Lady Uthain sighed, her chest deflating as she lay on her bed. The rooms they had been provided were within the coliseum itself, and all around her were plain walls of white marble. There were no decorations, as she was so used to at home, though her own room had been furbished quite well. The bed frame was of high quality wood, as was the small table and wardrobe provided to her. In the corner to her right was a full bodied mirror, and next to it a door to the bathroom, for which she was very thankful that Sansbrook contained plumbing, unlike so many other towns and cities she had visited. On the left was a small desk, covered in blank papers and envelopes and all the other writing necessities.

The bed frame extended almost to the ceiling, and had no top to speak of, giving her a wonderful view of nothing but featureless stone. She sighed again as she sat up, taking in the view of her own room. She had been unable to see the beast when they arrived, and even today she had been told that she would be unable to view the beast for several more days as they prepared its battle.

Lady Uthain stood, legs weary for a walk, and she exited her room. The corridor was even more bare than her room had been, the walls turned grey from the lack of light. A series of lanterns were placed at spacious intervals, but the light they produced was barely enough to see another’s face. Thankfully, Lady Uthain seemed to be alone within the depths of this marble maze, and so walked in peace, the echoing of her footsteps accompanying her.

The corridors remained empty as she traversed their maze-like structure, turning towards what she believed to be the center of the colosseum at each crossroads. The journey was longer than she had thought it would be, a soreness beginning to creep into her feet as she continued to walk. As the daughter of the king she had grown physically weak, and she cursed at herself for her blunder. Eventually, she knelt down and removed her shoes, which had begun to dig into her flesh. She would not doubt have blisters on the morrow.

As she turned again she saw it, at the end of the corridor. It was brighter, lit with the luminance of the moon to reveal the internal stadium, and off in the distance she could see the other side. She walked towards it slowly, minding her footfalls, shoes in hand. Her bare feet were far almost silent as she made her way down the corridor.

As she entered the stadium, Lady Uthain could not help but to look around at its brilliance, a sharp breath catching in her throat. The stadium was massive, far more so than she had imagined. Rows of stone seats stretched around a field of green and brown, which itself was so massive that it could have hosted an entire battlefield with room to spare. The seats themselves could have sat a third army.

Despite the brilliance of this massive, gleaming white structure that she had no doubt had hosted some of the greatest colosseum battles of all time, it felt off. Despite the solitude of her situation, Lady Uthain felt uneasy, as if she had forgotten something important. She searched the delves of her mind for a hint as to what she had forgotten, browsing her recent memories like a badly organized library, her mind racing as an unexplained panic began to sit in.

She looked to the arena down below, her eyes dancing around its visage. It was empty, save for a pile of remains on the far side, barely visible in the moonlight. She stood in confusion for a moment longer, delving through memory after memory trying to piece it together.

Clack. Clack. Clack. The sound of hoof meeting stone echoed about the air, and Lady Uthain finally remembered. She turned to the sound, her body immediately cowering at the sight of, a scream stuck in her throat as every part of her body tensed up in a hopeless attempt to disappear from the world.

It was the beast. It had to be. Or else a monster from the tales of men given life. It stood in the darkness, body upright, a massive wall of muscle and fur and power. Its feet were cloven, each hoof the size of a plate. Its legs were thick, like trees, and shaped as a goats. Its upper body was that of a man’s, though covered in a deep black fur. Its head, much like its legs, was that of a goat, a snout protruding from its face, its lips curled back to reveal rows of sharpened teeth. The most striking feature, however, were the horns atop its head, each one as thick as a man's arm and jutting from the beasts stull, curling around and ending in two, sharp points.

Lady Uthain’s legs had given out, and she sat upon the ground as she stared at the beast before her. It was inhumanly tall, easily twice that of a normal man, and despite the fur covering its body it was clear that the beast possessed the power of an animal.

Warm urine trickled down her legs as the beast approached her, only for the beast to halt in its tracks directly above her. It lowered its face to hers, its rectangular pupils frolicking up and down as it took in her image. It took in the air with a deep breath, releasing a white cloud from its nostrils that collided with her face, the heated air leaving behind a damp feeling. Lady Uthain could not move, her body paralyzed.

It reached out with a hand that could have wrapped around her head, only to reach behind her body. Its fingers wrapped around her waist, lifting her up. Her legs, still limp from fear, were half bent, barely taking any of her weight as she awaited the beasts next move.

“Stand.” The sound was half roar as it rumbled from the beasts body. She could barely recognize the word for what it was. “Stand,” the beast said again, the sound louder and less clear. Lady Uthain understood perfectly well, however, her legs regaining their lost strength.

Certain she would not fall, the beast stood back from her, head bent down so that it could view her in full.

“Galal!” They both turned at the call, settling on the source of the sound. Nalmet, the Beastmaster, stood by the vomitorium, eyes glaring directly at the beast. He spoke again in a series of sounds Lady Uthain could not understand. For a moment she had believed she had gone too far into shock, only to realize that the beast understood the language as it replied. Their conversation was short, ending with the beast giving a nod, and then stepping away from her.

“I’m dearly sorry about that, my lady,” Nalmet spoke as he approached her, his voice as soothing as she would have expected. That was to say, not all that much at all.

“Explain. Please,” she said, the words choking her.

“Come, my lady. You seem to have soiled yourself.” Nalmet led her away, her words either unheard or ignored. Lady Uthain looked back towards the beast, only to see its shape descend out of sight to the arena below.

She was led through the maze of corridors back to her room, her dress wet and sticking to her legs the entire way. He waited outside her door as she changed. She removed her wet attire, unloading it onto the floor of her bathroom. She washed herself, enough to feel clean again, and dried herself as well as she could. After dressing in clean, dry clothing, she opened the door for the Beastmaster and invited him in.

“Please, come inside.” Nalmet ducked through the doorway, careful to avoid striking his head against it. Despite his height, Lady Uthain could not help but to compare him to the beast. He was nothing to it. She was nothing. “Please, have a seat.”

When both had seated, Nalmet began. “My lady, I am terribly sorry for all of this.”

She shook her head. “It is fine. I am just… confused.” She was more than that, and she knew he could tell. She hadn’t even stopped shivering.

“I can explain whatever you would like, my lady.” Her teeth chattered as she tried to form her words. Nalmet awaited her questions patiently, however.

“It can talk,” she said. It was not a question, merely a statement that could not be denied. Not after what she had seen, what she had heard.

“Correct, my lady.”

She furrowed her brow. “How, may I ask? Do the others know? Have I been kept in the dark?”

“No, my lady. Only we know of this, currently.”

“Then answer,” she said. Her shivering had stopped, and her voice had grown more stern.

“The ‘beast’, as you all like to refer to it as, is a Khor. The significance of that seems to not be understood by anyone involved, with the exception of me. And now you.”

“Pardon my rudeness, sir, but I would much appreciate it if you could answer my question. How can it talk? Am I supposed to believe that this is some intelligent creature?”

Nalmet nodded. She had hit the nail on the head. “It is, in fact, very intelligent, my lady. The Khor have their own language, their own tribes. Some of this has been recorded by those before me, though much of it I have learned from the Khor directly.”

She stared at the man, no doubt her face having gone a bit slack from the revelation. The beast, intelligent? Was that possible?

“How intelligent is it?”

“I cannot say for certain, but it is comparable to humans. Better, in some ways. It has learned the meanings of words very quickly, and can memorize sounds and images faster than the average man.”

Lady Uthain sank back in her seat. She was unsure what to make of it all. A beast as smart as man, and far more powerful. There was no wonder as to Nalmet’s confidence in it. Then it seemed to click.

“They want to make a warbeast out of it.” The thoughts had escaped her lips, but she was not worried. The Beastmaster had seemed surprised. It felt like all her life she was surprising people. So little was the attention given to the second princess.

“Quite perceptive, my lady. Forgive me for asking, but what do you plan to do with that knowledge?”

“What is it that you want, Nalmet?” His eyes widened. Another surprise, it seemed.

“I would like to study the beast. To tap into its potential, if you will.”

“I can help with that.”

“Is there any reason for you to, my lady?”

“Of course. I want to see what it can do, too.”