The New Girl II
Much to her surprise, it was an actual fighting pit. The floor consisted of some kind of dirt, looking like an unpleasant place to plant your face into. Displayed on the wall of the circular arena, were dozens of weapons. Swords, knives, staves, chains, all just free to be grabbed. Clearly, it was not something secretive that was kept strictly between the guards and the prisoners.
Veriel had expected something more improvised, but that was certainly not the case for this arena. They built this place for the fights. The higher-ups would have been aware of it. She wondered if every penitentiary had it or if it was specially made for this place - since most of the prisoners here were outsiders, foreigners who dared to defy their expansion. As far as she could tell, there were no Imperials in the prison. Those monsters would have enjoyed watching them fight each other.
It seemed like the last match was just over. The winner was an orkhan who was circling across the pit with his fists raised in the air, celebrating his victory as the crowd cheered. On the ground was a human man who had been knocked out cold. Two Kathars flew down into the ring and began dragging the body by his arms roughly towards a door buried in the concrete wall.
The walls rose pretty high before they changed into chain-linked fences. Unless one could fly, it was nearly impossible to climb out. The spectators were milling about trying to find their best positions to watch. Veriel could hear people betting, guards and prisoners alike. The guards were betting money while the prisoners betted labor hours. Unsurprisingly, they all placed their bets on Nuala winning.
Veriel’s gaze then wandered back down, toward the spot right across her where her opponent was also waiting. Their eyes met and Nuala’s smile widened. The confidence in her eyes was undeniable and it did make Veriel feel a bit of a doubt. Sure, she had trained as a warrior for more than a century, but she had never been the best in direct physical fights. Her magic was the main reason she rose through the ranks, not her strength in combat. She would have to be cautious. There was a chance that Nuala was more skilled than her.
“She’ll be going for your face first,” Hilda had warned her earlier. “Just protect your head and torso.” The Ecithian woman had been determined to show Veriel how best to shield her body just before the guards had come to escort her.
The elf pulled back her dark hair into a ponytail. It wasn’t ideal since it would be something her opponent could grab onto in a fistfight, but she didn’t have any tie that would be strong enough to keep her hair in a proper bun.
Once the orkhan was ushered out, a guard flew down to stand in the middle of the arena. He was the mean-looking Kathar that had been announcing the fights earlier. “Now, now, let’s all settle down so we can have our last match for the night. Let’s hope the girls can give us something interesting for us to see tonight.” Judging by the howling and whistling, catfights must have been a favorite. “No weapons allowed, ladies, but anything goes until one of you can’t get up anymore.” He then turned to look straight at Veriel and smiled. “Hopefully, Nuala can give our lovely new guest a very warm welcome.
Both of their doors opened at the same time and the Kathar flew out of the ring. Nuala walked out first and the crowd went crazy. They were cheering and hollering and chanting her name. It seemed like everyone had forgotten that they were all prisoners here. Veriel was truly just entertainment to all of them and for sure enough, the thought vexed her.
Nuala moved almost lazily, a predator in no hurry to catch her prey. She was built bigger and stood slightly taller than Veriel, but nothing that would be too advantageous. The siltori stepped out carefully, never taking her eyes off her opponent. She still didn’t know what she should do. Fight back? Or let herself get beaten by this human woman?
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much time to think. Hilda was right. Nuala surged forward and swung her first punch right toward her face. The siltori was faster and evaded with ease. The fist flew harmlessly past her head and Veriel put a distance between herself and the other woman. Nuala paused for a moment, flustered that the blow did not connect. The smile on her face was starting to fade.
Her next moves were wilder, becoming more and more uncoordinated as her frustration grew when none of them landed. “What the hell?” The dawnmartyr dodged and weaved through them with the grace of a trained combatant. When she brought her arms up to block a blow, she shoved Nuala back, throwing her off balance.
The whole time she was watching the human female. Ryo had taught her that if It didn’t take long for Veriel to realize something: she could win this fight. Despite her intensity, her movements were rabid and untrained. There was no doubt that she had experience fighting, but the siltori could do better. Veriel sidestepped to dodge another one of her punches. This time, Nuala was reaching out too far and quickly lost her balance. She stumbled and started falling forward.
Veriel had wanted to keep a low profile and just spend her time as an unknown prisoner until the time for the trial came. This fight had certainly thrown a wrench into her plans. Being invisible was no longer an option. She would either come off this match as someone weak whom everybody could decide to pick on or a threat that everyone would keep an eye on. If she lost, a feeling in her gut told her that people would keep picking her to fight - just so they could win the privileges. She certainly didn’t want that. She wanted to be left alone for the remainder of her time.
Which meant there was only one solution: the best defense is a good offense.
Just before Nuala’s face hit the ground, the siltori swung out her right leg and her foot connected with the side of the woman’s face with a crunch. First strike. She was thrown to her side from the impact and groaned in pain. It was a low blow, but Veriel wanted to finish things quickly.
For the first time since they stepped into the ring, the crowd went silent. The only sound was Nuala’s cursing as she scrambled back to her feet. It was impressive, all things considered. Veriel had expected that it would stun her opponent for at least a few more seconds, but she recovered fast.
Nuala spat blood into the ground as she glared at her. “You’re a sly bitch, aren’t you? Who the hell are you?”
The dawnmartyr shrugged and this time she was the one who moved first, closing their distance as her fist flew.