Kylara stood dancing in her corner of the ring, her long, emerald green hair spiraling around her shoulders, and the red pupils in the center of her golden eyes tainted with fury. She let out a screech and clawed at the air in front of her as sweat dripped from her forehead and ran over her orange, scaly skin.
She was always one of the favorites in any tournament, but this was only the first bout , and she was already taking a beating from a lesser opponent. She had cuts on her chest just above the white cloth wrapped around her perky breasts, and she scratched at her face with one hand as blood flowed freely from under her left eye and her top lip was swollen to three times its normal size, but she vehemently refused any attempt I had made to patch her up.
The tiny lady in the corner, wearing the square pink hat, smacked three separate gongs signaling the third round, and the fighter on the other side of the ring dropped to all fours and bounded toward Ky in full attack mode, growling viciously as she came.
Toria was one of the newest fighters in the circuit, but it was becoming obvious to the critics and fans that even though she had minimal talent she made up for it with heart.
Ky met her in the center of the ring with a thunderous spin kick to the rib cage, it connected, but Toria's momentum sent them both tumbling to the ground as her teeth tore through the skin of Ky's thigh.
Ky hit the ground fairly hard, but popped back up immediately, and towered over the smaller girl as she lay sprawled out on the ground holding her side. Ky glared down at her knowing she could finish her right then with one crushing kick to her skull. She lifted her leg, cocked it at the knee and pointed her toes at Toria's jaw as the crowd erupted and begged for blood.
"Get back to your corner!" I screamed but she pretended not to hear me. She raised her shoulders and her foot exploded downward. Toria tried to twist away but she didn't have the strength, or presence of mind. Her eyes bulged out and she howled painfully as Kylara's foot tore through the bottom of her face, crushing bone and tearing tissue.
The tall skinny man with the floppy hair in the center of the ring raised his hands calling the fight, but Ky added one more kick, a blow to the midsection that left her opponent motionless on the ground. The crowd exploded with appreciation as Ky hoisted her trembling opponent into the air by the scruff of her neck, then booed as the official lunged across the ring, wrapped his wiry arms around her and wrestled her back to her corner.
On the inside I was bursting with pride, but I couldn't let Ky know that, not yet anyway. I secured her collar and shackles and led her back to the cage.
When I first found Kylara crying uncontrollably over the bodies of her fallen family members in the ashes of their hut on my maiden trip to the planet Nechteria, she was shy and small, with a remarkable anger problem. Most Nechtrins seem cold, incapable of deep emotion, but Ky was different her sense of feeling seemed to be at an extreme high.
The first word she ever said to me was "Bah". At first I understood the interpretation to mean "father", but under deeper investigation I found it to mean "dear one" or "adored one", something you would say to a romantic partner. Despite the endearing words, she had kept herself distant, both physically and emotionally from me, only approaching when I was slicing up lemon or lime rinds for my daily brew.
I would learn later that she preferred the whole fruit, sucking it into her mouth as her narrow tongue slithered inside and sucked out the juices, and then she would retreat to the corner and munch on the peel. She also liked tender, overly ripe peaches.
Right now she stood, with her hands on the bars, shooting me her best attempt at a smile. The snorting sound coming from her nose and the slurping noise she made with her tongue let me know she was gloating over her crushing victory, but I could tell by the quiet in her eyes that she was also a bit ashamed. Ky was far from being completely domesticated, but I knew that more than anything she wanted to please me.
I tossed her a couple handfuls of fruit, kissed her gently on the cheek and ran my hand over her long hair, down her spiny back, and under her fairly short, but extremely powerful tail and gave her a pat on her backside. Then I returned to my cabin.
I had a lot of thinking to do before our next bout. Ray'Na was the current champion and a devastating fighter. I was afraid that after the show Ky just put on, she'd be looking for blood. Ray'Na was a princess on her home planet, Sha'Nore, and the perfect fighter on this one. She was tall with broad shoulders and rippling muscles and would definitely be in a higher weight class if it wasn't for her short, tiny legs. She had a large powerful head with a curved horn jutting out from between her eyes and she used it with devastating force and precision.
I was afraid, not just to lose the match and be eliminated from the tournament, but at the possibility of actually losing Kylara. Over time, she had become my life, my friend, and my lover.
We didn't usually have intercourse before a fight but I was actually considering it this time, because it could realistically be our last time. The better option would be to just not let her fight, but I knew there was no possible way she would let that happen. She was a fighter, and an entertainer and I was convinced she'd rather lose her life then spoil the show.