Tai'Tanu opened her mouth to mock the Terran that had spoken to her, but her eyes landed on someone standing in the middle of the Terran guards.

"Las'Tai!!" She exclaimed loudly. "Why have they brought you here? Are they trying to use you as leverage against me in the fight?" Her voice grew angrier with each word she spoke.

"No mother," Las'Tai said quickly, before her mother could work herself up. "I have come here of my own free will to see the fight."

"Your own free will? what is that supposed to mean? Wait.... You were serious in your message???" Tai'Tanu's voice was one of shock and disbelief as her daughter did not even have the decency to look ashamed of joining forces with the enemy.

"How could you do this to me?? To your people?? Have you no honor??" Tai'Tanu snarled the words at Las'Tai, angrier than she had ever been before. Her first born daughter, the heir to the family estate and all the power that lay in holding that position. Her pride and joy, had joined forces with her declared enemy. "WHY??!!!??" She shouted at her daughter.

Without so much as a flinch in the face of her mothers anger, Las'Tai's answer was simple. "Because he allows me to be who i want to be. He allows me to be free, mother"

"Free" Tai'Tanu spat with contempt and scorn in her voice. "True freedom is subjugation of everyone around you! I thought you had learned this lesson! It would seem some reeducation is needed once i take you home!"

"I will not be going home mother. And before you think of using your guards to force me, i think my new friends might have a problem with me being taken" Las'Tai never raised her voice, but as if a switch had been flicked, the Terran honor guard snapped into a defensive position around Las'Tai, shields presented, forcefields shimmering and the better part of holding their weapons in a combat ready position.

Tai'Tanu was seething with rage, but understood that she could do nothing about her daughter without initiating a full scale slaughter.

"HEY!! YOU UGLY LIZARD FUCK!! I THOUGHT YOU WERE HERE FOR ME!!" The Terran shouted, drawing Tai'Tanu's attention back to the reason she had come. At least she could have SOME form of satisfaction today.

"I will kill you soon enough Terran!! This is between me and my daughter!" Tai'Tanu retorted angrily.

"Wrong!!" the Terran countered. "As long as she is employed on my ship, she is part of my crew and as such, anything having to do with her, goes through me! You want to talk to her any further, you kill me first!! We will each go to the stands on either side of the arena to create proper distance between our soldiers, after which you and i will meet in the middle and end this once and for all!!"

"Why the semantics, Terran?? Do you fear for your soldiers lives??" Tai'Tanu mockingly asked.

Opening the front plates on his helmet so he could properly look at the pompous lizard, Eirik replied flatly, "No, i fear their temper in close vicinity to your soldiers"

Unable to come up with a reply, Tai'Tanu turned around and motioned for her honor guard to follow her to the designated area.

________________________________

As Eirik and his people reached the raised seats above the arena, he turned to Jeanette. "Do you have it with you??"

She nodded and pulled out and old fashion drinking skin made from a deer pelt. Eirik stared at it for a moment, hesitant to do what needed to be done. This always came with a heavy price afterwards. He lifted the skin to his mouth and took a deep drink from it. The mead was fine enough, but the aftertaste of the mushrooms was awful. It would take some time for the mushrooms to take effect, but he didn't want to enter the battle under their effect. Nodding to David, the man lifted a large horn and started blowing it.

The deep rumbling sound that came out of it sent a shiver down the spine of every Kloxna present, Las'Tai included There was something ancient to that tone. Something sacred.

As the tone faded the Soldiers around Eirik began stomping a foot in the ground, 1 stomp every second. As they fell into the same rhytm they all started the same breathing exercise, breathing out the words *heh' and *hah* in hoarse strained voices, ending every 3rd set of words with a deep exhaling *hooooh' sound.

The Kloxna looked confused at first, but soon realised this was some sort of ritual. They cared little for such things, Their leader standing at the edge of the raised seats, waiting for the Terrans to finish.

Eirik had no intention of rushing this. The mushrooms were dangerous if not approached with the right mindset. He soon joined the breathing exercise but otherweise stood still in his combat gear. With every breath he could feel his own anger growing, slowly at first, like the trickling of a small stream. But soon, the flow increased and kept increasing. Moving his focus from the rage boiling in his chest, to keeping control of his mind. This was the dangerous part, the part where he could loose himself in the rage. Suddenly, Jeanette was in front of him, her eyes locked with his. The sea of calm that was her mind became an anchor that helped him hold on to himself as the effects of the mushrooms started growing.

Several minutes passed as they stood there. Him breathing in unison with the soldier around him, her standing still like a statue, keeping a hold of his gaze. During that period, Eirik had started shaking uncontrollably, stamping his feet irregularly and a small amount of white foam was starting to show in the corners of his mouth. His breathing exercise had also become more guttural and his eyes were bloodshot.

At this point, Jeanette took a half step to the side, never breaking eye contact with Eirik, and lifted her arm, pointing to the arena.

Slamming the hand holding the spears into his chest 2 times, he took a step forward and jumped the 3 meters down, into the arena, where he bellowed a wordless challenging roar. He was now foaming visibly at the mouth, his eyes wild like a madman.

"Finally he is ready" Tai'Tanu thought to herself. "But why is he looking so much more savage and animalistic than before?? This might turn out to be a true challenge after all."

With these final thoughts she climbed down the walk to the arena and drew her knives as the Terran started sprinting towards her.