The first round

I wake up just before the sun, as I do every night. I decided to rest, but today I was greeted by a man at my door. I get up and look at him, confused, wondering why the King would think I need a butler. But I get past it and ask.

“What are you doing in here?” I ask, perplexed as to why anyone would want to be in my room.

The short, portly man perks up and walks over to me.

“I’m here to fit you for your suit of armor; you will want a suit of armor? Or maybe you would like some light leather armor?” He asks curiously.

I get up to shack off the night and seem like someone. I stand and realize I’m standing there naked before this man. I went about getting dressed, and to my surprise, he didn’t stair that mutch. I figure I should acknowledge what he said.

“It would be a waste of metal or any other material for that matter; I prefer to fight in regular clothes,” I inform him.

The man shrugs and grabs a bell out of his pocket. It took a few moments, but a man with some fabrics walk-in accompanied by some help. I looked over all of them, and I’m dumbfounded about why they would go through all of this.

“What is all of this? I don’t need this.” I tell them.

“The man laughs; why if you win, you will have to attend the family for dinner.” He tells me.

I shudder at the thought of dinner. I never figured I would have to do something like that. I guess it’s ok because I would do anything for Elaina. Despite it all, I try and get ready for my day. I suit up in my casual day's outfit. After I get it on, the small man tugs on my arm and leads me down the hall. We head past where we came in and then off past a dining hall that I see them setting up for dinner later this evening. We don’t stop, though, and run past it all to a garden pass. It’s a beautiful place with roses and lilies lining the sides. You can see the castle walls above the garden, and it gives such a feeling of safety.

But aside from the beauty, I can see where we are heading; it’s a massive stone building. Each stone seemed to have some kind of inscription on it. It seems to give off a similar glow to the blade in the forest. But I didn’t worry too much about it. Once we enter, I see a deciding set of stairs that seem to lead to the base of a vast arena. There seems only to be a few people attending, but in the middle of the ring are the others competing in the tournament. I look ahead to see a man in a full suit of armor and a man in a suit made of fur. Nither one seems to be that threatening, but to the left was an older man with a box next to him.

We make our way down, and I then stand before all those who will be competing. I smile and greet them, but they scowl, looking down at me. The old man just looked ahead; I couldn’t tell if he looked at me through his thick glasses. As we are sitting in this uncomfortable silence, we hear the King's voice.

“Welcome now that we are all here; it’s time to begin. We will start with the lowest of the family's house Firmen, they will be presenting their oldest son Clark…” the announcement starts.

As he tells us this, the other competitors leave the ring the way I came in, taking their seat next to lady Elaina. After doing so, the skylight opens, illuminating the arena as people from the kingdom start to feel the stands. As they're taking their place, the announcement continues.

“This competition will be held with traditional rules. This means it will be to the death or mercy ruling. The winning offers mercy to the losing; it can not be decided through forfeit. With that settled, let the fight begin.” The King finishes his announcement and sets in his balcony seat, next to the queen

Now that it is all said and done, I get to size up Clark. He seems to be about five-eleven and slim, but I don’t know what he looks like under the fur. I decide to lean back and see what he can do. I figure this is the best option since it’s been so long, so I ask.

“I encountered your kind before; guess that means you’re a wolf of some kind, correct.” I inquire condescendingly.

He learns back at me, ripping his coat to show small tufts of fur on his forearms. He then perks up un his feet and bears his black claws. This is all accompanied by a black wolf tail.

“Only the weak turn into thoughts feral things. I am the demon wolf, and you will fear me.” He exclaims with pride.

He then decides to make the first move as he rushes me. I doge his forward assault, but his claw runs across my chest, tearing into me. The pain sears through me like a swarm of bees in my chest. This makes me realize that this royal family is deadlier than the last time I fought them. But I guess that was a long time ago.