[Axxaer]

Chapter 4
Crystal Heaven
17 Velstrom, 14074

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” called a young but loud spoken Velk commentator; his voice reverberated throughout the huge gladiatorial stadium. “Please turn your attention to the main pit, and prepare to witness the most amazing, breathtaking, nail-biting visual extravaganza!” He somehow managed to make every word of the last part sound like the focus of the sentence.

“An experience like this you have never seen the like of. Your eyes will thank you for the rest of your life!” he yelled energetically. “From the near gate is emerging one of the mightiest forces of glory and valour, fighting for what’s left of the good in this world; the pride and glory of the Felsong clan; the four bravest warriors in Ulkavia; the mighty FROZEN AVALEN!!!”

“None of the warriors have discovered their spirits yet, but they will try their hardest to acquire them in this very battle! Be warned, spiritless Avalen are among the fiercest fighters in the land. They do not need their spirits to win battles for them.”

The enormous crowd of thousands went wild as four glorious Avalen icewarriors were dragged out into the pit in chains by some of the largest Ilkar in the land. The crowd was a mixed bunch from every race imaginable; even a small group of Ilkar had turned up!

“And from the far gate,” continued the commentator, “Is emerging the only creature worthy of facing these very formidable opponents. The one, the only, VEXXA’LI!!!” At the mention of the name the crowd was sent into a wild frenzy. They had realised the significance of the incredible battle they were about to witness. Vexxa’li was the pet warrior of Elur, the dark Avalen firewarrior Sultan and owner of the gladiatorial arena.

The twenty-two foot battle Guran bore numerous scars from his hundreds of fights – inside and outside the arena. He was undefeated still. Boasting three-inch thick impenetrable armour created in the fiery depths of Yvir, the immense creature wielded spears carved from entire tree trunks, swords as tall is himself and his sling bullets were entire boulders.

The fearsome creature charged head first through the large iron gate he had been caged behind. This prompted the Avalen icewarriors to throw the dozen Ilkar holding their chains to the dusty concrete floor and freeze them to avoid harming them too much. A chain icebolt burst forth from the fingertips of the tallest Avalen. It struck his own chains, then lanced across to crack all the other Avalens’ chains.

“This could be quite a fight.” Decided Mar’bakkar, the head of bets in the arena.
“Yes,” agreed Elur, “But I do hate watching my own kind get slaughtered!”
The burst out into laughter; they were among the few present who were aware that four spiritless Avalen would be no match one of most efficient killing machines in existence. Mar’bakkar both stood to win a lot of money if Vexxa’li were to win; not to mention lose even more if Vexxa’li lost.

“Let the action BEGIN!!!” called the announcer loudly

The nervous Avalen warily shuffled into basic defensive positions as they waited for the upcoming battle. Vexxa’li wisely decided to test his foes by hurling a boulder at the middle of the group. The instant the boulder was thrown it was struck by four jets of ice, shattering it into thousands of shards of frozen rock. Many of the pieces fell to the ground before the boulder’s target could send several hundred of the icy daggers back to the massive Guran.

Vexxa’li drew a razor sharp 12-foot bastard sword in one hand and a spear almost twice as tall in the other, attempting to scare his opponents. Moments before the deadly ice shards struck home, their target exercised his powerful leg muscles and sprang up towards the roof. On contact, the spider-like legs gripped to the old wooden roof as though stapled, yet they were still capable of incredibly swift movement.

The Avalen positioned themselves in a ring around the arena and whilst three cast protective ice spheres around themselves, the other prepared a blink spell. As expected, the giant arachnid flung himself headlong at the unprotected icewarrior, his fangs filling with lethal venom.

The skilled Avalen waited until the very last opportunity before executing their strategy, of which Vexxa’li was blissfully unaware. The unshielded warrior activated his blink spell, teleporting him across the arena between two of his companions. Unable to stop, the immense Guran slammed headfirst into the dusty concrete floor, inflicting head wounds mortal to any lesser being.

In synchronous three ice bolts slammed into the side of the fearsome creature, launching him backwards into a moss-covered wooden wall. Under the great force of the gargantuan beast the old wood shattered and sharp splinters littered the ground. Clouds of dust rose around the damaged wall.

The icewarriors were wise enough to not believe that Vexxa’li was already defeated; a barrage of ice filled the gap in the wall and continued for several moments before it slowly died away. The arena was silent for quite some time as everyone waited for the undefeated arena champion to rise from the wreckage and slay the Avalen warriors. Silence.

Uneasy challengers shuffled slowly around the circular pit in deadly anticipation. A small garden spider ran out from underneath a plank of wood and scurried across the arena. One of the Avalen stamped harshly down, reducing the tiny arachnid to a puddle of black goo.

Nothing moved for a long time.

The scrawny Velk announcer strode out from a small wooden door and placed himself in the centre of the arena. Raising the microphone to his mouth, he prepared for the usual winning announcement. A sudden rush of air emitted from the gap, throwing the Velk roughly down. He struggled to rise on bruised legs and lifted his slitted eyes to the unphased Guran emerging from the broken wall. Several massive strides brought the arachnid towering over the cowering announcer.

“P-p-please d-don’t kill m-me…” stammered the young Velk hoarsely.

A large hairy arm swung down at the Velk, threatening to smash his skull, but the spidery limb was stopped midswing by a freeze spell cast by the shortest of the Avalen. Unable to move this arm, Vexxa’li backed away and slammed a frustrated fist clean through the old wooden wall. He spun suddenly and leapt at one of the other Avalen who was paralysed in shock.

Fumbling for spells, the icewarriors found they could only watch as one their group was viciously ripped to shreds by an organic killing machine. Several litres of pure poison were injected into his body and he fell the floor, sticky black poison oozing from his mouth and eyes.

The crowd cheered louder than ever before, causing a huge grin to crack Elur’s face. Some, however, attended these events less frequently and took to being sick instead.

The eyes of the tallest Avalen, who specialised in melee combat, filled with burning rage. He drew his gleaming katanas from his back and leapt twenty feet into the air. Vexxa’li clawed madly at his own back as the Avalen that stood there began using his razor sharp swords to tear away at the thick plated armour.

Finding a weak, unprotected gap on Vexxa’li’s neck, the Avalen plunged both blades deep into the tough, hairy hide. He then drew two daggers from his ankle sheaths and leapt forwards to thrust them into the Guran’s main eyes.

A heavy blow from one of Vexxa’li’s wildly swinging limbs caught the icewarrior in the chest and sent him bowling across the arena. Ignoring the burning in his neck, Vexxa’li’s agile spidery legs launched him onto the winded Avalen and brought massive limbs beating down, breaking the rest of the immobile icewarrior’s ribs.

Once again, the crowd broke out into wild frenzies of cheering and whistling; they were convinced that Vexxa’li would at least put up a good fight against his powerful foes.

The bloodthirsty beast turned his attention to the two remaining icewarriors; a taste for blood brought a renewed vigour to the mighty arachnid’s attacks. Vexxa’li leapt at the smaller of the Avalen, ready to kill again. A barrage of ice slammed into the Guran’s tough chest, knocking him off course and into the wall.

The Avalen barely had time to turn towards their attacker before he emerged from the wreckage, blood dripping from his mouth. Vexxa’li sprung at the same target as before and drew his colossal broad sword. A solid wall of ice materialised just metres before the pouncing spider. Vexxa’li ignored the pathetic barrier and continued on head first through it, shattering the two-foot thick wall.

As the four tonne beast hurtled onward like a living meteorite, its prey realised that is could not escape. Only one option remained open to him. He had little choice; die or unleash enormous power to save himself.