Elsewhere

Duke was escorted out the back of the chamber as the entire Council followed. Before he had even made it out the now opened door, the catkin fell in step beside him. “My apologies for all this. It seems you have been swept up in our power plays and politics. I am Emberclaw, by the way.”

Duke chuckled. “I was the one who couldn’t let Snarlheart just posture and run his snout. I just hope this doesn’t screw up any relationship that could have been built between our peoples.”

“Should you triumph honorably, things will go well for you. Should you lose, or act dishonorably, then things will go exceedingly poorly for you.” She spoke calmly and with purpose. Duke responded with his most feral grin.

Quickly, they found themselves in a small arena, Duke on one side and Snarlheart on the other. The wolfkin had taken off his boots, allowing his claws to dig into the packed dirt of the arena floor. Duke looked straight across the ten-meter arena at his opponent. Their gazes met and the tension quickly escalated.

It was a matter of less than a minute for the rest of the Councilors to be seated. Emberclaw stood up and spoke. “The Council stands witness. A challenge has been given under the ancient rites of combat. This challenge has been accepted. As arbiter of this challenge, I, Emberclaw, am required to ensure the willingness and understanding of all parties involved before I can allow the challenge to proceed.”

Murmurs of assent passed through the rest of the Councilors before she spoke again. “The challenge has been made under fang and claw. This means that only natural weapons may be used within this arena. Do you assent to this, Snarlheart?”

“Oh yes.” Snarlheart flexed his clawed hands and opened his fanged snout wider. “I will use fang and claw to rend this human.”

She nodded. “Duke do you also assent to using only natural weapons in this challenge?”

Duke looked back to the catkin and asked a clarifying question. “Does natural weapons also include my Abilities? Like if I could grow claws out of my hands, would that be acceptable?”

She smiled at the thought and responded. “Yes, that is acceptable.”

Duke’s grin grew predatory. “Then I wholeheartedly accept this challenge and these terms.” Before anything else could happen, Duke forcibly activated his COMBAT SENSE and OVERCHANNELED his ARMOR SKIN to a 3,000 Mana a second rate. This allowed him to still keep nearly 1,000 Mana a second in reserve and still not affect his Mana pool. He considered OVERCHANNELING his COMBAT SENSE but did not want to try something new that could mess up his Ability or perception in a situation like this.

“Combatants, make yourselves ready.” Emberclaw called out.

Snarlheart shifted his back foot, digging it deeper into the surface while raising his clawed hands above his waist. His eyes focused on Duke, unleashing his PREDATOR’S SIGHT and giving himself the Ability to read every move, every intention of his opponent. It gave him supernatural senses for a short duration – perfect for the fight at hand. His muscles tensed, ready to charge forward and tear this weak and arrogant human to pieces.

Duke readied himself for the coming charge. His XENOGLOSSIA and Intuition were working with his COMBAT SENSE to give him an absolutely clear picture of the wolfkin’s intention to burst forth and tear him apart. He tensed and untensed his muscles, keeping as loose as he could while preparing for the fight. Time seemed to slow down as his COMBAT SENSE focused on his opponent.

The Councilors sat at the edge of their seats, sensing the momentous tension rising. No one had dared stand up to Snarlheart save Emberclaw herself in years. The last had been Taloncrest and even these years later, workers were still finding a stray feather here or there in the area surrounding the ceremonial arena. Their gazes intensified, ready for the spectacle to come.

Emberclaw spoke once again, her feline voice ringing clear in the still air. “Combatants, begin!”

Her command was met with furious action. Snarlheart surged forward faster than any ordinary man could perceive, closing the distance with Duke in a heartbeat. Duke, likewise launched himself across the arena, adding thrust and speed from his FLIGHT Ability to match, if not exceed the wolfkin’s surge.

The pair met nearly in the center of the arena, grappling with each other for control. Muscles bulged and sinews strained as flesh met fur with a tremendous smack. Snarlheart was far stronger than Duke had originally anticipated, and he found himself pushing the limits of his physical strength to keep the wolfkin from gaining an advantageous position over him.

Snarlheart struggled against the human with all the fury of his BLOODFRENZY. And yet, this man held him back. This hairless creature met his claws and fangs with mere flesh and did not break. His BLOODFRENZY moved into its second stage faster than ever before. His claws extended further, growing into thirteen centimeter long to curved ebon daggers, while his snout extended by another four centimeters to accommodate his lengthening fangs. Now it was time to tear flesh from bone!

Duke’s COMBAT SENSE offered him the flow to see the changes occurring in his foe before they fully manifested and, with his perception of time slowed down, he was able to react before the wolfkin made his move. Duke shifted his weight lower and pivoted his body using the wolfkin’s straining efforts to throw Snarlheart with his own strength. Duke continued his pivot to remain facing his shocked opponent. Suddenly, he realized that his chest hurt – an unseen slash by the wolfkin’s claws had left a sizeable slash in his skin. It was a glancing slash and had not penetrated deeply, but it had easily exceeded his ARMOR SKIN’s resistance.

Seeing Duke’s surprised look, Snarlheart grinned. “First blood is mine.” He charged again, confident that he could take this human down slash by slash, tearing bite by tearing bite.

Duke upped the Mana going to his ARMOR SKIN to 4,000 and re-engaged with the wolfkin. This time, he moved with more grace due to his COMBAT SENSE flowing with his Martial Arts. Duke gave in to the flow of the fight, slipping past slashes, meeting bites with blows to direct teeth aside, and kicking at knees to weaken joints and stance.

Snarlheart felt his BLOODFRENZY take over more and more as it moved into the third and final stage as the human shrugged off blows and slashes that should have crippled him. The wolfkin howled as the rage overtook him, leaving his conscious mind cowering in the corner of his mind, barely aware of what was occurring outwardly.

Despite his COMBAT SENSE and Martial Arts, Duke was quickly finding his wounds accumulating faster than his REGNERATION could handle. But thankfully, he was only putting minimal power into the fight. He sensed the danger when the wolfkin went fully feral in his attacks and responded by upping his ARMOR SKIN to a full 10,000 a second. With his regen and Mana pool, he could last more than a minute and a half like this without injury.

Slowly, the tide of the fight turned back in Duke’s favor as his injuries healed themselves and the wolfkin found himself unable to cause further injury. The BLOODFRENZY finally ran out of fuel as Snarlheart clamped down on Duke’s right fist with his jaws. The bite force was tremendous and Duke could feel his bones straining against it. He slammed his left hammer fist into the side of the wolfkin’s jaw and the sound of snapping bone accompanied the wolfkin’s fall to the surface of the arena.

Immediately, the wolfkin sprung back to his feet, setting his jaw back into place with a crunch and a click as the bone settled back into place. Duke stopped pouring extra Mana into ARMOR SKIN to conserve what he still had. He could tell the wolfkin was moving slower and figured he could dodge and parry more easily. The two circled each other some more gauging their collective will and ability to continue.

After a full minute of feints and counters, Snarlheart seemed to come to a conclusion. He stepped back, standing to his full height. “As the challenger, I offer a totem of peace. You have proven yourself to be worthy of standing before this Council and have my respect as a warrior of fang and claw.”

The arena fell deathly silent. Snarlheart had never withdrawn a challenge before. He stood stoically on the torn surface of the arena, his clothing hanging about him in tatters from both his own claws and Duke’s grabs and throws. Duke looked up to the Council members for a context clue and caught the slightest of nods from Emberclaw before returning his gaze to Snarlheart.

Duke locked his gaze firmly on Snarlheart and responded in what he hoped was an appropriate response. “Through fang and claw, tooth and fist, we tested each other’s mettle. I find you a worthy opponent and perhaps even a more worthwhile ally. I accept your totem of peace with respect in my heart.”

The Council erupted with cheers and the two combatants came together to stand before the Council. Emberclaw spoke up from the crowd, “The Council considers this matter settled. Let none other bring it back into the light for it is buried in the depths of memory and there it shall stay.”

Snarlheart offered Duke a hand to shake. Duke was happy to see that his claws had been retracted and shook it solidly. He then activated CLEANSE and RESTORE, bringing both of their tattered outfits back to perfection as well as repairing the torn surface of the arena. When the Ability travelled to the outskirts of the stands and all the Councilors saw not only their own outfits cleaned and rendered new, but the actual arena renewed, they all stared at Duke in awe.

He looked up sheepishly. “Shit. I hope you don’t mind that I did that.”

The collective responses of wonder, laughter, and assurance that it was a great and wonderous thing relieved Duke greatly. He and Snarlheart were soon surrounded by Councilors who had countless questions and wanted to bask in the glow of a great fight made even greater by both fighters walking away from it with respect. Duke was happy to answer most questions but questions of a more personal nature were given enough mysterious half-answers that they soon took the hint and refrained from prying.

Eventually, Emberclaw separated Duke from the rest of the Council and brought him back into her own Lead Councilmember’s chambers. She started the conversation. “Thank you for your patience and restraint. I have a feeling that you could have caused Snarlheart grievous harm should you intended to do so.”

“Possibly, but that would not help my cause at all, would it? I truly dropped down here on a curious whim and had no intention of causing trouble.” Duke apologized.

“Well, it seems that your intent is now somewhat in line with your outcome. Snarlheart is a feared fighter in the arena. That you were able to fight him to a standstill and showed such restraint has enamored you to a great many on the Council. If you came here seeking allies, you are likely to have a much easier time than I would have anticipated, especially considering your heritage.”

Duke inclined his head. “My heritage? There must be some real bad blood between humans and beastkin that I am not aware of at all. I must admit that you are the first beastkin people that I have ever met. I know nothing of your customs or history.”

She smiled, somehow keeping her fangs covered while showing the rest of her teeth. “Well, you stepped into it rather quickly now, didn’t you?” She smirked and continued. “Beastkin and most other humanoid races have had difficult relations at best. In many cases one group has preyed on the other for generations. It is the reason that this community was built in the first place – so that all beastkin could have a home free from such conflict. We have our own internal strife, but it is low-level and controllable for the most part.”

Duke nodded. “That seems like it’s for the best then. I do have a war to get back to, but I would like to return and visit with you again someday.”

“You are welcome here. Return as you will.” She escorted him outside the Council building where he said goodbye to Nibblesworth who was beaming at him with pride.

“You take care of yourself Duke. You’re fun to have around…and my cloak has not looked this good in years!”

“Until we meet again.” Duke waved and activated TELEPORTATION to return to the Legion’s last location. The Ability failed. Oh no, not again!