She was tiny and had short, blonde hair that had probably been a neat pixie cut before her captivity. The guards held her at the edge of the pit.
This couldn’t be happening. Madeline gripped Lore’s hand, her nails digging into his skin. His gaze was glued to the woman, as well.
The dag’tar gave an ear-splitting roar. One of the guards stepped back, and they gave the blonde a shove.
She fell from the ledge, arms spinning. She hit the dirt in the fighting pit, landing on her hands and knees.
Madeline lunged forward. No!
***
Lore wrapped his arms around Madeline, listening to her harsh breathing as two other Earth women were dragged out of the tunnel where they’d been kept. Like their friend, they were pushed over the edge into the pit.
One was the tall brunette they’d seen earlier, and the other was a woman with hair as black as night.
How the hell could they help them? Lore scanned the cavern quickly and methodically, blocking out the cheering spectators, studying the fighting pit. A muscle ticked in his jaw as he counted the guards. There were a lot of them. Too many.
Below, the dag’tar roared. It was an aggressive and aggravated sound that echoed off the rocks around them.
The creature lumbered forward. Lore knew it might look slow and stupid, but he’d heard plenty of stories about them. When it suited them, they could build up a lot of speed, and they knew how to use their claws and teeth. Not to mention the fact that they usually tried to mate with their prey before they ate them.
The dag’tar pawed the dirt, sending up a spray of sand, and then suddenly rushed forward. Toward the women.
The tall brunette grabbed the other two, yanking them to the side. She waved and shouted, and they raced along the rock wall. The dag’tar pulled up before it hit the wall, stopping to sniff the ground where the women had been standing. Between its legs, it now had a hard, giant erection rising up through the fur.
Lore watched the women warily backing away. Two stooped down to scoop up rocks, while the other moved with arms outstretched. He frowned. The black-haired woman’s vision appeared to be impaired.
Rocks weren’t very good weapons in this situation, but Lore knew what that sort of desperation felt like. The brunette paused, brushing a foot through the sandy ground. She snatched up something, and he saw it was a broken sword, with half the blade snapped off.
The animal roared again, and took a few steps in their direction. The women pelted it with rocks.
It charged. This time, the women scattered, ducking under its claws and running behind the creature. The brunette was dragging the blind woman beside her.
The dag’tar grunted, swiping out at them, but they scrambled out of the way. For now.
“We’ve got to get them out of there,” Madeline said. “They won’t be able to keep this up for long.”
“Let’s go that way.” Lore pointed to rough steps carved into the rock wall. They appeared to lead down to the ledge below. The two guards who’d tossed the blonde woman into the pit were still standing there, their backs toward Lore and Madeline, their attention on the fight.
Madeline nodded and pulled out her laser sword. Lore pulled out his sword.
The crowd was far too busy watching the fight below, to notice the pair of them creeping down to the next level.
“We can’t miss the guards, or they’ll send up a warning,” he whispered to her. “You have to strike to kill.”
Madeline nodded grimly. He was sorry to put her in this position, but the steady look on her face told him she’d do whatever she had to in order to save the women below.
“Remember our moves from training.”
They moved fast, and gave the guards no warning. Lore stabbed his guard, and grabbed the man’s lax body. Madeline had done exactly as ordered, and Lore snagged that guard as well. The Srinar was far too heavy for her to move.
He set them down against the rock wall, making it look like they were just sitting there, watching the fight.
In the pit below, he saw the dag’tar was getting closer and closer to the women, trapping them against the side of the pit. They were rapidly running out of options.
Lore grabbed a pouch off his belt. He watched, his muscles tense. When the creature charged the women, Lore pulled his arm back and tossed the pouch.
There was an explosion of black smoke around the creature’s head. It roared, pounding the ground with its fists.
The women scrambled as far away from it as possible.
But seconds later, the dag’tar had recovered, its large eyes once again focused hungrily on the women.
“Over here!”
The deep shout reverberated through the pit.
The crowd’s screams rose to deafening levels.
Lore turned his head. Blaine Strong had entered the fighting pit from one of five gated tunnels. He brandished a sharp sword, his oil-slicked muscles gleaming in the firelight. One leather strap crossed his scarred, powerful chest.