Commissioned from the talented  eastern.dragon.studios


("Just write a quick action scene" I thought, "It won't take that long" I thought...)

---

Little could be seen of the outside from my holding room, but much could be heard. The crowd chattered restlessly as they waited for the final two. Another voice rose – clear over the audience, though not enough to make out exact words. From the way the voice of the crowd swelled from meaningless babble to clear cheering and hollering, I could only guess my opponent had stepped onto the arena. I wondered who it could have been. Before the tournament had begun, I had met and greeted my opponents for the title. Who else could have made it this far? The smart money was on the ogre druid of Galahan Forest. The size and muscle of an ogre, paired with all the magical might of nature, seemed to me like an impossible combination to overcome. Thinking that caused me to cringe. He would be my guess, but I hoped against hope it would be anyone but. My thoughts, however, were soon interrupted as the portcullis before me begun to rise. I quickly rose to my feet, drawing my sword. Approaching the rising door, I could make out the final words spoken by the louder voice, the officiator of the tournament presenting the competitors -
“ARIX ORDRAGC!”

Grinning, I leaped into the air, my wings snapping wide open. I soared up and roared out a cloud of smoke to obscure my entrance. With one beat of my wings, I burst out through the other side of the cloud, the smoke dissipating with the wind from my wings, and I landed heavily upon the dusty ground of the arena in a kneeling stance. Smiling, I beat my wings again and folded them as I rose to my feet. Perhaps a little overly spectacular, but part of fighting in an arena – the most enjoyable part, I thought – was playing to the crowd. And the finals demanded a particularly dramatic entrance.

I looked across the field to my opponent – and found, to my relief, it was not the ogre druid. Instead there stood a human, somewhere in his mid-twenties I would have guessed, wrapped in a red and blue robe which looked entirely too fine and expensive to be fitting for someone fighting in an arena. His left hand held his weapon of choice, a wooden staff topped with the skull of some large dog, a sturdy-looking horn protruding from its forehead, and a delicate brown feather lodged into the side. The two of us approached to meet in the centre of the arena, his right hand extended. His smile seemed rather sincere, a stark contrast to the haughtiness I had for some reason expected. I grasped his outstretched hand in my own, and we shook.
“Quite a showy entrance,” he said.
“We are putting on a show, are we not?” I replied with a smile. “Congratulations on reaching the finals.”
“And to you.” He pulled his hand away, and started stepping back. I noticed him eyeing my sword, perhaps already figuring out the best way to potentially disarm me. I in turn carefully studied the man’s staff. A solid shoulder blow, perhaps, although with little idea of the sort of magic he may use – for surely he was a magic wielder of some sort – it was difficult to formulate an early plan.

I unholstered my shield and took a final step back, crouching low. Spend the opening studying how he works, then move in. It was all I had, for now.

A flash of lightning in the air signified that the battle had begun.

My opponent made the first move, striking the base of his staff against the ground. A cloud of dust arose, wrapping around the man’s ankles and climbing up his legs. I stepped back and opened my wings, leaping into the air. Shield raised, I charged down at the man. The wind rushed under my wings as I dove towards my target, the roar of the wind deafening me to both crowd and opponent. The storm of dust continued to rise, fully enveloping him, but it was already too late, the spell too slow. One hefty slam from my shield would strike him to the ground, knock his weapon from his hands, and the title would be mine.

And then, my wings would not obey. The wind was ripped from beneath me, pushing me back and sending me heavily to the ground. A ringing filled my ears as the world spun around me, but I scrambled back and rose to one knee to gain my bearings. I looked down – thankfully, I was still holding my sword. My opponent was not far away. I growled and gathered flame in my throat, lunging forward to unleash it towards the man. The wave of fire spiralled towards him, but before it could reach, a wall of stone arose, and the flames broke harmlessly against it. The wall moved, a massive stone head turning to look at me. It resembled a monstrous rhino of stone and earth, its ruby eyes glaring menacingly back at me. Before I could respond, I felt a sharp pain at my side. Some unseen force lifted me into the air and tossed me aside. I landed upon my knees and almost by instinct raised my shield. There was a clang of something striking it, pushing me back with the force, and I responded by slamming the shield forward. Finally, I was able to rise back to my feet and see where I was. Directly in front of me, a mass of vines and leaves had woven together in the vague form of a wolf. Behind it, the stone rhino lowered its horn as though ready to charge. The man stood a fair distance behind the pair of creatures.
So it’s a summoner, I thought. It seemed somewhat unfair to allow such tactics in a tournament of single combat, but if a trio of hive-minded goblins were allowed entry, I supposed the rules must have been somewhat lax.

The elemental wolf was predictably swift on its feet. I rose my sword above my head in an attempt to slice it down, but the vines twisted away from the strike, writhing and snaking their way around the blade and reforming into the shape of the creature as the blade lodged into the dusty ground. I crouched as the creature lunged towards me once more, raising my shield. The wolf landed upon the shield, and I turned it away and rolled back. I once against rose to one knee, inhaled, and let loose a wave of fire. The arena was filled with the sound of crackling flames and the echo of a pained howl, the elemental shrivelling and burning with the flame. With one more quick slice of my sword, the remains of the elemental scattered. Smoke and ash arose from where it fell, swirling in an almost eerie pattern, before dissipating as though from a sudden current of wind.

Hearing a heavy crash behind me, I rolled away and stood to face the stone rhino. I growled and dropped my shield – little good it would do me against the might and weight of such a creature. The golem moved unnervingly quickly for a being of stone and earth, its footfalls cracking the ground where it charged. I stepped aside as it rushed towards me, grabbing the stone horn in my free claw and wrenching it away. As expected, it barely seemed to notice me as I pulled myself onto its back, flaring my wings for balance. The world around me suddenly rocked back and forth, up and down, as I found myself on the back of the rhino, being jerked this way and that. Taking in a deep breath, I bashed at the base of its head with the hilt of my sword. If it felt anything, it did nothing to show it.

The beast wheeled around and I opened my wings, leaping from its back. The summoner himself still stood towards the end of the arena, his staff raised and a small dust storm billowing around his ankles. The elemental pair was merely a distraction. If I wanted to win, I had to seize that staff before my sword was knocked from my grasp. Though it may have been faster than it appeared, the stone rhino was still bound to the earth, and my opponent seemed to have little up his sleeve beyond the control of the creature. Perhaps with the wolf gone, I could simply cut the knot and charge the man down. I had already loosed most of my flame to incinerate the wolf, but I could still feel just enough left there for one final wave.

I gathered the last of my fire in my throat, held my sword in both claws, and dove down. The thunderous footfalls of the rhino followed behind me, but it was far too heavy to reach my height. Snapping my wings open, I unleashed my flame, aiming at the ground in front of the man. Break the caster’s concentration, I had learned as the best way to deal with sustained magic. Distract and knock him down, take the staff, and claim victory. The fire roared towards the man, his stone wall too far behind to halt it. But then a new sound rang out through the air. A screech that pierced the ears, penetrating through to my very skull. My fire simply melted away, blown back by something unseen, and again, control of my wings was ripped from me as I was buffeted back to the ground. My grip upon my sword loosened. My claw opened. Thinking quickly, I slammed my hand down to the ground, the hilt of the blade held firmly beneath it. A minute seemed to pass between heartbeats. But no thunderclap heralded the end of the match. I had not been disarmed.

I picked up the blade and turned, attempting to spit flame into the air at my attacker. Only a small lick of fire was released, and a plume of smoke. I was out. A heavy crash behind me soon reminded me where I was, and I leapt aside as the golem stampeded mere inches from my side. I spun around and swept a foot underneath it. To little avail. It spun again and turned to face me, now between me and my opponent. A cloud of dust burst out from where its nostrils may have been, and it lowered its head, horn angled towards me. Gripping my sword tight, I slowly and steadily circled around. It seemed to follow my every movement, always between me and its master. A few more steps to the right…and then I leapt an inch forward. The golem, perceiving a threat to its master, took the bait and charged ahead. I brought my wings in close and jumped, landing upon its back as it crashed toward me. My feet touched upon it for the merest of moments before I kicked away and leapt off it, taking care not to extend my wings as I tumbled to the ground, rolled, and grabbed my shield back up.

A shattering boom echoed throughout the arena. And when I turned, I saw the pieces of stone and debris fall in a heap against the unyielding arena wall.

Two creatures were down. But where was the third? I faced the summoner, shield between us and sword held back. I ducked my head behind the shield and leaned forward, into a full on charge. I once again heard that ear-piercing screech. Dust blew up from the ground, blazing a trail directly towards me. I wove back and forth, this way and that, hoping to find a way around this invisible force. I was met with a powerful stream of wind crashing against my shield, halting my advance. Gritting my teeth, my shield arm shook as I tried to force my way through. My claws dug furrows into the ground as I was shoved back.

There was no fire left in my throat. But there was something.

I turned and stepped aside, blowing forth a surge of smoke. It swirled in the air in front of my shield, the wind picking it up and flowing inward, revealing the form of the creature in front of me – an eagle, formed of powerful swirling winds, its talons pressed up against my shield and shoving back against me. Immediately, I stopped fighting it. I lowered my shield and rolled aside, letting the smoke-revealed elemental soar by. Pivoting on one foot, I once again faced it. The smoke billowed out and reformed a short distance away, before the eagle once again rocketed towards me with unnatural speed. I scrambled back to let it pass, locking my eyes onto it, and opened my wings.

I jumped into the air, and the creature lowered itself before sailing up towards me, aiming underneath my left wing. Finally able to predict where it would be, I was able to wheel around and avoid the blast of air that would send me tumbling back to the earth. With a beat of my wings, the smoke dispersed into the air, but soon reformed and shot towards me again. And so the dance continued, the elemental attempting to pull me from the sky as I flew back, inch by inch. One last time, I watched as the bird gathered itself and flew at me.

Grinning, I swooped up and touched upon the ground. Right behind the summoner. My one regret was being unable to see his face as his own creation, instinctively aiming for me, stormed full force into its master, lifting him from the ground and buffeting him back. The feather atop the staff was blown from where it was lodged, fluttering through the air. As it approached, I summoned the tiniest speck of flame, catching the little feather and reducing it to nothing. The smoke carried by the wind elemental immediately dispersed, spreading throughout the air and vanishing. With a pained yelp, the man landed upon his back directly in front of me. Smiling, I placed a foot upon his chest, pointing my sword down at him. He looked back up at me, his eyes wide, his breath heavy. I looked down at the hand gripping his staff.

He smiled once more, relaxed his grasp, and the staff tumbled to the ground, rolling a few inches away from him.

There was a flash of lightning, a crash of thunder, and I looked up at the crowd, my chest heaving for breath. I looked up at the audience and raised my blade. The crowd, almost as one, rose and roared with a unified voice.

Victory, and the title, were mine.