Free The Hunter on Arena by Rose Estes

they had no way of administering
     it themselves. They had no choice but to trust the man. Reluctantly, they stepped back and let the soldiers carry Allo away,
     although in the end, it took six of them to lift his furry bulk.
    The rest of them were ushered across the red sand of the arena and led through an open arch which bustled with activity. Two
     forges were situated in the center of the huge room. Heavily muscled men, naked but for leather loincloths and dripping with
     sweat, beat upon bars of flaming metal with steady rhythm. A lizard creature and a half-man/half-cat being operated the bellows,
     keeping the coals glowing red. Others stood waiting their turns in long, patient lines, carrying a variety of broken weapons
     and pieces of armor, all in need of the smithy’s attention.
    They trailed past the waiting lines; curious and hostile eyes assessing them, sizing up their strengths and weaknesses as
     they made their way into the shadowy reaches under the stands of the coliseum. Leaving the smithy’s chambers, they entered
     a broad, curved corridor carved from the solid earth, also bustling with activity. Humans, half-humans of all descriptions,
     and strange animal types that defied description, as well as multitudes of soldiers and hard ones traveled along the corridor
     in both directions.
    No one took note of their passage as they joined the flow of traffic. By pokes, prods and guttural grunts, they were herded
     into a good-sized room that smelled sharply of astringent. A number of metal tables of differing sizes and heights were bolted
     to the stone floor. A line of windows lined the upper reaches of the walls allowing the hot, red suns to till the room with
     stains of crimson despite the heavy bars across the glass.
    Allo was stretched out on the largest of these tables; it was barely long enough for his immense form. A man wrapped from
     head to toe in a single, form-fitting garment with a large, glass lens strapped over his eyes, was bending over Allo, probing
     his injuries with gentle hands.
    The rest of Braldt’s group was examined less than gently by a man with a healer’s touch, but lacking his caring concern. Their
     clothing was stripped from them and their bruises washed with foaming suds and rinsed with a stinging antiseptic. Their bodies
     were explored from head to toe, eyes, nostrils, mouths, ears, and other orifices clinically inspected despite their protests.
     Ever present were the guards with their swords and theirwatchful eyes, waiting for the slightest sign of rebellion. The officer remained by the door, discussing them with the primary
     healer, making notations in a small book.
    When the ignominious inspection was over they were taken, still naked, to a much smaller room. The sight of his own body and
     those of Marin and Septua were of little concern to Braldt, but he could not help but notice that Randi’s slender, muscular
     build in no way detracted from her attractiveness. Feeling his eyes upon her body, Randi blushed deeply, then raised her chin
     and glared at him defiantly.
    Before he could speak, a tall and impossibly slender being that resembled nothing so much as a leaf-eating insect grown to
     gigantic proportions entered the room and began to measure them with a strange, silver square that emitted a thin, red beam
     and registered an ever-changing stream of figures on its face. Even though it bore the now-familiar silver implant, its voice
     and language were little more than a series of querulous chirps and clicks.
    It seemed aggravated when they did not understand its commands to lift their arms or legs or turn as directed. It aided their
     comprehension with sharp pinches from its ratcheted pincers and flailed them with its whip-like antennae if they did not move
     quickly enough. The resulting bruises and stinging, red welts were painful as well as unexpected, and provided the guards
     with much cause for merriment. They quickly learned to anticipate the