The Pit was almost entirely lit by torch. But the fighting ring was the exception. Tall floodlights narrowed down at the brutal event, brightly illuminating the battlefield like a stage. It did nothing, however, to curb the grotesque features of the creature as it entered the ring.

Its spindly limbs slowly crawled out through the door opening and onto the soiled ground. It needed to bow its head through the narrow space so its rack of antlers would fit through. And when it finally unfolded itself to stand upright its head tilted straight up to the overcast night sky.

As the door behind the creature slammed shut, Zed suddenly reacted to his opponent's presence. He mindlessly ran at the creature before suddenly seizing his steps and jerking himself to a stop. Aggression depleted in an instant. His body twitched and wobbled, but he seemed to become aware enough to regard his opponent warily and force himself to retreat back. One of his ears had been bitten clean off ages ago in a previous fight, but the intact remaining one flattened down, expressing his nerves.

The creature didn't even acknowledge Zed. Instead, it continued to stare up at the moon as it partially exposed itself from breaks in the umber clouds. A mix of stagnant blood seeped from the overstrained skin on the creature's face as its form began to change again, enlarging and elongating into something barely comprehendible.
An eerie mix of ticking and huffs attempting to sound like laughter played in Neeka's ears, causing her body to shiver.

Unlike Neeka, the crowd didn't appear to react to the sound, instead most booed at Zed's reaction. Some laughing as he scratched desperately at the closed cage door he had emerged from. Lyall would surely torture Zed later for his lacking performance.

The mood in the audience escalated again when two other doors simultaneously slid open and fenrin dashed out of them. They blatantly bolted straight for the larger target, showing none of the uncertainty Zed did. That wasn't surprising given their species. They weren't hard to persuade to attack. Once human, fenrin were an unnatural shifter that slowly went mad, losing all sense of humanity after becoming infected. They were the most common beasts to fight in the ring, and also the most often replaced.

Lyall did not say anything, but clicked his tongue frustratedly as both fenin contenders totally disregarded the danger and ran straight towards the black fog enveloping the creature. In mere seconds they went from aggressively latching onto the tall dark opponent, to repelling back from it screaming and writhing in agony, their features corroding gorily.

Just as the moon hid away again behind clouds, suddenly the huge lights failed and the arena plummeted into darkness. The ring was now pitch black, and the stands were left dimly lit by just the odd small torch at the end of the aisles. The crowd fell silent, the only audible sounds were Kala's incoherent babbling and the dying fenrin cries down in the blind fighting ring.

While he was distracted Kala unexpectedly twisted free from Lyall's grip. The gruff man stumbled trying to grab her again, but to no avail as she hobbled as fast as she could to escape. Neeka swiftly took advantage of his moment of unsteadiness and pushed him with all her might against the low railing. There was a gnarly crunch and Lyall let out a disorientated grunt just as the floodlights flicked back to life.

A mixture of terrified gasps sounded from the patrons. Before them was the creature, his emaciated limbs stretched tall enough to reach up into the stands, peering over the not-so-protective banister. Embedded through Lyall was one of its sharp antler branches. Murky mist festered from the tines that had ripped through the man's stomach, entrails sliding outwards as the black fog began to envelop and consume him from the inside out.

The creature hauled himself up into the stands, the railing moaning and disintegrating like wet paper as it bloodily flung the dead man free from the top of its head. Neeka retreated as the creature roared out a loud bellow from its animalistic skeletal jaws. Mist then exploded out of the creature, forming into long sharp daggers. The wave hit straight into the crowd and then fizzled back to lose particles. Those who weren't instantly incapacitated erupted into chaos, scrambling for the exit.

Downstairs in the corridor, Neeka ignored the collective panicked screams and thundering footfalls above as people loudly trampled over each other attempting to escape. Having got what she came for, she unbolted each of the fighter's cages as she passed them before she headed back up the stairs so she too could exit the premises.

🍂🍂🍂

Neeka sat in the darkness on an uphill incline at the curb of the woods. The eerie creature had long returned back to the forest. Yet still, a disturbing raspy laughter rang in Neeka's ears. The sound blended together beautifully with screams of terror from some straggling people in the distance. They had managed to escape the deadly black mist, but were now being hunted down by some of Lyall's surviving rabid fenrin fighters.

In Neeka's hand, she rolled an antler tip between her fingers. It was soothingly cold to the touch as black smog fermented from it.
She gave The Pit one last glance, her lips forming a wide grin, before she too headed deep into the enchanted woods.