The Ring

The Ring By Sophie Breeze

“Next up, we’ve got the Bloody Huntress. Now I know she’s one of the smaller contestants we’ve seen this season, but sources say this feisty little gal doesn’t fuck around. My advice? Hold off on those bets.” The crowd rattled a thousand empty cans as the Bloody Huntress shuffled up the ramp to take her place at the Ring’s edge. Bystanders, shrouded by the smog of their own beer breath, threw their cans through the air. The Bloody Huntress closed her eyes. Metal bounced off of her head. Her hand flashed with a catch. The Bloody Huntress opened her eyes. She turned to a man in the crowd, his muddy stare wide with her, and closed the can in her grip.

The Bloody Huntress did not hear the name of her first opponent, only watched as a two-headed hydra slithered up the ramp and took its place in the centre of the Ring. It leaned in with matching forked-tongued grins, hissing for her. The Bloody Huntress held up her fists. The twoheaded hydra tasted the air. Its double lisp stung so loudly that the Bloody Huntress could scarcely hear the sound of the starting bell. She had been flung against the side of the Ring before she realized the match had begun.

Skin singing with blood and blood buzzing with heat, the Bloody Huntress could not regain her stance in time for a full-frontal assault. The hydra slipped between her thighs and spiralled one head around each leg, tightening in place. It pulled her apart, splitting her down the middle, her very core cracking. The Bloody Huntress tipped her head back. Her tongue bled with a scream. Trapped in place, she could do nothing but grab onto the Ring until her fists glowed white. The hydra pulled. The Bloody Huntress hung on. The hydra pulled. The Bloody Huntress would not split another inch, not even with blood spilling out from the gaps in her ground teeth. “Looks like we’ve got a battle of endurance on our hands! Who’ll be the first to break? Place your bets now!”

The hydra heads made a harmony of squealing. Their scales began to pop with effort, their tongues stretching, their necks leaning further and further apart as they coiled tighter around her legs. The Bloody Huntress glanced down as the two-headed hydra begun to tear, splitting itself through its centre. Its figure snapped apart in one seamless stroke of cold fibres. The hydra dropped between the Bloody Huntress’s thighs, two tongues limp and four eyes grey. The arena was deafening, rumbling with rising bodies and wordless cheers. The Bloody Huntress stepped away from the edge of the Ring as someone came to take away the body.

“Things are heating up in here! Give it up for the Bloody Huntress, folks, and for her next opponent!”

The Bloody Huntress took in her view from the centre of the Ring. She raised her fist into the air and held it there, high above her head, as another fighter came up the ramp. The starting bell hadn’t even gone off before she charged, nor had she gotten a good look at what she was attacking. The creature towered over her, too tall to knock out its teeth, so she slammed her foot into its gut. The creature doubled over. Much better. The Bloody Huntress flung herself onto its back. She wrapped her legs around its chest and her hands around its throat.

The creature snapped its giant teeth at her, but couldn’t quite reach over its own shoulder. The Bloody Huntress narrowly dodged its flailing arms long enough to find the pressure point in its neck. She jabbed. The creature snarled. She jabbed harder. The creature howled. With a final jab, the creature sunk to its knees. The Bloody Huntress faced her opponent. She saw for the first time that it only had one eye, and stared back at her now with a single stream of tears running down its face. The Bloody Huntress found the groove her teeth had left in her tongue. She bit down. Before the creature could regain its bearings, the Bloody Huntress spat blood in its eye, blinding it with searing crimson. She threw her right fist against the creature’s face. Its head snapped left. She threw her left fist against the creature’s face. Its head snapped right. She didn’t stop until her knuckles were wet with brain. “That is two for bloody two! Turns out the Bloody Huntress is a fucking killing machine! I know where I’m placing my bets next round, folks!”

The Bloody Huntress sprayed the remaining blood in her mouth at the crowd. She pounded her chest with those white brainy knuckles and screamed. The crowd screamed back. When the next contestant walked up the ramp, the Bloody Huntress was already smack bang in the centre of the Ring. Shoulders hunched. Body poised. Fists raised. Teeth red. She eyed up her opponent with sharp eyes, waiting for them to flinch. They had no horns. They had no claws. They had no armour. The Bloody Huntress leaned forward. They did not move. She growled. They did not move.

Once again, the Bloody Huntress did not wait for the starting bell. She shoved her opponent by the shoulders. They stumbled a couple steps back before taking a couple steps forward. She punched her opponent in the stomach. They bent over. They stood back up. She swept her opponent off their feet. They fell to the ground. They got off the ground. The Bloody Huntress snarled in their face. They smiled at her. The Bloody Huntress screamed in their face. They still smiled at her. The Bloody Huntress lowered her fists. She tasted the blood on her teeth. The crowd roared its fury. More blood, they seemed to call, more blood!

The Bloody Huntress looked at her opponent. They looked back at her, waiting patiently for her next move. She swallowed the blood on her teeth. Slowly, her body went slack. The person across from the Bloody Huntress lifted their fist. With wide open eyes, the Bloody Huntress simply watched as the blow came across her face, and she started to fall.