The lone figure trudged up the side of the hill, his seven foot frame taking in huge strides with each step. Finally he reached the summit, just as the sun broke over the rim of the horizon, spreading itÕs rays over the town of Ciston. The figure then threw back his hood, revealing a pair of horns, along with the rest of his minotaur features. He scanned down upon the new empty city, the streets, the guild itself. Soon the dayÕs battles would begin, and all the bragging and boasting done in the past week would be swept aside, the winners at the top, the losers on the bottom.
His gaze then wandered off to the right, where the swamp lay. Surely even the Saurian Champion which had killed him there some time ago was sleeping now. An almost imperceptible smile came to his face, as he unconsciously felt for the scar that ran across his chest. Yes, someday when he had gained enough experience, he would hunt the giant lizard man down and return the favor, only the beast wouldnÕt have any god to resurrect it! He smiled once again them made his way back down the hill, back to town, to prepare for the coming battles.
It was now about an hour before the battles were to begin, so Dark Min had to finish his errands quickly. First he stopped off at the temple and made his usual 20 gold crown donation. His mysterious resurrection in the swamp had changed his attitude regarding the whole good vs. evil thing. He had always been pretty much neutral before, but now he felt a commitment to do his part for the greater good, no matter how small.
Now he had to go to the guild hall to find his buddy Varthlokkur and place a few bets. He rushed around the corner just as Toeless Ted, the infamous town leper came hobbling in the opposite direction. At the last second, Dark Min managed to get out of the way of the leper, his dexterity surprising for a minotaur of his size. "Have you seen my pinkie?" Ted moaned pitifully. "It was here just a second ago." But the leperÕs plea fell on deaf ears as Dark Min had taken off down the street.
Eventually he made it to the guild hall, and found Varthlokkur. He shook the elfÕs hand heartily, and they reminisced of their travels to the swamp together for awhile. Finally Dark Min pulled out a rather large pouch and handed it to the elf-mage. "Welp, hereÕs the 100 I owe you. ThatÕs the last of it. WeÕll talk about our plans for the tournament later. Gotta run." Dark Min went off to place a few bets on some of the challenge fights for the following week, then to the armory to suit up and make his last minute preparations for the imminent battles.
"Nom the Buchanan versus Dark Min!" the crier shouted hoarsely across the jam packed arena. The audience settled down now, turning their attention to the match at hand. Dark Min stepped out onto the arena sands and glared at Nom with malice. He had beaten the Dangerous Alliance member every single time in one-on-one combat, and yet the fool continued to insist he was the better of the two.
"Good luck, may we bring honor to both our families." Nom growled.
"Yeah, right," Dark Min thought, "IÕll honor you with a spear through the groin pal!"
Sadie, the guild leader, gave the signal, and the fight began. Dark Min got himself into the proper fighting stance, instinct taking over. Taking advantage of a slight hesitation, Nom stepped forward and swung with his halberd. "Predictable, predictable." thought Dark Min as he easily parried the attack with his short spear, then spun around and lunged towards the out of position Nom, wounding him in body substantially. "Tis nothing but a flesh wound." Nom growled in pain.
A few more attacks and parries were exchanged, but then Nom unleashed a brutal cut with his pole-arm, punishing Dark Min in the left arm. His chain mail took some of the damage, but the injury was serious. "Damn it, wake up!" Dark Min chastised himself, wincing in pain from the blow.
The fight now began to heat up, each warrior managing to wound the other a few times, the outcome unsure. The sun glared down on the two as they circled each other, blood flowing from their open wounds and sweat from their pores, the pain evident on each of the rivalÕs faces. "Come on now, one more shot and youÕve got this loser!" Dark Min thought, pushing the pain out of his mind. Seeing an opening, Dark Min lunged, but Nom ducked out of the way. Before Nom could react again though, Dark Min drove forward once again, this time his spear slicing across his foeÕs head with maximum force. NomÕs legs buckled, as he struggled to keep consciousness, but eventually he collapsed to the sand. The roar from the spectators was now deafening, as Dark Min walked over to NomÕs prostrate body. A scowl spread across his face, then he broke his spear over his knee, threw the remains onto Nom, spat, and walked off. "Yes," he thought, "todayÕs gonna be a good day."