The Cagliostro Chronicles by Ralph L. Angelo Jr. Read Free Book Online Page B

smiled, “Ah well, it was worth a try. So let me ask you two, what passes for entertainment on this world? Is there anything worth seeing here , while we relax for a few days?”
    “Well the matches here are really fun.” Credom answered dully.
    “What matches?” Dan replied.
    “Those matches.” Endorf replied.
    ‘ It’s some kind of gladiatorial events within this bar. ’Ariel’s voice sang lightly across their minds.
    As she replied , two bruisers made their way into the ring that was on the left of the bar itself, which had been hidden the whole time by the mass of bodies within the place. Now it was clearly visible as people cleared out of the way to let the two fighters through. Both were surly looking louts. Big and angry with plenty of scars and tattoos across their bodies which could be seen plainly as they entered the ring, pulling the ropes down as they stepped over them on opposite sides of the ring.
    “These guys are big.” Red offered.
    “That means they really are big, if you’re saying so.” Eddie smirked.
    Red shot him a n annoyed look that clearly said ‘shut up’.
    Sitting back in his chair Mark kept one eye on his guests , and another on the ring behind them. The combatants were clearly two different races. One was a scaled lizard man from God only knew where. The other looked almost like a bear, with a thick coat of fur covering his body from head to toe. His arms were longer than the lizard mans by almost a foot, but the lizard seemed somewhat bulkier looking.
    “This should be interesting.” Red sneered.
    “Yeah, I’m kinda looking forward to this myself.” Dan agreed.
    ‘ Don’t lose track of what we are here for.’ Ariel’s thoughts chimed in everyone’s mind.
    ‘ No chance of that Ari. ’ Mark replied mentally, knowing by her smile that she heard him.
    Within the ring the two big combatants circled each other, each looking for an opening.
    Suddenly the lizard-man lunged at his hairy opponent, who met the charge head on with a savage grunt. They grappled momentarily, until the bear-like creature ducked below the reptilian one’s slashing arms and caught his foe in a crushing embrace, then stood up quickly and heaved his enemy into the air. As the reptile came down haphazardly the bear-like creature lashed out with two quick blows, left-right in the blink of an eye, even before the reptilian landed upon his back on the canvas of the ring.
    Now everyone at their table, including the two strangers were totally engrossed in the battle.
    The hairy behemoth charged the reptile again, just as he was getting to his clawed feet, when the reptile grabbed his enemy by the throat and spit some vile venom into his foes eyes. The bear-man stumbled backwards, frantically clawing at his eyes in pain, as he lizard attacked  again, biting the bear-like creature on the shoulder, spraying its blood across the ring as the hairy brute howled in pain and dropped to the mat, unconscious.
    “ My God!” Shouted Eddie, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything that incredible before.”
    “At least not that brutal.” Ariel replied, disgusted.
    “That was…interesting to say the least.” Dan added.
    Mark shook his head with a slight smile, “Mmm-hhmm.”
    “There are no rules here,” Endorf began, joining the conversation, “Short of killing, which is not allowed. It is a brutal sport, but the people like it.” He shrugged as he finished his comment.
    “Yes we like it, we even fight sometimes ourselves.” Credom added.
    “You don’t look any worse for the wear of it.” Red noticed.
    Endorf smiled and leaned forward at this, displaying a tightly packed row of small, sharp teeth, “That is because we win.”
    ‘ Watch it; I’m getting all kinds of thoughts from both of them, images of them brutally beating opponents. ’ Ariel’s mental voice sang.
    “Well , why doesn’t one of you fight the winner here, and give us newcomers a show?” Mark asked with a genial