//------------------------------//
// Fight in the Arena 
// Story: Lyra's Voyages 2: On Strange Tides 
// by Prince_Staghorn 
//------------------------------//

Day 11...

I didn't know what we would be put up against in the arena, but I was more than outraged when Ocean Wave and Maud were taken to a seperate arena.

The arena was a giant stadium with a closed top, with several arpetures big enough for a Mahar to fly out. There were bleachers, but in place of chairs, each Mahar sat on her own large boulder. The entire arena was silent. 

A score of Morulaks heralded the arrival of the Mahar's queen. Physically, I saw no difference between her and the rest of her kind. She flew to the highest boulder, then sat, watching.

Twenty Mahars flew to the center of the arena, and then the music began. But it was music without sound. The "band" began waving their tails and heads in synchronized movements, occasionally taking steps to one side and then the other, forward and then back. The performance went on for about fifteen minutes before falling still. The Mahars in the stands began beating their wings and thumping their tails on the ground until the entire stadium shook, applauding. They fell silent once again as the performers began a new piece.


***


Ditzy and I were sent in, each given a spear, then left alone. The gate rumbled open. Ditzy gripped her spear. 

With a screech, a Thipdar ambled out. Upon noticing us, the pterosaur rose and screeched at us, balancing on two legs.



This was the dominant aerial predator of Lemuria, resembling a Pteranodon, save for the fact it had teeth. This beast was domesticated by the Mahars as a hunting animal. And now we were its prey.

It spread its wings to their full length, thirty feet from tip to tip, and took to the air. 

Ditzy had a slight advantage. She was smaller than the thipdar, thus more maneuverable in the air. I was grounded, though.

The beast swerved through the air, beak open and ready to grab me*. Ditzy dive-bombed it, knocking it off course, causing it to recalibrate to avoid hitting the ground beak-first. It landed, then began shuffling towards me at a fast pace.**

I held my spear in my magic, but the pterosaur reared and batted it away with a wing. Ditzy rammed into its back, knocking it onto its stomach, and I ran.

How had this happened? I should have been back home by now, having lunch with my friends, feeding my monkey, Shift, playing my...

My brain began working thanks to the stress. My lyre! Of course! The Mahars might not have ears, but the Thipdar did!

But my bag was back in my barracks where I had been kept. Seeing Paj and Ghak watching, I yelled out what I could in my limited Ancient Equine-derivative language I had learned. They ran out. The Thipdar regained its footing, hissing menacingly.

I just had to live until they got back.