The voice of the announcer rings out over the stands, "The fighter are
now in the prep rooms. The fight begins in five minutes. Make sure that
all bets are settled by then."
The small-time bookies, who have (for the most part) been ignored over
the months since the Mayor's ban on betting, work their way through the
crowd. Despite having to pay a large percentage of their profits to the
city for the privilege of working the crowd, the bookies have been able to
make quite a bit over the last few months. The odds today favor Throm, who
will again be facing off against the dwarven warrior, Rinac. In their last
meeting Rinac served as a pincushion for Throm's arrows. In todays fight,
Throm has agreed to leave his bow behind when he enters the Arena.
Suddenly, a pounding can be heard. Starting off almost too low to hear
over the din of the crowd, they grow in volume over the next couple minutes,
drawing the attention of all those in the stands. Finally the signal is
given and the doors grind open. Standing behind the first set to open,
hammers in hand, is the dwarf, Rinac. Most of his body is covered in a
finely crafted suit of dwarven plate armor. An axe is strapped to his chest
and an angry, determined expression is plastered on his face.
Stepping from the gates at the other end is, Rinac. Muttering breaks
out in the stands as people try to figure out which is the real one.
However, those who watched Rinac's first fight point out that the real Rinac
is covered in steel armor, whereas the new Rinac, who is presumably Throm
using his race's natural polymorphing ability, wears a suit of well-worn
leather armor. In one hand is a silver shortsword.
There is a moment of silence as the judges verify that it is indeed
Throm who entered the Arena. Then, the signal to begin is given. With a
yell Rinac begins a charge across the Arena. Before he has gotten a dozen
steps, Throm points his free hand at the charging dwarf. A dim, barely seen
dome forms around Rinac. Then, the dome breaks up into small specks and,
like a swarm of bees, flies straight for the dwarf. Continuing his charge,
Rinac is hit in the back by the motes of light, which seem to enter his body
with no harm to him.
However, like poison filtering into him, each one of the motes slows him
down just a little. As the last one hits him, Rinac is crossing the Arena
maybe half as fast as he was before.
With his opponent still 180 feet away, and under the effects of his slow
spell, the dwarf who is Throm seems content to wait for Rinac to come to
him.
Rinac, still running forward, albeit slowly, isn't content to wait until
he reaches his foe to attack. A look of hate plain on his face, Rinac hurls
his hammers, sending them flying across the interveneing distance, one just
behind the other.
Seeing the oncoming hammers, Throm ducks to the side, dodging the first.
However, that puts him right in line with the second, which slams into his
shoulder, knocking him back.
Both hammers continue in the flight, arcing around just before they slam
into the wall of the Arena. Within half a minute they are back in Rinac's
hands.
Stumbling to the wall of the Arena, Throm mutters a word under his
breath. Instantly, a blue flame spings from the ring on his hand. The fire
quickly spreads from his hand, up his arm and over his entire body. Within
seconds he is engulfed in flames. However, they seem thin, and seem to have
no effect on Throm.
Charging forward, Rinac closes the distance between himself and his
double. With his hammers back in hand, he quickly moves to crush his
opponent's skull. However, before he can put his hammers to work, Throm
brings his hands up. Cupping them in front of him, he suddenly thrusts
forward, towards Rinac. Staggering backwards, Rinac shivers in the sudden
cold. A thin layer of frost can be seen covering his normally red beard.
Shaking away the cold, Rinac steps forward again, bringing his hammers
whistling down at Throm. However, he is still under the effects of Throm's
slow spell, and the polymorphed ogre mage is able to avoid all but the last
swipe of Rinac's hammers, which slams into his shoulder. As the hammer
connects though, the flames surrounding Throm lash out, striking at Rinac.
With anger and hatred increasing over the coldness brought on by Throm,
Rinac continues to attack with his hammers, this time trying to connect with
both of them. At the same time, Throm pulls his sword from it's sheath. In
his other hand, as if by magic, appears a dagger.
Though Rinac stills moves slowly, he has more experience in melee combat
and still manages to slam his hammers into Throm's body. However, each time
he does, the fire aura surrounding Throm lashes out at the dwarven warrior.
Yet, despite the magical injuries, Rinac is still able to deflect his
enemy's sword strike, though the dagger slips through his defenses and
punches a hole in Rinac's armor, stabbing into his stomach.
Backpedaling, trying to put some space between himself and his double,
Rinac keeps his hammers in a defensive position. Throm seems comtent to let
his opponent withdraw, and turns his attention to the ring on his hand.
Seconds later, Rinac (now about 15 feet away and still slowly moving
backwards) feels the ground start to give beneath him. Looking down, he
sees that the stone floor of the Arena has changed to a thick mud.
As the dwarven warrior begins to sink he looks with hate-filled eyes at
his foe. Bringing his hammers up, he hurls them at the smiling Throm. The
first one misses, flying a foot to the side, but the second hammer connects,
slamming into his neck. There is the sound of bones breaking, and just as
he sinks into the pool of mud, Rinac sees Throm's body fall face first into
the mud.
After conferring briefly, the judges declare Rinac the winner and signal
to the guards to fish him out of the magically created mud. Ducking to
avoid scraping the top of the door frame, an Iceling (standing over 15 feet
tall), steps into the Arena through one of the guard entrances. With an
annoyed expression on his face he climbs into the mud and fishes around
until he finds Rinac, who comes up spluttering and gasping for air.
At about the same time, Throm floats out of the mud. Hovering in the
air, he morphs back to his natural form. He is just drawing his weapon when
the announcer declares again that Rinac is the winner. As he moves forward
to appeal the decision, on the grounds that both fighters are still alive
and capable of fighting, the judges inform him that their decision is final.
Covered in mud, but victorious, Rinac heads out of the Arena, presumably
to find somewhere to wash off. Throm, muttering something under his breath,
strides out of the Arena throughout the opposite doors. (
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