Fantasy

~Leilatha~

Leilatha was grateful, the dragon decided to give the group some fighting advice. Hopefully they would be able to decipher the advice in time for it to be useful. As the massive gates were lifted, Leilatha’s spirit and hope dropped at the sight of two towering walls in front of them, it’s a maze she realized. Putting a hand over her face, Leilatha tried to remain positive, even after the bastard King’s speech announcing they would be up against three Minoutaurs. She refused to dissolve into a puddle of despair, she was part of a team and they would get through this together.

Upon the conclusion of the King’s speech, Dara took immediate command of the group ordering everyone in two lines two across. It was one less thing Leilatha needed to worry about, Dara put her in the front group. She was a good fighter and would do better given more room to swing her sword; however Leilatha was more likely to run straight into one of the beasts by being in the front. A Mintour could gore you upon his horns before you even had time to raise your weapon.

Leilatha was grateful to have Bliss at her back, though the girl often seemed too cheerful with her current predicament she was a good fighter and would be useful if Leiatha was fighting one of the creatures and then Bliss could slip in close with her daggers and finish it off. Anvain was another matter, with the dreamy expression on her face; Leilatha couldn’t help but wonder if Dara put her in the middle so the others could protect the idiot. Another possible problem was Cutlass, if he was in the back row. How in the world could he walk backwards to guard the groups rear, Leilatha reassured herself by seeing Dara would be in the back as well.

Leilatha nodded to Dara indicating she had heard, he also gave the group a good way of holding their weapons at the ready. Stretching her muscles on last time, Leilatha crouched into her fighting stance and began leading the group around the left wall, wary of everything around her, she walked halfway down the path. The Minotaur’s cries seemed louder once inside the walls.

~Anvain~

Before the gates opened, the giant lizard began talking about cutting an animal’s legs to slow it down and that the gladiators should lead with the left and guard with the right. Anvain was terribly confused why this terrifying creature was giving them advice when he had just killed many gladiators in the arena minutes before they entered. Perhaps it was a trick; the giant lizard could be trying to make their deaths as painful as possible.

Anvain was one of the first out of the cage, breathing erratically she was dismayed to see walls surrounding the arena. At ten feet tall, it would be easy for Anvain to scale one she had climbed trees several hundred feet tall, it was the matter of wanting to know what was over the wall. When the King appeared in the sky above, Anvain was taken aback; she had never seen magic used that way. When the King spoke of Minotaurs being in the maze with them Anvain knew that something with such a name could only be a savage dangerous beast. Suddenly a loud grating sound reached Anvain’s ears, followed by a lowing call. They sound like cows. Anvain thought to herself. Perhaps everything would be okay.

“Yes, that is my name.” She replied to Dara’s query and quickly found her spot next to the cheerful Bliss. Anvain chastised herself for not paying attention, this was life or death and she needed to be alert and ready. Dara and Cutlass being in the back of the group gave Anvain some confidence they were protected from any sneak attacks. Putting on a fake smile Anvain shakily followed Sean and Leilatha around the first bend in the maze, making sure to keep her sword tip lifted.

Bliss walked into the maze and felt her mouth fall in open in awe. It was so big, it would take them next to forever to find what they were looking for. But with a quick speech from someone, one she wasn’t quite paying attention to because she was studying the walls and thinking of that the dragon had said. She trusted him as much as she trusted all of her other teammates, something you needed to do when you were letting them protect your life in the same favour for them. They would probably need to stick to the left side, after all, even if the kept going left, even if they hit a dead end, it would get them out eventually. So she decided to voice said thoughts. “You know guys, if we keep on going left eventually we’ll find our way out of the maze, it’s only common logic. I mean, we might not even have to fight all three if we’re lucky. And if we keep our backs to the left and face more right, nothing will be a surprise to us, no?” She asked in a voice that was way to cheery to be in a death maze.

She slipped into formation and shot Dara a small smile, she was grateful of him taking charge. They needed someone to do it and Dara was a great guy to do so. He was the person she knew the most so far, which made her rather happy. She slipped into formation and gave Anvain a huge smile, noticing how scared the girl was. She knew she was in the middle because this was a pretty bad situation for her, nothing would be good for up close fighting but her aim was still rather good and the possibility of her throwing her weapons was probably something Dara had thought of. His formation was perfect though and Bliss couldn’t really think of a better one for this type of situation, although Anvain being scared made her feel bad. She threw her arm around the girl, Bliss wasn’t one to ever consider someone’s personal space.

“So, Anvain right? That’s a pretty name, suits you.” She grinned at the girl, warming up for her ramble. She knew that scared people never gave good fighters, something that years of experience told her. It just wasn’t good, it would make them distracted and their wish to react would be incredibly lessened. “You know, this maze is pretty cool. I’ve never been in one before and I didn’t expect the bush to be so pretty. I mean, everything is pretty peaceful in here if you just took away the crowds cheering and the minotaur’s. Which, you know, will totally be gone soon enough. We’re so gonna kick their ass, I mean, look at us! We’re complete badasses, we should so be sporting shades. The minotaur’s won’t even know what will hit them, hell, they should be running away scared. I got my daggers, that’s scary in itself.” She winked at the girl and twirled her daggers around on each hand, the blade dancing around her fingers, almost as if she were trying to show the girl that she was incredibly skilled with her daggers. She wanted to comfort the girl. “So don’t worry, anyways guys. How was your sleep last night? I mean I slept pretty good although I had the weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeirdest dream. I dreamt that the king was, like, swimming in a huge tub of ice cream and pudding. And he was crying because Spotty, is pet giraffe, died, so he kept on eating the pudding and ice cream. So then Jacob came in and starting screaming at him about something I think was about training but the king just through a shoe at him. Anyways, it ended by the kind exploding because he ate too much food.” She giggled and then smiled over, thinking about her dream, following the others.

Niall's Post

The smell of death hung potently in the air of the small, caged in area that the large man had been moved to at the start of the day. The sun brought heat into the enclosure, and little ventilation allowed for the rotting smell of flesh to remain pungent in the air around him. Still, he sat on the floor, his back pressed to a wall adjacent to the one he had entered through, assuming that to remain in place so he would not fear a knife to his back. A sword had been cast into the cage with him, its edges dull in neglect and thin from mass production. The balance was off, as was the hilt damaged that it cut into the hand, but such was the lot of a captive who fought against the overlord king who ruled his lands in fear. King. Such a title was far too noble and held far too much meaning to be placed before the wretch's name, denoting him as ruler and 'protector' of the lands. This king, this Dimitri, was no protector. He was a terrorist, invoking fear to any who crossed his path simply for the joy to see them tremble beneath his might.

The proud warrior raised his head, vowing to himself to never tremble or beg in front of the vile creature that was this self-proclaimed king. He knew where he was, knew what was intended for him without the jabbing insults from the guards. They called him barbaric, another beast to have its life snuffed out in the arena, though truly, they were only half right. He was a beast, though no barbarian despite his stature. Tattoos covered most of the man's body, traveling down the left side of his torso and his thighs, continuing down his leg in its entirety. His arms also held the symbols, though it was his right shoulder that held the majority of the ink, traveling completely down to his hand. He wore the scrapped clothing that he had been allowed to keep after his beatings and whippings at the hands of the guards, only willing to try such a stunt after being drugged so as to not fight back. He would remember, each one of those men, and they would receive their retribution.

The crowd's roar reverberated within his chamber and he raised his head toward the direction of the main voice speaking. And then he came on. Hate filled eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared as he resisted the urge to stand and attempt breaking down the cage simply to interrupt the man with the silk voice and blackened heart. Some poor souls were being put against the minotaurs, getting off easy compared to those against the dragon earlier. He leaned back against the wall and resolved again to wait when suddenly, his cage was opened up and once again, the voice of temptation rose over the arena. A slave, he could not even be titled properly, he was named a slave. A snarl on his lips, he grabbed the sword, weak though it was, and stood to his full six foot, five height, striding out of the cage and into the bright area to the deafening roar of the crowd. The sun landed over his filth covered body, his shaved head, and he could almost hear the cries of a barbarian being in their midst. He bent down after shoving the blade within his best and sanded his hands, chest, back, legs, aiming to dry them in the filth so that they may clump away from him. He would need to have his hands dry if he were to be placed against minotaurs, and possibly the gladiators within.

He cast one finally look around him before facing forward, seeing the labyrinth opened before him and the crowds eager sights to see him choose a pathway. He closed his eyes, shut out the crowd around him and remained bent, listening to the earth, feeling for vibrations that were not of the magic and masses surrounding him. Minotaurs were large, but they mostly carried axes, a weapon he was most comfortable with and he resolved that he would simply have to take one from the corpse when he received the opportunity. Once his path had been chosen, the proud warrior stood again and strode confidently into the left side of the labyrinth without so much as a word, finding the walls to not be increasingly high, and formulating plans of assault and ways he could use it to his advantage. He was a learned man, an angry man, a vengeful man. And Niall MacKelter would not stop until retribution had been paid to both him and his kin.

Pandora's Post

A smile graced over Pandora's features as she finished wiping her hands clean of any further slave, glad she was was being recognized for her abilities in her healing. She had no magic, so it fell to her knowledge to carry her and keep her from being forced into the ring herself. She understood both sides of the Keylren issue and while she agreed with allowing him this opportunity to help tend to the gladiators to prove his worth, she understood the desire to protect her offspring tooth and nail. She would keep Erryn a secret, and protect the young life as best as she was able. “I will need to spend time with him so that I may match my concealer with his skin tone,” she explained, smiling down at the small child. She bent down on one knee and reached around to remove a small flask from her bag simply filled with water and a piece from the bread she had baked that morning. “Are you still hungry, sweetie?” she asked, offering the items to the lad. Growing boys needed their food and she was looking to be sure he would have plenty.

After a moment, she stood back up and dusted her skirts off, turning once more to Gambrill with a secretive smile. “I simply speak truth, Gambrill,” she said honestly with a small laugh, stroking her hands over the scales of the mighty creature she stood beside. “The dragon I mostly tended to enjoyed having his ego inflated, especially when my healing salves and potions would sting his flesh,” she explained, no question remaining that she had in fact had experience with dragons in the past. Remembrance of the past made their way to the forefront of her mind, of a large, silver scaled body and piercing crystal blue eyes. Of a temper that was only matched when directed toward her, of a kindness she cherished, and of love she would never feel from anyone else again. She looked around to those present in the cage: Jacob, a man who worked hard for his gladiators and seemed to have the trust of those present. Sylvani, the lead healer and a good woman who divulged a huge secret to her. Erryn, a small child who seemed more interested in play than anything else. And Gambrill, the mighty dragon who seemed to only wish to know more of his kind.

“I have an extensive knowledge of dragons, Gambrill,” she said quietly, moving around toward the head of the creature and stroking the scales that ran down between his eyes to his snout, reaching back around over to his neck. “And I would like to speak with you more about it.” She bit her lip gently, worried about any ears that may be listening in to their conversation from outside the cell. She was willing to divulge her information to the dragon, and even those that were in the room, held closely in his confidence, but if any heard what she had to say from the outside, she feared about what that sort of information could do if placed in the wrong hands. Instead, she continued to stroke over his face and neck comfortingly. “How old are you? How long have you been here?” she asked instead, changing the topic to get a better understanding of the arena dragon than from what her observations could glean. He was forced into the arena and to fight, so even the scars did little than to tell the story of his battles. Still, from the look in his eye and the curious way he held himself, she could not help but think that he was a younger dragon.

Her gaze traveled to Jacob as he watched from the small window that was made in the cage. “Are there any injuries yet?” she asked, wanting to know where she needed to be and with what sort of medicinal aid the moment she was allowed to approach her gladiators.

Bliss frowned when Cutlass separated from the group, when in the hell was he thinking? Being alone in the labyrinth would kill him for sure, having a teammate by themselves wasn’t safe. Bliss sighed and then looked at Cutlass, trying to weigh the options with her mind, trying to think rationally and not just to save his life. Cutlass would have a greater chance of survival if someone followed but the person who followed would have their survival rate cut drastically. It wasn’t a good situation. She opened her mouth and got ready to do what she did best, talk him out of what he was going to do. It was a shame that she really never got the time to do so, the next second a wall cut them off. Her gaze shifted to her front, thanks to Dara's comment that snapped her back to reality. She tried putting her mind back in a neutral place, a second of thinking could be the second that killed you.

She backed up a bit, letting her body do the thinking. Time seemed to slow down as her body got used to the adrenaline rush and she could almost count every thump of her mind, if she were able to count. It was her favourite time in every battle, the time where her body seemed to fast to actually let reality catch up to her. She knew that realistically everything was still the same, but with the adrenaline rushing through her, telling her to fight, she felt invincible. It was a fine line between being too cocky and being too hyper, but the results helped her live.

She sprinted forward, leaping over the acid pit. For a moment she felt like she were flying until she looked down and that was when she panicked. The acid seemed to close to her and her nostrils filled with a rather rancid smell. She broke out into a fine sweat as she faltered, landing on the ground with a scream. She scrambled away from the acid that seemed to be killing her. She looked down, noticing a little bit too much blood along with raw skin on the center of her calf where it had fallen into the acid. She whimpered and closed her eyes, forcing back the tears that welled up from the pain.

She looked up at the others and felt stupid for being the only one who had missed the acid pool and groaned, tearing off a piece of her shirt that had covered her midrift and wrapped it around her calf, turning it into a sloppy bandage. It would stop the bleeding and prove to help out for the time being, all she would have to do is think of something other than the pain.

Bliss hoisted herself up with her arms, clamping her mouth shut so she wouldn't emit any noises and stood on her shaky leg. She frowned and looked at the others and then turned her face to the winding passages of the labyrinth that stood before them. Bliss didn't feel as lucky as she had felt before, in fact, today she felt shit out of luck.

"Let's just keep going, we'll hit the center soon enough." She said, loud enough for the other two on the other side to hear her.

Arena

The minotaur was somewhat surprised, but not displeased that the man dared to fight him head on. He would show this puny creature what a folly it was to challenge a minotaurs strength.The great beast waited as it gained momentum on its charge, and at the last second it lowered its head into ramming position to impale the man. Suddenly the creature only knew pain and a bright blinding light obscuring its vision. The beast continued its charge, trying to kill this man that hurt him so and faltered slightly when he felt not the satisfying sensation of impaling a man on his horns, but a painful sting on the back of his leg. This creature defies him.... how dare it hurt him so! The minotaur lifted its scorched and burned head up and picked the first target that crossed its blurry line of sight, he had lost the sight in his left eyes but he still had the right, which was the female elf. In its rage the minotaur forgot its prior plan to take the woman for his own. Now he just wanted to kill everything that may have hurt it, to destroy those that would dare fight back. The minotaur charged toward leilatha and gave a mighty leap in the air, his leg faltering slightly making him lose some speed, raising both fists high above his head planning to swing his fists down and crush the woman in a mighty blow.

Niall's Post

Most people may have been unnerved by the trap being sprung, about nearly being crushed between two walls, but not Niall. The feel of adrenaline pumping through his veins was a sweet nectar that the proud warrior relished, and escaping the trap felt like a true accomplishment for him, despite the fact that Cutlass was the one who had done all the work. Cutlass, a being he did not think he would ever see being placed in the arena for his kind was better suited for the races or bred for attraction. Of course, this creature was far larger than any he had seen and could only respect him as the warrior he would be in the arena. As he took point at the front of their group, being sure to remain in Cutlass' line of sight to avoid putting him on edge, he thought of the small elf that was with the group.

She was a small thing, truly small, in fact, that was the only real observation he had made of her when he had first seen her. Small. And yet, she was set to the arena as a gladiator. He was hoping this small package packed a large punch, for she seemed intent on remaining on the centaur's back, whether for strategy, injury, or simple fun, he could not begin to fathom. “Well, wee Anvain, we will have plenty of time to discuss myself once we get out of here,” he said, not turning his gaze from the front, being the eyes for the creature behind him. He tried to keep his brogue as well masked as possible, knowing how difficult it was to understand his words. A chill ran down his back and a glistening shown overhead allowed the gladiator to make the assumption that magic was being put to use. Though he could not determine the sort of magic, he was sure it could only be used for ill.

He continued on down the path until they had gotten to another fork and he paused, recalling his sight from on top of the wall and the proper direction to take. “Left. We shall arrive at the center sooner. Anvain, keep your eyes sharp. Cutlass, we need your instinct,” he reminded, the weak sword held before him as he ventured down. His eyes remained on the path and the walls ahead of him. He would be more than happy to discuss with his new teammates about himself, hear their stories, what have you. But as it were, they had to survive, and idle chit-chat would do no good. He recalled the bellow of pain from a beast elsewhere in the labyrinth, and could only assume that the first group had encountered one of the monstrous beasts they were to face down. “There must be at least one other for us to face. They will be top-heavy. Take out the legs, mind the horns, and try not to make eye contact,” he informed, moving forward in preparation to launch into an attack the moment the opportunity presented itself. He knew that if he could trip the great beast up, the Cutlass could succeed in trampling it, or in the least, vaulting himself over it with the right direction. Anvain was a mystery to him. He knew little of what good an elf could do first hand and could only speculate on the stories he had heard of their kind and their capabilities.

Her luck hadn’t felt her luck go downhill that badly in such a long time, because before her brain could even process the pain that her calf kept on giving off, the minotaur soon arriving. She wanted to cuss but didn’t dare as she felt its dangerous gaze land on her. In that one second a thousand thoughts passed through her mind, some of them had been memories of when she had been younger, others had been thoughts of her killing others, desperate for survival and the consistent buzz of her father screaming at her. He had trained her well and much like everything he had bothered to do for her, he had done it well. He had briefed over minotaurs for a small period of time and Bliss could hear his words screaming in her ear, not that she could barely even register it. His breath reverberated around her and for one small second, the wound on her leg was forgotten, all of her focus was on the obscenely large creature.

And then, it charged. Bliss wanted to scream but it suddenly got stuck in her throat. Her muscles locked up in ways that she would hate herself about later, if she actually happened to get a later. But she wasn’t as stupid, nor nervous, to not be able to brace herself with her daggers, it wouldn’t stop the thing but perhaps she would delay it. If anything, she would injure it to make it easier for her teammates to bring down in the case that the minotaur would get its wish and she got impaled. But, fortunately for her, Dara saved her sorry ass. He jumped out in front of her, and for one second she saw a fire in his eye, one that looked incredibly mad, like he was fed up of it all. She smiled, not that anyone would ever see it, perhaps not even the audience, and he breathed his fire. She still remained incredibly impressed about that and now she was even more, now that it had actually managed to save her. She sighed and watched as Dara blurred to the back of its legs, slicing it’s Achilles tendon. She took no more hesitation and tried to hop out of the way, grimacing as her calf had to take her weight. She looked down and noticed the neatly cauterized wounds start to bleed through the bandage. With a grunt she hoisted herself up, favoring the other leg, a thought in the back of her mind hoping that the healers would actually be able to heal her.

Bliss thoughts turned as she heard some more fighting and she turned, Leilatha now being the one to fight the minotaur, sliding gracefully under the minotaur, something she hadn’t even thought possible. Apparently Leilatha had quite a bit more up her sleeve than she had let on, much like most of them. But the elf was smart, something Bliss was glad to have in the team. She then proceeded to cut the beasts foot, they were kicking the things ass. She shuddered and tried to move, perhaps to go help the minotaur out but found out that she really wasn’t able to put any pressure on her leg. She shut her mouth tight, not wanting to cry out and let her teammates know that she was that badly injured, she didn’t want to avert their attention. Bliss turned around and undid the bandage, tears brimming in her eyes as it took pressure off the wound. She wasn’t able to see much except that the wound looked substantially larger than it was before. She watched as her skin sizzled around it and continued to eat into her calf and the thought struck into her mind, the acid was still eating around her calf. She cussed, she really needed to get out of their as soon as possible to get it healed and for the acid to stop eating around it.

She noticed that Leilatha had obtained wounds too and Bliss winced as she saw the blood flow down the girls face, hoping that it wouldn’t scar for her. But she tried to block the blood out as it was starting to make her dizzy, in fact, she hadn’t even noticed Dara rid of the minotaur himself, she was feeling strangely light headed and odd, almost giddy. She giggled for a second before she turned over to look at Dara and Leilatha, who had now grouped together for some reason, Bliss was way too uncertain about that right now.

“You guys make a greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeat couple.” She slurred, the blood loss making her stupid and unforcused, her gaze landing on the two of them. She started to fumble around with the makeshift, blood filled bandage once more, trying to tie it back up with her spotted gaze. “Like seriously . . . you guys needa make babies, lots of them.” She giggled at her own thoughts of the two of them having children before she leaned to the side, trying to bring herself up but instead failing. She cussed some pretty colorful words before retrying once more, the attempt successful this time around. She balanced on her good leg and the only right part of her mind at the moment told her that she needed to lean onto something if she needed to walk, perhaps a branch.

Bliss, with many thanks to Dara, was standing again. The case of vertigo she was currently suffering from would make her giggle if she was in any other situation, but this one did not. She tried to gain her wits back to herself because she knew for a fact that her head, still feeling rather light thanks to the scary amount of blood that she was losing from her leg. If she knew anything about anything, she would be able to tell that the wound itself wasn't that bad. The acid was still eating through her leg but it was nothing that would cause her to lose her leg. In fact, it would still not be bleeding if she hadn't scraped up the neat wound that had been cauterized. It was still nothing to laugh about but it wasn't the worst injury she had ever sustained. In fact, the healers, if they were as good as her last ones, which was more than likely, would have the leg healed up rather quickly.

But, of course, Bliss knew nothing about that so it never popped into her head. She just leaned on Dara, trying to take down gulps of fresh air, focusing on the pain to try and bring her normal self back. The rest of the world just blocked out of her mind and she tried to just calm herself down, remembering some breathing exercises that her father had taught her. She tried those out and started to feel the fog leave her mind as she increasingly came down back to earth. It was something of a rather sweet relief but she couldn't count herself perfectly fine yet, no, Bliss was just good enough to put a decent fight out and then crash once she got to the healers.

She winced as she put more and more weight on it, her mind becoming blank when the angel asked the question. Her mouth popped open but she shut it when Leilatha figured it out with no more than a simple blink. Bliss grinned, there was a lot more that she wanted to know about the girl if they managed to get through this thing, something that Bliss was increasingly becoming less confident about. The state that she was in now depressed her all the more, she had been so happy about her daggers.

The door creaked open and Bliss frowned as a minotaur stood proudly in the middle, the giant axe making the thing look much more menacing than it should have. She wanted to die just then but she shrugged off the feeling, she needed to get rid of the feelings of hopelessness, she would beat them. She tried to push her optimistic attitude back on herself but it proved to be more than a little hard, especially when the new minotaur showed up.

But that was all Bliss needed.

She grinned as new adrenaline pulsed through her veins, her neck hair standing on end. Thanks to the fear and adrenaline her body was producing, she was faced with her fight or flight option that it always gave her. And as always, Bliss took the fight one. The newly found energy her body gave her was tremendous and it let her forget about her leg briefly as her will to survive was suddenly boosted, her mind seeing the predicament she was in. Her chance to survive was suddenly slim to none but she wouldn't let that get in the way. She reached down and pulled the dirk out of her shoe, the other two daggers resting in her left hand.

"Leil, Dara, the big one will go slower, once he charges your way, I'll get a good throw at his ankle. It'll slow him down hopefully and then I'll do my thing, I'm probably the quickest her with my rush right now, despite my leg. Dara, Leil, you guys finish him off and I'll move onto the next one, slowing him down too, sound good?" She asked, her voice slurring a little bit. She knew her plan wasn't the best and could have been greatly improved but Bliss had never been one for perfect planning. In fact, it was more than sloppy but it would help her live, she always did and she wasn't about to die now. "Good luck!" She said with a two finger salute, her grin still resting on her face, she needed to do this, no one else was going to die.

Of course, her logic still had some good points, the bigger they were, the harder they feel. It always proved right in her books and she hoped it wouldn't fail her now, she just hoped that the other minotaur would stay confused long enough for her to get a good throw in after she got the bigger minotaur. She tried to balance the dirks weight in her hand, getting used to it as she aimed for her throw. She ran to the side a bit, limping despite her rush as she tried to get a lock on the minotaur.

It charged.

She threw.

She watched with a great sense of fear, not knowing if it actually managed to hit home. But her victory cry was enough to let the whole audience know that she hadn't, at least she still had that. Bliss mustered up as much courage as she could and took off in a mad dash, planning on slicing it's other ankle before she threw her other dagger at the other minotaur.

Cutlass trotted down the narrow pathway; every so often he’d stop and sneeze as the magic that now draped over the labyrinth was tickling his nose. His eyes narrowed when they came to the talking wall. He snorted and his ruined tail flicked in indignation. He was about to give his answer when he started sneezing again. It left Anvain with the ability to give her answer; thankfully it was the same one that he would have gave. He didn’t care that she was being snarky or that they were unable to do anything more than just follow straight into the heart of the labyrinth. He hung back. He was fairly certain that there were no foes behind him, because of that, he would prove to be a greater asset hanging back than he would charging forward. With Anvain off of his back, it gave the centaur free reign to appraise his adversary. Cautious and willing to take the time needed to make sure that he would be able to find the best mode of attack. He may not like being stuck in the ring, but he wasn’t about to give up his dream of green pastures and sweet hay. He took a steady step forward; the ground seemed to remain firm under his feet and he stepped to the side. It was a practiced move done in shows. It allowed him to keep his foe within his realm of sight. Niall, he figured, would be more than able to defend himself.

The young Centaur looked down at his shoddy weapons before he cast them aside. He was never meant to have human tools in his hands. He didn’t create them; legally he wasn’t allowed to use them. The last thing he wanted was for his teammates to be punished because they armed a centaur. He slid the braces from his strong forearms and cast them away. He had no bow and quiver, bracers weren’t needed. There wasn’t time to do anything else. With one last sneeze and a whispered plea to his goddess Epona, he shifted quickly to the side and took off running. He allowed instinct to take over. Horses generally ran, it was herd mentality but he wasn’t part of a herd and his entire life had been leading him up to that rebellious act of charging into the fight. The Minotaur was his target and while the creature was far larger than the others that had been destroyed, Cutlass was not a small horse. He had greatly outweighed the other Minotaurs and seemed to be better fit to be the enemy than to be a friend. He didn’t charge straight at his opponent. There was no waiting to see what the Minotaur would do. With a full 2,500 pounds of muscle barreling around the track, the Centaur locked and focused on the other. The breastplate gave him no pause, for he wasn’t aiming for it. He wasn’t looking to stop and kick, though he found the idea strangely humorous. What he needed as the team to distract, for someone to do something until Cutlass could do what he was infamous for. Rearing up, striking out with those razor sharp front hooves and slamming all of his weight down on whatever back part of the minotaur that he could reach. He was aiming for the shoulders and back of the neck and if that didn’t work, it should have still hurt like a…

and if he died…well, surely there were greener pastures in Epona’s world.