//------------------------------// // Level 21: You're Gonna Go Far Kid // Story: Equestria Was Merely a Setback! // by Thunderscourge //------------------------------// A/N: Special thanks to GamerGoddessDin, refferee, and Silentmech...hope to hear from more people this time around! Time for Trixie's first arena matches! Bet nobody here knows who she's gonna fight! Hope you all enjoy, and hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below! Since they wouldn’t be sparring in the foyer and they wouldn’t be taking a nap, Kael was out of ideas as to what to do. As he tried to come up with something else to do his eyes caught sight of a staircase leading to a second floor. "Show me around your house. It’ll be a good way to kill time." Lavitz shrugged, accepting the idea as he too had no better alternative, "There is nothing too interesting, but you’re right that we can at least kill some time. Walk around wherever you like and I'll tell you about it." Their plan decided, the two ascended the staircase to further remove them from Trixie and Lavitz’s mother. The first room upstairs was especially small and looked to be made for a child given the proportions of the furniture and everything inside. Other than a variety of pictures plastered all over the wall, the most notable piece of the room was a small cherry blossom tree which had its own glowing pot that seemed to be sustaining the tree with its magic. "This is my room,” Lavitz announced with a reminiscent smile on his face as he looked over the outdated room. As he took to looking at pictures of a family of four, Kael noticed that on the doorframe they were standing by there were noticeable and numerous spots where wood had been carved into in a sloppy manner. "There is a cut in the pillar. Were you swinging your sword or something? Lavtiz shook his head while his smile faded, "No. I…I was measuring my height." Sensing the dip in mood, Kael attempted to cheer his new companion up, "You were a kid once? I’d never have imagined!" "What do you mean?" Not really seeing any reason to stay in the cramped room any longer, Kael wandered down the hallway to the second and last door on the right. The door was open just like the previous room, though this one was almost twice the size of the other. Lavitz spoke up as Kael took a look inside the very plain and homely room, "It was my parents' room. It's been my mom's since my father passed away in the war." His father…Kael remembered something about the man’s father dying while serving none other than himself, due to Garithos’s actions. Not wanting to confront the touchy topic, especially since he did not know the man too personally to ask specifically, Kael only nodded slightly and turned around to face the last room on the second floor. Lavitz seemed to understand and cleared his throat before announcing the last room. The room was full of bookcases, which made the announcement quite obvious, "This is the library. There are many books on strategy. Are you interested in that, Kael?" Kael smirked at the slightly informal usage of his name, which was exaggerated by the difference in their stations in life. He did not particularly care for formality from someone he now considered a friend, but it was fun nonetheless. This being the case though, Kael thought about his possible future as King of the Sindorei…leader of all the Blood Elves. Strategy would be important if he was to ever lead them to any effect, and given their current precarious position in the world there was no room to squander any resources they had… “Actually, yes. I ought to read a few books concerning strategy lest I lead my people to ruin when the time comes.” As Kael finished his explanation he noticed that Lavitz was moving a rolling ladder in the room meant to allow the house’s inhabitants to reach the top of the tall shelves. While not short, Lavitz was as tall as Kael and his mother was shorter than him, so the ladder’s existence made sense for the Human family. "What are you doing? Getting a book?" Lavitz beckoned him with a hand while climbing up the ladder, "Come here. I'll show you something special." Kael noticed that at the part of the room Lavitz had moved the ladder over to there was a window, one which Lavitz had opened and was climbing out of. "Special?" Kael mused to himself once he was alone in the room. Perhaps there was something unique outside? Following after Lavitz, Kael climbed the ladder and went outside too. They still had time to kill and he would not want to be rude and ignore his host’s request. Lavitz helped Kael through the window and onto part of the house’s roof where they could each stand comfortably given its shape and size, and then gestured out towards the keep that Wrynn ruled from. "Here is my treasure." The day’s sunlight was beginning to fade as things shifted into the afternoon. Given the angle and lighting the castle was illuminated by the natural light and gave off an impressive and beautiful air. Kael smiled. The man was sentimental, that much was for certain, but Kael could not criticize him for it. He genuinely loved the things around him, and Kael could imagine a younger Lavitz coming up to look at the castle, "I see...it's a nice view of the Castle from here." "This is what I saw everyday when I was young. I grew up thinking...'I'll be an admired knight just like my father and I'll protect this country!'" Lavitz explained as he walked across part of the roof to get closer to the distant, yet quite visible at their elevation, castle. "Your dream came true,” Kael smiled as he saw how absolutely glowing his friend was. Lavitz was a soldier who might be wholly dedicated to his duty, but he had a soul that reached beyond it. He enjoyed botany, he was a dedicated friend, and he was a mother’s boy. In some ways, he was quite the ideal person whose only flaw could be how quick he was to act and how quick he was to judge. Lavitz sighed as he glanced back at Kael, then towards the house, and finally back to the castle, "Yes, but the reality was much harder than I imagined back then. I feel all the more strongly how great my father was.” The soldier clenched his hands into fists, “To protect what I love I would tear the flesh from my body and sacrifice my very soul,” he paused to look back at Kael with a smirk, “It's the same passion you have towards Trixie." The forwardness of the statement made Kael gawk as he tried to think of a response. Trixie was downstairs and busy doing something so he was not quite fearful that she would overhear, but he still was embarrassed completely by the man’s perception. "I…I would do anything for her." Lavitz nodded while retaining the smile, "Because you know the importance of Trixie’s life, you can risk your own. Something is special about her, even if we don’t know what yet. You were not a foolish daredevil when you ventured into Hell itself to save her. Azeroth is covered in war clouds now. You are the only one who can protect Trixie. You know that, don't you?" Kael averted his eyes as he tried to think about that. The Defias had been working for someone who wanted Trixie for their own purposes…something about her was special, unique even, that made her as great a target as he was. So was he to protect her every step along the path just as she was willing to stand by his side and protect him? Would a time come when protecting her conflict with the growing need he was feeling to help the other Sindorei? "Kael! Lavitz! The food is ready!" Lavitz laughed as the subject of their conversation spoke up, "Well, the princess needs us." The man went inside the same way he came in and Kael was left to follow after him. Perhaps protecting Trixie and his people would not be so difficult with all those who seemed willing to aid them…Lavitz, Mitter’meyer, and Reuenthal particularly. He only hoped that the time would come that he would not need to worry like this. Despite the worrying feeling Kael had about the meal at first, it actually happened to be quite delectable and he was left wanting to eat more. This was because Trixie had only helped finish it rather than cook it in its entirety he was sure, as her cooking skills were quite limited. Perhaps if they had stayed with the Saldeans longer things would be different, but for now their skills would be put on hold as they focused on other matters. "As always, your meals are delicious, Mom." Their group had gathered by the front entrance after the meal as it was time for them all to go, but Lavitz’s mother had decided to escort them to the door, "It's such a nice thing to hear. But I'll be even happier if you settle down with a bride soon." That mention made Lavitz, now dressed in a full suit of armor silver armor and green cloth his mother had in reserve for him, blush and try to leave with the other two travelers in tow. "Um...Kael, Trixie, we need to do some things before we leave so let's go!" The other two watched as he ushered them and then began a full sprint out of the house’s open door. Apparently the Warrior was quite bashful about his mother saying embarrassing things in front of company. “Lavitz, wait! Your Panda friend Chen left something for you!” his mother called out as she grabbed some closed satchels by the door. Trixie didn’t want Lavitz to miss the chance to receive the gifts, so she offered her hands out to take them, “I will bring them to him. Thank you for having us here.” “Shouldn’t your fiancé carry them?” Trixie finished receiving the bags as she struck a pose with her nose turned up and her hands on her hips, “I would like to think one of the things Kael enjoys about me is how I am not some helpless damsel.” Kael kept quiet about how she had just been a damsel in distress a day ago because of how she had been in the process of freeing herself when he and Lavitz had reached her. She wasn’t helpless…but he’d still keep an eye out for his prideful partner all the same. He was sure it’d be his turn to need saving anyways. Lavitz’s mother smiled at them as Kael put an arm around Trixie. The two had lightly played the part of young lovers during lunch to not burst the nice woman’s bubble, leaving Kael surprised and Trixie flustered at how easy the act came to them, “I wish you both safe travels, and please do let me know when the wedding is! My husband would have been so happy to see his charge get married.” Kael nodded, his eyes widening a bit as he suddenly realized that this seemingly ditzy albeit nice woman had known his identity the whole time without it effecting her hospitality, even though he ought to be her race’s enemy at the moment, “I’ll be sure to have Lavitz bring you the invitations.” Once they were done seeing her off the two Elves caught up to Lavitz at the end of the street. Trixie gave him his bags which he then put over his silver and green armor as he pointed a thumb over his shoulder towards another part of town. “You wanted to participate in the Arena before we leave, right?” Trixie crossed her arms over her chest and glanced at Kael nervously, “Won’t that draw a lot of attention to us?” Lavitz shrugged, “I figured that was the point.” It was indeed the point…Trixie wanted others to cheer for her, but at the same time this came into conflict with their current status of runaways laying low. Seeing the worried look Kael and Trixie were sharing made Lavitz realize he ought to explain himself, “Don’t worry. The sorts who are interested in this sort of thing are not the most politically savvy or news focused. They come to see a fight, and they don’t really care for what goes on outside of the ring, or even inside of it so long as blood is spilt.” Trixie looked to Kael again, feeling selfish for wanting to do this still…but when he smiled back at her and nodded she felt her stomach flip. He was willing to risk his own well being for her personal quest for glory. Because of this Trixie felt obligated to win and do so in the most magnificent fashion she could manage. With their decision made Lavitz brought them to a less savory part of the city where Trixie and Kael each clenched their bags tighter, only for a small growl to come out of one of them and for a small reptile’s head to poke out. Trixie gently pet the Mana Wyrm that she just accidently woke up, “Oh, hey Nana. You must have gotten a lot of sleep in there, huh?” The Wyrm brushed against her hand for a moment before slinking back into the bag. “Don’t worry, when we’re out of the big city we’ll let you out, okay? We don’t want anybody stealing or hurting you.” She felt it curl back up and resume its napping as Lavitz finished leading them to the only well-kept building in the area which was quite larger than all the others. The announcer standing by the entrance further confirmed to the two Elves that this was the Arena. "Hey, if any of you people out there are live fast die young types, and want to test your courage, step up and fill out the application! My advice to those of you who are feeble, cowards, or have cold feet, don't register. I guarantee you will die!” That made Trixie nervously laugh until Lavitz reminded her that these were decently regulated events and so it was rare that someone actually died, especially since they had healers at the arena to help fighters between fights. The announcer had some paperwork with him, so the group approached him to ask about registration. "I'll fight," Trixie declared in as confident a voice as she could muster, but it was false confidence. How would she even know if she could defeat any of her foes? She shook off the apprehension and fear with the thought that she was doing this to repay Kael for his heroics the other day, so she ought to display the same bravery: if she could win, she could probably net a decent sum of money. She already had used a month’s worth of bravado earlier when she used the gambling chips she and Kael had to get a King to do as she wanted. Sure that situation had been dangerous, but this one was about choosing whether to fight or not rather than figure out what to say to not have to fight. The announcer seemed wholly pleased to have someone take him up on his offer, "That's the spirit! And, who will be participating?" Trixie smirked as she glanced at her two companions, "Of course I am,” not expecting Kael to enter because of the possibility of being recognized, she focused more so on their other group member, “Hey Lavitz. Don't go easy on me." He shook his head and crossed his arms, "I'm not participating. I am a Knight of Stormwind, so I am not eligible to participate in these kinds of competitions." “Lavitz, let’s go find seats to watch,” Kael suggested below lowering his voice so only the soldier could hear him, “Preferably ones where no-one will look at us, like the back rows.” Lavitz nodded to Kael while not following behind the Elf as he began to enter the coliseum, “You go ahead, I’ll catch up in a moment.” Kael left them alone and Trixie rose an eyebrow at the soldier as he moved to whisper in her ear. "I’ll make sure nobody pays him much mind while you fight,” Lavitz winked at her, “Don't embarrass yourself in front of Kael!" Her reaction was far less whispery and more shocked gaping, “W-what? Embarrass myself?” He nodded to her, not fazed by her surprise, “You may pretend it’s nothing more, but you two are really close. I am pretty sure everyone can tell that.” The implication made Trixie blush, and she felt herself even more embarrassed than she was earlier when she had pretended to be Kael’s fiancé for the sake of a kind of woman, “He’s my partner and nothing more.” Lavitz looked unimpressed by her seeming lie, “Was that why you were mumbling about Jaina earlier?” That set Trixie off again as she did not remember doing any such thing, “Mumbling? I wasn’t mumbling about that ice queen earlier!” Lavitz remembered her saying something about Jaina when they were leaving the castle, but he did not decide to press the matter too much farther. She was resisting the notion that she was anything more than friends with Kael, so he would find a way to work on fixing that later and not have her all flustered before she went and fought. “Pretty sure you were, even if you weren’t paying attention to yourself…” he shook his head before running off to where Kael had entered, “I think you’d be a far better match than Lady Proudmoore, so try your best to impress him! Trixie grumbled as she moved back to the registration person and filled out her paperwork which waived the coliseum of any culpability should she die while also explaining she could yield or otherwise forfeit if she did not wish to fight, but also that not every participant would listen and that doing so might not save her. Once she filled out the first piece of paperwork a man in Stormwind’s common uniform and armor approached her and bowed, “Miss Lulamoon.” Seeing that the man had a large bag of what she presumed were coins on his belt, Trixie smirked, “Did the King send you?” The man nodded and he removed his pouch and also a bag on his back to hand over to Trixie, “He has asked that I give you this pouch of money and these articles of clothing to replace what was lost to the Defias.” She thanked the man and after watching him leave she asked the registration man where she could change. He pointed her to a room just inside the coliseum that had a lock on the inside and she entered it, at which point she opened the bag to see that it had various clothing articles for both her and Kael. All of it was silver and blue, the colors of the city, which Trixie felt went quite well together and resembled her silver-light blue hair. It also had no resemblance to the colors of the Blood Elves, and so it would help with their disguises somewhat. A helmet had even been included in the bag, which had an inside larger than its outside would suggest, and Trixie guessed that it was for Kael to conceal his face. Still, despite enjoying the fresh set of clothes, Trixie wanted there to be more purple in her wardrobe and so she decided she would replace the silver cape provided when she had the chance. And possibly pick up a nice hat to go with it. Once she was done changing, Trixie left the small closet of a room and approached the man again and finished filling out her forms. This done, she overheard someone asking the announcer about today’s fights. “The format today will be two versus two, with each team having an alternate. The final round will involve the alternate to then be a three versus three match!” The revelation that she would have to fight alone against teams made Trixie growl, “Really? Oh come on!” “I could join you…” Having found a seat already, Kael had circled back to see what Trixie was up to. Turning to see him made Trixie sigh, as she realized it would be easier with him but also did not want to burden him in the least. “You’ve done enough for me as it is. If I really need the help later I’ll let you, but for now it’s my turn to pay you back for everything.” Seeing that this did little to convince him, Trixie struck another of her haughty poses and smiled smugly. Today was a big day for her, and she actually did not care to share the spotlight if she could help it. “Besides, this is my opening debut. Defeating two foes by myself will surely leave quite the impact.” Once she was out on the field of the Arena, which was a standard coliseum with rows and rows of onlookers and tall walls that allowed for the rows to fill out and up. The circular area of battle was flat and without anything which might impede or aid battle, meaning that this was going to be a battle determined by skill and strength. Trixie felt she had at least one of those as she walked out onto the field. “Team Lulamoon versus…the World’s Strongest Warriors!” The announcer’s voice reverberated throughout the Arena, even going over the voices of the large gathered crowd. The entire place was packed with all sorts of people, but Trixie had little time to look them all over as she found herself looking at her opponents. She couldn’t help herself: she laughed. “Haha, since when were lawn Gnomes Warriors?” On the opposite side of the Arena two beings that did not even make it up to Trixie’s waist stood in full armor, shield and battle maces in hand as they tried to look tough despite their vertical issues. The smaller and skinnier of the two growled at Trixie, wanting to charge at her but being unable to do so as the match had not been declared as having begun yet, “Don’t you dare mock us for our size! We’ll show you that we too can be Warriors like any others!” “And I’m a Dwarf!” the stockier one called out, their beard passing through their full helmet and ending at their stomach. Trixie still found herself amused, though she toned down the laughter to instead smirk at the two in a demeaning way, “Well, I guess this is fair seeing as how even together you two aren’t as big as me.” “Fight!” Having riled the two up as intended, Trixie watched as they ran forth as fast as their miniscule legs could carry them. She had no intention of letting these small beings beat her, so she quickly aimed an attack at the bigger one. “Gikor!” The bolt of frost slammed into the Dwarf and nearly knocked him off his feet, slowing down his charge as his armor frosted over and he had to fight to keep his footing. The Gnome was not about to stop his slow approach towards Trixie as he fought to use his heavy armor. “Charge!” he yelled as he leapt at Trixie in a burst of speed, his weapon prepared to strike her as he mustered all of his might to show his might. “Heroic strike!” The attack swung through thin air and left the Gnome confused as he fell over from the exertion. “What—” A tap on his armored shoulder revealed that Trixie had teleported behind him. He tried to swing his mace at her only for her to catch it and his wrist in one palm. Trixie, using her own strength, crushed the metal beneath her hand and bent the weapon as he yelped in pain. She lifted him into the air and pulled a leg back. She took a look around at the crowd while loudly proclaiming. “My criteria for what can and cannot be a Warrior— She dropped him and swung her leg forward in conjunction, her foot striking hard against his chestplate as he went flying up into the sky. “—if it can be easily punted, it is not a Warrior.” The Gnome was carried up and above the top of the Arena just barely, causing him to leave everyone’s view as he sailed away. The crowd cheered wildly at the display to Trixie’s pleasure, and she realized that her plan was working. “I will make you pay for that!” Trixie turned back to see that the Dwarf had recovered quicker than she had expected: she had charged up quite a bit of magic beforehand to have her first strike be a little more powerful than usual, and he was still standing. She figured that the armor he was wearing, which seemed made for cold climates with its ascetics, might have something to do with that. The thought brought her mind back to their map, which had the Dwarven capital city as being located in a mountain range. None of that mattered though, since Trixie was sure she could defeat him all the same. She had not even had to use her whip yet, “You resist the cold quite well. Must be a racial trait,” she smiled as she thought about another technique she had learned recently, albeit only in passing. She placed her palms before her and began to focus her energy, “Let us see how you like a different flavor of magic.” The Dwarf just about reached her when Trixie’s hands were completely covered in light, at which point that light burst forward in a large blast at a blinding speed. “Kikoho!” The attack slammed into him and carried the Dwarf backwards and off his feet. Trixie let out a tired breath as she watched him struggle for a moment before collapsing down on the ground. She was pleased by the arcane blast she had used and how effective it was at just doing raw damage, “Pure magical energy counters plain old armor quite well. You ought to fear the arcane.” “Winner, Team Lulamoon!” Trixie heard the cheering of the crowd, took her bow, and then with a dramatic whip of her cape she turned around and left for the waiting area where she was sure she’d see her friends waiting for her. One round down. Now she just needed to keep this momentum up and they could leave Stormwind with a healthy amount of gold in their pockets, in addition to starting her career as the most talented and powerful magician in Azeroth. As expected, Kael and Lavitz were waiting for her inside. Kael was the first to rush to her side and the congratulatory hug she received made Trixie want to blush, but her pride kept her from doing anything but smirk. “You did great out there,” Kael noted, “That technique was new. Where’d you find it?” Trixie kept fighting the urge to blush at the physical contact as Kael finally relinquished his touch. Once he was a step away she decided to explain the attack she used to win the match, “There is a small section on magic other than ice in my book. Basically a taste test so you’ll go and buy the last edition, the one about Arcane magic. Perhaps I will with the winnings we get from this.” “Just remember to leave enough for us to eat,” Kael joked, thinking back to the time Trixie drank enough alcohol to kill a person. Luckily she had the drinking weight of a horse instead. “Of course. I can live frugally if I please,” Trixie smiled at the two men and then glanced back outside where another match was finishing, “Wish me luck on my next match. I had best get ready for it.” “I am sure you will do fine,” Lavitz assured her. Trixie was less confident, her mind turning back to the pages she had poured over previously that taught her how to do her new technique. While powerful, it had a major drawback, “Hopefully I do not have to use that move again, at least not over and over…the technique grows more powerful with consecutive usage, but the mana drain increases as well. I’m not sure I can handle its strain if I don’t have a cooldown period.” “I could help,” Kael offered again, though Trixie quickly shook her head no. “No, I will be fine. Ignore what I said.” She had the other two leave her alone before her next matchup, though she did give Kael the bag of clothes and things they had been given. It was not long before it was her turn to fight again though, and when she exited she tried her best to focus and be ready for the encounter. “One down, three rounds to go I think…” She took a deep breath as she walked out onto the field of battle and tried looking over her opponents in the brief time before the match started. “Team Lulamoon versus—” She got only so far as to see that it was a pair of Dwarves with guns by the time each of them was stomped underfoot of a pale red Orc in black and silver armor with blades coming from its shoulders. Each of the Orc’s hands were replaced with a weapon, one being a sword and the other an axe. “Enough of this pointless dribble! I will show you all how a true champion battles!” Trixie gasped as the gate behind her shut and she realized she was alone on the field against none other than the leader of the Orcs who had assaulted Silvermoon City. The Orc stared up at the announcer’s booth he had leapt from on top of, having previously stood atop everything as everyone looked down at the battles, “Consider me the alternate of these two dead weaklings.” “Wh-who are you?” the announcer stammered out, answering the question on the minds of many. An Orc, in Stormwind? Just how capable and powerful did such a man have to be to infiltrate the Human capital in such a fashion? “Kargath Bladefist, the chieftain of the true Horde and the Shattered Hand clan,” he used his weapon-hands to gesticulate to the crowd, “I came to hunt someone, but I found this competition on the way and had my interest piqued.” Someone in the crowd moved to jump from the stadium and into the arena, but Kargath moved his bladed fist up to point at them faster than anyone in the area could see. “I came for an Arena fight, so if any of you interfere I will kill each and every last person here! There is no honor in interrupting a match once it had begun, and I will not tolerate any interference of any kind!” Trixie balled her own fists as she thought back to when she last saw him. He had been fighting Mitter’meyer, and Reuenthal went to confront him as well…had he slain them? She did not know, and she wanted to believe that he had not, but here he was alive, meaning that they did not defeat him. So had they lived through their loss, or had he slain them? “You…” In any case, Trixie knew she had no chance to defeat him… But even so, she stood her ground and smiled. This Orc had caused innocent death before her very eyes, and she was not going to just give in to him because she was outclassed. She would stand her ground and hope that authorities would arrive quickly enough to drive him away. “You all should be honored! You will be set to witness a legend do battle!” Kargath boasted to the crowd in his rough voice before narrowing his red eyes at Trixie, “Unless this promising combatant would rather forfeit and watch me kill everyone else…” That steeled Trixie’s resolve even further and she moved her stance to prepare for a fight, “Fine! I’ll fight you! But this stays between us!” From the crowd Trixie could hear her name being called by Kael in worry, while the crowd itself was yelling both in cheer of her and in horror of Kargath. “You know, I’ve seen what you can do, but I am no coward,” Trixie explained to her foe, hoping to buy a few more seconds by talking. Kargath grinned, some of his lower teeth making it appear more sinister than it really was given their tusk like appearance, “Then let us begin. If you can last one hundred seconds against me, I will let you live! I would hate to waste potential…” Trixie flung an attack at him the first moment she could, hoping to possibly catch him off-guard, “Gikor!” The attack was as useful as the one used by the Gnome though, as it struck nothing as it fizzled out in the air beyond where it should have struck Kargath. Ten feet to the right of that though now stood the Chieftain, who snorted as he stared Trixie down. He had moved with such speed that an after-image of him had remained behind, sending a chill down Trixie’s spine. “Over here.” Since he was not on the offensive yet, Trixie tried another attack of her own in desperation for her life. Taking her whip out she spun it around and used the technique she defeated Ripsnarl with, using the whip’s tip as a point to channel her magic to. “Friezudo!” A wave of icey magic burst forth from the whip, the shockwave reaching about twenty feet at its greatest length before fading away. Completely unaffected by this though was Kargath, who now stood behind Trixie much like she had caught the Gnome off guard. Only he did not teleport…he was too fast to need to do that. “That was close…” Trixie spun around and began to sling another spell at him when his sword stabbed through her lower ribs and exited the other side. “Too slow. You break so easily.” Impaled on his sword, the world stopped for Trixie. Was this it? Was she to die like this before her story had even truly begun? “No…Not like this…” She moved an arm to grip the blade impaling her. The fact that she was still alive surprised Kargath, who was even more surprised by the considerable might now clamping down on his blade. “What?” Trixie used her free arm to point up at his chest, a smirk on her bloodied mouth as she fought through coughing up blood to speak. “Ki…” Realizing what Trixie was doing, Kargath tore his blade from her stomach, but her previous grip on it slowed this down enough for her to finish. “—koho!” The magic blasted straight into the Chieftain’s chest, and while it did not noticeably damage his armor it did blast him back and into the closed gate Trixie had come from. Trixie collapsed to her knees, which she could still feel to her surprise despite being sure he severed part of her spinal cord. Her attack had forced Kargath back, but it did no true harm to him. Still, he was incensed by the fact he had actually been struck and it was then that he decided to stop fooling around. “Gikor ga…” Trixie felt a kick connect with her chest and send her tumbling across the ground with such force that she slammed into the far wall and then bounced back to be ten feet from it. “I’ve toyed with you long enough. Time to spill your blood!” Kargath yelled. Despite how numb parts of her body had grown and how hurt the parts she could still feel were, Trixie pulled herself to her feet as Kargath leapt forward. “Novae Rog! Ganzu Gikor!” Her hands thrown before her, frost leapt from her fingertips and began to blast the entire area before her. Such was the power that sprung forward from her that pillars of ice leapt from the ground around her in addition to the magic spilling forth from her hands. The sudden blizzard’s power forced Kargath back as he felt the power of winter slam into him. He could maybe have fought through it, but he found himself actually interested in this Elf now that she had revealed a hidden power to her. Her eyes were glowing slightly more bright as she used this latent power to save her own life. “Impressive...” That was enough for the Chieftain, who turned his back on Trixie and with a mighty leap landed on top of the Arena’s highest point again. “I have other matters to attend to. I am done playing here,” he looked back and narrowed his eyes at Trixie, “Unfortunate though. I did not get to finish my last battle either with that hasty Paladin and his Hunter friend as well…” Before leaving, Kargath laughed in seeming amusement, “You have the makings of a champion in you. You had best not squander them! Defeat your foes, grow stronger, and seek me out in Outlands! You have one year before I come hunting, so you had better not waste this opportunity!” Trixie watched as he left in a flash, her pain receding as she continued to stare up at him. How was she alive? How did she use that much power for spells she had only read about, not even successfully used before? Despite the pain in her body receding, Trixie felt faint. Like the exertion had drained her of all her remaining energy, not that she particularly minded given that she was still alive. She fought the urge to fall to her knees though as she slowly became aware of the voices yelling her name in the crowd around her. She had “won”, despite all odds, and they were loving it. “Are you okay?!” Trixie felt herself wrapped in a gentle yet firm embrace by none other than Kael, who had fought his way through the crowd to get to her. Lavitz had been the first to charge forward, but Kael had been able to teleport across the stadium while Lavitz was forced to cross the whole distance on foot. “I…” Trixie realized that all of her pain was gone, and even her light headedness was receding. She was not even bleeding where she had been stabbed, and the clothing itself seemed as if it had not been damaged whereas moments before it had bloodstains and holes through it. “I am?” “And the winner is…Team Lulamoon?” They did not know how or why, but she had survived the chance encounter with one of the strongest beings of Azeroth. Trixie thought back to what she said and realized that she now had another goal to add to her list: she would become a champion in the Arena not only for her own glory, but to earn a rematch with the self-declared legend who seemed to thrive on such fights. One year? Trixie smirked. She would beat him before then, and then his boss Illidan too. Kargath’s Bladefist and Illidan’s glaives would be worthy trophies of such accomplishments. For now though, she had two more fights to go, and she was quite sure they would be easier than her last one.