Let The Games Commence

"I think that we should head straight for the VIP lounges," says Winnacer. "The sooner that Flint gets those charges set, the better I will feel."

"Are you still there, Flinty?" Bennett asks, looking around him.

"Yes" the disembodied voice of the dwarf replies.

The five of them make their way to the closest of the VIP rooms. Despite the fact that the attendance is down, the first of the rooms is already crowded, as none of the nobles fancy standing around in the snow, obviously.

As they make your way to the entrance of the lounge, a well-dressed young girl stops them.

"Hello," she says politely. "Can I just take your names please?"

"Lord Karel Berger of Olmutz," says Winnacer, as arrogantly as he can muster, "and this is my wife, Marketa, plus my bodyguards."

Winnacer's response was obviously suitably arrogant as, although the girl scans the list of names that she has in her hand, she does not hesitate to allow them entry. They walk past her, with Winnacer in the lead and Faewen'il immediately behind him and then Xavier and Bennett bringing up the rear, or so it appears, although really the two warriors are making sure that Flint can't stray too far away from Fae.

Upon entering the room, they see that it is around two thirds full with nobles in their finery, dripping with valuable furs and jewelry. They are talking and laughing amongst themselves while sipping glasses of mulled wine from crystal glasses, regularly topped up by attentive waiters and waitresses. For every nobleman and woman, there are at least two bodyguards who scan the room constantly. All of the warriors in the party realize that these bodyguards are no amateurs.

"Move around the room a bit," Faewen'il hears Flint whispering in her ear. "I want to get a good quantity of powder in all four corners. That way, if anyone survives the blast then they'll be buried by the roof and walls."

Faewen'il nods her head to show her understanding and relays the message to Winnacer. The young Lord takes a proffered glass of mulled wine for himself and Faewen'il and then begins to circulate as casually as he can muster. They make it to the first corner and then the four of them form a line in the corner, as if they are simply watching the goings on in the room. They dare not look behind them as they hear the gentle sound of a sack of fine powder being emptied upon the ground and then hear Flint's feet flattening the pile of Holy Powder that he has just deposited. Luckily, the floor of the room is simple wooden planks and the inside of the building is gloomy as a result of the dull weather outside and so the covering of powder is not noticed. Flint taps Faewen'il on the shoulder and the five of them move to the next corner.

On the way to the next corner, the others can hear Faewen'il gasp audibly as two figures enter the room. The rest of them look up to see that the new arrivals are dressed in brown robes and wear flattened conical hats.

"Witchfinders," Winnacer whispers to himself.

They all freeze as they wait for the Witchfinders to make their move, hands hovering close to their weapons in case they start to scan the area. Luckily, however, the Witchfinders are in a jovial mood and their rods remain tucked into their belts. They walk over to the closest waiter and help themselves to a glass of wine before they recognize an acquaintance and start chatting to him.

With their eyes firmly fixed on the Witchfinders, they carry on with your task and head for the second corner. Once again, Flint deposits the contents of another sack upon the floor. With no alarm being raised from their actions, they casually cross the room and repeat the actions in the other two corners.

"That's this room rigged," Flint whispers. "Let's go and do the other one."

None of them need a second invitation and are only too glad to get out of the room containing the Witchfinders. Conscious of the fact that they spent half an hour in that room, they hurriedly cross the track and make their way to the other VIP room.

They pause as they are about to enter to take a look around the rest of the arena. They can see that the amphitheater is just over a third full, with a number of merchants and their bodyguards plus a few minor nobles all putting a brave face on the terrible weather. Campfires have been lit around the site in order to make it more bearable. On the opposite side of the huge pit where the creatures will fight each other, they can clearly see the same mutated beasts that they saw earlier in the day through the wooden bars of their cages. The creatures are as crazed and as mad as they were earlier.

Looking around those in the amphitheater more closely, they spy Tomas, who is with a group of Dragons sitting on the benches close to the position of the bookies' office. They can see that Tomas is looking towards them. He seems to be signaling subtly, rubbing his nose, scratching his beard and tugging at an earlobe while gesturing with his head. Confused as to what he is trying to say to them, they then realize that he is not signaling to them at all. They see, standing in front of one of the large gaps in the front of the room, which serves as a window, that there is a finely dressed noblewoman in her late thirties that appears to be signaling back to Tomas.

Conscious that time is no longer on their side, they enter the room and see that it is occupied with more nobles and their retainers. They quickly start to head for the corners of the room in order to dispense more powder.

Meanwhile, on the hill overlooking the arena, Yaz, Will and Jihan are getting rather cold and rather bored waiting for the signal that should indicate that Yaz should start blasting. Yaz keeps an eye out for Eladria and is able to spot her without much difficulty. She spends the entire time amongst the animal pens looking after the creatures and checking them over to ensure that they are in good health. They notice that Eladria seems quite agitated and rushes around in a flurry of activity.

While Yaz is keeping an eye on the druidess, Will and Jihan are keeping an eye out for the hunters who they have seen constantly prowling the area, obviously checking that no one is lurking around the place.

Jihan is quite concerned with this:

"I've noticed that they are spiraling outwards," he says. "I've noticed them getting closer and closer to us each time that they make a circuit. We need to be careful that they don't see us."

Back in the VIP lounge, the group of five are making their way through the room. In this room, it is Bennett's turn to freeze as he spies Yurek right in the center of it, laughing as he chats with some of the nobles inside. Bennett looks downwards and pulls his helmet down lower over his head in order that Yurek will not recognize him. They quickly make their way to the closest corner so as to get on with the business of depositing the powder as quickly as possible.

The operation is successful and they are just making their way to the second corner when a voice booms out. A voice that Winnacer recognizes only too well:

"Well, well, well," the voice starts in a mocking sarcastic tone, the slight slurring of the words showing evidence to the amount of mulled wine that the owner must have already consumed. "If it isn't my long lost runt of a kid brother, the runaway squire."

"Well, father and Saurese will be interested to hear that the little yellow-belly brother is still alive. So what brings you here?"

Conscious of the fact that half the room, including Faewen'il, Xavier and Bennett are all staring at him, waiting for a response, Winnacer makes an introduction:

"I'd like to introduce you all to Klauf," the young Lord manages to stutter, "my elder brother."

In the forest overlooking the arena complex, Will is getting increasingly concerned by the proximity of the hunters:

"I suggest we not just sit here and wait on them to find us, but rather use a little deductive forecasting and move if it seems they are going to find us on the next pass."

Jihan nods in agreement:

"Yes, I think that we need to act quite quickly. If they find us here then all of our plans are going to be ruined."

Yaz has been thinking for a while and then makes his suggestion:

"I have an idea. We're leaving tracks in the mud and slush wherever we go. How 'bout we take off at a run, away from the arena a good half-mile. Then I'll cast a spell on Will's feet so that his feet will make no tracks. Then he can carry Jihan and I, one at a time, back to a new place closer to the arena. At that point we can figure out a way to hide, or lift each other into a tree or something. They won't suspect us among the boughs and branches if they can see no tracks below. And I've got an entanglement spell in case they find us."

"Sounds good," agrees Jihan. "Let's do it now. It could take a while for Will to carry us back to get into a good position and we don't want to miss the fun."

With that, the three of them start to run off away from the arena as fast as they can, stamping their feet into the soft slushy ground in order to leave a very obvious trail.

Meanwhile, back in the VIP room, Winnacer's eyes go wide as he sees his brother and, almost as a reflex, Winnacer begins to lower his head to look at his feet, just catching himself at the last second. It is then that he notices that many eyes have suddenly fallen on him, turning his cheeks red and keeping him from finding his voice for another few seconds.

Xavier, unaware of the identity of the approaching stranger, steps forward to intercept the aggressive stranger as a bodyguard would in the situation. With one hand on his sword, he raises the other in the universal signal to stop.

"Halt mein freund, does my lord know you?"

"Oh yes," the stranger smirks. "He knows me only too well."

He then turns back to address Winnacer:

"Well, kid, you certainly are even more of an embarrassment to the Stradheim name than I would ever have imagined. A Stradheim having to employ a bodyguard to protect himself, and not even a Bohavian at that. And what do you look like in those foppish clothes. Our father would be crying with shame if he saw one of his sons out of armor and looking like a dandy."

"You're a disgrace to the Stradheim name."

He shakes his head in shame.

"It's OK," Winnacer says to Xavier. "There's no danger here."

Xavier fixes the stranger with an icy stare and then goes back to his position at the rear of the group.

"Errrm....hello Klauf," the young Lord stutters. "It is good to see you again, my brother. You...errrm... look as if you still have your health about you."

Winnacer nods appreciatively as he gathers his wits about him.

"Well it seems as if I can say the same thing about you," Klauf replies in his sneering manner. "You don't look quite as puny as I remember you. Nice scar, by the way, very impressive. How did you get it? Did you do it yourself to make you look a little tougher, or did you insult some wench in a cheap brothel somewhere?"

Winnacer ignores his brother's questions and continues:

"It seems both of us have made a long trip to witness a good bit of exotic sport. I'm sure father wishes he too could witness the savage combats that have brought fame to this place. Some of my tastes have changed since I decided to...ermm...leave home."

"Your tastes certainly must have changed," Klauf responds. "This is one of the last places that I would have expected to have run into you. After all, you never had the guts to watch of bit of blood spilt in the name of sport did you?"

"You're right about father wanting to be here. He'd give his eye teeth to watch the goings on here. Unfortunately, the old man and Saurese are rather tied up at the moment. It's all this business on the Eastern Front. The Nyemetz have instructed him to get all of the serfs of fighting age trained up ready to go to the Front. Now that the harvest is in, they want each Lord to provide at least three companies of men-at-arms to be sent to the Front. So father and Saurese have got their hands full at the moment, whipping the peasants into shape."

Winnacer just nods in response to his brother while at the same time thinking to Faewen'il, his thoughts tinged with panic:

"WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE! INTERRUPT WHEN FLINT IS DONE!"

He then continues speaking with his brother:

"So, Klauf, what brings you this far from Kladno? I figured you would be out making your name and increasing your tally fighting at the border or aiding in some of the ...errrm... domestic disputes."

Klauf nods:

"You're right, junior," Klauf sneers. "One of us needs to uphold the Stradheim name. It's bad enough that one of us is nothing more than a cowardly runaway. The rest of us have got to make up for you. I was heading off towards the Eastern Front to bag me some gnolls and bugbears when I heard that there have been quite a few disturbances in this area. There have been quite a few companies of goblins and such like going missing in the Hradetz area. Some bastards even had the audacity to blow up the Witchfinder Building in Dvur. So I thought that, before I got to the front, I'd try my hand at a little bounty hunting. After all, there are plenty of Slovenes to kill, so I'm in no rush to get there. As long as I get stuck in before father and Saurese arrive, that's good enough for me."

"That's the reason why I came here, apart from the sport, obviously. I thought that I might be able to get some leads here from the local nobles. All I know about the vermin is that there are between six and nine of them, mostly humans with some elves in the group. There's 250g.p. on each of their heads, so I should be in for some good money when I catch them."

"I don't suppose you've heard anything about them have you?"

Winnacer shakes his head, trying to calm his nerves as he does so.

Faewen'il has been silent throughout the encounter between Winnacer and his brother and has been hidden behind Winnacer. Seeing her moment, she emerges from behind the young Lord and then, with a wicked glint in her eye, she playfully slaps Winnacer's arm.

"Why Winnacer, you didn't tell me you had such a DASHINGLY handsome brother... for SHAME!" she says with no trace of an accent, a feat which requires quite a bit of her concentration.

Not bothering to let him reply, Faewen'il steps forward and extends her dainty gloved hand towards Klauf to be kissed.

"So pleased to make your acquaintance Klauf..." Faewen'il says as she adds something between a purr and a giggle to the end of it.

As he sees Faewen'il, Klauf's sneer immediately changes into a broad grin. Then, with great theatrics, he immediately bends down upon one knee and kisses her hand while meeting her gaze with his steely blue eyes:

"Well, hello, my Lady," he says with a seductive smile, the sparkle in his eye being obvious to all. "And whose acquaintance have I the very great honor of having?"

"I hope that you've nothing to do with this loser," he continues, the sneer returning as he casts a glance towards Winnacer. "Let us drink together so that you may know the company of a real man."

As Klauf continues to talk to her, Faewen'il hears a frantic whispering close to her ear from Flint:

"What the f*ck's going on?" he asks. "I still need to place the rest of the charges. We haven't got time for this buggering about."

Faewen'il looks into Klauf's eyes and starts speaking in Dwarven:

"Karak than ileg goran dur talin horak nost."

Klauf looks puzzled at hearing the words and so Faewen'il explains:

"I'm sorry, I thought that a well-traveled man such as yourself would have learned a little dwarven. I was just saying what an honor and a thrill it was to meet you."

Klauf pauses for a moment and then starts laughing heartily:

"My, my, my, clever as well as beautiful. You really are quite a catch. I'm sorry, I've never learned any dwarven. Can't stand the sight of the stunty bastards, to tell you the truth."

Faewen'il gives a quiet sigh of relief that her gamble paid off.

Bennett feels a nudge against his thigh and then hears Flint's voice:

"The babe told me that I should carry on with just the two of you accompanying me. Apparently the spell that she put on me means that I don't have to stand so close to her."

Bennett nods and then whispers to Xavier, telling the Saxon what's up. Faewen'il looks on with relief as she sees the two warriors heading towards the next corner.

Winnacer and Faewen'il continue talking with Klauf until Flint is ready. Conversation is highly strained between the two brothers, but Klauf seems to be far more interested in chatting up Faewen'il than he is in settling old scores with his brother. Faewen'il looks relieved as she sees Xavier and Bennett returning to their position behind her and then feels the familiar nudge of Flint against her buttocks:

"Well," Faewen'il says. "I think that we need to circulate a little."

Winnacer then speaks to his brother in a low whisper:

"Well brother, my associates and myself must take leave. Why don't you join us and I'll catch you up on what I've been doing. And perhaps you'll want to get involved in the 'action' that we've arranged. I plan on doubling my purse here, I'm sure you can treble your own funds."

"So, you're a gambling man are you now?" Klauf says with some surprise. "You are a changed character. Have you been to check out the form? I'm sure that you won't have a clue about anything like this. It will be amusing to see what sad no-hoper of a beast you're going to put your money on."

They make to leave the room with Klauf at Faewen'il's side, still trying his hardest to charm her. As they leave, they hear one of the waiters making an announcement:

"My lords, ladies and gentlemen, the Games will commence in 15 minutes. Please place your final bets now."

As he finishes his announcement, a number of the visitors start to finish their drinks and make to leave the room.

"So," Klauf says to Winnacer as they wander from the room, "you still haven't told me what you've been doing during the months since you ran away like a scared rabbit."

Meanwhile, back in the forest ….

"Eeeeuuuurrrgghhhhh!" exclaims Will as he lifts Jihan up to the same tree that he deposited Yaz in a short whiler earlier.

"I'm sure that there had to be an easier way to throw the hunters off our trail than that," he continues as he wipes the sweat from his brow.

"Well, at least it did the trick," says Jihan as he scrambles up the tree in order to find a secure bough to sit upon. "It looks as if they have taken the bait."

Will clambers up the tree and sees that three hunters are hunched over the tracks and have started to follow the trail away from the arena.

"So, Yaz, have you found Eladria again?" Jihan asks the druid.

Yaz nods:

"She's still in the same place as she was when we left her, in the middle of the beast pens. It's not good. Unless she moves, then it looks as if I'm going to fry some of the beasts along with her."

"That's a shame," replies Jihan. "Look, there's Winn, Fae, Bennett and Xavier leaving the second of the VIP rooms. It looks like we're only about five minutes or so from showtime. We all need to keep an eye out ready for the symbol. I guess that they're just about to give the all clear sign to Viktor now."

Back in the forest, Will is still nervous about the hunters, realizing that being stuck in a tree is not the best defensive position against hunters armed with longbows:

"Well, it's good that we seem to have sent them on a wild goose chase, but let's continue to keep a good watch out in case they, or anyone else, comes back by here by accident."

"You two keep an eye out for the hunters," says Yaz, "and I'll keep my eye on the arena. I don't want to miss the signal to start the show."

Jihan and Will agree and scan the surrounding area while Yaz keeps his eyes firmly fixed upon the arena and Eladria, still in amongst the animal pens, in particular.

Meanwhile, back in the VIP room, as Bennett and Xavier moved off with Flint they noticed one very attractive Lady in particular who seems to be taking notice of them. Her eyes moved from them to Winnacer and Faewen'il to the noble she is with and back to them again. They also noticed that, although she had a glass of wine, she did not appear to be drinking. As Bennett and Xavier headed back towards Winnacer and Faewen'il, the mysterious Lady handed her glass of wine to the Lord she was with, gave the small pouch that she has at her side a pat, and headed in the direction of Winnacer and Faewen'il, paralleling Bennett and Xavier's movements.

With all the charges set and time moving quite quickly, Winnacer begins to feel the urgent need to get out of the VIP buildings. He turns to Klauf, looking him dead in the eye, perhaps for the first time in his life, and continues in a low whisper.

"Come with me now Klauf, let us leave this place so we can talk without all of these ears around to listen. If you come with me, you may be privy to some more interesting 'action' than even you have probably seen in a while."

Klauf does not appear to be listening to much of what Winnacer has to say, however. He seems to be far more interested in Faewen'il than his long-lost brother.

Just before leaving the room, the mysterious Lady moves to Klauf's other side and slips her hand into his:

"I can't believe you were going to leave with only one lady at your side."

Once outside the room, she whispers something into Klauf's ear, kisses him gently on the cheek and, in a less subtle whisper says, "I hope to see you tonight."

Giving Faewen'il an icy glare, she then turns and heads in the direction of the bookies office with her pouch in hand.

Klauf is obviously dumbfounded by the attention that he is getting and it is obvious that he has never met the woman before. As a result of the drink that has obviously addled his brain a little, he doesn't know quite what to do. He looks at the departing mysterious woman and then back to Faewen'il and Winnacer. And then he looks back at the mystery Lady.

"Wait!" he shouts at her, but she does not turn round and carries on towards the bookies' office.

He quickly looks back at Faewen'il and Winnacer, not wanting to let any of them out of his sight. He shakes his head, apparently in some confusion:

"I've never been the subject of attention by two girls before," he says in a confused matter. Then he stares at Winnacer again, his sneer returning.

"Better make that THREE girls."

As Klauf looks once more at the departing mystery beauty, Faewen'il flashes a pretty smile at him and leans a little closer to him as she speaks:

"Since your brother," she says as she rolls her eyes upward," has kept me so poorly informed of your presence, I truly would like to spend the time getting to know you a bit better. You are obviously more worthy of my attention than the rest of the buffoons at this gathering." Faewen'il says as she gestures negligently at the rest of the other nobles.

"I have half the mind of turning him over my knee and spanking him for being such a boor."

Faewen'il's words seem to have the effect of a charm ensorcellment upon Klauf, as his eyes suddenly start to sparkle intensely and his face breaks out into a broad grin. The other woman seems to be totally forgotten already as he replies to the lass:

"Oh yes, a good spanking's what every naughty boy needs. I'll have you know that I have been known to be pretty naughty myself on a number of occasions!"

Although he is relieved that Faewen'il has managed to divert his brother's attention away from him, Winnacer is still concerned that time is short. He ignores the conversation between Klauf and Faewen'il and takes the lass' arm.

"Come along, we've only got a few minutes left to place our bets on the event and we wouldn't like to miss out on that, would we?"

The young Lord then takes Faewen'il's arm quite firmly and starts to drag her towards the bookies' office with Klauf striding at the lass' other side, still babbling away to her under the impression that she is really enjoying his company.

As they continue to make their way over towards the bookies' office, Winnacer spies Viktor looking towards him with a questioning look upon his face. Realizing exactly what he is inquiring after, Winnacer nods casually towards Viktor. The Dragon immediately averts his gaze and Winnacer looks over back towards the VIP room to see that the noblewoman in her late thirties that Tomas was communicating with earlier has started to walk from the VIP room, heading for the east side of the complex. She is accompanied by a couple of bodyguards.

As they make their way down through the amphitheater, Faewen'il feels Flint pulling at her robes and hears him whisper to him:

"Hang on, don't go so far. Towcester's range isn't that far, you know. This is about as far from the powder as I can get."

Winnacer looks up at Viktor again and sees that he is nodding at him, obviously giving the all-clear signal.

A servant then starts shouting through a megaphone:

"My lords, ladies and gentlemen. The Games will commence in just five minutes. Would you all place your final bets please, and then take to your seats ready for the first bout."

They look up and see that there is quite a lot of activity at the bookies' office, as the visitors place their final bets. They notice that both of the VIP rooms are about a third empty at the moment, as the nobles are busy laying down small fortunes on the Games.

Looking over at the animal pens, they see that the first two creatures have been taken out of their pens and are being made ready to enter the fighting pit from opposite sides of the pens. Both of them are surrounded by servants and hunters with spears to try and keep the brutes under control. Eladria is still in the middle of the pens, shouting orders to the staff.

Xaviers eyes flash with anger at Klauf's constant stream of insults against his lord. His hand tightens on the hilt of his sword, his mind willing him to draw it and cut down this arrogant fool. His hand is held however by the words of Winnacer cutting through his angry thoughts.

Hatred flows through the Saxon's veins at the sight of this fool.

"This man will pay for this foolishness," he thinks to himself. "How could he condemn the one member of his family who had the courage to stand against the Nyemetz. The collaborating bastard!"

Xavier swears under his breath in Saxon, allowing the stranger to reluctantly pass him.

Winnacer quickly glances at the emptying VIP rooms, knowing that they'll be empty if they wait any longer. With a nod, Winnacer signals Viktor and, hopefully, Flint to get everything started. With a quick prayer to Spravedelna running across his lips, he turns to Klauf, his face dead serious.

"Get ready Klauf. You're about to see what your brother has been up to over the last few months."

With a quick turn to Faewen'il, Bennett and Xavier, Winnacer speaks:

"We may need to split up at this point. Those Witchfinders can't be allowed to leave this place alive, but we also need to clear an escape route. Any preferences?"

Klauf is standing with his hands on his hips and staring at Winnacer with a sarcastic smirk on his face:

"Oh yes, little brother?" he says, his voice positively dripping with sarcasm. "Let me see what my clever little brother has been doing with himself. Go on, impress me. What is it that you'd like to show me?"

With that, he folds his arms and stares at the young Lord, grinning like a cat.

"This," Winnacer responds, relishing the show of force that is bound to follow.

As he does so, the air around Winnacer & Co. is suddenly split with the sound of crazed laughter and the diminutive form of Flint suddenly bursts into view between Faewen'il, Xavier and Bennett. Towcester is pointing towards the closest of the VIP rooms.

Then, everything seems to go into slow-motion. They see Flint, rocking back and forth on his feet, roaring with laughter like the maniacal dwarf he is as he touches the rune on Towcester and an orange, pea sized blob of plasma seems to lazily cruise through the snowy air above the amphitheater before neatly entering through the door of the room.

For a split-second, nothing happens, and then there is a terrific flash of yellow and orange as a fireball erupts from the blob. They see the occupants of the room who were, a mere nano-second ago, enjoying a chat over a glass of mulled wine, look on in horror for the briefest of moments before their flesh starts to melt from the heat of the explosion and their robes start to combust.

A micro-second later, and the first charge of powder erupts, shattering the logs that comprise the walls of the room and scattering them outwards at a great velocity. At the same time, the burning bodies of the inhabitants are also swept up by the force of the explosion crashing against the remaining three walls of the building as if they were rag dolls. Another micro-second later, the next charge goes off, and then the third and then the forth, sending wooden debris flying high into the air before it rains down around a 50' radius of the building. As the last wall gives way, the roof of the building gives way, to come crashing down on the burning, battered bodies of its inhabitants, sealing those few that survived in a burning wooden tomb.

Flint is standing in place, holding his voluminous stomach with one hand as he laughs and laughs and laughs as he sees the devastating results of his handiwork.

Klauf has watched the horrific display totally spellbound, hardly able to believe what his eyes have been telling him. Shocked, he turns towards his brother and nods:

"Th-th-that was impressive," he stammers.

With that said and done, Winnacer activates the magical clothes, instantly ensconcing him in armor and makes ready to draw his sword.