Archive-name: Amazon/pit3.txt
Archive-author: 
Archive-title: Pit Fighters - 3


After Tanya had defeated Fergus the number of challenges to her
supremacy had decreased in number, but the ability of the men
who challenged her had increased.  She found herself fighting
only once per week, but the fights left her bruised and sore. 
She increased her training, building up her strength and
endurance to nearly superhuman levels.  Her weight increased
from two hundred five to two hundred twenty pounds.  Her height
remained the same, six feet three inches.  Since she measured
herself daily, Tanya knew that her upper arms had gone from
seventeen to eighteen and a half inches and her forearms from
fifteen and three-quarter inches to over sixteen.  Her thigh
girth was now over twenty-nine inches (up from twenty seven and
a half) and her calves were over twenty-one and a half inches. 
She could lift almost half again as much weight as when she had
started.

Tanya had also changed her attire both in and out of the pit. 
She wore a cloak made of lion skin, with the mane forming the
hood.  Her breechcloth in the pit was now made of snakeskin. 
She had found a tattoo artist who had added a large tattoo on
her back.  It depicted a large snake with a woman's head
crushing a male lion to death.  These added to her mystique, and
helped intimidate her opponents.

Tanya entered the building and walked up to her partner, Trask. 
He held the sheet of paper with the names of the entrants for
the night's battles.

"Are you up to fighting tonight, Tanya?"  he asked.  "It's been
a week now, the people are getting anxious to see you in the pit
again."

Tanya moved even closer to Trask, towering over him.  Alarmed,
he stepped back a pace.  "Careful, little man, one day you'll
push me too far.  I don't think you really want to make me
angry," she said softly.  Her pale eyes flashed fire, belying
her mild words.  "Do you?"

"Er, no offense intended, Tanya," stammered Trask.  "It's just
that our profits go up whenever you enter the pit, especially if
it's known in advance."

"Is there a good challenge tonight?"

"One man said he won't enter his fighter unless it's to fight
you," Trask said.  "Says he'll wait as long as it takes until
you're ready."

"Sounds like that one needs to learn a little respect.  All
right, I'll fight tonight."  Tanya frowned thoughtfully.  "I'd
better go and start getting ready."

Tanya went to her preparation room, where her servants rubbed
healing potions into her muscles and massaged her to loosen her
muscles.  She then spent some time lifting light weights and
shadowboxing to get herself ready.  Finally her servants braided
her long auburn hair and pinned it on top of her head.  Then
they covered her entire body with a thin coating of oil, to
highlight her muscles.  Finally they helped her into the
snakeskin breechcloth and held the lion cloak out to her.  Trask
knocked at the door.  "It's time," he said.

Tanya rose and started the walk to the pit.  In the pit, Trask
was beginning the introductions.

"The last fight of the evening, a fight without weapons, just
body against body.  Now entering the pit, the challenger,
standing six feet eight inches tall and weighing two hundred and
seventy pounds, Cador the Cruel!"  Cador was a mountain of a
man, with long black hair hanging in two braids to the small of
his back.  His body was heavily muscled, with almost no fat. 
Scars covered his arms and legs.  There was a scar on his face
that reached from his right temple to beneath his chin.  He
stalked to one side of the pit and waited.

"Now, the Champion of the pit.  She stands six feet three inches
tall and weighs two hundred and twenty pounds.  Undefeated in
over one hundred fights at this pit, please welcome Tanya!"

Tanya entered the pit to the roar of the crowd.  She gazed at
her opponent, looking for a weakness, but none was apparent. 
Seeing her look at him, Cador grinned cruelly and flexed his
huge arms, trying to intimidate her, but Tanya ignored his show
and turned her back to him, removing the lion skin as she did
so, letting Cador see the tattoo on her back.  She then flexed
her own muscles for the crowd, basking in their approval of her
physique.  Tanya then turned back to face Cador, a slight smile
on her lips, cold fire glinting from her eyes.  Cador met her
gaze for a while, then looked away.  Tanya's smile broadened a
bit, and she waited for the signal.

Trask waited until the crowd had finished placing wagers on the
two fighters, then rang the gong.  Tanya and Cador began
cautiously, circling the pit floor, each looking for weaknesses
in the other.  As they closed in, Tanya realized that Cador
dwarfed her in every physical way.  She hoped that her skills
were up to this challenge.

Cador closed the distance between in an instant, driving a big
shoulder into Tanya's ribs.  She felt herself lifted off her
feet as Cador crushed her in a bear hug, then rushed across the
pit to drive her back into the wall.  Tanya gasped with the
force of the blow.  Much of the air had been driven from her
lungs, and she found it difficult to breathe.  Cador released
his grip and stepped back, watching with satisfaction as Tanya
slumped to the floor of the pit.  He raised an enormous right
foot, readying himself to stomp her into the sand.

Tanya saw the foot descending and rolled away from it as quickly
as she could.  Tanya knew the blow to her back had damaged her,
and she needed to get some room between herself and the
dark-haired behemoth in the pit with her.  She scrambled to her
feet and tried to regain her breath, ignoring the stabbing pain
in her back.  Cador lunged toward her, determined to end the
battle swiftly.  Tanya saw him coming in time and leaped to the
side.  Cador's rush carried him beyond her, and Tanya saw her
opportunity.  She drove a hard kick into Cador's back, right at
kidney level.  He grunted in pain as her foot struck home. 
Cador rolled forward to evade any further blows and got to his
feet, facing Tanya.  Pain showed on both their faces as they
stalked each other again.

Tanya knew that Cador's plan was to get close, ignoring anything
she might do, and crush her with his superior strength and
weight.  After feeling the power of those big arms, she knew
Cador was stronger than she was.  Her only chance lay in
outmaneuvering him, and slowing him down with damaging punches
and kicks, trying to weaken him so she could finish him off. 
Judging by the pain in her back she had at least one broken rib
already, and she knew that she had to end the fight as soon as
possible.

Cador rushed in again, but this time Tanya was ready for his
speed.  She dropped to her back, driving both legs into his
belly as he went over her, flipping him over half way across the
pit to land hard on his back.  The two battlers got to their
feet at the same instant, ready to fight.  Cador stayed low,
moving in on Tanya relentlessly.  Tanya waited for his rush,
ready to react and strike.  Cador moved to his left, and as
Tanya leaped to her left to avoid him she ran into a cloud of
sand thrown up by his right hand.  The sand blinded her, and she
tried to wipe the stinging grains from her eyes.

The crowd booed at Cador's tactic.  Though there were no real
rules in the pit, certain things were frowned upon.  Cador moved
in on his apparently helpless opponent.  He doubled one huge
hand and punched Tanya in the belly.  Tanya sensed the blow
coming and tensed her abdominal muscles to take it.  Cador's
punch drove her back several feet, but did not penetrate the
shield of her muscles.  Tanya rolled over backwards, adding to
the momentum given her by the punch, gaining distance.  Finally
she cleared most of the sand from her eyes and was able to see,
though her vision was somewhat blurred.  She realized that Cador
had slipped behind her only when he locked his huge arms around
her and squeezed.

Cador lifted Tanya off her feet.  The breath was crushed from
her lungs by his arms.  Tanya kept her head and looked for a way
to free herself.  Her arms were loose, and she grabbed Cador's
wrists with her huge hands and struggled to break his hold. 
Mighty muscles rippled in her enormous arms as she fought to
force Cador's hands apart.  She knew that if she didn't free
herself soon, she'd lose consciousness from lack of oxygen.

Cador slowly realized that his bear hug was being broken. 
Tanya's unbelievable strength, added to her desperation, had
broken the lock.  When Tanya felt her feet touch the ground
again she drove her head backward into Cador's face.  Several of
his teeth were loosened, and Tanya felt the blow shake her up as
well.  She was able to retain enough sense to drive her right
elbow into Cador's belly.  It didn't do much damage, but it
created the space Tanya needed in order to maneuver.

Driving punches into his belly and face like a madwoman, Tanya
forced Cador backwards.  Her fists opened several cuts on his
face, and his muscular belly started to show bruises where her
rock hard hands landed.  Cador tried to fend her off, but Tanya
drove a kick up into his groin.  "That's for the sand in the
eyes, bastard," she growled.  Tanya watched with satisfaction as
Cador doubled up in agony and fell to the ground.  She continued
a barrage of kicks to his unprotected back as he struggled to
his feet again.  Tanya was amazed by his ability to withstand
pain.

As Cador regained his feet, Tanya spun behind him and leaped on
his back.  She locked her hands under his chin and wrapped her
big legs around his midsection.  Cador felt his balance going,
and he toppled sideways onto the sand.  Tanya tightened the vise
of her legs, trying to force the breath from Cador's body, and
buying some more time to recover both her breath and her sight
while causing him more suffering.  Cador tried to break the
scissorlock with his arms, but could not.  He felt consciousness
leaving him as he tried to breathe past her pythonesque legs. 
He then reached backward and grabbed her by the ears, then
pulled her chin down onto his head.  The blow rattled Tanya,
causing her to release the headlock.  Shaking her head, she
began to get mad.  Tanya grabbed Cador's braids and wrapped them
around his throat, starting to choke him.  Cador reached up
desperately and clawed at her eyes with his hands.  Blinded,
Tanya released both the scissors and his hair.  She rolled
quickly away, and lay on the ground, blinking the tears from her
eyes.  Tanya dimly saw Cador lumbering toward her again, and was
barely ready for him when he arrived.

Using her athletic legs, Tanya drove up from the ground and
smashed him in the midsection with her shoulder.  Straightening
up, she flipped Cador's enormous form over her shoulder to come
crashing down on his back.  Roaring in frustration, Cador
regained his feet and rushed toward the burly redhead,
determined to crush her into the ground.

Cador raised his right arm and tried to smash Tanya's head by
clubbing it with his fist.  She got her left up with no time to
spare and blocked the tremendous blow, saving her head but
sacrificing her left arm.  The forearms of both fighters snapped
from the impact.  Pain exploded in Tanya's arm and she was
driven back down to the sand.  Cador roared in agony as his
right arm shattered, and he staggered backward, cradling his
useless limb.

Tanya knew that the fight would be won or lost in the next few
moments.  She forced herself to her feet and leaped at Cador. 
Desperation added to her strength, and she smashed her right
fist into his already damaged belly.  Cador was not prepared to
take the punch, and Tanya felt her hand penetrate his muscle
shield and drive into his vitals.  Stepping back to give herself
some room, she lunged at him feet first, delivering a tremendous
kick to his jaw, shattering it.  To Cador, it felt like a
sledgehammer had hit him in the belly and then a horse had
kicked him in the head.  He was nearly unconscious when he hit
the floor of the pit, flat on his back.  Tanya stood over him
and drove the heel of her right hand into his nose, using all
the strength she could muster.  Her hand destroyed his skull
drove the shards into the brain beyond.  Blood geysered upward,
splattering her with gore.  Breathing hard, Tanya stood slowly
upright, blood dripping from her right hand.  She lifted her arm
in a gesture of victory, then slumped to the floor.  Tanya knew
it would be several months before she could fight again.


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