Chp.19: The brothers' reunion

Gord was a lizardman, and he was a gladiator. It had been for about four months. His favored weapon was a mace that he could swing at his enemies by smashing their faces in one blow. It had allowed him to win many duels, and consequently to stay alive.

Life in the arena didn't really displease him too much. It was very simple: fight, eat, have fun, sleep. All this every day. It was a rather pleasant lifestyle, at least for a hothead like him who loved to fight. Nothing new happened, except rare cases... so he was somewhat surprised when, as he was walking back to the dorm after his last fight, the guards stopped him and asked if he could help them. Gord had initially feared he was in trouble, but then the guards explained that someone had sold a new gladiator at the arena and they wanted him to accompany him to the dormitory. Even if they hadn't said it out loud, it was clear that their intent was for someone to explain to the new arrival what there was in the dormitory and how to avoid making him angry.

Gord had gladly agreed, because the guards had told him the new gladiator was a lizardman like himself. He was always ready to help a brother. However, when he saw him he was intimidated, and not a little. The new gladiator was a red lizardman and he was enormous, bigger than any other lizardman Gord could remember ever seeing: his muscles were so powerful that he could have taken his head in his hands and crushed it without even using mana. But despite the menacing appearance, the new gladiator introduced himself very politely: "Hello. I have been told that you will show me where I will stay. Thank you for your help"

"Oh… no need, it's my pleasure to help you" Gord replied a little embarrassed. The red lizardman seemed quite polite, and perhaps he had been a little too quick to judge him on his intimidating looks alone. "So... yeah, come this way! I'll take you to the dorm. That's where we stay"

"How is the dorm?" the red lizardman asked.

"Well… it's not too bad" Gord replied, trying to put it in the least worst way. "It's very large, enough for everyone, and it's also quite clean... but I recommend you stay in the bathrooms for as little time as necessary. And I hope you're not one to expect too much privacy, because the beds are all in the same room, so you'll have to sleep next to people who snore, burp, toss and... fuck"

She expected the red lizardman to be shocked, but instead he burst out laughing: "Ha ha! Don't worry, I've slept in worse places. Rather... fuck? Are there pretty females among the gladiators?"

"Ready to get going, huh?" Gord laughed. He'd known the new gladiator for less than two minutes, but he was already liking him. It gave him the impression of being a nice guy, even though he was the size of a closet. "Well, among the gladiators there aren't many good females... but don't worry, within a few days the guards will assign you a slave girl or two, and they are very beautiful. If you're good with words, you might even be able to catch someone else's for yourself. Don't worry, you won't miss the heat of a female in bed"

"Good. I didn't like the idea of ​​not having fun" the red lizardman said with a smile. "What else do you do around here? Apart from fucking, I mean"

"Oh, we have our little pastimes" Gord replied. "If you want, later I can introduce you to some of my friends. It would be a pleasure for you to meet them..."

Gord realized that he still hadn't asked for the red lizardman's name. He felt embarrassed: he'd been so intimidated by him initially that he'd forgotten to ask, and afterwards he'd been so entertained by the conversation that he hadn't thought about it. But before he could ask, the red lizardman spoke again: "I'd be happy to meet your friends. Anyway, is there any dorm rules I should know about? I don't want to piss off the wrong people on my very first day"

A shadow passed over Gord's face. He didn't like talking about that... but after all, sooner or later he would have to inform his new friend of the danger, and therefore it was better to do it immediately. "Actually yes. I know it will seem absurd to you, but... with us in the dormitory... there is a dragon"

The red lizardman was so startled that he stopped walking for a moment. "A dragon? So the rumors were true? Does this arena really have one?" he exclaimed. "And is he staying with us? How big is the dormitory to be able to contain a dragon?"

"Well, he's not an adult dragon" Gord explained. "However, he is very dangerous. Remember this if you want to survive: don't piss him off. Don't talk to him, don't get in his way, don't touch his things, and don't try to approach his slave girl". The lizardman grunted. "To explain you how dangerous he is, just yesterday he slaughtered one of the gladiators because he fucked his slave girl. When you enter the dorm you will see an elf-shaped stain on the wall. It's all that's left of the last one that pissed him off"

He expected the red lizardman to be more disgusted, or at least show some concern, but he didn't flinch. In fact, he even seemed a little excited. Gord hoped the new gladiator wasn't a fighting freak and decided to challenge the dragon, or there would be two stains on the dormitory wall by tonight. "I get it. What's this dragon's name?"

"Uh... Haku, why?" Gord thought the red lizardman was a little too interested in the dragon.

"Oh, just out of curiosity" the red lizardman replied, but Gord was sure that wasn't the case. "Uh... is this the dorm?"

Gord turned his head and saw the large door guarded by the usual six guards. They had arrived at the dormitory. "Yes, this is it" he said. "Come, let's go in"

The two entered the dormitory. The recreation area was obviously filled with gladiators, all of whom were enjoying themselves in their own way. Many turned to look at the new arrival, especially the lizardmen who had not expected to see such a colossus of their kind. And at the far end of the room was of course the evil dragon's couch, where the beast lay while his slave was cleaning his horns. "Well, here are my friends! Come, I'll introduce them..."

"Haku! Hey, Haku!" the red lizardman yelled, running towards the dragon. The gladiators looked at him as if he were crazy and Gord, after an initial moment of amazement, closed his eyes not wanting to see what would happen.

Haku was enjoying the cleaning of the horns that Misune was doing to him, and the red lizardman's voice disturbed him quite a bit. 'What does this idiot want?' he thought opening his eyes.

"Haku! It's good to see you again! You don't know how much I've been waiting for this moment!" the red lizardman said with a smile on his face. "Damn, you've grown up too! How are you doing, brother?"

'See me again? What is he talking about?' Haku thought confused, but suddenly a smell hit his nostrils. A smell he knew very well, and one that made him jump so hard that Misune fell to the floor.

It was the smell of Darbi!

With a single leap, he jumped at the red lizardman and slammed him to the ground hard. He pinned him to the floor with one paw and then brought his muzzle within inches of his face. "Why are you smelling like him!?" he roared.

"Haku, calm down! It's me, it's Darbi!" the red lizardman answered without losing his smile. "I know, you're going to be confused right now, but..."

"You are making a fool of me!?" Haku growled furiously. "What did you do to him? Speak!"

"Haku, I'm telling you the truth! I'll prove it to you: the first time we hunted together, you made me promise to always follow your orders during the hunt using a bet!" the red lizardman said. "And by the way, that bet was a real scam, I understood that by now. But after all, you've always been the smarter between the two of us, right?"

Haku's eyes widened in disbelief and confusion. How did he know? It could be... no, it was impossible... surely that strange red lizardman must have met Darbi, he had captured him and had revealed that thing to deceive him...

"Oh, and can we talk about when we played with the rocks? You were fuming with rage for your loss, and I'm sure you were glad no one was there to see your defeat!" the red lizardman continued. "And then there's that time we fell into the trap of humans... or that time we faced that great basilisk..."

The red lizardman continued to enumerate the events of their lives for nearly five minutes. Haku was now more confused than ever: it was impossible for one person to know so many details of his life! Someone in search of information certainly would not have asked his victim to tell any episode of his life. And then, if Darbi had been caught and threatened, surely he would have added details that Haku would have noticed as discrepancies, allowing him to discover the deception, but there were none. In the end he didn't know what to think anymore. "Darbi...? Is it really you?"

The red lizardman smiled even more. "I know I've changed a lot since the last time, brother, but I'll explain everything" he said. "We have many things to tell each other, you and I"

Haku wasn't sure what to do, so he just let go of the red lizardman who immediately leapt to his feet. It was absurd: that way of speaking, those movements, even the voice... they were really Darbi's ones!

If the situation for the two of them was absurd and embarrassing, for the rest of the people in the dormitory it was completely meaningless. The gladiators were all left with their mouths hanging open and seemed to have lost the ability to think. Gord was also speechless: did that red lizardman and the dragon know each other? And what was their relationship? Why did they talk to each other like they were old friends? Luckily for the gladiators, Misune voiced all their questions: "Sir, this lizardman… is he your brother?" she asked, while her face betrayed her confusion.

Haku realized that everyone was watching them. He scrambled to come up with a plausible excuse: "He's not really my brother. We met some time ago and fought. The fight ended in a draw, and since I couldn't risk letting him go and he didn't want to risk not being able to ask for a rematch, we agreed to travel together for a while. He's called me 'brother' ever since. Don't ask me why, I've never figured it out. And the last time I saw him he wasn't so..." . He tried to think of something to justify his initial confusion, and he found it as he looked at the puny bodies of the other lizardmen. "... muscled"

"Yes, I trained a lot after we separated" Darbi said holding up his game. "I've put on some bibs, as you can see. You've changed too in this last year, by the way... although I have to say your grumpy temper has remained the same"

Haku let out an annoyed snort. "I think it's best to discuss this in private" he said. "Misune, can you leave us alone for a while?"

Darbi noticed that the slave girl didn't seem to be too happy with the request. However, she didn't mind and went to the other side of the room, where she sat waiting for her master to call her back. The other gladiators and slaves took several steps away when they saw her coming.

Darbi and Haku reached the dragon's bed and they sat down on it. "You've settled in well" Darbi said surveying the place, then pointing to the trophies on the walls. "Those are all...?"

"My victims. Well, a part of them" Haku replied.

"Wow... you must have been through a lot" Darbi murmured. "Sorry it took us so long, but we had to prepare everything properly"

Haku opened his mouth. "Prepare what? Wait... you're not alone?"

"Of course not! We're all here. You didn't expect us to abandon you, did you?" Darbi laughed. "Oh, and since I know you're paranoid and worry about us for everything, you must know that neither I nor anyone of our siblings is at any risk. This isn't my real body, as I'm sure you guessed. Currently, I'm very distant from this city"

Haku was silent for a moment, then said, "Ok, that's enough. Too many weirdness in one day. I want an explanation, and I want it now"

"It's a long story. A very long one"

"They have exempted me from fighting for a week. I have time"

"Good, we can talk for long. Listen then..."