The Games of Saberhaven
Jonato vs. Sade
Conversation buzzes about the contestants. Jonato hasn't been seen since the last tournament, but everyone knows he's deadly as poison. Sade has proven to be uncouth, clever, dangerous, and entertaining as all Hells during his combats over the last few months. Everyone expects a hellacious bout--and hopefully a long and interesting one. Betting is fierce--fortunes will be won and lost this day.
Finally, the announcer calls the names, which are nearly drowned out as the crowd erupts, their raucous cheering reverberating from one end of the Arena to the other.
The doors swing open, and the crowd hushes, settling back to watch to fireworks. There are some boos and murmurs of diapproval as Jonato enters into the Arena only to disappear with a slight shimmering--the fans hate Invisibility.
Sade, however, enters as he usually does, encased in a sheath of flames and twin tentacles sprouting from his back, just beneath his batlike wings. His dog-ugly face is twisted into a sneer, and he launches into the air. Sade cocks his arm back, and quickly wings five flaming missiles towards where he saw the shimmering.
The meteors streak across the Arena, like shooting stars, and slam into the wall, exploding into small balls of flame.
There is no trace of Jonato, not even a shimmering. Sade continues to fly slowly towards the opposite end of the Arena--he is about 30 feet in the air.
The crowd murmurs in anticipation, as very little seems to happen for nearly a minute. Sade continues to slowly fly towards the center of the Arena, and unleashes another flaming meteor. It streaks to the opposite wall, and explodes harmlessly. One of the fans jumps out of his seat with surprise, and spills his drink.
About 20 seconds later, another meteor appears out of nowhere, starting about 10 feet in the air but well away from Sade. It, too, slams into the wall, though at a different point.
Then, all is still.
Sade flies forward a bit more, then slows as he begins to cast another spell. He finishes, to no visible effect, then hurls another fiery missile the length of the Arena. It explodes impressively, but does no damage to the walls.
Again, stillness reigns...
...then suddenly, six beams of force appear in mid-air, slamming down and briefly illuminating the figure of Jonato. He glows for a second, then shimmers and disappears once more.
A flaming meteor also launches from nearly that same point, a couple of seconds later. It streaks and explodes into the ground, seemingly missing Jonato.
Then, mere feet from where the meteor scorched the ground, a pea- sized ball of flame appears and swooshes upwards towards where Jonato, and the crowd, assume Sade is hiding invisibly. It expands with only the flicker of flames to a huge ball of fire, momentarily casting an orangeish-reddish hue on the walls and floor of the Arena.
The fireball dissipates, and again, all is silent, save for the crowd, who is going hysterical. They love this pyrotechnic stuff! The image of Sade continues to fly forward slowly, his tentacles waving slowly. "Gotta be an illusion," a kid in the stands confidently remarks to his buddies.
A friend cuffs him on the back of the head. "Duh!"
The crowd chatters excitedly after the explosive exhange of magical missiles and fireballs.
However, the excitement turns to frustration as the seconds tick by without any action. Sade's illusion casts a spell, unleashes a meteor, and continues to fly forward, but the crowd is bored with this illusion already.
"C'mon, you punks!" someone shouts. "Let's get it on! It's the CHAMPIONSHIPS, for god's sake!"
Silence is the only answer.
The crowd's grumbles grow louder--this isn't what they paid to see...
Suddenly, a lightning bolt smashes into the ground, reflecting back up into the air! The stink of ozone hangs in the air...
"Yeah, baby!" a drunk fan cries out, pumping his fist in the air. "That's how you do it! Now ditch the stupid invisibility and let us see who's winning!"
Seemingly in response, Jonato appears in the wake of the lightning bolt. The crowd roars its approval! He doesn't seem to be badly hurt, and glows brightly with sizzling energy. He glares upwards towards his unseen opponent. The warrior raises his mighty shortsword Raza, which seems to crackle with mystic might for a moment, then pulses with a power that seems to shimmer the air around him. A shimmering half-bubble springs into existence around the warrior, about ten feet across. Jonato stands warily alert, Raza in defensive position.
Jonato's eyes widen, and he quickly dodges to his side, though staying within his shimmering hemisphere. Out of nowhere comes a grunt of pain. Jonato seems startled, then smiles. He seems to try and dodge something, then he begins to shimmer and disappear, before reappearing a few feet to the side.
Even so, Jonato seems to step back, somewhat surprised, and the crowd hears three loud "CHINKS", as if steel were clattering against stone. Finally, he dodges to his left, and raises a hand, upon which a ring glows wickedly.
A black ball of energy appears in his hand, about four inches across. Jonato throws it, seemingly at no one. It hits something, stopping in midair, then kind of splooshing outwards before disappearing.
The crowd is cheering wildly...
Jonato's eyes narrow and he vaults forward, back inside of his protective bubble to get to Sade, rearing back to strike with Raza. As he approaches, though, he frowns, and seems to fumble a little with his grip. He continues to struggle with it, then swears with frustration, shrugs, and simply takes a monstrous leap!
Jonato springs backwards, high into the air, landing a few feet outside of his protective sphere, swords at the ready. The crowd oohs and ahs over the acrobatic manuever.
"C'mon, Sade," some fan calls out. "Jonato's got it goin'! Now YOU show us what you've got, you ugly bastard!"
Jonato rushes forward, reentering the shimmering sphere, Raza crackling with mystic energy. The crowd sees him slow, then begin to look upwards. He then begins to circle, warily, staying within his protective sphere.
Long seconds tick by, and nothing happens. The crowd begins to get a little restless...
Jonato's ring flashes, and he continues to circle about within the shimmering sphere, looking in all directions.
A few seconds later, the shimmering sphere disappears. Jonato looks at himself in surprise. Finally, he shrugs and continues watching the sky.
About 20 seconds later, Jonato seems to notice something, whips up his weapons, and jerks to the side. His hair waves in a sudden breeze, and he dodges some unseen blows.
Then, Jonato looks up, and curses under his breath, his swords twitching...
Again, seconds stretch into nearly a minute, and nothing happens. Jonato circles warily. The crowd begins to boo... This isn't what they paid good gold to see...
"Come on, Sade!" Jonato shouts. "I'm waiting!"
Jonato continues to look about, trying vainly to spy his opponent.
"Come on, you pussies!" a fan shouts. "Let's see sumthin'!"
Finally, something catches in Jonato's eye and he spins, Raza flaring with power. He swings both his blades, and they CHINK off something with the sound of steel against stone.
A split second later, there is another CHINK and Jonato spins, as if hit. A glittering rapier appears out of nowhere, and skitters across the floor of the Arena, spinning for a few seconds before clattering to a stop.
There is a momentary burst of applause... but it quickly dies as the crowd waits to see if anything else is going to happen.
Jonato chuckles through clenched teeth, and sidles over to the fallen rapier, leaving it on the ground. "You dropped one of your swords, Sade!" he calls. "Come on over and get it!"
Jonato waits for Sade to attack again, his swords ready for the counterstrike.
About 20 seconds pass, and Jonato still looks about warily, with no sign of Sade. The crowd is murmuring with discontentment...
Still, nothing happens.
The crowd is booing and hissing... "BOOOOR-ING!" someone calls out.
Jonato pays no attention, he just continues to scan the skies, weapons at the ready. Suddenly, his head swivels, and he jerks to the side. There is the sound of a CLINK, then a split second later, Jonato spins in agony. The crowd can now see a glowing rapier shoved through his left shoulder, gushing blood. The fans cheer--finally some major action!
Jonato swings his own shortswords with incredible speed, but seems to make no contact. He then, a grimace betraying great pain, pulls the rapier from his shoulder, and drops it next to the other rapier on the ground.
Jonato continues to scan the skies, his face somewhat pale. Blood is leaking out of his shoulder like a crimson flood.
Again, seconds tick by, then suddenly, a Lightning Bolt appears about 20 feet from Jonato, smashing into him and bouncing off the ground back towards the sky.
Jonato's flesh blackens, and many of his items vaporize or melt. His eyes roll back, and he falls to the ground, looking like a charred log.
The crowd goes wild! They stand and rock the Arena, whooping and hollering!
Healing priests rush in, followed by guardsman. However, before they get to the smoking remains of Jonato's body, Sade becomes visible in the air, giving an anguished cry. He flaps to the corpse of his opponent, and grabs his good sword lying on the ground. His other sword, however, was a piece of melted slag after getting caught in Sade's lightning bolt. The ugly fighter cradles the remains of the other sword in his arms. He weeps over the sword for several minutes.
The healing priests and guardsment look at each other in confusion. Finally, one of the guards speaks up. "Awright, already... Get the hell off the pitch, you weirdo."
Sade barely looks at the guard, before getting off his knees and flapping out of the Arena.
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