• Kitan spent the night waking and sleeping, waking and sleeping. After waking for the fourth time, he decided to open the window and climb out onto the roof, to see the stars like he did back in his village. He climbed up, finding a nice level area and sat down. He looked out over the top of the houses lining Dralgo’s inner wall. Lights lining the streets were being lit by the patrolling guards at night. Some lights were even on in the houses. He looked up at the sky, cloudless and bright. He made shapes and designs like when he was a child. Kitan laid down after a few minutes when he decided not to strain his neck. He laid there and listened to the sounds, comparing them to back home. A few birds chatted back and forth among themselves and every so often he saw some movement cause by a small creature of the night. He smiled at how at night, no matter where he was, it sounded like home. He yawned and decided that it wasn’t as cold tonight, so he would sleep up here. He closed his eyes and soon was asleep. He woke with the rays of the sun. He smiled standing up, and stretching. He turned to go inside when he saw Axel motioning to him.

    “You spent all night up here? You really are one weird person, you know?” He didn’t wait for an answer as he returned inside.

    Kitan followed him, gathered his things and the two of them left towards the tournament grounds. Axel kept looking around.

    “Something on your mind Axel?”

    He shrugged and shook his head. “I was going to meet a woman, and was hoping to run into her before we met up at the tournament grounds. Oh well.” He walked on. Kitan caught up, leaving it at that. The streets were more crowded than the day before so it took the two of them a little longer than expected to reach their destination. Once they were there, Kitan noticed a line of people. All waiting to talk to a man at a desk and a man with a long board, he assumed it was the sign in.

    “Well, this is where we part ways, I’ll be cheerin you on, so don’t lose.” Axel smiled and leaned in and added “Though if you do decide to go down, try going down in the top three matches hm?”

    Kitan rolled his eyes and pushed him towards the stands. Axel laughed and left him to be by himself. It didn’t take long for Kitan to reach the front, they had another man come in to speed things up.

    “Name?” he said.

    “Kitan, Namathorn.”

    The man next to the board, inserting his name in a jar on a piece of paper. “Go on, next!”

    Kitan went into the entrance all the others had entered. It led Kitan to the center of the grounds. As the people watching poured in Kitan truly felt the greatness of the place. The building was much larger than it looked outside. Kitan couldn’t stop looking around; he tried to control his amazement by taking a deep breath and focusing on a spot in front of him. A man to his left laughed and when Kitan turned to see him, it was the man who he had head-butt at the Gladiator Arena. Kitan smiled and the man, realizing who it was, cut his laughter and turned away. Kitan was beginning to relax, knowing there were people like him here made it easier to take in. Once all the onlookers were in their seats, and all the participants had entered, everything went silent. Kitan looked around and noticed they were all looking up at a balcony. A man very eloquently dressed emerged from the doorway. The crowd erupted in cheers, and the man held up his hands to silence them. It took a few moments but they did as he motioned.

    “Brothers, Sisters. People of Dralgo! I welcome you, to the greatest cherished tradition to have survived the test of time. The Dralgonan Atlas Tournament!” The crowd roared to life once again, and once again he motioned for silence. “Before you stand the best warriors from the farthest reaches of Althuron. They will fight, with honor, their skills, and their strength to achieve the title of Champion of Atlas. The rules are simple, no life will be taken, an honorable man will only take a life in war, and this is not. Anything other than killing your opponent can go, everything you can use at your disposal is at your disposal to become the Champion of Atlas. Now warriors take your place. Two will fight, one will move on until one is given the title you so deserve. Victory to you all, and may glory be yours this day!”
    The crowd cheered once more as he left the balcony. The warriors exited out a side door with a place to rest, and watch who was fighting. A man announced the first two fighters, they entered. It was a few moments but one emerged victorious. Every time a warrior was victorious the crowd seemed to cheer louder and louder, knowing that it meant they were that much closer to seeing who would be, the Champion of Atlas.

    “Kitan Namathorn and Celas Turlock.”

    Kitan took a deep breath, unsheathed his weapons, and went to the center. Celas, a woman just a head shorter than Kitan, had blonde hair. She wore a light armor for quick mobility, and carried a spear. It was tipped on both ends. The signal was made and the fight began. She didn’t wait. As the man moved out of the way, she rushed towards Kitan. Her spear was flexible and as she twirled it in a circle the tip wagged back and forth like the edge of his swords. Kitan stood his ground. At the last moment she thrust it at him, Kitan knocked it away from him effortlessly with his arm. He twisted his arm quickly around the shaft and with as much force as he could muster, sliced downward, breaking one end of the spear. The crowd cheered. Kitan took it as his opening. He rushed quickly towards her. She dropped her spear and pulled out two daggers from behind her back and did the same. The two clashed in a dead lock. Neither wanting to give an inch to the other. Kitan; seeing as it wasn’t getting him anywhere, quickly moved back, catching her off balance, and pushed her to the ground. Before she had time to recover, Kitan had front flipped towards her, his leg outstretched catching her in her stomach. He felt a rib crack under his foot. He quickly rolled to safety and as she struggled to get to her feet, Kitan swiftly closed the distance and thrust the butt of his hilt into her stomach. She fell to her knees and dropped her daggers. She clutched her chest and Kitan was named victorious. She was helped off to the side so the doctor could treat her. Kitan looked up into the crowds and saw faces of people, cheering for his victory. He smiled and returned to the other warriors. The next few competitors entered. It went like that for some time. He kept to himself. The others watched him. He grimaced to himself. Kitan knew he let the others know he was good, he was too much in a hurry to finish the task given to him he forgot to hold onto the element of surprise. Oh well, get over it and plan for the next fight. Kitan thought to himself.

    “Kitan! Kitan hey!” Axel’s familiar voice came abruptly from above him. Kitan moved out and looked up. He was smiling down at him, stuffing food into his mouth. That wasn’t what made him look puzzled. It was the face, next to Axel, smiling down at him as well. “Hey, want you to meet-”

    “Jade, what are you doing here?” Kitan said interrupting him. Axel looked from her to him.

    “You know her?”

    “We met before we left for Dralgo, she uh, drew my picture.” Kitan replied.

    “Kitan Namathorn and Shulu Yun. Please come to the center.”

    Kitan looked down at who moved, it was a tall man off in the other end of the fighter pit. He carried two ball and chains with a very large and wide sword on his back. He was smiling at him.

    “Kitan, good luck...” Jade’s voice said, returning his gaze up to her.
    He just smiled and unsheathed a blade, resting it up on his shoulder as he joined Shulu in the center.

    When Kitan stepped once again in the place he was at earlier in the day, Shulu looked from Kitan, to jade who was waving at Kitan and cheering him on.

    “Your woman will be in tears when I crush you under my feet.” He smiled as he whirled one of the chains above his head. He swung it faster and just as sudden as he started, He pulled it forcefully down. The ball came crashing down just in front of Kitan. Kitan didn’t move from where he stood. Shulu saw this and apparently unfazed by his failure to scare him, he stood back up and said calmly “Your search for glory dies with me.”

    “BEGIN!”

    The man roared a loud battle cry as he began to twirl both chains on either side of him. He did this and began to rush towards Kitan. Kitan saw he wanted close combat, even knowing his skills with his blades. Kitan unsheathed his blades and took a defensive stance, moving back and forth avoiding the large metal ball with large spikes all over it. The man twirled his body, changing it from an up and down circle, to a criss crossing motion around his body. Kitan was caught off guard. He back-flipped just as the man crossed them in front of him and in mid-flip struck him back to the ground. Kitan hit the floor hard, and rolled away and to his feet again. He coughed up some blood and spat it to his side. The man stood to his full height and just smiled. Kitan took a calming breath, letting himself enter the state when he trained alone. He fed every emotion and focused on nothing and everything. Kitan became his blades, cool and hard. Devoid of feeling. In this state Kitan felt like he was just an onlooker watching a play before him and his body and the man he was fighting, the actors. Kitan switched how he held his swords so the blade was on the underside of his arms. Kitan rushed toward the man as he once again began to twirl the deadly ball and chains around him. Kitan sidestepped as the man threw one at his head and rolled as the man swung the other horizontally at Kitan’s stomach. Kitan sliced upwards, breaking the chain. The man stumbled back, pulling the large blade from behind him. Kitan was within ten feet when the man slashed downward letting out a frantic yell. Kitan stopped in his tracks protecting himself from being sliced in two. The force behind the strike took Kitan to a knee. Shulu slowly let himself return to his confident demeanor at the start of the match.

    “Die, vermin! DIE!”

    Kitan was beginning to feel the exhaustion. He struggled to get to his feet but the man had too much leverage for Kitan to get a foothold. Kitan let his eyes drift just slightly behind the man. Then he saw him. While everyone behind him was cheering and shouting their support. He saw, the man who struck down Gnal. Kitan felt his anger returning to him, bubbling up out of control. Kitan, no longer cared for the man before him. He just wanted to reach him. He let out a beastly roar of his own, pushing the huge sword to his side. He roared again as he lunged up, missing as he slashed at his neck, he slashed with his other blade at the arm holding the weapon. Shulu let out a shout of pain. Kitan continued to push through the man by stepping on his leg and landing a powerful kick to his face. Shulu fell back bleeding out of several places and Kitan ignored him. He landed on the ground and continued his pursuit towards the man. He let out another roar as he neared the man. The crowd was screaming in fear trying to get out of his path. As Kitan was about to reach the edge of people just in front of the man, Axel and Jade had reached him. She had thrown a small net that connected with his legs, He tripped and as he fell Axel grabbed his arms. He thrashed as he struggled to break free. Kitan’s fury didn’t cease. His eyes were locked on the face that never dropped that confident smile. He heard Axel and Jade’s voice and reluctantly, Kitan looked back at them. They were shaking their heads and talking to him. They were trying to get him to calm down. He looked back to where the man was. Nowhere, he had vanished. With him gone, Kitan lost all desire to struggle and thus, returned to his normal self. They waited a few moments before feeling it was safe to free him, and help him up.

    “What the hell man? What was that about?” Axel said with a slight under tone of confusion. Jade just stared at him, with a look that seemed to be analyzing his body language.
    “I saw him, the man that killed… that killed Gnal.”

    Axel went silent; Jade moved slowly to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. She didn’t say anything; just let the action speak for him. Over his shoulder the man overseeing the match finally reached him. He just smiled at Jade and turned to the man.

    “What are you doing young man?! Are you mad?”

    Kitan held up a hand to silence him and replied calmly. “Don’t worry about me, this was a onetime thing, I had a… moment of weakness. Please let me continue. I can promise I wont have another moment like this again.”

    The man looked to the head overseer. He and the other judges whispered to each other then looked back. He nodded and the man before them replied “Alright, it seems you can continue. Be warned boy, you let this happen again and you forfeit your position and are no longer part of the tournament. Understood?” Kitan nodded. “Then return to the fighter’s pit. And you two, thank you for your intervention but please. Return to your seats and enjoy the rest of the tournament.”

    Axel and Jade looked at Kitan, he nodded, they nodded back and Axel gently moved Jade back to their seats. Kitan sighed and took one last look around. He didn’t see him. He sighed again and returned to the fighter’s pit. As he sat down the other fighters outwardly moved away from him. All but one moved away. A woman; she wore a black scarf that covered her mouth, and had tattoos along both her upper arms. Her hair was dyed, a light green, and both her top and bottom were black. She had her arms crossed against her chest and was calm. As if to her the event that just took place never happened. He saw a thin, long curved blade wrapped sideways along the small of her back and two daggers on either side of her waist.

    “That fury of yours; if you learned to control it, you could be very deadly.” She looked at him then and smiled both a very flirtatious and deadly smile and added “I like deadly. Makes life interesting.”

    He looked away and blushed. She laughed and as the overseer called her and her opponent’s name; got up then walked to the fighting ground. Kitan shuddered to think he could pull the attention of such a woman. Her fight went rather quickly. He had only carried a handful of darts, claiming he was very skilled. She evaded his darts and tossed one that was stuck in the ground back at his leg. It seemed he had dipped them in a sleeping mixture because as she followed it up with her daggers; he staggered a bit, and then fell to the ground. She shook her head, not waiting for her to be named the winner. She took her place once more near Kitan, looking at him and winking. The first round of matches in the tournament had completed.

    The overseer stood in the center of the fighting grounds and speaking loudly said “Ladies and Gentlemen! I give you your victors, your warriors of virtue and strength!” The crowd stood to their feet and cheered. “Tomorrow we will begin the next round of fights, to narrow down the competitors to become the champion… of ATLAS!” Once again they roared to life. “Thank you, brave warriors for stepping up to the challenge, and thank you, people of Dralgo, for putting your hopes on these fine, skilled fighters!” The crowd cheered one last time before filing out of the Tournament grounds. Kitan just sat there, waiting for the people to dwindle. The woman who fought last got up and as she walked by him, stopped. He looked up and opened his mouth to ask her if she needed something when she quickly turned to him, leaned down, and skillfully pulling her scarf down quickly; planted a passionate kiss on her end, on his lips. She pulled away, winked and said only loud enough to him “The name is Whitney Marie. Glad to have met you, I look forward to fighting with you.” She stood up and walked off. Whitney and Jade passed each other; sharing a quick look between each other. Whitney laughed softly as she rounded the corner.

    “Kitan, you were great! I had no idea you were so skilled. I know you have a good chance at winning.” She said smiling in encouragement. Axel wasn’t far behind her. “Yeah, the little lady is right. I knew you were good, but damn, not that good. I may have to put some koin on your head.” He said adding to her statement.

    Kitan smiled and shook his head. “I don’t care if I win, but thank you. I only entered because it was a wish from my master. She wanted to show the world she had passed on her teachings to someone. This was how she wanted to show them.”

    Kitan got up and the three of them went to eat. They talked about lots. Laughing and pointing at what people were wearing. Axel kept making bets of how far he could get with the women. Jade rolled her eyes but laughed at his remarks. Kitan smiled. He yawned and noticed that the patrols were patrolling the streets. They walked Jade to her place and returned to the inn. Kitan was welcomed by the innkeeper with a plate full of hot food, a hot bath, and the chance to spend the night with his daughter, though he graciously turned it down. He went to his room and to make sure he was alone; put the desk slightly in front of the door. He went to sleep after redressing his wounds. Once his head hit the bed, he was out. His dreams were peaceful. Except for when he dreamt of the man. He spoke to him, repeating that phrase he said to Kitan when he attacked the three of them.

    “In due time, Fatalis ab pugnator.”