| "Tonight,"
growls Ivan Zagad, his voice magically rebounding around
the arena, "we have a fight between a newcomer
and the Pitsss current champion. Calathra Tealeaf facesss
Ralmauthar of Colorsss. . ." The mage gestures
to the pit below his balcony as Ralmauthar enters. The
tall, dark-skinned monk walks gracefully into the arena.
He moves artistically in perfect lines and curves, circling
the arena to show himself off to the crowd. The audience
gasps at his green-and-blue-painted body, his flaming
red hair, and his ease of movement; Ralmauthar is obviously
pleased by the attention.
Calathra enters next at the opposite end of the pit.
The halfling's cold, burning eyes contrast with Ralmauthar's
exhubilence as she incants spells of protection, then
raises her arms in prayers to Osiris. A small snake
lies coiled lovingly around her neck, hissing as she
prays. When her prayer ends, she pauses to absorb
the chilled silence of the arena before speaking:
"How will your heart weigh against the feather
of Ma'at?" she calls, staring piercingly at the
monk.
As Calathra finishes, Ivan Zagad's clawed hand drops
down. "Begin!"
Ralmauthar immediately runs toward Calathra, moving
in a strange zigzag pattern as he closes on her. Allowing
her viper to uncoil and slide down toward the floor,
the halfling speaks a few simple words of magic. A
ray of ice streaks from her hand to Ralmauthar, missing
the monk by a few inches as he dodges quickly out
of its path. Grinning, he leaps at Calathra, only
to have his flurry of kicks deflected by her invisible
shield. He disengages and begins to circle her, unperturbed.
Calathra's viper moves between her and Ralmauthar,
allowing her to step backward. She raises her sling
and lets fly a bullet-- the missile catches Ralmauthar
in the arm. As she attacks, the viper springs, its
fangs biting into the monks ankle. He cries out in
pain, shaking the creature off him and attempting
to kick at it without coming within range of its bite,
but all he receives is another of Calathra's sling
stones in the shoulder.
The viper springs again but catches only air as its
agile prey leaps aside, dodging Calathra as well as
she lets fly another stone. The monk, though, cannot
catch the viper. He moves around it in a dizzying
triangle pattern, trying to confuse and distract the
animal-- but it coils and glares at him, ready to
spring and content to wait for its halfling comrade
to finish him off. Finally Ralmauthar leaps at the
snake with an arm raised to strike. It bites into
his hand as he comes down and he screams in agony
as the venom in its fangs takes a cumulative toll.
Biting back a further scream, Ralmauthar drops unsteadily
to his knees. His pain is ended as Calathra sends
a sling stone flying into his skull, and he falls
unconscious to the ground.
"Lightly, I think," declares the halfling
as she picks up her serpent, wrapping it once more
about her neck.
|
