Yes!

The beast circled her warily. Now that she looked closely, Teysa could see old scars on its sides and gaps in its crooked forest of teeth. It had fought men before. It knew that, small and pink though she was, she could hurt it. It half-turned away from her and lashed out with its split tail. The ends dragged across her thigh, scoring deeply and drawing a line of blood. She hissed through her teeth and leapt back to avoid being encircled. The cut was shallow, but it oozed, and she began to limp.

She wasn't familiar with the species, but she'd seen pit-beasts before-- great cats, jagged-toothed lizards, all manner of exotic predators whipped and caged and goaded to fight. It wasn't a wild beast looking for a meal. That, she could scare off with a couple of well-placed blows. This thing knew that it had to kill or be killed, and judging by the scars that mottled its body, it had done plenty of the former. She spared a moment to feel sorry for it. It had not chosen to be captured and **** into the arena. It was just a mindless brute. Still, it would kill her if she let her guard down for a moment.

The lizard-beast thumped across the sand towards her. It wasn't exactly charging, but testing her resolve. She let it come and stepped aside as it lunged. Her mace came down and thumped against the thing's nose. The impact reverberated up her arm, and a small fragment of horn cracked from the tip of the thing's snout. It screeched at her and flailed its tail again, but Teysa was ready this time. She ducked the whipping tendrils and circled closer to the beast's unprotected back.

It spun around to face her and lunged again. This time its jaw yawned open. It passed so close to her leg that she felt a breeze against her leg, but somehow she managed to pivot out of the way. This time she brought her mace down two-handed against its jaw. It impacted with a crunch and a pair of splintered fangs fell to the arena floor. The creature had more than enough teeth left, but Teysa could tell that she had really hurt it. It growled deep in its throat. Thick black ichor glugged from its torn gums and trailed across the sand.

Teysa circled, waiting for it to jump at her again, but the creature was wily and seemed to have learned its lesson. It whipped its tail frantically, first left then right, not aiming directly for her but hemming her in. Too late she realized that she had backed up to the wall. With a triumphant roar the lizard bunched its legs and leapt. Teysa had to throw herself to the floor and roll to avoid it. Sand stung the exposed skin of her back and buttocks, but she escaped with nothing more than friction burns.

Before she could climb to her feet, the creature was on her again. Its jaws snapped shut inches from her face. She thrust out her mace, which spared her from the next bite but cost her her weapon. The haft propped open the lizard's jaw and it shook its head like a crocodile. Teysa had to let go or risk dislocating her arm.

The creature's attempt to dislodge the weapon stuck in its mouth gave her the precious seconds she needed to disengage. She scooted backwards. Sand filled the crack of her ass, but she was free. She rolled backward and blinked at the sudden darkness.

She could still see the pit, and beyond it the cage that held Aliara and Father Tuubel. The crowd had vanished, though, and she found herself in a cool, dank cave. An awful smell filled her nostrils: blood, shit, sweat, pain and distress and fear. The ground beneath her feet was cool stone, not sand. For a moment, she was disoriented, and then it hit her: this was the tunnel from which the lizard had emerged.

It was looking around the pit now. Its nostrils flared and its tongue tasted the air. Perhaps it hunted by smell, and the slaughterhouse reek around her was sheltering her, or perhaps it was merely nearsighted, but she a moment before it would re-acquire her. She climbed to her feet, wincing at the pain in her injured leg, and look around desperately for something she could use.

Something on the floor caught her eye. Long, half-rusted chains, piled up haphazardly; she could see where the manacles on the end had been undone to allow the beast access to the pit. One end of the chain was affixed to a stake in the ground, but it was wobbling loose. Teysa wrapped the chain around one hand and heaved. The stake held for a moment, then tore free like a rotten tooth. Outside, the crowd was yelling angrily, and she could hear the Eel's high-pitched voice calling on her guards. Teysa grabbed up the chain with both hands and rattled it as loudly as she could.

The lizard instantly homed in on the sound. Its broad, spade-shaped head tossed back and forth like an angry bull's. Teysa emerged from the shadowy tunnel with a coil of chain in her arms. The crowd's fury subsided into silence, and even the Eel sank back into her chair. She wore a half-smile, a little smirk of anticipation.

Teysa sank into a runner's stance and stared the beast in the eye. It held her gaze for just a moment, then roared and charged forward, all six legs thudding against the sand. She ran to meet it. The distance between them evaporated. Ten feet, five, two... as its gnashing jaws came up, ready to tear the flesh from her bones, Teysa leapt. She planted her hands on its nose and somersaulted in midair, turning her jump into a forward flip that landed her heavily on its back. The impact knocked the breath out of her, but somehow she managed to hold on. Bony scutes dug into her breasts and belly, but they were shallow and dull and did not pierce the skin.

The lizard tried to buck her off, but its legs were too stubby to properly jump. It pivoted its neck this way and that to try to bite her. As it raised its chin, Teysa slipped her chain underneath and around its neck. She hauled with all her strength and the links pulled taut against its neck. It thrashed wildly to and fro but she clung on for dear life. Her thighs clamped onto its sides and her fingers clung white-knuckled to the chain. The creature's wild flailing thudded its back plates into her stomach like bony fists and she gasped for breath, but she did not let go.

Gradually the creature's struggles slowed. Its eyes bulged from its head and its tongue lolled madly. Its legs scrabbled fiercely at the sand, then went limp and flat. Its movements grew weak and uncoordinated. Finally, with a rattling sigh, it slumped to the ground and lay still.

Teysa waited a moment longer, but she had reached the very end of her strength. She collapsed on top of the beast. Spots danced in front of her vision and she gasped for breath. The crowd was dead silent. Somewhere, a million miles away, Aliara was sobbing with relief, and someone-- possibly Father Tuubel-- was throwing up.

A sharp, heavy sound, a smack of flesh on flesh, broke the silence. Teysa looked up. The Eel had stood up and was bringing her hands together. There was a wide grin on her face. The audience members looked up at her in bewilderment, then they too began to cheer. Teysa rolled off the lizard and landed on her back in the sand. Her chest rose and fell and she stared up at the distant ceiling. There was no sense of triumph filling her chest. She just felt tired. Beside her the dead lizard stared blindly at its killer.

Teysa was dimly aware of hands gripping her shoulders and hauling her to her feet. She could hear someone growling in her ear, though the sound seemed to come from a long way away. It sounded indistinct, like the roar of the sea in her ear from a seashell. She focused and tried to pull herself together in time to focus on the diminutive figure before her.

The Eel herself had descended into the pit. Two of her guards held Teysa between them by the biceps. Their armored fingers dug painfully into her skin, but the bruises on her belly and back and the cut on her leg demanded all of her attention. She shook her head to clear it and tried to listen to what the Eel was telling her.

"...and tho," the drow said, "for your bravery in the arena, I grant you a boon. What courage! What thrength! What creativity! A thow you've given uth, a thow like we haven't theen in yearth! I knew you had it in you!"

"A... boon?" Teysa managed.

"Yeth, my dear!" The Eel laid her hand on Teysa's shoulder, and her guards stiffened. Teysa grunted as she felt their fingers tighten around her arms. "Your life! Your life, your little girlfriend'th life, and the life of that... holy man." She curled her lip in distaste. "Tell him that our bargain ith concluded. I better not thee him mething around with criminalth again. He hathn't the temperament for it."

Teysa allowed herself to be led out of the pit and through the cage. At some point someone draped a blanket over her. She was shivering, and not just from the cold. She had faced **** before, but rarely on such close personal terms. The memory of the jeering crowd kept coming up when she closed her eyes.

The Eel's guards brought her to a small guest room where a set of fresh clothes lay neatly folded on a stone bench. Next to them sat her mace. She dressed numbly and took a few deep breaths to steady herself. As she was buttoning the last button of her shirt, there came a timid knock at the door. She opened it and Aliara practically fell into the room.

"Oh, Tey!" wept the half-elf. She threw her arms around Teysa and squeezed. Bruises flared on Teysa's front and back, but she made no move to dislodge Aliara. Instead she wrapped her own arms around her. Aliara buried her head in Teysa's chest and rocked back and forth for a moment. "Tey," she murmured, "I was so scared! You were so brave! You were incredible out there! I thought... I thought..."

She looked up with tear-stained eyes. Teysa bent down and kissed her. She had intended it to be a gentle, reassuring peck, but found herself clinging on with fierce urgency. She could taste salt on the other woman's lips... or were those tears her own? She couldn't tell.

The kiss went on and on until a polite grunt contrived to indicate the presence of another person. Teysa pulled back reluctantly and looked up. Standing awkwardly just outside the door was Father Tuubel. He was looking away, but felt her eyes on him and turned to meet her gaze.

"I'm sorry, my child," he said. "I didn't mean to interrupt. I just wanted to thank you. You saved me from what would likely have been a terribly grievous fate."

"You're welcome, Father," Teysa said. Even knowing what the old priest had done, she couldn't find it in herself to be angry with him. She had made her own share of mistakes.

That thought reminded her of why she had come, and a chill settled over her heart. "Father, I know now might not be a good time, but I actually came here to see you. I have a... a problem, and I don't know who to turn to."

Tuubel hobbled into the room and sat down on the bench. "I would be glad to listen," he said. "I will help you as best as I can. I am not sure how much good I can do, though. It's clear to me that I have little to teach you about faith and fortitude."