Chapter 9

I move faster than any horse, double if not triple it's speed dodging most trees and going right through others, it isn't painful but I feel kinda bad for wildlife. I stop at the tree line to change back and sprint into the fighting stadium. Once inside I talk to the lady at the counter when I tell her my name she tells me to head into room number three, the place is well furnished and when I find a beautiful door with a large three on it I head inside. The interior is different, weapon racks line the room, everything possible is here, and once I have a bow and quiver of arrows I head into the next room.

Samantha dressed in full heavy armour sits on a bench, worst part is, she's crying so hard she doesn't even notice me enter, mind you she is sitting with her head in her hands. I sit next to her, I was never very good at consoling but I make an effort, "you shouldn't cry, my mother told me when beautiful women cry it pulls at the hearts of angels." My mother did tell me this but I don't know why I'm telling her, "besides with a witch as powerful as you he's toast, I feel kinda bad for him."

My pathetic attempt somehow gets her to stop crying, she looks up at me with tears in her eyes, "you think so."

"Yeah might as well earn a rep of the woman who kicked his Bloodcrest ass," she smiles a small bit before lying her head down in my lap. Now I know I should be thrilled as a male but I go stiff in all places but one and thank god for that, sadly it don't last long and the other thing also starts getting stiffer. Thankfully the opposite wall of the door starts to lift, our match will soon start. She gets to her feet wiping away tears and we walk to our position on the field, the match is decided into two sections, the first one you need to bond with your master then there's the fighting stage.

I had read the important parts of the rituals and know there are four different ones, the higher the rank of bond the stronger the bond and in the end the more amount of control the Witch has with the Familiar. Number one you take a single dagger by the blade and allow the master to rip it free from your hand at which point the witch says some funny words, the bond is minor and only means they will protect them at the cost of their life. The second is done with two daggers and means you cannot lie to them as well as protect them, the second is the most common. The third, which is rare, you cut each palm with a single dagger and then allow the witch to say some words before stabbing your right hand, this makes you also able to sense each other's location. Finally the fourth and most rare you draw one dagger and hand it to the witch they will the cut from the right wrist to the left via your arms and back, making your souls almost one you can't lie, you have to protect them, you know where they are and for the last thing you can sense the others emotions. In that I learned, this culture is fucked.

First things first kneel, once I'm knelt down I draw a dagger, I am going to be bound to her either way so I can't choose the first, the second seems for pussys so I had originally settled on three, recent feeling have changed my mind and not for the better. Holding my hand out to her I open my palm with the dagger resting there, she takes it and is shocked as to leaves my hand without any blood being shed. Removing my shirt I bend over and wait for what is to happen next, the dagger is sharp and cuts easy, my father had always told me if I wanted to impress a woman I couldn't act like a sissy. So I keep a straight face as a cut is slowly made up my right arm, over my shoulder blades and down the left.

When her words have finished I feel the cut burn like fire but pay no attention as I get to my feet ready to fight, in my world problems are solved by fists or words, in this one, blood. If I'm to live here I need to be committed, she hasn't said it but I know in the bottom of my heart, she has no friends and no family, Ray had leant a hand out of pity, nothing more. In my heart I know we would both rather be alone together.

Leaving my shirt in the dirt I knock an arrow and stand with the only person I have in this world, or any world for that matter.

Armin's familiar uses the tier three bond and once they have finished a large horn signals the start of our fight, the familiar runs at me a strategy used by Lou once mind you it doesn't work for either of them I release two arrows in seconds one for his ankle the other for when he falls his right wrist. Both of them hit their targets and on the magic side of things Armin launches rapid fire, fireballs missing each time, although Samantha's dream water gun also falls short. They move closer step by step never letting up, the familiar who had been healed between fireballs comes charging once again.

I have never used a bow as a shield but it is metal and I have seen lord of the rings, where Legolas destroys close combat. We have a duel with the weapons but in the end I miss a kick and am booted back. The dirt is packed so there is no cushioning, knowing my life depends on it I get back up, we once again are locked together. I get an arrow knocked in my bow but that is when I see Samantha and Armin, Samantha is taking a beating dodging left and right not able to get a shot off, I need to help. Drawing the arrow while still using it as a shield I aim, this close to his familiar I would not have missed but the same was about to be for Armin. Releasing the arrow it flies through the air thankfully knocking Armins wand to the ground, giving Samantha enough time to retaliate.

The familiar is persistent though and somehow manages to cut my bow in half with a powerful cut, without the bow I have a dagger which I'm trash at using. He quickly disarms me, with nothing left I pull out my last weapon, my inner wolf.

What would have been the finishing blow turns into the blow that he shatters his sword against my face, gotta admit I feel pretty good about it too. The crowd goes from cheering to silent in seconds, so abruptly in fact, Samantha and Armin notice, although at first they assume a familiar died but when they see the shock is widespread. Smacking Armin's familiar causes the fight to continue and once I'm sure the dude is unconscious I move in to use my body as a shield from three fireballs. Seeing me join Samantha he falls back and heads for his familiar, to me it looks like he is going to forfeit, but Samantha doesn't let her guard down, she does however yell at me.

"What are you! Why didn't you tell me? We are going to have some words when this is over!" I completely dwarf her as we stand side by side, Armin however now next to the sleeping woman he called a familiar, once she is awake she gets to her knees and faces us. Her arms are at her sides and her eyes are closed, and Armin stands over her arms raised to the sky shouting some sort of spell. Before I can move in the ground starts to move between us, before my eyes twenty knights crawl from the earth. Not zombies either, they have skin and weapons, they are minions, presumably controlled by the familiar because Armin starts a new spell.

In the book I had read it said you can communicate by thought to your witch and them to you when you had a tier four bond, so I attempt to send a, "get on my back," while lying down. She does listen so I send a, "hold on," next, we then charge, I fought much more skilled men in black so it comes easy with Samantha. The men last no time at all and we head for Armin next, a large swirling pentagram has now appeared completely blocking out Armin and his familiar. I hear Samantha's voice echo with concern inside my head, "he's going to use a spell called dragons breath. It is as powerful as a full sized dragons by the looks of it, neither one of us can be hit it will kill us, you need to evade it, it's powerful but not easily turned." As she finishes the spell widens surrounding Armin 360 degrees, so there is no avoiding it, even still I could shield my face with the rest of my body allowing me to live but it would toast Samantha.

She speaks to me once again calm this time, "Jack, if I die now our bond isn't fully finished you would be free to live your life, there is an emergency exit door that is old and weak you would bust through easily. No one could catch you, go be free I wouldn't judge." She is sad but completely serious, what she says is true.

Now it's my turn to respond, "what life, now grab my ears and lie flat on my back legs up, this isn't my first experience with a dragon's breath." I head straight into it head first making sure she is shielded, my eyes stay closed while I run through the beam of fire and it isn't till the flames stop that I open them. My face is burned pretty bad but I can't give up here, Armin's smug grin is destroyed as I pass through the wall of flames and leap on them one paw on Armin another on his familiar.

Samantha slides off my back wand point aimed at Armin's face, "you lose Armin, if you say even one word you will regret it."

The guy is slow I'm not kidding because as if we did not warn him he starts, "you-" luckily a nice rock conjured from Samantha's wand knocks him and his familiar unconscious. Getting off them I lie down next to Samantha, "get on, you can stand if you think you have the balance."

Even though I thought it to her my smugness makes her smile, "if I have the balance," she stands on my back as I parade her around, at one point she throws her helmet away revealing some interesting ears, they are furry and pointed.

My curiosity gets the best of me, "nice ears, out of curiosity, what are you?"

She chuckles in real life before saying, "I'm a cat, well at least half cat, half human. What a pair we make." Before I can ask about a tail the thin whip like thing comes through a hole in the armour, I catch glances of them through the walls, that are now plastered with glass from the flames. When we exit the stadium the next fight begins, no one had to fight only people who wanted to earn more social standing in hopes of getting a better job. Back in the room we sat in before battle we lie on the floor me still in wolf form now healed lying curled like a dog, her with no armour, except for the back and chestplate and leggings, lying inside the c shape I create.