FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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CHAPTER 5

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Kaldor led us through the winding tunnels, I honestly didn't know how anyone could navigate their way round this place, there were no landmarks or obvious signs. We eventually reached a pair of large steel doors, on them there was a large symbol etched into its surface, the symbol of the House of Anaris.

The doors creaked as they were forced to move, inside the ceiling wasn't visible, it was so high it disappeared into the darkness; it gave the room an airy feel. The room was quite large, the pit in the center of the room was at least fifty feet wide itself. Around the circular pit there were a series of steps, it took me a moment to realise that they were for a crowd to gather and watch, Kaldor had said that we were heading for the arena. From where we stood we could make out nearly two dozen dragons sparring with each other below us.

We followed my father round to the far side of the room to a set of stone steps that led down. As I stepped into the pit the first thing I noticed was that the floor was made of soft earth rather than hard stone. As we entered a seasoned dragon turned to greet us, clasping paws with my father. As they exchanged pleasantries I looked round at the other dragons, they were all wearing loin cloths and were paired up, none of them were fighting for real, nothing too serious. Except for the spar at the far end of the room.

A blue scaled dragoness was sparring with three Zangarian males. I watched as the first male tried to grab her from behind but earned a swift heel to his groin in payment for his efforts, he quickly fell to his knees clutching his groin. Another dragon swung at her with a punch. She effortlessly ducked beneath the blow and with incredible speed landed a series of punches to his gut, he staggered back and bent over clutching his stomach. The dragoness dodged the third dragons attempt to tackle her, as he turned round to try again she somersaulted onto his shoulders with incredible agility and grace, the dragon was momentarily stunned as her legs wrapped themselves round his neck. By the time he realised what was happening it was already too late, she threw herself backwards, her legs dragging him with her slamming him hard into the ground, she released her hold of him half way throw the throw allowing her to land crouched on all fours.

She was incredible, but she wasn't done yet. The other two dragons had recovered at this point and charged her simultaneously, as they approached she leapt into the air spinning and kicked out with both legs, striking each of the males in the side of the head. They both were knocked to the ground as she landed on her foot paws, standing over the three males in victory. She flicked her long silver hair back over her shoulders and walked away like she hadn't even broken a sweat. Who ever she was, I didn't want to mess with her.

"And this is my son, Malakye." I heard my name returned my attention to the Zangarian male who had been speaking to my father.

He was around my height but had a bit more muscle than me, he looked a good few seasons older than myself, but younger than my father. He crossed his right arm across his chest in greeting and I returned the gesture. Like all other Zangarians he didn't have any hair or fur to speak of, he wore a dark red loin cloth and matching poncho, Two leather straps wrapped themselves across his chest, holding two shoulder guards in place, both made of steel with gold edging; intricate flame designs carved into them.

"Nice to meet you, I am Kassius Loki."

"Loki?" I heard Eric chirp in curiosity.

"Ah, it would appear you are familiar with the tales of the famous trickster it would seem." Kassius smiled turning his attention to Eric.

"Quite, I am curious how you come to use that name?"

"Oh you can blame my great, great grandfather for that. He was once known as the great trickster of Zangar*, and changed our family name to Loki because of it. Remind me to tell you the story sometime."

"I might just do that." Eric smiled.

"Now then Malakye, Kaldor tells me you want to train with us. I'll need to see where you are in your training."

"Okay." I nodded.

"Right then, lets find a sparring partner for you." Kassius turned to view the room.

"Her." Aceh announced pointing at the blue scaled dragoness that had just beaten three males. "You will spar with her!"

"Aceh!" I began to object but was instantly silenced by Aceh's stern glare, he was my master and I had to obey him.

"Now, there's no need to put him against Kassandra." Kassius tried to interject on my behalf.

"He fight her, he fight and win!" Aceh's surprising vote of confidence in me made my eyes go wide. Kassius sighed and rubbed his neck, obviously not sharing then same confidence, and after seeing that last spar I didn't blame him.

"Okay, if you insist. KASSANDRA!" Kassius bellowed, getting the attention of the dragoness who was speaking to another blue dragon, this one much older, my first guess was that he was her grandfather, he seemed much too old to be her father. Kassandra and the other dragon walked over.

"What is it?!" Kassandra growled, seemingly annoyed at the interruption.

Now that she was up close I could see that she was in fact stunningly beautiful. Her pale blue scales looked so smooth, her figure slim and tight, she wore not a chest wrap but an ornate piece of clothing that was a much darker blue than her scales, it moulded perfectly round her bosom, holding it comfortably while she fought. Her long silver hair made me think of the light of a full moon on a clear night.

"I would like you to spar with Malakye here." She looked me up and down with a general sense of disapproval and annoyance.

"No!"

"Now Kassandra, don't be rude." The older male spoke.

"Sorry Grandfather." She apologised, but the look in her eyes showed that she wasn't truly sorry. "Fine I'll do it, but just so you know I'm going to kick your ass!" She growled at me, and I had little doubt that she was capable of it, suddenly the confidence from Aceh's previous statement had all but vanished.

Suddenly every dragon that had been sparring was standing round us, apparently they wanted to watch the up coming fight. I turned to Aceh and he held up his paw to silence me before I got to speak a word.

"Trust your instincts, remember your training." He told me sternly, his piercing blue eyes staring into mine. I nodded and took a deep breath, I turned to face Kassandra, the dragoness was glaring at me and I knew she wasn't going to pull her punches here, and from her previous display of fighting prowess I had serious doubts I could win, let alone come out of this unscathed.

"Right, I will lay down the rules." Kassius declared as he stepped into the middle of the ring of dragons that had formed. "First to knock their opponent down three times wins. No low blows and no weapons. If I deem either one of you unable to continue I will end the fight. Understand?" I nodded and Kassandra did as well, but she didn't look away from me, her eyes burning a hole through me. "Then begin!"

Kassandra raised her arms and prepared to fight. From what I saw before I didn't stand a chance in an all out attack. I slipped into the first stance of Tigers Palm, raising my left arm in front of me and my right firmly placed at my waist; I would let her come to me. We circled each other, I waited patiently for her to strike, but it was becoming apparent that she wasn't going to attack me carelessly. I couldn't make a mistake here, it was obvious she had the upper hand when it came to fighting prowess, I had the advantage in strength and size but that probably meant she was faster than me as well; I had to time my attacks well.

The crowd around us was mostly silent but I could hear the hushed whispers of the dragons talking, the silence made it easy to make out what they were talking about, they expected me to lose badly. I looked past Kassandra to Aceh, his eyes told me everything I needed to know, that I could do this. I looked to my father and suddenly felt fear, not fear of losing, but the fear of disappointing him and my master. I had to do this!

Kassandra stepped forward and had closed the distance between us in less than a second, she jabbed with her left striking my left forearm, her punch was light but incredibly sharp; the pain seemed to drill right down to the bone. She threw another quick left but the time I deflected it, I stepped back and raised my right arm in front and held my left to my hip, reversing my stance. A look of confusion passed across Kassandra's face for a second as she took in my change of stance, she obviously didn't know what to make of it, but it didn't slow her down. She immediately began to attack again, continuing with her left jabs. Three quick jabs struck my right forearm before I managed to deflect a fourth, she had sped up, her punches still light but still just as sharp, my right forearm was throbbing in pain; just what the hell were these punches?

Her technique was tight and fast, her form immaculate, I couldn't see a chance to counter strike. As I kept backing away I kept switching my stances, each time I did she paused a second before continuing her assault. I had to act, I couldn't keep taking these punches or I'd eventually be unable to defend myself, I had to take the fight to her!

She stepped in once again using her left, I caught her fist with my right and pushed it aside and at the same time brought my left upwards towards her chin, as I expected she easily dodged my attempt to strike her, she twisted her head so my fist skimmed past her face and then brought her right fist to bear. Her fist struck me in the side of my muzzle, snapping my head to the right, but once again the punch bore no real force, just a stinging pain where she had struck me. I immediately recovered and stepped in, grabbing her by the shoulder with my left paw, but she reacted immediately; she grasped my wrist and pulled me towards her, forcing me to lose my footing, before I could regain it she twisted her entire body and spun round past me. All I could do was look over my shoulder as she gracefully spun round and drive her foot paw into my lower back.

I stumbled forward step after step, but I managed to regain my balance and remain standing, I ignored the pain in my back and turned to face her. Her muzzle scrunching up in annoyance, she had expected me to land muzzle first on the ground. Thanks to all that balance training Aceh had forced me do, standing atop the wagons as we travelled, I had managed to remain upright; this time at least.

I slammed my left foot-paw forward into the ground and raised my arms to guard my head, it was time to go on the offensive. She stepped forward without raising her guard, I lunged forward and threw a right at her, she weaved to the side avoiding my attack. Finally raising her guard in time to block the following left hook I threw at her, she grunted as she blocked my blow; but I was far from finished! I continued my assault with a couple of left jabs followed my a right hook, she was off balance and had no chance to dodge, she kept her arms up to block the blows. With her arms up that high she never saw my right knee before it struck her in the stomach, she grunted and staggered backwards and I followed up with another left hook, with struck her right arm squarely, the force knocking her slightly to the left. I swung my right leg up into a powerful round house kick which struck her squarely in the side, the force of the kick sent her sprawling across the ground.

I looked down at her with surprise, I had done it, I had knocked her down! The realisation struck her as Kassius declared the first down to me. The circle of dragons exploded into cheers and cries of disbelief. I looked to Aceh and I swear I saw him smirk for a brief second before he returned to his usual stoic expression, Kaldor on the other hand was all smiles, that made me feel a surge of pride in my chest. I returned my attention to Kassandra who was now picking herself up, she looked a little roughed up, clutching her side where I had kicked her, her long silver hair a little dishevelled, but her eyes burned with rage.

I readied myself, intending to maintain my offensive while I had the upper hand, once Kassius issued the order to continue I immediately lunged forward and threw a jab, but I could only watch as she ducked under my arms and bring hers upwards striking me square on the chin. My head snapped skyward and the next thing I felt was a flurry of blows to my chest and stomach, after half a dozen punches to my torso she finished with an uppercut. My head snapped back once again and I staggered backwards, I could feel myself falling.

I caught myself, my knees shaking badly as I tried to shake it off, but all ready I could feel the effects of those punches, light and sharp, sending pain deep into my core; wearing me down. I could taste blood, that last punch had burst my lip. My knees wobbled and threatened to give way, my confidence to win this fight had suddenly vanished. I had gotten lucky while she was under estimating me, now that I had pissed her off she was suddenly moving much faster than before, a speed I had no hope of matching.

I continued to block her barrage of punches, she was using her speed to great effect, and now the searing pain was constantly there. It was getting harder to move my arms, even while angered her assault was cold and calculated. She was now starting to throw kicks into the mix, making it even harder for me to read her moves, her kicks held a great deal of power, not delivering a pain deep to my bones like her punches, but pure brute force, enough to send me staggering from each one. Somehow I managed to remain standing but now I felt little more than a practise dummy, my arms felt heavy and slow, it was taking every ounce of will power I had to keep them raised. I didn't know if I could beat her, I didn't know if it was even possible to ever beat her, but one thing I did know; if I fell to the ground I wasn't getting back up.

Through the barrage of painful punches I looked to Aceh, his expression as stoic as ever, but his words echoed through my mind. 'Trust your instincts, remember your training.'

My training was failing me, no more accurately I was failing my training, I had stopped all attempts at using Tigers Fist or Tigers Palm; I was just blocking. That meant I was failing Aceh. I couldn't fail him like this, he had agreed to teach me, all those hours of arduous training he put me through, all the time he spent teaching me to be strong so I could protect those I care about; if I gave up on it what was the point of it all?

Kassandra was a few feet away, slowly circling me, her fists raised ready to fight, her guard was low but she was just outside my range. I doubted I could move fast enough to close the distance and take advantage of her poor guard, but I had to try. I pulled back my right and threw myself towards her, she smirked before calmly sidestepping and delivering a swift kick to the back of my knee. I fell to one knee but caught myself before I fell completely. I couldn't see Kassandra, she was behind me. I could feel her anger and rage radiating against my back, it was like I could see her, she was on the move ready to deliver the final blow.

I could almost picture her movements in my mind leaping from one foot to another, spinning round, her leg raised to strike when she completed her spin; she was attacking from the right! I raised my arms into a cross in front of me and turned my body to the right, her kick came as I had expected, crashing into my guard with incredible force. Using my arms I diverted the force upwards, using her kick to give me the momentum to push me upwards and back onto my foot paws. I clumsily staggered back a few steps but managed to catch my balance.

I had done it, I had read her moves! Her expression told the whole story; she was in complete disbelief. The crowd around us couldn't believe it either, I was still standing, all of them including Kassandra had expected that to be the final blow. Her expression changed back to anger.

I slipped into a stance and readied myself, it wasn't until after I realised what stance I had entered, it was Striking Tiger. I hesitated and nearly switched back into Tigers Palm but once again Aceh's words echoed through my mind.

'Trust your instincts!'

My instincts had put he here, so now I would follow them! I readied myself, taking a deep breath as I prepared to end this fight. If I hesitated in anyway I would lose, falling on the double edged blade that was Striking Tiger, I would not let Aceh down; I would show him the fruits of his labour and win this fight!

The moment Kassandra began to throw herself at me I did the same, my target already picked out, my defence and thoughts for self preservation discarded to the wind, I would take down my opponent or they would take me down; this was the final few seconds of this fight!