“How could we find you without a ranger, Nora?” Ishlar asked, muscles glistening in the bar’s firelight. “You abandoned us on the moors all alone. We were lucky to be able to fight our way back to Morganville at all. Now that we have you, we can thank the stars above and finish that contract. I know I wasn’t excited about paying the cancellation penalty.”
“I saw you turn away when I called for help, Ishlar,” Nora’s voice was frosty as she stared down the much larger man. Dan tried his best to blend into the wood paneling next to an unamused Opal. “I screamed and tried to get back to you, but you banded together and activated the sanctuary runescript, trapping me outside. What was I supposed to do but run away when my choices were only fleeing or death? No, my contract with you is void. I won’t accept any further pay from you, and I won’t work any further missions with you. If I wanted to be treated as expendable, I would work for your elven friends.”
“What magical reagents did you eat to get this confidence?” Ishlar growled through gritted teeth. “My patrons have been nothing but good to us, and you signed a binding contract. One that I plan on holding you to. You’ve been paid very well, and you will continue to be well-paid, but I won’t have you speaking ill of our sponsors just because they’re elves.”
“Do you really want to know why I have the courage to finally talk back after a year and a half of your dumb schemes and close calls?” Nora asked, her eyes burning. “Here is your answer.”
She grabbed Dan from where he had been lurking in the corner and pulled him into the light. For a brief second, he panicked, eyes glancing everywhere around the bar as he suddenly became the center of attention. Ishlar looked him in the eyes and snorted. A fair assessment in Dan’s opinion, the man could probably kill him by flexing.
“Who in the Emperor’s name is this?” Ishlar glared at Dan. “Are you really that much of a trollop that you just ran out and found a random swordsman the minute you became angry with me? You’re an oath-breaker, and your only assistance is a warrior who has just taken his class. You’ll never work a serious job again in this town, if I have my say.”
“He’s a combat mage, Ishlar,” Nora sneered at him. Dan groaned internally as the situation spun wildly out of control.
“If he can cast magic, let’s see him do it in the arena,” Ishlar shouted at Nora. “I’m sure he told you about all of his spells to get you to spread your legs, but I’ll believe that this twig of a man is a caster when I see it. Even if he isn’t, at least I can work out my frustration on this failed mission by beating him black and blue. Once he fails publicly, everyone will see you for the fraud you are.”
“Five gold sovereigns that Bird wins,” Nora replied, a predatory gleam in her eyes.
Rather than reply verbally, the huge man spat in his hand and offered the expansive mitt to Nora, who promptly did the same and shook it. Dan looked from her to Ishlar. He wasn’t entirely sure how this had happened, but it sure seemed like he was about to be in a fight with the gigantic man. Admittedly, he seemed like a bit of a boor, but Dan wasn’t entirely sure how he had gone from zero enmity to bloodsport, but here he was. It sounded like Nora had a bit of a grudge against the other man, but Dan was a bit confused as to why he would be the one fighting the mountain of muscle, rather than her.
As Ishlar and his cronies stormed out, he noticed that a decent number of the bar’s patrons were paying their bills and getting up as well. Evidently most of them wanted to see the upcoming fight, probably to watch him get pulled apart like barbequed pork. Before Nora could leave, his hand darted out and grabbed her by the shoulder.
“What the hell was that?” he asked the grinning woman. “All I know about this Ishlar guy is that he looks like he was born with a freeweight in his hand, and now I’m fighting him. Why and how am I supposed to beat this guy?”
“His class is Brute,” she replied in a whisper. “All of his mana is focused on strength, but he can barely use that sword. I was impressed with his strength when I signed on with him too, but after a couple battles I realized that he’s basically an amateur that the elves handed power to. I saw you against the nightgliders; you aren’t going to have a problem with him. Plus, the sovereigns will be the nest egg we need to hire some party members and take a more profitable mission. I just egged him on until his manly pride was hurt, and he basically offered us free money. Now, you just need to go out there and earn it.”
“If the money is free, why am I the one earning it?” Dan questioned, but Nora just shot him a wink and sauntered away. With a sigh, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and followed her.
Before long, a small crowd was following them as Nora guided them to a stone cylinder. He followed her inside. It was an impressive building with almost ten rows of stands surrounding a raised wooden platform covered in sand. Nearby, a small stone tower rose about five feet above the platform housing an announcer, a fifty-something short, greying man. As they walked in, his magically-enhanced voice echoed through the arena.
“–And here comes our challenger, the man, the mage, the bird!”
Dan winced. He needed a cooler moniker. Maybe the raptor, the bear, or the scorpion. Really, anything but the bird. It was hard to intimidate local thugs and bullies when everyone kept calling you “the bird.”
“We have no idea where he comes from or what his abilities are,” the announcer’s voice boomed out. “All we know is that he’s run afoul of our very own Ishlar, the Human Bull. As most of you know, Ishlar has a strength-based class and a very respectable ten and three record in the arena. Only time will see if he can use that strength to send the bird flying from the ring.”
Dan glared at Nora while she studiously avoided his gaze. Ten and three record? How the hell was that free money from an amateur handed strength? In frustration, he noted that Nora had made her way to the arena’s bookie to put down a bet, while the crowd pushed him out onto the sand-covered platform. Immediately those gathered in the stands started booing.
“Now, we all know the rules here,” the announcer shouted once more. “Bladed weapons will be replaced with lead training weapons. The battle goes on until one party loses consciousness for more than three seconds or yields. Are there any questions?”
Dan looked down blankly as someone thrust a heavy training sword into his hand. He took a quick practice swing with it. Its balance was shit. As he turned to say something to the referee next to him, the announcer cut him off.
“Everyone is armed, and now bets are final. Let the match of honor between Ishlar the Human Bull and The Bird begin.”
Ishlar bellowed and ran right at him, both hands gripping a heavy club. At least Nora was right about him being untrained. The man didn’t have a hint of grace or martial arts training to him. On the other hand, given his size and the ease with which he moved the lead club, he probably didn’t need it. If the larger man grabbed him or hit him with that club, it was game over for sure. Dan might be in much better shape than a year ago, but there wasn’t any way he was going to tangle with Ishlar up close and come out the winner.
Instead he muttered ‘Shocking Fist’ and ‘Spatial Shield’ in close succession and ducked to the side. The mana flowed out of Dan’s core, and the buzz of combat filled him. Ishlar didn’t look like as big of a threat anymore. His mana, clumped in his bulging muscles, looked clumsy. Dan couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to taste the man’s mana. To finish him here and let it flow through him. The club swished over his head, and Dan didn’t have the luxury of checking whether the miss was due to his reflexes or magic. Instead, he slapped the larger man’s thigh with his free hand causing a flash of light as the electricity discharged into him.
Ishlar’s leg spasmed, and he fell to one knee. In a smooth motion, Dan stepped past him and whipped his heavy sword into the back of the kneeling man’s head. Apparently all of those muscles protected him from concussions, because the larger man only fell to his hands and knees. Dan stepped forward, stomping on Ishlar’s hand with his boot, and brought the sword down again on the back of his head. This time, there was a crack.
The mana inside Ishlar smoothed and relaxed. The man no longer gave off an aura of strength and menace. He collapsed face-first to the sand of the arena floor, unmoving. The crowd cheered. Dan could almost taste Ishlar’s mana. It was like a cloud full of butterflies, fluttering just out of his reach. He raised the training sword again.
“Hold!” a voice next to him whispered urgently as a hand grasped his wrist.
Dan blinked. It was Nora. Some of the soft-focus haze of the fight faded from him at the look of concern in her eyes. He looked down. Ishlar was clearly unconscious at his feet. He had almost killed an unconscious man in front of the crowded arena. Luckily, most of them were carried away in his unexpected victory. Maybe Nora had been right. Ishlar had been strong, but he barely knew how to fight. As Dan ran the battle over in his head, he realized that he still probably would have beaten the man without magic. It just would have taken longer.
Still, he thought about that final moment when the urge to kill had filled him, and shuddered. Something was going on, and it was more than just wanting to put his training into use. Killing monsters was different, it was more or less what he had trained for, but this was different. Ishlar was an asshole, but he was a person.
