Diamondlot

The Arena

The time had come, the girls were led to their stations where they equipped the armor and weapon necessary for the fight. Once they were prepared, they stood in front of a giant gate waiting for it to open and to see their opponent. Although the gate was quite heavy and reinforced, they could hear the roar of the crowd outside as well as an announcer outside whose’ voice they could recognize.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome all to Grasix Arena where we bring you the greatest entertainment in the entire land of Diamondlot! My name is Announcer Rayan and today we have a special event thanks to our wonderful Arena Master! Today’s event will be a battle royale between ten fighters of all skill levels! We have our returning and reigning champion Elle Chandra today! (crowd goes wild). And we also have three new warriors entering the ring today! Will they survive today’s event? Let’s find out! But before the match, let us first turn our attention to my good friend Remy the Jester who will entertain you for the next little bit.”

The attention of the crowd now shifted to Remy who was a kid dressed in a jester outfit. The crowd was ruthless as they were booing him because they came to see a fight not a clown. As Remy was about to say a joke, the crowd immediately grabbed out some tomatoes and cabbages to throw them at the jester. Incredibly, Remy somehow managed to evade everything that was being thrown at him, like he had done this many times before.

As this was happening, Nadya was strategizing with Reina and Jiyah about how they were going to stay alive. “Okay, let’s stick together and whatever you do, leave the Elle Chandra person last.” Nadya said. However Jiyah argued, “Wait what? No, we have to take her out first, while she is distracted by everyone else!” And then there was Reina, “Any chance we could all just get along as friends?”

The iron gates around the arena began to open and out of those gates unveiled ten fighters ready to compete from all ages. The only one Nadya and Jiyah were paying attention to was the grown adult named Elle Chandra who stood furthest away from them. As Rayan was announcing each fighter one by one, the crowd cheered emphatically when they heard Elle Chandra’s name. And finally when Rayan got to name the three new warriors, the crowd let out a wave of boos.

A horn from the higher level of the arena sounded, which signaled for the battle royale to commence. Four fighters that were near Elle Chandra immediately turned their weapons towards her and dashed their way to her. That left two contestants; one to the right and one left of the girls coming at them. They both seem to be in their teen years, one was equipped with a bow and arrows, while the other had katars on each of his hands. Nadya stood with both hands on her sword, Jiyah with both fists up and Reina stood with a dagger in her right hand.

The bowman kept his distance while the one with the katars came rushing towards them. Jiyah, seeing the opposition coming, decided to meet him halfway. Before Nadya charged in to help Jiyah, she assessed the situation and spoke to Reina, “Listen, that archer in the back is going to be really annoying, could you use your stealth maneuvering to take him out?” Reina scratches her head in hesitation, “Well um, you see that’s kind of complicated, I’m not actually a…” As she was mid sentence an arrow was fired right at her but Nadya reacted quick enough to deflect it away. “No time to talk, now go hide and take out that archer when you get the chance!” And she joins Jiyah in the fight.

Jiyah had her hands full dealing with the man with the katars. She could tell her opponent was quite experienced and wasn’t giving her any openings for a clean strike. She was forced to dodge and play defensive with those blades on the end of the man’s fist.

Meanwhile, Nayda was attempting to close the gap to reach her ranged opponent. The bowman fired arrows to slow Nadya down as he made sure to keep a fair distance away from her. Having to hold a heavier weapon, she could tell she would tired out eventually from constantly blocking the attacks. That was when she had an idea.

As Jiyah’s opponent kept applying pressure, he forced her to make a mistake leaving her left side open to be struck by one of his katars. Thankfully Nadya jumped in and parried the katar with her sword. That forced the man to take a few steps back to reassess his attack. Jiyah was about to complain about wanting to battle this opponent alone but Nadya interrupted, “Listen, I don’t like this either but we are going to have to work together to beat these guys. My weapon is much heavier than yours, so you will have a lot less effort reaching the archer. We are going to need to save as much energy as possible if we hope to beat Elle Chandra.” Jiyah was impressed, “Wow that is actually really smart. You really had this thought out. Alright then don’t lose this guy!” She then runs off to her new target leaving Nadya to take on the dual weapon wielder.

The archer was under more pressure when facing up against Jiyah instead of Nadya. Jiyah was a lot quicker since she didn’t have a sword weighing her down. However, Jiyah was also more susceptible as she didn’t have a way to defend herself. Luckily, with her speed and utilizing the terrain as cover in the rough arena, she was able to close the distance quickly, forcing the archer to shoot quicker and with less accuracy.

It became apparent that Jiyah was getting too close, so the archer began to put away his bow and relocate to a better position. Jiyah, noticing her opponent was about to be on the run, found a stone nearby and threw it as hard as she could towards her target. The rock landed a direct hit in the left hamstring of the archer limiting his mobility. This allowed Jiyah to run up to her opponent with ease and land a few punches at her foe. Not giving up, the man lying on the floor pulled out his bow preparing to aim at his target but Jiyah kicked the bow away leaving the man unarmed.

Without a weapon in his hands, he held his hands up as a sign of surrender. Jiyah, not wanting to waste anymore energy, restrained herself and looked to see how Nadya was fairing. She could see that Nadya was still locked in a battle against her opponent. Jiyah thought she could rush to help Nayda and rub it in her face that she finished her battle first. However, as Jiyah’s attention drifted, the man on the floor used one of his hands to reach for a smoke grenade and he threw it beneath Jiyah’s feet. Seeing the grenade below her, she jumped away but was caught in the smokescreen and began coughing profusely.

Meanwhile, the man who threw the grenade managed to escape from the smoke and reclaimed his bow. He pulled an arrow from his quiver and was aiming it at the smokescreen. With just a couple arrows remaining, he waited for the smoke to clear before firing his shot. He could still hear Jiyah coughing so she didn’t have anywhere to run.

Reina was watching all that transpired from a far. She could see Nadya was handling herself but Jiyah was in a bit of a bind. She became very nervous and began speaking to herself. “Oh my gosh, Reina you are in way over your head, come on, think! What would a rogue do?” She tried to calm herself down but she wasn’t having much luck. She considered all her options and she remembered that she still had the dagger that Bharath had prepared for her. She held the weapon in her right hand and she heard a voice, “Go!” She was unsure whose voice it was or where it came from. But it gave her the push she needed to save Jiyah by attempting to catch the archer off guard.

The archer had his attention completely fixed on the smoke cloud clearing that he did not notice anyone coming from behind him. Reina continued to move with purpose without drawing his attention. When she thought she was close enough, she began to speed toward the enemy but unfortunately she tripped on a rock, falling on her belly and dropping her dagger towards the opposing fighter.

Hearing the sound of someone falling, the archer lowered his bow and saw a dagger halfway between him and Reina who had fallen on her face. The man realized that the girl was trying to ambush him from behind and began to raise his bow and aim his arrow at his new target. As Reina gathered herself to look up, she saw that her opponent was now aiming at her. Fear began to embrace her body and she lost the ability to move. The man steadied his aim with one eye open ready to release the finishing blow.

As he was about to release the shot, Jiyah jumped in and landed a punch right at the man’s jaw. The arrow was fired and thankfully it landed just short of Reina. Jiyah landed in a couple more combos at her enemy before grabbing his bow and breaking it in half. She then disarmed his belt and used the string she ripped off from the bow to tie up her enemy and make sure he wasn’t a threat anymore. So with the combined effort of Jiyah and Reina, they took out their first opponent.

Jiyah picked up Reina’s dagger, walked up to her and gave her back her weapon. As Reina accepted, Jiyah spoke, “That was the most mindless move I have ever seen.” Reina’s head lowered and she realized what a big blunder she made. She then received a thankful punch on the shoulder from Jiyah, “And thanks for saving me.” Reina’s frown turned upside down into a smile from that action. “Alright alright, stop looking at me like that! Let’s just go and help Nadya!” said Jiyah. And they both proceeded to aid Nadya in her fight.

The opponent Nadya was facing was very different from the archer. This dual wielder was a lot more aggressive and unpredictable in his movement. He always came at different angles attacking ferociously but could never land a hit on Nadya. After a few minutes of exchanges between their weapons, the man began to run his mouth in attempts to throw Nayda off. “You have to be getting tired after all my unpredictable attacks! Just give up already!” But Nadya would not budge, staying calm, cool and collected through the entire fight. She eventually figured out his attack pattern and in their final exchange, she swung her sword at just the right time forcing her opponent to block with both his katars and she kicked him in the gut.

As her opponent attempted to get up, she kicked both his wristed forcing the man to lose his weapons as she placed her sword near his nose. “How could you read my attacks? I was too fast and unpredictable!” He asked in disbelief. To that Nadya replied, “Everyone has a pattern in their movement, you were no different. Besides, I know someone who fights way more unorthodox than you.”

After hearing those words, the man admitted defeat and asked Nayda to spare his life. Nadya had no intent of taking a life, so she sheathed her sword and walked away. With her back turned, the man pulled out a blade he had hidden in his boot and began to take Nadya by surprise.

Just arriving at the scene was Reina and Jiyah who saw the man pursuing Nadya with his blade. Reina immediately shouted out to Nadya to tell her to watch out behind her. Nadya, already suspecting the dishonesty from the man, easily side-stepped the man’s attempt and then kicked him full force in the face. The man was clearly concussed and no longer able to battle.

The three girls had taken out their two opponents and had regrouped.

Jiyah: You are so lucky, Reina and I came to warn you when we did or you would have been done for!

Nadya: I had the situation completely under control. Besides, I only recall Reina shouting out to me and hearing nothing from you.

Jiyah: You ungrateful little…

Reina: It's okay, it's okay! We are all alive and unharmed so let’s just focus on the next task at hand.

As they stopped their arguing, they turned their attention to the other side of the arena to see their long awaited opponent, Elle Chandra. “Ladies and gentlemen, what an incredible turn of events! Who could have seen this coming? Elle Chandra is still standing after taking on four contenders who decided to team up against her! And in the other corner, the three newbies have somehow managed to scrape their way into the final four! Can these three underdog truly pull out an enormous upset?” Announcer Rayan shouted to the crowd.

Nadya and Jiyah steadied themselves for battle along with Reina who held her dagger in her hand but shook in fear. Noticing this, Nadya kindly asked Reina to hide from the battle. Reina refused as she wanted to fight alongside her two comrades. Frustrated, Jiyah jumped in, “Nadya is too nice to say it but we can’t be worrying about you and take on our current opponent. So please, just stay safe and stay hidden!” Hearing those words, Reina lowered her dagger, while Jiyah and Nadya engaged the enemy.

Elle Chandra stood tall with battle axes on each of her hands. Her axes clashed against Nadya’s sword and when they separated, Jiyah attempted to land a series of jabs but Elle Chandra was too quick, forcing Jiyah to back away. “I need a bigger opening, her reactions are too good!” Jiyah yelled. Nadya who wasn’t much for words at the moment continued to battle on against her opponent hoping that she would eventually create an opportunity for Jiyah to strike.

After many exchanges between their weapons, Nadya was beginning to feel weary but her opponent continued to press the attack. She had Nadya pushed back until her back finally hit against the wall. With the momentum in Elle Chandra’s favour she slammed her axes and hit the wall of the arena. Nadya slid between the legs of her bigger opponent but in order to do so she had to drop her weapon.

As Elle Chandra was turning around, Jiyah blitzed in and landed a fury of punches before kicking her opponent in the ribs. They had finally landed a good hit and forced their opponent to drop her weapons but Elle Chandra had a hold of Jiyah’s leg. She grabbed and tossed Jiyah onto the ground. Nadya tried to reclaim her sword that was near Elle Chandra’s feet but she kicked it away.

Now Nadya was staring down her opponent without a weapon. Elle Chandra had reclaimed her axes and began walking towards Nadya who began to raise her fist to defend herself. Intrigued Elle Chandra put both her axes behind her and raised her fists as well, “Let’s see how strong you are without your weapon.”

Elle Chandra was ready for melee combat against Nadya but Jiyah came flying in and kicked her in the chest. This allowed Nadya to turn around and attempt to grab her weapon back. As Nadya was just about to reach her weapon, an axe came flying in her direction. Seeing this, Jiyah cried out, “Nayda look out!” Noticing just in time, Nadya jumped back and evaded the throwing axe.

While Jiyah and Nadya breathed a sigh of relief, Elle Chandra caught Jiyah off guard and slammed her with her shoulder. She then picked up Jiyah and flung her right at Nadya, knocking two birds with one stone.

Both fighters were attempting to recollect themselves but as they were trying to stand, Elle Chandra stood before them with both her weapons. They were both gassed and out of ideas. Looking at each other without saying a word, they acknowledged each other’s courage and had gained respect for one another. As their enemy began to raise her axes to land the final strike, someone stood in front of them, halting Elle Chandra’s attack, it was Reina.