Chapter 6

The Chief didn't show up until late morning. By that time Wilds and Finn had decided who'd be fighting for Reed. According to the rules, each fight was one on one. They could take turns against the Chiefs choices, but if the team lost one fight, they lost the Captain for a year. However, what Finn thought were the rules, and what they actually were, turned out to be two different things.

"Wait a minute," he told Orla, "I thought you said that we decided to who would fight for our side."

"What I said," corrected Orla, "was that your mating group would fight my warriors. Perhaps you misunderstood."

Finn was pissed off. This was getting out of hand. Looking at the three men standing there, he knew that Alexa would have little or no chance against any one of them.

"I did not misunderstand," he said. "It is unfair to ask Alexa to fight. She is a scholar, not a warrior."

Orla shrugged. "When you lose, we won't keep Reed forever; it is only for a year. You can stay with my tribe, even, and I will allow you to spend time with her. When I am not using her."

"That's not going to work," said Finn. "We have to leave here soon, and Reed is coming with us."

"Then I hope," said Orla, "that you can win."

Finn cursed and turned away. This was bullshit. They'd do the fight, but if any one of them lost, he was going to introduce this tribe to the concept of superior fire power. He almost decided to call it off and just take Reed tonight, but he wanted to avoid any loss of life, especially on the part of his team. There were just too many people to risk it right now.

"Shit," he said, as they stood apart from the people who were gathering to watch, "now what the fuck are we going to do?"

"Hey, I know how to defend myself," said Alexa, with some heat.

"Training in a dojo isn't the same thing as a real world fight," said Finn.

"I'll win," replied Alexa. "I promise. I want Reed back as much as you do. Besides, how do you know you'll win?"

"Attitude," replied Finn, "and the fact that I've been in real hand-to-hand situations before. And I don't have a choice."

He thought for a moment, then said, "All right. This is how were going to play it. Alexa, you'll fight first..."

"Oh right, because you expect me to lose..."

"That's enough," Finn said sharply. "They will expect you to lose, which is what's important. If you do, well, you do. We'll take Reed by force tonight. But if you don't, think of how badly it'll shake them. Whereas if Wilds and I go first, and we win, your fight will be even harder. Don't you want every advantage you can get?"

Alexa looked over toward the three men they'd be fighting. Not one of them was under six two, and they all looked like they knew how to move. She hesitated for a second, then nodded.

"We can't do any real damage," continued Finn, "which means we're all at a disadvantage. Those guys are big and they outweigh us by quite a bit, so it's going to be like a wrestling match. And I suck at wrestling."

"We could just knock 'em out," offered Wilds.

"Whatever. Just don't kill them," said Finn. "If there are any serious injuries, all of us will be in danger except Reed."

Just then, Tenka walked up to them and bowed.

"I want to thank you for last night," she said. "My pleasure was exquisite and I hope that I returned what you so freely gave."

"You're welcome," replied Wilds with a smile.

Finn echoed the sentiment, and under other circumstances, he'd have been very distracted. But right now his mind was focused on getting Reed. He was already making alternate plans for her retrieval, and cursing himself for letting things go this far.

"If... if you cannot win back your mate," said Tenka, "I would offer to go with you for the year. I know that I am not her, but perhaps I could help with her loss."

"That's very gracious of you," said Alexa, "and please don't take this the wrong way, but we really have to leave here with Captain Reed."

Tenka hesitated, then said, "The Chief is most taken with her. She will use the Coyote's own tricks to keep her, so you should be careful."

Finn's eyes narrowed.

"I assume that means that she'll cheat?" he asked.

"Outright cheating is... not encouraged," replied Tenka. "But tricks and clever traps are the Coyote's way, and the Chief is well versed in finding advantage where there appears to be none."

With that, the girl bowed and walked away. Finn sighed and rolled his eyes. Could things get any worse?

"We have about an hour before we have to fight," he said. "Let's go gear up. Full kit. I want to be as ready for anything as we can get."

They headed inside to get their gear.

Finn insisted on being early for the Challenge. There was no way he was going to forfeit something because the Chief's sense of time didn't match theirs. But there was no indication that she was going to try that. Apparently, she felt confident that her whoever was matched against Alexa would prevail, and Finn couldn't blame her. It was bad enough that she had to fight -- even though he knew she'd had extensive training. If she'd had surprise, and if her goal was to hurt her opponent and escape, that'd be one thing. But a person her size trying to put down someone that big without hurting them? Well now, that was something else.

He decided that if any of them lost, they'd appear the gracious loser, and do their best to put the Chief off guard. Then they'd do their best to spring a trap, yank Reed and escape. There would be blood, for sure, but no way was he leaving Reed here for a year no matter how much she appeared to enjoy herself. Plus, he could just see himself trying to explain what had happened to Hammond:

"Well Sir, we didn't want to hurt the natives that lived on the nice, deserted planet you sent us to and besides, the Captain really likes being a sex slave. So we thought we'd just go back next year and get her when the Chief is finished with her..."

Oh yeah. That'd go well. He'd spend the rest of his life in Leavenworth, and rightfully so. Hell, they were going to have to... finesse... this report as it was. He was wondering what part of his brain had been turned off to let things get this far. Then he saw Captain Reed being brought out to the area, and his cock throbbed. That reminded him just how much his lust had gotten control of him. And that made him frown. Yes, he had a very high sex drive. Yes, he loved what was going on here at this Festival. But that really didn't explain why he seemed to have lost so much control over himself, and it appeared that Dr. Shaw and Wilds had been experiencing the same loss of control. Hmmm. Something to think about at another time.

They'd done Reed up in some very nice bondage -- no doubt to try and distract her 'mates'. She was on a small platform which had a short cross on it. Her position was pretty extreme: Her arms went behind the top bar and were tied to the base of the platform, and each knee had been bent and her ankles tied to the ends of the cross bar at the top. Rope tightly cinched her waist to the vertical pole, and her pussy was resting on what looked like a tree branch which was horizontal to the ground and affixed to the main pole. Finn knew it was a tree branch because the bark was still on it. Her mouth was, as usual, plugged, and both breasts were tightly roped.

"Just how into this stuff is Reed?" Finn asked Wilds quietly.

"Lets just say that if this had happened a different way, she'd be in subbie heaven," replied Wilds. "I'm betting she's just going with it, and enjoying it because she trusts us to get her out of here."

Finn looked hard at Wilds, then said, "Please tell me that she's at least tried to escape."

"Oh, I know she has," replied Wilds. "I was listening to Rika and Gayla talk this morning about how much she'd calmed down. Apparently, she took the first two men they sent in the room to get her by surprise, and hurt one of them pretty bad. Since then she's been under heavy guard, and restrained almost every moment."

Except when she was doing that whole orgy thing the other night, thought Finn. It was a thought he didn't share.

"One other thing," added Wilds. "I also found out that the Coyote's Gift always arrives naked. So either she was transported somewhere else first, or the transport device is tuned for human only."

"Is that possible?" he asked.

"I don't know," replied Wilds, "you'll have to ask Dr. Shaw."

The Chief chose that time to stand up and make a short speech, thanking all for gathering, praising the Coyote's Gift and mentioning how much she appreciated Reed, then saying that in true Trickster fashion, the Coyote had sent three warriors to meet her own in battle to try and claim Reed back.

"I am sure that my champions will prevail, and I pledge that I will cherish the Gift I have have been given," she said. "And now, let the first of the challenges begin!"

Ruun stepped into the roped off area to the cheers of the crowd. He smiled at people and accepted a nod from the Chief, then stood there and waited. No theatrics, no bravado. He was there to win, and his attitude showed it.

Alexa had removed her boots, her top, and her fatigue pants, and was standing there in a body suit that Finn hadn't know she'd brought with her. It hugged her every curve and was dead black. She bent down and pulled out another pile of cloth from her bag. It turned out to hold a pair of soft boots and what looked like a Ninja mask. Finn shook his head wondering where she'd gotten the Ninja outfit.

"You know Ninjitsu?" Wilds asked.

"No," replied Alexa, her voice muffled and somewhat distant. "I know Aikido. But I don't want our friend in there to have any handy places to grab."

Ruun looked at Alexa oddly as she stepped into the ring. He was clearly puzzled by what Alexa was wearing, but obviously wasn't going to let it bother him. The Chief gave the go for the fight to start and Alexa just stood there. Finn was on pins and needles, franticly looking for any way out of this situation. Alexa wasn't even in a stance, she was just standing there looking helpless. If he'd been thinking more clearly, that would have reassured him.

Ruun moved toward Alexa cautiously, then slowly put out a hand to take her arm. It was clear he didn't know what was going on either. Alexa moved out of his way. He tried again with the same result. Then he smiled. It was obvious that she was going to make him chase her. This time he moved much faster, but still, she slipped out of the way. That couldn't last forever though; the ring just wasn't that big.

Alexa's dance came to an abrupt end as Ruun lunged toward her -- and found himself landing almost flat on his face in the sand. He let out a grunt and quickly rolled to his feet. Finn blinked. He hadn't expected what had happened any more than Ruun had. Ruun got up and brushed himself off, looking thoughtfully at Alexa. His next attack was more deliberate, but he didn't move as fast. He was larger and far stronger and it was obvious he was going to use that to his advantage, especially now that he knew Alexa wasn't as easy a target as he'd thought she was.

She slipped him again, then twice more, but eventually he managed to grab her. She squirmed around in his arms, her flexibility astonishing as she actually managed to kick him in the face with one foot. This stunned him a bit and she snapped her head back into his jaw, which stunned him even more. Not for long, but for long enough for her to squirm out of his hold. This time he came at her fast and low, and it looked like she was done for. However, when they hit the ground, she twisted like a cat and got his massive arm in a submission hold. Finn had his doubts that she'd be able to keep the hold, but she was using her entire body, and his arm was twisted pretty bad.

"Yield or I'll break it," she said.

The Chief shot to her feet and said, "You may not do permanent damage!"

"Then make him yield," she said, "or we'll be like this all day. Besides, he'll heal."

Her voice didn't waver, and she showed no sign of strain, but Finn knew she had to be expending a lot of energy to keep him in the hold.

The Chief could see it too, and sat down with a smile.

"Let us see how long you can hold him then," she said. "The contest is not finished as long as one has the will to resist. And if you do break his arm, you lose. More than just the contest, I assure you."

Alexa shook her head and Ruun squirmed, trying to dislodge his arm. She put more pressure on it, but Ruun was a warrior, and Finn was willing to bet he'd let his arm be broken rather than give up the fight. Alexa must have thought so too, and to his surprise, she let him go. But when he tried to get up, she brought her heel down on his head, stunning him. In a flash, she had him in a hold around his neck, and it was a done deal after that. She got up, leaving his limp body on the ground. The Chief shot to her feet.

"If he is dead, you will follow!"

"Hold on!" yelled Finn, as some of the guard began to head toward Alexa. "He's not dead, just unconscious, so back the hell off."

Orla looked at Finn and he could see that she was really pissed. He noted that she didn't have her eyes on the gun in his hand, which was good. It meant she didn't know what it was, and if he had to use it, the shock value would be considerable. She nodded to one of her guards who got into the ring and turned Ruun over, shaking him. It wasn't long before he came to, and was back on his feet.

"I'd say that we won the first round," said Finn.

Orla sat down, her eyes narrowed in anger.

"It appears you have," she said, in a voice that was light. "But you have two more challenges to go, and you will not find them so easy to win. She will fight next."

The Chief pointed at Wilds. Wilds shrugged and so did Finn. He knew, if only by reputation, that Wilds was a hell of a fighter, so he wasn't worried. But it wouldn't do to get over confident.

"Fine," he said nodding to Wilds.

Alexa came out of the ring, and Finn and Wilds congratulated her.

"Damn that was slick," said Finn.

"Thanks," said Alexa pulling off her hood. Her face was wet with sweat. "It's a good thing he didn't know what to expect though, because he's a strong as an ox. He almost had me there."

"It is time!" said the Chief, and Wilds and Finn looked back at the ring.

The man inside was actually bigger than Ruun had been, but didn't look as fast.

"Good luck," said Finn to Wilds.

Wilds was eying up her opponent as she walked into the ring.