All around the giant platform’s edge, the first 100 feet were left empty. After thousands of contestants had been thrown to their dooms, nobody in their right minds dared to venture further.

Fortunately for the humans and dwarves, their most threatening adversaries, the elves, decided against pursuing slaughter within the platform’s interior. It was one thing to throw the tiny creatures off, but having to kill them with their bare hands was a bit much.

Unfortunately, there was one species that had no such qualms about killing. Once the pixies started shooting wind blades at everyone, their unarmed opponents could do little to stop them.

The only thing that changed since they joined the fight was their strategy. After losing some of their members, they now avoided the elves and the stronger looking humans and dwarves. Like tiny vultures on the prowl, they searched for weaker groups to prey upon using their wings to quickly take out targets before escaping upwards.

Unfortunately for Alric, his group was an ideal target. Between the dorky looking teen in pink pajamas and the 10 years old kid, only the five feet tall Rachel seemed minutely capable of defending herself. As for Tim, his position on this matter was rather questionable.

“Why did you do that?” asked an exasperated Alric while grabbing his own head. “This is the species tournament. We have to kill each other. Are you insane?” Feeling his already stressed out nerves about to snap, the boy dropped to his knees and shook his skull.

“You do not look that sane yourself.” The pixie gave him a wink. “Cheer up partner. The monsters approve of this union.” He pointed to the now larger than himself piece of plastic that was glowing bright green. “More importantly, can you afford to sit around?”

The first wave of pixies was finally nearing their location. It was an army of 50 tiny killers determined to end the tournament early.

His comrades’ strategy was simple. Since an attack would alert their prey and make them more difficult, the miniature platoons were raiding portions of the platform systematically. Once they reached a spot with few elves and clueless individuals, they pinpointed their targets, split off into teams, and delivered a devastating attack before resistance was possible.

Timofey knew what was about to happen, but he kept calm.

“I cannot convince them to leave you and your friends alone,” he explained. “I cannot fight my own people either. Human, if there ever was a time to use that ingenious mind of yours, it’s now.”

The enemy was already splitting into teams, so the attack was just seconds away. ‘What the hell do I do?’ thought Alric. The boy was not a fighter, and he couldn’t find a peaceful way out of this even if he tried.

“The pixies are attacking!” Suddenly, Rachel’s voice boomed from behind him. “Group up in circles! Keep weaker people in the center and punch the pixies as they come!”

Thanks to everyone being on edge about a possible fight, they followed her commands without even thinking. Be they humans or dwarves, they were waiting for some sort of guidance, for someone to show them a way out of this mess.

“Move it!” she shouted while dragging Alric towards one of the groups. The boy did not bother resisting since at least she had a plan.

“Each circle should slowly move towards the others! We need to form a defensive net of sorts.”

Rachel hoped that if the group looked sufficiently threatening, the pixies would back off. Unfortunately, despite everyone’s swift response, they were a bit late. Once the tiny platoons received their orders nothing less than the threat of annihilation was a worthy deterrent.

“You need to keep them at a distance,” warned Alric while keeping Finn’s eyes away from what was to come. “They can cut you with wind.”

Rachel didn’t know how useful this advice would be, given their lack of weapons, but she repeated it anyway for everyone to hear. Just three seconds later, the first team of pixies attacked.

……………………………………………………………..

The six people circle with Finn and Alric in the middle was right at the edge of the honeycomb formation everyone hastily built. While two of their members were dwarves with shorter limbs, there were another two circles nearby that somewhat covered for them. As for Timofey, he hid in Alric’s blouse and seemed determined to stay there.

“For victory!” yelled the enemy as they began their first full scale assault. 48 pixies struck 12 circles in four person formations. The first of these four was knocked out by Rachel. Another was struck by the dwarf on the opposite side, but a third got in and aimed for Alric’s throat.

The boy raised both hands only to have his ligaments and bones cut deeply just a second later. While smoke burst out of them, Rachel turned around and tried to grab the culprit. In turn, the tiny pixie tried to change course and attack someone else.

While her comrades were keeping the other circles busy, the female warrior saw a clear trajectory towards another man’s neck. However, the second she tried to move her wings, a burst of wind knocked her off balance. Then, before she could recover, a large palm swooped in and crushed her.

“Thanks,” Alric muttered to the partner that was hiding inside his pajamas.

“Shut up and think of a solution,” the trembling pixie spat back. Although Timofey wasn’t as emotional as his peers, aiding in his comrade’s murder was not something he could take back.

Fortunately, the fourth pixie managed to save the other two while the circle was busy. Though their initial strike was repelled, only five of their warriors had fallen in battle.

As for the humans and dwarves, white smoke poured out of them as if they were leaking pipes. Three out of the 12 circles were destroyed completely, and several others had lost members. Alric’s team was fortunately still standing, though some were injured severely.

A tall woman had her side cut by the fourth pixie, and one of the dwarves’ arms were releasing a concerning amount of smoke. Rachel too was missing three fingers on her right palm. While her team was freaking out and the pixies were reorganizing themselves, the panting girl took off her blouse and threw it to the other dwarf.

“Rip it in half,” she snapped while her face lost its color. After the confused man obliged and she wrapped her bleeding fists, more people started doing the same. Unfortunately, the extra padding offered little protection, and at this point, the tables had turned too far towards the enemy’ favor.

“Plan 125!” the pixie with the longest ponytail shouted and their formation changed in a split second. While half of the flying troops awaited orders, the others started systematically killing the most wounded members of each circle.

Before they could even scream in pain, a team of three tired youths was immediately annihilated. The tall woman to Rachel’s side had her throat cut in a moment of carelessness.

“What’s plan 125?” Alric asked while chocking on the smoke coming out of his body. However, Timofey was silent. He wasn’t willing to betray his people further, and explaining their formation wouldn’t have helped anyway.

While someone from a nearby circle shrieked in agony, Rachel was about to become the second casualty in theirs. The girl swung her arms in a frenzy trying to repel them and got shredded in the process. Fortunately, after one of her punches made contact with a pixie, the attackers switched targets to a man in his 50s.

“Please stop, please stop, please stop,” Finn was crying in Alric's arms.

“Lord Amon, I’ve completed your task!” a disheveled man in a tracksuit shouted some distance away. Unfortunately, both the demon’s finger as well as his sadistic smile had yet to move since the event’s beginning.

After another person fell within their circle, Rachel too was starting to lose hope. She’d lost so much blood that her consciousness was fading. Her right arm was cut to ribbons and practically useless. In a few more seconds, someone else would fall, and their already tiny formation would definitely collapse.

“What in Doomface’s name are you doing?”

It was then, behind the girl’s back, that something unusual happened. Despite his bleeding arms and his partner’s protest, Alric was holding his green block firmly with both hands.

“Will you use it as a shield?” Finn asked while wiping his tears.

“You can’t fight!” Timofey shouted. “Our toddlers can fight better than you.”

Although his ego was momentarily crushed, Alric was in agreement with his partner. Using the blocks as shields or weapons was a decent plan, but not at this stage in the game. Fortunately, the boy’s idea was much crazier than that.

With a shit eating grin which bordered on madness, Alric lifted the green square slightly before slamming it into his knee. For the first time since the round’s beginning, one of the contestants broke his block.