Gladiator

Gladiator
The roar of the crowd filled her ears as she walked out into the arena.  Her traveller’s garb melted away in a flurry of icy-blue snowflakes, giving way to her gladiator outfit.  The sun reflected off the polished ice of her pauldrons and bracers.  Her blue and white skirt flapped lightly in the dusty breeze that blew across the arena’s sandy floor.  She brushed her icy-blue locks from her face and her sharp, icy eyes settled on her opponent.

A figure in what at first appeared to be heavy armour exited the arena’s other gate.  However, Icicle’s first impression of her opponent had been wrong.  When her opponent unfolded her wings, the ice demon saw one was wrought of clockwork and thorns, the other of flesh and feathers.  Her right arm ended in a heavy, clawed gauntlet and the golden glitter of a visor covered half her face.  She gripped a trident in her left hand, the prongs of which arced with red lightning.

The ice demon sized up her opponent in silence.  The cheers of the crowd subsided and the king of Alzakam began his pre-match speech.
“Ladies and gentlemen, lords and ladies, nobles, and the poor who managed to sneak in, I welcome you to the arena.  Today’s bout features not only our arena’s reigning champion, Icicle, but also the toughest opponent she’ll ever face in her life, a harpy!”

The cheers grew to a deafening volume but Icicle tuned them out and watched the feathered woman across from her.  She didn’t seem comfortable; she shifted uneasily on her feet.  Each time she spread her wings, she immediately half-folded them.  The ice demon saw her more than once look at the king’s royal box; she felt sympathy for this woman, this harpy.  She’d been hauled from her home against her will and would be put to death by someone she was incapable of killing; hardly a fair fight.

“Begin!”  the king’s voice boomed.

Icicle exhaled slowly, her massive dual blade quickly shaping itself in front of her before it settled one point into the sand.  She picked it up and began crossing the sand at a brisk pace, showing no regard for her own safety.  An arc of ruby lightning shot from the harpy’s trident but reflected harmlessly into the sand when it met with her dual blade.  Icicle created a spear with her ice magic and threw it left-handed like a javelin.  It sailed across the space between the pair and shattered against the demon’s clockwork wing.

The harpy became more animated when Icicle was within about ten metres of her.  She first tried to take flight but failed, so instead she took her weapon in both hands and dashed forward to meet her opponent head-on.  The ice demon watched her approach, her attention split between the clockwork wing and the slowly reddening end of the harpy’s trident.  The harpy lunged at Icicle at the last second, giving the ice demon precious few seconds to react.

When she brought her heavy dual blade up to block the attack, cracks webbed through its surface from the force of the impact; Icicle had never encountered an opponent capable of actually damaging her dual blade before.  The harpy spoke in another language, but the blue-haired gladiator quickly abandoned her oversized weapon.  Shortly after she released it, a pulse of magic from the harpy’s trident caused her weapon to shatter, unleashing a shower of razor-sharp ice shards.

Deprived of the heavy weapon, Icicle swung her arms down, a pair of long kris daggers slid from under her bracers into her hands.  They were specially made to be heavier and wider, allowing her to deflect even axe strikes with them.  They were made from metal only found in a city far to the east of Alzakam, a place where dark elves were said to make their home.

The harpy lanced forward with her trident once more.  She hooked two of the prongs around one of Icicle’s daggers and twisted her evil weapon sharply.  Rather than snap the blade off, the weapon was wrenched from the ice demon’s hand and flung across the arena.  Icicle gripped the shaft of the spear with her free hand and used their difference in height to pull the harpy into range of her remaining dagger.

“Don’t kill me!”  the harpy screeched.  Icicle stopped and locked eyes with the demoness.
“Come again…?”  she asked, holding the harpy in a position so the crowd couldn’t see them speaking instead of fighting.  The harpy breathed heavily, her visible eye filled not with bloodlust and loathing, but fear.
“I’m bound to an innocent woman… if you kill me, her life will be taken as well…” she explained.  Icicle looked over the harpy’s shoulder at the king’s royal box and saw what she hadn’t noticed the first time, a woman who looked to be there by force instead of choice.

“Can you fly?”  Icicle asked, but the demoness shook her head.
“They placed binders on my wings to keep me from escaping…” she responded, spreading her wings, only to have them yanked back into place by the heavy binder.
“It’s your lucky day, harpy… I can break them so you can get your human and escape…” the ice demon said, wearing a mischievous smile.

Without any warning, the harpy swung with her armoured right fist.  It collided with the left side of Icicle’s face and stars exploded into her vision.  The blue-haired woman managed to keep enough of her sense to swing with her dagger and cut through the heavy metal strap holding the binder to the harpy’s left wing.  She tumbled to the sand and closed her eyes to allow herself to heal.

When Icicle’s eyes next opened, the harpy was standing over her, ready to drive her trident into her heart.  The ice demon pulled her knees to her chest and rammed her heels into the demoness’s midriff.  She sailed backward and landed flat on her back, breaking the connection between the binder and her clockwork wing.  Icicle clambered to her feet and made a dive for an attack, but the harpy’s powerful talons locked around her chest and belly and began to crush her torso.

Icicle screamed in agony but made another attack, flailing with the toe-spikes on her boots.  She managed to angle herself well enough to use the toe-spike to cut through the final metal strap for the binder.  The harpy used her freed wings to lift herself before she slammed the ice demon back against the sand and stood on her chest while she tested her wings.  Satisfied they were free and didn’t hurt; the harpy spread them and flapped hard.  She left Icicle unconscious on the sand with a number of broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and some very large gashes in her shoulder and chest.

The harpy dove at the king’s box and swung with her trident.  Though she missed the king, she cut through her mistress’s bindings and freed her.  The young woman raised her hand and a shot a burst of flame at the nearest guard before she hugged the towering harpy and held on for dear life when she took flight once more.

“Are you okay, Feldaivere?”  the harpy asked as she flew up to meet the clouds over the arena.
“Yes, Miraevia… but what are you planning on doing…?”  the young sorceress asked.  She held onto her hat as best she could while she held the towering harpy tightly.
“I’m going to repay that woman for helping us escape…” the demoness replied.  She hovered in place above the arena and raised her trident over her head.  Red lightning shot from it into the sky and the dark storm clouds responded with a shower of lightning bolts that struck all over the arena’s stands, injuring of killing many of its occupants.

---

When Icicle finally regained consciousness after the match, she was in her lying on her bed in her cell.  She sat up and held a hand to head.  “What happened…?”  she groaned.
“You lost… on purpose no less,” a voice from across the hall responded.
“Did the harpy escape?”  she asked.  The ice demon tumbled from her bed and laid on the floor.
“Yeah... made a real mess of the arena before she finally took off too,” the voice responded.
“Good…”