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“So how does beating you like a punching bag fix that?”
He shook his head, putting the gloves back on his hands, ready to plow me with another jab to the face. He knew like I did that as Vinduthi, we heal ourselves. The damage I let Ryrik put me through then would save me from hell later.
Another blow hit me across the ribs. I braced for it, knowing that the night’s fight wasn’t the only thing I wanted to beef my defenses against.
Another day.
Another day Serena’s voice called to me from across the hall. Another day I knew I wouldn’t go to hear her sing after my fight. Another day she wouldn’t be found watching me in front of the stands.
I didn’t understand it. I gave her the best apartment we had to offer. Getting the thing was hard enough. Plus, I basically welcomed her into the Vinduthi sisterhood in the process. But somehow, she seemed disappointed.
If there was logic behind her motives, they didn’t make sense to me. Yet it was apparent in her absence at my latest fight that something was up. Not to mention the cold shoulder she gave me when I tried to speak with her after her set the same day.
The next cross to my left side caught me unaware, this time throwing me back into the ropes.
“Focus!” Ryrik said, putting up his hands for the next blow. “You need to absorb them.”
“I know!” I shouted as the next one hit me in the abdomen.
We were nearing the end of the exhibition, and my competitors were proving more fierce each time. I knew this wouldn’t be easy, but then Draven told me, I’d be fighting the notorious thrash fighter, Rakuta, the Ewani who hailed himself, “The Rat King.”
Even if training like this was unpleasant, it had its advantages. I could throw my body into heal mode before the match. If the rat king managed to get close enough to me to perform his deadly thrash punch, seeing Serena again would be the least of my worries.
Ryrik wound up for another blow across my shoulder, then another to my side. Finally, I put my hand up for him to stop.
“Are we done?”
“Done,” I said, breathless. It was no use anyway. There was no amount of pain I could take to forget her. I had a taste of her, and once she was in my mouth, she was in my memory.
I wasn’t about to forget that taste.
Ryrik left the room, leaving me alone in the cold light of the gym. Draped in a towel, I splashed water across my face. The blood drained free of my face. I could see better, but I didn’t feel better.
Another day. Another fight. Another match.
My mantra had to get me to the next fight. Rakuta would stand opposite in that ring regardless of Serena or any feelings I had about her. I had to push her from my mind.
I threw on my headphones, plugging myself into my fight night playlist, and hoped to zone out for the next hour until the match.
Eventually, endorphins found me, and my body repaired itself from the beating I took that afternoon. I changed into my dress boxers, my name displayed in gold letters with black trim across the back.
Eventually, I started to think, hearing my name called and seeing the crowd go wild, what if she was there tonight? She’d been to my matches before. There was still the chance she could show.
Rakuta entered the ring with a mix of boos and cheers. It seemed he was The Under’s hero unknown. As much as I wanted to worry about Serena and the danger she was in only a day ago, I felt deep down the best way to send a message to her followers was through the punches I threw that night.
They needed to know that the Vinduthi were behind her. I braced myself, gripping my gloves tighter for the match to begin.
Rakuta glared at me opposite the ring. He was the biggest Ewani I’d ever laid eyes on. His long brown snout and beady eyes towered over the bulging muscles that earned him his name.
“Rakuta! Rakuta!” voices called from the uppermost stands.
“Jalik! Jalik!” My fans outnumbered them, and I braced myself to give them a show.
“Gentle beings.” The announcer got into show mode, the crowd roaring, ready for the sight of blood. Or even the hope of death. Rakuta’s death thrash was known to take many a fighter’s life.
A smile crept across my face as the bell rang, and my first punch threw Rakuta back to his corner. He seemed dizzy, even slow-witted, but the punch only caught him by surprise.
His first blow caught me in the gut, and I was thankful I let Ryrik toughen me up that afternoon. I barely felt a thing.
