Page 8 of Bound to the Alien Gladiator
“I saw it.” He grunted as he dodged the feral beast. “They’re a bitch to take out.”
I kicked up water as I ran to shore, tasting salt in the air. “Where the hell are the weapons? We’re going to need something bigger than a stick to kill that huge fucking crocodile. Personally, I’d prefer a gun, but they don’t seem to hand those things out.”
Staying out of reach of the lion, I scanned the arena, ignoring the screaming crowd and the useless scraps of clothing they tossed into the water. The weapons had been on land before they flooded it, but I had some slim hope that maybe they’d left a few on the platforms to make things easier.
“They’re back by the entrance.”
“Of course they are.” I waded back into the flooded reservoir behind Tezakk. The island wasn’t large, and considering how much room the razor-clawed beast took up, I had little room to avoid being hit by Tezakk’s swinging weapon.
Cold seeped up my bare legs again. The murky water filled with kicked up sand, and the blood and dirt from the earlier games made it difficult to see. I desperately wanted to keep an eye on the reptile with a mouth full of teeth.
Something touched my leg. Fear spiked, and I pulled my knife out. Water rippled to my right, and I pivoted to keep it in view. Its green-scaled body broke the surface; its length wasthree times Tezakk’s. Black eyes found mine as it slipped back under the water.
“I’m going to need a bigger knife.”
“Here.” Tezakk danced back from the swiping lion and snapped off the end of his rod. He tossed me the longer end.
I caught it, the metal still warm from his grip. “What the hell am I supposed to do with this?”
“Stop playing around and kill that thing.” He faced the furred monster with a stake no longer than my forearm and lunged.
I laughed as panic set in. “How about you talk to me once you’ve taken care of your monster?”
I’d killed to survive, but fighting a twenty-foot monster that wanted to eat me hadn’t been high on my list of possible opponents. I regretted never having fished before. Flipping the spear, I pointed it at the water and hoped I’d see the mouth full of teeth before it found me.
I waded deeper. Salty water rose to my hips, and I sucked in a breath as the shock of cold hit my torso. I’d seen enough wild animal vids to know I didn’t want to be lunged at and dragged into the deep. Walking further into the water, I gave myself enough room to maneuver but wasn’t far enough out to tread water.
I stopped when the water reached my waist and planted my feet into the sand. The shifting sands sank me another inch or two before stilling. Hopefully, this predator hunted through motion and not heat signatures, or else I was fucked.
My bicep flexed as I raised my spear over my shoulder. I shivered and flexed my grip on my knife in the other fist, ready to stab this beast. “Where are you, you little shit?”
This monster was a killing machine, hell bent on death and digesting its next meal. In contrast, I was weak and tasty,and the longer I stood in this freezing water, the easier a target I became, but I’d do anything to win, to survive. Help was almost here, and I wanted off this fucking planet.
My heart raced, and my breathing drowned out the crowd. I shifted my weight. Water exploded, and I stabbed blindly. Teeth sank into my leg. I cried out, swallowing water as I was dragged under. I swiped with my knife, the salty resistance weakening its movement. The mouth shook me, re-gripping its bite. I got a shallow breath of air before I was pulled back under.
I was closer to its face now with its legs clawing into my sides, and I stabbed at anything and everything. My knife sank into soft flesh, and I floated. I took a moment to realize I was free and swam for the surface, despite my left leg refusing to move.
I broke the surface, gasping for air with no idea where I was. My legs kicked as I treaded water.
I searched the pit. “Tezakk!”
I spotted him on the island fifty yards away, a blur of black still in battle. I wanted to head to him, but the water filled with my blood would lure the monster back. Decision made, I swam toward the closest platform instead.
I blamed the saltwater stinging my eyes for any tears that might have fallen. I would not die here, or now, for the benefit of that bitch, Atroba.
The monster surfaced between me and the raft. Purple blood ran down every stab wound I’d made, including from one of its eyes, which was still struck through by my knife. But the bastard had three more to find me with. They latched onto me, and if this animal could hate, it had its hearts full of it for me.
I changed course.
Swimming had always been a strong suit of mine, but I’d never been under attack and bleeding from enough puncturewounds to render my leg numb. I looked over my shoulder to where the monster had been and found it gone.
My smooth strokes turned erratic.
Sucking in air and choking on water, I flailed toward the island. I needed to get to Tezakk. My foot hit land, and I hop-swam into the shallows. When my wounded leg failed to support me, I used the broken rod Tezakk had flung at me before I lost my knife as a crutch.
My gaze met Tezakk’s, and I swore he paled when he got a good look at me. I glanced down and swayed as the pain hit me all at once. Rows of teeth marks had been gouged into me in a crisscross pattern just above the knee and mid-thigh. My blood flowed crimson down my leg at a worrisome rate.
“I don’t think I’m going to make it,” I said.
