As the day continues into dusk, the last fight is preparing to begin.
Today will feature two new competitors of the Games, Eyron the Archer and
Fred, the thri-kreen warrior. As the crowd finishes placing
their bets, a voice sounds over the crowd. "Welcome all to the Arena! For
our last bout today, we present to you a warrior of such caliber that we
have not seen in many years. For your pleasure, I present to
you, FRED!!!"
As the voice speaks, a pair of steel doors at the end of the Arena begin
to open, revealing the thri-kreen warrior. In through a set of doors walks a
thri-kreen; one of the insect warriors that the Arena has not seen for some
time. Entering on his back legs, the contestant known as "Fred" stands some
seven feet tall, while being half again as long. He looks up at the crowd,
waving to them with his upper arms, while
mumbling the final words of a prayer and making arcane gestures with his
others.
As Fred continues his spellcasting, his opponent is announced. "And
now, his most worthy opponent, EYRON!!!" Another set of doors opposite Fred
begin to slide open, revealing a slender man who wields a long bow, already
knocked with arrows.
Eryon is dressed in chainmail and wears a helm that wraps around his
head with broad cheek guards that leave only a T shaped slit in the helmet
for him to see. It is covered with gems and other ornaments, and has a short
crest with a tassel. He carries a strong recurved bow of ivory, and a quiver
hangs on one hip alongside a swinging hammer on the other. A sling is
wrapped around his right wrist, currently serving as a wrist guard against a
snapping bowstring. Floating around his helmetedhead are a couple of stones.
His black-skinned face grins from within the helmet and and his teeth shine
in contrast with his ebony black skin. A very unusual feature of his is the
fact that he is 6'3.
As Fred’s words fade, blobs of something start to form around him;
whizzing about, making his form indistinct; blocking view one moment but not
the next. He also now seems to shimmer slightly like an object
seen in the heat haze of his desert homeland.
Suddenly the voice booms, "Begin!" With a blur of movement, Eyron
releases four arrows, which streak towards his opponent. The arrows follow
their path, with three hitting only a few feet short of their
intended target. The fourth hits the shimmering shield created by the
thri-kreen, and spins off in a flare of color and sparks.
"Fred" lets out a short series clicks before beggining to move at an
extremely fast pace across the arena. As he does so, a disembodied voice
translates his words: "One out four; congratulations," it says, "now let's
see if I can do better."
Eryon turns and cuts sideways ignoring the thri-kreen while running in a
flanking direction to his own right, towards Fred, his bowstring twanging
repeatedly as he launches more arrows at his foe.
It almost looks as though the thri-kreen is charging his opponent, in a
whirling mass of arms, legs, and energy, but he draws up some 180' from his
opponent, and his legs stop moving. The arms, however, continue and soon a
multitude of small objects are flying from all four hands in graceful arcs
towards the elf.
As the first of many arrows crash forward into the mass of energy
surrounding 'Fred', they are again knocked aside by some unknown force, two
of them shattering against the hard ground.
The horde of small objects hit next, a shining swarm of blunt weapons.
As the first few hit their mark, loud grating sounds can be heard, as if the
weapons were striking the stone wall instead of the
elven archer. With a few more hits however, the sounds become less
pronounced and more dull, thumping with great force against Eyron. He tries
to dodge, but fails because of the astonishing speed that the
weapons move at. With a final lunge, he moves to the side, but is hit
squarely in the head, sending him hurtling to the ground.
The crowd watches momentarily, as the last two arrows are thrown from
the air by the energy shield surrounding the thri-kreen, and then they wait
for Eyron to rise and fight. Nothing more happens for the
small archer however, and after several more moments the judges declare Fred
the winner. (
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