Years of the Covenant: Part 11 (Incomplete)

Night had come and gone quickly, and the Pelennex Pinnacle was due to begin within the hour...1

After the banquet had ended, Darrien had spent a good portion of the evening placing Pearls of Sight all over the battle arena for the morrow. Vannolyn left the banquet early so that he could place a few of the pearls in the chamber of Estyn Cauth, their target. Following that, the two Nightshaders spent much of the evening studying Cauth's mannerisms, his array of weaponry, and his battle finesse as he trained in front of the mirror in his room.2

Now it was time to put everything they'd gathered in the last day to use. Vannolyn dawned his black tunic, black pants, and studded leather armor. He glazed his daggers, swords, and five arrow tips with the deadly nightshade poison. Afterwards, he sheathed and placed his weapons in their proper place as Darrien dawned his ninja outfit and his strange curved swords and daggers. He followed suit, glazing the edge of his blades with the poison.3

"You ready?" Darrien asked as Vannolyn, placing a hand on his shoulder as the young drow tried collecting himself.4

"Ready as I'll ever be." Vannolyn said, hardening the resolve upon his face.5

A knock came at the door to their chamber in the moments following. To their expectation there were a pair of royal gaurds there to escort them to the battle arena. The two Nightshaders followed promptly, but Vannolyn turned around quickly to grab the two black pouches with the contents that Silious Roh had provided him with.6

Together Darrien and Vannolyn followed the pair of royal gaurds as they twisted and turned through palace staircases and hallways until they found their way to the main gate. Their horses from the stables were waiting for them. As they mounted their steeds, they saw that all the other competitors were gathering their as well with host of gaurds at the front of the caravan. Apparently they were going to parade through the city to the arena. It was a pointless thing to do, but Vannolyn didn't argue the procedure.7

From the front the two Nightshaders heard the captain of the gaurd blow a whistle and they began to move forward; first the gaurds, then the knights, and then everyone else including them. The procession was slow as the streets were filled with cheering peasants, craftsmen, and merchants.8

After about 20 minutes of slowly trotting through the streets, the finally entered the tall gate that entered into the arenas preparation chambers. The structure was huge, but only Darrien could really tell, for he was the one who spent the previous evening scoping out the battle field.9

As they dismounted, and made their final preparations. Vannolyn took a look at all of his opponents, studying their choice of weapons and weaknesses in their armor. The two woodsmen and Druid appeared to have crude choices for both, it didn't look like they would be a problem. The knight appeared to look like powerful brawlers, but their armor looked heavier than most... speed would be the best course of action against them. It was hard to decipher where the strengths would lie with the elven bounty hunter and gnome mercenary; he and Darrien both would have to watch them closely.10

Then his eyes fell upon the Cauth. The cleric wore the same charismatic smile that was pasted upon his face the previous evening as he polished his scimitar. He wore a very shiny thin armor of a sort, given how light-weighted it appeared Vannolyn was almost certain that it was gold-plated steel. And that was just one more reason the man had to go.11

Darrien was walking the opposite direction when Vannolyn grabbed his shoulder and stopped him...12

"So what's the layout of the battle arena?" Vannolyn whispered into his ear, not wanting to draw attention. Darrien squinted his eyes and grimaced a moment.13

"There was nothing." Darrien replied, noticing the confusion on Vannolyn's face. "The battle arena was a barren flat expanse of dirt about a quarter square mile all around, and on the surrounding walls were energy siphons. My guess is that they use magic to generate the environment and cast an energy dome overhead to keep anything from harming civillians."14

Vannolyn didn't know what to think, he was hoping that they would not be stepping into this completely blind. His forehead creased as he tried to consider what their next step could be to get the upper hand.15

"Don't worry," Darrien patted him on the back, reassuring him, "I still placed several pearls all throughout the arena and at each entrance. We'll still have eyes all throughout the arena."16

Vannolyn let the tension realease from his body as quickly as it taken hold. But before either of them could say another word, an attendant entered the preparation chambers directing combatants to their respective entrances.