The Hunter on Arena Read Online Free Page A

him. Cold dread
     filled his chest, and gripping the blade, he turned. There, standing no more than six paces behind him, was yet another horrific
     apparition. Even as he wondered how it could have approached without being heard, the thing began to move toward him.
    Braldt backed away slowly, edging the stream, his feet sliding along the smooth surface of the rock ledge as he gauged this
     new threat. It resembled a lupebeast in that it was wolf-like with double rows of jagged fangs set in its elongated muzzle.
     Its coarse fur was mottled black and gray and brown, and it sported a long, whip-like tail that curled up beneath its belly.
     As with lupebeasts, the thing was able to walk on hind legs and its head was even with Braldt’s. But unlike a lupebeast, the
     creature clasped a double-edged sword in its paws and from themanner in which it swung the blade in great scything motions, there was no doubt that the beast knew how to use it. Its eyes
     glittered darkly with intelligence and hatred as it advanced steadily. The first monster had been dispatched with relative
     ease. Braldt feared this one would be more difficult.
    The contest began and it was as Braldt thought; his every move was matched by the hideous creature, in a classic, precise
     technique that mirrored his own training. In fact, the creature matched him blow for blow, wearing him down while itself exhibiting
     no signs of weariness.
    Already tired from battling the fierce currents, Braldt knew he could not continue the battle for long. Sword-play, while
     looking graceful and light to the casual observer, was hard work that quickly exhausted the participants as they wielded the
     heavy blades. And yet, despite his determination, Braldt could seize no advantage; it was as though the creature knew his
     every move before he made it.
    Braldt began to wonder how it was that the thing knew how to fight him so precisely. There were many different forms of swordplay
     and no two masters followed the same technique. It was almost as though this creature had trained under Braldt’s master… or…
     a startling thought came to him. Perhaps it was exactly that, a mirror image of his own efforts. He feinted to the right.
     The creature feinted as well. He swung his blade overhead only to be matched by an identical move by his opponent and the
     two blades clanged off each other with a bright flash of sparks.
    Braldt circled out of his opponent’s reach while hisquesting eyes sought and found what he suspected he would find—a pale aura of light bathing the creature. Tracing the light
     to its source, Braldt saw that it originated as a narrow beam from a tiny opening set between two boulders high on the rocky
     wall of the chamber.
    Anger burst over him in a fiery rush, and ignoring the sword-bearing wolfthing, he turned and ran toward the beam of light,
     smashing at the tiny opening with the hilt of his sword. There was the sound of breakage, a gratifying tinkling, and the feel
     of something shattering beneath the force of his blows. He heard the creature grunt and growl behind him, felt its paw close
     upon his shoulder, felt its hot slaver drool down upon his back, and then the light blinked out and there was nothing. Nothing
     at all. Braldt turned and found that he was alone. The monster was gone, vanished as though it had never existed. And his
     hands were empty; the sword was gone as well.
    Braldt slumped against the wall, exhausted, allowing his eyes to close, admitting the bone-deep fatigue that filled his body.
     Thoughts cartwheeled through his head, filling him with confusion. Where was he and what was happening? He was being manipulated,
     that much was clear, but by whom or what—that was the question. Weariness seeped into his limbs, weighing them down, and his
     eyes closed as though of their own accord, even though he knew that the danger had not been eliminated with the destruction
     of the mirror beasts. His breathing slowed and Braldt fell