I had seen it wrong. Vex's fur hadn't turned pitch black, but a black mass had covered his hair. This black thing covered all his wounds and prevented further blood leakage.

What kind of strange stuff is that?

I fired a ball at Vex, but this black thing deformed and stopped the fireball before it could hit Vex. My fireball slowly dissolved in the black mass.

“Si! Does Tox react to fire?"

I called over to her, who, like me, had problems with Tox. I couldn't take a closer look at the two of them, so I had to ask her. Before she could give me an answer, Vex's black mass was deforming and forming spikes. They started moving towards me quickly, which drew my full attention.

*Tock*

In retreating, I ran into something. I couldn't react in time, and one of the spikes that sprang up pierced my left front paw.

Damn!

The sting itself only caused a brief pain, and the actual pain arose when Vex pulled the stinger out again.

*Ah*

I groaned in pain only to find out that I collided with Si, who got some scratches while dodging like me.

“En!”

Si shrieked when she saw my wound.

"Not now, Si!"

Behind us was the arena's wall, and half right and left in front of us were Vex and Tox. They had cornered us without us even realizing it. We didn't have much time before they launched their next attack, and if it were the same as the previous one, it would be difficult for us.

"End it, my slaves!"

The voice echoed through the arena, full of joy at her impending victory.

"Si, ready?"

"What for!?"

She answered me hastily because we didn't really have time to talk.

"Together on one."

"OK!"

We each made a fireball, but something about our fireballs was different. Si's fireball had an orange-red color and yellow tails, while my fireball was dark red, with bright red tails. I had never noticed this difference before, but our fireballs reacted to one another for some reason. My fireball slowly devoured Si's fireball. We fired this monstrous amount of fire and sent it flying towards Tox.

The black mass reacted again and wanted to prevent the impact, but it did not work as expected due to the enormous heat. The mass also began to burn and inflamed Tox completely.

Together we watched as Vex watched motionless as the body of Tox burned. He showed no reaction and no emotion.

"Abort! Abort! Abort!"

An angry, hasty voice screamed through the arena, and without any warning, Vex turned and left the stadium to the entrance from which he came. Tox's body was left behind burning.

Next to Vex, an orc wearing a black cloak and a chain of bones emerged. He looked like the epitome of a necromancer to me.

Some orcs stormed the arena to take us out. We survived the fight, but it was a bitter aftertaste that didn't lift our spirits. We had seen our friends, or at least what was left of them.

"Si... I don't want anymore..."

I saw a little white light rise from Tox and slowly float to me. But my attention waned, and I slumped to the floor before falling asleep from exhaustion.

 

=== Ork City, POV Velora ===

 

“Velora, please!”

"Today, you declared the fight is over without my benevolence and let your ...little experiment return."

This idiot gave me a headache because I had great losses tonight because of him. He whimpered before me that I would forgive him, but today was a special day as two representatives of a neighboring tribe were in the audience.

“You disappointed me, and therefore you have to compensate me for the loss or fight a fight yourself, on my terms, in one of the arenas. Your choice!?"

In these arena's, I rule, and no one else. My word was and is the law. Nobody could evade my rules, not even higher-ranking orcs.

"I... I can't pay this amount!? That is usury!?”

"Usury? This is not usury. THIS! IS! MY RIGHT!¹This! is! SPARTA!"

I kicked the orc in the stomach with all my might. He stumbled back and landed on all fours. He kept his head bowed, panting and coughing.

"Remember one thing. If you break my rules, you have to live with the consequences."

I swung out and kicked this rabbit against the wall that he wasted my time and money on.

"No!"

This useless groaned and cried out in horror.

"Rough, come in and throw this trash out."

Rough, a mountain of an orc stomped into the room and grabbed the trash in front of me. Rough pulled it out with one hand.

"Rough send Banos in. He should dispose of this thing."

My eyes fell on the lifeless body of a skulled rabbit. It was only a brief moment before Banos entered the room.

"Miss Valora, you sent for me?"

The rather thin Banos knelt in front of me when he greeted me.

"Banos, remove this thing."

I pointed to the dead rabbit's body.

"Very well."

He nodded at my orders and got to work. When he wanted to leave the room, he turned around again.

"Miss, the chief wanted to speak to you. It sounded urgent."

"Well."

Banos disappeared, and I went on my way. Our tribal chief would be waiting for me in the longhouse.

 

=== Orc city, longhouse

 

"Brother, you called."

I entered the council chamber, in which the throne stood in its center. I approached it and knelt in front of him.

"Valora, we have a problem..."

He sighed and dropped his gaze.

"The demons are more active than before, and the Hvank tribe has received strange omens."

"What does that mean for us?"

"We received this the day before they came to us."

He handed me the letter, and I looked at the seal. The seal was a snake circling a sword.

"The demons?"

I looked up at him.

“Right, in this letter, they announce the return of the first ruler, to unite us again and to march eastwards to the humans.”

He sighed and visibly dropped his shoulders in front of me.

"Do you want to rebel against them?"

“If I could... We can't openly rebel, but we need time. They want to send some messengers for more specific information, but I suspect they will only make demands. Do me a favor and let an accident happen so that we could say that they never reached us."

A dark grin appeared on his face, and I started to grin as well.

"It will be my pleasure."

I bowed one more time and left the room.