Though I'd made my people go to make the preparations necessary to ensure that the Misti Hawar didn't take us all by surprise, I was far from idle myself. Discounting my daily visits to the nursery to tend to our eggs and bolster the rest of the young that lived there, there was something that I knew I could do well. All of my Keel had their strengths, and they were sent to act accordingly. With so many of my [Skills] and [Titles], and my race itself all meant for leadership, I spent most of my days on the training fields. I trained against every Kha, Khatif, and Keel that had even the slightest amount of free time.
"You're not able to harm me," I scoffed as I smashed the blunt spear aside, "so show me your claws!"
To punctuate my words, I closed the distance to the hesitant group of Kha that were cowed by my presence. I'd never expected just how much my people were influenced by even the slightest demonstration of aggression from me, but it was something that needed to be worked on. High Soulspeakers would have similar draws on their souls, and if they were brought to their knees by something so simple, they wouldn't be worth the investment of time and training.
The flimsy formation fell apart as I whipped my tail across the knees and hips of each of the people standing against me. Their Khatif leader was slightly better, but when she gave a better lunge, I fixed my scales together, letting the weapon scrape off my chest. My closed fist met her ribs and she crumpled for a moment before forcing herself to her feet.
"Good." I grinned as I let her take only a couple short seconds before I pressed back in. She tried to lower her spear to intercept me, but I smashed it aside again. This time, she let the weapon fly from her hands as she levered her lower center of gravity. I didn't struggle as much as I could have as the Khatif roared as she fought to lift me from my feet. To her credit, she was slightly successful, and I was forced to use my tail to keep from being thrown to the ground.
"Stab him!" She commanded her pack as I was held aloft. A proud grin crossed my face as a dozen blunt spears struck me ineffectually. Their attack successful, I seized control once again. I rolled in her arms, scales scraping as I wrested myself free from the grapple. As soon as she lost hold of me, I stole a spear from one of the Kha's hands and started laying them low. The spear swung through the air and thunked heavily into arms, chests, head, and legs. I showed no mercy as I completely devastated the pack that attacked.
Once I stood victorious over the unresisting bodies, I grinned widely.
"Well done, pack of Bruuk! You've shown you can stand up to me in combat. There's still a long way before you can threaten me, but that is merely something that you can aspire towards now. Go to one of the healers, and they'll be able to tell you if you need ministrations at all. Once you're done there, move on to the drills under Brutus's command. Now go."
I shook them off with a flick of my tail, just in time to hear another approaching.
"Yes, I have just long enough to put you back in your place." I said to Wisterl as she came around to challenge me once again. Her face twisted in just the barest hint of frustration, but then she bowed her head as she flared her frills in acceptance. I could hear laughing bets on how long she'd be able to survive against me this time, but I didn't pay them any heed. The stakes were nothing more than a finer cut of someone's next meal, and considering the vast majority of our food still remained the ants from outside of Nievtra's walls, it was nothing more than bragging rights.
Beyond that, as Wisterl had evolved to Khatif, even though she wasn't quite fully grown, she'd grown more and more powerful. She deserved to be treated seriously, even though I still remained so far beyond her reach. As such, I rolled my shoulders and focused on my opponent. She waited only until I appeared to be barely ready, then she sprinted towards me.
Wisterl had spent most of her early life honing her ability to fight against her broodmates, and now that she was grown, she spent as long in the bounds of the fighting pits as possible. Her body was already patterned with dozens of small scars that would fade with time, but I was sure that by the time the scars had the opportunity to actually fade, she'd have found herself covered in twice as many. What I was looking forward to most, though, was the time when she got good enough to no longer have scars, just like her namesake.
Now was not that time, though. Without using any of my [Skills], I easily outmaneuvered the young Khatif, and I kept dodging back from each of her strikes while striking glancing blows against her where her defense was weakest. Despite my almost casual treatment of her, her face didn't twist in anger or frustration, instead staying determined and focused. When my tail smashed into her knee and twisted it the wrong way, she continued to try to fight through what was sure to be an agonizing injury.
Limping, she threw herself at me with her jaws open. Figuring I would allow her the strike, I interposed my arm with my scales fastened together and protecting me from allowing the hit to pierce my flesh. Her fangs ground on my scales as I hauled her aloft with my right arm. My muscles burned as I kept her there, but I flared my frills in approval.
"Good, pushing through. But if you continue with your knee like that, then it'll give you trouble for longer. Don't put any weight on it, and stay here." I didn't say anything more, but set her down on the ground, where she lay. As soon as she was out of the fight, it was obvious that the pain from the injury actually set in, and she grimaced with each movement. Before I made a sound, Sakkit ran out and set to taking care of the fallen Khatif. They spoke as I looked up and evaluated the time of year. It was the throes of autumn, and we'd been in this new home for a year now.
Though the time was near at hand, I knew that the eggs were only almost ready to hatch, and would require a couple weeks yet. While I looked around for the next thing to do, I felt something approaching, something unnatural. Knowing what was coming, a somewhat familiar voice came from below, much lower than where any Kha's voice would have been.
"Hello, Sir Zaaktif."