The Grand Colosseum was packed with people on the second day of the Lacerta Festival, nobles enjoying their favorite games, gamblers betting on their trusted fighters, travelers being amused by this new form of entertainment, all kind of beastman gathered here for different reasons. Even though it was midday of August, the heat didn’t make the spectators any less excited. They were all standing up, cheering, cursing, shouting and laughing as the fighters on stage risking their lives just to survive the day. One’s mischief can be the joy of others, such is life.

“And next we have Barosa, the black bear of the southern forest!”

The loud voice of the announcer hyped the spectators up for another match, together with his voice, the metal gate on the left side of the colosseum opened up and the first fighter stepped into the stage in the cheering of the crowd. He was huge, even for a member of the Bear tribe, one doesn’t have to be a fighter to see the strength hidden in the muscles behind his black fur. He stood there half naked like a mountain, carrying an axe on one hand and a shield on the other. A formidable fighter, everyone in this colosseum can realize that, the nobles started muttering to their mistresses, the gamblers checking the fighters list, weighting their bets, the commoners and travelers were simply amused by how big and scary a beastman could be.

Waited a bit for the crowd to be awed by the appearance of Barosa, the announcer continued:

“Facing him is Corvus, the slave fighter of the Wolf tribe.”

Compared to Barosa, the second fighter was much smaller in size, he had the typical build of a wolfman, two strong legs walking slowly towards his opponent, half naked body covered by white gray fur with a few black lines, a pair of blue eyes carefully analyzing the big bear. His weapons of choice were a two-handed spear together with a sword hanging at his hip, he seemed ready to fight against the odds.

After the two fighters came close enough to each other and the spectators had finished placing their bets, the announcer signaled the begin of the match. The crowd once again let out a big round of cheering and shouting, excited for a new match.

The two fighters were much less excited than the spectators up there, they both lowered their body into a stance and started moving around slowly, judging their opponents. No bow, no honor words, no handshake, this was the world of the gladiators.

Corvus blue eyes fixed on Barosa, his left shoulder faced towards his enemy, right arm raised above the shoulder, his spear pointed downwards, ready for a strong thrust. On the opposite, his opponent was doing the same, round shield facing forward, axe raised, waiting for a chance to strike. Corvus knew he was at a disadvantage if it comes to strength, but he had advantage in speed. He had longer reach with his spear and Barosa had a shield. Being one of the Bear tribe, Barosa probably has higher endurance, the bearman could take a few hits from Corvus and could still fight, but one strike from that axe and Corvus would be in big trouble. I need to strike fast, and smart, then dodge. Try to wear him out and wait for a mistake. Corvus didn’t know what his opponent was planning, but he knew what he was going to do.

The wolfman breathed slowly, his gaze was cold and deadly, his fangs clenched together as he gripped the spear tighter, his muscles got stiff, ready to unleash their hidden strength. Then, he stroke. His spear thrusted straight to Barosa’s thick leg, the bearman took a step back, only to receive another strike to the chest. He used his shield to deflect it, but Corvus was fast on his attacks. The wolfman stepped sideway and stroke again, then he moved, and another strike. Up and down, chest and legs, Corvus stroke repeatedly, trying to throw off his opponent’s balance, leaving the bearman no room to breath. He perfectly used the long reach of the spear to his advantage, always stays out of the range of the axe. He stroke non-stop, one after another, even though his hands shook after every impact, he knew his opponent was having it worse. No matter how strong Barosa’s arm muscles were, it wasn’t easy to deflect all those strikes. Corvus had two arms to muster the strength from, but the bearman only had his left, and that put Corvus to an advantage, he wanted to render Barosa’s left arm numb. As the sound of metal clashing continued, both the fighters breaths became faster, their hearts pounded hard as a drum, their arms started to hurt from all the impacts.

Realizing that keep doing this wasn’t a good idea, Barosa took a big step forward as he once again deflected Corvus’s spear strike. The wolfman may have the strength from both hands, but Barosa put his body weight on this deflect, and that took Corvus by surprise. He almost lost his spear, but more importantly, his continuous strikes had stopped, and his balance wasn’t stable anymore. Barosa’s body casted a big shadow on Corvus. Without thinking, the wolfman immediately took a step back, just enough to avoid the metal axe from splitting his head in half. But Corvus had lost his momentum, and Barosa had gained the chance to attack. The bearman stroke hard with his axe, then pushed his shield forward as he closed the distance and released another strike, slowly but steadily he started gaining advantage. Corvus kept jumping around, dodging Barosa’s axe, he knew the strikes were too strong for him to deflect without taking any damage, and the shield made it near impossible to counterattack effectively. A spear may have longer reach, but in a close encounter like this, a shield was much better to keep the flow going and avoid any surprise counterattack.

Corvus tried to step sideways, but his opponent had gotten used to his movement, so all he could do was to keep dodging. The wolfman could feel his body starting to get heavier by every jump, he knew before he ran out of stamina and make a mistake, he must do something. He dodged another strike from Barosa then saw the bearman ducked behind his shield and thrusted forward once again. Corvus threw away his spear, and instead of stepping back, he mustered all the strength in his leg and jumped towards Barosa. His right shoulder pumped right into the round shield of the bearman. He felt a tremendous pressure on his shoulder and his chest stopped breathing for a moment, but he wasn’t pushed back, nor was his balance off. His bet was right, after all those strikes, Barosa’s left arm didn’t have much strength left. Corvus didn’t waste this precious chance, he drew the short sword with his right hand and slashed right at Barosa’s right elbow. The bearman let out a painful roar as he dropped his axe, but a fighter’s instinct told him he must not let his opponent seize this chance, he threw a punched with his shield straight at Corvus’s face, which almost broke the wolfman nose.

Corvus took a few steps back, blowing heavy breaths from his mouth, sweating. His ears were ringing from the impact, his nose started bleeding, dyeing the grey fur with red, his visions blurred and his head hurt, in fact, his whole damn body hurt. But Corvus knew it wasn’t the time to stop, he let out a howl and charged forward, sword raised with both hands. Then he hacked, and slashed, and hacked, and slashed, one after another, roaring. His sword clashed onto the shield countless of time. He knew Barosa’s right arm was useless, and his left was reaching its limit. So even though his shoulder and his head were filled with pain, Corvus continued striking his sword. The muscles on his face twisted and his blue eyes glowed with killing intent. Before long Barosa resistance had grown weaker and eventually he dropped his shield, left arm hanging lifelessly.

Corvus kicked his opponent down then jumped on him, his sword stabbed the bearman straight through the chest. The pain might have triggered the last life force that was left in Barosa as he miraculously threw a punch with his left hand at Corvus’s side. The two beastman roared and grunted in pain as they continued stabbing and punching each other. Two strangers, now glaring at one another with killing intent, doing their best to stay alive and kill the opponent in the cheering sound of the spectators. Corvus had lost track of how many times he had stabbed through the black furred chest of the bearman. He also couldn’t remember how many times he had felt the pain in his stomach whenever Barosa landed a punch. The two of them seemed to bloom with the desire to survive, ignoring anything else. But no matter how much energy Barosa tried to muster, together with the blood spilling from the wounds, his strength started leaving his body and his consciousness fading, his left arm moved slower and slower until he couldn’t move it anymore. He couldn’t feel anything anymore. The last thing the bearman saw was a face of a man from the Wolf tribe, bright blues eyes glaring in pain, white fangs clenching with blood and grey fur soaked in red.

Corvus stood up slowly in the announcer’s voice and the cheering of the crowd. His legs were trembling, his whole body aching and his senses blurring, but he took a deep breath and let out a howl, to tell the world that he is still alive. He could hear a few wolfmans from the spectators howling and the announcer trying to say something, but he couldn’t figure out what it was as he dropped on the ground and his vision turned black.

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I’m still alive. He thought before giving in to the exhaustion.

“So, I’ll leave him to you then.” The nurse from the Cat tribe said before closing the door.

The wolfman was lying on a small bed, white bandages all over his body. Tending to him was a girl, but she wasn’t like any normal beastman girl. She had a pair of pointy, furry ears and a fluffy grey tail, her nails were a little long, but nowhere near the level of claws. Apart from those, she didn’t have the look of one from the Wolf tribe. Slim build, fair skin, oval face, small lips, high nose and bright blue eyes as well as long black pony tail hair. If not for the ears and tail, one could say that she was a human. The girl carefully wiped the blood from Corvus’s body, trying not to touch his wounds, her eyes squinted to a thin line, focusing las she was taking care of a fragile object.

After finished cleaning the wolfman, the girl sat down on a pile of straw that resembled a bed on the ground. Those were the ones she and Corvus gathered after they received this room from the colosseum as their master wasn’t a generous one to give his slaves two beds. She curled up on the pile of straw, knees at her chest and her face resting on it. She gazed a sad look to the wolfman lying on the bed, her brother. She knew he could have been freed a long time ago if it wasn’t for her, she knew how much money he had saved up after all those years of fighting. But because she was a mixed blood of a human and a beastman, she had no place in both worlds, noone would give her a job, no one even wanted to talk to her. For as long as she could remember, she had always been here in this tiny room, praying for her brother’s safe return every time she heard the announcer’s voice and the cheering crowd. There had been more than one occasion where she had thought about selling her body, or about committing suicide, she felt useless. But she didn’t have the courage, and she didn’t want all of her brother’s hard works came to waste. So she smiled and told her brother that she was fine, that he only needed to worry about himself, that he shouldn’t push his body over its limits.

She remembered her brother telling her that he just needed to win a few more matches to set them free. But now he was lying there, ribs and shoulders broken, head bleeding, and there were still more matches to fight as the Lacerta Festival continued. The price for forfeiting a match wasn’t small, it could easily undo months of hard work her brother had done. But she knew he was in no shape for another fight, she didn’t want to lose him, he was the only family she had left. She didn’t know what to do, she didn’t know what she could do. Their mother had passed away a long time ago and their father sold them to the slave house. She had no one to turn to for help, nor could she think of any reason should anyone help them. She felt hopeless.

There were a few knocks before the door was opened and two hooded figures stepped into the room. The girl stood up cautiously, she didn’t know much about the world outside, but she knew after years of fighting, her brother had made some enemies. And now that he was in this shape, some of them might think it was their chance to settle the scores. But if that was the case, what could she do? She didn’t know, but she knew she must protect her brother. Before she could speak up, the two visitors removed their hoods, a rabbit girl and a fox man, not really a common combination.

“Hello, sorry for the intrusion, is this Corvus’s room? Are you his sister?” The rabbit girl asked, her crimson eyes looking straight at the wolf girl without any trace of disgust or hostility.

Surpriseed by the sudden friendliness of the visitors, the wolf girl paused for a second before she replied:

“Ah, yes, I’m Lyra, and you are?”

“Lyra, nice to meet you. I’m Eria Bannesi, and this gentleman here is Yoru Halbmond. We are here to talk to your brother, but it seems he is not in a good shape. Is there any fight tomorrow?” The rabbit girl, Eria, seemed disappointed.

“Yes, there is.” Lyra nodded in sadness. She knew that he would have to forfeit that match.

Eria tilted her head, her long, white furred ears shook slightly as if she was thinking about something. The fox man opened up a smile to Lyra as their eyes met but he stayed silent the whole time.

“In that case, we might be able to help you.” To Lyra’s surprise, Eria said.

The wolf girl’s blue eyes expanded in disbelief. Help, that was a word she hadn’t heard in a long time, and surely not a word she was expecting.

“But, we have nothing to repay you.” She sadly replied.

“Well, as a matter of fact. I’m looking for companions in my … you could say journey, and as it turns out your brother’s capability in fighting will be a big reassurance to me. I could add up the missing money for the forfeiting cost and the fee to set you two free. In exchange for that your brother can help me on my journey and we would be even. You two would be free people of Palomar.”

So it is fighting again. Lyra thought, she should have guessed better the reason why someone was willing to help them. She didn’t want her brother to fight anymore, she had lost count of how many times he had returned here with his life hanging on the thin line. But the word “free” had a big impact on her, it was their goal ever since they were young.

“Will it be dangerous, this journey of yours?” Lyra asked, hesitating.

Still with the friendly smile, Eria replied:

“I can’t guarantee the safety of this journey. But at least your brother won’t have to go to the next match with this wounded body, or forfeiting it and stay here for another year as a slave fighter.”

Going to the match, or forfeiting it. Both seemed like bad choices for Lyra and Corvus, but what choices did they have left?

“I, I will have to discuss this with my brother. Can you wait?” The wolf girl’s voice was shaking. She was moved, that and she was also afraid Eria would withdraw her offer.

“Well of course, take your time, I understand it is a big decision to make. We will come again next morning, that will be the deadline to forfeit the match. I’ll take my leave now, I hope you and your brother will consider my offer. Have a good evening.”

Eria didn’t seems to be in a rush, she calmly replied then opened the door and walked out after saying her goodbye. The fox man, Yoru, nodded with a smile and followed her soon after, leaving Lyra deep in thought as she looked at all the wounds on her brother’s body.

When Eria and Yoru left the Grand Colosseum it was already evening. The huge structure of the colosseum casted a big shadow on the ground, the orange light signalled to all the citizen of Edion that it was the time to enjoy the night activities of the Lacerta Festival. Shops and vendors started opening, colourful decorations were placed on the streets. All kind of people got out of their houses, the nobles with their fancy dresses went to the high-class balls and parties, the merchants shouting to advertise their products, families and kids with big, happy smiles on their faces, pointing and laughing at everything they saw, waving their tails excitingly. The first night of the festival was a night of memorial, of solemn, but the second night onwards were purely for joy and entertainment. All the restaurants and bars were packed with people, with questions about their welfares, congratulations to the newly-wed couple, cheering for another successful year. The sun had already started to fade out, but the city had never been brighter with all the lights from the streets, vendors and shops, that and the smiles of all the happy citizens of Edion.

In the midst of all that, a combination of a fox man and a rabbit girl didn’t seem so strange anymore, and with all the noises made by the big crowd on the street, their conversation didn’t catch any unwanted ears.

“I could hardly think of any reason why a mage from the oldest Order of Palomar would come to a slave fighter to ask for help. Care to enlighten me, miss Bannesi?” Yoru asked as he casually looked at the vendors on the street.

Eria put three fingers on her forehead to return the gesture with one of the cat girl and replied:

“Just Eria is fine. Well, I could go to the Mercenary Guilds to hire people, but that would means contract, and contract means details, and that usually leaves traces. I don’t really want my friends in the shadow to know where we are going. Maybe you can introduce me to someone, one that is trustworthy, how about the good people in the 13th Cat Bar.”

“Maybe, I would trust them as much as I trust Mister Grim, and you know how well it turned out for me.” The fox man shook his head in disappointment. After knowing that this quest had to be done in discreet, it was not really hard to guess why Eria chose to go to Corvus and his sister.

A man without choice has to take whatever offer he can get. Yoru thought, he himself was one big example.

“Anyway, this journey of yours seems to get more dangerous every time I get to know about it. And I don’t even know where we are going, for what reason, which is the main part of the story. That is hardly encouraging.”

“Don’t worry, it will be fine. How about we stop bothering about the small details and just enjoy the festival for now, master Halbmond?”

Eria replied, then she stopped by a vendor, chatting happily with the rat lady, asking about the food in store, just like the conversation before had never happened. Yoru shrugged his shoulder slightly then followed the rabbit girl, his mind was still thinking about the mysterious journey ahead.

It will be fine. The most reassuring sentence one can say. He thought, it hardly ever turned out fine whenever he heard the phrase.