but my relief is soon interrupted when, in all of the fog, a single bolt comes flying out and just barely misses my head.

  "Get down!" Yagrax yells and drags me away as more and more of the bolts begin to hurl my way. I ducked down and crawled amongst all of the dirt before finding a hiding spot behind a log. He was right beside me and listened in before grabbing my shoulder and turning to me.

  "Stay here." he said.

 
"But I-" I began, I wanted to help but he refused in a stern tone.

  "Stay here." he snarled and hopped back over the rocks.

  I sit there for the next few minutes, gazing at all of that dirt and the grass, the sun was shining down on us, it was seemingly artificial. They must have crafted these arenas using an artificial display for the sky and a greenhouse for all the life. We were basically fighting in a terrarium, I didn't mind. At least this got my mind off of things like my imprisonment. In a way it was kind of nice, kind of refreshing to be in such a wonderful arena.

  The leaves had just started to turn that shade of orange and there was a light fog slipping through the area. There were mushrooms growing out of the bases of the trees and the ground and all around it was moist with rain droplets. I gazed back over the log to see if he had done his job and all I can hear is a series of screams in the distance. It didn't seem to be him, at least I thought not.

  I take the moment to breathe in the fresh air and look around. This might have been the arena of my death and what an arena it was. To die amongst the piles of dead leaves, it was almost like I came full circle if I was to perish here. I had left Earth but ended back up on some frail imitation of it. A girl that thought she was too good for home wound up ending back where she started, what a strange cycle.

  "It's done." I heard and looked up into the trees to see Yagrax kneeling on one of the tree branches. His knife was clutched in his hand and there was blood pooling on the tip. I smiled at him and he waved.

  "You're alright." I said.

  "You should have worried about yourself. Those arrows were slow and you almost got hit. Next time keep an eye out." he remarked and I smiled.

  "Thought you didn't care?" I asked him and he shrugged.

  "Don't. But you might." he remarked and I could tell that there was a little doubt in his voice, like he didn't entirely believe what he was telling me.

  Just then I heard a loud metallic clanking, the ground shook a bit, I stand up and look over at him. I was quaking with fear at this point. What if this was another batch of enemies? What if?