The arena’s colossal size was dwarfed by the roar of the crowd. The thrum of pounding feet, and the clatter of cheers shook the foundations of the stone it was built upon. The center arena was paved with grey blue tiles, a man wide and a man long. The outer ring, filled with iron spikes, closed around the combatants like the maw of gargantuan beast. Magician’s took their place in a special access row just in front of the crowd, while wyverns looked down from their perches upon the raised outer walls of the arena about forty paces above the crowd. Mirio thought to himself, sat within the screaming crowd, that the people of the vale could fit in here a dozen times over and not even fill half of the stands.

The Duke nodded to a mage on a platform just ahead of his private booth, urging him to start the fight. The nobility clapped their fingers on their wrists, in polite displays of encouragement in order to appear more dignified than the roaring masses, and sat beside the duke in the noble boxes they were aware of his every move during the fights. They made sure to only cheer for the favorite of the Duke and fought tooth and nail behind the scenes to be in the seats closest to the royal box.

The mage stepped forwards and let out a ripple of magical force, deepening and amplifying his voice.

“People of Cadria, citizens of the great nation of Darlan, the time has come”

The mage drew his staff high and released a pulse of blue light, causing the electricity dancing around enormous lantern stones of the arena to swell and pulse.

“In the red corner we have the reining champion, the wildfire sorcerer, two time champion of the arena, rumored to have dragon’s blood flowing through his veins, with 49 wins and only 1 loss, Tarkon ‘the gifted’ Sarlav!”

“In the blue corner we have the challenger, undefeated with 23 matches and 23 deaths to his name, Hamish ‘the dwarven fortress’ Rambold”

“An immovable object versus the unstoppable force, who will come out on top? It is time to find out now, let the match...”

The crowd roared like rolling thunder as the mage slammed his staff to the ground releasing a pillar of light into the sky.

“BEGIN!”

Hamish, clad in full plate armor and a tower shield, looked at Tarkon with bitter hatred in his eyes as he stepped forwards. Tarkon flicked back his hood and spiralled a wand between his fingers before casually swiping towards his opponent.

A small flicker of fire streamed out of the wand and shot towards Hamish like a small bee.

DINK

The tiny flame popped against the brow of Hamish’s helm before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

DINK DINK DINK

Several more tiny flares sprayed from Tarkon’s wand as he swiped it around with a casual flare, each landing in the same spot as Hamish dipped and swerved his head.

“Grrr!”

As another couple of darts flashed towards Hamish he gripped tight to his shield.

*He’s baiting me to react, he wants me to lift me shield, the bastard. Is he planning on me blinding myself with it? Aye, I bet he is*

*The stomper hasn’t even lifted his shield, bet he thinks he’s outsmarted me with is idiotic self talk*

DINK DINK DINK PLOP

Another burst of tiny flares spattered against Hamish’s helm as he moved and slipped his head, the last of them veering downwards at the last moment.

“Arr! Me friggin eye!”

Hamish’s skin flushed red as he shook his head in rage and blinked his eye back open.

*You fucker! I won’t charge, I won’t charge, I’ve seen what he does to the buggers that charge*

*Oh ho, got him square in the eye, delicious. Still trying to outsmart me it seems. Let’s see how he handles this then*

Tarkon tucked his wand into his belt and clapped both hands together in a wide stance. Flame seethed between his palms and at the moment he opened them a split in the stone of the arena lit like a fuse, before erupting with a wall of fire.

Hamish dived to the side as the wall of flames burst up beside him.

DINK DINK DINK FIZZ

Another spurt of tiny flares clinked against his helm, the last of them veering down and sizzling in his thick gel coated beard.

*Me beard! That bastard! No stay calm Hamish, keep your cool*

DINK FIZZ FIZZ FIZZ SWOOSH

Several more tiny flares soared towards Hamish, one landing on his helm and the rest pattering against his beard, the very last of them exploding into flames as Tarkon flicked his hand open. A flashfire rolled over Hamish’s gelled beard, letting off a small sizzle of burning hair.

“RAAARGH!”

Hamish charged forwards with his shield held just below his eyeline.

*I don’t care no more, strategy and tactics are for generals, I don’t need it to wipe that smirk off his face*

*That’s it*

Tarkon’s hands burst into flames as he made a motion like tearing up the earth one pillar at a time.

Hamish gripped tightly to his long hafted axe and shield as his legs pounded against the stone beneath his feet. Shards of rock shot at him from all sides, as pillars of flames exploded through the ground like a forest caught in a wildfire. Hamish was moving too fast to side step as the ground rumbled in front of him and exploded into a pillar of fire. He smashed his shield to the ground and used his momentum to surf over the blast. A glint of white shone from between Tarkon’s lips as a single canine appeared through his smirk. He swept fire from all around into a ball in front of him so large Hamish could no longer see him behind it.

Hamish leapt from his shield with axe drawn, and cleaved through the mass of flames.

FWOOSH

Where Hamish had expected to hit with a satisfying thunk, he instead felt his axe carry through all the way to his opposite hip. Hamish turned his head to the side just in time to see a blast of fire smack him cleanly in the face. Tarkon’s footwork and misdirection along with a perfect judgement of timing allowed him to use Hamish’s momentum against him, sending off his feet and crashing to the ground with a loud clank.

Tarkon’s feet lifted up from the ground as though he was as light as fire himself as he balled a blazing fist. Hamish’s eyes shot open just in time to see the fist bearing down on him.

BOOM

The entire stadium shook as Tarkon’s fist drove through and into the thick tile of the floor, buckling it in two as his fist exploded on impact.

Hamish spotting the blow at the last second rolled to the side, the fiery blast smacking him hard in the side of the face, blasting off his helm, and lighting half of his beard on fire. He quickly scrambled to his feet, and heaved his axe towards Tarkon’s neck.

THUNK

Hamish grinned with satisfaction as he landed his first blow. His eyes searched amidst the smoke to see if his blow had done damage. As the smoke blasted free, Tarkon’s arm held firmly onto the shaft of his axe, red scales now covering his skin and his eyes now burned like the depths of a furnace.

“Shit” Hamish said as he pulled a hammer from his waist belt and clobbered it hard against Tarkon’s grip. His scaled arm blasted free from the haft of the axe, but in the same motion he drove his other hand forwards and gripped onto the top of Hamish’s plate armor.

As Hamish came back for a second strike of his hammer and pulled his axe free, Tarkon’s free hand swatted the blow aside as the armor under his hand began to glow bright red. The air surrounding them billowed in the heat.

THUNK

Hamish drove the haft of his axe deep into Tarkon’s gut, and then spun, driving the full weight of his body against Tarkon’s blazing hand. As it tore free, so did half of his armor. Hamish quickly swatted at his beard, and then swept his axe low towards Tarkon’s feet, and then lifted it high overhead.

With a lift of his front leg, and a side step, Tarkon then stamped on Hamish’s axe, snapping the shaft in half with a blazing foot. The wood splintered as gasses from within sizzled and burst.

Tarkon stepped forth like a demon from the pits of hell, as Hamish tossed away the broken haft of his axe.

THWUM THWUM

Two hammers spun past Tarkon’s ears, as he twitched from side to side. Hamish pulled a dagger from his waist and cut free from his chest piece tossing it to the side.

“Right then” Hamish said as he spat on the ground between them, his beard still on fire, “Shall we get started then!”

Hamish reached into a small pouch on his side and drew from it a long shimmering pole more than twice his height with a sharp spear, a hooked blade, and a hammer on each of its sides. The halberd shimmered with glints of red and orange as fire surrounded him on all sides. He spun and twirled the weapon like a true master before settling the tip of the weapon at Tarkon’s throat.

Tarkon let out a puff of smoke from between his teeth as he glanced at the weapon.

*Was this his real plan? To start a melee, exhaust as many spells as he could, and then fight at range? I’ll admit, it isn’t a bad plan, for a guy as hard headed as him, but it won’t work*

Tarkon drew his hands out to either side like the jaws of a dragon, fire streaming in from all sides as he clamped the jaws shut.

“Argh!” Hamish screamed before driving forwards with the speartip of his halberd.

CLANK

The tip drove hard into Tarkon’s shoulder, chipping off several scales before it deflected.

Hamish spun and drove the hammer head at Tarkon’s knee on the opposite site, landing with a thud and spinning him to the ground. He then leapt into the air driving the billhook down towards Tarkons chest.

TING

The blade hit stone as Tarkon slipped to the side and sprung back up onto his feet. Hamish quickly scuffled back as Tarkon pounced forwards with several blinding flashes, wrestling his way in close so that he could grab the shaft.

THUD THUD

Two vicious blows landed from a jab to Hamish’s jaw, and then a cross to his temple, each bursting with flames on impact. Hamish stepped back, half wobbled by the blows before shaking them off in a rage. He span forwards with and elbow, then gripped onto both of Tarkon’s shoulders, and drove forwards two steps before leaping into him with a knee to the chest, followed by another elbow, a kick to the knee and then spinning with a small hammer to the side of the head.

CRACK

Scales blasted off of Tarkon’s face revealing tender black skin with white tattoos underneath. His eye’s returned to their normal brown as the spell’s concentration broke from the blow. Hamish followed up with a heel kick to his sternum, throwing Tarkon to the ground as the rest of the scales on his body vanished into the ether.

“Got you now you fucking snake!” Hamish said as he spun his halberd above his head, in order to leap in and drive the spear tip into Tarkon’s chest.

Blood splattered over Tarkons face as Hamish’s spear came to a sudden halt. Hamish looked on in satisfaction before his face scrunched up in confusion as he fought to drive his speartip deeper but it wouldn’t budge.

The speartip driven through Tarkon’s hand, was being held up by grit and might just inches above his chest. He then smacked his other hand onto the hammer head, and drove himself out from underneath the attack, drawing his hand free before sending it clattering into the ground. He stumbled back to his feet, holding his badly severed hand, and lit it with fire to seal the wound. The smell of his own burning flesh filling his nostrils as he looked up at the dwarf in front of him.

“You’ve lost half your beard dwarf”

“Aye, but you’ve lost half your hand”

“Ain’t shit, you’ll have to do better than that, you deranged, sausage legged, wannabe”

EAAAARRKK!!!

The flap of wings blasted down from above as the Duke’s mounted knights swooped over to the royal box.

“Sir, there is urgent news from the south, we must go quickly!”

The Duke, already on his toes from the fight, didn’t hesitate for a moment before grabbing the reins and leaping onto the back of his wyvern. The beast’s thick muscles undulated underneath its green scales as it hurled itself into the sky with powerful hind legs. Its tail whipped through the royal box, and sent wine splashing into the noble boxes close by.

“Go my lord! Duty calls!” a noble called out before muttering under his breath “Ah shit, this was Aardian silk”

The Duke pulled tightly on the reins, as he exited out of the roof of the arena, and made a swift turn towards the palace tower. The wind blasted through his hair as he swept onto the mage tower roof and leapt off from the back of the beast.

EAAAARK

It screeched into the sky, excited by the surging adrenaline of its rider.

The Duke quickly ran down the stairs as the mage’s whipped up illusion magics to describe the scene now taking place in the southern kingdom.

“Rainal is on the move!”

“That fucker, where is our man inside?” the Duke responded

“On his way my lord!”

“Grrr! What is that piece of shit up to now” he said as leaning forwards on the massive round table.

…

A maid whispered back to the prince “It is your brother my lord!”

“What? Now?”

“Yes” she said before quickly opening the door for Rainal.

Rainal looked at the maid with disgust, “Get the fuck out of here, this is a private conversation between my brother and I”

He stepped through the door clad in light leather armor suitable for walking the halls.

“Brother, that armor looks ridiculous on someone with your physique. I’ve told you before you should just wear a simple robe in the safety of the palace. No one is out to get you, I assure you”

Rainal stepped forwards and took a strand of golden hair from his brother’s head, muscles bulging with every motion of his arm.

“And I told you, your hair makes you look like a woman”

“Ah yes, I remember you telling me something like that” the prince said as he stood up in front of his brother.

The two stared at each other for a moment, Rainal staring down, as the prince looked up at him with a glint in his eyes and a smile.

“Guess neither of us can change who we are” Rainal said with a scoff before lifting his chin towards the rest of the room, “Are we alone?”

“Yes, we are alone, except for those guards of yours. Yes hello, you there, do you two mind scurrying on along?” the prince said with a flick of his hand.

“I just had a discussion with the Margraves”

“Oh, you did? Wonderful, what kind of rumor are they attempting to slander me with today? Is it that I enslave children on the black market to serve my drug habits, or that I fuck our sister inbetween royal meetings, or have they grown even more bold and declared I would rise to treason. I would not put weight in their words brother, you know how they are”

“Yes, I know how they are. And I know that not all things they say of you are lies, and this time they provided me with proof that even I can’t turn a blind eye to”

“Oh really, and what proof is that?”

“My signatures forged by your hand, giving their rivals exclusive rights to shipping lanes in the east”

The prince smiled warmly and approached Rainal “Now now, brother, brother, listen here”. His hands smoothed over Rainals armor, and then slid behind his back.

Rainal smacked his hands away, and slapped the prince to the ground, “The throne is mine by right!”

The prince collapsed to the floor, crumpled up like a discarded tissue. “Brother, I love you, how could you believe them over your own flesh and blood”

“Flesh and blood my ass, you’ve always been a snake, this isn’t the first time I have heard talk of your treason. I’ve had enough”

“So have I brother, so have I”

Rainal reached over to the prince to turn to him and tell him his fate, but as soon as his hand landed on the prince’s soft silken shoulder, a flash of light shone from underneath his brother’s sleeve.

The prince grasped tight to Rainal’s chest and drove the dagger deep into the side of his neck. Rainal kicked his brother away from him and gasped, as he felt the blade lodged into his thick muscled neck.

His eyes filled with rage as he stormed towards the prince, picking him up with one hand by his neck. He smashed his brother into the wall and began crushing his fingers into his windpipe. The prince flailed and kicked but all his attempts fell short due to the length of Rainal’s arm.

Alyssa screamed from the corridor “Brother! No!”

She ran into the room and unsheathed her sword, pouncing towards Rainal with a thrust.

“Argh!” Rainal screamed as the blade drove through his flank.

He gripped the front of the sword on his front side, tightly wedging it there so that it could not be removed, as he twisted on his brother’s throat. Blood gushed onto his hand as the windpipe tore free from the prince’s neck. He turned towards his sister with a smack of his bloody hand as the prince slumped to the floor gargling and unable to breathe.

“Brother! NO! Rainal, you’re a monster!”

“I’m the monster?!” Rainal screamed, flicking blood off his hand and looking down at the blade wedged through the side of his gut. “I’ve had enough of politics, there comes a time when a ruler must rule!”

“Stay back” Alyssa said as she drew a dagger.

“I don’t think so, guards!”

Alyssa was grabbed from both sides as Rainal rushed towards her. Binding his hand into a meaty fist, he drove his knuckles hard into her temple, sending her limp in the arms of the guards.

He lifted his steel capped boots and drove them into her stomach, sending her flying into the hallway.

“Stupid, fucking bitch, always taking his side. You dare stab me in the back you whore”

He smashed the heel of his boot against the side of her face, into her ribs, and into her guts several times before screaming out in pain from the sword in his side.

“Ahh, fuck! I gotta get this thing outta me! Hey, you two get this fucking thing out of me will you”

As the guards pulled Rainal to the side and began pulling out Alyssa’s blade, her eye opened to see the prince in a pool of blood on the floor, his neck torn apart.

A tear welled in her eye, “So this is how it ends…”

TUG TUG DRAG

A pair of small hands latched tightly onto her gown, and began sliding her down the hallway. The scuffle of tiny feet sounded by her ear, before she was dragged into a dark hole in the wall.

THUNK THUNK THUNK

Her body made noise as she was hauled down a small set of stairs. A small hatch set inside the wall was then shut tight behind her, as a halfling stood over her.

“I hope I’m not too late”

“Who are you?” she mumbled between breaths

“No time for that now” the halfling with bushy eyebrows and well groomed hair said as he fumbled within a pouch for healing elixirs.

Alyssa brought her lips to the glass vial and swallowed down the potion. As she did so the halfling spun his fingers in a circle and chanted an incantation. Suddenly her limbs and body that had felt so heavy, now felt as light as the breeze as she lifted up from the ground like a feather.

“I have to get you out of here” the halfling said as he pulled her through a series of corridors, and into a cave system deep below the palace floor.

“I didn’t know this place was here” she mumbled in a half conscious stupor.

“Quiet now, you must rest” the halfling said as he placed her into a carriage and looked over her with magically gleaming eyes.

“Ah, that’s better. I don’t think she got any important organs. And my brother missed the artery” Rainal said as he ripped off his shirt sleeves and bound them around his waist. “Get the royal cleric for me though, and after he’s done with me he can help my sister”

“My grace, she’s gone!”

“What? How?! Arrrr”

“Not to worry my grace, we will set a perimeter, she will not leave the city”

Rainal wiped sweat from his upper lip as he held the dagger in the side of his neck.

“All things considered, I think that went well” he said as he looked at his brother across the way in a pool of his own blood.

…

The Duke pushed back from the table, “Make sure she lives, and start formulating a plan for her escape from the city. We can’t let that fucker put on that crown”

“My lord, you saw the state of the princess, she won’t be able to overthrow him in her state”

“Then prepare”

“I’m sorry my lord, but prepare for what?”

“For war”