The sun was rising, the sky gold and crimson beyond the mist that rested over the city. Only a slight chill in the air could be felt with not a bit of wind as the guild slowly gathered in the open area behind the main structure. It was open, leaving plenty of room for sparring, relaxing, and all kinds of activities. Around it on either side were tall stone walls, the walls of the neighboring buildings. And on the far side of the flat clearing from the guild hall itself was water, a large sort of pond that was the centerpiece of the city. Yeah... the guild even had their own fishing spot in their back yard.

A sparring arena had been set up marked by a circle of flags that gave a wide open area for clear movement. A tournament was set to begin soon that a few of the guild's stronger members had signed up for. The first round was going to begin soon, those that gathered only had to wait for the rest of the lot to show up, and then for the guild master to announce who the first two combatants would be.

Artura herself was fully armored, as she almost always was. Showing off that white and gold armor that not a soul in the guild didn't know the strength of. She sat in a throne like chair which while it looked fancy and imposing, it was more for the purpose of giving her a good view of the makeshift arena clear from the chatter of the other members so she could focus on judging the skills of her guild members.

Now this tournament didn't mean anything. A hundred gold coins was on the line but, aside from bragging rights nothing else would be earned. There was no title or special rights, and certainly this wasn't going to count towards their Adventuring Status. After all, the rule that limited what quests a guild member could take on had only just recently been implimented, and because of this everyone was recorded as a "Rank 1 Adventurer". Even Artura herself was only rank 1. She didn't intend to impart rules on her guild that she would not follow herself, and so she would climb through the ranks just as they would.

Still it was events like this that brought the guild together in some friendly competition, and reminded them of each other's power. When they faced each other in combat, they would be able to see first hand that they could count on each other's strength, when it matched, or outmatched their own.

Before long, Artura called out. "Kaito, Grey. You two seem ready enough. The two of you are up first. Get started whenever ready. In the ring, please..." The guild had a bit of a history of fights happening all over the hall, friendly or otherwise. She would prefer if any fights today were kept to the arena, even if it was just a section of the ground circled by flags.

He woke before dawn and stood from his bed in the dark room with a grin on his lips and made his way to his nightstand where perched nearly two dozen scented candles. Grabbing them all, he placed them in a large circle in the center of his room, proceeded to light them, then sat in the center, within the amber glow of the candles. On his lap rested his for large swords, and above them, his porcelain mask.

Kaito Fen studied the mask, holding it before him, gazing into its empty sockets. His breathing changed then, deeper, fuller, allowing the air to travel into his stomach as he brought a cloth damped with scented oil and began wiping it over the mask. Once he was done with that, he proceeded to unsheathe one of his blades, brought out a whetstone and began, rhythmically, gliding the stone along the single edged blade. Over and over, until it seemed with each thrust, the blade sang, screeching its dreadful promise.

He did this for all of his four swords, and by the time he was done, his naked upper body was sheathed in sweat, a deadly calm settling on his shoulders. He rose in one smooth motion and looked out his singular window. False dawn had arrived, and the smile returned to his face.

Walking over to the wardrobe, he picked out a particular set of robes, the left half of the upper body cut away – like most of his robes. This particular set was a mottled blue and white, stitched at the right shoulder and upper arm with small square plates of leather and steel; the flanks at the waist were also stitched with pyramidal steel studded leather. Underneath the robes, he wore loose pants of the same color and a sash across his waist where his swords hung.

Putting on his mask and slipping on a pair of slippers, he walked out of his rooms and out to the back of the guild house where he saw the tournament grounds prepared. He saw Artura in her armored splendor seated on a throne and smiled internally.

Then she called his name.

He regarded Grey Skies for a long moment then turned his head and walked over to the circle, hoping it looked somewhat ominous and foreboding. He was going to make a show of this, how could he not? Everyone was watching. They were here to witness.

Grey had been awake for hours, staring at the gentle moon filling the sky with her light. So many songs could be derived from her beauty alone, as she stood with such grace among the stars and clouds alike, reflecting the harsher light of the sun. In her hands, Grey held her oud, occasionally playing a few lines of harmony to accompany the sounds of the evening. Sitting atop the Guild's base, she felt at peace with the world. She could hear the songs of nature, whispering in her ears- the distant crashing waves of the ocean, the breath of sleeping animals, even the bits of wind trapped among the leaves.

The sun began to rise, and Grey felt a yawn burst forth. She slipped into a shadow, flitting between darknesses until she found herself back in her own room. Barren as an empty sea, the only decoration was a stand in the corner, onto which she placed her oud. Her grey robe hung from a rod beside her cot, alongside her dress and cloak. Considering the manner of the tourney, she chose to wear the robe.

First, though, she pulled from beneath the cot a roll of cloth bandages. Careful and delicate, she wrapped her chest and groin lightly, to bind herself to a manageable state to fight. The robe was shapeless enough that no one would see this work, but it granted her a sense of security anyways. She slipped the silk on, over her body, and lowered the hood over her face, casting a shadow across her features. The dim nature of the shadow over her face offered her a sort of invisibility; one could see her, just as one can see every piece of furniture in a room, their attention would just be diverted elsewhere. She was, when her hood was down, nearly impossible to pay attention to- until battle begins.

She was a bard, sure, a classically trained one at that. A half elf, even- she was meant to be dramatic. But it just was not in her nature, an affect of her personality gifted by her deceased mother, no doubt. It was not modesty. Merely, she had grown up not wanting to stand out, and this had affected her personality and style alike. Thus, Grey simply walked out of her room, and through the halls, until she reached the grounds for the tourney, and waited until the others arrived. She considered a nap, watching the sun with scorn in her eyes.

When Artura entered, Grey remained hidden in her dark corner, unseen, and quiet. Grey watched the guild mother with the corners of her mouth almost twitching into a smile. She loved Artura, almost as much as she loved the moon. Not wanting to delay the start of the tourney, Grey stepped out of the shadows, and waited to be noticed. Kaito entered soon after the announcement, with his flare of exuberant flamboyance. Grey admired his strength- for a man without a face, he was the most expressive she had ever known. Grey maintained her composure, face locked in a serene look of ambivalence, and walked up to the circle.

She removed her hood, and held out a hand.

Shandria was in the usual place she could almost always be found in. Somewhere close to Artura. Perhaps sprawled out across the top of the throne-like chair, or resting her head on the armrest. Her exact position changed over the couple hours of the morning that everyone was gathering and she looked rather tired, or like she was about to fall asleep. Most knew that was the usual state for her, bored and on the verge of needing a nap no matter how rested she truly was.

Now just because she sat there next to the throne on her knees leaning against the throne, or atop it lying on her side, this didn't mean she was some kind of pet. Just because she shared characteristics with a dragon didn't mean she was an animal... and besides dragons were the furthest things from beasts one could get. Except for maybe the Angels but, who knew if they really existed. Angels were a concept of but one religion of many and they certainly hadn't come to help when the demons invaded.

Either way the reason she was always so close to Artura was because of their history together and Shandria's mentality of looking up to the human. She had lived three nearly five times as long as this human and yet she felt there was so much she could learn from her, and felt her own strengths paled in comparison to hers, especially in the wisdom department. After all, in just under fifty years the human had created a guild that protected an entire kingdom from threats the army couldn't deal with. Heroes of the people, champions of the land... in over two hundred and thirty years, what had Shandria accomplished? She was just a member of that prestigious group, and only for a couple years now.

The Dragonkin sighed to herself as Artura called out who would be fighting, signaling the beginning of the tournament. She herself wore little more than strings, but Dragonkin were very different from other mortal races. They had little need to cover themselves up as their scales were natural clothing. It was difficult to ever consider a Dragonkin nude when they had nothing to hide. Plus she didn't do armor, it wasn't her thing. Her scales were like steel as it was, and she preferred staying far from her enemy regardless.

She watched the two enter the little arena, her tail swaying about as she spoke up just barely enough for the two to hear her. "Oh my, Kaito is doing his quiet ominous act. Shh, don't tell him how silly he looks or he might break his composure. And we'd never know! Also hope Grey doesn't pass out... isn't it like way past time for her to be sleeping?" She said this genuinely, not in a mocking way knowing the girl was usually going to sleep around this time.

As for Silvia, well she was there to enjoy the spectacle for what it was, and that was mostly just some friendly bouts. Rather than trying to pull out something to sit on, she was content to lay spread out on the ground, her arms resting behind her head as she watched the proceeding fights as well as to wait for her own match to start. Clad in some light leather and flowing cloth she certainly looked like an everyday villager, yet she was most certainly not one, still she could understand if someone were to make such a mistake.

The Pugilist strained her neck upwards to glance at Artura, the Guild Master, looking regal as always in her full plate. Silvia could never understand why anyone would wear such heavy armor, it slowed a fighter down so much, yet at the same time she recognized how much their fighting styles differed. Then of course Shandria was right there beside their master like always, and Silvia couldn't even start to guess how deep the relationship between those two really was, still just looking from the outside she could at least tell they were pretty close.

When Artura announced the next fighters, Silvia sat up to get a better look at the upcoming spar. Kaito was interesting and mysterious, mainly due to the mask he always wore. She also found watching him fight to be pretty fun, so to hear he was about to enter the ring was fairly exciting. Plus he was just fun to hang around, she definitely liked how he could joke around so easily. As for Gray, well honestly Silvia didn't have much to say. The half-elf has always kept to herself which didn't exactly facilitate friendship in a certain Pugilist's modest opinion, but maybe with time she could finally open up a little. Whatever the case was, Silvia was looking forward to seeing their little bout, although personally she hedged her bets on Kaito, not that she was actually gambling any coin.

A desolate lump hidden under layers of fur and cloth blankets shuttered slightly as it felt the warmth of the morning sun on its back. Slowly, the figure of a large man emerged from the covers with a mighty yawn, matched with an equally long stretch. Feet slid across the floor as he groggily rubbed his eyes, promptly taking a tumble as his path crossed with the armor he had haphazardly thrown aside the night before. Muttering in a frustrated tone, he continued the process of dressing and preparing for the miniature tournament. Strapping his chest plate down, the man grabbed a set of 3 blades. He unsheathed the top most blade, a matte dark grey surface with a light reflective luster revealed a pair of wild green eyes staring intently at the runes engraved into the weapon.

With a tilted grin, Gareth leaped through the guild complex and exited to the backyard with an upbeat gait. He scanned the field for a moment, before moving towards Silvia while watching the duel between Kaito and Grey. Unceremoniously, Gareth plopped down beside Silvia with an idle expression. "Good morning Silvia, have you fought already?" Gareth's slanted smile hung from his face lazily as he basked in the glow of the rising sun. Although appearing somewhat indifferent, Gareth excitedly anticipated his match as he eyed the duel before him. There were few things that could improve his day more than a few spars in the morning.

Artura looked down to Shandria and smirked. "Come now Shandria, let him play his mind games. Everything matters in a battle from beginning to end, even before the combat starts." She stood up and looked down at the two, and up to the rest who were watching. "Today we will find out who the strongest person in the guild is. You will earn little more than bragging rights, but there is more to it than a show of strength. As you all know, recently quests have been divided between five tiers of difficulty. All of us, myself included, are starting out at rank one and will work our way up. Becasue of this, rank four, and rank five quests will be temporarily prohibited. Rank two quests can be done if two or more rank one members take part, and a rank three quest can be done if three or more take part. What this means is, if you want to do the more difficult quests you will have to work together as a guild like never before. Not just becasue of a quest's difficulty, but because you are literally prohibited from doing quests above your rank without aid."

She looked around at the different members of the guild. Shandria, Kaito, Grey, Gareth, Silvia. Even her own daughter likely lurking around somewhere, and of course all the other members of the guild. "I trust in all of you, to protect each other and use each other's strengths. But first you all have to see those strengths for yourselves. So this tournament will allow you to enter combat with your fellow guild members, and see first hand what strengths they offer. What power they hold and how reliable in a fight they are. There is no better way to get to know a person than to fight them one on one."

She sat back down on her "throne" aka big chair, one leg crossing over the other. "That being said don't try to kill each other. There's not enough of us to be throwing our lives away in duels. So have a nice, clean fight." She held her hands up and motioned to each of the combatants. "Grey, this is your brother. Kaito, this is your sister. For a short time, you will be enemies. But don't lose yourselves to rage in combat, and don't do anything you will regret. Hold back, and you will lose. Go overboard, and you will lose family. That is your challenge here today in this arena."

Little did anyone know the little flags that made the circle of the arena, and by far gave plenty of room to move around, had runes etched into them. It was a protective barrier, and neither side could suffer fatal wounds. After leaving the circle, their bodies would be reversed in time to the point they entered, restoring their energy and mending any wounds. But it wasn't any fun if they knew that. If the threat of mistakes and death wasn't real, they wouldn't take it as seriously. And Artura needed them to see each other's feelings, even behind a mask. Every swing of the sword, every spell cast. If one was holding back for the other's sake, they would see it. They would understand the emotions going through their mind. The danger of hurting a fellow guild member, a member of their family. And at the same time, they would see their strength to push past that danger and win.

Little else mattered now but a chance at victory, and the truest victory was bringing the guild closer together.

Within the large circle, Kaito watched as Grey Skies made her way to stand in front of him, all the while slowly following her with his head. There were similarities, he noted, between them, many things that they shared together. A sort of, separation from the rest of the world, from the way they dressed. Grey Skies with her shadows, and of course him with his mask. He found these things interesting; but there were also vast differences.

Despite his mask, Kaito Fen was sociable and tried to befriend everyone, something that wasn’t entirely too easy for obvious reasons. It was after all an estrangement of sorts, but that never stopped him. However he hadn’t seen much of Grey Skies before, he knew of her, and what little he knew was and could piece together himself was that she was a shy – and nocturnal – individual, only a few had the privilege of befriending her in truth. Perhaps this would create that bond of friendship between them.

Kaito Fen looked down at the hand offered to him and he took it, then looked directly into Grey Skies’s eyes. “Let us make this a spectacle,” he said low enough that only the two of them could hear. “One which no fight after this will be its equal in grace and beauty.”

He stepped back then, turning his back to Grey Skies and walked to his spot of the circle, then turned back around. Truthfully, he cared little for winning or losing. It was a fight among friends, there were far more important things at stake. Like dazzling everyone around him. What would be the point in winning a bout through brutish strength? Everyone would be stunned, no doubt, but such a fight would have been a grave injustice. Its soul would have been stripped away, robbing everyone of witnessing the beauty and the art that came with martial prowess.

Kaito Fen, however, would give this fight its due rights. It’s been too long since he sparred, thus it demanded – just as well that he was first to fight – something the others would never forget.

He drew two of his swords from their scabbards and got into his stance, his swords humming into the windless morning air. Without moving too much of his head, he noted the shadows around him and those closest to him as well as the various shadows around the ring. He would need to take careful note of their positions in this fight. He twirled his swords a couple of times warming up his wrists and advanced on Grey Skies.

At his whisper, Grey nodded. Lowering her hand, she stood tall, gazing at him. She did not speak, merely watching as he moved away. When he removed the swords from their scabbards, Grey watched with awe as he twirled them with ease. The rhythm of his movements was exact, like a metronome, and she could feel the beat of the fight beginning already. Almost swaying to that constant drum, she kept note of it in her head. She waited, patient, as he advanced, until he was close enough to strike.

Before he could, though, she collapsed to the ground, rolling beneath his legs into his shadow. In an instant, she became ethereal, disappearing into his shadow completely. A moment later, she appeared again, this time from a shadow on the opposite end of the ring, far from his position. With distance on her side, she began to sing quickly.

"Tu co la le se, ah re to ca se, el me u in fe."

Her voice was soft, flowing with the beauty only a bard's may. Her song was a short song, of breathy, nonsensical words, accompanied only by the swish of his swords through the air. From her voice, and from the shadows of the folds of her robe, an illusion of sorts appeared. Six snakes composed of pure darkness slithered from the silk, a distinct sound similar to escaping steam rising from their shadowy tongues. They curled around her robes, swirling shadows pressed against her, gently, waiting to be commanded.

"Two. Forth."

Two of the snakes writhed in pleasure, as they descended from her robe, and advanced upon Kaito. Moving only slightly faster than a normal snake, these two approached with a zealous lust for flesh, shadows swimming on the Earth towards their target. Though ethereal for the moment, their size meant that they would take on physical characteristics sooner than other illusions- at the very least, their bite would sting. It would take several minutes yet for their bodies to constrict anything in the real world.

The other four snakes stayed on Grey's robe, wrapping themselves into a shield at her torso, slithering still to provide movement and flexibility. Grey did not seem to mind their presence, rather taking confidence in their grip on her body. Evident through the look in her eyes, Grey was in charge, but had given her trust and body completely to the shadows. She let her two snakes advance, all the while eyeing Kaito's magnificent swords.

Kaito Fen raised his left sword in a defensive maneuver on instinct as Grey suddenly moved into action. He didn’t expect at all for her to roll into his shadow and disappear, only to reappear at the other end of the circle. He breathed out, and lowered his swords. He recognized that she didn’t want to get close to his swords, and he also recognized the folly in running after her. So he stood where he was and cocked his masked head when she started singing.

The melody coming from her voice was magnificent, he could see how those same melodies could sway the rhythm of his dance. If only they had been fighting together. He reminded himself it wasn’t the time to be lamenting such things, and this was further pointed out by the two shadow snakes making their way towards him, somewhat ethereal but becoming more and more solid as they slithered their way towards him.

He started walking backwards towards the opposite end of the large circle, always keeping the snakes more than a sword’s length from him, and swing his sword occasionally to keep them at bay, and occasionally enticing them on. He thought to end it, to swing his sword and lop their heads off, but they didn’t look completely real yet, as though they were flitting in and out of reality, which meant his swords were going to be pretty useless. But did that mean the same for them? He wasn’t going to risk it to find out, they could be poisonous for all he knew. Could she even conjure poison? That was another thing he wasn’t willing to test.

Close to the edge, yet some distance from the nearest shadow, he started going around the ring, and began twirling one of his swords in a dizzying pattern slowly getting faster and faster, then joined the other hand in; before long both his swords were twirling fiercely in his hands, the blades jumping from hand to hand in an effort to draw everyone’s attention to his swords. To witness his deadly skill. A waste of time, he knew, but every good show needed suspense.

Then, He turned his head subtly and grinned savagely beneath his mask and after a moment looked back and noted then the snakes looked more or less… real? He could be wrong, but he needed to risk it…

Then, with sudden motion, now only half a dozen paces from Grey Skies, he swung the sword in his right hand across the snakes’ heads and let the sword go near the end of its arch, letting it fly directly towards Grey’s thighs and pivoted towards her, unsheathing another sword as he burst into a run, in full speed, directly towards her.

Grey watched as Kaito twirled his blades, but did not pay heed to the show. She knew his tactic would disorient her, and put her off balance. Instead, she watched the faces in the audience, trying to interpret their opinions of the situation. Most of them seemed to admire Kaito- indeed, he was the superior fighter- while pitying the poor girl without armor. Her ambivalent expression turned to a slight frown, as she refocused her attention, back onto Kaito.

He swung at the snakes at the perfect moment, as they became solid enough to destroy. The two attacking snakes melted into the shadows, dissipated by the swing of his blade, with a hiss of steam. Grey stepped back into her shadow, turning ethereal just in time to let the sword pass through her body. Her eyes widened as the metal flew through her, landing outside of the ring. The four snakes on her chest clung tighter, the sounds of steam growing angrier, as she faced Kaito head on. They turned their heads to hiss at the approaching figure, but Grey spoke before they could act for their brethren.

"Four. Blades."

The four snakes slithered immediately to her arms, locking themselves into constricting spirals around her forearms, and twirling around each other to create two long and blunt blades. They extended directly from her forearms, as though extensions of her limbs, clinging to her through her robe. Knowing she was much slower than the elf, and that choosing to evade would only delay the inevitable, she locked the two blades before her in a blocking formation, and sang.

"En fo ti, el la co, pe ke no fo te."

With each syllable, her blades grew more solid. Shadows crept up from her feet, swirling around her robe into thin shields, like armor, covering the vital areas of her torso, and neck. Patches formed over her vital organs, strengthening with each passing moment. She relaxed her knees and elbows, breathing deeply, preparing for his blow, and ready to block.

As Kaito Fen ran towards Grey Skies, he saw shadows writhing around her arms to become elongated swords and he also noted the armor. He took all of this into consideration in the few moments it took him to cross the distance between them.

Then he was before her.

His left sword went into a fierce upward arch, connecting with her crossed shadowy blades in an effort to draw them up to expose her abdomen wherein the pommel of his right sword would smash against ideally forcing the air out of her lungs, then he would ease the pressure on his left sword spin it on its axis so that the pommel faced her and would slam it into her face followed by a quick slash at her face with the blunt side of his right sword and another swing from his left before drawing back in a spin where his foot would strike her head for a final blow.

When their blades collided, Grey reacted. Putting all her strength into her stance, she held her ground, and sang a single word.

"Snare."

Her snakes collapsed from their formerly rigid positions, and slithered around the enemy blade, locking it into place above her crossed arms. The shadows could not break the metal, but they could certainly constrict its movement almost completely.

And she still had one foot in the shadows.

Seeing the second blade come flying towards her exposed chest, her reflexes kicked in against her better judgement, and she became ethereal, teleporting into Kaito's shadow, standing right behind the man. His sword clashed against her shields- which she had not sung to follow her- causing them to shatter.

Unsure of how to proceed, with no time to sing another shadow, Grey did the first thing she could think of, and punched him in the left kidney from behind. She then sank back into his shadow, following it, to remain invisible.

@SaintRice

---

Silvia gave a short wave to the hulking figure of a man who decided to join her. "Hey there, uh... Gareth, right?" She was reasonably confident she got his name right, she didn't have any reason to think otherwise. "No, haven't fought anyone yet, just been watching up until now. It is a nice day for a good old fashioned brawl, huh?" She punctuated her statement by throwing a good natured punch in the air, her form steady and practiced.

After that she kept silent to allow Gareth a chance to speak, but more importantly she was focused on the sparring session happening right before them. The combat was faced paced, but Silvia was able to keep up with the action well enough to understand what was going on. She had to admit that Grey had some pretty neat powers, yet she also felt that Kaito was the more skilled fighter between the two, hell at the moment she was certain that he had the upper hand on the half-elf girl.

She turned to the other man. "Say, Gareth, who do you think is going to win this little duel?"

@Damiann47

---

Gareth leaned back on his arms as he sprawled across the grass. His discerning eyes watched the fight as the passing breeze swept his disheveled hair to the side. He silently observed the spar following Silvia's question until it almost seemed like he hadn't heard her. After a long pause, he finally answered through a lazy smile, "It's not easy to tell, Kaito seems fairly experienced in fighting, but I think it depends more on his ability to adapt to the shadow girl's abilities." Gareth was new to the guild after all and had only met the more outgoing members, he was unfortunately not yet acquainted with Grey, "The girl lacks the attack potential to win this fight. She would make for a killer assassin though." He chuckled affably. Despite the intensity of the fight, Gareth seemed to be more intent on watching the guild master and the woman beside her, as if appraising them.

Silence persisted for a moment before Gareth thoughtfully shot back with another question, "What about you? It's not hard to tell you're more of a brawler type, but you have any special moves? Advanced techniques?" He turned his head as he asked the question, facing Silvia with a sly smirk that implied a double meaning.

From that smile Silva caught some of his intention, after all she wasn't too dense, or naive to miss it. She opted to ignore it for the most part other than a slow shake of the head. "Not particularly, I am damn fast and strong, may not look like it but I can take down a man of your size in a few blows." She stopped a moment to carefully look over Gareth, before nodding to herself. "Well if you were of the normal villager variety, but that isn't the case here, huh?"

Silvia then gave the man a small grin. "That said, I once was a mage in training, believe it or not, so I do have a magical bone in my body, still that doesn't mean I've exactly found a way to combine my fighting style with magic." To her she didn't have a problem with telling this much about herself, Gareth by all means should be treated as a friend. Despite the tournament and how they may fight, they were still guild mates.

Kaito Fen’s eyes widened as the blades dissociated into snakes that wrapped around his sword, and was further shocked by the fact that Grey Skies disappeared into the shadows. He expected something like that to happen during the fight, but seeing it happen in reality was unsettling.

But he was quick to recover.

He flipped his sword once more and quickly chopped at the snakes to free his sword when a fist struck him from behind in the kidney. A sharp, agonizing pain flashed through him and he instinctively spun towards where he’d thought the hit came from to see nothing there. He blinked and cursed to himself; this magic of Grey’s was unsettling and he knew he needed to adapt, somehow draw her out in front of him if he could.

Then he plunged forward into a roll from the adjacent shadows and once again towards the center of the ring and coming up to a stand and fluidly shifted into a wider stance. His heart hammered in his chest and his side was flaring up in pulses of pain, and yet he still chuckled lightly. This was turning out to be far more fun than he’d thought. Fighting someone like shadow challenged him, and the way she kept disappearing – it was spectacular. He knew the audience was enjoying this.

When Kaito rolled out of the way, Grey found herself standing in the light, no longer in his shadow. She cringed, and ran to the edge of the ring, into a shadow cast by one of the walls, and stood still. This jog betrayed her lack of speed- she was never fast, without a mount. This was not a fight she could win with her hands, or with weapons, she knew. It was a fight she must win with beasts.

She raised her arms- it was not necessary, but movement helped her envision what she wanted from the shadows- and began to sing. Unlike her previous statements, though, this one was strong. Her voice rang out, clearer than the daylight, more forceful than wind, as she sang into existence new beasts of shadow. She sang words that sounded to those who did not speak the language of darkness like gibberish, a gibberish that somehow brought the illusions to life.

Four shapes rose from the shadows like smoke, tendrils swirling in a wind that was not there. Taller than even Gareth, they towered above Grey, by several spans. They did not solidify to mimic the shape of any one animal- rather, they seemed to flit between a thousand, never settling. Arms and legs and heads shifted between them, as though they were mimicking creatures that could never exist in reality. Full of dark holes reminiscent of eyes and mouths, changing and revolving, numerous and sickly, the creatures were monstrous in design. They let out a sound similar to the snakes before, this time, like the grinding of metal as though steam were attempting to escape from a dying machine, a hoarse scream of some unidentifiable glee. Still, she continued to sing.

They became more and more solid, and Grey tensed the muscles in her arms, staring with unblinking eyes at Kaito, her face fixed in a disturbingly calm expression. The beasts of shadow cried out for her, and began to writhe with anticipation, impatient, almost as though they were sentient. They weren't, of course- she could only call the shadows to fight for her, she could not create life from the void.

She interrupted her own song, and spoke one word.

"Attack."

She used the initial terrifying roar of her beasts to disguise a moment of pain on her part. Glancing down at her hands, she saw the rough burns and welts from her snake-blades on her hands- both of her palms bled, their skin scratched off by the overly eager creatures. They might fight for her, but shadows do not understand pain. Sweat beaded down her hands, her face, her body, soaking her robe. She closed her eyes, placing all her trust in the shadows, leaving her body entirely vulnerable. She began to sing once more, with renewed barbarity, strengthening her beasts.

The four beasts reveled in her word and song, relishing in the moment of her command, and dove forward with the ferocity of starved lions. One lingered longer than the others, and approached from the front, taking the rear; two swam through the air itself to flank Kaito, while the last jumped high above their heads to tackle him from above. Coming at Kaito from four directions, with Grey's tenacious song filling the makeshift arena, they made for a truly odd, yet terrifying, sight.

Kaito Fen’s arms slowly dropped as the four massive figures took shape before him, his eyes widening within his mask as he straightened, listening to the strange, nonsensical music coming from Grey Skies. Once, adrenaline had been coursing through his veins, but for an entirely different reason. Now, he felt cold sweat at his skin as terror began to set in by those large incomprehensible beasts that took shape. Four massive creatures that threatened to break his mind with their constant shifting and writhing upon themselves. And despite the terror – and the dread realization that now began to set itself into his bones – he smiled.

This was exactly as he hoped. A spectacle like no other, a fight that would awe everyone in the crowd, and there was his chance, growing before him. He knew there stood two choices before him now. To lay down and give in; to fall without honour. Kaito Fen wouldn’t do that, it wasn’t in his nature. He had too much honour to lay down and watch defeat creep upon him. No, instead he would stand before those dread creatures and fight them with every ounce of skill he had in him; the skill he would display, he knew, was both beautiful and deadly, ferocious even, yet against this… well he knew what his fate would be.

Yet he smiled.

Grey Skies’s magic would be sorely tested before he was done, this he could promise, and when he fell it would be in such a way, in such a magnificent show of will and courage, that he could already see the jaws hanging from the onlookers as their eyes dampened. The fall of a hero against unlikely odds, against these four creatures of shadow.

Then, as the creatures began rushing him from all sides, he closed his eyes and breathed deep. Darkness enveloped his mind’s eye and at its center, a focal point, wherein he concentrated his entire being – the form of two swirling dragons, tumultuous in their rage, unparalleled in fury or power – and a deadly barely contained calm settled upon him as he took the stance of his most deadly dance. Wrath of The Twin Dragons.