Four days. Four days in which every afternoon was turned into a slaughter in honor of the tiki. The thinner the number of the Puck fighters became, the more often the troll contestants lost. You could count on one hand the normal gladiators of the Pucks at the end, plus their best, and today, the fourth day, was the last. The problem was, the fewer fighters the pucks had in the last few days, the more often all the fighters had to compete several times and that had drained some of them. The lack of opponents had become so great that even Abaroth had been taking part in the trials since yesterday, as he had just done.

  “Rip his teeth out!” the troll spectators demanded heatedly. The Setek had been the gladiator who had to compete most often, and that was only because the trolls wanted him dead.

  Abaroth had just made it to a good position in this fight. All three contestants were spread out in front of him and he could breathe easy. With his lower arms he wielded a one-handed sword and a medium-sized round shield, while his upper arms held a double-sided, serrated, barbed spear and kept it spinning above his head.

  The troll examinees finally wanted a victory and they didn’t care how it came. “You use your javelins, all of them!” demanded a Baldslayer. “And you throw your weapon while I attack! He can’t fend off everything!”

  “Weak strategy,” hoisted Abaroth provocatively. “No wonder you won’t survive this test.”

  “We’ll see about that!” roared the female Venomsnake. She jumped at the words and charged forward with her two axes.

  “Stupid woman!” growled the Baldslayer, but he followed her directly.

  The Riverfang warrior stayed behind and did as he was told. He grabbed the javelins from his pouch and hurled them at the setek from the side.

  Abaroth was pure muscle and his speed was typical of a setek. Deathly courageous, he threw himself into the fight and swapped sword and shield hands. This allowed him to deflect the small spears that turned his defensive shield into an equally offensive spike trap.

  Blinded by rage and hatred against the setek, this did not deter the female Venomsnake. She swung her axes, but quickly suffered several slashes from the spiked shield, causing her to retreat, snarling.

  Abaroth advanced and kept her at bay with his shield, but she was not his target. He catapulted his spear from his wrist and drove it through the throat of the approaching Baldslayer.

  Although the setek were the sworn enemies of the trolls, some spectators could not believe the agility with which the gladiator dived past the female Venomsnake. In the process, she was knocked off her feet by the end of its tail.

  All the fighting had really tired Abaroth out, which is why he went on such a risky offensive. With the protective shield in front of him, he charged towards the Riverfang beast, who drew a greatsword from his back. However, the setek used all his storm momentum and let the sword strike resound not only against his shield. He simply overran the troll and plunged his own javelins into its body.

  However, the female Venomsnake was quick and already on her feet again. She approached the setek’s back unnoticed on hasty feet.

  Abaroth only turned around at the last moment and instinctively spewed a load of sight-robbing venom from its wide open mouth.

  The liquid also caused a burning sensation, causing the female to drop her weapons and stagger back, screaming. Seconds later, the setek wrapped around her and he crushed her with a jerk. All the examinees were dead.

  This only infuriated the spectators even more. “KILL HIM!” they demanded and many a troll wanted to storm the square, but this was so different from Cecil’s first fight a few days ago. However, the Jatals had anticipated this. Far more guards from all the tribes brutally held back the peacebreakers and even killed one of them.

  “Come here now!” Nukzos called nervously to his slave. He was already halfway there and had disappeared from sight in the direction of the puck’s camp. He had made it, for this had been his last fight and there was only one test left.

  “We must make amends for this disgrace by any means necessary,” Tok’Moji said muffled. He spoke into his chin-supporting hand. “We must win the main battle and then make a more than worthy sacrifice to the tiki. Having to let a Setek go alive...”

  “A beast, like all those gladiators,” Banjhan assured him. His ritual had taken almost two days, but he had received the advice and signs he had hoped for. “Even if you don’t like to hear it. All these fighters are equally worthless in the eyes of the tiki. They are all setek at heart and yet they have served their purpose by eliminating the weakest trolls from each tribe.”

  “And the tiki seem to favor us. No matter the outcome of the final trial, we will have the most fighters in contention.”

  “Speaking of the final trial,” Banjhan caught his eye as he pointed to the champion’s empty seat. “Khojun was gone before the setek fight. Where is he?”

  “All this watching and waiting for the fight must be tiring for him,” Mok’Toji guessed. He looked jokingly at his female. “I wonder if he’ll mount one of your servants? Or another chosen female?”

  “He is our strongest warrior,” Ine’kata said. One of her servants was here, but Majanie had made herself a little scarcer in the last few days. “Any female who is free should be grateful to be taken by him.”

  A short distance away from the ritual site, Blood Tusk, two Roder guards and Nukzo’s assistant had just arrived. “The boss told me to tell you that if you win the final battle, you’ll get your own quarters in the Pit of Flesh and you’ll have one wish!”

  “I have my own quarters,” Bluood Tusk replied bluntly. “And wish? What kind of wish?”

  “Well, one wish! You can tell us what you would like to have!”

  “You’ve already given me everything I want. I don’t need a wish and I don’t need a new quarter.”

  The assistant rarely had anything to do with the giant, which is why he could hardly understand the refusal. “But the new quarter will be so much better! And maybe you want to eat something you’ve never eaten before?”

  “Food I’ve never eaten before,” Blood Tusk murmured simply. He stopped and looked down at the puck. “If I’ve never eaten it before, how am I supposed to wish for it? Without a name?”

  “Well that eh,” the assistant raised his finger before scratching his chin in embarrassment. “Good point.” His gait and that of his group came to an abrupt halt as a Riverfang troll suddenly appeared from each side and he spoke uncertainly in trollish. “Dear Riverfangs! What can we do for you?”

  The five trolls covering the group said nothing in response. Another took over. “Well, well,” Khojun said snidely in troll language. He ignored the roder guards and Nukzo’s assistant. The puck had to dodge him to avoid being kicked off his foot. “An unclean eyesore, on his way to his execution.”

  The roders didn’t understand a word and looked to the assistant for help, while Blood Tusk calmly lowered his eyes to the Riverfang champion.

  “Ah I forgot, unclean in every form,” Khojun spat disrespectfully next to the gladiator’s feet before switching to his bad common tongue. “Your luck ends today. You do not win.”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Even when Blood Tusk understood the words, he remained stubbornly silent. The Riverfang champion’s prediction completely passed him by.

  This stirred Khojun up inside, which he covered up with a slight growl. “Show me respect or I’ll make sure your whole camp is dead!”

  Nukzos assistant didn’t dare say a word and he trembled for his life.

  “Why?” asked Blood Tusk straightforwardly.

  “Because I can,” Khojun replied and he raised his right hand. The Riverfang warriors around him put their hands on their weapons, ready to strike at his command.

  “No, why should I show you respect?”

  Khojun looked puzzled. Never before had such a lowly troll dared to speak to him like that. In fact, it was a completely new feeling for the 2.75 meter tall warrior to have to look up to someone and this made the respected troll feel uneasy. “I’m the best of my tribe!” he remarked, his chest swelling with pride. “Only my Jatal and the high priest are above me.”

  “I’m also the best in the arena,” Bluood Tusk said honestly. His candor could unintentionally come across as insulting or argumentative to someone like the Riverfang. “But I don’t ask anyone to pay me anything.”

  “A dirty pit fighter. That’s what you are. You can’t ask for anything, I can and i did.”

  This conversation was completely pointless for Blood Tusk. “Yes, you did,” he stated dryly. “And you’re not getting it from me. Don’t know you.” The giant’s gaze went to his left leg. Nukzos assistant had grabbed hold of it and was about to wet his pants.

  “Insult after insult,” Khojun took a deep breath and reached for the huge two-handed sword on his back. “If I cut off your head now, the tiki will forgive me. I’m sure of it.”

  So that was what this was all about. Blood Tusk realized that the stranger wanted a fight and had simply been looking for a reason instead of honestly saying what he wanted. “Okay,” was all he said as his right hand closed tightly around his bisento.

  “Not at all, Khojun!” a female voice called out. She alone prevented the two parties from going at each other. “Yes, that would be wiser.”

  “What are you doing here, herb witch?” Khojun grumbled at the sight of Zu’ji.

  “Nothing,” Zu’ji said fearlessly and innocently. “I was just wondering where our champion could have ended up when the fighting was coming to an end and we were all hoping that the setek would finally be massacred.”

  “He’s still alive?”

  “Perhaps your presence would have spooked him into making a mistake,” Zu’ji suggested as she stepped between the remaining river fangs. Blood Tusk didn’t even look at her, but she ran her hand over his enormous arm muscles. “Instead, you’re here delaying the arrival of the fighter, for the final test. Does he fascinate you that much? Does he make your blood boil?”

  “Unlike you, snake priestess, I do not defile myself by touching that thing,” Kohjun spat on the ground again and he finished his attack plans. “He’s not even worthy of my blade.”

  “Perhaps he is worthy of the blade of an examinee,” Zu’ji teased deliberately, but not too obviously. “That’s how it has to be, after all. I’m sure you have a vested interest in that. Otherwise, the examinees will be worthy of his blade and therefore unworthy of our tribe.”

  All at once, the other Tiverfangs looked at their champion and Khojun gave them furtive glances before stalling the situation. “I’m not exchanging words with a snake. Let’s go!” he ordered and he and his troop departed.

  Zu’ji waited before addressing a cool word to the giant. “I know our time was days ago, but may I make a request?”

  “What is it?”

  “Prepare a cruel death for the examinees. Do not hold back.”

  “Death is death. I see no point in making it particularly cruel. If it happens, it happens.”

  “That’s why it’s a request. Don’t you like making females happy?”

  “I usually make females happy in other ways,” said Blood Tusk. However, after the herb witch had given him a truly intense night of lust and it was probably just part of these troll tribes, he at least didn’t completely shut himself off. “No promises. I kill to win. When I can, I win cruelly.”

  Zu’ji bit her hand bloody and she marked the giant’s arm with her red. “You will win, I’m sure of it.”

  Everyone looked at the herb witch. Only Blood Tusk lowered his gaze to Nukzos assistant. He had fallen into a complete state of shock and the gladiator continued to run unhindered with him by the leg.

  A short time later, the Jatal of the Baldslayers gave his final speech to the examinees, who were more than ready to face Bluthauer in the circle of tears. They had every possible advantage, all three of them thought. After all, they had seen him fight often enough.

  The Jatal speech, however, eluded Majanie completely. She walked through the back rows of Riverfang spectators.

  Zu’ji watched from there on her own. “I take it it’s done?” she murmured softly without looking at her student.

  “See for yourself,” Majanie replied lowly. She presented herself and her upper body showed plenty of bite marks. She also briefly pulled aside her skirt and fleeting remnants of semen flowed down her thighs. “And I bit him a lot.”

  “I hope you enjoyed it a little too.”

  “It was all right,” Majanie nodded hesitantly and let go of her apron. “I drained and weakened him for the sake of duty.”

  Zu’ji noticed the hesitation. “Were you really all in? You seem to disapprove of your actions.”

  “It’s not that,” Majanie shook her head immediately. However, she needed more than she had been told before. “I didn’t question it because we got our confirmation. Blood Tusk is a true ancestor. Still ... isn’t it against the laws of the tiki for us to influence the trials?”

  “Anything can influence an examinee, whether intentionally or unintentionally,” Zu’ji explained calmly. She feared no punishment from the tiki for this. She had instructed her student to mate intensively with the Riverfang examinee. Majanie had also applied a mixture to her fingernails and teeth that could cause hallucinations. “Each examinee is responsible for himself. Think about it: a warrior who does not train before this ritual and neglects his skills. If he then falls in the Circle of Tears, it is his own fault. It was his decision not to train. In the same way, he could fill his belly if his female cooks him well. It makes him slow and might kill him.” Zu’ji grinned slyly at her devoted student. “Or he has too much blood in his cock and lets himself be seduced by a female who is not well-disposed towards him. He fucks her all night, wears himself down and gets poisoned by her. That was his choice, so don’t be afraid that you’ve broken a law. You know the signs are in our favor for a reason.”

  A stone fell from Majanie’s heart. “Wise words. I’m sure the all-seeing serpent is very proud of you.”

  “And you, my beloved,” Zu’ji smiled contentedly as the signal sounded for the final battle to begin. “But now go, before your La’Jatal misses you too much.”

  “Yes, Mistress,” Majanie bowed her head and left.

  The first blades met in the Circle of Tears. The force of Blood Tusk’s bisento shattered the greatsword of a Venomousnake and the giant drove his weapon through his opponent’s hip. He sliced the Venomsnake in two with a clean cut.

  However, this did not discourage the other candidates. Instead, they saw their chance and attacked from two sides simultaneously.

  The Baldslayer had a two-handed axe and the hooded Riverfang warrior even wielded two weapons. A machete-like one-handed sword and a double-sided sickle sword, with the blade of the sickle bent in the opposite direction on each side.

  Despite the simultaneous attack, Blood Tusk was able to intercept the axe and the one-handed sword blow with both ends of his bisento. It was another demonstration of his sheer strength. He had to use it, because the Riverfang warrior rushed forward with his double blade and Blood Tusk pushed his polearm away from him.

  This threw the blocked weapons back, along with their guiding hands.

  Instead of his bisento, Blood Tusk now only used his left hand. It grabbed the off-balance Baldslayer by the neck and he lifted him high into the air as he ran. A second later, the giant smashed his opponent to the ground. He barely survived, only to have the gladiator’s foot pressed noticeably slowly against his face.

  The Riverfang examinee blinked. His heart raced and he breathed uncontrollably. The world blurred for him and he saw not a gladiator, but an evil, indestructible spirit.

  The hallucinogen in his blood was of a special nature. It worked when the body exerted itself physically. Good exertion, like a mating, was pure joy. Negative stimulation, like a death struggle, turned the world into a nightmare.

  “Back up!” warned the Riverfang. He walked backwards, towards the edge of the circle. “You don’t belong here!”

  Sitting on his place of honor, Khojun growled softly. “What are you doing?”

  “Huh,” Tok’Moji murmured uncertainly. “If he leaves the circle, he dies.”

  “ATTACK!” Khojun roared boldly. “YOU ARE STRONGER!”

  It didn’t change the evil frenzy, but the champion’s words at least moved the Riverfang examinee to a desperate charge. He was not bad, despite the drug in his body, but he had to suffer.

  Blood Tusk saw no challenge and he inflicted one agonizing cut after another on his opponent. It might have seemed like a humiliating game, but to him it was just a slow kill. In between, he severed one of his hands, kicked him to the ground and plunged the blade between his ribs. Blood Tusk didn’t like it a bit.

  Some of the Riverfang spectators fell to their knees and so did some of the Venomsnakes and the Baldslayers. They audibly pleaded for the tiki, as to the gladiator, to stop.

  Khojun, meanwhile, had to be held back by two guards. “LET GO OF ME!”

  Blood Tusk was just as tired of this fight. But he did not end it because the spectacle was dishonorable. The word was foreign to him and had no meaning, because in a fight the only thing that counted in the end was who was better. The gladiator pierced the chest of the test candidate because it was simply pointless for him to drag out a winning fight unnecessarily and in such a way.

  Finally, Khojun broke out in a rage and even the guards at the edge of the ring could not stop him.

  “KHOJUN! DON′T!” Tok’Moji shouted, but the Jatal’s command was ignored.

  A startled murmur went through the rows of spectators as the champion was about to break the sacred laws of the ritual site.

  Just before the white edge, a black snake suddenly emerged from the sand and darted forward. Its bite into his calf was enough to bring him down right in front of the edge. He was only asleep.

  Petrified, the spectators looked at the knocked-out champion and the snake, which slithered aggressively over him and piled up into a circle.

  Exalted and unafraid of contact, Zu’ji strode to the scene. All eyes were on the Haruk’Zil priestess as she took in the calming serpent. “The all-seeing serpent sees everything and knows our innermost being!” she proclaimed with stern spirituality. “It has just saved us from a gross breach of the laws given by the tiki themselves! We should be extremely grateful to her for that!”