Tanya had been co-proprietor of the fighting pit in Gwychaverfor several months. Trask, her partner, was honest in dealingwith her (as well he might be, considering her enormousstrength) and she was living well. The business at the pit wasbooming thanks to her prowess and curiosity of people atwatching her fight men in the pit. Tanya took on all comers,with any weapon the challengers wished to use, and she had notbeen injured in over seventy matches. Wagering was brisk, andthere were seldom less than six matches a night.
Tanya limited herself to one match a night, and seldom more thanfive a week. She knew that the life of a pit fighter was short,and she had no wish to end her career prematurely.
Tanya walked down the street to the building housing the pitslowly and proudly, aware of the many eyes watching and thepeople whispering. Her red cloak concealed an imposingphysique, but could not hide her height of six feet threeinches. Her long auburn hair was brushed straight back and tiedat the back of her head, then fell in a ponytail to the small ofher back. As the wind lifted the cloak it revealed hermassively muscled arms. The people in the street all gave her awide berth as she passed.
Tanya entered the building containing the pit and walked over toTrask, whom she towered over by a head. "How does it look fortonight?" she asked.
"Six bouts, if you accept the challenge of this one," heanswered. He pointed at a name on the paper. "His owner sayshe wants to show everyone that a man can always beat a woman."
Tanya chuckled and said, "Really? I guess we'll have to tellthat to the men I've done for." She took a look at the name. "Fergus. Irish?" Trask nodded. "How big is he?"
"About six foot six, maybe two hundred and forty pounds. Sayshe wants to beat you with his bare hands."
Tanya snorted. "Fine with me. It always humiliates the ownersmore when their fighters lose to a woman without weapons."
Tanya went to her room in the back of the building to wait untilher time.
The first five matches lasted almost two hours. The action waslively and the fighting fierce. The crowd was in a raucous moodwhen Trask stepped out to announce the last fight of the night.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the sixth and last match of theevening's entertainment. This will be a match without weapons. Entering first, the challenger, six feet five and one halfinches tall and weighing two hundred and forty-two pounds,Fergus!" Fergus was led to the pit by his owner, a tall, skinnyman. Fergus wore only a breechcloth of black leather. He waspowerfully built, with no fat and rippling muscles. There was ascattering of boos from the spectators. Tanya was a popularchampion.
"And now entering the pit, the champion. She stands six feetthree inches tall and weighs two hundred and seven pounds. Hereis Tanya!"
The big redhead entered the pit to the cheers of the crowd, towhich she took no notice. As she removed her red cloak toreveal her bronzed, brawny body, the onlookers gasped. Althoughthey had seen her many times before, the sight of her powerfulform always brought on this reaction. The sweat from theexercises Tanya had been doing in preparation for the fightglistened on her body, highlighting her muscularity. Her longauburn hair was carefully braided and wrapped in a tight bun onthe top of her head. Tanya smiled, gratified by the crowd'sresponse. She hung her cloak carefully on the wall of the pitand turned to face Fergus.
The crowd was busy placing wagers on the match. Most of thebettors favored Tanya, though the bookmakers were giving goododds on Fergus. Some people in the throng had arrived withFergus and his owner, and placed several bets on him.
Tanya studied Fergus carefully. He appeared young, perhapstwenty summers, and had few of the scars which were usual withpit fighters. She thought that he might be inexperienced andplanned her assault accordingly.
At last the wagers had all been placed and Trask rang the gongas a signal to begin. Tanya and Fergus began circling eachother, looking for a weakness, in what was known as the circleof death. Each feinted several times, trying to draw the otherwarrior into a mistake. Tanya began to change her evaluation ofthe younger man in the pit with her. Though he lacked the scarsof an experienced fighter, the scars she bore proudly, he seemedto know what he was doing. Fergus appeared confident as hecircled to his right.
"Hmmm, probably right-handed," thought Tanya. She had trainedwith both hands equally and was proficient with either. Slowlythe distance between them closed until little more than an armspan separated the two warriors.
Fergus made the first attack, quickly somersaulting forward andtrying to grab Tanya in a bear hug. The big woman backedswiftly out of Fergus' reach, then leaped forward with a kick,trying to catch Fergus before he had regained his feet. Ferguswas upright and moving to his right before she could deliver theblow, however, and her foot met nothing but air. Tanya spun toher right, turning completely around until she faced Fergusagain. She smiled and nodded, acknowledging his skill. Againthe two began the circle of death.
This time it was Tanya who made her move first. Rolling to herleft, she regained her feet and drove a kick at Fergus' ribs. He was able to roll with the blow and the kick did no realdamage. Before Tanya could regain her stance Fergus dove at herlegs. His considerable weight crashed into Tanya's leg justbelow the knees. Tanya had seen the move coming and leaped overit just as Fergus crashed into her. She allowed her momentum tocarry into a forward roll, and she tumbled across the pit andregained her feet with half the pit between herself and heropponent.
"That was pretty agile for a big guy," she thought. "I'd betterdamage him a bit to slow him down."
The two combatants continued to circle each other. Theonlookers were getting impatient for Tanya and Fergus to hook upand fight, and a few catcalls were heard. Both fighters ignoredthem, each respecting the others' abilities. Both Tanya andFergus knew that one mistake could cost them the fight, andtheir lives.
Once again the distance between the two fighters closed. Tanyawatched Fergus carefully, looking for any telltale movement thatindicated he was about to attack. She noticed his eyes flickquickly to his left, and was ready for him when he spun that wayand tried to deliver a kick. She moved inside his swinging footand caught his brawny leg in her powerful arms. Tanya kept atight grip on his leg and delivered her own kick to the insideof Fergus' right knee. A gasp escaped Fergus' lips as Tanya'sfoot, impelled by her prodigious leg muscles, struck him withthe force of a sledgehammer. His knee buckled outward, theligaments holding it together stretching until they snapped. With one leg in Tanya's mighty arms and the other unable to holdhis weight, Fergus crashed to the sandy floor of the pit. Tanyaheld on to his left leg as he hit the floor. With amazingspeed, she stretched his captive leg out as far as it would goabove his head, then jumped in the air and dropped her knee intothe inside of his left knee, driving it into the unyieldingground.
Fergus was in agony as his left knee was driven into the ground,caught between the dirt and Tanya's two hundred seven pounds. Tanya released his leg and rolled free, as she knew that Ferguscould still do some damage with his powerful arms. She knewthat Fergus' legs were damaged, but she wasn't certain howbadly. She got to her feet facing Fergus, who lay on the groundclutching at his knees. The right knee was swollen badly, andthe left was already discoloring. A cruel smile fleetinglyappeared on her lips when she realized that Fergus was nearlyimmobile, and therefore helpless to escape her attack.
Fergus' owner, an emaciated, sallow faced man, screamed at himto get up and defend himself. Fergus tried to climb to hisfeet. When Tanya walked over to him slowly and deliberatelykicked him again in the right knee, Fergus bellowed in pain andcollapsed again. Tanya moved behind her big opponent and lockedher arms around his massive chest. She picked the bigger man upand held him tightly against her, then began to squeeze. Fergus' arms were pinned to his sides, and he tried to use themto break her bear hug. Tanya's huge arms swelled with theeffort of keeping Fergus captive. Sweat ran down her face, andas she tightened her grip even more Fergus found that hecouldn't breathe. Tanya crushed Fergus, her prodigous arms andmassive chest forming a circle of pain that he couldn'twithstand. He went limp in her deadly embrace.
Tanya felt all resistance leave Fergus' body. She decided toput on a demonstration of her power. Releasing her grip, sheallowed Fergus' weakened form slip from between her arms andslump to the ground. She bent over him and lightly slapped hisface, trying to bring him around. Smack! Smack! The soundsechoed through the building. As Fergus shook his head, shestepped back and waited for him to return to semi-consciousness.
Fergus became dimly aware that he was laying on the floor of thepit. His knees hurt fiercely, and his chest ached. His visionwas still fuzzy, but he could see Tanya standing before him, herarms akimbo. Sweat ran down her face and dripped onto herchest, running down the channel between her small breasts. Itglistened on her body, highlighting her powerful muscles. Tanyasmiled cruelly and gestured at Fergus to get up. He tried, buthis legs could not hold his weight. Tanya walked over to himand offered him her hand. Without thinking, Fergus took it. Tanya gave a mighty heave and pulled Fergus up and lifted him onher shoulders. She used him as a weight, doing deep squatseasily.
Fergus was too hurt, dazed, and terrified to try to fight anymore. Tanya began to spin, turning in a tight circle. Fergusgot dizzier and dizzier, almost losing consciousness again. "Ready to fly, big man?" asked Tanya. Without waiting for ananswer she stopped spinning and threw Fergus across the pit. Hehit the floor hard and rolled until he crashed into one of thewalls. Tanya slowly walked over to confront the Irishman again,the torchlight gleaming on her sinewy body. She wrapped onehuge hand in his long hair and pulled him to his feet, thenreleased him. Fergus almost fell, despite using the wall forsupport. Tanya began to use his body as a punching bag, drivingpowerful punches into his unprotected belly. His belly on fire,Fergus slumped to the ground again.
Tanya bent down and grabbed him under his arms. "Upsy-daisy,"she said as she heaved him back upright. Bending her kneesslightly, Tanya's used her powerful arms to encircle Fergus'body just beneath the ribs, once again locking his arms to hissides. When she straightened up Fergus was lifted off his feet. The air left Fergus' lungs in a rush when Tanya constricted hergrip even more. Her mighty muscles stood out as if carved fromgranite as she again crushed Fergus' once proud body. Fergusfelt as if his body was being cut in half, pressed between theiron jaws of her arms and her rock like chest. One of his ribsbroke with an audible snap, and blood flecked his lips from apunctured lung. Tanya knew that Fergus was finished, but shewanted to leave the crowd with something to talk about. Shecarried him around the arena, letting all the spectators get agood look. Tanya carried fergus around as if he were a baby,not a man outweighing here by over thirty pounds.
Tanya finally released Fergus body, which crumbled bonelessly tothe floor. She turned to the crowd and posed, flaunting herpowerful body for all to see. As she flexed her arms, herbiceps grew until they looked boulders, both in size andhardness. When she was satisified with their awestruckreaction, she turned back to the limp form of her opponent. Lifting his head and upper body up, she sat on the floor of thepit behind him, with her treetrunk-like legs loosely encirclinghis torso. Some of the fans in the building started up thechant, "Deathgrip! Deathgrip! DEATHGRIP! DEATHGRIP!DEATHGRIP!" They knew that this was her finishing move. Warriors who had escaped from her bear hug and body scissors hadbeen unable to get out of this hold, even if they had not beenbadly hurt. Tanya locked her right arm under Fergus' chin,fitting the chin into the crook of her elbow. Tightening herlegs to hold him firmly, she brought her right hand up to lockon her left bicep. Tanya then placed her left hand behind hishead. She slowly twisted Fergus' head to the left, at the sametime straightening her back to stretch his spine taut. When shefelt his neck stretch slightly, she suddenly twisted his headthe other way while she heaved up and back with her right arm.
With a Snap! Pop! Fergus' neck broke. Tanya kept his bodylocked in her deathgrip for several seconds longer, thenreleased him and got to her feet in one agile motion. Raisingher hands over her head, she turned to the crowd to accept theiradulation. Suddenly she was aware of Fergus' owner leaping intothe pit, a knife in his hand and murder in his eyes. Tanyaquickly assessed the threat he offered and knew she could easilytake him if not for the knife. The knife made it a kill or diesituation. She turned fluidly, offering him a target on herright side. As he thrust with the knife, she knocked the knifehand aside with her right arm. Moving quickly, she caught hishead with her left hand and drove her right hand into his jaw,which shattered with the impact. Before he could move, shedrove her forehead into his nose, then crushed his throat with aslashing blow from the edge of her hand.
Blood erupted from the man's mouth, and he collapsed to theground, a stupid look on his face. Tanya bent down and wipedher hands on his tunic, then picked up her cloak and left thepit to the approving roar of the crowd.
continued ..........
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