Growling

.............

Come on!” Bay cheered the drooling beast. "Show me what you can!"

The crane, an Ursus prole, with the colors of the rising sun, crept around its victim, growling. He kept his eyes on the young, blond man's small handgun. He had learned in the years of his imprisonment. He knew how dangerous this thing was, that it meant pain. But he was hungry, so very hungry. And sometimes he even managed to grab a bite before the pain came.

Sometimes.

His huge paws made no sound on the soft sand as he crept around his victim. He wouldn't give up until he got what he wanted or the pain came, sending him twitching to the ground. He wouldn't stop until his hunger was satisfied.

His narrow skull with the horn-like bony outgrowths on the back of his head was dark as the shadows of the night, just like his watchful eyes. The black color ran from the head over the chest down to the stomach and then gradually turned into the orange-red, long fur, which in the neon lights of the arena looked dull and unkempt. And yet, he was one of the most fascinating creatures that our planet housed. How could something so beautiful be so ugly in reality?

The lips of its short muzzle were drawn up. Drool dripped from his teeth, his growl filling the air. It was only a matter of time before he pounced on his victim, until he could finally satisfy his hunger.

When Bay took a step sideways to aim his taser precisely at the heart, the crane roared at him with a growl. His hunger drove him on, but he had also learned from the past. People could be dangerous to him as long as he was not in a pack. He had to be careful, watchful, aware of his opponent's every move.

Two predators facing each other and only one of the two could win.

"Pay attention to the stone before you trip over it!" Shouted our mentor Mr. Keiper across the arena of the Beluosus Academy. The whole time he was walking inside the kennel - as we called the huge aviary down in the middle of the arena - and kept a close eye on both his apprentices and the changing proles for tips or in an emergency to intervene. This was just an exercise, after all, and no one should get hurt - well, apart from the proles, maybe. What happened to them didn't matter, they were interchangeable.

Distracted for a moment by the call of our mentor, Bay let his opponent out of sight for a split second and that was his mistake. The crane took its chance. He attacked immediately, dragging Bay to the ground with him and snarling at him. His target was Bay's throat. Humans were easy prey and most sensitive there. Just one bite and this meal was his. Then only death could separate him from his prey.

But Bay struggled, kept the large skull away from his face and tried to push this beast off him, but it was too difficult. It had its victim on the ground and would not give it up anytime soon. To make matters worse, Bay had also lost his taser in the fall and was now only able to defend himself with hands and feet.

"Throw it off!", Mr. Keiper called to him. "Come on, or do you want to end up as lunch ?!"

Bay did his best. The face under the helmet was already quite red from the effort, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't break free from the grip of the crane. It might just be a dog's offspring, but it was strong and it wanted its meal, no matter what the cost.

“Use your weapons!” Yelled our mentor. It looked like it was about to explode.

"Beginner," I mumbled, leaning back on my uncomfortable plastic seat on the circular grandstand. In contrast to the lower area of the arena, which was floodlit, it was quite dark up here, which was not only due to the blue color of the seats. The stone walls weren't very inviting either. Only the green lighting of the emergency exit signs disturbed the medieval atmosphere of the great vault. That and the huge, modern steel cage that Bay with the crane was in. "Usually it does a better show."

Next to me, my best friend Evangeline made a vague noise that could have been both an approval and an order for a salami pizza. She was just a little too distracted to pay attention to me or the class.

A few minutes ago she dug her writing pad out of her pocket, placed it on her knees and was now frantically writing line by line. Did I want to know what she was doing? Not necessarily. Would I know Probably.

I looked back down to the kennel. The lower surface was secured with double bars on all sides so that the proles had no chance of freedom - yes, everything above was also tight, because some of the critters could climb damn well or jump very high - but it still hindered the view hardly.

I was barely able to roll my eyes when I saw Bay struggling to get to the knife in the holder on his thigh. Unfortunately, the crane had set its paws so that Bay couldn't move his arms much. Actually, he only had the option of clawing his hands into the sun skin to at least keep the snout of the drooling beast away from his neck. It sounded easier than it was when you had a hundred pounds of proles on your chest - yes, I spoke from my own experience. Bay wasn't the only one here who had to go to the kennel regularly for training purposes. It was part of the weekly class here at the Beluosus Academy. We had to learn to assert ourselves even in the toughest situations if we were to survive, because the path we chose was dangerous, if not fatal.

Sand splashed up on both sides of the enemy. Bay's legs dug into the soft ground in search of support. But even though he braced himself against the proles, he just couldn't get rid of the cattle.

Mr. Keiper continued along the fence, always around the two of them. Bay was not yet in serious danger, on the one hand because the crane had its claws pulled straight after it was caught and on the other hand, that both Bay and Mr. Keiper themselves were in leather protective suits, which they protected from serious injuries should preserve. The leather, reinforced with steel threads and a helmet with neck protection, was so stiff that it was difficult to move about, which was probably why Bay had such problems getting his knife.

But at the moment everything was OK, so no need to intervene - not yet.