Round 2 - Tyler vs IIzak {judge Merry}

[IIzak]

As soon as he felt himself break free, Artemis bolted for the roller coaster, aiming to go after his vampiric dagger and use it to steal the life force of his opponent, and channel it into himself. As he ran, his breath was haggard and with every step he took, his broken elbow throbbed and sent a shooting pain up through his entire arm that even his adrenaline couldn't block out. Swallowing the nausea that came with every bit of pain, Artemis stopped at the base of the roller coaster and, gritting his teeth, grabbed his broken arm and set it himself. A scream escaped his lips as the bone righted itself in his arm and excruciating pain caused him to sway on the spot for a moment.

When the blackness subsided, Artemis tapped into the power of the emerald ring that sat on his finger, using one of its three charges, and sending all of the healing energy into his arm, not using any on his fatigue or his cracked ribs. He knew that against an opponent of such strength, he would need both arms. Just to block Richard's blows took a massive amount of strength. The pain in his arm diminished into a small ache as the bone knitted itself together. It wasn't completely healed, at best he would only be able to double handed block 6 more shots before it re-broke on him.

His arm taken care of, Artemis moved onto his next problem, how to get the dagger from the moving cart. It's speed was far too quick for Artemis to simply reach out and grab the dagger from the cart, and, taking a quick glance at the controls, they looked far too complicated for him to figure out. It was during Artemis's pondering that the elven daggers thrown by Richard reached Artemis. Most missed him, seeing as how he hadn't seen them coming and hadn't bothered to attempt to dodge them. Two of the daggers found their marks.

The first dagger buried itself into his hamstring, sending him forward with the impact and causing his arms to flail as he fell forward. As his hands flailed, the second dagger pierced the hand on Artemis's previously broken left arm with enough force to strike through the other side and amazingly, pin itself into the top of the passing roller coaster car, which cleanly ripped the dagger right out of his hand.

Artemis cried out in pain once more as blood flowed freely from his hand and then the scream came. That horrible scream of his opponent's blade, of the banshee that had made his life hell for months. Artemis felt his mind go completely blank, the pain of his body and the memory of the banshee overwhelming him to the point where he had to draw within himself, or else go completely and utterly insane. As he fell back into the memory of his battle with the banshee, the carnival around him disappeared and his opponent transformed from the snarling, deadly, elder warrior that he was to the terrible undead maiden who had tormented him.

Artemis was pulled back into reality with his opponent's first swing. The strike wasn't necessarily aimed at him, but instead rang ominously as the sharp edges of each warrior's blade clashed against the others. Had Richard aimed for his neck instead of his blade, Artemis felt sure that he would have been standing here without a head. Artemis noticed the dagger sticking out of his opponent's side and pulled up his sword and blocked as best as he could with one arm, attempting to dodge as much as was possible. When none of the attacks seemed aimed at him, Artemis became suspicious. While blocking his opponents strikes, Artemis caught a glance of his blade and noticed the deep notches in it. Cursing to himself as his opponent's plan revealed itself to him, Artemis thought quickly.

His sword was nearing the point where the blade would break off. A five year old child could tell that that would be a problem he had no answer to. While fighting, Artemis heard the rocketing of the cart from the roller coaster behind him and came up with a desperate plan. Releasing the chain from the bottom of his blade once more, Artemis winced as he grabbed at it with his cut hand, still using the blade to block the clearly superior sword, understanding that if he moved to the flat of his blade, one swing would shear the blade completely, and that wasn't what he wanted, not yet anyway.

As the roller coaster cart got close, Artemis put his plan into action. Switching to a flat bladed block, Artemis heard the ring of steel as the superior blades of his opponent sheared through his own sword. As it did so, Artemis knew that his opponent's sword, and more importantly, the wicked metal claws that were attached to his hands, would slow to a speed that he could catch. Swinging the chain around, he brought it down right as the blade broke, hoping to tie up the claws on his opponent's hand. Timing it perfectly, Artemis spun and rammed what was left of his blade into the side of the roller coaster, promptly letting go of it and placing his arms on the ground to support his injured hamstring, as he aimed a powerful back kick towards the dagger that was pushed into the wound in his opponent's side. If the chain had caught his opponent, Artemis knew there were two things that could happen; either his opponent would be half disarmed, or even lose an arm if he wasn't fast enough, or the cart would be pulled to a stop and off the tracks by his opponents immense strength.

[Tyler Gibbons]

One impact. Richard barely registered the pain of Artemis pushing the blade that was keeping Richard alive deeper into his side, then a dull pain as a chain whipped into his hand and wrapped completely around it, getting tangled in the claws. Richard staggered back a step, spun his blade in his hand and slashed downward at his opponents upper thigh. If it missed it would stab into the ground, helping Richard to support himself. If it hit his opponent would be further hobbled and might even go along for the ride with him. His other sword he jammed into the ground as well. There was a lull of three seconds before the chain around his wrist tightened. Richard felt everything around him slow into a preternatural speed.

A drop of blood dripped from his wounds and he breathed in. A heartbeat began a slow thump. As the chain around his wrist snapped taunt Richard allowed himself to slowly roll with the coaster, his hips moving ever so slightly. Then he suddenly turned the other opposite direction. The coaster screeched and Richards right arm popped three different times. Then the chain snapped and Richards arm fell limp. His heartbeat finished it's slow roll and began another.

Thump

I have to move away, now. The clever man just disabled my right arm completely with that blasted contraption trap of his. Shattered wrist, dislocated elbow joint and dislocated shoulder joint, at the very least. Richard spun his head and his eyes alighted upon a house with a silly looking clown on the side. He was moving before he knew it, leaving Tempest in the ground next to Artemis and drawing Hurricane after him. With his right arm useless he wouldn't have the power to make Tempest scream. Making hurricane the better choice for it's speed and maneuverability.

Richard moved into the fun house and was startled with ten reflections staring back at him. He blinked as he realized that it was simply just a few mirrors cleverly placed to reflect and confuse the occupant. He smiled to himself as he took himself further into the maze of mirrors. It turned out that the maze went plenty deep and Richard soon lost himself deep within it. Then he chose a spot and sat down, his ears attentive as he tore apart the leather bracers on his wrists, striping them of extra material and knotting it together to use it as a splint for his wrist. Then he grabbed his right elbow and with a grunt popped it back into place, doing the same for his right shoulder.

He moved the bruised appendage and smiled grimly at his visage in the mirror. He looked a mess, but already his blood flow had stopped from most of his wounds and he allowed himself to sit against the glass and pass out for a while. He figured it would take some time for his opponent to find him and he could use that time to hide and be safe for awhile.

Though the excruciating pain in his shoulder he dreamt of home and of his life before the fight for survival had begun.

[IIzak]

Artemis felt wind rush past his leg and heard the sharp sound of the metal of his opponent's sword stabbing into the ground. He was about to press his advantage when he heard the creak of the roller coaster, the metal screaming as the large cart was completely derailed. Artemis heard the telltale sound of a shoulder popping out of place and thought he might have heard a snap but he would only register that later. At the sight of the coaster being derailed and his opponent still standing, Artemis couldn't help but marvel at the sheer ferocity of this man. Still, even if he wasn't human, he was still mortal, and he looked a bit worried. Artemis could tell that stopping the cart had hurt him, but he was cautious about pursuing the advantage in case he was being pulled into a trap.

When Richard took off in the opposite direction of him, Artemis took it as his opponent running away. Artemis took one step towards Richard in an attempt to pursue and then his leg gave out on him, dropping him to one knee while his opponent escaped from him. Artemis cursed at the lost opportunity as Richard disappeared into the building with the funny looking clown. Sitting back for a minute, Artemis inspected his wounded hamstring, the dagger still protruding from his leg. Calming down his breathing, Artemis fell within himself, blocking out and denying the pain as he slid the dagger from his leg. Tearing off some cloth from his sleeves with his teeth, he made a bandage for his leg and for his hand, and used up another charge on his ring to make the wounds not bleed as much as they were. Artemis laid back onto the platform that housed the entrance to the roller coaster and sighed, resting his head on a cold metallic object that clanged as his head touched it. Sitting up, he saw it to be one of the amazingly forged swords that the elder had carried.

Artemis stood and grabbed at the hilt, drawing up the sword with an immense effort. Studying the blade, he saw that it was truly magnificent, the edge was impossibly sharp and the fact that it had chopped his sword to pieces was proof enough that this weapon was incredibly well forged. Suddenly he remembered... his sword! Turning around, he looked at the wreckage of the cart, he found the tangled mess that had been his beloved weapon in a mangled mess, buried to the hilt in the side of the cart. Artemis limped up and down the length of the cart until he discovered the most important thing that he had been searching for, his vampiric dagger. Artemis knew that the dagger was his last and only hope against his opponent. Artemis had stabbed him, paralyzed him, drained the energy from his arm for a time, and had gone as far as to force him to stop a speeding cart that must have weighed hundreds upon hundreds of pounds, and his opponent didn't even seemed phased. If he could get a blow in near somewhere more vital than Richard's shoulders, Artemis felt sure that the dagger would do it's job properly and steal his opponent's life-force completely.

Artemis freed his dagger and what was left of his once proud longsword from the wreckage and sheathed his sword as best he could. Taking the chain, he attached the pommel of the vampiric dagger to the chain and reloaded the spring mechanism for the sword. If Artemis could get his opponent to move his guard away from his chest, then he could score the vital hit he needed with his dagger and end the battle once and for all. Gathering his courage, Artemis limped his way to the fun house, pausing near the entrance to check and make sure that no one was waiting to kill him as he walked through the door. Artemis was disoriented from the moment he walked into the fun house, not understanding that the images were mirrors. Instead he saw dozens of images of his opponent sleeping. "This isn't the time to be napping you know?" Artemis called out loudly, his honor not letting him sneak up on a defenseless opponent, if you could ever really call Richard defenseless.

After warning his opponent that he was present, however, Artemis had no qualms about attacking, and did so, swinging the giant blade that he had picked up when it was left behind by the Elder, at the nearest image of him, breaking the glass and sending broken shards all over the floor and shattering the mirror completely. "Come on now, enough of these tricks" Artemis called out to Richard, breaking another mirror as he did so. "You are everything that I have expected and more, Richard Godslayer, Son of Carter Death-Walker; A true warrior, through and through. I can feel the end of our battle nearing and I believe that both of our fates shall be decided here. Only one of us will leave here with our lives, let the best man do so." Artemis said before going into a frenzy, slashing and stabbing at every mirror he could reached, hoping that eventually he would either destroy all of the mirrors or strike at his opponent.

[Tyler Gibbons]

His mind wavered in and out of a specific scene that had haunted him for hundreds of years. He couldn't escape the dream that constantly reminded him of why he fought so hard and so carelessly. It is the curse of the Elder Race to eventually be wiped off the face of the earth due to their own ferociousness in battle and their tendency to kill each other on sight. It was a warm sunny day and Richard was five hundred years younger. He walked through a serene meadow filled with lilac and lavender. A few Jasmine and Jack in the Pulpit plants dotted a small pool of water that gurgled quietly and was fed by a small stream.


The water shimmered blue-green and was so clear you could see the bottom of the pond. A few lily-pads dotted the water and koi fish swam in and out of view, darting and playing at the bottom of the pool. Richard shifted to his left foot as he studied the pond and the serene beauty of this place. Then he strode forward towards the pool of water, taking care not to disturb too many flowers with his steps. It was a rare time in his life that he could move so peacefully and savor this moment of perfect beauty.


Towering all around him were red and white cherry blossoms in full bloom, ringing the pool with their perfect petals that blew away gently in the wind. Beyond this was a looming mountain of bamboo that extended for hundreds and hundreds of miles in every direction. This was a rare occurrence in the Bamboo Forest. Such a thing was sacred to his people even in their own war-like ways. In fact, it was those war-like ways that had led Richard to this beautiful pond. For years now a woman had hunted him relentlessly across the continents of the world. Richard had dozens of new wounds left by the huntress over their many sporadic encounters. She was the best that had ever hunted Richard and also the best who Richard had ever hunted.


And he was insanely in love with her. He had drawn her thousands upon thousands of miles to this pool where he now sat on his knees. Thousands of years earlier his father had held the same position as Richard himself. His mother had hunted Carter across the same route that Richard had led the woman who now hunted him on. It was a ritual that Richards bloodline has used for many years. A mating and marriage ritual and one of the most brutal and relentless ones in the world of the Elders.


After hundreds of battles Richard hoped that this wonderful woman he had grown to love, even as they tried to kill each other, would come to him peacefully. This was the last battle no matter what happened. Here they would become one; or, one of them would forever lay in this serene tomb. Richard would run no more and would allow her never to escape again. His ears heard the tell-tale sign of her drawing into the clearing. He could smell her, hear her, even picture her warrior visage in his mind. So alluring and enchanting. He didn't even know her name.


He got up and dusted his knee's off, then turned slowly to find her standing there. He had seen her many times but still his breath caught and a small smile quirked his lips, tugging at the left end of his mouth and giving him a lop-sided grin. She truly was breath-taking in her outfit. It was unsuaul to say the least but she had grown up with her parents and under a Japenese influence. She wore a unsoiled white kimono that seemed to stand out in stark contrast to the purple and green that covered the meadow. Her skin was an even more impressive contrast due to the grey-tint that the Elder Race was known for. Brown hair fell straight behind her ears and down to the small of her back. Her cat-like eyes seemed to be pure yellow one day, pure green another, and then an enchanting mix of both. It seemed to scream danger and warning.


She spoke first and her voice haunted the meadow with a slight lilt and grace, "Hello my dear foe. I see you have at long last decided to face me for a final showdown. After many hundreds of years you've decided to end our game," she smiled as she drew her weapon of choice up - a sword that gleamed wickedly in the light and she held a smaller but still sinister looking sword to her side.


"These are my friends Tempest and Hurricane, and tonight they will sing for you,"


Richard smiled at that and brought his weapon - a spear that stood taller than him- to face her.






The sound of shattering glass ripped him from his sleep. Artemis was carelessly crashing through and cutting down mirrors with Tempest. He would probably aquire doezens of cuts from the falling shards but his stupidity wasn't what made Richard's heckles raise. A feral growl wrenched itself from his throat and he trained his eyes on the mobile Artemis. It was easy to tell which Artemis was which with his infrared eyesight. Richard clicked his eyes back to normal now that he had found the real Artemis and watched as he cut through another three mirrors with Tempest. Then he finally chanced upon the real Richard. As the blade decended Richard lunged upward, bringing his left hand towards Artemis's chin. A feral roar ripped from Richards lips.


"That's my sword" he cried and pulled Hurricane from it's sheath with his left hand. He began to step towards Artemis and as he did so he pivoted like a ballerina on his right foot. The sword followed the path and arced towards the hand holding Temepst. Before it reached the handle the sword stopped and switched directions. It seemed to have been going as fast as Tempest usually did when Richard swung it. However when he reversed the swing, the sword seemed to blurr out of vision such was it's velocity.


Richard aimed a blow at Artemis's head, then a second at his knee, followed up by seven more strikes to both his shoulders in a rapid succession. Next came a diagonal slash that was intended to rip him from hip to neck, a low swipe with his sword at his opponents shins. Then it was followed by Richard aiming a head-height kick at Artemis followed by a second kick with his opposate leg towards his chest followed by a series of kicks that aimed both high and low. The metal leggings on Richard's shins protected him from any sharp edges of Tempest against his shins while he fought.


Richard took a step back and widdened his swinging stance. He looked Artemis in the eyes and for only a second there was a lull in the onslaught.


"Tonight Tempest and Hurricane will sing once more," Richard said. Then he slid his foot forward, brought his right hand up and used the claws on the glove to help swing the sword downward in a wide swipe that started at Richards left heeland went up arcing over his head then swung downward in a left-to-right arc. It was intended to cleave Artemis in two from shoulder to hip. Richard spun like a ballerina once again, this time throwing his right claw outward to catch the tip of Tempest and jerk it downward while his left arm brought Hurricane speeding in to rip through Artemis's midsection.

[IIzak]

Artemis continued to shatter the glass, feeling dozens of razor sharp fragments cut thin lines of red across his unguarded skin. Red slashes marked his face, stinging at him like millions of wasps, and the exertion from the fight, as well as swinging around Tempest, was causing him to sweat profusely. His face gleamed with the sheen of sweat and it ran in rivulets down his face and body, sinking into Artemis's cut and increasing the pain even more as Artemis continuously hacked at the serene form of his opponent.

The Elder had looked as though he were at peace when Artemis had first entered the confusing room. As Artemis dashed from mirror to mirror, pulverizing each as he went, he could see Richard's vicious reaction at being awoken from his reverie. Richard's face hadn't really changed much, however Artemis could feel a change in the temperature of the room; he could feel the heat and anger that radiated from his opponent.

Finally Artemis reached what he believed to be a mirror, pulling his sword high over his head in preparation for the swift descent of his sword. He was half surprised when the image rise from the ground lightning quick and sent a swift palm heel strike to his chin. Artemis had been expecting to be attacked, since his opponent seemed to be able to find him anywhere, so when the strike came, instead of bracing himself as most others would have, he jumped backwards in the direction that the blow sent him, taking a grazing hit on the chin that still had enough power to cause him to do a nearly complete back flip, which ended with Artemis lying face down on the floor. As soon as he hit the floor, Artemis was already pushing himself back up to his feet, taking only a second to go straight from the floor into a defensive stance.

The hit to his chin caused his legs to wobble a bit and his head spun slightly, so he didn't quite make out what Richard yelled as Richard sprang towards Artemis. He did however, make out the sword that swung towards his hand and, remembering what had happened last time he tried to parry with his sword, and believing that it was Richard's strength and not the sword's composition that had caused the gashes in his previous sword, Artemis rolled the sword in his hand around in a circle, attempting to bring it underneath Richard's slash. His surprise was complete when he heard the clang of metal against metal and felt his sword slap sideways as it connected with Richard's super sonic swing.

Artemis had no time to think and could only react on instinct as an onslaught of attacks flew at him. Slash after slash, blow after blow, it seemed and endless stream of attacks were flying at him from all directions and it took every bit of concentration he had not to be done in by each swing. Artemis's exhaustion caught up to him and he felt Richard's heavy foot collide with his chest, with force enough to send him spiraling backwards into a broken mirror, the shards poking into his back and opening even more wounds.

Finally the stream of offense slowed and there was a short pause, which he used to bring himself up to a standing position, facing his opponent proudly. "Tonight Tempest and Hurricane will sing once more" he heard Richard say before he started forward. Artemis readied himself, reading his opponents muscle movements and swaying to the side, narrowly dodging the cleaving motion of Hurricane. From right to left he began an upward slash from right to left on a diagonal, hoping to cut through Richard's hip and into his abdomen.

He was not deterred when he felt the claw catch on his borrowed sword, but instead used it to his advantage, switching the hand that was holding the sword from his left to his right hand and reversing the grip so that the pommel of the blade was now facing towards his opponent. Stepping inside the range of his opponent's long arms, Artemis attempted to stab the pommel of his borrowed blade into his opponent's abdomen, aiming specifically for the top of Richard's pelvis, hoping that the Elder's bone structure was similar to humans, because if it was, then his opponent would definitely take a massive amount of damage.

[Tyler Gibbons]

His opponent was quick, smart, and still alive. Richard's attacks all failed to cut him into ribbons, his offense began to slow down with his opponents defense. Fatigue began to catch up to Richard. A hyper-advanced being he may be, but blood loss and extraneous use had more than taken it's toll on Richard. Even his years of being hunted by his mate seemed to be fragile compared to the ferocity of his opponent. No matter how many times Richard swatted him down he stood back up ready for more. This was a game of attrition and as his vision narrowed Richard realized he would lose this game very soon. His vision blurred for a moment as sweat dripped into his eye and he felt the fatal impact of the pommel into the top side of his Pelvis. The bone shattered and an arcing pain raced through Richard. This was it, he wouldn't be able to stand after this. His life flashed before his eyes and once again he was in the past, in a waking dream.

---

(Song of Storms)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orpimUSiK8I



Richard was again kneeling in front of her. The mighty Huntress, and she had just challenged him to a duel to the death. The woman who he so impossibly loved was now facing him with both her swords drawn and pointed at him. Richard smiled sadly. This would be the death of one of them, he just knew it. In his heart he felt a gut wrenching pain as he stood. He placed his spear against the floor.

She smiled sadly at him.

"I love you," He whispered and by the flicker of her ears, he knew She had heard him.

"My name is Kriss," she whispered back.

"Mine is Richard,"


Kriss lunged, and with her preternatural speed and strength she was halfway across the battle field before Richard had even blinked. She swung Tempest and it screamed for Richard's blood as it descended upon him. He flicked his spear and sent it casually spinning away from him, before spinning around and planting the butt of his spear in her sternum, launching her across the battle field. It was done languidly, as if it were a game for Richard. Fear crossed her face as she realized how out matched she was. Fear crossed her face as she realized she had seriously underestimated the man she had hunted.

Pride rooted her in place with her blade in her hand as he shot towards her, his spear spinning in an impossible blur as it descended upon her. She barely had time to intercept it with Hurricane, glancing it off to the side as she ducked away from him, struggling to get away from the coiled fury he had become. Despite his ferocity Kriss could still see the sad love that put a sad smile on the lips of her executioner. She knew he would remember her, even after he left her dead on this field. He would win this physical battle and, and she would win the mental battle. Her death would haunt him for his life. She dodged to the right as the deadly spear came down next to her, implanting itself into the ground.

Richard jerked the spear up out of the ground and spun it in his hands, then around his body and launched it at Kriss. She barely had time to dodge out of the way before the Spear stuck in the tree behind her, quivering. She took his being weaponless as an advantage and charged him with sword swept back behind her. She jumped and swung downwards towards Richard, intending to cut him in two. But he didn't move, didn't even blink as he reached up and caught her sword mid swing. She couldn't believe it. She knew how he did it, her eyes analyzing the move within seconds of it happening, but she still couldn't believe it.

He had used his speed to bring his hand to the sword. Then as the hand was about to be lopped off he matched the swords speed and slowed his hand down only slightly so that the sword was against his palm but not cutting through it. Then he slowed his hand down in a few halting motions so the sword didn't have the cutting power or the downward force it needed to cut through his flesh. A small line of blood dripped from his hand where the razor sharp blade had bit only slightly.

Air gushed out of her lungs as Richard lifted his foot and kicked outward, leaning backward to give him more momentum and to help jerk the sword from her grasp. Both succeeded as she flew backward into the tree with his spear sticking out of it. The force of the kick was so much that the pole snapped and the sharp end stuck in the tree also ended up stuck in her lung. She drew a shaky breath and coughed as blood flooded her chest cavity. Richard's horrified face showed through her dimming vision. He dropped to his knees in front of her and cried out to the heavens, but for the life of her she couldn't make out the words. She desperately grasped at the words, trying to find a lifeline, a tether to the man in front of her. Only horror filled her as he ripped open his shirt, a look of resolution on his face. He separated the soft cloth and brought Hurricane to his stomach in a serene pose. She recognized it as a form of ritual suicide used by the dishonored samurai humans.

Before she could cry out he shoved the blade through his stomach with such violence that when he fell forward the blade extended fully out of his back. She grasped at the spear in her chest and used her flagging strength to break it. Then she pushed herself off of the sharp piece of wood and fell forward onto her knees. Kriss began crawling towards Richard, using her fingers and knees to claw her way to him. Blood seeped from her useless deflated lung and she didn't have long until she blacked out and they both died.

She pushed him up and wrenched the blade out of him. His blood gushed forth and spilled all over them. She pulled a small medallion out of her robes and pressed it against his wound. This medallion could save her life, or it could save his. It couldn't do both. Still there was no hesitation in the words she whispered that activated the healing magic in the medallion. Richards skin knitted together, pink and puckered. A new scar formed and he drew a small shuttering breath, even as hers failed and she fell forward on top of him.



It would be hours later when Richard awoke with the words "Live on for me" written across his abdomen and his knew scar in Kriss's blood.

---

Richard's eyes snapped focused, and he used the last of his flagging strength to lunge forward. He went for Artemis's neck, sharp teeth flashing as the descended for Artemis's jugular. If he missed, or if Artemis stabbed upwards, Richard would be dead and done for. But he didn't care, this was his last effort and last chance to survive for himself, and for Kriss.

[IIzak]

Artemis felt the pommel of his blade strike his intended target and a felt a surge of victory as his opponent staggered slightly and his eyes went unfocused. "This is it!" Artemis thought to himself. This was the first time during the entire match that he felt as though he had any kind of advantage over this magnificent warrior. Artemis examined his opponents face and saw a sadness there that belied a quick follow-up strike.

Artemis could tell that this man had his demons, just as every other warrior did. As he contemplated the pained look upon Richard's face, Artemis thought back to how ferociously his opponent had fought. Ferocious, yet honorable. In the beginning he had asked Richard for an honorable battle between the both of them and Richard had more than delivered. Win or lose, neither mattered anymore to Artemis, they never had. Artemis smiled warmly to himself as he remembered the great duel that he and Richard had fought so far, recalling each portion of the battle with vivid detail.

Artemis had lived his life in the Arena and it was only in the Arena that he could feel alive, that he could feel at peace with the world. Only in the heat of battle could Artemis find the serenity that he so desperately craved. When Artemis had won his freedom years before from the Arena, he had returned soon after as a gladiator, simply to once again feel that peace. There had been no serenity in his own life these past few years though, no matter how much he had battled. The death of his mother still haunted him to this very day.

He remembered her loving smile and being held in her arms as a child, rocking back and forth until sleep overtook him. He recalled her experiment that had resulted in her death, or so he had believed. He remembered that banshee, with its terrible cry, that had stalked him for many years, constantly dogging his tracks and filling his ears with that awful wail. He remembered battling that undead monster and slaying it. And most of all he remembered the banshee reverting into its original for as it died... reverting into the body of his mother. Since her death, he hadn't felt a moments peace and the battle with Richard had given that peacefulness back to him. He felt deeply within himself that Richard had a powerful reason for fighting hard as well, and was therefore none to surprised to see him steel himself against the pain and counterattack, with his vicious maw snarling and snapping, blood and sweat adorning his face; a true crown for a true warrior.

Artemis could feel the deep emotion and energy that was put into the attack of this man whom he felt to be a kindred spirit. "Thank you" Artemis whispered, glad for the peace that Richard had brought him during this battle, and resolving to give Richard the same kindness that he had showed to Artemis, to give his all in this one last attack. Artemis dropped Tempest, and instead reached for his dagger, feeling that the only honorable thing to do in that situation would be to leap in as unafraid, just as his opponent had; and may the man that god wishes to continue should live on, and carry the burden of the other. With no more hesitation, Artemis leaped forward into Richard's oncoming rush, stabbing outward and calling on his daggers abilities, knowing that either his dagger would strike Richard and give Artemis the energy he needed to live on, or he would miss and be consumed by this enemy that he had shared so much with.