Mate Forgotten

Chapter Three

As Liz stepped into the arena a guard ushered her to a mark on the floor before going back through the door they had entered through, locking it behind him. She looked at each of her opponents, who were also looking from face to face. Studying the arena there were splashes, smears and puddles of blood marring the black stone floor that ran throughout the place which had become her home.

"Ladies and gentlemen. We have a treat for you in round three." A loud voice came from the stands, and Liz searched the stands to find it. As she did her eyes locked with its source. "For the first time since I can remember we have a female contender." Liz felt bile rise in her throat, as she knew the face. The face that had taken her from her life of freedom and brought her to this place. Liz could not remember much of her childhood, but that face with those cold eyes stayed forever in her mind.

"But we are all about equality. So we have added her to the hardest fight of the day. Let's see how she does." Liz kept her eyes locked with his, refusing to look away. The edge of his mouth twitched and a glint of amusement appeared in his eyes, stirring a growl from Liz. As the crowd cheered and clapped, Liz looked back at her opponents, who were now all staring back at her.

They had decided to weed out the 'weakest' of the group first. Great. A loud clang filled the air, signalling the start of the round. The closest opponent to Liz lunged at her. Expecting the move, Liz dived through her opponent’s legs, raking her claws down his stomach as she went. Blood and guts fell to the floor and the opponent fell lifeless.

Not having a chance to gloat at her easy takedown of the first enemy, Liz jumped to her feet in time to see the next opponent's fist fly at her face. Moving too slow, the fist connected with the side of her face sending shocks of pain through her jaw. Pushing the pain to the back of her mind she lunged at her opponent, but then faked and dodged around him, connecting her fist instead with the third fighter's nose. Crack.

Turning back she was just in time to dodge another fist flying at her. She kicked out striking her opponent in the gut making him double over. Liz threw herself at her opponent, wrapping her legs around his shoulder’s. Locking her thighs around his neck, ignoring the claws digging deep into her flesh, she twisted hard. As the vibrations of a snapped could be felt through her thighs and the claws slipped out of the tears formed in her pants, her enemy fell to his knees and crashed on the floor.

Rolling from the corpse, she jumped back to her feet as long claws raked down her back. Adding the pain to that already being blocked, Liz and her opponent went at each other. Fists, feet, claws, teeth. All Liz could hear was her pulse filling her ears, drowning out the sound of the crowd. The air filled with the scent of their blood as they bit and raked at their opponent’s flesh. The taste of both of their blood slid down Liz's throat as they went at each other again. Tiring but not slowing down.

As claws raked across Liz's chest she backed up, shaking her head, finding it harder to block out the agony her body was in. Her jaw was swollen. Her eyes were starting to close. She must have had several broken ribs as well as slices and bites now covering most of her body. Her opponent did not look much better. His face was mangled and his arms were dripping with blood.

Liz finally backed against the wall at the edge of the arena. She had to push for all the energy she could muster. Had to find the last of her strength to try one last thing to finish this. She placed her hands flat against the wall, and as her enemy lunged at her again she used her strength to push off the wall, volleying herself through the air. She crashed into him, pinning him to the floor. In the blink of an eye, her teeth were latched onto his throat, digging in, tasting blood, releasing a gasp from her prey. Then she tugged hard and ripped out the flesh between her teeth.

Falling back onto her heels she spat the meat from her mouth and pushed up slowly from the carcass beneath her. She looked back at the stands, could see the cheers and claps although she could not hear them. Her eyes locked again with the monster from the stands, satisfaction plastered on his face. Not being able to stomach that expression, she turned and headed to the door at the other side from where she entered.

After throwing her arm at the door only once it opened, Ryan stood there. The look on his face told her she looked as bad as she felt. He hooked his arm around her, causing a pained grunt to escape her lips. He led her to a bench allowing the door to fall shut behind them. Gently lowering Liz onto the bench, Ryan released her from his grip.

She could now hear the rasp of her breath as well as the pulsing of her blood through her veins, signifying one of her broken ribs had probably punctured one of her lungs. Through her darkening vision, she could see the back of a man on the other side of the room leaning over someone. Ryan was at his side and then they were both facing her. The man came over to her and picked up her limp hand from her side.

His face was lax and pale. Liz began to feel a warm pulse through her hand that he had taken and she surmised he was a healer. She had never been healed before, the sensation was alien. The heat radiated up her arm and through the rest of her body. Bones snapped back into place, wounds began to knit together and Liz's hearing and sight returned to normal.

She pulled at the hand that the healer was holding, releasing it from his grasp. "I will be fine now, thank you." A few of her wounds were still not fully healed and a few of the bruises still marked her skin but they would heal quickly enough on their own. "You still have lucky number four to heal, save your strength." She smiled at the man who looked even paler than before.

The healer gave Liz a weak smile and pulled away. Looking back in front of herself she found the person the healer had been lent over previously was Karl. As their eyes met he rose from his bench with a metal tankard in hand. Walking across the room, he knelt in front of her. "Use this to get rid of the taste of blood from your mouth and help the dryness of your throat."

She took the tankard and took a large swig, instead of swallowing it she rinsed the liquid around her mouth and then spat the contents onto the floor. She then took another gulp this time letting the cool water slip down her throat, easing and soothing it. She returned the tankard to Karl's hand meeting his eyes. "So you got through as well I see."

Karl smiled, releasing a short chuckle. "I don't see why you are surprised, I always knew you would make it through." He grazed his hand down her cheek and grasped her chin, inspecting her features carefully. Then he stood and turned, going back to the other end of the room, sitting back on the bench leaning forward with his elbow on his knees, continuing to look at her from afar.

Liz looked around and saw Ryan pacing back and forth, his expression like stone and his eyes were cold. Liz slid from the bench and walked over blocking his path. As his eyes travelled to her face his expression softened slightly. "I'm okay Ryan." She said brushing the tips of her fingers with his own. "I am through, and I will soon get out of here. It's going to be okay." She tried to reassure her trainer. She had known Ryan most of her life and she had never seen him in such a state. Usually, the trainers watched the fights from the stands but for these fights, the trainers had to stay behind the stage.

A flash of emotion went across Ryan's face, too fast for Liz to register what it was. He ushered her back to the bench and sat beside her. They sat like that in silence for a while, again the sound of cheers and roars from the crowd crept through the door. Liz looked at Ryan who seemed lost in thought. "So… What happens next?" Liz had been preparing for this day for as long as she could remember but she did not know what came after the fight, deep inside she had always assumed she would not live. Her life had never been a happy ending sort of thing, so why would things change now?

Ryan turned to face her. "Once the fourth round is over, the winners will go back into the arena to take a bow. Then you will go back to the rooms you were in before, to wash and change." He then faced the wall opposite seemingly staring at nothing. "Then the winners and their trainers go to the banquet Hall. You will have a meal with the visiting alphas’ and Marcus where you will be asked a series of questions. The trainers are there to verify that the winners tell the truth."

Liz's face twisted at the name. Marcus was the leader, the man who introduced the round she won and the man who in her mind had brought her to this hell. "Then we leave and let the alphas and Marcus discuss what trades or pacts will be made in exchange for which winners, you will be taken back to the room you got ready in while you wait." He turned back to face Liz again studying her like he was trying to memorise her face.

A bang came from the door and as it opened the fourth winner stumbled into the room. After he was healed, they were all ushered into a line by the door. Entering back into the arena, the crowd whooped and clapped. The other three opponents bowed facing the floor. Liz, however, stared directly into Marcus's dark eyes expressing her distaste. Again his eyes lit with amusement at her defiance, making Liz wish that he had been one of the wolves she had been forced to slaughter in the arena. Slowly, the crowds’ cheers began to diminish before the winners were ushered back to their rooms to prepare.