“For the record your idea sucks.” I stood in the middle of the stadium with a couple of discarded loincloths wrapped around my knuckles. The Shade had not returned in two-game hours. It was now officially feeding time. One large Shade every six hours and a small one on all the other even hours. I figured we must be in a family nest of some sort. Each time they would pick one of the cowering victims to munch on then bring the sucked dry body back and dump it in the stadium to reanimate. I did my best to stay hidden through multiple rounds. I needed to find a weakness or an advantage.

I glanced over at Mia. She had tears running down her face but was yet unapproachable. The people guarding her had some sort of opinion of me. Perhaps it was the large tusks on my face or the fact that I was angry enough to spit fire. Or they were just prejudiced against big green orcs with their butts hanging out.

I heard flapping overhead and looked up at the stars. It had been well over a day and the sun had yet to come out. Just a deep black sky dusted with stars and a blue crescent moon. The stars helped pinpoint the Shade though. Wherever the stars went black your nightmare came from.

“My ideas are the best.” Tootsie said. “Remember I have done this a hundred times. If you want to beat this game, then just be awesome enough to make me a fan. If I get excited after this many disciples, then you are doing something right.”

“You are so full of guff, Tootsie.” I saw him then, or at least the absence of stars. A chill rolled down my spine. A blackened metallic beast would soon sweep down from the dark and inflict horror and pain on an unwilling participant.

“Prepare for pain.” Tootsie rubbed her hands together.

“You’re a sadistic little…” I didn’t have time to finish as I was wrapped up in wings and claws. I couldn’t breathe. It squeezed me tight to its chest. His arms wrapped around my waist and pinned my arms to my sides. Talons sank into my stomach and pulled warm guts out to fall down the front of my legs. It felt as if I had peed myself. I’m sure I had but it was warm guts rolling down my thighs that caused my lack of control.

He had two large all-black eyes that I could see my own terrified face in. His horse nostrils flung snot in my mouth, and I gagged. He had thin lines like the underside of a starfish coming out from where his mouth should have been. The lines looked like infected scars and smelled like the bloated corpse of a deer. Then his face split open wide where the lines were. It was like watching a flower blossom. A long tongue splashed out and wet the sides of my face. I looked at the rows of shark teeth on each rotten pedal of his face. He could fit my whole head in his mouth, and he was one of the small ones. Not only that I was a massive orc so this thing could snack on the face of an elephant when fully grown.

“Just get it over with!” I screamed into his mouth.

Then it latched on, and I realized I would rather wrap my face in hot barbed wire. I struggled and heard the bones cracking in my face. Then it was all black and the horrid pain stopped for a second.

***********************************

I climbed the cliff wall screaming in madness as lava poured over my flesh. If I had a tongue left in my head, I would have been spurting blasts of E-rated curses. When one leg burned off, I smacked my head off the wall a couple of times and kept climbing. I reached the respawn plate in minutes burning a hybrid fuel of adrenaline and hate.

Third descent 1200 exp.

Level 7 reached

I sucked in the cold night air on the sand-covered floor of the stadium. “Jumping Johny! What the fried fur?” I rolled over onto my stomach and vomited.

“One down.” Tootsie flipped in the air. “You should have seen your face before that thing chewed it off.” She started laughing. “Everyone in here screamed.”

“I think I really hate you, Tootsie.” I stood on shaky knees and walked over to one of the stone walls. I slid down it and flopped my butt down on the ground.

She flew over and sat with me. “Aw, you're just saying that. You’ll love me in the morning.” She gave me a little punch. Her tiny fist felt like a spit wad.

“When is morning. I haven’t seen the sun here yet.”

“It’s never morning here. That is why it doesn’t show up on your map. You are in another plane.”

“Fantastic. I’m going to try and sleep or something. We have about two hours until the next shade pops my head like a spoiled grape.”

“Not yet. You need to spend some points.”

“I thought you said I wouldn’t be ready until I had five more points of strength?”

“You won’t be, but don’t you at least want to inflict some pain on them on your way out?”

I opened my eyes and looked down at her. “Yes, yes I do.”

I opened my attributes on my data pad.

Orc

Pug

Pig Face

Level 7

Strength: 17

Dexterity: 10

Charisma: 5

Intelligence: 18

Manna: 5

Constitution: 14

Perception: 14

Exp: 7675

Soul Points: 9

Skills: Furious Feline: cost 2 mana,

Dex: +3, Claws, time: 1 hour

Carapace Skin: +4 Constitution,

Cost: 2 Mana, time: 1 hour

Phantom Cloak: Cover a target area of three-square meters for 7 minutes (Stage 2)

Cost: 2 Mana

Coin:

I spent my nine points on strength. Apparently, the Phantom Cloak had cost me six points and I hadn’t even used it yet. I closed out my device and felt my muscles swell. I felt sore, like I had just worked out to exhaustion. A sheen of sweat covered me and I felt as if I would fall over. Then I passed out. I slept sound for the first time in the game all the way up till I heard the screech. I opened my eyes to see Mia screaming and being dragged out to the middle of the stadium by one of the small Shade. He had hooked her with his barbed tail through her leg. The other women that had been with her just cowered against the wall and cried. Mia looked over at me desperately. Then let out another scream that caused my ribs to shudder together.