Chapter 13
The Fight
I lay in my cage and moped.
Yeah, I may have been Queen Sariah at one time, but I wasn't now. I had no dignity left. I had no family and no friends. Everyone I'd ever liked was gone from me now. They were all in danger. I had come so close to saving my daughter! We had almost figured out the mystery! Why had he baled out at the last minute?!
I slammed my head against the side of the cage and whined. I could change if I wanted to, but it would do me no good. The bars were too thick, even for a Dragon Slayer. If I wanted to change to a Clarque, I could, but then where would I go? I wondered what I would do, how I would escape, and when I would waste away. I wondered if Tormran would let me go, or if I would be his captive forever.
"You. Dog, get on your feet," cried a Tanja.
I didn't even bother lifting my head.
It was obviously Jukid. He'd been visiting me the past two days. Bringing me food and water were his jobs. He was a good friend of Tormran's. He was also the only one allowed to be around me. A little smaller than Tormran, Jukid was one likely to get picked on. He was scrawny, weak, and a little too compassionate. I guess that's what made me like him so much.
"Come on, dog! You can't mope around like that all day!" he whined at me.
I turned my back to him and curled up in a corner.
"Alright, but Tormran's coming. I'm not sure what he has planned for you, but he's in a pretty good mood."
I heard Jukid leave the room at a steady trot.
"Hey there! Who's my favorite animal?" called Tormran.
I rolled my eyes and curled up tighter. I didn't want to be bothered.
"It's been two days. Don't think you can seriously ignore me that much."
I blocked a growl that was rising in my throat and buried my face in my paws.
"Get up!" he commanded.
I didn't budge.
"Don't make me mad, animal. Do you really want to make me mad?"
I stiffened. The door opened. Footsteps. Then came the ‘whack' I had expected. Straight to the hindquarters, pushing my head into the bars.
"Stupid thing," he muttered.
I was lifted from the ground by my collar. Choking, I wriggled to get free. He held me up to his face and growled. I growled back, and he tossed me out the cage door.
"Alright, you wanna play tough. Let's fight."
He got down on all fours and jumped at me. I slid a leg out and kicked him in the stomach. He doubled over but reached out in time to touch his magnet to my collar. I yipped as he slammed his wrist to the floor.
"That'll teach you," he snickered.
Getting to his feet, he yanked his wrist from the floor and started moving out of the room. I hurried to catch up.
We walked out of the pyramid and into the hots sun. I squinted and looked around. The Tanjas were working, but they seemed quite distracted. I continued looking around, and Tormran explained the actions of the Tanjas to me.
"That one there is gathering fire wood. Those females over there are starting up fires. They aren't doing a good job right now, though. They're building fires so they can smoke the meat the hunters bring back. I wonder where they are? See, everyone's being real slow in their work today. It's a Donroy, and we don't have to worry much. Since, I'm guessing, you don't know what a Donroy is, I'll explain it. A Donroy is a good year. If we have plenty of food, shelter, wood, and Tanjas, we call the year a Donroy. This is the fifty-second day of the year. From the first to the fiftieth we work our tails off. When the fifty-first day comes, we all take a break and wait for the counters, who are our doctors and physicians. They count up our good and decide if we're going to have a Donroy or not. This year the doctors really thought we didn't have enough food. They say that just so they get more meat. They get an extras, you know. They make us work our butts off, telling us they have to stay healthy if they're to help others. So, anyway, that's what Donroy's are."
I thought it to be quite interesting but didn't show it. He'd made a deal with me, and he'd broken it. I'd had too much ope anyway. It was only fair that it should all come crashing down in my face. After all, everything else had in the past month.
"So what? Not even an acknowledgment that I'm here? Hello!! Did you hear a word I said?"
He swung his paw into my side. I staggered.
"Show a little respect, will ya?" he said to me.
He put his paw up high and began rubbing his neck. I stood up straight and looked at the female Tanjas at the fire. They didn't even glance over my way. I hear Tormran growling and instantly stiffened, afraid I'd be smacked again. I felt the wind on my hindquarters as his paw swung to meet with them. I fell to the ground, making Tormran miss and fall forward from the momentum of his swing, which knocked me down.
"Alright!" he said, growling and getting up from the dust. "I've had enough!"
I stood up. He grabbed for my neck. I bit him. He jumped back and got down on all fours. I fell to the ground. He grabbed the magnet from his wrist, touched it to my collar, and tossed it aside. I jumped up and growled at him. He leaped at me, teeth bared. We rolled in the dust.
There was dust in the main grounds where the pyramids and Tanjas were. There was grass and lush plains farther out, but we stayed within the boundaries of the dust.
The Tanjas were all around us now, smiling with the excitement of the fight. They started howling, calling to their friends to watch the fight. I could see all this going on as I fought Tormran.
"Get him, Tormran!" they would chant in Code.
Tormran had told them that they could comminute with me in Code. They were all trained in Code, Tormran told me, so they talked in Code so I could hear them rooting for Tormran.
I saw them making bets with each other, too. I guess most of them bet on Tormran to win.
"Fight to the death!" growled another Tanja.
I pulled away from Tormran and swung myself in a circle. He ran at me. I snapped my neck and bit him in the back left leg as soon as he had gripped my back left thigh. We howled and parted. I dove at his belly. He jumped off the ground and landed on my back. I collapsed. I let out a gasp and got my breath back. Tormran circled around me, growling. I put my four paws underneath me and growled back.
My fur was much thicker than Tomran's. I hoped it would give me some advantage. My teeth were also longer, but who knew how that would help me?
I slid back and spun on my left legs. I hit Torman in the side. He was knocked to the ground for an instant. That gave me just enough time to sink my teeth into his left front paw. He yelped and kicked. I held on, ripping the skin on his paw. He kicked me with his back legs. I let go and staggered back.
The crowd was oh so loud now! They chanted, growled, howled, and yelped. Some would pass meat around during the fight. I assumed those were the Tanjas who had lost bets. The Tanjas were very distracting, and I almost thought about attacking them once. But I had to control myself and concentrate on fighting just Tormran for now.
Tormran wasn't quite as hot as me, but my fur gave me more protection from bites. We scrapped for a while, getting in bites and kicks when we could.
The Tanjas never walked away. If anything, the numbers grew.
Tormran stopped the fight and froze, staring at me with those cold yellow eyes. I stopped right where I was and stared at him with my black eyes. He growled. I jumped back.
"Get him, Tormran!" yelled a Tanja from the crowd.
I swung to the side as Tormran attacked. He turned around, just in time to get a bite to the muzzle. I held on, swinging his head from side to side, ripping the skin on his nose. He yelped and swung a paw under my front legs. I held on and dragged him to the ground with me. We rolled in the dust again. I finally got to a position where I could do some serious damage. I was off to the left of him. Tormran was on his back. I put my front paws on his chest and twisted my neck to the right. He yanked his head back and forth as I sunk my teeth into his neck. Tormran yelped suddenly and fell limp. I gave him one good jerk and backed away. He lay there in the dust, motionless.
The Tanjas didn't rush to help him. Instead, they passed meat around the crude circle they'd made around us. Some started trotting off, growling because they'd lost bets. Others sat around, counting the strips of meat they'd won. Still others sat around to find out what would happen to Tormran.
I had a strong urge to stick around and help him. He was my enemy though. I didn't wait up for him. Turning around, I ran through the thinning crowd. They all whined as I pushed my way through. Suddenly I heard the loud growl of a Tanja. I pushed past the crowd as fast as I could, but they were all walking the opposite way, trying to see the Tanja barking to them.
I looked over my shoulder to see Tormran being carried away by two Tanjas.
"Stop, dog!" cried a Tanja from behind me in Code.
I yelped, tucked my tail between my legs, and scampered away. I could hear them catching up to me. I ducked around a pyramid and ran as fast as I could. They were gaining! I made quick turns around pyramids, ran through small groups of Tanjas, and headed for the countryside.
"Stop now, dog! Or we'll shoooot!" yelled a very angry Tanja.
I guessed it was a guard but didn't stop for him. I would listen to no one. That was a mistake I would regret. Next thing I knew, I was sprawled out on the ground, my limbs twitching. A Tanja ran up t o my side and glared at me. I couldn't move anything lower than my neck.
"Come on," said a Tanja, and a group gathreed around him.
They carried me to a pyramid and tossed me in a cage.
I fell asleep before the affects of the Para Ray had worn off.
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