Shielded, Rannos has just finished his sorrowful gesture of loss toward the stone door through which he entered. Calathra, however, entered quite differently from her usual manner this night: she is surrounded by a host of forest creatures. She has been granted permission by Torgal to bring her animal friends into the pit. A sturdy-looking pony whinnies at the halfling's side-- "Shh, Sefris," she soothes it-- a small viper rests on her shoulder, a sharp-clawed cat and a large, twitching lizard on the floor beside her-- a glaring raven sits easily on the pony's head. The animal's are clustered protectively around Calathra; Rannos stands alone.

"Begin!" growls Ivan Zagad.

And the battle between the pits two most dangerous contestants begins.

Rannos immediately waves his hands and begins an incantation-- but not his customary spell of accuracy. As he finishes the spell, he points casually at Calathra and her horde, and, one by one, the animals collapse to the floor, asleep. The shocked halfling rushes about her, shaking her companions and casting worried looks toward Rannos. The dwarven sorcerer raises a nondescript brown pouch-- the crowd recognizes it as a tanglefoot bag-- in one gauntleted hand and mutters a few words of magic over it, then hurls it across the arena at Calathra. The halfling ducks in a frantic attempt to dodge the spell-guided missile. And amazingly, the bag misses Calathra by inches, hurtling past her to explode harmlessly on the floor behind her.

Annoyed, Rannos begins another spell. As he does so, Calathra's small steed snorts and gallops forward with a few of the other animals beginning to rise and slither, fly or run behind it. Finishing his spell, Rannos quickly scatters a large handful of caltrops on the ground in front of him and draws a spear. The pony trotting toward the dwarf barely notices the steel spikes; and it is brought to a sudden, painful halt as a caltrop digs into one of its hooves. As the animal rears up in front of him, Rannos steps aside and hurls the spear at Calathra, and this time he does not miss. The spear catches Calathra in the side, drawing a flash of blood.

The injured halfling puts a hand to her wound. Breathing raggedly, she shrieks a magic-charged phrase. For a moment, a vast presence seems to surround her-- a vague sense of faraway forests, lonely streams, and rolling hills-- and then the power that she channels takes form, closing her bleeding wound. She smiles, a bit weary, as her army closes on Rannos. The raven flies into the dwarf's face, scratching at his face. Rannos raises a fist and knocks the bird away, but as it swoops out of his reach its claws are tipped with blood. Again, Rannos casts his spell and raises a spear. Calathra's creatures crowd around him, biting and clawing against his invisible shield. The viper springs at Rannos' feet, sinking its teeth into the leather of one of his boots. Rannos kicks it away, unfazed by the potentially fatal attack.

Determinedly, Calathra raises her hands in another prayer to the powers of nature. A flash and burst of smoke envelops the combat for a moment-- when it fades, a new animal, a huge, striped badger has appeared to join the fray. The powerful creature leaps at Rannos, but it too falls back against his protective wards. In response, Rannos raises his ensorcelled spear and throws it at his enemy. The crowd watches the weapon leave his hands in anticipation, knowing that this mage's weapons never miss-- but, for the second time this night, Rannos does miss his halfling opponent. The spear clatters harmlessly to the stone in front of her.

Suddenly the tide of the battle takes a dangerous turn for the careful dwarf. Stepping back again to prevent himself from being surrounded by his foes, Rannos slips on the smooth stone floor and collapses against the wall. The animals leap at him viciously-- the shield saves him from total disaster, but as he quickly pushes himself back to a defendable position he receives several vicious scratches. Then the viper, unnoticed in the quick exchange of blows, appears from underneath him and bites into his leg. Rannos sags, the cumulative effect of the snake's poison taking its toll.

And even as he does so, a small stone flies from nowhere and richochets off his shield and off the wall to catch him in the shoulder. Calathra lowers the sling she used against Rannos with an satisfied shout.

Now covered with a dozen small wounds, Rannos growls off his spell of true striking and lets fly one of his last spears. The spear flies into Calathra's leg, tearing into skin and muscle. With this attack, the dwarf eyes his final two spears and shakes his head. He draws the massive sword at his back and, waving it warningly at the creatures surrounding him, rushes toward the halfling. Calathra sees her opponent moving toward her. Her eyes grow colder, dark and full of anger; she grasps her cudgel with shaking hands and charges to meet him.

They come together in the center of the arena for this last assault. As they meet, Rannos grins humorlessly and barks a word of power. His sword flashes downward, Mystra-guided, and slashes past Calathra's club into her stomach.

Shocked, but barely paying attention to her pain, Calathra swings her cudgel at the dwarf. Rannos uses his greatsword to knock the blow aside and, surrounded by Calathra's army of animals, he cuts at her chest with the greatsword. Unable to ignore the massive injury she has suffered, Calathra collapses to the floor.

"Somebody ought to call off those creatures," growls the shadowy demon on Ivan Zagad's shoulder as the halfling's friends crowd miserably around their fallen companion. The black mage only nods, reaching into his cloak for prize money and stepping into the arena with a reptilian grin.