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 Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 5:43 pm
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It was a couple of hours after sunrise in the city of Aurovarant and the citizens were already making their way about town...setting up shop, milling about the square, getting the arena organized, and all that medieval-chamber-music-that-was-ultimately-a-distant-ancestor-of-jazz. Darunas, a sizable gruff dragon of a greenish scale tone, was making his way towards the arena, because as the registrar, it was his duty to start setting up the coliseum battles for the day. He was actually looking forward to this day in particular...a couple of big-name battles were lined up for the same arena, and it wasn't every dragon that could claim not only attendance at said events, but direct involvement as well. He adjusted his cape as he made his way past the library, tossing a casual glance in the direction of one of the main towers of it.
Unbeknownst to Darunas, atop this tower, buried in a heap of thick spell books was a sleeping sorceress, one who had fallen asleep late last night in the library while doing some "light research." Even with her credentials that allowed her to stay in the library after hours, the library staff probably didn't even realize that she had unintentionally stayed overnight. A couple of moments later, the heap of books moved, as the Revenger Nyxii stirred beneath them. Suddenly, several books went flying into the air as the now very awake sorceress shot up, jerking her head around in an attempt to figure out where she was and what time it was.
"Wh-what? What's going on? I...I..." Nyxii asked to no one in particular before realizing just where she was. "Huh...guess I fell asleep in the middle of one of my books...oh well." She stretched and looked about the tower room before pulling herself from the pile of books, making her way towards the window. "At least I got my reading done! Let's see now..." Resting her talons on the window sill, she leaned her head out of the window and looked down at the city below. It was a perfectly sunny day with hardly a cloud in the sky, and the sunlight was casting a particularly lovely shine across the coliseum. Nyxii paused for a second as if she seemed to remember something very important, so she turned her head and found the clocktower, just now finding out exactly what time it was. Jumping back from the window, Nyxii exclaimed, "Oh no, I'm gonna be late!" Quickly yet carefully arranging the heap of books into stacks but not taking the time to place them back onto their shelves, Nyxii soon looked about the room and found one of the larger shadows in the room. Nodding in approval at it before waving her hand in front of her, Nyxii jumped into the shadow and disappeared from the room....later reappearing from a shadow on the ground just outside of the library. At that, she took off running towards the coliseum, hoping that she would be able to get there in time.
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 7:31 pm
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Inside the coliseum, a small, wiry lung dragon scampered into the weight room behind the gladiators' quarters. "He'd better be in here, I've already checked everywhere else he'd be likely toouph!"
The dragon picked himself up off the floor and looked up at the wall he'd hit. The crystalline wall that moved aside after a second to make way for a large translucent craggy head. "Hm? Oh, hey, it's Hats-Guy!"
"Atsukai", the lung corrected, though it was just automatic. He knew full well that Calice would continue to call him Hats-Guy 'till doomsday, simply because it amused him. Atsukai produced a small cloud at his feet and used it to float up to Calice's eye level. "The manager's been lookin' for you, Cal. He wants to review the setup for today's matches."
"K, I'll head on down then. By the way, one of the tail lift machines is busted," Calice said.
/sigh/ "Wha'd you do this time?"
"Hey, I was just trying to lift 100 kilos! A tail lift that can't handle 100 is just plain defective. I even packaged it for you to send back to the company. Seeya!"
Atsukai groaned at the mention of 'packaging', and floated around the corner to look while Calice disappeared down the hallway. Sure enough, one of the machines was encased in a large hunk of glittering crystal. He shook his head in resigned despair.
"Cal, one of these days your antics are going to cost this place more than you bring in in ticket sales...I just hope I'm still sane enough to enjoy it when it happens."
____________________________________________________
On the way down the hall, Calice thought over what he knew about today's matches. Someone, somewhere, had gotten the idea to have a rare exhibition match today, between the arena's top four gladiators. There was a belt or trophy or some whatever at stake, probably something they'd just thought up so they could have an excuse to hold the exhibition. Single-elimination, so three matches were lined up...between himself, Zilani, Corynycta and whatshisname that puny mage-thing. All of them stars with large fanbases in this and surrounding cities. No doubt the place would sell out today. Heck, it had probably sold out today a couple days ago.
He wondered who he'd be fighting first. He hadn't fought Zilani in some time now...they were overdue for a matchup. If his first battle wasn't with her, then she'd better ace her first match...just like he was going to ace his.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 8:40 am
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Outside, to the side of where customers were starting to queue outside the ticket office, a small, dark dragon unhooked a small crate from his back and set it down at his feet. He pulled a key from one of his pockets (themselves on his bandolier-belt things) and unlocked the front, then stepped back as he pulled the key from the lock.
The crate began to unfold, with glittery light effects that were, mostly, a bi-product of the magic used to craft it. An optimistically large pot for money slid out on the floor, while a small stool popped upright in what had been the crate's footprint. Two signs emerged from either side, advertising music and magic tricks. the back of the ensemble sprang upwards, with two small boxes on either side. These each contained a crystal ball, and were enchanted to broadcast sound. Finally, a caricature-like picture of the small dragon's head, wearing a raucous grin, popped from the very top on a spring, with a predictable boiyoiyoing! sound.
Kaed stood back, and looked upon it with satisfaction. Wherever people queued, anything that alleviated the boredom was a guaranteed money-winner.
He pulled out his battered harp and took his seat on the stool. Flexing his talons with a variety of clicking sounds, he launched into his opening number, Sioni Bod Da.
"Dēop gefeohtanburg lūcan orēonsid,
Holtwudu pīnbēam micle hlifian mid..."
Meanwhile, among the interested customers, some uniformed dragons had spotted all this, and started to amble over.
((Bonus points if you can guess what he's singing. I'll tell you later. Because I like being smug.)
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Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2007 9:04 pm
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"Ladies, Gentlemen and gender-neutral beings of all shapes and sizes! It is with great pleasure that I bring you...the first two contestants in today's exciting gala tournament event!"
The crowd cheered as the left gate swung open and Calice walked out onto the main arena floor, holding a hunk of crystal a couple meters across with his tail.
"Our first contestant, weighing in at 2750 kilograms, the Crystal Dragon who shatters his foes, Calice!" Calice flipped his tail to fling the crystal in the air, then jumped up and punched the crystal, breaking it into dozens of small shards that flew everywhere. This was his standard entrance gimmick, a little show for the fans. They ate it up as usual.
The right gate swung open and two small figures emerged from it, one of them a clockwork thing with a camera lens. Thanks to this hovering camera, the other figure's face was projected on a screen on one wall.
"Our second contestant, weighing in at 17 kilograms and proving size doesn't matter, the arcane powerhouse, Hedylid the Eldritch Feywing!" A different section of the crowd cheered, while some of Calice's fans heckled. A few illusionists in the stands put up various types of "GO HEDYLID" figments. For Hedylid's own part, he gestured at the screen showing his face and a giant illusion of himself seemed to fly out of the screen and across the sky over the arena, giving the audience a better glimpse of his narrow, mottled fucshia body and bright butterfly-like wings.
"Long have I awaited the chance to bring you down, Calice," Hedylid gloated; the hovering camera also transmitted his voice to the same speakers the announcer was using. "You are the perfect example of one who relies solely on brute strength and cannot help but fall to my vastly superior intellect!"
"That was quick," Calice replied. "Whawazzat, ten seconds? And I'm already eager to gift ya with a mouth gag. I don't think they come in your size, though; maybe a postage stamp'd work." Parts of the audience guffawed in approval. Several of Hedylid's fans just rolled their eyes.
"Standard coliseum rules apply," the announcer advised the combatants. "Whoever wins this match will go on to face the winner of Match 2; the loser gets sent to the showers! Let's get it on!"
3
2
1
GO
Calice charged toward Hedylid, but Hedylid neither wanted nor needed to close in. He cast a lightning bolt at Calice, who tried to dodge midrun but got sideswiped by it. He hit the ground, quickly got back to his feet and resumed the charge. Hedylid flew up, while casting another spell; the ground in front of Calice became as slippery as wet ice, causing him to skid, tumble straight past Hedylid and crash into the wall near the right gate.
"Hahaha! See how helpless you are against me!" Hedylid cackled, while his fans cheered and Calice's fans roared their displeasure over the cheap stunt. "I'd invite you to surrender now, but I know I'd be wasting my breath, and sleep and charm spells are against standard coliseum rules...so I'll just whittle you down until you pass out from the damage." Hedylid hit Calice dead-on with another lightning bolt. Calice roared in pain.
"Ah, the brutish cries of those whose muscle has failed them! Music to my ears!" Calice growled and tried to jump at Hedylid, but crashed into a floating disk just a meter under the eldritch feywing and fell back to earth. "Uh-uh-uh, nice try but not good enough! Of course, you could simply loose that wing armor and fly up to me...oh wait, that's right! I can shred your wings with a thought, silly me."
Calice growled again. "I haven't got a postage stamp handy, so I'll just feed you your own tail!" he leapt up again, and this time stretched out his claws and swiped at the air. His guess paid off; he caught the edge of the floating disk and scrabbled to hang on.
"W-whoah!" Hedylid gasped out as the disk tilted drunkenly. Bound to the space directly beneath him, the disk shook him up a bit as it struggled to contend with Calice's weight.
Calice tried to reach at Hedylid, but his arms weren't quite long enough. He lunged with his long neck for a bite attack, but Hedylid tossed a small fireball at his head that knocked him away. "Get off, damn you!" The entire audience was in an uproar now.
Calice tried for the bite a couple more times, and even tried bashing Hedylid with the broad side of his head, but Hedylid was quick enough with the small fireballs to parry him. "Fine, go ahead, keep it up until your head is nothing but cinders! I win either way!"
Calice paused a moment, then made one more lunge. Hedylid tossed another fireball, but Calice was already swerving; the lunge had been a feint. Then, while Hedylid was between fireballs, Calice quickly attacked...with his breath weapon, Crystalizer.
Hedylid choked on the thick mist surrounding him. "W-what-cough-is this!?" His wings were beating fast enough to prevent the mist from solidifying around him, but the mist, in turn, was slowing his wingbeats to the point where he was starting to drift downward.
"You didn't know about my breath weapon?" Calice asked incredulously.
"But-cough-you only-" The floating disk dissolved as Hedylid lost his concentration. Calice dropped, but easily landed on his feet. "You only ever use-cough-it for your fin-cough-inisher! I've watched your-cough-your matches to verify that!"
Calice lifted onto his hind legs and breathed on Hedylid again to ensure the eldritch feywing would remain disabled. "You must have missed my battle with Chiroptus a few months back," he said. "I used it then to confuse his sonar. And then there was the time a newbie from a tech-heavy galaxy tried to use a stationary artillery weapon in the arena..."
"I re-cough-refuse to let this undo me!" Hedylid tried to cast another spell, but his effort in keeping aloft and mobile cut his concentration and the mist caused him to choke on the verbal components.
"Ah, the spluttering of one whose intellect has failed him!" Calice mocked Hedylid's earlier boasting. He jumped up, swung an arm and spiked Hedylid into the ground. It was Hedylid's turn to cry out in pain.
Calice landed, pivoted and breathed again. Hedylid tried throwing a fireball, but was a little too slow; instead of hitting Calice he hit the Crystalizer mist on its way to him. The mist briefly became a floating inferno that dazzled and scorched Hedylid before guttering out. Calice breathed again and caught Hedylid in choking mist once more.
"Now who's helpless against who?" Calice taunted. "I'd invite you to surrender, but I'd be wasting my breath." He grinned as he slammed his tail down on Hedylid and then kicked the eldritch feywing across the arena. The fans variously cheered or snarled.
Calice approached the badly wounded Hedylid. Hedylid struggled to lift himself. "...you...pay...for theh...this...indig..."
"Oh, come on," Calice said. "You can't even lose with grace?"
"My...my vic...victory...can't...lose to...oaf like you..."
Calice put a paw to his face. "Fine. You wanted me to use my breath weapon for my finisher? Then I'll go ahead and use my breath weapon for my finisher." He breathed once more on Hedylid, who scarcely managed to widen his eyes in terror before the mist had him. This time, he was too weak to resist. The crystal solidified around him, entrapping him like a bug in amber.
"Since you're so small, I'll have to improvise this one," Calice said, picking up the crystal containing Hedylid. He tossed the crystal in the air, and then leapt up and punched the crystal, mirroring his intro pose. Hedylid's limp body, surrounded by jagged crystal shards, sailed off his fist and plopped onto the ground.
"Calice is the winner!" The announcer cried over the speakers. He had to repeat himself a couple times over the din of Calice's cheering fans. A ref moved into the arena to raise Calice's arm, while paramedics moved to Hedylid to escort him off the field and apply first aid. "Calice will be going on to face the winner of Match 2, between Zilani and Corynycta! Which of these femme fatales will emerge to challenge Calice? We'll have to wait and see!"
(OOC: Sorry this took so long; I've been suffering writer's block. The second match, as already planned, will be mostly skipped through, and I probably won't blow-by-blow Match 3 either.)
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Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 7:38 am
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((Rough translation:
"Dēop gefeohtanburg lūcan orēonsid, - Deep down in louise-city close to orlean
Holtwudu pīnbēam micle hlifian mid..." - inside the woods amongst the pine... ))
As Kaed finished off his third tune, to general applause to the diminished queue, the uniformed dragons made their move. Unfortunately for them, Kaed saw them coming.
"Eris' beard.." he quietly blasphemed.
He played a short tune made of a few strange notes on his harp, which seemed to reverberate longer than the strings themselves.
"Sir, do you h a v e a _ l_ i_ c_ e_ n_ c_ e_..." The policedragons started to slow, and looked surprised, but in slow-motion. Kaed quickly got up, shouldered the harp, and scratched a runic sort of symbol onto the stool. It glowed red for a second, then seemed to sink into the wood and vanish.
The whole of Kaed's stage-thing started to shudder, then folded itself up quickly, with a few rainbows-umbras at the corners. While pretty, they meant that the spell holding the portable stage together was starting to wear a little thin. Kaed locked the stage, scooped it up onto his back, and then ran, his sinuous body following the movements of his head as he sped away on all fours.
The slowdown spell had been gently wearing off the policedragons, and now it snapped. They stumbled, but recovered and started off in pursuit.
While they made good time, Kaed was much faster. Unfortunately, he was also greedy; he was trying to empty what gold he had collected into a money-pouch as he ran, and didn't notice a particularly large, yellow-brown Earth-dragon until too late. He bounced off painfully, scattering the gold that hadn't made it to the pouch.
The portable stage bounced away, but the stress of the sudden knock hadn't done the spells any good; it started vibrating violently, hovering a few feet in the air, and glowing in dark rainbow colours. The policedragons braked, their talons scoring grooves into the worn cobbles, but not fast enough. The stage unfolded, but instead of the earlier, slow movements, this was more like an explosion. The stool rocketed upwards, the sign spun crazily away, and the crystal balls flew backwards from the stage, each hitting a policedragon.
Kaed, still slightly dizzy, both cursed and congratulated his shoddy spellcasting to himself as he scrambled over the Earth-dragon (who was a little slow, and probably didn't mind) and away, towards the rear entrance of the colosseum to hide out for a little while.
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Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 1:34 am
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((OOC: After combating writer's block, a crazy fall semester, and occasionally unpredictable computers, here's my long awaited post! It's long, so I apologize about that, but it is this length in part to make up for the writer's block. Still, it catches up in the story and delves into a bit more of Nyxii's field of knowledge aside from a wealth of spells. Enjoy, and vive la revival!))
Somehow, Nyxii made it to the coliseum with mere minutes to spare before the first match was set to begin. Nimbly maneuvering around the crowd and up and down various stairs she finally found her seat, plopping down with more grace than one would normally associate as possible for such an action. 'Phew! I can't believe I made it!' Nyxii thought to herself. 'I would have made it sooner if I'd used my magic, but I doubt many here would have taken kindly to that, much less understood it...' True, magic was not entirely an uncommon thing in the world, but the day to day exhibition of it in the general town area was quite unheard of. Furthermore, its presence in the coliseum outside of the combatants' attacks and breath weapons was certainly not something that most coliseum-goers would expect. So, with alleviating the cause for potential commotion on her mind, Nyxii had wisely chosen to get to the arena the slow way, save one quick detour out of the library. Even as she sat there trying to catch her breath, Nyxii was unable to suppress a grin. She was very pleased that she had managed to acquire a ticket to today's battles...rather, she was very pleased that she had been given a ticket. For some reason, the previous week, a messenger had brought her a letter, one that detailed a potential summons for her services as a sorceress...this same letter had contained a valid ticket to the coliseum for today's rare exhibition matches. Since the letter detailed the importance of her attendance at the matches, Nyxii only inspected everything a few times before willingly putting her ticket to use. She could return her focus to the summons later because for the time being, she was just happy to be in the coliseum again...and in a prime seat, to boot.
As unbelievable as it might have sounded, Nyxii was a mild but reasonably knowledgeable coliseum fan. While most might look at her and pass her off as a dragon who could care less about the coliseum battles, that was not exactly the case. True, Nyxii was not a hardcore battle fan, but she did enjoy seeing certain events from time to time...she knew how the system worked, she was familiar with some fighting styles (knowing some of the move sets herself), she knew a number of the specific statistics, and she actually had a few fighters that she favored over others. Surprisingly enough, she even knew enough about the arena to name a couple of fighters as dragons she disliked. So, while pub-goers would never find her chatting up a storm about a given battle, they could expect her to correct someone if they constantly spouted off inaccurate data. (Par example..."Oh-no, sir...you see, Teriquode has never actually injured any of his opponents' wings. He is just very good with quick feints.") It was hard not to like the coliseum at least a little bit in Aurovarant, and Nyxii's knowledge of the whole shebang came from her own mild interest and some of her side research. She was no expert, but she was at least a little inwardly proud of this data she had gleaned from her side hobby. If nothing else, it served her well around town where talk of incantations and history only got one so far.
Once Nyxii's breathing had finally returned to normal, the announcer's voice came booming into the arena. "Ladies, Gentlemen and gender-neutral beings of all shapes and sizes! It is with great pleasure that I bring you...the first two contestants in today's exciting gala tournament event!"
Nyxii applauded amidst the cheers, opting to save her voice since she had just regained her breath and due to the fact that most of the time, she was not a terribly vocal fan. As the cheers faded just enough for the announcer to be intelligible again, Nyxii's eyes lit up upon seeing the first contestant enter the arena.
"Our first contestant, weighing in at 2750 kilograms, the Crystal Dragon who shatters his foes, Calice!" At that, Calice flipped his tail to fling the crystal he had been carrying in the air, right before he jumped up and punched the crystal, breaking it into dozens of small shards that flew everywhere. This was his standard entrance gimmick, a little show for the fans....and one that Nyxii shook her head at despite vocally cheering for Calice. She was not a rabid fan of Calice, but she did favor him and find him to rank amongst fighters she cared about the most. She admired his fighting style but more than that, she was intrigued by the way that he seemed to just make his fights fun for himself. It was the fighters that cared for something aside from victory that kept her interest in the coliseum a little more involved than just a passing one.
After a moment, the right gate swung open and two small figures emerged from it, one of them a clockwork thing with a camera lens. Thanks to this hovering camera, the other figure's face was projected on a screen on one wall.
"Our second contestant, weighing in at 17 kilograms and proving size doesn't matter, the arcane powerhouse, Hedylid the Eldritch Feywing!"
While various fans cheered or heckled the second fighter, Nyxii merely sat silent. She didn't outright dislike Hedylid, but she did disapprove of the way that he put his skills in magic to use. Using magic to fight and to aid oneself was one thing, but using it to add to this display was something that she did not like, viewing it as over the top and out of place. Above all, she did not like Hedylid's attitude...so while magic might have been something with which she could use to connect to the the smaller combatant, differing demeanors kept her from ever thinking about using that magic connection as something aside from a basis of tactical analysis during fights. By watching arcane fighters like Hedylid, Nyxii was able to study their forms and improve her own spellcasting style. This, as expected, was another reason that kept her mildly interested in the coliseum.
Watching the exchange between the two combatants, Nyxii silently hoped that Calice would prevail in the fight...despite his own trash talk, at least he wasn't cocky enough so as to pull the camera trick that Hedylid had. Still, Nyxii shifted in her seat, happy to see the impending fight but still managing to take on the air of an analyst watching the match.
"Standard coliseum rules apply," the announcer advised the combatants. "Whoever wins this match will go on to face the winner of Match 2; the loser gets sent to the showers! Let's get it on!"
As the 3, 2, 1, GO signaled the start of the fight, Nyxii heightened her focus and watched as Calice charged Hedylid before Hedylid unleashed a combination of spells. If she herself had been in the position to use a lightning spell, she would have timed it a bit differently, leaving her opponent with less time to dodge...but thankfully, Hedylid did not share her thought process. This use of spells was clever but it could have been better implemented...still, it was something that Nyxii took a mental note of. The direct lightning bolt was a cheap shot, the floating disk was unexpected, and the taunt could have been better...but the shortcomings on Hedylid's part allowed Calice to make a nice counter.
The two exchanged blows and fireballs for several moments until Calice pulled a feint, and Nyxii's eyes widened as Hedylid paused in between releasing fireballs. 'Already?! Brilliant!' Nyxii thought to herself when she saw what Calice was about to pull...he attacked with his Crystalizer breath weapon! Since this move was Calice's signature finisher, he had caught Hedylid completely off-guard. Nyxii had seen one of the previous matches where Calice had used his breath weapon as a non-finishing move, but she had read about the other matches he named off for his opponent's sake...regardless, the idea of staying prepared was crucial, and it seemed that Hedylid had let his confidence take over in the place of expecting the unexpected. In spite of herself, Nyxii clenched her fists and swung her left one in approval, pleased to see this display of strategy overcome an arcane fighter who forgot the basics.
Calice finished the fight and Nyxii joined in with his legion of cheering fans. She cheered softly in contrast to her loud clapping, but still, it did her heart good to see Hedylid, who had let his prowess go to his head, fall to a plan like that. It was a good day to be in the coliseum, and hopefully the other matches would prove to be true to that idea.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, as Kaed made his way towards the rear entrance of the coliseum, Darunas was taking his break in the same area. He had fulfilled his primary duty of setting up the coliseum battles for the day, and after taking care of countless ticket situations, he had finally earned his morning break. He noticed a small wiry dragon appear in the vicinity, soon cocking his head to the side, pondering on why a little dragon like that would come scrambling up in the fashion that he had. Looking around and verifying that there were few if any prying ears, Darunas allowed his curiosity to take over. "Hey, you there," he grunted with a well-meaning grin. "Whatt're ya doin' runnin' back here like that?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 3:07 pm
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"Oh, uh, nothing, nothing at all. Say, this is pretty interesting architecture!" Kaed had found the gap between one of the colliseum's buttresses and the building itself, and moved quickly over to it. Because of the way the buttress was made, it hid him nicely from the rest of the road, where after a few seconds, two angry and bruised policedragons ran past.
He looked around to see Darunas looking at him with obvious mirth. "It's, uh, not what it seems..."
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Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 8:00 pm
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"...aaand you should be all set, sir!"
Calice looked at the mirror on a nearby wall and verified that the scorch marks were gone from his face. He stretched each of his legs; the slight stiffness from the lightning strike was gone as well. "Nice work, kid." It was, in fact, pretty standard work that an experienced healer would think nothing of achieving, but the fresh-faced young geyser dragon tending him looked new enough to this job that he could probably use the encouragement.
"Thank you, sir," the geyser dragon said, shifting nervously in his white robe. "I-It's an honor to serve you. I'm a really big fan."
"That right?"
"Kendini said I wasn't talented enough to serve you..." the young healer said in an expression that somehow managed to be both a pout and a smirk.
"Not good enough to serve me?" Calice repeated. "Well, doesn't this Kendini know the strongest healers are usually assigned to the loser of the match? After all, the loser needs more healing...Kendini must not be much of a Calice fan if he was counting on me to lose!" Calice offered the geyser dragon a conspiratorial, "you sure showed him" grin.
The young healer's eyes made as if to pop out of their sockets for a moment. "Golly, I never thought of that!"
Calice chuckled. "Well, you tell Kendini you're just fine by me. And you just keep on keepin' on. This place'd fall apart without the members of your noble profession." And with that he headed out of the room.
Well, that oughta raise me to about demigod status for him, he thought to himself as he moved through the halls. A little more fame among the newest generation never hurts. He came to a window from which he could see into the main arena. Let's see how Zil and Cory are doing.
———————————————————————————————————————
Corynycta swung her thick, meaty tail and managed to knock Zilani out of the air. Zilani hit the ground, rolled, then grabbed the dirt with her talons and managed to stop herself. Wasting no time, she used the electricity generated by her snakelike body to deliver shocks to the muscles of her bright red wings and birdlike legs. This propelled her like a cannonball, straight into Corynycta's sizable gut. The towering dragoness folded partway, all three of her heads belching a fireball.
Zilani kicked off, this time delivering a quick shock to Corynycta in the process. Enraged, Corynycta took to the air after her, contrails of fire streaming from her three tails. She started breathing continuous gouts of flame from each head, trying to catch Zilani in a pincer attack with them.
A good strategy, but not only had the various electric shocks she'd already taken so far reduced her dexterity, she had also allowed herself to become too enraged to think quickly enough to outsmart the wily Zilani. Zilani twisted and turned in midair to keep herself away from Corynycta's flamethrowers, costing herself forward speed in the process, and headed straight for the nearest coliseum wall. She hit it with both feet and a cushion of air from her wings to soften the impact, rebounded up and to the left between two of Corynycta's flame blasts, and arced back way up and toward the middle of the coliseum. Corynycta, still wanting to hit Zilani with her fire breath, let all three of her heads watch Zilani, and she crashed full force into the wall. The coliseum's builders had planned for behemoths like her to do so on occasion, so the wall wasn't badly damaged, but a lot of spectators in that area spilled their drinks.
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Calice chuckled. Cory had zero emotional control; once the battle reached this part, she'd only get rasher and rasher, and Zil would whittle her down like the seasoned pro she was. He headed for the weight room again; for a Calice/Zilani battle, the crowd—and Zilani—deserved nothing less than Calice's best.
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 10:40 pm
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"Of course it's not," replied Darunas, his grin at Kaed growing a bit. Amused at the small dragon's antics and pleased to see that someone could exercise that much skill in outrunning the policedragons, Darunas nodded to Kaed and waved a talon at him, motioning for him to come on out of his hiding place. "Come on with me. Those killjoys won't find you back here."
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Nyxii enjoyed the break before the second match was set to begin. She wasn't quite as excited about this match since she was relatively neutral to the two gladiators, but once it began, it was still proving to be an impressive battle. Nyxii couldn't help but shake her head at how Corynycta was letting her emotions get the better of her... that was never good in a fight, especially one like this. Emotions could be used as a driving force, especially when channeled properly... but this was just a blind rage that did more damage to the one in it than the one on the receiving end. Still, even though Nyxii had a very good idea of where this battle was headed and was looking quite forward to a Calice versus Zilani battle soon after it, she continued to watch every move with an unwavering eye. At this rate... the winner would be decided in a matter of mere minutes.
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 4:50 pm
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Kaed cautiously followed Darunas into the back rooms of the coliseum. Looking around with interest, he was disappointed by how mundane everything was. He'd been to the regular battles since he was a child, and had never really thought about what went on int he back rooms, other than vague imaginings of lush suites for the fighters to relax in between matches. The corridors and larger areas they passed were all plain stone, with little decoration.
As they passed a low, wide fountain, used presumably by the fighters, Kaed scurried up over the side and gulped some water down, after his run. He saw Darunas looking at him with that air of benign amusement, and pulled a water gourd out of his pack, and filled it from the fountain's basin, which was decorated with various hand and footprints from different-sized dragons. In fact, the basin's bottom seemed to be covered in sand.
Darunas turned away as Kaed corked it, shoulders tight with mirth, and Kaed was suddenly suspicious. They reached a T-junction in the corridor, and Darunas headed right.
"You can see the arena from a window to the left, there." he gestured to where there was an enormous blue-grey dragon watching the fight with interest. "I won't charge ya', since you've made me laugh a couple times today. See ya' round, and, uh, watch your footing!" Darunas ambled away, and Kaed self-consciously checked his own feet; nothing wrong, so what was that a hint to?
He headed over to the window, next to the large dragon, and watched as Zilani bounced off a wall and flew away, and Corynycta... didn't. The impact almost made Kaed spill some of the water he was drinking.
The dragon next to him chuckled and shook his head, and only when the dragon's head was inclined toward him did Kaed realise who he'd been standing next to.
He spat and spluttered, "Y-y-you're him! C-Calice!" Kaed took another drink to settle himself, and then looked at the dragon properly.
Those feet, he had seen the prints in the basin. In fact, that room had seemed more like a washroom.
"Mind your footing". The sand!
Kaed spat out the water all over again and dropped the gourd. That had been the foot basin!
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 9:14 pm
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Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 12:04 pm
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Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 11:18 pm
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