The Rings Fighter Read Online Free PDF Page A

plate and shook her head.
    Trazen looked back at the human.
    “No, I don’t think so, Greg. Thank you.”
    The human––Greg, presumably––grinned, winking at her when she glanced up at him a second time. She watched as he walked back towards the main house, wiping his hands on the stained apron and whistling.
    Chloe bit back another wave of incredulity, then looked back at the food, still in awe at the sheer amount of it, much less the amazing smells coming off her plate.
    “You might not like how I’ll need you to come with me,” Trazen said, going on with what he’d been saying once Greg was out of earshot. “...To the dinner I mean. That’s more the favor part,” he added. “More than dinner itself.”
    She picked up her own spear-like utensil and poked at a mushroom. Her stomach let out a growl that Trazen must have heard.
    She hadn’t seen this much food all in one place in...
    Well, ever.
    In Kabasi, food was relatively scarce. Not starving-scarce, but nothing like this.
    Plopping a mushroom in her mouth, she had to fight not to groan in pleasure as she chewed. Realizing Trazen was still watching her, expecting some kind of reaction to his words, she glanced up, flushing, and nodded. She swallowed the mushroom, nodding again.
    “How do you need me to come?” she said, clearing her throat.
    He watched her, a faint thread of amusement in his eyes as she huddled over the plate of food. She saw a darker shade of seriousness in his expression, too.
    “You’ll be dressed less comfortably, I’m afraid,” he said, coiling his tail behind him and sighing. Motioning towards her, he added with another small frown, “We’ll be playing a part, you and I.” He added more apologetically, “And I’ll need to sting you. More than once. Enough to make us believable.”
    She nodded, chewing and then swallowing the second mushroom she’d stuck surreptitiously in her mouth.
    “Okay,” she said. “I can do that.”
    “You won’t like me very much during this dinner, Chloe,” he warned her, softer.
    Puzzlement wafted over her, but she felt herself tense slightly, too. Remembering some of the things Agnon had done to her in quasi-public settings didn’t help.
    “Do I need to know what that means?” she said.
    Trazen sighed another of those purring Nirreth sighs from deep in his chest.
    “Yes,” he said. “Well... not in detail. Like I said, I’ll be playing a role.”
    “What role is that?” she said, her voice still wary.
    “Of a slave-whoring bastard,” he said simply, tossing his napkin to his plate. He leaned back, balancing lightly on his tail as he watched her react to his words.
    Chloe thought about what he probably meant, then nodded slowly.
    Resignation crept over her, but she only nodded again.
    “I see,” she said. “I understand.”
    He gave her a sideways Nirreth smile.
    “No,” he said, softer, his smile edging towards sadness. “You don’t. But I think you’re sufficiently unhappy in reality to sell your end of things... no matter how I behave.”
    That time, something in his words made her flinch.
    She didn’t answer him, though.

THE GIRL FIGHTER

    CHLOE SAT ON a bench seat of one of the city trolleys, feeling her nerves rise as she fidgeted, watching the back entrance to a large, mushroom-shaped building.
    She’d never been here before.
    She recognized the structure of course, having seen it in the Nirreth news and on billboards all over Green Zone Hezeret. The Rings stadium was probably the most iconic structure in the city. At least twenty stories tall, it shone a shimmering white-silver in color, almost a metallic blue when the sun beneath the Green Zone dome hit it just right.
    The crowd had grown outside the back end of the stadium.
    The giant double doors that stood there remained closed, surrounded by lawns on either side and white stone walkways, but Chloe could feel the excitement building to a kind of frenzy as the seconds ticked past. She’s noticed more and