Heddro fought a few more rounds of the tournament, eventually getting beaten by the wild man with the collar. It’s scary to think that guy would be moving on to the finals, because who knows what nastiness his bites were spreading.
Helios, our new cleric friend, was staying close to the arena to tend the bloodied fighters. Iceborn, Kriv and Cherry stayed at the arena also, sizing up the competition. After Heddro finished his fight, the two of us went for a walk around the fair. He didn’t say much as we walked through the streets of Fellhaven, but I could tell he wanted to. There was a look in his eyes that said he was happy to be there, but a plague of memories he couldn’t escape.
In a short while, word spread that the tournament finals had begun and the finalists would be facing Kriv. Wanting to see which lucky fighters would take home trophies, Heddro and I made our way back to the arena. Cherry seemed less interested in the fights and more interested in provoking one from Heddro, constantly shooting spitwads at him or tossing bits of her snack. He ignored her, but I was getting very irritated.
Kriv stepped into the arena, the crowd cheered wildly for the hero. His first opponent would be wild man. It was nasty, but not even close. Though the wild man got some bites in, he actually did very little damage to Kriv’s scaly hide. Kriv wailed on him with massive fists and feet, causing the wild man to stumble a bit at the end. Shaking off the dizziness, the wild man paid no attention to his battered face and was ready for a fight to the death when the judges called the fight. His master quickly tied the leash back on him and dragged him away.
“Ugh, bitey thing,” Heddro shuddered as he watched the wild man leave the arena. He rubbed his arm in the spot he had been attacked earlier in the day.
The last fighter to reach the top of the ladder and have the chance to fight for a trophy, Atrak, the warforged. Kriv groaned as he pondered where he might be able to strike the metal warrior. Iceborn slapped him on the shoulders and gave him a few motivating words and the fight began.
Atrak was not particularly agile, but he was able to take the hits with no trouble. Kriv relied more on his combat experience to know when to dodge the metal assault. For a while it seemed like neither was getting anywhere, and the fighters paced the arena as if it were a ballroom. Finally, Kriv spun around and laid a heavy, clawed foot into Atrak’s torso and the metal bent with a horrific sound. You could hear the crowd’s shock and excitement. At this point, the spectators became very vocal, cheering and shouting. The fight had gotten very interesting now that the unstoppable Atrak had been shown to be vulnerable.
Having none of this, Atrak hurled everything he had into the fight, seeing Kriv as his first worthy opponent of the day. Sheer force bludgeoned Kriv’s body as Atrak’s fists and feet ignored any attempt to block. Equally ferocious, Kriv roared in with carefully timed strikes. Iceborn coached his friend from the edge of the arena, giving him encouragement to go on in spite of the pain. Both fighters backed off for a moment to gather their strength and then quickly charged in for an intense clash. The sounds of flesh on metal rung out at an incredible pace as the warforged and dragonborn seemed ever more eager to reveal a victor. Kriv was beginning to look as though he would soon be out of the fight, but his opponent didn’t look so great either. Hearing the cheer of his friends gave him just enough power to rush in with a furious chain of blows. The final strike sundered rivets and the pieces of Atrak’s torso popped open as he staggered to his knees. Pausing for a moment and staring up at Kriv, the kneeling Atrak brought up a fist and tapped out.
The crowd screamed with excitement. Kriv helped Atrak to his feet, and because the fight had been so tremendously close, Kriv presented Atrak with a trophy. “I might have won, but you kicked my ass. You earned this.” Atrak accepted the trophy, looked it over and then held it up to his shoulder to see how it might look as ornamentation. Helios met Kriv as he left the arena, looking him over for injuries.
Day One of the festival was coming to a close, but the first night was just beginning. Music and light filled the air of Fellhaven.
