The Legends of Valoria Book Two Rise of the Divine Knight

“Eliza, you need to relax. You are one of the best swordsmen in all Valoria. Why are you so nervous?” Eliza desisted her pacing and whipped around, meeting Rowan at eye level.

“I’m not nervous! What do I have to be nervous about? If anyone is nervous it’s Giles. He’s been passed out for over an hour now!” She pointed at the small boy who was indeed sleeping on top of a large book in the corner. Rowan shook his head in disbelief, knowing that Giles had simply fallen asleep.

“Look, if you aren’t ready to compete, you can always just let Colette take your place. I’m sure Zelus won’t tease you…too terribly.” Eliza scowled at Rowan as she towered over him menacingly.

“You should just feel lucky that it’s not your sorry backside that I am going to fight and leave bleeding on the ground.”

“That’s our Eliza,” Rowan turned back to his book, which was titled, “Lessons in Leadership.” Eliza now fuming and more ready than ever, turned back towards the flap of their tent and looked out at the arena.

“But there are so many people out there.”

Colette let out a pained sigh as she rose from her seat. “Well I’m going to go and practice.”

Rowan smiled as Eliza asked her.

“Practice for what?”

“Well, if you’re not going to be able to fight without getting sick then I might as well go.”

“I do not need you to fight for me and I will not get sick.” Eliza turned on Colette and glared.

“You shouldn’t rule that out. It might just give you the advantage you need to throw your opponent off guard.” Talia laughed as she opened up the flap to the tent and entered.

“Talia, where have you been? I was worried that you might not make it back in time to start.”

“I am sorry, it took me a little longer than expected to take care of my errands and I ran a little behind.” Rowan looked up at Talia, so now the entire room, save Giles was staring at her.

“Did you get it taken care of?” Talia nodded. “Well then all is well. Don’t mind Eliza. She is just nervous, because she is worried she’ll make a fool of herself.”

“Is that true?”

“No, it is not!” Eliza confirmed as she snarled at everyone. “I am going for a walk.” Eliza whipped the flap open and started to walk out when the announcer called out.

“And there folks, coming out from the red tent is team Kaldur’s fierce leader, the young noble, Eliza Kaldur.” Quickly Eliza reappeared, eyes full of fear and fastened the flaps of the tent securely. “Oh ho,” the announcer laughed. “No worries folks, the young captain might be a little shy but on the field of battle she is most fierce. She led the rescue mission on the grand cathedral six months ago. That little vixen has won the hearts of many of her fellow Valorian knights, much to the dismay of the commander.” The announcer carried on with praise about Eliza as Talia recognized the speaker.

“Is that Keagan?”

“I’ll kill him!” Eliza grumbled to herself as she moved to reemerge.

“He’s just going to call you out again.” Rowan muttered, still engaged in his book. Eliza moved away from the flaps, sat down in an open chair and crossed her arms. After a moment, a horn sounded and Keagan’s voice could be heard once again.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are now ready to begin today’s main event. Welcome all to the first round of this year’s tournament of arms. Will all of the teams please enter the center of the arena for a special address from our beloved Imperial council.”

“It’s time!” Talia’s heart was racing, threatening to burst out from her chest, as she excitedly burst through the flap of the tent. As her team joined her, Talia took a moment to adjust to the noise of the cheering crowd. Rowan patted her on the back of her shoulder, guiding her along, while nearly dragging Eliza with him. Giles, appearing from the tent last was rubbing his head where apparently Colette had awaken him abruptly.

Talia marveled over all of the people who had come to Valascaa to see the games. She knew that those who could not attend, would be viewing the goings on through the eye of Aneira as they had with every previous event, crowding their local temples until they came near to burst. The teams marched all of the way to the center of the arena. Flower petals that the fans were throwing decorated their path. Team Kaldur, along with the rest of the teams all lined up and faced north toward the castle balcony where the council would appear.

After several moments of anticipation, a massive booming cheer from the entire stadium sprang out and Talia could see, not just the council, but several other representatives, whom she assumed belonged to the other nations competing. After allowing a few minutes for the champions to bask in glory, the head councilman raised his hands to call for silence. Not a single soul uttered a word as Imperius began to speak.

“Welcome everyone, to the grand Valascaan coliseum. Today we stand here on this sacred ground, to not only celebrate the birth of a new decade, but the birth of a new age. Standing here on either side of me are representatives from our fellow great nations, Tartaria and Dormeera. We have all come together today to celebrate a new order of peace among our three great nations. A peace that we feel will put an end to the great suffering that we have all endured in recent years past.” Talia could see Colette shake and clench her fists at the speaker’s words. She knew how Colette felt. The council, until just recently, had been intent on treating the Highmoorians similar to filth; now, they were speaking as if the refugee’s plight pained them. The councilman continued, unaware of the anger and hostility emanating towards him from the ring.

“The loss of Highmooria was tragic, though their rich heritage and indomitable spirit lives on in their people and in their legendary heroes such as the great Seraphina, divine child of the great Sidonis and Aneira and most recently, the savior of the people of Valascaana, Alec Dante of Highmooria.” The people cheered as the tarp covering Alec’s statue was dropped, officially revealing the golden monstrosity to the people for the first time. Everyone cheered in unison as they awed at the memorial to “Valascaana’s favorite son.” Talia, Colette and those who knew the true Alec instead bowed their heads in reverence to the sacrifices he made for each of them.

“Do any of Valascaana’s champions who knew him wish to say something to honor his memory?” The audience’s eyes all turned towards the three teams of Valascaana. Those who knew Alec, stood still with bowed their heads until a voice broke the silence.

“To me, Alec was a son.” Everyone looked up to see the Lion standing on the outer ring. Zelus stepped forward.

“My rival.” he muttered.

“My brother.” Eliza spoke as she stepped forward.

“My friend.” Rowan added. “My hero.” Colette spoke as she wiped the tears out of her eyes. Everyone who had spoken and several others within the knights turned and stared at Talia, who squirmed as a stream of emotions flowed through her while she prepared to answer.

“My love.” The crowd “awed” at her response, which was then followed by a steady stream of applause. Talia blushed from the attention and, just as Colette, found that she and Eliza were now both in tears.

“Thank you everyone, for your words. I am sure that Alec has heard them, up above with our holy mother; he smiles down on all of us today. We commemorate these games in honor of our fallen and hope that this new found peace warrants a better future for our children of tomorrow. I now call for this year’s tournament of arms to commence.” The mob broke out in a tremendous roar as the champions all turned their attention back towards Keagan, who was now out on the floor with the rest of them, standing beside Eliza’s father.

“First match. Relina Kaldur vs. Dorian Rathul.” Talia stepped forward, as did a hulking Dormeeran boy. “You both know the rules, a nonlethal blow to the body is worth one point, first to five wins. A lethal blow to the body counts as an automatic win, regardless of points. There is no magic allowed in this competition. Contestants are required to win based upon their own abilities. If you are caught using magic during your match, then you shall be disqualified. Are the rules that I have presented to you clear?” Talia nodded her head as did the Dormeeran. Keagan satisfied, smirked.

“Alright then, if I could have all of our other contestants please leave the ring, we shall begin.” Talia’s team all cheered for her as they walked off, invigorating her as she turned back to face her opponent. “Now, if each of you will look behind you, you will see a weapon rack. Go now and claim your weapon and shield.” Talia calmly walked over and removed her weapon from the stand. She laced her shield over her left arm and turned back to see Dorian glaring at her, his weapon tightly gripped in his hand. Even though her heart was ready to burst, she held her composure as she returned to the center of the ring and waited for the signal to begin.

She heard the horn blow from up above on the balcony. Immediately, Dorian charged toward Talia. He brought his sword down on her shield and she felt her knees buckle from the force. He went to strike again, and Talia rolled sideways to escape. His sword hit the ground with a heavy clang and then, he was already charging after her. He swung down again, this time Talia placed her shield in front of her and allowed for his attack to knock her sideways. Spinning on the ball of her foot, Talia turned a full circle and slapped Dorian on the back and rolled away.

“One point for Relina Kaldur!” This seemed to anger Dorian greatly. He ran at her again, sliced at her with a horizontal stroke, which Talia easily deflected, but then he kicked her in the chest. Talia landed hard on her back but quickly regained her footing.

“One point for Dorian Rathul! The score is now one to one.” Talia was angry now. Her chest was on fire and she struggled to fill her lungs. She readied herself and stared down at Dorian. The much larger opponent readied himself and then charged. Talia took the first blow on the shield, saw the follow up kick, jumped sideways and slashed. Dorian barely managed to block the attack, but Talia came at him with another.

Again, Dorian narrowly blocked the attack with his shield and moved to strike at her. Talia smiled, dipped sideways, and punched her shield forward. Dorian yelped from the pain and dropped his sword as the edge of Talia’s shield made contact with his exposed wrist.

“One point for Relina Kaldur. Two points, three,” Keagan attempted to keep up with Talia as she followed her shield attack with a pommel strike to the face, a leg sweep and finally a gentle thrust to the sternum.

“Killing blow for Relina Kaldur! Relina wins!” The crowd began to cheer as Talia walked over to her opponent and held her hand out to him.

“I am terribly sorry about your nose, Sir Rathul. I am unsure what came over me. If you would, I do know some minor healing runes. I could tend to it.” Dorian looked up at her, his nose bleeding heavily.

“I will be fine. I will look forward to fighting you again later in the competition.” He nodded to Talia who returned his nod as they were directed out of the ring and back to their prospective teams.

“Great job, Relina!” Talia was greeted warmly by her teammates as they applauded their first victory.

“Marvelous Relina, excellent work.” Rowan patted her on the shoulder as she walked by. As she neared the tent, she could already hear the announcer calling for the next combatants.

“Second match is Nilus Calnus vs. Tatianna.” Talia was not terribly concerned for Nilus. She had heard rumors of the Tartarian war prodigy, but the allure of a quiet stroll was much more tempting to her. Her next match would not be until later in the day. She knew that Rowan and Eliza would be announced before her match and that she would have plenty of time to make it back from a visit to see Alec.

Talia was glad to see how easily she managed to enter the maze, the guards having remembered their altercation from earlier. Talia hummed to herself as the Aneiran blossom unraveled. As it finished furling out, Talia took up a seat next to Alec.

“Hey, I’m back. I hope you don’t mind, but I brought some lunch.” She spoke to him as she picked at the purple lace on the neatly wrapped parcel of nuts, berries and cheese.

“The tournament has started. I won my first match. The competition looks pretty tough, but we have all been training hard and will do our best. I hear that they may have a tournament every year. I hope you are watching. I am going to fight hard for you.” Talia placed her hand on Alec’s for a moment. “You fight hard for me too, alright?” Talia kissed him on the cheek and, having finished her lunch, left to go back.

The matches had been progressing quickly all afternoon. Talia, Rowan and Eliza had made it to the third round with ease. Nathan, Andre and Anton from Team Zelus had also all progressed to the third round, to the surprise of everyone as Zelus was the only team captain not competing.

“It’s about how well our knights perform, not how well I fair.” He told them. “It just seems unfair to me. I respectively outrank anyone in any of the other squads.” His reasons had made sense to everyone. It was true that, of all the squads competing, Zelus was the only commanding officer. Everyone seemed convinced but Talia had seen a change in Zelus that she doubted anyone else had. No one else had seen what Zelus had done with the death knight’s magic.

“Relina Kaldur vs. Tatianna.” Talia looked nervously back to her team, who all cheered her on. She walked into the ring and watched as the infamous Tatianna stood opposite of her. Talia was anxious as she stared off at the much larger man and waited for the match to begin.

As the horn blew, Talia stepped in gracefully then side stepped Tatianna’s first blow. Talia attacked, but Tatianna was quick and knocked Talia’s attacks to either side and, instead, slammed into her with his shield. Talia stumbled backwards as Tatianna smiled and charged, slamming into Talia again. The second charge again connected with her shield and Talia could feel her arm go numb. Whoever Tatianna was, he was inhumanely strong. Tatianna readied for another charge and Talia stepped just to the side and grazed him with a slice to the shoulder.

“One point Relina Kaldur.” Talia rejoiced inside. She knew that she could defeat this opponent. She only needed to keep her wits about her and try to out maneuver her adversary. This time, when Tatianna went in for the charge, Talia braced herself and, at the last second, dodged. Just as she went in for the strike, Tatianna changed direction and slammed his sword and shield into Talia. Talia landed on her knees and dropped her shield to the ground. She gripped her arm tightly, fearing that it might have broken and narrowly stopped herself from using her power.

“You can beat him, Relina!” Eliza cheered.

“You missed a kill stroke by less than the length of your hilt! Get in close and take him out!” Rowan cried. Colette had her own colorful remarks and Giles could not be seen or heard above the crowd. She could also see Nilus, Annette and Mariah rooting for her as well, having been eliminated earlier. Talia lifted herself up and, reaching for her shield, did her best to keep from dropping it.

Tatianna charged again, this time coming at Talia with a downward slash. Talia back stepped and rolled under Tatianna’s follow up with a horizontal slash. As she rolled in between his legs, Talia slashed at Tatianna’s legs and correcting her direction, straightened out and stabbed at his exposed back, the killing stroke that she needed.

“Clang,” was the sound their swords made as Tatianna whirled around and avoided taking the losing blow. As Talia was pushed off balance, Tatianna’s massive shield came around and smashed into hers, shattering it. Talia landed hard on her wounded arm and searched for her sword.

“Relina three, Tatianna zero.” Talia found her weapon and turned long enough to have it stricken from her hand as Tatianna threw his shield. Talia saw her sword to her right and jumped as she was struck hard in the stomach.

“Relina three, Tatianna one.” Talia looked up in a daze as Tatianna’s shield returned to his arm.

“I thought that magic was against the rules?” She could hear Eliza yell, but then she saw that there was something else. There was a cable reaching out from Tatianna’s hand to the shield and it was that strange appendage that had reeled in the shield.

“He’s cheating.” Many in the crowd exclaimed. As Talia attempted to rise, she was stricken again, this time in the upper chest, just below her collarbone. Again, she was forced to the ground.

“Relina three, Tatianna two.” Keagen murmured, upset that the match had not been stopped. The people were in an outrage, yet the head councilman up above allowed the fight to continue.

“Do you know why they don’t stop? It is because they are afraid. They know that my people cannot be beaten. I was given this body through our ancient rituals and these gauntlets by our engineers. I do not use magic; I do not need it.” Tatianna spoke as he struck Relina two more times, each proving more painful than the one before.

“Relina three, Tatianna four.” Tatianna turned his back and raised his hands into the air, claiming his victory.

“Relina just give up; let one of us beat him,” Rowan yelled. Talia looked at him and yelled back.

“That is not what Alec would have done!” She stood as Eliza began to scream her own protests. Rowan simply put his hand on Eliza’s shoulder and shook his head. Eliza looked up and saw Alec’s statue, watching over them.

“She’s trying to prove that she doesn’t need saving anymore.” Rowan said.

“I know.” Eliza murmured.

“She can do this. Let us have faith.” Eliza nodded her head and looked back up to Talia.

“Beat him Talia! Stomp him into the ground, alright?” Talia smiled as she readied herself. Tatianna turned and smiled.

“I want you to surrender to me. Prove to your people that you are helpless and weak.” Talia looked up and grinned.

“I’m about to beat you. Why would I surrender?” Tatianna smiled as he threw his shield. Talia smacked the shield with her sword and stepped on the strange, flexible appendage and struck it with her sword.

Tatianna grimaced with pain as he swung at Talia with his sword. Talia caught the blade on the hilt of her own and swiped downward, catching Tatianna on the back of the leg and rolled away.

“Relina four, Tatianna four.” Talia smiled until Tatianna caught her around the throat with his tentacle. Talia instinctively dropped her sword as she struggled to free her throat as Tatianna began to strangle the life from her.

“Stop the fight!” The Valorian cadets cried out, but no one else spoke up and the match continued. Talia could feel the blood rush to her head as she dropped to the ground and Tatianna began to drag her closer. As she began to lose consciousness, Talia could hear Alec in the back of her head.

“I am tired of this!” Talia thought to herself and tapped into her power and let loose a rune of force, which she shot out straight at Tatianna’s face, knocking him unconscious. The crowd grew silent for a moment as they absorbed what happened.

“Tatianna used magic first, so Relina should be the winner.” One man shouted, which spurred many but the Tartarians to cheer. The yelling continued for several minutes as Talia watched the Tartarian leaders speak with the council. As they spoke, Talia noticed Anton approach Zelus and Talic. The three began a heated discussion, at the end of which Talic walked off into the crowd. A few minutes passed before the councilman finally addressed the crowd.

“Concerning the match between Tatianna and Relina Kaldur, we have found that the limb in question on Tatianna’s left arm is indeed an additional mechanical appendage and is not considered magical. We do, however, find Relina Kaldur of Team Kaldur in violation with the use of runes. We hereby disqualify Relina Kaldur and, to serve as an example, we also disqualify her team from further competition!”

The crowd roared with disapproval. Talia remained stunned. In one single moment, she had doomed her entire team’s chances. All of Team Kaldur ran to Talia’s side to comfort her.

“I am so sorry. I truly botched things this time. I just wanted to prove to everyone that I am not helpless.”

“And you did just that.” Rowan patted her on the back.

“Don’t worry about us Relina. Just teach me some runes.” Colette joked.

“You’ve done nothing to be ashamed of.” Eliza added.

“Yes, if it had been me, I’d be dead,” Giles gulped.

“Or at least, unconscious.” Colette chided while pretending to faint. They shared an uneasy laugh and Talia smiled.

“Don’t worry too much about the match.” Zelus spoke from behind them.

“Why, did something change?” Eliza asked.

“Not yet, but your mother and father are both up top now trying to sort things out.” He turned to walk away. “He’d be proud of you Talia.”

“Who?”

“Alec. That is exactly what he would have done.” As everyone agreed with Zelus, Talia felt greatly relieved she had at least accomplished that much. As Zelus turned, Imperius’ voice came back on.

“We have new information regarding our ruling on the Relina Kaldur versus Tatianna fight. It seems, that considering Tatianna’s attack with the use of a non-magical appendage would also require us to acknowledge that cadet Relina Kaldur had indeed won her match by striking it before employing the rune, which disqualified her. It is with these developments that we find Team Kaldur still eligible to compete in the games. Also, in light of Tatianna’s unsportsmanlike conduct, we shall grant Team Kaldur a third place victory, but still allow the Tartarian team a chance to beat Team Zelus for first place.”

“Why third? Why can’t they continue to the next round?” many of the mob continued to “boo.” Team Kaldur, however, accepted their small victory.

“Great work on that tip.” Zelus spoke again behind them with his hand on Giles’ shoulder. Everyone turned to look at Giles, who was blushing a deep shade of crimson.

“It was nothing, just an observation.”

“An observation that saved your team and the tip that you gave Anton will surely help once Tatianna recovers. Just so you know Relina, Tatianna is not going to win. Team Tatianna only has two fighters left and they have to face my entire team. Anton has already volunteered to be the one to take him down. He will teach that brute a few things about manners and humility.”

“It would mean a great deal to me to see that.” Talia smirked and Rowan looked at Zelus uneasily.

“Don’t worry, he’s not going to kill him. He is just going to make an example of him.” Talia looked over to Colette who was still nearby, providing comfort.

“Hey Colette, do you still want to learn about runes?” Colette’s eyes grew wide with excitement.

“Of course I would.” Colette replied happily and wrapped her arms around Talia’s good arm. “Where to?” Talia smiled grateful for the assistance.

“Back to the tent, please?” Talia was eager to begin healing her wounds.

“Just don’t be too long, alright?” Eliza chimed in. “We still need Colette for the next two games.” Talia and Colette nodded as they stuck around long enough to watch Tatianna’s teammates drag his limp body off from the platform. She smiled weakly as Keagen returned center stage to announce the next fight.

“Thomas Furetto versus Darius Mainge.” Talia was curious to see how Thomas was doing now that he was on another team, but the throbbing in her body and the hoarse nature of her throat decided that she would sit in the tent and recover.

“Here Talia, have some water.” Colette held out a goblet to her, which she graciously accepted.

“Thank you,” she croaked as she brought the goblet to her lips and proceeded to drain it of its contents and then sat it to rest on the table beside her.

“Alright, so first I am going to show you the rune for mending.” Talia began to trace the rune in the air. Colette scooched in so that she was nearly submerged in the rune as she carefully followed Talia’s every move. Talia pulled the finished rune toward herself and many of her wounds began to heal, leaving only the bruises behind.

“Wow!” Colette applauded. “Do you think that I could learn how to do something similar?”

“I’m not certain,” Talia responded. “Though you are Highmoorian, which means that there is still a good chance. Is there anyone in your family who can use runes?” Colette thought for a moment before answering.

“Well my father was a paladin of Highmoore.” She paused. “He and my mother died during the fall.”

“I am so sorry, Colette. I also have lost both of my parents. They both died before the fall, but I understand how you must feel.” Colette waved her hand towards Talia, brushing her off.

“I’m not sad about it. My grandfather told me that if he could not be with his family again that my father would rather die defending us than die with us.”

“It sounds as though your father was quite an honorable man.”

“Yes, he was.” Both Talia and Colette had tears in their eyes.

“Is your grandfather here watching today?” Colette looked down at her feet.

“No. He died last year. That is why I moved here to become a knight. He told me to bring glory to my people and asked me to find a life better than living on the streets. When I had heard about the last paladin of Highmoore, I arrived as fast as I could, but I was too late it seems.” Eager to change the subject Talia cleared her throat as she could feel the tears stream freely down her cheek.

“ That is enough crying for one day.” Talia spoke as she and Colette both wiped their eyes. “First, allow me to teach you about how runes work.” Talia began her instruction of Colette as the tournament continued outside.

“Alright everyone. This is the match that will decide it all. Darius, the Dervish from Team Tatianna faired superbly, having defeated two of Team Zelus’ fighters. However, his victory came to an end as Anton Vosch took him down without Darius scoring a single point. Now ladies and gentlemen, I give you the final battle. Anton Vosch versus Tatianna!”

The horn blew and Talia watched with the others as Tatianna and Anton faced off.

“Another weak Valascaan, ready to be smashed by Tatianna’s might.” Anton smiled at Tatianna’s attempt to intimidate him.

“I don’t think that I’ll need these after all.” Anton spoke as he dropped his sword and shield to the ground.

“You are giving up so soon?” Tatianna laughed at Anton.

“Not at all. I just want to ensure that this match lasts long enough for us to have some fun before I knock you out.” Anton held out both hands and bent slightly at the knees as he waited for Tatianna to strike. Tatianna charged forward and slashed. Anton stepped to the side, spun and kicked Tatianna’s weapon from his hand. Tatianna maintained a dumbfounded look on his face as Anton backed up and motioned for him to pick up his sword.

“Go ahead. I’ll wait.” Anton remained still and watched as Tatianna reached for his weapon; the audience was laughing the entire time. With weapon in hand, Tatianna lashed out at Anton. Anton dodged Tatianna’s first two attacks then, grabbing Tatianna’s sword arm, grappled him and threw Tatianna over his shoulder and onto the ground. Twisting the wrist on Tatianna’s outstretched hand, Anton forced the sword from his opponent’s hand and kicked it away from him. As the audience burst into laughter again, Tatianna caught a glimpse of their faces and realized what Anton was doing.

“You will not make a fool of me!” Tatianna yelled as he threw his shield at Anton.

“You have already done all of the work yourself.” Anton responded as he ducked beneath the shield and jumped, landing atop the outstretched tentacle. Anton grabbed hold as the tentacle stretched to its limit and using his body as a counter weight, swung the shield back towards Tatianna.

The massive man, unprepared for the attack, took the blast from the shield in his mid-torso and was knocked to the ground. The crowd cheered as Keagen announced the first official strike of the battle.

“That’s only number one, Tatianna. We still have four more to go.” Anton took up his original stance as Tatianna attempted to shrug off the shock from the assault. Snapping to, he roared at Anton as he placed his shield in front of his body and charged.

“What a simpleton.” Anton mocked as Tatianna charged. “You bear your idiocy just as a noble presents his family crest.” He continued to mock as he ducked down and kicked, sweeping Tatianna’s legs from beneath him.

“It may be different where you come from, but to me Tatianna sounds a bit feminine.” Tatianna pounded his fist on the ground and stood.

“Why do you mock Tatianna so?”

“Because, I enjoy the chaos of tipping the scales in the direction that seems least apt to succeed. I enjoy reducing the powerful to ash and I enjoy watching as they crumble to the ground, having fallen from their pedestal of self-grand delusion. Why do you even bother holding back? You’re already channeling all of that excess energy to your second prosthetic tentacle. Your leaders have already found a means to break the rules and allow you to make use of it, so why not use them both?” The audience grew quiet while Tatianna eyed Anton suspiciously.

“How do you know about Tatianna’s second tentacle?”

“I have the senses of a fox. Also, I can’t imagine that the unusual growths on both of your forearms are for show.” Tatianna smiled as the tentacle in his right arm began to slither out.

“I suppose it is time to end this.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Anton replied. The two stared at one another, leaving everyone on edge, awaiting the conclusion. Tatianna lashed out with both cables. Anton jumped into the air, dodging the initial blows. As both tentacles came back, Anton jumped again and spun, kicking Tatianna’s shield down towards the second tentacle. The shield ricocheted off the ground as Anton grabbed the second tentacle and pulled it tight.

As Tatianna’s tentacles wrapped around one another, Anton began to walk towards the near helpless giant.

“What did you do?” Tatianna yelled as he struggled against his bindings.

“Simple. It was obvious that you depend on the recoil and an internal pulley mechanism to bring your whips back towards you and the only thing that is keeping your shield attached appears to be an adhesive surface on the edge of the cable. It was brought to my attention that you probably did not possess musculature within the whip itself and would be otherwise defenseless to someone redirecting your attacks, until such time as the pulley could have a chance to retract the chain.” Tatianna looked to Anton with shock on his face.

“You learned all of this from watching me fight?” Anton shook his head.

“Nope. A couple of little kids from the Valascaan teams tipped me off. Giles and Kareena to be precise; they are rather brilliant, much the opposite of your oafish self.”

“Children?” Tatianna asked in disbelief. “You expect me to believe that children were the key to my defeat?” Anton shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t expect anything from you other that your silence once you are unconscious.” Anton moved closer to Tatianna. Who attempted to defend himself by swinging his tangled limbs. Anton jumped into the air and twisted his body, landing on top of the appendage ball. As he jumped, again he cradled either side of the despicable man’s head and forced it into a less than loving encounter with his knee. As Tatianna fell backwards, shattered teeth and all, the crowd cheered with great vigor.

“Anton Vosch, two points. Tatianna zero. I’m not sure folks, but this match might just be over.” Anton approached Tatianna and hovered over top of him.

“Do you surrender?” Said Anton. Tatianna attempted to kick him away. After moving out of the way, Anton grabbed Tatianna by the back of the head and drove his fist into Tatianna’s face. Tatianna’s head struck the ground hard enough that it caused for his body to bounce off from the platform.

“Anton three.”

“You’re done Tatianna. Surrender now and save yourself the pain.” Anton smiled as he looked at Tatianna. Turning toward Keagan, Anton began to shake his head.

“He’s all yours.” Anton said as he moved to the opposite end of the floor and waited for the count.

“Everyone, it appears as though Tatianna has been knocked unconscious. I will begin the count.” As Keagen counted, everyone in the crowd tensed up and began to hold their breath. “Ten! I declare Anton Vosch the winner meaning that this year’s champion of the tournament of arms, sword dueling is Team Zelus!” The crowd roared with approval.

Talia cheered along with the others as Team Zelus was declared the winner of the first round. As they flooded up to the platform, large numbers of servants and nobles were already arriving to prepare the start of the next round of games, archery. After the victors began to trickle out, Eliza came by to collect Talia.

“You might as well take the rest of the day off. We have today’s games covered. Don’t worry, we are going to make it to the finals.” Talia looked to Eliza with confusion on her face.

“Don’t you want for me to compete in either the jousting or archery games?”

“Rowan, Colette and Giles have the most experience with horses. I was told that I must ensure that Giles competes in something and I’m our team’s best archer. We have this under control.” Eliza smiled as she gave herself props.

“Not self-confident at all, are we?” Talia smiled.

“Nope, not this girl.” Eliza responded. Talia thought for a moment.

“When will you be needing Colette next?”

“Not until jousting, I suppose. Do you have need of her?”

“Colette expressed an interest to learn some runes. She is Highmoorian and her father was a paladin, so I thought that perhaps I could teach her.” Eliza nodded her head as she thought about it.

“Yes, I think that sounds marvelous. Just let Colette know to be back in time for the jousting matches. If she would rather take part in archery, then I can work something out. Otherwise, having another rune user on the team would prove beneficial.”

“I agree. I will go and ask her now and, if she is uninterested, I will send her your way.”

“It is decided then. Where do you want me to meet you for the festival?”

“I can meet you at the barracks.”

“Alright, enjoy the rest of your day.” Eliza waved as she walked away. Talia sought out Colette and found her waiting back by the tent.

“Eliza told me to ask you if you would rather participate in the archery contest or if you would rather follow me to learn more about runes?” Colette’s eyes opened wide and she took no time to hesitate.

“I want to learn runes!” Talia smiled.

“If you would, please follow me. I think that the training grounds at the barracks shall prove nicely for our purposes.” Talia led the way with Colette in tow. As they passed through the streets, several of the townspeople who had seen Talia’s fight clapped.

“Excellent job out there, Relina. We are rooting for Team Kaldur to take the win this year.” Talia blushed as they passed by. After a few minutes, they had arrived at the barracks and Talia pointed out an area for them to practice.

“Alright, this should serve us well. Allow me to start by reminding you that use of rune magic requires strength of the spirit. If you lack the energy or the discipline to channel the power of the spirit and still manage to cast a rune, the energy will be leeched from your life force and could kill you. Let us start where we left off, by drawing the body of our rune.” Talia reached out with her forefinger and began to trace the diamond insignia out in the air. Colette’s eyes grew wide as she watched the blue lines appear in the air.

“Alright Colette, now I want to see you try. Just remember, concentrate and focus on your inner light. Use it to channel your rune.” Colette closed her eyes and focused for a moment before proceeding to begin tracing out her rune.

“Excellent work, Colette.” Talia cheered as blue lines appeared in the place where Colette had drawn her rune. “You have drawn the body of your first rune. Now, all that is left is for you to complete the rune and cast it.” Colette opened her eyes and saw the blue light in front of her. She stared in awe for a moment as she continued to trace out the rune, being sure to carefully draw out the appropriate lines for the rune of mending.

As she finished, she pressed the rune forward, towards Talia. The rune sparkled lightly for a moment before letting loose a small puff of green twinkling light that quickly vanished. Colette placed her hands on her knees and panted as sweat poured off from her brow. Talia could hear Keagen’s voice far in the distance announcing the archery contest. So far, Team Kaldur was set for the finals, having annihilated their opponents. Talia looked to Colette who was still panting aggressively.

“How about we take a rest for now? I fear that if we continue for much longer you may lack the necessary strength for your jousting match.” Colette shook her head.

“There is more to jousting than just strength. It has everything to do with skill, precision and balance.” Talia smiled at Colette’s iron will.

“All the same, I think that it would be best if we saved the rest of this lesson until afterwards.” Colette frowned slightly before brushing herself off and turning towards the arena.

“Thank you for the lesson Relina, I look forward to the next one.”

“Good luck today.” Colette’s facial expression changed to one of curiosity.

“You’re not coming to watch?” Talia shook her head.

“No, I am afraid that I have need to clear my head. I will probably not see you again until the festival tonight.”

“Alright, just don’t be late.” Talia nodded as Colette turned and left. Talia walked out into the nobles’ quarter, which was abnormally empty now that everyone was at the games. Talia continued to walk across the barren grounds until she came upon the labyrinth entrance leading to Alec whom she wished to see. Talia entered the familiar path and walked to her beloved.