A test of skill Ariana Vs. Ahk'ran Ko'Pec

[Ariana]

The labyrinth is underground so there is a roof. The walls stand about 20 feet high and 10 feet wide. As for the walls they are pure stone and jointed with steel. the walls themself are about 5-10 feet thick, the farther you go in, the thicker the walls.

The Grue. It's a creature of darkness. It's practically unbeatable. It's there in the darkness, but vanishes when light appears, then returns the instant the light goes out again. It's enormous standing about 12 1/2 feet tall, and eats everything. But if you can make it to the middle there is a switch that turns the lights on and banishes the grue till the fight is over



The day was harsh for Ariana.She just came from the Dajas Pagoda and she is tired even though she had just pretty much kicked her last opponent's ass but it came at a cost. She lost one of her four fangs; that will take at least a week to fully grow back.

Her blades are still stained with the blood of her last opponent, The Mathmagician. He was an ok figher, but honestly, He'd be a better scholar. "Mathmagician, you were worthy, you proved smart in the heat of battle."

Ariana, standing roughly 5'6 with a curvy body with curves in all the right places. . And you best stay clear if they are not a yellowish color. Her pitch black hair is too long for her own good. It comes clear down to her knees and yet it is always in a braided ponytail. How she keeps it nice and neat no one knows. Her outfit, per say is that of a ninja. A black long sleeve cloth shirt, which is tight yet not too tight. Tight black cloth pants with a black belt to hold her belongings. Her shoes are a simple shoes that rarely make any noise.

She had just spent the day after her fight with the mathmagician at the nearby tavern. She had a drink to calm her nerves.So here she is minding her own business, hair down her back and over her seat, face unmasked so she can drink her drinks without interruption. As she sits and and takes a sip of water, a young boy no older then 14 comes from nowhere. the boy dressed in a raggedy tshirt and matching pants, both a reddish brown cloth. No shoes what so ever. He approaches Ariana and brings a letter to his front and holds it tight.

"Ummm.. e-e-excuse me m-m-mam.. are you Ariana, the woman w-w-who f-fought the mathmagician?" he says with a weak brittish accent as she now turns her face to him and smiles. "And your name young boy?" She says as she turns to him completely now, revealing her face. All scared from fights. "E-e-evan mam." is all he can say. "Well Evan, what can I do for you?" she says as she looks down to the letter. "Is that letter for me?" She says smiling, revealing her teeth and the missing tooth.

"Y-y-yes mam. It is from the Citadel. They want you to fight a new commer for them and show him the ropes." He brings the letter up and holds it out for Ariana. She smiles as she takes it from his hands and sets it on the tabel beside her and gives Evan a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you handsome." she says as he smiles and walks back out of the tavern.

She looks at the envelope and it says To 'Ariana, the Akusma ta shinigami.' She grins and slowly opens it and sees it is nice and officially written. It is as followed.

"Ariana,

We at the Citadel have heard of your your debut in the Dajas Pagoda against The Mathmagician. We would like to extend an invitation to you. But first you must fight someone for us. His name is Ahk'ran Ko'Pec.We would like you to show this man the ropes of our fighting styles. So please come to the Citadel whenever you can.

Sincerely,
The monks of the Citadel."

Ariana smiled as she read this. "So, another body laying cold in the garden eh? So be it." And with that she crumples the letter up stashing it in her side bag with all her maps and paper.As she stashes it she then stands up, grabbing her sword and smiling as she walks out the tavern to the Citadel. She leaves in a very happy manner. "Today, I mark my first victory in the Citadel and Pagoda. I wonder who all can say that proudly."

~~~~~ Later that day ~~~~~

As the day draws on she finally arrives at the Citadel and sees huge doors. Bigger then anyone or anything she has ever seen. "Holy shit." is all she can say before the doors start to swing open. Next thing she sees inside is an uninmaginable site. She sees her dreams, a giant labyrinth located in the dungeon of a vacant castle.

The labyrinth has a roof so no cheating. The pathway is about 10 feet wide and 20feet high.As for the walls they are pure stone and jointed with steel. the walls themself are about 5-10 feet thick, the farther you go in, the thicker the walls. But there is trouble along the way as well. A creature called the Grue. It's a creature of darkness. It's practically unbeatable. It's there in the darkness, but vanishes when light appears, then returns the instant the light goes out again. It's enormous standing about 12 1/2 feet tall, and eats everything. But if you can make it to the middle there is a switch that turns the lights on and banishes the grue till the fight is over.

Ariana smiles and walks into the maze, staying to the light and the dark, but only when she knows it is safe, as in when it only covers her feet or things like that.

[Chosen of the Gods]

The sun shone brightly through the windows of the Citadel tower. Strands of shadows yearned for freedom from their rooted owners, and amongst them another Shadow towered over them all as the sun shone brightly off him.

Shifting uncomfortably in the main plaza was the desert warrior of six feet and immense toned muscles. His body was lightly armored in a bronze chest plate and his waist covered by a simple leather kilt. His sandals strapped up to his ankle as the footsteps echoed in the stone and marble walkway.

Ahk'Ran had traveled across the dunes of Fallien in search of a meaning, and it was on his seventh day that he found a trade caravan that offered him food and drink in exchange for protection. During the lulls of battle and skirmishes he had learned of the mighty citadel where warriors of legend fought, no fear of death to stop them from holding back in a gladiatorial like combat. As he reached the city he had worked as a body guard for the trade merchant in exchange for money to trek to the citadel in order to fight someone in these legendary arenas. He even wrote a letter of petition to see if he could have a fight arranged the day he arrived, and it was to his surprise that someone had answered the call to battle in a very short time. It took him the better part of a week to arrive, but when he did his mouth was in open prayer to the gods.

"What a glorious place this land is." He said humbly as he walked in the marble hallways. All around him people walked about carrying all different shapes and sizes of weapons. Some men were robed and had an air of magic around them. He even saw a strange woman with long ears and longer daggers at her side, a look of intent on her face as she casually walked through large wooden cedar doors. It was almost breathtaking for the warrior to be in a place of such skilled combatants, and he was pleased to be able to gain access to one of the many legendary fighting portals where he would take on a worthy foe. He walked up to a desk and waited with patience until the older man turned to him.

"Ahk'Ran Ko'Pec I assume?" He said lightly, smiling as he grabbed a paper and ink. Ahk'Ran nodded as he lifted his weapon to the table, putting it down it reverently as he looked over the paper work. "You understand that while you may never die from the arena or the combat, even our magic can't heal all wounds." He said sternly. Ahk'Ran nodded with a grin.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." The man nodded as he shuffled the papers. "Down the hall, the person you fight is named Ariana." Ahk'Ran spoke the name in a half whisper before committing it to memory grabbing his blade. His steps carried him toards the portal, but before he entered he turned to the sun and took out a small pouch of desert sand from his kilt.

"I give thanks to you, mighty gods of the desert for my safe journey to this land. I beseech you now, humbly requesting your aid in the coming fight. Blessed be the Earth God, who is the foundation of my soul!" Ahk'Ran said with excitement. He took out a small sacrificial dagger and cut his upper arm letting the wound bleed in the sunlight before he took the sand and rammed it into his wound. He recoiled a bit as if his arm had caught fire, but didn't release the grip for fear he would anger his gods. After a moment his skin began to glow with an golden aura. He gently bent his knees down to the sun in praise as he bowed low touching his forehead to the cool marble. "I thank you mighty Shadar, god of the Earth, for giving me your blessing!" When he was done he slowly got up and fearlessly walked into the portal where he would fight his challenger.

The first thing he noticed was that the arena was not lit. The second thing he noticed was that the large cedar oak doors behind him slammed shut and out of exsistance. Steeling his resolve Ahk'Ran marched forward in a heavy march, his skin still glowing in the dark. It gave him a slight edge in being able to see his surroundings, but he clearly knew the double edged sword of the tactic. The desert warrior struggled seeing further down the hall as he slowed his pace to a cautious walk.

"Ariana?" He bellowed into the hall. The words echoed in the darkness down the hall and splintered off, a sign that he would hit a fork soon. "I am Ahk'Ran Ko'Pec! I have come to challenge you in combat! Show me yourself so we may fight like honorable warriors!" His voice shouted in a bellowing challenge.

[Ariana]

It felt like hours had passed since Ariana had entered this labyrinth. The place was poorly lit and Ariana felt at home here. The only thing about the place that confused her was the switch she saw in the middle. She dared not press it under any circumstances. See she had made it to the middle by pure luck; she found out that her and her opponent wont be the only living in this forsaken maze.


As she ventured she heard a voice, vague but she heard a man's voice. "Aha, so he has made it. Now the kill all depends on who sees who first." with that said she stays to the walls, and in the shadows, to the point where the only way he could see her is if he were right in front of her. Next thing she heard was the man speaking."I am Ahk'Ran Ko'Pec! I have come to challenge you in combat! Show me yourself so we may fight like honorable warriors!" is what she heard as she carefully calculates when and where he will be so she can strike. She looks around at the dimly lit hallway and swears she seen something jump from the end of the hallway into the shadows, she decides the dark are playing mind games and keeps moving. "Ahk'Ran Ko'Pec, your challenge has been answered. But know this, We are not alone." and with that said she 'vanishes' into the shadows that she has called home so many time.


As she walks along the shadows, she unsheathes her sword, only to put one blade back into the sheath. "I'll only need one blade to stop this man." Ariana says cocky, her hair laying flat against her back as she finds a perfect spot, a spot right at a corner, where the moment he would walk around the corner is when she will attack with all she has.

[Chosen of the Gods]

The desert warrior's steps echoed in the dim light of his own divine radiance. The glow still burned bright, but he could already see the edges of the darkness getting closer to himself. Without the sun nearby he wouldn't be able to invoke any more strength or defense from the gods he worshiped, and it troubled him to not be able to commune with them in the stone labyrinth.

The darkness was a very hard obstacle that Ahk'Ran regrettably had to face. He wasn't used to fighting in a cramped quarter, with an unseen foe ready to strike from any angle. He grew irritated as he had yet to make any real headway, the voice of Ariana taunting him. The illusion to a third battler startled the Fallien warrior, but he had to cast the doubt aside and focus his energy on finding two people now.

He wasn't all out of luck however. Deep in his own home in the deserts of Fallien were great tombs built to house the dead. As part of the training required in his home village to be a warrior he gave up six months of his life to guarding his family's tomb in the night, and six more in the day. He was never allowed to leave the tomb that he guarded in his care until relieved by the relic priests and his noble commander. It was in those strange walkways that had allowed him to steel his nerves and not let the darkness haunt him.

The coolness of the air breached his skin, and his body shivered only slightly at the gentle caress. He wasn't accustomed to the cold being in the desert for so long. At least not when the sun shone, for at night the dunes were frigid at their least. He shifted his shoulders before he squared them, his kopesh held loosely in his right hand as his left was clenched tightly in a fist. He cursed himself for not bringing a torch with him, but didn't dwell for to long on something he couldn't change.

His steps stopped as he looked forward, hitting the fork in the road. His shadow was cast before him, and he saw it was leaning slightly to the left. The god of death and darkness had always used shadows to guide his people in the direst times, and he trusted in his own belief. He bowed his head in a quick solemn prayer of thanks and began to move forward, turning to the left in the fork and walking down the halls, his aura of divine radiance slowly dwindling a little more.

[Ariana]

Ariana could not tell how long she was down here so far. It seemed like almost half a day. She sees a glowing from down the hall around her corner. "Is this him or that beast?" she silently think to herself as she peers cautiously around the corner and sees her opponent walking opposite her. "Damn him." She says as she silently as she grips her sword tighter and follows him.Half of the damn torches aren't even lit and it helps and hinders her at the same time. She perfers the dark but she can't cope with it 24/7.

Not getting to close Ariana feels another presence behind her and stops. "Show yourself beast.Come so I can kill you!" is all you hear as a low growl is heard all over. She quickly turns around to see a shadow beast comming at her. She quickly draws her other sword and charges the beast as well; blades sharp and clean so they cut right through this foul creature. The thing leaps at her and she combines her blades to form the single blade and sticks it up so the beast will get sliced right down the middle. The beast goes through the blade like a knife to butter. She smirks and turns to the carcas. As she looks she sees it fading away. "Is it dead or not? Either way, I'm gonna have to be more careful." As she sheathes her blade again, only to find her opponent out of sight.

As she follows the last path she had seen him go, this time she does something, she lights torches to keep the creature if it's still alive off her back.She don't want to have to watch her back and front this whole fight. She would royally get massacared. Not by one, but two different causes. Then her master would be pissed beyond belief; and that is something worse then death. So it is a path that Ariana tries to avoid at all costs. "Ahk'Ran Ko'Pec, come out and fight me." is the only thing you hear besides a faint trace of wind and the sound of her footsteps on the gravel. She pulls her sword out and seperates it, clapping the blades together.

[Chosen of the Gods]

Ahk'Ran wished for nothing more than to fight his opponent, and answer her calls, but in all honesty he was a little lost. He had found himself down the winding road one to many times, and he couldn't tell if he was going the correct way or not. He had attempted to follow the voice of Ariana, but he was sad to learn he had not the skills to learn where the echos came from.

It was around is fifth corner that he had discovered torches. They followed a trail and Ahk'Ran was impressed at the woman to do a deed such as this. He grabbed one of the torches around it's wooden edge and carried it with him, lighting up the tunnels as he walked carefully. It wasn't to hard to catch up to her when he discovered her back to him, two long blades in her hands.

He dropped the torch to the ground with a loud clatter, bringing his Kopesh up to his chest in a ready stance. "I have found you, Ariana! Let us do battle now!" he cried out in challenge as he lowered himself preparing for her charge should one come.

[Ariana]

Ariana heard a new voice and turned to see who it is. A man, who standing clear behind her. She noticed that his arms were glowing as well. "Note the arms and watch out for them, they could be possible weapons." She smiles and charges at him. Raising one sword above her and the other behind her she lunges with the sword in her right going across his chest and the one in his left going low and across his knees.


After she sweeps she reaches down palms flat on the ground and pushes off, doing two back flips then placing her swords together making one sword, to make it fair. The lighting around the two should be enough to keep the beast that attacked her earlier at bay for now. And with thought about his arms in mind she looks left and right, looking for the darkest path and goes down it. Going right she goes to the end of the path and cautiously waits her opponent. She hides around a corner now knowing her opponent would follow and hopefully lose some skin.

[Chosen of the Gods]

His opponenet was a very agile, skilled acrobat, but that didn't equate to battlefield knowledge. He watched her run down the hall and turn a corner, which probably meant she was waiting in ambush. But the only to spring a trap was to set it off.

He had one basic plan for accomplishing this, and he remembered his training from his drill master. Just like in the desert sands it would apply to this desolate tomb here, and it was a lesson he planned to take to heart. "The simplest plans mean you don't have to worry about it going wrong." He whispered.

With a cry on his lips he charged forward, Kopesh held high as he ran wide around the corner, swinging his blade horizontally into the wall where he guessed his opponent would be.