Mate Forgotten

The smell of the freshly cut flowers. The heat of the sun on Liz's face. The sound of a child's laughter filling the air and the smile of a woman with dimples just like hers beaming down at her. The sound of the rusty iron gate woke Liz from her slumber. She opened her eyes slightly and peered towards the small opening to see a familiar shadow standing in the doorway. Letting her eyes fall closed once more, Liz tried to get back to the warmth, not knowing if it was a dream or a memory; but the bone-chilling cold began to set in and the smell of the damp air replaced that of the fresh flowers. As she reopened her eyes the figure from the doorway stalked into the room. "You need to get up. Tomorrow is your big fight and we need to make sure you're ready." Ryan, the trainer, bent down and brushed the hair from her face. She closed her eyes one last time seeking the warmth, seeking the serenity that she had been dragged from but there was no luck. "Come on Liz this is not like the other fights you have had. There will be no submission, no backing down. You will either win or die. This is no time for trying to catch a few extra minutes of sleep." "How do you do it, Ryan? How do you train people like me for years and then just send them into the arena for their 'freedom fight' and possibly watch all that talent end in the blink of an eye?" Ryan searched Liz's face, seemingly looking for answers but finding none. He stood back up "Usually people call them deathmatches or butchery. Never had a trainee call it a 'freedom fight' before." As Liz stood from her bed, which was a thin sheet on the floor, she stretched feeling the aches and pains from her night of 'rest'. "I suppose you are quite right though. Either you will win the fight and one of the visiting alphas will trade for you to join their pack or you will die..." "And be free," Liz said, sounding quite dreamy about the prospect. Ryan's face hardened. He turned and walked back to the iron gate and waited for her to follow. When she did they exited together into a narrow dimly lit corridor. Ryan shut the iron gate behind her and they walked towards the spiral staircase at the end. Liz had only recently been moved to this wing. She used to be kept in a large cell where she lived, only seeing Ryan for training and her opponents in the arena. But as her 'freedom fight' was tomorrow she had been moved ready for the main event. As far as she was aware this was the main complex where most fighters seemed to train. Why she had been kept separate she had no idea. As they walked past the five other cells lining the walls of the corridor, Liz looked at the shadowy faces looking through the bars. Two of the faces seemed to belong to men about her age but the other three seemed older. "Humm." She said as they reached the top of the stairs and started their descent. Ryan peered back at her studying her face intently "Humm what?" "I always assumed people here were like me. Came when they were a child and then had their big fight shortly after turning eighteen." "Well actually, you are the exception, not the rule. You came here much younger than most of our fighters." as they reached the bottom of the stairs they started down another corridor with a large wooden door at the end. "most people come here when they are fifteen but you came to us at twelve. You are the youngest trainee I have had anyway. Some come much older, but that is usually as a punishment." As they reached the end of the corridor Ryan pushed on the large wooden door. As the door slowly opened it revealed a massive brightly lit room. The glare from the large fire pit in the middle made it hard for Liz to see at first. When her eyes began to adapt she could make out various fighters either punching bags hanging from the ceiling or sparring with other fighters or trainers. Once Liz's eyes fully adapted she took another glance around the large room. And then another, more slowly this time. Then she slowly turned to look at Ryan who was staring at her. "You are also the only girl, well I guess woman now, that I have known to come through here." With that Ryan headed towards an empty training spot. Liz looked around again, by this time several fighters and trainers had stopped what they were doing and were staring at her intently. She walked towards Ryan, careful not to move too fast or look down as the other fighters would see this as a sign of fear and weakness. "You never thought to mention any of this to me" she whispered, so quietly only Ryan could hear her. He gave her a stern look. "What good would that have done? It wouldn't have changed anything. Why do you think you have been kept separate all these years? Yes, some of these men were sold into this life, some came voluntarily not knowing what else to do with their life. But some, some of these men are murderers and rapists sent here as punishment by their alphas’. Not that it matters how they got here, they all end up the same. You know as well as I do this place takes a bit of you. " Absorbing what Ryan had said, Liz walked over to the small chair in the corner of the space and picked up the thin strip of cloth laying on it. As she wrapped her hands, she began to berate herself as to why she had never clicked any of this before, yes most of her past opponents had been roughly her age, but she had never been against another female and now she knew why. Once finished she glanced up as a broad, muscular man walked into the training space. The sweat and dirt on his chest danced in the light of the firepit. His stubbly head tilted to one side as he studied Liz up and down. Ryan extended his hand to the stranger. "Hi, Karl. Thank you for coming." As Liz returned Karl's judgmental look Karl turned to Ryan. "No problem, so I take it this is the trainee that you want me to spar with before her deathmatch. Not what I was expecting." Karl leered as he shook Ryan's hand. Liz turned to Ryan. "And why can't you spar with me? Are you still hurting from our match yesterday?" She said with a smug smirk on her face, knowing the beating she delivered to him just yesterday had to still have his ribs aching. Ryan crossed his arms defensively. "You need to learn how to fight other people Liz. You need to know what it will be like. Karl here won't hold back, he is my best trainee next to you and he is vicious." He added with a smirk that matched Liz's own. Liz walked slowly to the far corner and turned back to face Karl. She lifted her hands and planted her feet shoulder-width apart, shifting her weight slightly from foot to foot. "Okay then, Karl was it, let's see what you got." Karl took a few slow steps towards Liz and then suddenly he was an arm’s length away from her and swinging a fist at her head. Liz quickly ducked, rolled through the gap that was created under his arm and then kicked out hitting him in the side of the ribs releasing a satisfying thud into the air. Karl turned and smiled playfully. "So you are not a complete beginner then." His eyes glistened, almost daring her to do that again. He came at her fast, kicking and punching. Most moves Liz dodged but some hit, and hit hard, sending pain radiating through her body, but she didn't let that slow her down. She was going at him with fists and feet, landing some blows to the same spot she had already hit, when she lined up for another she changed her plan and went for a kick to the face. Karl saw that coming and grabbed her leg just in time. Karl's mouth kicked up a little, but then his expression was puzzled as Liz smiled too, using the leg he was holding to volley her other leg, connecting with his face, releasing a crack into the air, and then using the surprise to push free of his hold, backflipping and landing in another ready position. Arms raised, feet shoulder length apart. As Karl looked at Liz, blood streaming down his face his expression became darker. He came at her harder this time adding teeth and claws into the fray. Liz was quick at dodging and striking back with her claws. The smell of both their blood filled the air and the sound of their heavy breaths were coming faster and faster, but neither of them slowed. Karl went for another punch to the face but Liz sidestepped it. Using her momentum she threw herself around his body onto his back and dug her claws into his throat just enough to draw a little blood. Karl froze. Liz could feel his heartbeat quickened as she dug her claws in a little further, growling a warning into his ear. Then his body went lax and his head fell slightly indicating his submission. Liz let out another growl but this time one of satisfaction, as she retracted her claws and slid down his back. Then the room was filled with roars, growls and cheers. Liz looked up and saw everyone staring at her, looks of shock and awe on their faces. Karl turned to face her. His expression was dark, but it was a different kind of darkness than before. He lifted his hand and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Not what I was expecting at all." His touch was warm against her cheek. A hand was on Liz's arm, tugging her back. It was Ryan and he was staring angrily at Karl. "It's time we went, you need to eat and rest before tomorrow." Then he pulled her back towards the large wooden doors. Liz could feel the eyes of the others’ on her as they walked towards the door. Feeling them burning into her skin. She did not look back. She did not break stride. She just followed Ryan silently out of the room and let the door slam behind her.