It does not matter what other punishments they think to give me. I'll take them all. I would go through Hell to protect my mate and child.
My objections to violence fall on deaf ears. They bring in a young halfling soldier, and they toss him to his knees. They throw me a small dagger. It's nothing against the sword of the halfling, but he is far weaker, and I am unafraid.
The crowd screams insults. Saliva sprays from their lips into the sky. I'll give them some credit—they are an impassioned bunch of aliens. But I am going to piss them off when I kill this twerp.
"Fight to the death!" The announcer’s voice echoes above.
A sharp grin forms on the halfling's face as he charges me. He bounces on the back of his heels and does a double flip into the air. When he lands, he stabs his blade near my chest.
I dodge it but my ass lands on the earth.
"Almost," he hisses as the blade digs into the dirt.
I scoot back against the various bones and alien entrails, and roll back onto my feet as he baits me near the wall.
"I've got you now," he says, scooting forward slowly.
When he's close enough to cut me, I duck and slice his kneecaps. In shock, he falls to the ground, as his red blood soils the earth below my feet.
I grab his arm and twist it behind him, placing my knee against the base of his spine. "Looks like I've got you, friend."
He straightens and screams as I keep his arm twisted in the air, ready to break it free from its socket. "Please, don't kill me," he grunts. "We have both been charged with false crimes. It is them you want. Not me."
I apply more pressure and watch him squirm. "Maybe I don't care. Did you ever think of that?" I growl.
"I would have let you live," he cries. "I am a halfling. They hate my kind."
I loosen my grip and lower my blade. Even if I kill this idiot, do I trust the Gerkis to free me? Fat chance. "If I let you go, can you get us out of here?" I ask.
He nods rapidly. "There’s an underground path. Let go of my arm. I'll lead the way," he says.
Despite my better judgment, I step off of him. I reach down to help him to his feet.
His grip is harder than expected. His palm brings me closer to his level. Revealing a sharp and malicious grin, he starts to laugh.
"Hey, what—"
He slides his blade forward. Knowing he has tricked me; I duck my head back. Still, he slices me with one clean swoop.
I stumble back, dazed. Blood falls down my chest. Am I dying? No. He just nicked the front of my chest. Still it hurts like a bitch.
I don't waste time with my reaction. With careful aim, I lunge my dagger toward him, impaling the center of his throat to the wall. He hangs, defeated.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” I mutter to myself.
Bloodied and stunned, I raise my fist into the air. The crowd hisses and boos.
The Gerkis guards come running in to tend to their halfling soldier, but he is far passed dead.
They turn and face me. I smear my blood over my face and laugh, frightening them away from me. "I win. You have to let me go."
A guard swings a shock prod at me. "No one wins the judgment arena," he shouts.
"Yeah, well, I just did," I say. "We made an agreement."
The guards lift their rifles. They force me against the wall. The lead guard says, "One more fight. We’ll settle the score at the end."
"Two out of three? That was not the agreement! You’re a bunch of sadists," I howl.