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** CHAPTER 39 ** Harena Sanguis Tournament Part IV

Zonda ran as fast as he could to where his brother had fallen apparently unconscious. The idea that the monster had pressed to hard tormented him greatly. Confusion obscured his mind after that tremendous blow. All sounds were mixed; his vision blurred.

He could see the monster retreating as it tried desperately to pull the knife out of its eye. Zonda finally got to where Alpha was. To his surprise and much relief, Alpha was already getting up on his hind paws.

"Are you ok, Alpha?" Zonda desperately asked.

"I'm fine." Alpha replied panting. "We have to move. This isn't over yet."

At the other side of the arena, Morrison smiled in relief that her efforts managed to save the red-eyed Retcan's life.

"You whore!" Kiire yelled furious. He was recovering himself from the ground. Somehow, Morrison and Kiire had a small skirmish in which the female human gained the advantage.

Kiire held his side, which bleed considerably.

"You were hiding a weapon before the fight. How did you manage to do that?"

"I had help from a good friend." She replied confident.

"You cheater!" Kiire yelled furiously while he kept pressure on the puncture wound at his side.

"We are not staying in this dreadful place any longer. We will fight to get out of here even if it costs us our lives."

"It was you," Kiire said surprised. "You were the one who kept contact with that traitor!"

Before he could have an answer, Morrison attacked him. Kiire was still strong enough to hold up a fight with the female human.

Kiire wasn't going to be that easy to beat. And he knew how to cheat as well. Before Morrison could land an attack, Kiire grabbed a handful of sand and threw it at Morrison's face. She managed to evade the sand, but some of it did land in her eyes. This was enough for her to loose her balance, letting Kiire get right passed next to her and reach the weapon stash.

Kiire didn't loose any time and after obtaining a large mace he attacked Morrison. The agile woman managed to avoid the first brutal attack that shook the ground. Kiire was furious and attacked her swiftly as if the mace was made out of cardboard. One hit of that huge club with spikes on it would be enough to seriously injure, or even kill her.

Morrison back-flipped and dodged Kiire's furious attacks, thinking in a way that she could get back to the weapon stash. Kiire was now in the way, so it wouldn't be easy.

Taking the offensive was the only choice, so that's what she did. Dodging the attacks, feeling the air being cut with the dangerously sharp point of the mace, she started learning Kiire's attack pattern. Thanks to the wound that she had inflicted on him, his stamina started dropping really quick. In a risky move, she saw an opening, and kicked Kiire directly in his face. Immediately, she jumped on top of him and using him as a platform, she then jumped in the air, landing gracefully behind the furious gladiator. Kiire swung the mace behind him, trying to strike Morrison, but missed by a few inches.

Morrison had now an advantage, as she ran towards the weapon stash and grabbed a pair of light Morning Stars. Before she could regain her posture, she heard a loud yell from Kiire as she felt something approaching. The huge mace was going directly at her after Kiire threw it. She barely managed to throw herself to the ground in an attempt to dodge the deadly weapon. Fortunately she avoided a fatal injury as she heard an explosion-like impact behind her where the mace buried brutally in the arena's wall.

Fool. Your desperation will be your demise. Morrison thought.

Kiire was mentally drained by his fury. He was now unarmed.

Morrison stood up and started swinging the morning stars in a graceful deadly dance as she approached Kiire.

"Do not underestimate me woman." Kiire chuckled manically. "Come on; hit me with all you got!"

Morrison accepted the invitation and she attacked Kiire with all her strength. Kiire did a good job at evading Morrison's attacks. And in a surprising move, when she gave him all she got, Kiire stopped the morning stars with his bare arms.

"I got you." Kiire whispered as he showed a vicious smirk.

Morrison watched shocked as her weapons tangled around Kiire's arms that instantly bleed when the sharpened chains and the small spiked balls hit them, but didn't caused any important damage.

Now that the brute gladiator had a grip on Morrison he threw her around like a hay stuffed dummy. Morrison hit the ground violently various times without letting go of the weapons that held her to Kiire.

"You are strong, bitch. But this is where it ends."

Morrison bleed from her nose, face and mouth as she hanged almost motionless at the mercy of Kiire.

"It's over." Kiire said as he prepared to finish the fight. In an abominable act of indecency, he got close to Morrison and attempted to lick her blood off her face. This lick was nothing like the tender and pure licks that an Evocanis or a Retcan would give to their own in a sign of affection. This was of pure lust and evilness.

But as he was about to make contact with Morrison, she surprised him with a knee to his chin. The force and swiftness of the strike made Kiire bite his own tongue. He instantly let Morrison go as he coughed out streams of blood, finally spitting almost half of his tongue to the arena's ground.

Stunned, Kiire didn't noticed when Morrison approached him. She furiously started kicking and punching the gladiator who finally started to step back by the attacks. Kiire was finally loosing the battle.

After several attacks that started to drain Morrison, the morning stars finally untangled from Kiire's arms. Before Kiire could grab them to his own advantage, Morrison returned the favor, and picking up a handful of sand, she threw it directly to Kiire's face. She hit right on target.

Morrison delivered a flying kick at the temporary blinded Kiire so she could clear some space and gain possession of the weapons. And she did.

Armed once again, she didn't doubt a second to attack Kiire. Before he could recover, Morrison moved swiftly to confuse the gladiator and finally saw an opportunity to attack. The small spiked balls of steel at the end of the chains in the morning stars impaled at both sides of Kiire's head.

Kiire's arms that stood in a defensive position, fell limp. He then fell on his knees as his eyes rolled back. Blood came gushing out of his head after Morrison pulled the morning stars forcibly. The gladiator fell on his face, motionless. Kiire was dead.

"Unbelievable!" the announcer yelled. "The first contestant is out. Kiire looses the battle against Morrison."

"Just as planned!" Turann said. He now seemed very glad of the outcome.

"You are glad of loosing one of your best gladiators over that woman?"

"I never trusted Kiire. Something tells me that he planned on betraying me tonight."

"So that was it." Feastus said. "That's why you released the Colossus. You think that Kiire was in league with that guard that betrayed you."

"The Colossus was a way to secure Kiire's death. If I killed him with the collar, the audience wouldn't be happy about it as he is amongst the most popular gladiators. At the end, I never imagined that Mayra Morrison would be the one who did the job for me."

"And now the Colossus will kill these gladiators."

"Fear not. I will do something." Turann replied. "And while I'm at it, I'll get my accountants to give you your honoraries."

"That is quite splendid my good friend!" Feastus replied joyfully without loosing one bit of greed in his tone.

Back at the arena, Morrison still was recovering her breath when she realized that the Retcans were on their own, not fighting, but avoiding to be killed by the huge monster. She quickly grabbed a sword and ran to aid the small furred aliens.

The colossus was in a rampage. The wound that Morrison inflicted had provoked an immense fury on the beast. Its attacks were vicious, making the ground tremble with every strike. Dust and pebbles rained form the cavern's ceiling above them every time it did this.

"This is not looking good!" Zonda yelled from not far enough.

Both Retcans panted heavily as they had spent a considerable amount of time keeping the beast busy while avoiding to be squashed by it as well.

"We have to disable it somehow!" Morrison yelled. The beast waved its huge arms all around while he held its eye with his other arm.

"I'm not getting close to that thing again!" Alpha added.

"We have to look for a weak point! We have no choice but to fight it." Morrison insisted.

"Look out!" Zonda yelled as he noticed that the monster had grabbed a huge stone that had fallen from the rocky ceiling.

The three of them managed to jump out of the way by miracle since the monster never really took aim. The rock landed in a wall, breaking the barrier of the arena and killing a few spectators that sat in the first rows.

"This is getting out of control, Turann." Feastus said as he witnessed how some of the spectators ran for their lives. Some others were so lustful for the deadly spectacle that just relocated to a safer spot.

"Stop the Colossus." Turann ordered.

The furious beast punched the barrier on his side, breaking a huge portion of it. He got ready to throw it the gladiators.

"He's going at it again, look out!" Morrison yelled desperately.

This time the beast was taking time to aim. Fear invaded the three gladiators as they didn't know who that monster was going to attack first. One wrong move and they would be all dead.

To their horror, the monster didn't throw the large piece of barrier made out of pure rock, but he started to walk to them. The monster would use the barrier as a melee weapon.

"Retcans, look out!" Morrison yelled.

As soon as the monster got ready to strike, two loud explosions were heard. While covering themselves they felt dust and a hot gush of wind hit them. But that was not only it. They felt sprinkles of a warm liquid that fell into them. Opening their eyes, they noticed small red dots covering their bodies.

A loud growl gained their attention. They saw the Colossus growling in fury as both of its hands had completely disappeared. His bracelets were some kind of modified version of the collars they wore. They were activated by order of Turann.

Before they could even realize what just happened, another loud bang was heard. Two guards were holding a large smoking weapon. A spear went right through the colossus head, ending the life of the beast.

The three gladiators stood there motionless as some of the arena's staff quickly cleaned what they could, even taking the body of Kiire out of the arena.

The Retcans were almost traumatized of what they just saw. Morrison didn't really know if to feel relieved that the beast wasn't a menace anymore, or worried that their plan was to start right now.

"Your fight hasn't ended gladiators. Continue!" Turann ordered from his private box.

Zonda and Alpha just stared at Morrison. They knew their time had come. Fear and confusion tormented their minds at that moment. The situations that they just witnessed didn't give them the time to recover. But they knew they had to act right away.

Zonda fell on his knee, showing apparent signs of exhaustion. Alpha got hold of a sword, as so did Morrison.

This is it. Failure is not an option, my friends. I trust you. Morrison thought.

Both Retcans didn't know how to act at that moment. Should they just attack her?

"For very long I have waited this!" Morrison yelled. "I have survived countless tournaments, hoping for this moment. I will be the champion!"

"It seems that the alliance that Mayra Morrison and the furred aliens had has come to an end. Morrison claims her right to be the champion. But she still has to face two opponents that surely will team up against her." The announcer said.

"These two rats will win. I know. Morrison has reached her limit." Feastus said as he counted a large amount of credit bills that Turann had just given him. "Hey, wait! This is just half of what we agreed."

"They better win, or you will not see the rest of your money." Turann replied.

Feastus wasn't too happy about it.

I don't understand why Morrison helped the rats in the first place. Feastus thought to himself as he analyzed the situation. Her best option was to at least let one of them die in the hands of the colossus so that would ease her victory. I hope that Turann doesn't notice that because it could endanger my payment. Maybe Kiire wasn't the traitor. Whatever; I don't care what happens here as long as I have my money.

"You better give up, animals!" Morrison yelled.

"Must I remind you that this fight ends until only one stands, contestants Alpha and Zonda." The announcer said. "So you better fight unless Lord Turann says otherwise."

Before the announcer could end his sentence, Morrison already ran towards the Retcans. Zonda and Alpha started dodging the attacks. It had to look as real as possible, if not their plan would be discovered.

In a swift skirmish, Morrison kicked Alpha out of the way while she kept on fighting Zonda. Both looked at each other while Alpha attempted to get back on his hind paws.

"Are you ready, Zonda?" she whispered. Zonda barely managed to read her lips.

Zonda nodded so slightly that no one else but Morrison could notice. They both continued the skirmish until Morrison's sword flew meters away from her after a well planned attack from Zonda landed on her. But Morrison quickly counter-attacked when the Retcan approached her, kicking Zonda's hand-paws, disarming him in the act. Before Zonda could react, Morrison pulled out something from her garments and went right at him.

"I'm sorry Zonda. Be strong." Morrison whispered.

A knife was now clear in Morrison's hand. Before Zonda could react, she drove the knife into Zonda's abdomen. It went as deep as the handle would let it. She immediately kicked Zonda, pulling out the blood covered knife.

"Zonda!" Alpha yelled as he finally stood and went right at Morrison.

Zonda squirmed a bit on the ground, breathing heavily as every inch of his body was in pain. Soon, the pain started to fade away and so was his consciousness.

"Be grateful, furred one." Morrison spoke with Alpha. "I have saved you from having to fight your brother."

Even though Alpha was aware that this was part of their original plan, he felt an enormous rage inside of him that made him fight Morrison with all his might. This was perfect as the fight looked as legitimate as it could.

"One down!" the announcer yelled. "This fight will be either decided when one of them falls dead, or Lord Turann decides to stop the bout. What a final!"

"No!" Feastus yelled furious.

"And that's why I didn't give you the full payment." Turann replied.

"You should've stopped the fight! Loosing these gladiators wasn't an option. That damn woman cheated! She had a hidden blade!"

"Didn't you hear the rules? There are no rules in the last fight."

"You owe me, Turann! I worked hard to get you these two beasts, and now one is dead!"

"Take that animal out of the arena." Turann spoke through his com device ignoring Feastus. "Make sure its dead."

"Damn you!" Feastus yelled. Before he could do something, three guards surrounded him with their weapons pointed right at his head.

"I suggest that you calm down and enjoy the event. I'm tired of your tantrums every time we go through this. Don't make me lock you up."

Back at the arena, Morrison and Alpha still fought fiercely. Morrison had cleverly given Alpha an opportunity to disarm her, after she disarmed him as well. Both fought hand to hand in a very impressive display of ability.

While in their skirmish, they noticed how two guards pulled Zonda out of the arena.

"This is it, Alpha. I hope your brother knows what he is doing. If not, we will have no choice but make this fight real." Morrison told Alpha to the ear as they both held each other in a lock.

To the guards, Zonda appeared dead. His body was limb and he didn't show any vitals that they could notice. Before exiting the arena, deep in his mind, Zonda focused for the right opportunity to act. It was hard to keep conscious in that extremely low metabolic state due to the effort that he had made. The pain of the wound had faded, but somehow made his body loose all of its strength. He genuinely felt like he was dying. If he didn't get out of that state that he had provoked to himself, he might loose consciousness completely and he would be killed by the guards.

He heard how the cheers of the crowd faded away in the distance, giving him the indication that he was out. He could hear a couple of guards around him, but didn't know how many they were, or who would activate the collar. As far as he knew, all of them carried a controller. He soon realized how difficult if not almost impossible it would be to pull out this maneuver.

But things got worst when he felt that he was placed in a stretcher of some sort and immediately strapped into it before he could react. His fears that something would go dreadfully wrong were becoming a reality. Now that he was strapped, there was no way he could attack the guards. If he stayed motionless, they would kill him with the collar. If he showed them that he was alive, they would kill him as well.

"He's secured. Activate the collar." One of them said as they walked away from Zonda.

This was the end of the line. All the efforts proved worthless. Zonda's luck had come to an end. He survived The Great War of Lusceonis; he survived the explosion of the supernova, as well as the entry to that horrible planet and the many tribulations that he and his brother went through.

Zonda felt fear. But deep inside he knew he wouldn't feel pain, which was somewhat a relieving feeling. He just hoped that his beloved Alpha made it through alive.

"Stop, please." A gentle voice was heard from behind the guards. Confusion invaded Zonda's mind, but this definitely gave him hope that that day, his life was to last a little bit longer.

"Doctor?" One of the guards said.

"Please, don't do it yet." The gentle voice said with a heavy accent. It was obvious that he didn't speak 9051 fluently.

"Weren't you supposed to take care of the injured?"

"They have been given the necessary treatment. They rest in their cells now."

"What do you want then?" the lead guard asked again.

"I need this body."

"What nonsense are you saying? Step aside!"

"Please. I will pay you three of my salaries if you let me a few minutes with this body." The gentle voice proposed. Zonda had no idea of what was going on, be he knew that this could be his opportunity.

"He is still fresh." The gentle voice said as he placed his limb on Zonda. Somehow, the gentleness of this strange figure made Zonda feel very confident of him. But he couldn't trust anyone. "I need him as intact as possible."

To the surprise of Zonda, the guards didn't react negatively. It seemed that this conversation had already been spoken between them.

"Four salaries." The lead guard said. "Five minutes."

"I agree with the deal, human." The gentle voice said.

"Damn, Doctor. I don't know what you do with them, but you are less innocent than you look. Hurry up, now! Do your thing."

These words didn't made Zonda to confident, but there was something in this individual.

He felt how his stretcher was taken far into the complex. He knew that he was being taken by this strange figure, but felt how the guards were still close.

"Please, I need privacy." The gentle voice said after they stopped.

The guard took time to respond.

"Alright; but hurry up doing whatever you are going to do." The guard finally responded harshly. "You; get back to the arena." He then ordered the rest of the guards.

Zonda felt how he was being dragged into a room and how the door closed behind him. He couldn't sense anyone else but the strange individual that had taken him.

"Let's put you in this table." The gentle voice said as Zonda felt how he was being carried in arms. This creature felt strange; different. His skin was full of soft fur. His scent was very soothing in contrast of the dreadful stench that the humans emanated.

He was soon placed on a metallic table. Zonda didn't know what to do. But something told him that he needed to wait.

The Retcan heard how the creature searched around metallic objects because of the sound it made. It almost sounded like surgery tools which made Zonda a bit nervous. But before the creature approached him, he heard how instead he walked to the door of that room. That gave Zonda the opportunity to regain his strength and prepare for his next move. He slightly opened his eyes and saw the creature opening the door for a second. He could identify him well enough, though

"Guard, please give me one more minute than agreed." The creature said. Zonda immediately closed his eyes again.

"Make it fast, Doctor!" the guard replied. "Damn, what the hell are you doing with that knife?"

"I'll be out soon." The creature replied as it closed the door.

To this point, Zonda didn't know what to believe in. He knew that he had to act either way. This was his opportunity. As the creature got close to him he prepared to attack.

But something happened. The creature immediately held Zonda's paw and got close to his face as if stopping him.

"I know you live." The creature said. "I have been watching your fight. I am very pleased that you made it his far"

Zonda opened his eyes and saw the creature to the face. Two large yellow eyes with slit pupils stared at him directly. This orange furred creature gently smiled at him.

"You are that creature that we saw yesterday at the arena." Zonda whispered, feeling confident to reveal that he was still conscious.

"Yes. I was the one who injected you and your friend with the antidote for the sedative. My name is Ginetta, and I will help you get out of here."