Slowly my senses began to return to the world. The smell of the leaves and flowers lofting in the breeze dancing around head were the first things I noticed. The sound of many birds singing in a chorus of their own song that they know simply by nature. The feel of grass and thorns pushing into my legs sending pulses of pain up my spine. Wait thorns? I roll over only to land on more barbs. I continue rolling around, running into more thistles until my roll was halted by two hooves. I open my eyes slowly so I did not repeat my mistake of being blinded by the sun. As the world clears, I find myself facing the stone faced goddess standing beside me, looking down towards my prone form.

  "It is good to see you're awake Celt."

  I stand up groggily, "Did you grow those there?" Pointing at the thistles where I once was.

  "I am afraid I have no idea what you are talking about. I simply allowed the plants to grow where they wanted."

  "Yes and apparently they wanted to grow under me, completely on their own without the help of mother nature."  

  Her face remains indifferent, "Yes."

  "Can you at least help me get some of the thorns of out my ass?"

  "Remain still for a moment please."  

   Her horn glows brightly in a green aura. One by one, the thorns are slowly pulled from my legs and side; each thorn sending its own tendril of pain through my body. This process continues for a few short moments until all of the barbs are finally removed.

"Why do I feel you did that in the most painful manner possible?"

  "Because you are a paranoid bugbear who has almost been killed on several occasions within the last month and is also piece of a game where the point is mindless violence to see who stands on top." Her tone remains bland through the whole thing.

  I feel a little uncomfortable how much she knew about me, "That’s.... oddly specific."

  "Yes, I suppose it is. In any case you should consider leaving soon."

"Why?"

"Because there are worse plants that grow then thorns." She said before re-entering her tree.  

"What is with this world and it's females threatening me?"

I walk back to my position near Fenrir and Twitch. Twitch is propped against Fenrir's stomach, breathing gently. He has a strange peace about him that is almost foreign to me. How long has it been since I slept like that? I think as I watch them sleep. Fenrir lays beside the enormous tree trunk. His leg twitches several times as if he were running through a field. I slightly smile at the scene.

  I pull my crossbow out of it's sheathe, "Lenis Aqua."

  The moisture in the air begins accumulating on my crossbow. Slowly the droplets of water gather into an ever-shifting bolt. The water is clear allowing me to see the brown of the crossbow beneath the projectile. I press my finger against the trigger and let the bolt loose. The dart takes a short journey before hitting Fenrir, causing a massive splash.

Fenrir immediately jolts upward in a fighting stance. The movement causes Twitch to barrel forward, impaling his horn into the ground. Fenrir's head sweeps back and forth before he saw me chuckling with my crossbow out while Twitch attempted to free his head from the ground with little success.

     "That's what you guys get for laughing at me yesterday."  

Twitch continues to attempt to free himself, "Ha ha ha, very funny Celt. Now help!"

"Ok." I pause for a moment and savour the victory.

"Well?"

"Give me a minute."

  "Celt! Get me out of the ground now!" Twitch shouts.

  I walk over to Twitch and grab one of his hooves, "We have lift off!"

  I pull upward, sending Twitch flying. I hear his screams as he spins around in the air. I laugh when a large thump is heard from the direction Twitch was flying.

"I hate you so much right now!" He yells from a distance.

"Agreed." Fenrir added.

  "Love you guys too. Anyway I think Terra wants us to leave soon."

  Twitch is just recovered from his recent flight, "Alright, I guess we don't want to anger a goddess."

"It would be wise." Fenrir said after finally rebounding from his sudden awakening.

I sheathe my crossbow, "Alright which way we heading?"

  "We should head west to the Volcanic Badlands, while you were in Stalliongard I heard it was a refuge for criminals." The wolf advises.

  "I think we should head east to the Blackmarsh, the hive said that it was somewhat safer. Also they would assume you would head that way wouldn't they?"

  I take a moment to think, " You both bring up excellent points. That's why I say we take both!"

"Celt, I know your a bit adventure happy but between east and west is where we are now..."

"That's the way my buggy friend were heading south!"

That worries Twitch some more, "The Hive had sent scouts that way. Very few returned, all of them said it was a vast desert that went on and on."

"Hmmm," I pull out the book with the list on it, "let's see. Ah, sand from the sands of time! Where else would you hide the sands of time rather then a desert?"

     "Somewhere cleverer Celt, I would assume the gods would have hidden that artefact where no creature would find much as myself. They hid me underground in the middle of nowhere. Imagine the trickery they put in place to hide the sands!"

     I laugh a little, "That's what makes the desert such a good place to hide it! If you want to hide something put it somewhere so obvious no one would bother to look there!"

"You really want to go to the desert don't you?" Twitch asks.

I jump onto Fenrir and smile, "Yup, now get on I'm sure we got some traveling to do!"

Twitch flies on top of Fenrir and sits himself just behind me. I give Fenrir a pat to signal that we are ready to move, and he rushes forward. We start slowly, but when we reach the exit of the crater he is at full speed. The wind howls from the speed we are traveling at. He takes long strides up the hill, constantly making both my and Twitch's heads bob up and down from the landings. We soon reach the top of the crater and stop to stare down at the area, giving a brief moment to thank Terra for her kindness. We turn toward the forest and Fenrir begins forward once again. We re-enter the jungle, vines hanging low like grasping arms waiting to grab their prey. We make a distance in before the shadows that had followed us throughout our journey returned. I still could only see vague shapes of what they were. They were humanoid, but they shape was slimmer than any human. Other than that their shape remained concealed form the speed and darkness of the jungle.

   Alright enough of this crap. I'm getting rid of these guys right now." I pull my crossbow. I say 'Ignis' yet no bolt forms. No familiar heat or glow radiates from the crossbow. Crap I must be out of juice. I stare at Twitch and begin to think back to the Grand Galloping Gala, how Trixie had charged my crossbow before. It might work on my arm...

"Twitch can you pour pure magic into my arm?"

"Sure but why?"

"Just wanna try something."

"Alright, I hope you don't blow up from it."

His horn begins glowing with green aura, but it was different from Terra's. His  was more neon and alien, whereas Terra's was resemblant of spring grass. Slowly I felt the energy in my arm grow, and the normal feel of the arm returns once more. I feel the magic flow around the limb, tingling sensations running through the skin contacting the metal. The glow stops, the flow of energy suddenly halts. The pins-and-needles feeling slowly dissipates and everything returns to normal. I'll use minimal power so my arm still has juice.

I whisper, "Terra Ignis."  

The pebbles that are flung behind by Fenrir's strides slowly gather above my crossbow. The rocks and dirt collide with each other, creating the shape of a bolt. After the spike had taken its full shape, a strange heat radiated out from it.  A soft glow eminated from the arrow. I raise the crossbow up to eye level and slowly follow the pattern of the shadow, then lead it. I take a deep breath, slowly pull the trigger back, and send the dart flying forward at a astonishing speed. Soon the figure appeared in front of the arrow, and contact between the two was made. Echoes of something breaking are swiftly followed by a wave of heat from a small ball of flame bursting outward. The heat dissipates, leaving me with a brief moment to enjoy my shot. Everything shot, bitch.

  I pat Fenrir on the back to signal him to stop, then quickly jump off the colossal wolf and begin searching for the area where I would find the body of the thing that has been tailing us this entire time. Burn marks on several trees and a few decimated bushes indicated that this area was where the bolt had hit. I begin looking around, after five minutes or so I find a log. The wood was smashed in half around the same area as where I would have hit the shadow. Splinters of the log are embedded into the surrounding trees. It dodged? Who dodges anymore? I walk back to Fenrir and Twitch.

"Fenrir, I probably should have asked you this earlier in hindsight, but can you smell whatever is following us?"

  "Yes, I could possibly find them. The closest things near us that I can smell are, several flowers, a manticore, a cat and a few insects."

I cross my arms, "You can smell insects?"

"They are rather large bugs."

"Right.... I think we should start with the cat since it sounds the most out of place." I hop onto to Fenrir.

"Alright, I'll start following it's scent."

I grab hold of Fenrir as he begins to stride forward. We meander through the jungle, occasionally stopping in order to get the barings of our newfound prey. Fenrir continues walking forward, ready to find the feline we were tracking. I look to the sides and see no shades leaping through the trees in order to follow us. If it's smart enough to dodge then it might have formed a community with others of it's species.

  "Fenrir, search for large groupings of the cat rather then the single one."

  "Why?"

"Stop questioning me and do it. I have not once been wrong about my guesses!"

Fenrir laughs a little from that, "Except all those times you were."

"Fenrir, just look for groupings or I'll take Terra up on that offer of removing your wolfhood."

"I'm sure you would Celt." He says with a hint of sarcasm, "I'll look for groups."

  Fenrir begins sniffing the air, jerking his head left to right searching for the scents of the furballs we were looking for. His head stops moving as he sniffs in a single direction. His back stiffens and he points his body one way.

  "Do dogs actually do that?"

  "Sometimes. Mostly so our owners know where to go or if we want to confuse them."

  "Huh... Anyway did you manage to find a group of them?"

   Fenrir shakes his head, "Yes, there are a few groups nearby I could smell. The closest is the direction I pointed."

    "Alright, we will head to the closest one and if it isn't the one that followed us then we head to the next one."

   "Sounds good Celt." Twitch pipes up.

   Fenrir begins again, ducking and weaving through the trees to our new destination. I take a brief moment to let myself to enjoy the scenery. Rays of light beam down from the heavens through the canopy. Branches hang high and low, almost like knarled arms of the trees reaching to hug one another. The sole sound of grass lofting in the breeze fill my ears. Wait, where are the bird songs? I listen closely, yet only the waving of leaves and grass can be heard.

  "Fenrir, how close are we?"

   "Not too far, why?"

  "Just wanted to know, thanks."

   I take a moment to process all the information I have acquired while adding what little I know about history and nature. Let's see, no animals around the area means there is either something scaring them or they have been over hunted. A group of cats is nearby. Obvious conclusion, cats are hunters and have over hunted. I pat myself on the back for figuring that much out about our feline friends.

  "Are we there yet Fenrir?" Twitch whines.

  "No, but the village isn't to far ahead. You should reach it soon." An unknown voice spoke from behind.

  Twitch smiles, "Thanks Fenrir, hey when did your voice change?"

"I didn't say anything Twitch."

  "No, I did." The mysterious voice spoke once more.

  I turn my head around in order to see the source of the voice. A humanoid cat was sitting directly behind Twitch. He has a slender frame: tall but no visible muscle, sorta wiry. If he did it is concealed by the orange fur that covers his body. Around his neck hangs various claws and teeth held together by a bit of string. His face is concealed by the top portion of a large skull that he bears on his head. Two blue beads of light are apparent in the eye sockets of the skull. His ears poke through the top of the skull from two large oval holes. On his back was a large spear, the shaft is normal enough; however, the blade is made out of a large scale of some sort and bonded to the stick with twine similar to the necklace, except thicker and slightly darker.

    "Who might you be? And why shouldn't I shoot you?"

    He grins, "Two reasons, first I'm here to invite you to a feast in honour of such a great kill you had! Second you would be dead before you could draw your weapon."

The word 'feast' seems to get Fenrir's attention, something to keep in mind, "What kind of feast?"

"The one with a lot of eating, drinking and very bad dancing!"

  "Sounds like a feast at Asgard!"  

  Fenrir begins speeding up again, making all three passengers heads jerk backwards. His speed is a step above earlier: instead of just ducking and weaving he simply dances through the trees. Each time an obstacle passes I feel the rush of wind as the object moves behind us. The whistling of the wind is louder than ever before.

   Christ, he really must like feasts.

   Fenrir continues rushing through the jungle, and slows only when a clearing became visible in the distance. I make out a vague wall of large sticks shoved deep into the ground. As we get closer I could make out heads, feathers and bones of a variety of animals all hanging from the wall. Some of them appeared to be others to simply ward off any predator that may come to the village in search of food.  

Fenrir begins to slow down, his panting becoming more audible with each passing moment. He slows to a walk as we exit into the clearing around the village. From above, Fenrir I could see that the roofs were similar to the fence with the exception of having large leaves on top in order to make the water flow off the roof rather than through it. I look behind myself expecting the cat to be there. Nothing is behind Twitch anymore. Wow, that thing is a ninja.  I turn my head back to the village only to come face to face with a familiar skull helmet.

     "Holy shit!" I shout before I fall off Fenrir from surprise.

"Is that how your race says hi or is that introduction?" The cat turns his head to the side.

I groan slightly, "Yah, it's totally how we say hi..."

"Oh ok." He takes a moment, "Oh shit!" Then falls off Fenrir and lands directly onto me.

The cat jumps off, allowing me to catch the breath he had just knocked out of me, "You don't get sarcasm do you?"

  "Oh, that was sarcasm! Heh, sorry then." He rubs the back of his head. "Anyway, welcome to the Vena tribe village!"

I stand up, still recovering from having the wind kicked out of me. I crack my joints and the cat doesn't even flinch. My gaze moves behind him and settles upon the village. It is fairly large, several gardens were visible from the gate, each was located near a house, and is most likely that each household tended to a specific garden. The building walls are made of sticks but held more firmly with twine and some dried mud. Each house is centered around a large pit with a cage over top of it also held together with twine. At the far end was a building larger then the rest in both width and height. It's roof rose over top of all the other roofs.

I begin to follow the cat into the village. I look around, seeing all the cat people doing their business without even paying me a glance.   Weird, being so long I got so used to being stared at. This is strange. Various cats are planting and taking care of plants. Others are in small areas practicing using weapons. I see swords, axes, hammers and all sort of weapons all made of scales and or bones. As I stare a common theme occured to me: all of the cats that weren't children wear a single piece of an animal. One of them is adorned with what looks like a bone belt, and another had a had a wolf rib cage chest plate.

  We approach the large building at the end of the village. Various animal skulls hang around the house. Unlike the other houses, this one had a large porch and steps leading up to it. Must be where their leader lives. The cat leads me up the stairs and then knocks on the door. He waits a brief moment then enters the building leaving me, Twitch and Fenrir waiting outside. I hear various mummers come from inside of the house until finally two cats left the building.

There was the cat from before, standing a little prouder than earlier, and beside him is a bulkier cat. He wears several pieces of bones around his body: two skulls on his shoulders, both from a different animal, on his chest he bears several bones that got smaller as they got closer to the waist. Each bone is attached with a twine that went over his shoulders.  His legs had several bones along with a much smaller skull covering his left foot. In his hand he weilds a large sword. The sword reminds me of Griffin's from the Grand Galloping Gala.  

  "Hello fellow hunter," His voice is deep but rough, "I am Torak chief of the Vena tribe. The one who brought you was Owl, my son."

   "Well since were doing introductions, I'm David Bowie, the wolf is Scooby and the bug is Bugs Bunny." My arm buzzes with the new energy flowing into it.

The chief's expression changes into a frown, "Do not take me for a fool. I can tell when something lies to me. Tell me your actual name and show some honour."

"Alright, I'll be serious this time, I'm Celt, the wolf is Fenrir and the bug is still Bugs Bunny," He gives me a glare, "Kidding, the bug is Twitch."

Behind Torak, Owl is snickering. I didn't know if he understands the joke or just thought it was funny when someone messes with his father. His father give a quick glance back and glares at Owl with the same intensity as me.   That guy needs to calm down for a little while. Owl stoppes laughing and almost went straight as a plank. Torak lookes back at me, his face returning to a slight smile.

"Well, Celt I am glad you came to the feast."

  "Now that you brought it up, why did you invite me your tribe's feast? I'm not even the same species."

  His smile widens slightly, "Bah, it does not matter. A hunter is a hunter, whether it is a giant or a miniscule speck. Your species does not concern us."

"A wise moral to go by, young chief." Fenrir walks up beside.

"Young? I am hardly young. I have seen things you wouldn't think possible."

Fenrir gave a wolfish grin, "I have seen eons pass by me. To me you are a infant."

How about we stop that conversation before you two break into a fight." Twitch steps up.

I look down at Twitch, "I agree with Twitch let's change the subject. So why don't you tell me about the feast?"

The chief is about to speak when Owl interrupted him,  "Oh it's a great thing! There is food, drinking, music, and the fights!"

"Owl, what have I told you about interrupting me? Even if I wasn't your father, it is extremely rude to interrupt the chief." If looks could kill then he would have committed mass genocide.

"Sorry, dad." He stares harder. "I mean Chief Torak."

The chief relaxes a little, "Sorry about that, my son sometimes forgets my position and how he has to call me Chief rather then dad."

"Yeah, so what was that last bit about fights?"

"Well they are so..." The chief glares back at Owl once again instantly shutting him up.

"The fights are special part of the feasts. It's where anyone may challenge anyone else to a fight in the pit. If they challenge me then they have a chance to become chief."

"That seems to be a lot to risk on a fight." Twitch speaks up once more.

"Twitch, these are true warriors, if they did not risk that much then the fight would be pointless. This is their way of life, you should not judge it." Fenrir whispers to Twitch, just loud enough for me to hear it.

"Never mind Chief, I understand now."

The chief smiles warmly,  "That is alright Twitch, I understand how hard it is to think how we do if you have not lived our lives."

What is with this guy? One moment he has a glare that could kill you, bring you back and then kill you again and now suddenly he is all smiles...

"Anyway ,when is the feast?"

"We usually hold them at night when most the prey has gone to bed." Torak's smile fades back to a blank face.

"Alright, if we are staying till tomorrow do you think you could give us somewhere to camp out?"

The chie takes a moment to think, "You can use the training field in the in the corner of the village."

  "Dad, can I show them around the village?"

"Yes Owl, you may."  

  Owl walks over to me and grabs my arm and leads me away, "Come on I've''s  purpose. The largesthouse belongs to the chief and is where the hunters plan their hunts. Also, the Chief house had a small arsenal underneath it just in case a predator got into the village and was blocking the way to the actual arsenal. The house just beside the Chief's building is the weapon workshop, it serves as a place of education and where the hunters would arm themselves. Generally the current Weapon Master chooses several young ones to train in the art of literally making a weapon from anything. He also tells me all the weapons in the village are created from past hunts as a way to honour the death of the animals.

There is also a medical building, they use the plants that grew in and around the village to create healing potions and remedies for diseases. It also serves as a bomb factory. Brilliant. Place the bombs next to the healing potions, nothing can go wrong with that combination. Owl says that for bigger prey they combine a few volatile chemicals, and for the extremely life threatening prey they use a mineral they found, it generally causes sickness if held to long and must be in an oil until they are ready to make the bomb. When he finishes explaining it I tell him he should call it Frank. He asks why and I simply say,

"SCIENCE!"

  Needless to say it confuses him to no end. After he recovers from my mindfuck, he explains that all buildings serve a purpose and house a single family. There is also a butcher, trophy maker, scout meeting house, grave diggers and child daycare/nursery for the little ones. There is no school. Instead the children learn through direct experience at the trade they either chose or are chosen for. Everyone has their job and they are expected to do it well.

"So your dad is a little...."

Owl turns his head, "Strange, serious, weird, moody and angry?"

"Yeah..."

"My dad is chief, it's a lot of responsibility. He does everything he can to make the entire tribe happy and it's surprising how easily he can handle it."

"Wow, so you must really look up to him."

He stops and turns to face me, "Not one bit. I love my dad but I don't want to be like him in the slightest."

"That's not exactly what I thought you would say."

"Let me guess, you thought I would say, 'Yes, I do look up to my father and I hope to one day become chief just like him,' didn't you?"

    I scratch the back of my head, "Yeah, something like that."

"I don't want to be chief, that's a lot of responsibility and it would limit me more then I'd like. I'd rather be an adventurer like the ones in the stories they tell us."

Fenrir steps in, "Owl, that is a foolish thing to want. I have seen many that had the same goal, and all of them have met their ends before they could do anything really worth mentioning."

"What about you and Celt aren't you guys adventuring?" He tilts his head to the side like a kitten would.

  "In all honesty, I didn't think we would make it this far."  

  I look at the wolf, "Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence Fenrir."

   "Do you want the truth or lies?"

   "At this moment, lies..."

  "Alright, go Celt you will totally do that stuff." His tone is bored.

  "Thanks... anyway Owl if you want to be an adventurer then why no be one?"

   Owl's smile lessens, "It's apart of the tribes rules. Unless given permission by the chief, one can't leave the tribe or else they will be hunted."

"That sounds like the hive's rules. The queen would only allow a few changelings out as scouts or scavengers. If you left without her say then the swarm would come after them."

  "Sounds a bit harsh."

"Harsh or not, it's tradition. An able body is valuable thing. Now come on, I still got to show you the training ground where you will be staying." His smile returns as he began to walk forward.

"Alright." We begin following the cat once again.

  We continue to walk through the village, the strange feeling of no one watching me crept up my spine. I turn my head left and right seeing the cats doing as they were supposed to. As we walk my mind begins to wander. Poor kid, unable to do what he wants because of those that are supposed to take care of him. Brief images of my parents pop into my mind and how they completely ignored my wants and needs after the accident. I hang my head slightly, a tiny ping of guilt of leaving my parents why no clue to where I am hit me.

I look up once more, we are walking to a fairly large clearing pushed against the fence. The area is all dry solid dirt. A few dummies made from a unknown substance are spread around the outside of the field. Each one has cuts and holes from many days of training on them. The dirt has several indents most likely from the use of crushing weapons. A large ring of grass circles the area showing the boundary of the training area.

Owl stands in the center of the area and turns toward us, "Well, I've shown you the entire village. This here is the old training field."

"Does anyone use it anymore?"

"Mostly the new hunters, it's far back enough that they would only cause minor disasters while training." His smile is wider then ever.

  "Heh, funny joke."

  "No, actually it's true last training session here nearly killed half of the newbies."

He gives me a serious face mixed with a smile, "I'm not sure whether I should be impressed that they managed to almost kill themselves or just sad."

"That's what the chief said when it happened. Anyway you can stay here till the feast begins or walk around the village. I'll assume your staying over night to avoid the beasties that hunt at night, right?"

I take a moment to think, "Yah, I think we will. Twitch come on let's unpack the camp."

"Alright, Celt." Twitch walks over to Fenrir and begins poking around in the bag.

"Well I hope to see you at the feast but for now I must be going." Owl runs off into the village to leave me and the others to set up.

Twitch and I pull out two bedrolls. We both roll out the bed rolls so that they are placed near each other, but with enough room between for Fenrir to lay in. I go around the training ground collecting a few loose branches and dry leaves to use for a fire, then create a small circle of stones and place the sticks in a tepee, placing the dry leaves under it along with a scrap of paper from my bag. The sun is about to set as we finish setting up our camp. I stand and stare at our small camp.

"Fenrir, Twitch, what do you think about Owl?"

Fenrir looks over to me, " He is a good warrior but his goal is misplaced."

"I'd have to agree with Fenrir. I know he can fight but what he wants to be is unreasonable and I see why the tribe wouldn't let him go."

I take a another moment to think, "So you two think there is no way the chief would allow him to leave?"

"No." They both say in unison.

"Well then, we better get to the feast." A smile crosses my entire face.

"Celt, I know that face. that's your 'I got a stupid idea' face." Twitch says nervously.

I grab Twitch and hold him to eye level, "Yes, it is my stupid face. No, I'm not telling you what the idea is and yes you have to come. Any questions?"

"No....."  

"Good, now let's go we have a feast to attend." I drop Twitch causing him to land with a thud.

I begin walking toward the village center. Various torches were lit that made the entire village glow with a clam orange light. Several of the villagers are just leaving their huts, a few hold food or are guiding children to the main area. As we came to the central square, I see a large flame rising above a few of the houses. Around the flame are the inhabitants of the village sitting according to their respective jobs.  

Laughter echoes from the villagers, each one wearing an unusual happy smile. Several are having a contest to drink a random liquid that they must have brewed up. Others are digging into their meat viciously and laughing as they do. An aura of merriment pulses outward, causing more and more of the cats to join in the festivities. The tribe chief sits on a larger chair than the rest and is eating a large portion of meat.

As we enter the party we are happily accepted. Several cats shove food into my arms and other drinks that foam continuously. I look behind me and see Fenrir being swarmed by children, each one of them climbing all over him and laughing. I think I may have heard one of the elder cats say to put down a knife to the children, but it was most likely my imagination. Twitch is transforming for the cats and showing the different shapes that he could pull off. The cats gave off various oohs and aahs. I smile at the scenes happening before me.

The feast continues throughout the night, howls of the cats echoed through the air. The feast soon calms down a little. Many of the cats are sitting telling stories of hunts or their jobs. The chief finally stands up, causing everyone to become silent.

"Tribesmen and women, it is time for the best part of our feast! Now begins the fights!" The crowd gives a mighty cheer.

  Torak replies with a large smile, "Now who would like to challenge whom?"

  A large grey cat with a skull on his back and a small mouse on his shoulder stands up, "I, Tom, challenge Azreal in a battle of honour!"

  "I accept your challenge Tom." Another cat stands up.

  "Good, both competitors grab a weapon and enter the pit." Torak  back in his seat.

  The two cats walk to two separate weapon racks. Tom grabs a largat looked like several bones and a large scale with a sharpened blade. Azreal, a large black bast with a rib-cage chest piece, takes a thin blade resembling a katana from the rack. Both enter from opposite sides of the pit, behind them the gates closed. The chief rises up once more.

"Begin the fight of honour!"  

With that the two warrior clash against each other. Each one dances around the battle field striking and blocking at a extreme pace. The two cats show great force as their blades meet against each other. The fight begins to slow and the warriors take their distance. They begin circling each other, preparing to strike at any moment. Azreal charges forward at amazing speed holding his blade ready to pierce. Tom strikes downward only to have his blade be deflected off of the katana. Azreal closes the distance in enough time and stops mid-swing, his blade pressed against Tom's neck. A moment of silence passes until the crowd erupted with cheering.

"The victor of this fight is... Azreal!" Shouts the chief over top of the cheering crowds.

The fights continue throughout the night, each battle ending by cheers of the villagers.  Every time they fight they fight hard and fast, trading blows yet still pushing forward.he competitors fought weaving through battle like ballerinas through the dance floor. Soon the night came to a conclusion and the chief stands up once more.

"Tonight has been blessed with much honour! If there are no more challenges to be issued then I officially call this feast to a..."  

  I stood up, "I Celt the bugbear challenge Torak, tribe chief, to a fight of honour and the position of chief."

  Whispers spread around the villagers along with many faces of surprise, "Are you certain Celt? I will not be easy on you and most likely you will get hurt."

"Yes, I am prepared for it."

  The chief looks me over once, "Fine, I accept your challenge Celt. Go to the weapon rack and choose a weapon then proceed to the pit."

  I walk over to the weapon rack only to be stopped by Owl, "You challenged my father? What reason do you have to be chief?"

"My reason will be explained later but for now move. I have a battle to fight."

Owl moves to the side, the familiar feel of staring eyes returned to my body as the villagers watch me proceed to the weapon rack. I look at the weapons which held an amazing amount of variation. Large clubs made of skulls, swords with bone handles, and even a few axes were spread among the collection. One weapon catches my eye, it's handle is made of bone. The blade above it is dark brown wood lacquered in a crust of blood. The wood is built fairly sturdy, but held no edge of it's own. Instead, teeth on the side of the weapon were placed in order to not only cut the opponent, but create a saw motion as you pulled it out.  I grab the weapon, it's weight was not too much, but enough that I could use the flat end to crush my foe.  

   I walk over to Fenrir and place my crossbow in the bag. I then continue to the battlefield ready to fight Torak. There is a slope where I could enter the pit. A large gate is held up by a series of pulleys. I enter the pit and the gate shuts behind me. I look forward to see Torak holding a spear similar to the one earlier only with some feathers for decoration. The chief stands ready to fight, holding his spear out toward me and his legs bent and spread apart.

"Celt, this is you last chance to give up on the challenge." Torak shouts to me.

   I take a stance holding my blade sturdy and legs in a bent position also, "No, this is something I will do."

   "Very well. You may make the first move."

  I begin to charge forward, readying my blade to strike when he jabs forward with his spear causing me to block with the flat end of my weapon. The tip of his weapon embeds itself into the wood. I quickly jerk back, dislodging the spear from my blade. I take a few steps back and prepare my next step, but the chief makes his move first. He dashes forward swinging his blade wide. I turn to block only to have his foot connect with my face, sending me back.

"Always watch your opponent, next time I won't be so nice."

I growl at him and get back into position. I slow my breathing and begin to circle as does the chief. A few moments pace before the chief strikes once more. He swings downward, causing me to use my arm to stop the blade. I use my free arm to slash at him, the blade creating a swooshing noise. The chief jumps using the blade as a launch pad in order to launch himself over me. He brought his spear behind him cutting my entire back, as I was trying to get him back in my sight. I quickly turn to face my enemy only to receive another kick to my face. I loose balance and he takes that moment to strike forward with his spear. I life my sword up in time, but the force of the blow causes me to fall backwards.

I look up from the ground and see him flying over me jabbing his spear down. I roll to the side and narrowly avoid being impaled. I push dirt behind me as I scramble forward off the ground at the chief. Holding my weapon with both hands, I swing forward with as much force as I could muster. He lifts his spear and deflects my sword over him as he jabs his spear at my arm. I jump back and regain my position, I take a quick moment to spit some blood that had collected in my mouth.

The chief take a much more lazy position, " Celt, there is no way you can beat me. I have experience. All you have is brute strength with little skill behind it."

I clench my teeth and stare at him with fury in my eyes, "Fine, Celt this time I will not go easy. I will strike at you with full force."

"Good, I was getting bored." I laugh a little.

The chief takes position once more, his stance becomes sturdier than it was before. He charges at a new speed I didn't know he had. He begins to repeatedly jab at my body, allowing me only to dodge or block the strikes as they came in. I am forced against a wall, the feeling of cold dirt crawled up my back. He spear lunges forward as I dodge, causing it to embed itself in the wall. I take this brief reprieve to strike at the chief only for him to jump onto the handle of his spear just at the moment I thought I had him.

  I look back at him, a smile plastered across his face, "Smug bastard!"

  I quickly recover and take a wide swing at the chief which he easily blocks with his spear. I lunge forward with my other arm, my fist connecting with his face as I felt the subtle crack. The chief reels back, his smile long gone. I ready my blade and smile at the chief.  

He charges forward, slashing his spear rather then jabbing. I manage to block his strikes once more but his rapid pace left no room to attack. There must be a pattern. Let's count the tempo. 1, 2, 3, 4... 5. 1,2,3,4... 5. I found it, every four strikes there is a pause. He continues to strike and with each one I count to double check to see if my theory is correct and I found it is. I wait a few more strikes and then count. 1. His hits comes down hard right. 2. A left swing almost makes it to me but I manage to block it. 3. His last strike comes down causing me to be pushed back a little bit. 4, now. I must strike now! I lunge forward in the short period of time he has given me. I bring the flat end of my sword against his side sending him to the ground and his spear away from him.

I rush over to him before he can recover and hold my blade over his neck. I stare down at him, my breath is heavier then I thought it would be. I push the flat end of the blade against his throat.

"Celt, you should know something."

"What would that be?"

"When you hold a weapon against someone you want to keep it a fair distance away from them or else they can do this." His leg comes up and kicks my hand, causing me to drop my weapon.

  He quickly recovers and holds the blade against me. The teeth face toward me as he prepares to deliver the final strike. He swings down, and it seems as if  the wind itself was shredded as it descends. I raise my arm and stop the blade. He pushes hard, but with little success.  

"Before this fight comes to a end I must ask. Why didn't you let your son go?"

  He laughs as he raises the blade off my arm, "That's a stupid question boy! I kept him here because I wanted to!" His voice holds an obvious lie.

"Alright." My voice loses all emotion.

I stare at my enemy and let my blade come out from my arm. The chief smiles, and readies himself. He lunges forward, his blade came to my side but it was slower than the spear. I see, the extra weight slows him down. I grab the blade mid air, then the shattering of the teeth echoes outward. I squeeze hard on the wood causing it to shatter from the pressure. He jumps back and reaches for his spear. I dash forward, grabbing the spear in his hands before he could begin to lunge once more. I squeeze once more, causing the handle to shatter.  

  I hold my blade arm up to his throat, "The victor is Celt. The new chief is Celt the bugbear," Torak said.

The crowd gives mixed reactions. A few simply stand there clueless, others clap and the rest give me dirty looks. I walk to the center of the pit and stand proudly. I stare up at the villagers and they stare down at me.

"Members of the Vena tribe, I Celt the bugbear, your new chief, hereby give permission to Owl to leave the tribe freely as well as myself. This order can not bet undone by any chief after me Do you all understand?" I receive several nods.

"Good, I now hereby forfeit my status as chief to Torak. He is now your chief may he lead you well." I give a smile to Torak, which he briefly returns.

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