Shredded Moonlight

Chapter 22

            By the time I made it outside, most of the tribe had already gathered in the main clearing. Kamara was perched on her high rock, while Aysun paced just below, her eyes flashing. The Nekos were making a circle to close off the fighting arena and I found Nox at one end of it, rolling his shoulders and glaring in the direction of Deccan who was smirking amid the tension around him. “Nox!” I pushed past the crowd to his side.

            “Shadow.” Placing his hand on the back of my neck he pulled me closer so our foreheads touched, his eyes closing. I brought my hand up slowly to cup his face. “You should go back to the hut.”

            “Hell no.” I choked.

            “Please, Shadow. I don't want you to see this.” His voice was soft but I could hear the stress underneath.

            “I will not leave you.” he began to shake his head but I stopped him. “Look at me.” Slowly, his brilliant green eyes rose to meet mine. “I'm staying and everything's going to be fine. Alright?”

            It took a moment but he finally nodded.  He kissed my lips softly and pulled away. “Chase,” The Neko stepped forward, his expression grave but carefully masked. The frown was so unusual on his normally cheerful face. Nox gave him a meaningful look, glancing at me.

            “Right. Come on, Shadow.” Chase grabbed my wrist softly, but firmly enough that he could pull me back, away from Nox. I fought him for only a second before I let myself be taken. My eyes never left Nox and could see clearly that his were tortured.  We melted back against the other Nekos, but Chase kept a hold of my hand and soon my other hand was taken up too. This time by Ivy. She gave me a weak smile and rubbed my shoulder reassuringly.

            “Well isn't this a big mess,” An older voice commented from behind us and turned just enough to see Taven's face. He sent me a wink and focused his eyes on the arena once more. Damn psychics. They always knew more than me and quite frankly I was getting sick of it.

            “Hey Shadow!” My ears swiveled to the sound immediately but I almost wished they hadn't. Deccan blew a kiss in my direction. “I'll see you soon, baby.” I hissed as loudly as I could, unsheathing my claws in rage but all he did was laugh as both Ivy and Chase grabbed my forearms, becoming restraints. When I looked instinctively at Nox he's face was murderous, fully focused on Deccan; I didn't miss that his eyes were on his throat.

            Aysun walked to the center of the circle and looked each Neko up and down. “This fight is not to the death. Both of you remember that. First one to stay down loses. Winner takes the female.” She strode to the edge of the circle and walked its length. “Begin.”

            Neither of the Nekos moved right away, each of them sizing the other one up. Deccan made the first move, as I predicted; he was an offensive fighter, my gut told me. He wouldn't sit and play the defensive position. “Here, Noxy Noxy.” Nox was growling low in his throat but he didn't move from the slightly crouched pose he had adopted at the start of the fight. “Aw come on. Don't you want to play?” The talk was meant to be a distraction, but clearly Deccan's opponent wasn't falling for it. When he made his first lunge for Nox's side, Nox was already ducking out of the way, light and nimble on his feet. Deccan tried again, faster this time, launching two attacks instead one. Again, Nox was already gone, appearing slightly off to Deccan's side. Slowly, I began to get a sense of what Nox was doing.

            He wasn't striking or even making any offensive moves. When it came to strength, Deccan was clearly on top but when it came to speed, the favor was clearly on Nox. Pride swelled in my chest for a brief period. Wear him down, Nox, I encouraged silently, though I knew he couldn't hear me. Don't let him get close.