Adham;

I tripped over Rayyan's arm and hit the floor with a silent thud, the crowd chanted "End it" and "tear it apart" all around me. My ribs hurt so much that I couldn't even tell flesh apart from blood. Rayyan pulled my collar in a jolt with the last inch of strength in him.

"Listen to me well" he whispered, "I will turn into a wolf and you will kill me" I shook my head as violently as my strained neck allowed me to.

"Oi, come on" One man shouted from the upper benches in the audience.

"This isn't what I paid for" another concurred.

Rayyan grabbed me by the nape of my neck "I told you to listen. When I turn into a wolf, you must break off one of my claws do you understand?" My chest felt hot, I wished I was anywhere but, in the rings, even underground, even in hell "Hide it under your armpit, and tonight when they hold a feast, you must break your shackles with it" I kept shaking my head in denial "You must survive Adham, you must leave this place and survive with honour"

He let go of me, his body trembled as fur grew over his arms, his torso, his humane body. His face morphed itself into a different shape. Before I could brace myself, he had already turned.

The crowd started cheering again, my head spun "Do me this last favour" his voice boomed in my head. I picked up my sickle, my mind still in denial, but_ my body responded, drunk on adrenaline that dulled my senses enough.

'You were born to live, Adham. Live with our head high' I may have forced a lot of memories to feign ignorance. I never succeeded in forgetting the peaceful smile he had on his face

--------------------------

The tree I had taken cover behind explodes into pieces. I jump over the bushes to save my skin; it catches fire too and I'm left exposed again. ten steps short of the edge of a cliff

I watch in horror as the nameless slender warlock, who we all know as ringmaster, picks up another stone from the ground, it floats over his open palm as mumbles an enchantment, I gear up to throw myself on the ground as the stone swells and sets itself on fire. He throws it towards me with two simultaneous claps of his hands.

It covers more radius than I initially anticipated. I find myself knocked against a thick bamboo tree.

"You know you were my favourite Adham" he says as he picks up another rock "I hate it when I have to hunt my possessions" his expressions contort into a horrible mess as he spits his next words "Who gave you the right to think. I own you, little monster. Who gave you the right to flee from your owner?" He starts enflaming it.

I don't wait for long this time.

I throw my weight to one side and let my body fall off the cliff.

I open my eyes once my back crashes against the ground and I roll off to lower ground. I can still see the orange red glow of embers in a distance.

I run to the opposite side as fast as my twisted ankle allows me to.

By the time my ankle heals, I've already put ample distance between me and my hunter, hopefully. I hear some noises in a distance.

I duke behind a fallen log and lay on my front to hide, but in a blur flash an animal pins me to the ground by its claws, without giving me time to react. I see wolves leaping towards me through my restricted vision, a whole swarm of them.

They all circle around me, sniffing for trouble. 

Shit