When the flash back is over no time at all has past it seemed instant. I help the girl get up and ask her in a unfeeling tone.

“whats your name?”

“Anna”

“why did you follow us?”

“because my father said you lied and that you pet FEAR was simply an excuse not to help us and for you to leave us to our curse.”

“i was being honest when i left FEAR won't stop eating for a long time he can eat any amount of food or prey.”

“my Grandfather also told me to never come back to the village as i needed to see the world for myself.”

i feel bad now the only people she was ever known basically threw her out of the village to a pair of men and were giving her a hard time. I think my father knew i was faltering because he spoke

“if a human travels with us fauna it will look like we kidnapped you.”

“codex whats a fauna?”

“a human that has animal features. in you and your parents case wolf ears”

she however responds to this question by reaching up to her head and then pulls two pins out of her hair that are completely black like her hair that can't be seen unless you know where they are and...two black mouse ears pop out.

“are you happy?”

she asks us their are tears forming under her eyes. My father and me have no other excuses so i speak up.

“no sorry about the hard time. We aren't very trusting people.”

as we walk on she holds onto my hand. Since i knew she felt all alone i couldn't put myself up to removing my hand from her grip. We walked the hole day and once we were within an hours walk of the city i put my hood on, father did as well and Anna put her clips in. We then walked up to the gate of the obsidian outer wall and the guards said a few words to my father who handed them some papers and then they let us into the city. We then walked to an inn and my father got 2 rooms. He then said to me and Anna

“you two have to share a room i can't afford 3.”

I simply nodded and then we sat down at a nearby table to eat. We got our meal and it was okay. We then went to bed and Anna still hasn't let go of my hand. So when I get into the bed she lets go and looks at the floor nervously.

“come here Anna i won't hurt you.”

She nervously gets into the bed and i wrap my arm around her and pull her farther onto the bed as she is trying to sleep on the very edge where she might fall off. I can feel her heart beating really quickly and i whisper into her ear.

“calm down and sleep I’m not going to do anything.”

her heartbeat slows and before she falls asleep she turns her body so its facing mine and burrows her head into my neck. Shortly afterword i fall asleep to her breathing calmly in and out.

The next morning i wake up and check my codex watch and it reads 9:10 Anna is still sleeping comfortably in my neck so i gently wake her up. When she wakes up she looks right into my eyes and i say

“its time to wake up i have things to do today”

we get up and i change into my nicer clothes and put my long sleeves and hood back on and then we go downstairs. The innkeeper tells me that my dad already paid for our meals for the week and that he left a message saying

“do your own thing im busy oh and the barkeeper has 5 gold for you to spend on stuff.”

(currency 1 gold = 10 silver 1 silver = 1000 copper copper is very abundant in this world)

after reading the message, collecting the gold and eating breakfast we go to the nearest ring shop. I simply browse and come across a ring exactly like mine but then i see the price tag 100 gold. After seeing this i know that their is no way i can bargain the price down and simply leave with Anna in tow. We then go to the arena to pass the time and see a man out in front of the building. He is holding a sign that says

“wizard sign up for arena battles 1 more contestant needed. 5 gold sign up fee”

i walk up to him and ask “what do i get if i win?”

“you get the pot from the other 63 contestants so if you win you get 320 gold”

“how does the arena make money then?”

“we make money from selling tickets for the seats for the nobility”

i ask codex telepathically “think we can win?”

“He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.”

“all take that as a yes napoleon.”

“yes i would like to enter”

i pull out the five gold from my father and hand it over.

“right this way all the other first round matches have already been decided.”

“Anna have fun sorry about ditching you just stay out of trouble okay?”

“o-o-okay see you later.”

the man then leads me down a corridor that goes down hill. He explains the rules as we walk

“the rules are very simple if you are knocked out you lose if you kill your opponent you lose, other then that you can only lose by surrendering, magic and fist fighting are the only things allowed. Armour, brass knuckles and weapons that aren’t staffs or wands are not allowed is that clear? Do you have anything that breaks these rules?”

“yes its clear and no i don't have anything that breaks the rules.”

“good your first opponent is Drake the black mage. That’s all i can tell you about him”

he then stops and points towards a large door. I take my gravity rings off and open it with ease. I then walk into the arena while slipping my rings onto a necklace which i then put around my neck. The arena has a sand floor and the walls are made out of stone. The seats are all elaborate and well made. There isn't to many people in them and all of them seem rather bored like they know the outcome of this battle and are simply waiting for the next battle. In the centre of the Arena are two people. One is an ancient old man and the other a rather young one with slick short black hair that looks really greasy their both wearing robes like me and both have staffs. The one with black hair has a staff with 5 circles in it i can see something swirling in them that appear as white entities. The ancient man then asks me

“are you ready?”

“yes”

“then go”

the man with slick hair touches all 5 circles on his staff and the white swirls come out.

“codex what is he doing?”

“he is releasing ghosts that he captured using curse magic”

“what should i do?”

“throw some fireballs or something simple”

“you seem laid back”

“he is a dark mage, dark mages use ghosts and curse magic both of which don't effect you meaning you already won this considering your also much stronger physically.”

as we talk the ghosts take shape and start moving towards me at a fast pace that even with my current speed i couldn't catch up to. I don't even bother to cast a simple fire ball towards my opponent drake and just wait for the ghosts to arrive. They all go right into my chest and i can feel them trying to hijack my mind. However i feel something in my body starting to eat them very quickly. The ghosts see this to late and only one escapes and flees back towards drake. The smile that h had on earlier has turned into a frown. And now he starts chanting. I still don't even bother as i know it won't effect me. now most of the people are no longer looking bored but interested. A small opponent in height has defeated Drakes minions without even moving and is simply waiting for his next attack. Drake attacks with magic and yells

“ROTTING FLESH!”

he points to me as he yells and i feel an itchy feeling on my arm so i scratch it then look at drake again and say

“surrender you pathetic attempt of a mage”

seeing none of his attacks work he charges in to fight fist to fist. Big mistake he rushes forward and attempts to punch me. I simply jump forward with my right fist in front of my arm and

“CRUNCH”

i send him flying back with no broken bones it seemed he had reinforced them with magic. He smashes against the wall and is knocked unconscious

http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=12922&pid=129512#pid129512