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- After Tanya had defeated Fergus the number of challenges to her
- supremacy had decreased in number, but the ability of the men
- who challenged her had increased. She found herself fighting
- only once per week, but the fights left her bruised and sore.
- She increased her training, building up her strength and
- endurance to nearly superhuman levels. Her weight increased
- from two hundred five to two hundred twenty pounds. Her height
- remained the same, six feet three inches. Since she measured
- herself daily, Tanya knew that her upper arms had gone from
- seventeen to eighteen and a half inches and her forearms from
- fifteen and three-quarter inches to over sixteen. Her thigh
- girth was now over twenty-nine inches (up from twenty seven and
- a half) and her calves were over twenty-one and a half inches.
- She could lift almost half again as much weight as when she had
- started.
-
- Tanya had also changed her attire both in and out of the pit.
- She wore a cloak made of lion skin, with the mane forming the
- hood. Her breechcloth in the pit was now made of snakeskin.
- She had found a tattoo artist who had added a large tattoo on
- her back. It depicted a large snake with a woman's head
- crushing a male lion to death. These added to her mystique, and
- helped intimidate her opponents.
-
- Tanya entered the building and walked up to her partner, Trask.
- He held the sheet of paper with the names of the entrants for
- the night's battles.
-
- "Are you up to fighting tonight, Tanya?" he asked. "It's been
- a week now, the people are getting anxious to see you in the pit
- again."
-
- Tanya moved even closer to Trask, towering over him. Alarmed,
- he stepped back a pace. "Careful, little man, one day you'll
- push me too far. I don't think you really want to make me
- angry," she said softly. Her pale eyes flashed fire, belying
- her mild words. "Do you?"
-
- "Er, no offense intended, Tanya," stammered Trask. "It's just
- that our profits go up whenever you enter the pit, especially if
- it's known in advance."
-
- "Is there a good challenge tonight?"
-
- "One man said he won't enter his fighter unless it's to fight
- you," Trask said. "Says he'll wait as long as it takes until
- you're ready."
-
- "Sounds like that one needs to learn a little respect. All
- right, I'll fight tonight." Tanya frowned thoughtfully. "I'd
- better go and start getting ready."
-
- Tanya went to her preparation room, where her servants rubbed
- healing potions into her muscles and massaged her to loosen her
- muscles. She then spent some time lifting light weights and
- shadowboxing to get herself ready. Finally her servants braided
- her long auburn hair and pinned it on top of her head. Then
- they covered her entire body with a thin coating of oil, to
- highlight her muscles. Finally they helped her into the
- snakeskin breechcloth and held the lion cloak out to her. Trask
- knocked at the door. "It's time," he said.
-
- Tanya rose and started the walk to the pit. In the pit, Trask
- was beginning the introductions.
-
- "The last fight of the evening, a fight without weapons, just
- body against body. Now entering the pit, the challenger,
- standing six feet eight inches tall and weighing two hundred and
- seventy pounds, Cador the Cruel!" Cador was a mountain of a
- man, with long black hair hanging in two braids to the small of
- his back. His body was heavily muscled, with almost no fat.
- Scars covered his arms and legs. There was a scar on his face
- that reached from his right temple to beneath his chin. He
- stalked to one side of the pit and waited.
-
- "Now, the Champion of the pit. She stands six feet three inches
- tall and weighs two hundred and twenty pounds. Undefeated in
- over one hundred fights at this pit, please welcome Tanya!"
-
- Tanya entered the pit to the roar of the crowd. She gazed at
- her opponent, looking for a weakness, but none was apparent.
- Seeing her look at him, Cador grinned cruelly and flexed his
- huge arms, trying to intimidate her, but Tanya ignored his show
- and turned her back to him, removing the lion skin as she did
- so, letting Cador see the tattoo on her back. She then flexed
- her own muscles for the crowd, basking in their approval of her
- physique. Tanya then turned back to face Cador, a slight smile
- on her lips, cold fire glinting from her eyes. Cador met her
- gaze for a while, then looked away. Tanya's smile broadened a
- bit, and she waited for the signal.
-
- Trask waited until the crowd had finished placing wagers on the
- two fighters, then rang the gong. Tanya and Cador began
- cautiously, circling the pit floor, each looking for weaknesses
- in the other. As they closed in, Tanya realized that Cador
- dwarfed her in every physical way. She hoped that her skills
- were up to this challenge.
-
- Cador closed the distance between in an instant, driving a big
- shoulder into Tanya's ribs. She felt herself lifted off her
- feet as Cador crushed her in a bear hug, then rushed across the
- pit to drive her back into the wall. Tanya gasped with the
- force of the blow. Much of the air had been driven from her
- lungs, and she found it difficult to breathe. Cador released
- his grip and stepped back, watching with satisfaction as Tanya
- slumped to the floor of the pit. He raised an enormous right
- foot, readying himself to stomp her into the sand.
-
- Tanya saw the foot descending and rolled away from it as quickly
- as she could. Tanya knew the blow to her back had damaged her,
- and she needed to get some room between herself and the
- dark-haired behemoth in the pit with her. She scrambled to her
- feet and tried to regain her breath, ignoring the stabbing pain
- in her back. Cador lunged toward her, determined to end the
- battle swiftly. Tanya saw him coming in time and leaped to the
- side. Cador's rush carried him beyond her, and Tanya saw her
- opportunity. She drove a hard kick into Cador's back, right at
- kidney level. He grunted in pain as her foot struck home.
- Cador rolled forward to evade any further blows and got to his
- feet, facing Tanya. Pain showed on both their faces as they
- stalked each other again.
-
- Tanya knew that Cador's plan was to get close, ignoring anything
- she might do, and crush her with his superior strength and
- weight. After feeling the power of those big arms, she knew
- Cador was stronger than she was. Her only chance lay in
- outmaneuvering him, and slowing him down with damaging punches
- and kicks, trying to weaken him so she could finish him off.
- Judging by the pain in her back she had at least one broken rib
- already, and she knew that she had to end the fight as soon as
- possible.
-
- Cador rushed in again, but this time Tanya was ready for his
- speed. She dropped to her back, driving both legs into his
- belly as he went over her, flipping him over half way across the
- pit to land hard on his back. The two battlers got to their
- feet at the same instant, ready to fight. Cador stayed low,
- moving in on Tanya relentlessly. Tanya waited for his rush,
- ready to react and strike. Cador moved to his left, and as
- Tanya leaped to her left to avoid him she ran into a cloud of
- sand thrown up by his right hand. The sand blinded her, and she
- tried to wipe the stinging grains from her eyes.
-
- The crowd booed at Cador's tactic. Though there were no real
- rules in the pit, certain things were frowned upon. Cador moved
- in on his apparently helpless opponent. He doubled one huge
- hand and punched Tanya in the belly. Tanya sensed the blow
- coming and tensed her abdominal muscles to take it. Cador's
- punch drove her back several feet, but did not penetrate the
- shield of her muscles. Tanya rolled over backwards, adding to
- the momentum given her by the punch, gaining distance. Finally
- she cleared most of the sand from her eyes and was able to see,
- though her vision was somewhat blurred. She realized that Cador
- had slipped behind her only when he locked his huge arms around
- her and squeezed.
-
- Cador lifted Tanya off her feet. The breath was crushed from
- her lungs by his arms. Tanya kept her head and looked for a way
- to free herself. Her arms were loose, and she grabbed Cador's
- wrists with her huge hands and struggled to break his hold.
- Mighty muscles rippled in her enormous arms as she fought to
- force Cador's hands apart. She knew that if she didn't free
- herself soon, she'd lose consciousness from lack of oxygen.
-
- Cador slowly realized that his bear hug was being broken.
- Tanya's unbelievable strength, added to her desperation, had
- broken the lock. When Tanya felt her feet touch the ground
- again she drove her head backward into Cador's face. Several of
- his teeth were loosened, and Tanya felt the blow shake her up as
- well. She was able to retain enough sense to drive her right
- elbow into Cador's belly. It didn't do much damage, but it
- created the space Tanya needed in order to maneuver.
-
- Driving punches into his belly and face like a madwoman, Tanya
- forced Cador backwards. Her fists opened several cuts on his
- face, and his muscular belly started to show bruises where her
- rock hard hands landed. Cador tried to fend her off, but Tanya
- drove a kick up into his groin. "That's for the sand in the
- eyes, bastard," she growled. Tanya watched with satisfaction as
- Cador doubled up in agony and fell to the ground. She continued
- a barrage of kicks to his unprotected back as he struggled to
- his feet again. Tanya was amazed by his ability to withstand
- pain.
-
- As Cador regained his feet, Tanya spun behind him and leaped on
- his back. She locked her hands under his chin and wrapped her
- big legs around his midsection. Cador felt his balance going,
- and he toppled sideways onto the sand. Tanya tightened the vise
- of her legs, trying to force the breath from Cador's body, and
- buying some more time to recover both her breath and her sight
- while causing him more suffering. Cador tried to break the
- scissorlock with his arms, but could not. He felt consciousness
- leaving him as he tried to breathe past her pythonesque legs.
- He then reached backward and grabbed her by the ears, then
- pulled her chin down onto his head. The blow rattled Tanya,
- causing her to release the headlock. Shaking her head, she
- began to get mad. Tanya grabbed Cador's braids and wrapped them
- around his throat, starting to choke him. Cador reached up
- desperately and clawed at her eyes with his hands. Blinded,
- Tanya released both the scissors and his hair. She rolled
- quickly away, and lay on the ground, blinking the tears from her
- eyes. Tanya dimly saw Cador lumbering toward her again, and was
- barely ready for him when he arrived.
-
- Using her athletic legs, Tanya drove up from the ground and
- smashed him in the midsection with her shoulder. Straightening
- up, she flipped Cador's enormous form over her shoulder to come
- crashing down on his back. Roaring in frustration, Cador
- regained his feet and rushed toward the burly redhead,
- determined to crush her into the ground.
-
- Cador raised his right arm and tried to smash Tanya's head by
- clubbing it with his fist. She got her left up with no time to
- spare and blocked the tremendous blow, saving her head but
- sacrificing her left arm. The forearms of both fighters snapped
- from the impact. Pain exploded in Tanya's arm and she was
- driven back down to the sand. Cador roared in agony as his
- right arm shattered, and he staggered backward, cradling his
- useless limb.
-
- Tanya knew that the fight would be won or lost in the next few
- moments. She forced herself to her feet and leaped at Cador.
- Desperation added to her strength, and she smashed her right
- fist into his already damaged belly. Cador was not prepared to
- take the punch, and Tanya felt her hand penetrate his muscle
- shield and drive into his vitals. Stepping back to give herself
- some room, she lunged at him feet first, delivering a tremendous
- kick to his jaw, shattering it. To Cador, it felt like a
- sledgehammer had hit him in the belly and then a horse had
- kicked him in the head. He was nearly unconscious when he hit
- the floor of the pit, flat on his back. Tanya stood over him
- and drove the heel of her right hand into his nose, using all
- the strength she could muster. Her hand destroyed his skull
- drove the shards into the brain beyond. Blood geysered upward,
- splattering her with gore. Breathing hard, Tanya stood slowly
- upright, blood dripping from her right hand. She lifted her arm
- in a gesture of victory, then slumped to the floor. Tanya knew
- it would be several months before she could fight again.
-
-
- --