cyberbarrie vs. Soltur

[cybrah]

A crowd of thousands roar and yearn for blood, they're like a beast; living, breathing.

A lone man sits in the middle of the arena.

He can feel their bloodlust and he feeds of it.

Everything has lead to this moment. His Triumph.

"Will he show?" cyberbarrie whispers. "Will he fight me, or will I have to hunt him down?"

"The title of champion is worth nothing if it's won through disqualification." He thinks. "Would the whelp dare scurry away....?"

[Tetsu (Soltur)]

A man strides purposefully onto the field of battle carrying a massive, two-handed sword and a broadsword. He looks around at the roaring crowd. "They're far too eager for bloodshed. They worry me." Turning to the one who is to be his opponent, Soltur says "I am sorry for being late. A rather large of thieves and brigands tried to subdue me. Let us begin." He draws his broadsword and assumes a ready stance.

[cybrah]

Cyberbarrie continues to sit but raises his eyebrow, not sure if he is either impressed or amused at the sight before him.

"Too eager? Is there such thing, what do you feel now as you stand before me?" He mocked. "You disregard the crowd for being hungry, yet you stand here before me sword drawn!"

"When they told me who I'd face today I did not expect it to be one with an calibre such as yours." Cyberbarrie snicked condescendinly. "I take back what I said about you being a whelp!"

He slowly, almost grudginly, rose to his; cracking his knuckles and rolling his shoulders then leaned on his longsword wedged int he ground. Though he was a man of taste and class, he wore only what was needed in a fight. No bright, grand armor or feathered helms. Speed and power was everything in this arena. Strike hard... and make sure you're first.

"If you've fought today or been injured do not fight me now. I may want this arena filled with your screams and blood, I may want to please the crowd. But I will not fight you at less then your best." He maintained eye contact and tried to read his opponent.

"His eyes tell me nothing. Neither does his soul. I am fascinated." he thought to himself.

[Tetsu (Soltur)]

"I feel calm and collected, as opposed to your bloodthirsty crying for death and destruction." Rather angrily, Soltur continued. "Who am I to stand before you with a sword drawn? One to defend myself from a bloodthirsty fool. Such as yourself." Soltur looked severely at cyberbarrie.

"When I was told who I'd be facing, I'd expected one more...calm and respectful."

Soltur took a deep breath and kept himself as calm as possible and ready for anything thrown at him.

"I am not injured. I incapacitated them with indescribable ease. Fear not, for you shall face me at my best. I wish you the best of luck."

"How intriguing," thought Soltur interestedly. "Behind his cloak of bloodthirstiness, he seems to be...kind. I must remember this." Soltur let out a sigh of exasperation.

[cybrah]

"Fool?!" Cyberbarrie growled, his eyes narrowed, almost like a cat's eyes. He twitched and spasmed almost like the crazy and frail old veteran from the village; the man who had seen one to many evils. He tensed and gripped the pomel of his blade untill he though his hand might fall off, this calmed him down. Barely.

He rolled the word fool around in his mouth like it was new. "I have been called many things, but this is not one of them. Some would say you're the fool for fighting the Beast of the Northern Wilds. Yet you dispatch a group of brigands and it seems you didn't break a sweat. But I don't take you for a fool, I do believe this will be a glorious fight."

"You seem like a man of your word, as I am. If you say you're at your best then we shall still continue."

Cyberbarrie noticed this man's sigh of exasperation. He thought to himself, "Why does this man fight, why does he risk his life in this Arena?"

Cyberbarrie spoke. "But where are my manners I don't even know you're name, man. Tell me where you hail from, what is your tale? I like to know my oppenent before I carve his skin from his flesh."

He didn't smile when he said this.

[Tetsu (Soltur)]

"'Beast of the Northern Wilds,' hm? Intriguing. That title, I'm afraid, means nothing to me." Calmly, he sized up his foe. This man will be quite the fighter.

Soltur smirked grimly. "Yes, I dispatched thim that easily. And yes, this battle shall be one of epic proportions."

Soltur thought back to his last difficult battle. It had been a Shadow who'd taken his form and abilities. He'd almost not made it out of that fight. Soltur looks at cyberbarrie and shudders. "I hope this battle shall be nothing like that," he thought.

"I'm sure you wish to know why I fight," Soltur said. He nodded thoughtfully. He thought about why he was there. "If my home village didn't need to be here, I wouldn't be here. We need money to make sufficient repairs and buy goods." He sighed again. He wished he wasn't there.

"Oh, my apologies! I am Soltur. Some know me as the Elite Spellblade. Some know me as the Gods' Torchbearer. Others know me as the Great Balancekeeper. I hail from a small village called Tareth. I am, well, was Tareth's guardian, but I was recruited into a special force of peacekeepers called the Elites. Time cannot kill us, but blade or arrow can." He stared at cyberbarrie. "Oh, and skin and flesh are one in the same. I'm sure you meant something like '...before I carve the flesh from your bones.'" he added as an afterthought.

"And you? Have you a tale that must be told?" he asked.

He stared at his foe without a trace of a smile.

[Will]

(just sorry to blend in but great story by so far keep it up  )

[cybrah]

"Ah, then you are a wise being." He said with a glint of respect. "You fight a man for his stature, not for his name."

"You fight for a worthy cause, then man. If I do defeat you I shall send your bones back, with a small fortune for your village. I may be the beast of the Northern Wilds but I am an honourable one." He said with a shiver of madness.

"Well met Soltur, such fine names, you must be a man of high standing. This fight shall satisfy the gods!" HE ROARED. He didnt care though, he just wanted to dance with steel against steel once again. "I have no arrows, or potions, or magic, I have blade though, that is how I will fight you!"

"I have no story to tell." he whispered as a shadow of regret, lies and pain fell upon him. "If I feel the time is right I will tell you. If I win I will send your bones back, along with the money I promised. But if you win, I will tell you my story and you must spread it, speak of my legend..."

*silence falls across the stadium*

"Oh and one last thing my boy, what I said was correct; your skin will leave your flesh. If you're lucky I might leave you alive to witness it!"


And without another word he lunged at Soltur.

He had nothing to loose. This would be his last fight. He shed a tear for the ones he loved, hoping he would be with them soon.


- NOTE -
*though I have established that I think of you as a man, I use boy condescendingly*

[Tetsu (Soltur)]

Soltur sensed the attack, but the speed was impressive. He barely had time to bring his sword up to block the devastating blow. He saw the tear leave cyberbarrie's eye and understood what this man was going through.

"Now I understand," said Soltur calmly. "You fight do you may die, but you wish to perish by the hand of the mighty, as to die a warrior's death with honor. You've lost all but your blade and memories." Soltur looked into cyberbarrie's eyes to gauge the amount of truth in what he said. He also always looks into the eyes of his foes when he battles. This one had the look of one who's lost everything.

[cybrah]

He felt pain inside him, not from blade or poison, but from the selfishness of others. The selfishness that took the ones he loved.
He had his revenge, now his time was over.

He would live to meet another who could take him from this world. Or he would die at this man's blade.

"This man is worthy, he shall fight me, two warriors showing their might. If I fall, I will pass knowing it was glorious." He though to himself.

"I will tell you my name. As I promised I would. I am Knothold." He said as there swords clashed.

And without another word he  stepped back and brought his blade in for another attack.

"If you have anything to say, tell me know!" He roared, the pain and tears left momentarily as the thrill of the fight engulfed him.

[Tetsu (Soltur)]

Soltur nodded to Knothold. "Well met." He studied the man. "You shall be at peace when this battle blows over."

He didnt want to kill his foe, but Knothold wanted oherwise. Soltur knew that he must attempt to oblige the man.

Soltu tensed, waiting for the jarring impact that accompanied the blocking of a strike.

[cybrah]

Steel on steel once again, the force of their weapons sounded like thunder.
Minutes passed as the foes traded blows.

Knothold thought to himself. "We seem to evenly matched. Maybe I need a diversion, something to distract him. I don't like resorting to cowdly tactics but I need to think about all possibilities."

He had worked up a light sweat now. Things were about to get interesting.

[Tetsu (Soltur)]

Soltur grappled with Knothold for several minutes. "Magnificent!" thought Soltur in admiration. "This man's strength never seems to wane, his defense never seems to falter! Most impressive!" Soltur knew he couldn't defeat this man at the rate they were going, but he also knew that he could not be felled by this man at the rate they were fighting.

Suddenly, a loud explosion filled the combatants' ears and a thousand heavily armed brigands wearng tattered clothing surged onto the battlefield. One of them, dressed a little more nobly than his companions, sported a severely broken nose and a massive black eye. This man was obviously the leader.

[cybrah]

The explosion disrupted both the men from their fight, and the seperated and observed the scene before them.

"HA!" Knothold grunted, "It seems the boys you easily dispatched have come back for some trouble."

He looked at Soltur and grinned wickedly.

Knothold was starting to like this man, he had never had such admiration for a foe.

[Tetsu (Soltur)]

Soltur adopted a look of sheer hatred and fury, one he hadn't used in ages. He looked at Knothold, smirking evilly for a moment.

"I did dispatch them. They're no good with weapons, but they are persistent little fools! Let's take these guys down and then get back to ourfight, hm?" Soltur noticed the leader and ran over toward him, ready to strike him down. His expression returned to the expression of hatred he previously wore.

Soltur felt a spark of acceptance for Knothold. "It's a shame only one of us shall make it out. Perhaps..." he thought.