Rend Stripclaw's Arc

Chapter 6 of 7

The gray wolf did not wait for an answer. He crossed the ring and grabbed a shirt off the trophy board. He stuffed the cloth in his mouth and chewed. Rend's win over Marcus hung right beside it. The wolf swallowed and reached for the next one. He meant to eat the board bare, one trophy at a time. "Stop him!" Rend shouted. He knew this wolf. Long ago the wolf beat him and took his empty ring. Now the wolf wanted to erase every win Rend had earned since. Rend lunged, but the wolf twisted free and yanked down three more shirts. Lorn Thade stepped in first. The tiger had lost his armor to Rend and now lived in the yard to challenge him. He was huge, and his scarred paws moved fast. Lorn pinned the wolf against a bench. "You don't eat what he bled for," Lorn growled. He did not fight for himself. He fought because Rend's board mattered to him now too. The wolf kicked loose and spat cloth in Lorn's eyes. Patch swept his trunk low and knocked the wolf's legs out. The wolf hit the dirt hard. Rend dove on top of him. "You want to eat cloth?" Rend said. "Eat your own." Rend hooked the wolf's torn shirt and ripped it away. The wolf snapped at him, but Rend rolled and stripped the wolf's belt and pants in one pull. The wolf lay bare in the dirt, the same dirt where he once beat Rend. Rend held up the wolf's clothes for the crowd. "He came to destroy my board," Rend called. "Now his clothes hang on it." The crowd roared. Rend slid the wolf's shirt and pants onto the rail. The board slid out another notch. The wolf climbed to his feet, naked and shaking. He looked at the shirts still hanging, the ones he had not reached. Then he ran, pushing through the crowd, gone. Patch clapped Rend on the back with his trunk. "You beat the one who beat you," he said. "Full circle." But Rend looked at the board and saw the damage. Four trophies gone, chewed and swallowed. Marcus's second win was missing. Two of Lorn's were gone. The rail held empty hooks where his best wins had hung. Lorn wiped cloth from his eyes and stared at the gaps. "Your record's got holes," the tiger said. "Every rival you beat, that proof's in his belly now." Rend touched an empty hook. He had won the fight. But the wolf took the proof with him. If Rend wanted an undisputed board, he had to earn those wins back. He turned to Lorn. "Then I fight you again," Rend said. "All of you. I fill every empty hook." Lorn grinned and cracked his knuckles.