the unknown space

chapter 14

I stood in a small room behind a wooden gate covering a large doorway. It looked more like a cell than anything. Outside the doorway was a large arena, the ground was mostly clear but there were some large rocks that could be used to hide behind. Across the arena there was another room like mine where I knew Karen stood. I'm sorry, Karen. This is wrong but I have to do this. If I didn't agree to fight, the ruvatar would have killed you.

The aliens had given me some new clothes to wear and I think they did the same with Karen. I wore a black shirt that didn't quite fit me but was close enough I could wear it. It was too big and didn't really have sleeves, it was clear the aliens didn't know how to make clothes. My pants fit my waste but ended just below my knees. I shivered remembering the short conversation I had with an alien earlier.

"How do you know my clothing size?" I had asked.

"We know everything about you and the girl," a female alien responded.

"Oh... why do you guys hate Karen so much?" I asked.

"She is a child. She doesn't understand how to use her power and is a danger to others around her. If we let her lead she would ruin everything. That's why we need you to take care of her for us. It will prove you care about your new family more than a silly girl."

"My new family?"

"Well yes of course. The ruvatar species all care about each other as if we are one and that is why we are so successful. Think about it this way, you saw some other creatures earlier. I believe you called them lurkies and eledon. They care about their immediate family but not any of the others in their species. This makes them weak, unlike us who have built this town and have healers and a queen that protects us. We are very much like humans if you think about it, we just get along better with each other."

"Are there other groups of ruvatar around Doxetis?" I was intrigued.

"Oh yes of course there are!"

"Then is Queen Isolde just the queen for your group or all of them?"

"She is queen of all of them. We are the largest group of ruvatar on this planet which is why she lives with us."

"And the groups don't fight between each other?"

"Only sometimes. Each group has an arena, we send one representative from our group to fight another from another group if there are any disagreements that need to be solved."

"So like what Karen and I are doing?"

"Yes except our battles are to the death. This way however we avoid wars and only one dies, unlike you humans do on Earth."

"How do you guys speak English?" I asked.

"It isn't a very hard language to learn. We hope to work with humans one day which is why we all try to learn it," the alien said with a bit of hesitation. "Now hurry up and change into your new clothes so we can get you to the arena."

The gate in front of me opened and I was free to walk into the arena. I stepped inside and watched as Karen did the same. Karen looked pale as if she was sick. I suspected she thought I was crazy that I wanted to fight her.

I looked around the arena and it looked like a futuristic coliseum. Aliens of all sorts and sizes were seated in the audience. There was one area in the crowd with a throne where I could see Queen Isolde sitting. It seemed like everyone was here, they had never seen a human fight, they all seemed exdatic.

"Welcome everyone! I'm glad you could make it on this fine day!" Her voice sounded happy, but I was not at all happy. I looked back at Karen, she was at the verge of tears. I felt so bad, but it was either fight her or let her be killed. I was not going to gamble with her life. "Today is a very exciting day indeed! We are going to experience the sight of two humans fighting." Queen Isolde then roared something in what seemed like the ruvataur language. The crowd yelled. "Begin!" She yelled, speaking in English once more.

I looked at Karen who stared back at me.

"We're not actually fighting, right?" Karen asked.

"Sorry," I apologized as my eyes turned red. Karen squeaked in alarm as I rushed towards her, my extra strength boosting my speed. She muttered something and just before I crashed into her I felt myself hit a wall. I fell to the ground and looked up to see a lime green cracked barrier made of what looked like air. I stood up and punched the wall, it shattered and the broken shards disappeared as they hit the ground. I jumped high into the air and landed behind Karen. I turned and tried to punch her but she moved out of the way just in time and grabbed my arm. She chanted something I couldn't understand and her hands started to heat up. Panicking, I swung my arm causing Karen to fly through the air and be flung to the ground.

"Ow," Karen mumbled, coughing. I ignored the guilt that was rising in my chest and once more tried to punch Karen and knock her out. She was able to move out of the way causing me to punch the ground instead. Karen whipped around and charged at me. She clapped her hands together, a large blue ball came hurtling towards me only for it to run off course.

"You are powerful but weak," These words came out of my mouth, but I didn't want them too.

"Excuse me?" Karen said.

"I-" Before I could finish the sentence Karen shot a beam from the palm of her hand. I tried to dodge it but it ended up hitting the top of my shoulder. I screeched falling to the ground and grasping my shoulder. Warm blood flowed through the cracks between my fingers. Karen gasped but sent another beam flying towards me. Once more I lurched to the side trying to dodge the attack. The beam slid across my cheek just grazing the skin. My cheek stung from the cut and I felt blood drip down my face.

I pushed myself up from the ground before Karen could prepare to attack once more. I rushed behind one of the rocks that was scattered around the arena. I hid behind the rock, gasping for breath. I felt a sudden rush of anger. It felt like my blood was boiling and I could feel some sort of energy flowing through me. There was a sharp pain in my back and I looked behind me to see two large, black wings sprouting from my back. A large red and black tail grew from my tailbone. "What is happening," my voice became deeper and raspier. I could hear my clothes rip as I grew black scales tipped with red instead of skin. My legs and arms became lanky and my body long like a lizard. I was now much bigger than the rock I had hid behind previously. I looked at myself, I was a dragon.

"Wha-" Karen whispered under her breath as she laid eyes on me.

"Help me!" My voice was more a roar than the human language, except it was squeaky and not very intimidating. Karen started laughing and I could feel something start to boil inside me. The heat started to rise up my throat. The heat escaped my mouth and shot across the room. Karen fell to the ground in shock. I was breathing fire. My jaw hung open as the flames flew from my mouth. Afterward, I decided to start flapping my wings testing if I could fly. I flapped my giant wings a few times and was lifted off the ground. I stopped flapping and fell back down with a thump. I started walking forward and felt my long claws scratch the ground.

"E-Evander, stop! Don't come near me!" I heard Karen yelling at me, panicking. I felt bad as I kept advancing towards her and thought, I do not want to hurt you but I have to end this fight. I swung a giant foot towards Karen. She dodged out of the way. I flapped my wings and flew above the ground, I flew up higher until I reached the ceiling. I flipped around and dug my claws into the ceiling and pushed off of it with a force that sent me spiraling towards the ground. I landed with such force the ground shook and as I had expected Karen was tossed to the ground. Before she had time to recover, I picked her up in my mouth, making sure not to pierce her with my sharp teeth, and threw her across the stadium.

The ruvataur in the crowd cheered. I looked at Karen, she was lying against a rock unconscious. I turned back to the crowd and faced Queen Isolde, I spread my wings wide in a victory pose and roared, it echoed through the stadium. My eyes turned back to green and I felt my wings start to retract into my back and saw my scales turn back to skin as I shrunk.

"This fight is over," Called Queen Isolde from her throne. "Congratulations to King Evander!" A chill went down my spine as she said my name. King, I thought, I'm the King.