JAGUTAI AND LILITU
Mark E. Rogers

The portal opposite the Champion's Gate was yawning. Out slunk a tiger the size of an elephant, its black and white and orange contrasting so vividly with the background that it appeared to possess some sort of exagerrated reality; Jagutai felt as though dingy scales had just dropped from his eyes.
Every sinewy movement a threat, the beast prowled left, then right, then paused and let out a roar that shocked the audience into silence. Its face swept round, tawny eyes trained in Jagutai's direction.

The audience was still quiet. Jagutai could clearly hear the thing breathing.
Muscles bunched beneath its hide; suddenly it lunged forward. Jagutai caught the surprisingly soft beat of its paws against the sand. Behind him, people started to shout, then scream; looking over his shoulder, he saw a multicolored riot of robed bodies receding up the slope.
A shadow fell over him; he looked back to see the tiger leaping, jaws wide, teeth bared and shining, catching the sun. Remembering the invisible column that had confined the aerial battle, Jagutai guessed there must be some sort of barrier between the beast and the stands; undoubtedly the people had also known, even though the knowledge was not , apparently, sufficiently reassuring. Indeed, as he watched the striped behemoth sailing towards him, he was strongly tempted to run. But somewhat to his own surprise, the most he did was take a step backward when the tiger's paws struck the barrier. He had a glimpse of the black underpads flattening like tar on glass before the paws slipped sideways with a frightful screeching noise. As went the paws, so went the rest, the huge mass glancing to the right; a foreleg swept past, stripes blurring, before the shoulder struck, and the beast dropped down below the railing.
Quite a show, he admitted to himself. Where's my guide?
The spectators were coming back to their seats, laughing, tugging their garments back into place, making fun of each other. Jagutai picked out his guide; the fellow had gotten halfway up the stands at least, and was only now starting back down.
Jagutai looked at the tiger. It had begun to pace again, but there was something different about its gait; the knees of its hind legs were closer to the sand, and its forelegs seemed to be lengthening. As it swung back towards him, he saw that its snout was shrinking, receding into the face, the eyes growing far less round; the fur seemed to be withdrawing into its hide. It became clear that the creature was assuming a human---and voluptuously female---shape. The tail shrank and vanished; paws became hands and feet, albeit with long black claws. The stripes remained, but they seemed as though they were painted on bare skin, or fine short fur at the very least; thin dark brows had appeared over the eyes, which, still golden, had taken on a slanted eastern look. The tiger-woman slunk back and forth on her hands and knees, the display now lewd as well as menacing; all at once she snarled and rose to a crouch, body suddenly adorned with bone ornaments, necklaces, armlets, anklets. The tip of her nose was still black, the rest of it white and still hinting at a snout; set in one nostril was a white ring.
She roared once more, leaping to her feet, reaching upwards; a short-hafted, long-bladed spear appeared in her hand, a tuft of black fur attached to the shaft's end.

Jagutai's guide appeared beside him, saying:
"Now Sleethra."
The Champion's Gate was opening; fifty thousand people surged to their feet, cheering frenziedly. A river of dark glinting green sped into view, twisting and turning as though following the banks of some unseen channel; an enormous snake, it doubled back on itself after fifty feet or so, piling coil upon and coil.
At last its triangular head rose up, mouth opening, livid pink, long curved fangs unfolding from its upper jaw. The snake looked right, then struck out towards the stands on the left, causing a full quarter of the audience to jump howling from their seats.
The snake emitted a loud hiss, nodding its head as if were laughing; slowly it leaned back, then began to sway, its movements very like those of charmers' snakes Jagutai had seen in the south. The head began to favor one side, sinking lower and lower each time it swayed, at last dipping down inside the coils. After a few moments, a hand slid up into view, human in shape but covered in emerald scales, each finger decked with golden rings, nails red and pointed; it caressed the topmost coil, then withdrew, back down into the center. After that a long muscular leg rose up, unfolding slowly, gold ankle bracelet slipping down until it met the curve of the calf. The limb straightened, red-nailed toe pointing skywards; then, to lascivious cries of disappointment from the onlookers, the leg folded once more, and was gone. Another brief teasing wait; then up came came a fanged face, framed by long writhing snaky locks and finely tiled with flat scales. Eyes slit-pupilled and yellow-green, it was nonetheless strangely---and cruelly---beautiful, at least to Jagutai's mind. He discerned a certain resemblence to Lilitu, not only in the thing's features, but in the perverseness of the thing's expression.
Another cousin? he wondered.
The snake-woman stood slowly, hands cupping, then falling away from two slight nippleless breasts. Below the mounds, broad scutes mimicked abdominal muscles, tapering to form a last plump triangle between two long swellings that hinted at thighs. Within seconds Jagutai noticed that the indentation between these was becoming more pronounced; the legs were separating, the dark line continuing up into the triangle above.
Sleethra stepped over the coils, loops trailing behind her, uncoiling, shrinking as she continued forward; at last she stopped, weight on one foot, the other out to the side on tiptoe, tail hanging between her legs, the point of it barely touching the sand. The appendage curled forward and upward, its sharp end entering her between the legs; suddenly it slid from sight in one swift glinting streak, having evidently detached itself from her spine. Sleethra cocked her head, back, hissing; the crowd went utterly mad.
She placed her hands against her belly, drew them sidewards; as they separated, a golden belt appeared between them. As her nails reached her hips, she flung her arms out to the sides, each hand now gripping a long wide-bladed knife. Twin scabbards hung from her belt on left and right, tied to her scaly thighs with golden thongs.
She and the Tigress stood motionless, staring at each other, awaiting some signal, perhaps. Even though Jagutai had been fascinated up until this point, he had no desire to watch them tear into each other; his guide, on the other hand, clearly could not wait for the carnage to begin.
"Any second now," he cried.
"Let's go," Jagutai answered.
The attendant gave him a deeply peeved look, went another short stretch, then stopped again as a group of men coming from the opposite direction paused to watch the upcoming contest, blocking the aisle.
A whistle sounded shrilly. Out of the corner of his eye, Jagutai saw the Tigress lunging to the attack.
Wondering if Sleethra had heard the signal---according to his Sharajnaghi mentors, serpents could not hear--- he turned to see if the Snake-Woman had stirred.
Holding one of the knives out in front, she was poised to throw the other; whether this was a response to the whistle, or the sight of the Tigress charging towards her, there was no way to tell.
The Tigress paused, hurled her spear. This seemed like a suicidal move to Jagutai; with a sweep of one knife, Sleethra deflected it in a blast of sparks, sending it point-first into the stone wall of the arena, where it stuck, purplish powdered stone puffing out around the blade.
Immediately the Tigress leaped towards the wall, as though to pull out the spear; but as Sleethra followed, the Tigress wheeled, another spear in her hand, plucked, apparently, from wherever she had snatched the first from. She threw the second spear as well, but this time caught the snake-woman unprepared; Sleethra's knife flashed, slicing through the spear's short shaft, but only after the head had embedded itself deeply above her left breast. To Jagutai's eye, it seemed as though fully half the blade sprang out from her back. Ruby blood spewed along the metal, spraying the sands over which she staggered in retreat; the Tigress pulled the first spear from the wall and followed, drawing her arm back to the throw the weapon again.
Hissing in agony, Sleethra hurled one of her knives. It met the spear in midair, sliding along the shaft until it buried itself in the tuft of black fur at the end; momentum nearly checked, the spear slowed and dipped, dropping at Sleethra's feet.
The Tigress lifted her hand as if to pluck another spear from the ether, but Sleethra crossed the distance in an instant, spun, and flung herself back-first at her before she could lower her newly-materialized weapon; the spearhead sticking from Sleethra's back caught her between the breasts. The Tigress toppled with Sleethra on top of her, a writhing curtain of serpentine locks descending over her face, completely obscuring it. She heaved and struggled, clawing at Sleethra's arm and chest with her free paw, driving her spear into the snake-woman with the other.
Suddenly Sleethra jerked herself up into a sitting position; out came the spear-head she had buried in the Tigress. Rivers of blood sluicing from her green-scaled limbs, she sprang to her feet. The Tigress tried to follow, but, her striped face swollen with dozens of snake-bites, she sank back to the sand.
Sleethra turned, standing over her, an emerald colossus streaked with red; eyes puffed nearly shut, the Tigress struck upwards with her spear, but the thrust was slow, and Sleethra kicked the weapon from her opponent's grip, then took her remaining knife in both hands and dropped to her knees, plunging the blade into the Tigress's throat.
Loosing the handle, she stood once more, eyeing the cheering multitudes in the stands as though she would like to deal with them next; suddenly she spat out a bolt of yellowish fluid----venom, Jagutai guessed---that splattered harmlessly against the invisible barrier.
She bent, reaching for the knife in the Tigress's throat; the Tigress was trying to pull it free, but Sleethra snapped her head downwards, snaky locks lashing at the Tigress's hands, which immediately fell away from the hilt. Sleethra ripped the knife out, then severed the Tigress's head with a mighty stroke; standing once more, she hurled it at the stands, but the grisly missile vanished before striking the barrier---the Tigress's body had likewise disappeared.
Sleethra wiped the knife on one scaly thigh, slid the blade into a sheath. Then she gripped the spear-shaft in her chest. Unable to pull it out, she slammed the end with the heel of her hand. The head emerged farther from her back, in a scarlet gush. Reaching back, she almost managed to pull the weapon out, the spear drooping from the wound. She twisted violently; the weapon flew loose on its own.
"Release me," she hissed, undoubtedly to the Guild wizards who had conjured her. Why they had not freed her already, Jagutai did not know; but the crowd, not the least offended by her contempt, were quick to echo her demand. Within moments the wizards obliged; she discorporated, flesh evaporating from beneath her scales, the scutes retaining her outline for a heartbeat before collapsing in a green-glittering shower that seemingly passed into the sand.