Chapter 10 – Battle

  The arena’s stone floor radiated heat beneath Jai’s bare feet. His toes curled into the ground, the jagged edges of the stone biting into his skin, but he didn’t mind. The pain was a reminder that he was still here. That he was still alive. Still standing. His chest rose and fell with each breath, slow, measured. Every inch of his body hummed with tension, as though something primal was waiting to awaken. Something dark and untamable Sheeren—his soul bond—waited inside him, a low rumble at the base of his spine. She was there. Always. But hidden.

  When he’d dyed her fur, it had felt wrong—like covering moonlight with soot. But it had been necessary. Her snowy white coat, striped in silver and gold, would draw the wrong eyes. A Great Tiger was unmistakable. Too many would know. Too many would ask.

  He could summon her now, if he wanted. The dye would hold... unless she fought. Unless she moved too fiercely, bled, or collided with something that scraped it away.

  Too risky.

  He wouldn’t summon her unless he absolutely had to.

  The announcer’s voice rang out, echoing off the stone walls.

  “Candidate: Jai. Proceed.”

  The gate creaked open with a groan of ancient metal.

  It emerged—broad-shouldered, silver-backed, a Greater Rare. The thing was a monstrous beast, easily three times his weight, with muscles that rippled beneath its thick fur. Its eyes burned with raw rage—a rage that had been cultivated through years of pain and training. This creature wasn’t born for anything but destruction.

  It saw him.

  It snorted, its nostrils flaring. The ground beneath Jai's feet trembled as the beast launched itself toward him with terrifying speed.

  Jai didn’t move.

  Not yet.

  Not until the last possible moment.

  Then—he dropped low, his body instinctively coiling, and darted to the side, slamming his fist into the creature’s ribs.

  Pain—his knuckles cracked with the force of the blow, and his breath caught in his throat as the beast barely flinched. Its muscles were like steel, its skin as tough as armor. The impact was like hitting a boulder.

  The creature backhanded him.

  The force sent him flying. His shoulder took the brunt of the blow, and he hit the stone floor hard, the world spinning around him.

  Pain ignited in his side like a wildfire.

  But he stood. Gritted his teeth. His body screamed, but he ignored it.

  Again.

  The beast roared, a guttural sound that rattled his bones. It came at him again, faster this time. Jai dodged—barely—landing another hit, but it was too shallow. The beast’s skin was a wall of muscle. Every strike felt like slamming his fists against solid rock.

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  His breath was already ragged. His limbs were burning. Every movement felt sluggish, as though the weight of the world was pressing down on him. It was stronger. Tougher. Trained to kill.

  And him? He had nothing. No beast at his side. No weapon. No training. No plan.

  Just him. His own body. And his mind—a ragged thing, full of fear and doubt.

  He was scared.

  But he wasn’t alone. He felt her presence.

  A fire. Deep inside him.

  The beast lunged at him once more. Jai couldn’t avoid it this time. The creature slammed into him, its shoulder connecting with his chest like a battering ram. He was flung into the arena wall, the impact cracking stone. His body crumpled to the ground, and blood dripped from his mouth. His vision blurred and swam, the world spinning into a dark vortex.

  But there was no time for that.

  The beast stalked closer, every step a slow, deliberate movement, as if it knew it had him.

  Jai couldn’t let himself fall.

  He stood.

  His legs wobbled, and his side burned, but he pushed himself to his feet. The arena blurred at the edges of his vision, but there was one thing clear—his opponent. The beast. The fight was not over. Not yet.

  Suddenly, a low growl rumbled from within him, vibrating through the very air. The sound was deep, primal, guttural—the kind that spoke of raw power and ancient fury. Sheeren.

  Jai felt it—the heat, the pressure—coursing through him, an answer to the growl. His body stiffened, every muscle in his frame tightening. The growl, echoing in his bones, ignited something within him. A pulse of power flooded through him, flooding his veins with heat.

  No longer was he hesitant, afraid. He was in a way that terrified him.

  The world around him seemed to slow. The sounds of the crowd, the growl of the beast, all of it faded into the background as his senses sharpened to a painful clarity. His body felt , like he was finally in sync with the storm that raged inside of him. His muscles were no longer sluggish. His limbs were lighter, faster, stronger. He was the storm. He was the fury.

  The beast charged again.

  Jai’s movements were no longer calculated. No longer hesitant. He moved like a blade cutting through the air—fast, precise. He ducked under the strike, grabbed the beast’s wrist mid-swing, and twisted. The movement was impossibly fast, his body responding to instincts he hadn’t known he had. His knee drove into its gut, and the beast staggered.

  He didn’t pause. Didn’t think.

  He circled it, striking with every ounce of force he could muster. The hits—each one driving the creature back—felt like they should have broken his bones, but instead, the fire inside him flared, amplifying every strike. His body burned, muscles trembling with the force of every blow, but he didn’t stop. He couldn’t. He was moving with something that wasn’t quite him. A surge of heat, of power, of rage, all intertwined.

  The crowd was roaring. Their voices were distant, as though they were coming from the bottom of a well. Jai didn’t hear them. His focus was on the beast. The fight. The thing that was at him from the inside.

  The beast tried to grab him, but its movements were slow—clumsy. Jai was faster now, too fast. He slammed his elbow into its throat, heard the sickening crunch as its windpipe buckled. He followed it up with a brutal punch to the side of its skull. His hand screamed with pain from the impact, but it was nothing compared to the sound of the beast’s roar, its eyes wide with shock and pain.

  It dropped to its knees, and Jai—

  Jai didn’t stop.

  His body surged with a final, explosive wave of power. He reached back, his entire being charged, and struck with everything he had left.

  The beast collapsed.

  And Jai—

  Jai screamed.

  It wasn’t a cry of triumph. Not of victory.

  It was a scream born from everything that had built up inside him. From the fear. The anger. The frustration. The weight of the fight and the pressure he’d carried. It all came out in one sharp, desperate sound.

  His throat felt like it was being ripped apart as the scream tore from him. A ragged, painful cry—not out of triumph, but out of exhaustion, out of a release of everything that had been bottled up inside for too long.

  It wasn’t about the fight. It wasn’t even about the beast. It was about the weight of everything pressing down on him. The doubt. The fear. The loneliness.

  And then, as quickly as it came, the scream was gone.

  His body trembled, and his knees gave way. His vision blurred, the pain from the battle and the scream hitting him all at once. His mind went dark, and the last thing he remembered was the cold stone beneath him before everything went black.