The Hunter on Arena Read Online Free

passed through the narrow channel into the light beyond.
     He did not surface then, but swam along the bottom until his lungs were screaming for air. Only then did he reach for handholds
     to pull himself slowly to the top, permitting only his nostrils to break water. Once his lungs had ceased burning, he lowered
     himself and swam along the bottom until his outstretched fingers bumped into a solid wall and he could go no further.
    Quick, cautious trips to the surface allowed him to spy out the situation. Once again he was in a chamber fashioned of rough
     boulders. The stream flowed through the center of the chamber; from a wide, circular disturbance on the far side, it appeared
     to exit through some underground device. Braldt had no desire to explore this avenue; he was more than ready to leave the
     water. This cavern, with its broad, flat, hard-packed earth lying on either side of the stream, was larger than the room he
     had left.
    But it was neither the whirlpool nor the earthen floor that attracted his attention. He had not been wrong to sense a trap,
     for poised at the edge of the water flow, far enough back so that its shadow would not announce its presence, was a creature
     such as Braldt had never seen before—a creature straight out of a nightmare.
    It was tall and broad, taller than Braldt by a full head, and its shoulde were half again as wide. Its arms were long and
     muscular and its chest corded with sinew.It had no skin, but was covered with dark, green scales, and a ridged crest of some hard, horny substance ran from the top
     of its narrow skull to a point midway down its back. Its hands and feet were webbed and the digits tipped with long, sharp,
     ivory-colored claws. It wore no clothes other than a sword belt strapped crossways about its chest; a long knife hung from
     this belt. The sword was gripped in its hands, cleaving fashion, above the watery opening. The hideous creature was bathed
     in a pale, glowing light that followed its every move. Braldt traced the light to its source and found that it had its origin
     high up on the rough, rock walls, emerging from a perfectly round aperture.
    Braldt was tired. He had no wish to fight the creature, but it appeared that there was no way to escape it. He pulled himself
     up out of the water slowly and crept toward the enemy, searching for a weapon, for even his knife had been lost to the raging
     current. There was nothing, other than the occasional rock, and he picked up several, although what possible effect they would
     have against this armored monster, he could not have said. His only advantage was surprise. And then, as though growing restless,
     still unaware of his presence, the hideous creature lowered its head and peered into the water, probing the depths with its
     blade. It was too great an advantage to miss. Braldt rushed forward, abandoning all pretense of stealth, catching the beast
     off guard and more importantly, off balance. As it turned its head, startled at the sound behind it, Braldt hit it at chest
     level. It was like running into a stone wall, but his impetus and the element of surprise combined were enough to throw thecreature off balance and slowly, waving its arms futilely, it toppled into the water.
    Braldt wasted no time. Before the monster could regain its balance or its senses, Braldt wrested the sword from its grasp
     and plunged it into its body. Then, to his astonishment, the creature vanished! It did not writhe in agony or collapse amid
     gouts of blood as might be expected, it simply vanished! One moment it was there and the next it was gone, leaving Braldt
     standing there holding a sword and feeling extremely befuddled. For a moment, he wondered if he had imagined the whole thing,
     but there was the sword in his hands, reassuringly heavy, gleaming brightly along the honed edges, solid evidence that he
     had not dreamed the monster. Even as he stood looking down at the sword, he heard a low, rumbling growl behind