The door closed and then latched behind him the moment Drew walked through. Through his domain, he could feel the flow of chi from the gray alien in front of him as its spell hooked onto the door and latch. However, unlike the spells he felt from Matt and others, this entity’s were so faint he could barely sense them.

The hallway stretched before them, carved from the same brown stone that made up their cell. Runic symbols were periodically spread across all surfaces at a steady interval. Their soft glow added to the crystals that were spaced regularly along the ceiling. Every twenty feet or so, Drew passed a latched wooden door. He resisted the urge to attempt each handle, unsure of his captor’s response.

Eventually, they reached the end of the hall, where the alien opened another door. After he walked through, and it sealed behind him, he paused in shock at what he saw.

The room opened up into what Drew could only assume was a common gathering area. Within the expansive room were a multitude of strange alien races. Bipedal beings of all shapes and sizes, wearing what looked like primitive leather armor, milled about in groups, interacting with each other. He heard snorts, clicks, and grunts that formed together into some type of language they all seemed to understand. However, unlike the gray alien, every one of these had a metal collar around their necks, identical to Drew’s.

When a short, pudgy, turtle-like being noticed him, it signaled the others. The conversation immediately cut off and every alien within the large room turned to stare at Drew. It felt unnerving to be the center focus of their attention.

FOLLOW

Drew flinched from the mental intrusion and hurried to catch up with the gray alien. As he reached the gray, the conversation behind him resumed.

All four walls of the oversized common room they strode through contained a door. The alien he followed weaved around some type of unused furniture and turned to the doorway on Drew’s left. They passed through and entered another long hallway that sloped steeply upwards.

There were no doors along this ramp, except the large gate at the end. Unlike the prior doors, it did not hinge from the side. Instead, it retracted upward into the ceiling. As it slowly rose, bright light filtered through beneath it and a wave of heat and humidity blasted him. By the time it was fully raised, Drew held a hand above his eyes to try and block out the harsh glare.

ENTER

The gray being stopped, just inside the gate, and motioned for him to move past it. He slowly stopped off the stone onto the sandy ground before him.

When Drew’s eyes finally adjusted, he gasped at what he found on the other side. Before him sat a large, circular sandy plane surrounded on all sides by stone seating. It somewhat resembled the Roman coliseum, and rose at least fifty feet into the air. Only around a quarter of the seats were filled, all by gray aliens who resembled his captor. The whole area had an orangish hue that confused Drew.

Suddenly, a loud voice interrupted his observation that contained the same clicks and grunts as before in the common room. He could not discern where it originated from, but as it coincided with his entrance, he assumed it was from some type of announcer.

Drew whirled around at a sudden crash behind him. The gate he had passed through had dropped to the ground, much faster than it had risen, cutting off any hope of escape.

Drew looked upward to the open sky above him, and he was shocked by what he saw. The sun was not the yellowish white that he expected. It was not even the same size as Earth’s. A reddish star, around fifty percent larger than Earth’s, shown down and heated the planet from above.

Unlike the sun he was accustomed to, this was not too bright to observe directly. Dark red swirls churned within the orangish sun. The sky had a similar tint as the extreme haze was illuminated. Fluffy brown clouds hung around him and threatened to block the oversized sun at any moment. Sweat dripped down his face in rivulets as he stood within the outdoor sauna.

To his surprise, he felt chi within the air.

It felt similar to the cloud of chi that a beast core dissolved into, but was much weaker. It also permeated the entire area. However, the chi was strange and felt less chaotic than usual.

On the far side of the arena, at least a hundred feet away, another gate slowly rose. The announcer once more spoke in its alien language as a large beast waddled out and entered the sandy floor.

Are we supposed to fight like gladiators for their amusement? What is this, Rome?

The ancient Romans had pitted fighters against lions and other animals as a form of entertainment to the masses. It seemed that the idea was universal and spanned across not just across cultures, but also species.

Drew was surprised that the beast that shuffled slowly forward along the sand was one he had never seen before. It had six legs, a long elephant-like snout, and long shaggy red-orange hair. The beast stood twice as tall as Drew and resembled a mutated anteater.

I’m calling it an anteater. I don’t care how much Matt complains.

Beneath its long snout was a very small mouth with no visible teeth. The pads of its feet were also devoid of long claws. Even its short hairy tail did not have any type of weapon on its end. The evolution confused Drew. Every single beast that invaded Earth had some discernible method of attack. However, this beast looked like it could only hurt him if it fell atop him.

I’m not going to fight for their amusement. Time to leave.

The creature had traveled halfway across the arena floor, and he was not going to just stand there and let it kill him. Drew reversed his gravity and fell upwards into the air. He continued to accelerate and quickly rose higher into the sky.

When he was one hundred feet above the ground, his domain sensed a barrier above. However, by that point, he was moving far too fast to avoid it.

Drew’s head slammed directly into the shield.

His skull flexed but held. However, he was not without injury. The sudden stop as he slammed into the barrier had caused him to momentarily blackout. His vision dimmed and his focus was lost as he hurtled toward the ground below, his spells no longer in effect.

Drew found it impossible to concentrate on what was occurring as he continued to fall. Just as he was about to gather his wits, he impacted the ground. If he had not already deadened his nerves, he would most likely have passed out from the pain. As it was, he lay stunned on the ground as the beast slowly shuffled toward him.

After his condition improved, he fed chi into his wounds to speed his recovery. When the anteater-like beast appeared nearby and began spewing a yellowish gas out of its snout, Drew quickly used gravity to escape. Unlike before, he did not try and exit the arena. Instead, he lifted off the ground and explored the edges of the barrier with his domain.

He flew in a circuit around the arena and found that a dome-shaped shield prevented him from leaving skyward or even reaching the stands below. The announcer continued to speak in that strange language, but Drew ignored it. Below him, the beast continued to discharge a yellow haze. By this point, it filled almost a quarter of the arena.

Ok, I can’t leave and if I just sit here and wait, whatever that yellow crap is will fill up the entire arena. I guess I need to kill it.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Drew took a page out of Matt’s book and summoned a fireball from his lofty position. He flung it out of his domain and watched as it sped down toward the yellow cloud below him. To his surprise, the caustic looking gas was flammable.

Oh shit!

His fireball touched off the cloud and created a massive explosion. A quarter of the arena was filled with smoke and flame that was hurtling toward him. Drew raised a shield around himself just in time. The super-heated force of the explosion cascaded around him and flung him backwards until he impacted the barrier once more.

He quickly recovered and circled around the edges of the arena until he was finally able to observe the creature. Drew had expected to find a pile of ashy remains. Yet, somehow, the creature was entirely unharmed.

It summoned wind around itself, which gently dissipated the smoke. When the obstruction was cleared, it once more began to release a poisonous cloud from its snout.

Ok, no more fireballs and no lasers. Let’s see if it has a domain.

If the beast did not have a protective domain of its own, he could easily reach within it with his senses and explode its heart. Drew maintained his shield and approached the over-sized anteater.

He flew into the yellow cloud and was surprised when it began to seep through his shield. Traces of the poison gas hit his lungs, causing him to violently cough in an effort to dislodge the toxin. His throat began to burn and his eyes watered, yet he ignored it in his effort to reach the beast.

Finally, he found what he was searching for. The beast did indeed have a domain of its own. When he realized the battle would not end so easily, Drew quickly fled the poison. He floated to the opposite end of the arena and dropped his shield to release the gasses trapped within.

Now on the ground, Drew continued to cough and spit in an effort to eject the cloying substance. His lungs and eyes burned, so he sent chi to the organs to repair them. A few minutes passed before he could finally see and breath clearly.

By that point, all of his injuries were healed. However, he had already used almost a quarter of his chi and could see no available way to refill it in the area. Drew watched as the arena began to fill up with poison once more and began to plan.

After he had formulated a new strategy, he immediately put it into action. Drew once more formed a fireball and sent it toward the yellow gas. He could not let it fill the entire arena, or he would have no respite. He formed a shield around himself and waited at the ready for the fumes to ignite.

Once more, a massive explosion erupted. This time, he was ready for it. Drew dug his feet into the sand to brace himself against the coming force. When the blast finally impacted his shield, he remained standing. His core was further emptied of chi to maintain his stressed barrier, but he ignored it. Instead, he needed to move quickly to capitalize on the opportunity.

The moment the blast wave passed, he rocketed toward the beast. Drew could not see it through the smoke, but he knew the surrounding air would be devoid of poison. Last time the cloud ignited, the anteater had blown the smoke away from it before flooding the area with gas once again. Drew was counting on a repeat performance.

Sure enough, Drew quickly passed through the smoke and the light wind the creature had created to clear an opening. He manipulated the shape of his own barrier until it formed a spike that extended ten feet in front of him. His angle was slightly off, so he tweaked his direction until he was aimed directly at the plodding beast.

Let’s see how you like this.

Right before he slammed into the beast, a blast of air buffeted him from the side. The wind did nothing to stop his momentum, but changed his direction just enough for him to miss. Drew flew past the creature in frustration and slowed his speed to make another pass.

By the time he arrested his movement, the anteater had already begun expelling more gas. Drew quickly threw a fireball at the small cloud. It created a much smaller explosion, and he was able to see the sudden burst of wind that the creature summoned to protect itself.

He raced toward the hairy beast before it had a chance to release more poison. However, the second he entered its domain, another blast of air slammed into him and sent him tumbling backward.

Drew jumped to his feet and ran toward it again. Unfortunately, the anteater had already begun to fill the air with its poison. This time, Drew showered it with microwaves while he ran in an effort to disrupt its spells.

For the first time, it screeched in pain. However, to his disappointment, poison continued to billow out of its trunk. This time, however, no blast of wind was ejected to fling him away. He formed a blade within his hand, moments before he reached the beast, and slashed downward on its shaggy side.

Within the beast’s domain, his attacks were weakened. His sword sliced through the outer layers of hair and bit into the flesh below. However, its rib cage stopped his blade and prevented further harm.

Before he could continue his attacks, Drew began to cough as poison once more entered his lungs. The malaise had once again penetrated his barrier, and he needed to put distance between himself and the beast to recover. Drew quickly fled the yellow cloud, dropped his barrier to freshen the surrounding air, and healed himself.

Let’s see if my layered shield can stand up to the poison.

Once his eyes and lungs were healed, Drew launched another fireball at the beast and then formed the layered protective barrier around himself. The new shield was capable of blocking out even microwaves sent in his direction, but required all of his concentration to maintain. It also used a large amount of chi.

Nevertheless, Drew sprinted toward the beast with no weapon in hand. Before he could reach the monster, a blast of chi slammed into him and forced him backwards. He quickly recovered his footing and changed his approach. Rather than race toward it, he began to move more methodically.

With every step he took, his toes dug deep into the sand and anchored his position. Another blast of wind buffeted him, and this time, he was unaffected.

Drew slowly closed on the creature as blast after blast of wind assaulted him. Poison once more filled the air and began corroding his shield’s outer layer. Before he could reach the beast, his shield’s outer layer was penetrated, and it began to dissolve the next in line.

Ok, I’m on a time limit.

By Drew’s estimate, he had at least thirty seconds before the poison pierced through his entire barrier. He resolved to make the most of his time.

Finally, he reached the beast, which had begun to backpedal slowly away from him. Yet, despite how deliberate Drew moved, he was still faster than the ponderous beast. He ignored the monster’s shaggy body and went directly for its head.

Drew reached out, wrapped his hands around the thin trunk that expelled its poison, and tugged. He gripped the beast and refused to let go. Its gusts of wind no longer had an effect on him as it struggled to escape. Drew pulled himself closer into the monster until he was able to wrap both arms around its skinny neck.

Then, he squeezed.

Drew grunted in effort as he used all of his strength to choke the life out of the creature. He heard it wheeze and grunt in pain as it fought to escape his clutches.

Drew refused to let up.

He continued to constrict its air as he tried to break its thin neck. Unfortunately, it was somehow reinforced. The creature could not breathe, but Drew did not know how long it could go without oxygen. Since he doubted it could breathe its own poison, he assumed it would last a very long time.

Finally, Drew’s inner shield layer was compromised and poison began to seep into his lungs and eyes.

Screw it.

His layered shield was now useless, so he dropped it. Instead, he held his breath as he began to cycle chi throughout his body. Once his strength was tripled, he heaved. Drew heard the beast’s neck snap, and then it went limp beneath him.

However, he did not relent. The monster’s domain was still active, which meant that the creature was paralyzed, but not yet dead. Drew released its neck and began to beat against the side of its head. Each hit crushed its skull into the ground further until his fist finally burst through.

Unfortunately, Drew’s vision had begun to dim without oxygen and his thoughts became muddled. The second Drew felt its domain drop, he immediately fled the area. He raced across the sand until he reached the opposite side of the arena. Unfortunately, in the time it took to kill it, the gas had filled the entire battleground.

Drew was desperate for a breath of air, so he did the only thing he could think of. He formed a new barrier around himself and formed a fireball outside of it.

The gas detonated.

Drew was thrown into the stone wall of the arena and his barrier was destroyed. The backlash of a broken spell assaulted his mind and caused him to drop to his knees in pain. He flashed back suddenly to his fight with the Triceratops in Denver. No amount of deadened nerves could block the agony that he now experienced. He lay on the sandy ground, panting as he struggled to regain his focus.

He did not know how long he remained stunned and unaware. Eventually, however, the gray alien came for him. Drew felt himself be lifted into the air and transported back toward the gate where he had entered. The trip back to his cell was a blur as he was carried like a slab of meat through the complex.

Finally, he was dropped onto the floor and Matt raced forward to check on him. Drew heard the worry in his friend’s voice as he kneeled over him and voiced his concerns, but was unable to make out his statements.

The last thing Drew heard before he blacked out was the alien’s derision.

PATHETIC