Radiance Ch. 93

Chapter 93: Prey.

"Whoa!! Take it easy!!" Raymond exclaimed as Lia dragged him into their room and closed the door behind them and by the heavy clunk noise he heard she was making sure it was locked behind her though whether that was to stop anyone entering or him from escaping was definitely up for debate here.

They had just finished a rather delicious and hearty meal laid on by Abigail the mother hen that ran this establishment and whom was definitely a subscriber to the ideology of overfeeding her guests as not even with the appetites of his group could they finish all that was laid on for them.

After the glorious meal and a lot of merciless teasing from the fussing hen genus woman over both himself and Lia, the big Claw girl had half dragged half carried Raymond away from the table towards their room, leaving zero wiggle room to the imagination as to what she had intended for the pair of them.

Lia turned from the door to face him and her body language made her look like she was about to start a wrestling match with him, she has crouched low with her feet wide apart and her legs bunched like she was readying herself to leap at him.

Her tail swished back and forth thumping against both the door and one of the wooden walls of the bathroom that lead off from the main door to the right.

Raymond could feel the intensity of her stare as she narrowed her eyes on him turning her vertical pupils into a pair of slits as she seemingly sized him up, "Umm Lia what are you doing?' he asked as he watched her begin to circle him.

"Hunting you, I'm going to prove once and for all that I am the only Claw worthy of you and thanks to that hearty meal I have the strength of five Claws and there is no way you shall defeat me tonight my handsome green male, tonight I shall claim my prize!!" she growled lowing her top half to the ground and gently running her claws over the wood making it crackle and pop slightly under her weight.

"Umm I think you might be mistaken here Lia I said I'd be your mate not duel you, combat isn't exactly my strong point nor is it necessary here," Raymond said as he watched the big Claw girl circling him slowly seemingly making each and every movement and oddly arousing mixture of both predatory and sensual that played merry hell with his senses as he tried and failed to tear his eyes from her seductive scaly curves not to mention her bulging and tensed muscles.

'Nonsense! A duel of claim is absolutely necessary! It shows the pure truth of both party's hearts and wills, the only way I can truly claim you is to defeat you because a claim duel is a winner take all, if I win I get you all of you unashamed and true, if you defeat me then you get the option to leave me as an inferior Claw or claim me, in combat there can be no lies, no honied words, no half-truths or deceptions, there is only the truth of one's heart and will raw and unadulterated, this is the way of all true Claws!!" Lia said proudly arching her back a bit like a cat stretching and flicking her tail back and forth after stretching it out.

"Funny I can't remember either Seven, Gregory or Chris having to duel their Claw," Raymond said.

"That is because those would be one-sided unfair duels with no chance for the weaker of the two to win, that is not a duel that is subjection and it is not what those Claws wished to think about it, how could Gregory win in hand-to-hand combat against Ven? Or Chris against my Matriarch or even Visa against Seven? They would be totally dominated and defeated before the fight even got started, Ven and my Matriarch would simply crush their humans breaking them and injuring them maybe even worse which is not the point of this in the slightest, hell Visa wouldn't even get off the starting block before Seven would have subdued her, so none of those duels would have been fair or true, but with us it is different we are evenly matched!" she declared proudly as if it was something that should have been blatantly obvious to him.

"So for me to know the truth of your heart I have to fight you?" Raymond said sounding both confused and incredulous.

"Exactly because then and only then will we know the truth of our feelings for one another! I will see the truth of your worth and you will see mine! Now make ready handsome one for we fight for love and the right of the first night!" she exclaimed and Raymond held up a hand to halt her as she bunched up like she was going to pounce.

Raymond's mind desperately searched for a way to stop this before it got started as he really didn't want to fight her and this really wasn't what he'd had in mind when he'd accepted her feelings for him, while he had been in combat many time by now it wasn't exactly something he sought out where in his mind it could be avoided.

"Wait! We can't do this in here!" he exclaimed stopping her almost mid-release.

"What? Why not?" she exclaimed impatiently.

"Look at the size of this room, we'll trash it and that would shame us both and our entire group in front of our hosts, we are trying to make a good impression on these people and I think it would be a pretty poor spectacle if we trash their hospitality don't you?" Raymond exclaimed gesturing around himself to the size of the room which made Lia stop and look around before looking thoughtful.

"You are right Raymond," she said causing him to breathe a sigh of relief which turned out to be short-lived as she moved back to the door and unbolted it.

"Umm where are you going?" he asked.

"Outside of course, if we do not have a big enough arena in here then we shall seek one out there!" Lia declared making Raymond sigh in exasperation, it seemed Claw girls like human males simply did not get hints.

As he followed her out of the room trying desperately to wrack his brains for a way to put an end to this idiotic fighting nonsense they ran into Abigail in the upstairs corridor and by her ruffled and surprised demeanour Raymond had a suspicion that she may have been lurking in hopes of possibly listening in on their antics.

"Going out for a nighttime stroll dearies?" she asked quickly and Lia shook her large horned head.

"No, we are looking for an arena to fight a claim duel!" Lia said as if everyone should know exactly what she was talking about and by the confused look that settled on Abigail's face as she looked at the shrugging Raymond it was obvious she was just as lost as he was.

"Well umm the basement of this place is pretty big, I was meaning to use it as a brewery to brew my own ales so it's been cleared out if that helps?" Abigail said making Raymond groan heavily as Lia's face lit up.

"Thank you my good woman that will be perfect, come Raymond to the basement and on to our destiny!" Lia said grabbing his hand and dragging him off down the corridor with Abigail giving him a both sympathetic and apologetic look as he passed by.

They found the basement pretty easily given that it was the only subterranean place in the whole building and therefore had the only staircase that actually led downwards and to be fair Abigail had not been exaggerating when she had said it was pretty large, everything was made from heavy-duty looking wood and metal and the outer walls were littered with barrels but other than that the centre of the place was clean and well-lit thanks to the large spot lamps affixed into the ceiling.

'This will be perfect Raymond! We shall fight our duel here and finally, you shall see that I am the Claw for you!" Lia said triumphantly as she manoeuvred him into the centre of the room.

"I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this am I?" he said and she looked at him in confusion.

"Talk me out of it? Why on earth would you wish to do that? It was you who declared your feelings loudly and proudly for me?" she said tilting her large head as she looked him right in the eyes with an almost accusing stare that made his nerves jangle.

"Yeah well, I didn't exactly envision it leading to hand-to-hand combat when I did Lia, I'm not exactly a lover of fighting you know?" he said and she waved her hand dismissively.

"Oh nonsense, I've seen you fight and you truly are a worthy opponent and it isn't like this is a fight to the death or something, it is merely a test of strength and will, we don't even use our Claws in these things," she said.

"Err I don't have claws Lia and I am not a Claw, I'm a super mutant or did you forget?" Raymond said seemingly confusing her for a moment as she looked at his hands and feet.

But she swiftly recovered and simply grinned at him, "Exactly! Just like I said a worthy opponent, we are evenly matched on strength so the deciding factor will be whose will is strongest!" she declared.

"Can I just surrender now and get it over with?" he asked hopefully and by the aghast and horrified expression that passed over her beautiful face he was going to go out on a limb and hazard a guess at that being a no.

"Surrender before the duel is even fought!? Why would you even suggest such a dishonourable thing?" she exclaimed.

"Err maybe because I don't wish to fight you Lia?" he said his voice growing as exasperated a he was beginning to feel, he was also beginning to realise where the phrase stubborn as a Deathclaw came from.

Once again she waved her hand dismissively, "Oh don't be so silly Raymond, it will be good for both of us, nothing gets the blood going quite like a good duel, it will make the rest of the night far more interesting trust me," she said and with that like that was simply the end of the conversation she moved to the centre of the room and took up her wrestling come about to pounce on him and claw his fucking face off stance.

Raymond sighed heavily and sensing he was going to get no-where trying to talk some sense into her moved to the centre of the room, though a large part of him was actually debating walking away at this point to convey his point if there was one thing he hated more than anything is was simply being dismissed or ignored and right now she was doing both.

That's when he felt a hot rush of anger flow through him, how dare she just gloss over and ignore his opinion like it was not important!

Now he found himself glaring at her as a multitude of thoughts ran through his head and none of them pleasant, the major one was how could she claim to care for him and even love him if she so easily dismissed his opinion like it was worthless?

He felt himself having to suppress a snarl of anger at this little revelation and his eyes locked onto her, tracking her movements and her swishing tail as she waited for him to ready himself, well fucking fine if she wanted a fight then he'd fucking give her one but she might not like the outcome.

Sensing that he had seemingly come around to her way of thinking Lia gave him a dark fang-filled smile and readied herself, "This will be a claim duel to submission or incapacitation, no claws or weapons and no hitting the face, throat or nether regions, do you agree Raymond?' she said in a low deep voice.

"Let's just get this fucking over with," he spat which seemed to surprise her slightly but her determination was driving her forwards so she quickly brushed it off.

"It is a winner take all fight and the winner will have the right of claim or denial upon victory meaning that not only should you win will you have the right to claim the other as your mate for life but you will have one night to do whatever you wish with them unopposed do you agree?' she asked and this put him off balance a little bit, she hadn't mentioned that second part earlier but his anger was still building and clouding his judgement so he simply nodded.

"Then let us fight from the heart handsome one!!" she yelled and with that, she lunged at him.

Now while Raymond might not like to fight, infact he absolutely despised doing so being of the opinion that words were always the best way to solve any disagreement or argument, that did not mean he could not fight, infact given that he had spent quite a lot of time-fighting for his very life after he had become what he was now he was rather well acquainted with it.

So as Lia dove at him like a scaly torpedo with her arms outstretched obviously intending to tackle him to the ground he simply sidestepped her and drove a very calculated right hook directly into her solid midriff though he did note that despite the obvious power he did deliver something had made him pull the punch at the last moment, only delivering about half of the power he was capable of, though by the way Lia swung sideways and bounced across the ground still far more than she was obviously expecting.

He was half expecting her to stay down from the impact but no sooner had she slid to a stop than she was back on her feet with her eyes blazing like demonic jewels in her head, "Yes that's the spirit! Fight for what is yours!!" she roared and once again launched at him causing him to once again dodge her only this time when he went to throw in the short space punch she whipped her tail around taking his legs from under him forcing him to roll out of the way of the follow-up tail slam that sent an explosion of dust clouding into the air around them, it seemed she really wasn't playing about.

She whipped her tail at him again as he sprang back to his feet and this time he saw it coming bringing up his arms to deflect the blow which still carried more than enough force to send him sliding across the floor but what she wasn't expecting was him to use that momentum to his advantage because as she struck him he grabbed her tail and took her with him pulling her off her feet.

But as he threw down to deliver a hammer-fisted blow to her exposed stomach Lia drew her legs back and kicked out with both of her massive feet impacting heavily against Raymond's chest and sending him flying backwards and slamming down hard on his back before sliding a few feet.

Both pain and anger ignited inside him like two warring torches that were growing hotter by the second each feeding into the other, he was angry that not only was she not listening to him but that she was making him do this, that she was making him abandon his principles to resort to something as barbaric as this to prove his heart and his worth when it was she who had pursued him and he who had already declared his heart to her.

"RAHHHH Why won't you listen to me!!?" he bellowed catching her mid jump and throwing her backwards across the room and stopping her follow-up leap with a massive kick that caught her right in the stomach and sent her flying.

"Damn you for making me do this! Damn you for making me fight you! Damn you for making me hate myself more than I already do! I thought you understood me, that you understood that I fucking hate fighting and fucking hate violence! I thought you were supposed to care about me and my feelings but you're just like everyone else! So if you want the fucking monster then here he fucking is!!" Raymond snarled loudly as the rage began to take over.

Raymond didn't know whether his words affected Lia or not though she did seem to hesitate before striking back at him after he'd spoken which allow him to throw a harrying flurry of punches into her but she seemed prepared for them blocking them with both her powerful arms and her tail before striking back faster than lightning and punching him while he was mid-throw and taking the wind right out of his lungs as her knuckles crunched into his midriff.

Well, she was right about one thing as he tasted his own blood in his mouth but felt no pain thanks to the mixture of adrenaline and rage, it really did get the blood going and it was true that it did truly bring out the person within you, there was no mask, there were no half-truths here, only combat pure and simple.

Rather than follow up her punch Lia circled him as if wither waiting for him to make another move or to analyse him, she hadn't said a word since the beginning and he wondered why that was, did she now have nothing to say to him now that she knew the truth of how he was feeling?

Did she think him a coward for not wanting to fight for her like this?

Was she disgusted with him for said perceived cowardice?

These and many more questions ran through Raymond's rage-clouded mind and added to the dark cloud that was building within the depths of his mind, but suddenly out of no-where she lunged at him and this time because he was so distracted by the questions he didn't have time to dodge and took the full brunt of her assault right to the chest sending him sprawling backwards again and slamming into the floor with a crash that not only winded him but did something else by the feel of the sharp crack from somewhere in his chest.

But Raymond barely felt anything but anger now and as Lia scrambled to try and pin his limbs he kicked out at her to try and shake him off her, as it turned out was a mistake and one that she had anticipated him making somehow.

Quick as a flash she grabbed his leg and locked it spinning on the spot to place a large clawed foot on his chest sending a sparkling explosion of pain throughout his chest and upper body as she turned herself and locked the leg at an awkward angle while using her weight to pin his top half down.

"Submit, you are defeated," she snarled darkly.

Raymond bellowed a roar that was both a mixture of pain, anger and indeed sorrow, once again he had failed to make his point, all people had ever seen him as was a brutal beast since he'd become this thing, people thought him only capable of violence and destruction and even now when he'd been forced to try and prove his point through exactly those means he had failed.

Raymond fought against the restraint, against her will to subdue him, he put every bit of strength he had into resisting her and fighting back, he ignored the pain, ignored the anger, ignored the sorrow and instead focused on pure willpower and determination but it simply wasn't enough, when she saw that she wasn't going to be able to hold him like this as he began to thrash himself free undoubtedly damaging himself in the process by the sharp stabs of pain in his chest as he did Lia brought her tail down on his stomach hard to knock the wind out of him before once again spinning only this time she flipped him over on his front pinned his weight down with hers and locked his right arm behind his back to the point where it felt like it was going to pop out of his socket.

'Submit! I do not wish to hurt you!" Lia snarled making Raymond's heart ache with even more sorrow.

"Too late for that, fine you want to win so badly, take it I hope it's worth it," he snarled bitterly, he knew that this time he truly had failed, he'd given it his all and was beaten so he slammed his hand into the ground to show submission and defeat and with it went his pride.

That's when Lia did something surprising, rather than jump up and start bouncing around in celebrating her victory like he'd expected her to, she instantly released his arm and shifted her position to his side where with a single slow and precise movement she rolled him onto his side and wrapped her arms and her tail around him from behind turning him into a little spoon.

She pressed her snout into the back of his neck and held him tightly, "I'm sorry," she said softly which made his anger freeze in place like cold plasma.

"W-W-What did you say?" he stammered.

"I said I'm sorry Raymond for showing you that side of yourself and making you confront it, I know it's hard and I know it hurts but I needed you to see it and to know that even when you fall and fail I will still be here for you, this is what the Claim duel is supposed to do, it's supposed to make us see our true selves while also showing it to the other person, so I got to see you without the mask and you got to see me without mine, I saw you at your worst and I didn't realise just how bad your life has been or how opposed to violence you are until you spoke those words and I saw it in your eyes, you hate yourself and you hate what you see as a monster inside you but I need you to know that it's not a monster and even if it is I accept it," she said softly.