Julia stared up at the immense gladiatrix that towered in front of her. The gladiatrix, nearly sixty feet tall, was twice the height of the princess, and looked far stronger. Julia did her best to push away her fears. ‘There is only the fight,’ she thought. And then she remembered her knife, still sheathed. With a practiced quickness, Julia pulled out her dagger, powerful sedatives dripping from its blade. Julia hoped that they were powerful enough.

The gladiatrix stood stark naked in front of her. She was beautiful, even now, her body covered in dirt and sand and crossed with small cuts; only her face was still clean, and still free of lacerations. With her huge size, hourglass figure and beautiful face, she could have almost been mistaken for a noblewoman. But there was something undeniably bestial about her, even when she stood on two legs. Her posture somehow looked less that of a woman, and more like that of a bear; you could tell it was not a stance she found natural, or spent much time in. After a moment the gladiatrix reared on to all fours, roaring like some great beast. Now she looked comfortable. 

Julia found something appealing about the creature; at once woman and beast, she was a creature of incredible ferocity, and undeniable beauty. For a moment, Julia wondered if she liked the gladiatrix because it reminded her in some way of herself. ‘Maybe I should think about a career as a gladiator, if this royalty thing doesn’t work out. But this,’ she realized, ‘is not a time for idle thoughts.’ 

Julia’s thoughts came back to reality, and just in time. With impressive speed, the gladiatrix lunged at her all fours. Julia dodged, barely moving out of the way. The gladiatrix turned towards Julia, rearing around like a panther. She let out a roar before lunging at Julia again, this time swiping at Julia with her hands. Her last swipe hit Julia, her huge hand knocked Julia down like a ragdoll. Julia, always agile, quickly jumped back up onto on her feet.

Before the gladiatrix could turn back around, Julia rushed towards her. With her dagger still in hand, Julia leapt towards the gladiatrix’s back, stabbing at her lower thigh. Julia slashed at the gladiatrix, once, then twice, then a third time. With each cut, more of the dark- brown sedative seeped into the skin of the gladiatrix. 

Before Julia could stab at her opponent a fourth time, the gladiatrix spun around. She lunged at Julia again, and once more, Julia dodged. This time, though, the gladiatrix anticipated Julia’s reaction. She landed perfectly upon Julia, tackling the Princess onto the ground. 

The gladiatrix kneeled, picking up Julia with both hands. With her hands wrapped around Julia’s abdomen, the gladiatrix squeezed as hard as she could. Julia struggled to breathe, and she felt her dagger slip out of hand, falling onto the ground. Julia struggled, trying to free herself, but the gladiatrix was too strong. She tried to hit and scratch the gladiatrix’s face, but couldn’t quite manage to reach. Instead, she dug her nails into the gladiatrix’s arms. ‘Is this the best I can do,’ thought Julia as she tore away at her opponent’s arms, ‘clawing at her like a pathetic little housecat?’ But Julia’s nails were sharp, and she scratched hard. The gladiatrix’s arms turned red, and as she winced in pain, her grip loosened. 

But instead of dropping her, the gladiatrix did something unexpected. The giantess leaned back, raising her arms, and Julia, behind her. With all her strength the gladiatrix threw Julia, catapulting her far across the arena.

Julia felt herself falling rapidly through the air, the world spinning around her. She braced for a hard landing against the hard sands of the arena. To her surprise, she felt herself land, back first, on something soft and squishy. She looked down and saw blood below her. For a moment she thought she had been injured. But Julia quickly realized what had stopped her fall. The gladiatrix had thrown her into the crowd, where countless slaves were crowded tightly together. Below her were the bloody remains of two dozen slaves, crushed flat into the ground by her ass and back. “Well, you did break my fall. I guess that means helots are good for something,” she said with a smirk. The crowd around her stared up on disbelief.

Julia stood up, slowly regaining her balance. But before she could fully steady herself, she felt a low, rhythmic rumbling in the ground. Her opponent, she realized, was coming towards her, and quickly. The gladiatrix was running on all fours, speeding towards her like a freight train.