She was going to win, no matter what it took.
"Weapons down," Nacio said fiercely.
Max shed her knives in a neat pile. Nacio took off a hunting knife and laid it on the ground. They both pulled out their pockets to show that they had nothing hidden in them.
Nacio didn't stop there. He continued to shed clothing until he was nude for a quick and easy shift. Then, with a theatrical flourish, he became a jaguar and bounded toward her.
But Max had already decided that she was going to wait until the last minute to shift this time. She knew she couldn't take Nacio in a direct, one-on-one fight as jaguars; she had tried that before and nearly died. However, she had learned a lot about fighting in the last ten years, and one of the most important lessons she had learned was to work with what she had.
So she whipped off her yellow blouse and tangled it around Nacio's front paws. She sidestepped, letting Nacio's own weight and momentum carry him in a crashing, bone-jarring belly flop on the arena floor.
Nacio struggled to his feet. The look of bafflement on his feline face was truly funny for a moment. Some people in the stands even laughed. It was clear that he had hoped to win quickly and easily, and then he'd found himself flat on the ground.
But he was no fool. Max tried to retrieve her shirt with a jerk of her wrist, but Nacio caught it, his claws ripping through the fabric. He used the leverage to yank her forward. Max tried to dodge, but gasped aloud as she felt the searing pain of his claws lance through her shoulder.
She stumbled and recovered. She could feel blood running down her arm. When she looked up at the stands, Gio had half risen from his seat, his hands curled into fists.
Max shook her head at him.
Let me do this,she tried to send to him.
She had to look to her own fight again, becauseNacio snarled and charged. Max skipped aside. She caught up the torn blouse with her good arm, and this time, as he lunged at her once more, she wrapped it around his head, temporarily blinding him.
Nacio stumbled away, pawing at his face.
There was no way she could keep this up, Max thought. Her strength was already beginning to flag as blood ran down her arm. He was too big and too vicious for her to win against him as a human. She was going to have to try her luck against him as a jaguar sooner or later, so she might as well do it while he was distracted.
Max shifted, tearing out of her clothes, and leaped at him.
She landed on his back, gaining the element of surprise, at least. They both went sprawling and tumbled over the stone floor of the arena, snarling and clawing at each other.
It was like a replay of the last time, when she had lost. But to her surprise, this time she was not tiring as quickly as Nacio. It was as if someone else's strength buoyed her up, supporting her. She could almost feel Gio by her side, as if they were fighting as a team.
She caught a glimpse of Gio in the stands. He was no longer standing, but he leaned forward intently. Was he doing anything? She couldn't tell—but now she remembered how he had said he didn't know how he made it to her clan lands; he just had known exactly how to get there.
As if they were connected.
There was blood streaming into her eyes and she was exhausted, but she managed to roll Nacio over on his back and set her teeth in his throat. He clawed at her weakly.
Max shook him with her teeth. The message was clear. Yield or die.
He held out as long as he could, but she had him pinned now. Nacio writhed beneath her. Max held on.
I am not a better fighter than you,she thought.You proved that ten years ago. But this is what I'm better at.
I am more stubborn than you.
I'll outlast you, Nacio, and your death is closer than mine.
In jaguar form, with her teeth locked in his throat, she couldn't say it out loud. But she could feel his struggles growing weaker.
He knew.
And finally he shifted back. Max had to hastily adjust her bite on his smaller human throat. He still hesitated. She gave him a little shake, and finally he choked out the words she had been waiting to hear.
"I yield," Nacio gasped.
Then he passed out.
