The crowd erupted in loudest cheer seeing what Siroos and Cassandra had pulled. They had been underdogs until they saw Siroos transforming into two different animals and Cassandra chopping away the magical vines like vegetables.
No attack had been able to even scratch them. The gong went off again, announcing the match was over.
Siroos had shifted back to his human form, and his clothes hadn't slipped; they were back on his body where they were supposed to be. Cassandra stared at him in bewilderment as he took her hand with a smirk and raised it in the air, announcing their victory.
"What are you?" Cassandra apprehensively asked, ignoring the delectable sparks tingling where their skin touched. Her whole concentration was on him.
"Shifter," he carefreely answered as they walked off the bloody ground while the crowd still celebrated.
"Shifters don't turn into hawks and hedgehogs. They turn into werewolves or only one kind of animal (this was very rare). What kind are you?" Cassandra jerked her hand free from his hold and she could only do it because he let her go.
"A unique kind. Nice sword." Siroos tried to shift the attention from himself. Cassandra sheathed her sword and didn't stop glaring.
"You could have informed me, and what does your alpha even want with me? Why am I living through all this bloodshed?" She asked, furious at how Siroos was unbothered at taking a life. It seemed so natural for him.
"You will see once the arena ends." He slumped on the paved ground in the small room they had been instructed to wait, while the other matches took place.
"If he is trying to win any favours from my father through me, he will not succeed. My father doesn't care what happens to me, I thought it was evident enough," she seethed out, still shaking from the experience of the arena as she crossed her arms on her chest to keep it from heaving and pressed her legs together so they wouldn't shake so much.
"Nor does your sister or that ill-looking fiancé, I wonder what you did to piss so many people off," he playfully stated, his eyes held a tease, they had returned to their original golden shade.
"Existed," the single word was uttered by her with such pain that all that tease dropped from his eyes and was replaced by anger and fury.
Getting up slowly he approached her like a cheetah. With his skin, eyes and hair he indeed resembled one.
Cassandra tried to take a step back but hit the wall behind her. He casually invaded her personal space observing how her heart rate accelerated every time he was in her proximity.
"That's not in your control but how you use it to your advantage that surely is." His hand reached out as if he wished to touch her cheek, feel the flushed skin under his fingertips. But she turned her head in unease. His other hand landed right beside her face, caging her in-between.
"I don't need dictation from you on what to do. You can't understand my position or what I have to go through." Cassandra tried to shuffle away from him, their chests almost touched.
Siroos let out a scoff as his nostrils flared, not only in anger.
"Point, how can a lowly slave understand the predicaments of a Princess? Who lives in a castle and has never done a day's labour. What a miserable life you must have."
There was almost a hint of mockery in his voice as his eyes scanned her. She quickly turned her head understanding he had taken her words wrongly.
"That's not…" she began but was interrupted when they were called for the next match.
"Princess Cassandra, it's your and your warrior's turn," the guard announced and she nodded. Siroos let her go and backed away but his expression seemed soured.
"Let's go," Siroos said before exiting the room and Cassandra quietly followed, carrying her sword.
"Prolong the match for the crowd, don't go for killing intent. Your opponents will do the same, King Tholarian's orders," one of the guards conveyed.
Siroos seemed apprehensive, but he decided to go for the plan; it was always fun to play with the enemy.
They arrived back in the pit which held the mingling smells of sweat and blood now. The roaring in the stands was getting louder seeing Siroos. They hadn't seen a shifter who could turn into multiple animals. That was pure entertainment for them.
This time they faced a mage and a lion shifter (a werelion, who were extremely rare.)
Cassandra was unfamiliar with the mage, he was someone new. The smirk he held told her he had his eyes set on her, and the way Siroos kept guarding her with his body made her seem even more vulnerable and the weak link. The gong sounded, and the shifter didn't waste any time transforming into a huge lion with a brownish-orange glistening mane. His size alone was intimidating.
He raised his head and roared loudly sending the crowd into a frenzy. Siroos accepted the challenge and jumped, transforming mid-air into a lion as well, a white one.
His size and roar were even louder than his opponent's. They clashed with claws outstretched and fangs bare. The mage eyed Cassandra; she had her sword out as he flicked his hand, and she saw the blinding blue light dancing at his fingertips.
He had the electric affinity and her sword wouldn't help her against him. He raised his hand and electricity cackled above, darkening the skies. A thunder was heard as the air split and became charged from the current. It flew and went straight for Cassandra, ready to burn her to a crisp.
"You are dead, princess," he remarked, almost tasting the victory on the top of his tongue. The sweat broke out on her forehead as her legs uncontrollably shook.
Cassandra shifted just in time and jumped sideways as a bolt of electricity fell to where she had been standing a second ago. A blue halo had formed around her and the second attack was repelled by it.
The crowd roared in enthusiasm from the edge of their seats, even the chief guests watched with keen interest while chomping on the rare fruits and glazed meat.
She watched in amazement, how there was a protective halo around her. The snarling of the lion had her eyes lifted to where Siroos was.
He had jumped towards the mage who had been attacking Cassandra. The lion shifter was clinging to his hind leg but was profusely bleeding from the injuries Siroos had given him.
The mage's magic pulsed as he directed his attack from Cassandra to Siroos. The electricity cackled in his hand as he tried to shove it into Siroos's hairy chest but was repelled and flew to a distance of a few feet, baffling everyone.