Of the many underground fighting rings Eje has seen, The Bloodied Bear in Lakeview is the darkest, smelliest, and most promising. Two flights of stairs down from the most respectable restaurant in town, blood flows and teeth fly while military officials and government dignitaries feast on honeyed venison with chestnuts and sip spiced wine. She hangs at the back of the crowd, hands in pockets, scoping out the competition. The key to finding a good mark is to pick out the one who will take losing the hardest. Fortunately, Eje is well versed in separating the loudmouthed enthusiasts from the angry brawlers; the former love a fight but back down from a serious confrontation, whereas the latter will risk their lives over a slight, real or perceived.

Eje slides past the drinkers arguing over the last match. How they can stomach that stuff is beyond her. Once in a lamentable fit of curiosity she tried a drink in a similar establishment and decided that they were spiked with something. Probably sulphuric acid – and it wasn't as though the swill needed any. The stand, just a single one, is nearly empty. Most of the spectators are hanging around the pit, as near to the ring as possible for a better view. She sizes up her competition. The night's reigning champion is too fat and indolent to last long. She can already see him eyeing the drinkers as though he'd rather be with them. To any fool with a taste for liquid vomit she can only hope he gets his wish soon. The challengers don't seem much better. One of them has that pinched scrawny appearance of a boy who never quite ate enough to grow into a man. He'll probably fold under a mean look. Is the next one different? Lean but with a savage look in his eyes. His boots look military: cheap but heavy. His trousers are ragged and stained. Eje smirks. Probably angry from all the self-abuse– lives alone, sleeps in his own filth. The man next to him is stouter and cleaner looking. Shaved face and head, black eyes. Uncreased trousers, a fitted jacket, and gold ring. He walks with a slight swagger like he knows something the others don't. Not that that's saying much.

"Is everyone ready for the next round?!" demands the announcer. A few drunken cheers. He takes that as a challenger to up his volume. "INTRODUCING OUR THIRD CHALLENGER, THE DEMON OF CATSBAY!" Eje stifles a snort. Being from Catsbay is sad enough, but bragging about being from Catsbay is a sure sign of derangement. Sure enough, it's military boots who leaps up into the ring and raises his arms as though expecting the adulation of the crowd. He gets a single cheer. The champion sizes him up as though wondering how many portions this bite-sized boy can be split into. "Ready to get, erm, beat up?" the challenger demands. His voice quavers.

His opponent bursts into laughter. "Brutality's comin' for you, kid." he snarls. He leans in. "I can hear them little footsies of yers knockin' about in yer dad's old boots. He might've been a big man, but you ain't nothin'. I've eaten bigger breakfasts than you and shit out nastier opponents."

The challenger goes red. "Oh yeah? Well we'll just see about that." He isn't exactly confident under pressure.

Brutality only laughs harder and takes his position at the other side of the ring. "Save me a drink, boys." he calls out. "This'll only take a few." He nods to the announcer.

Eje picks out an older man in a velvet hat. If anyone knows the contents of this fighting ring, it must be the only other sober one here. "Who are you taking for this fight?" she asks, keeping her voice low.

He tips her a wink. "Well now there, young feller. First time out? Well this fellow here, Brutality, he's not bad. He's won a few nights before, but if he thinks he's going to roll this feller here like an old coin, he's in for a nasty shock."

Eje glances over at the announcer who seems to be giving the challenger one last chance to bow out. "How'd you reckon?"

The old man shrugs. "He has nothing to lose. Without that fight purse, he'll be hungry again this night. With it, he'll have food and drink and a roof over his head. Brutality's got all that stuff plus a wife and plump mistress waiting for him. He's gone soft. I'm putting my coins on the hungry youngster, big boots and all."

"You may be right, but my instincts tell me he aint got enough going on upstairs to win this."

The old man shoots a queer look. "That's quite an assertion there, young man. How much are you backing it up?"

"I'm not." Eje takes the empty seat next to him. "I only gamble when I can't lose."

Unwilling to wait for the challenger to embarrass himself further, the announcer leaps from the ring. "FIGHT BEGIN!"

The so-called Demon of Catsbay stoops down and begins creeping toward Brutality as though stalking him. Brutality looks unimpressed. He steps forward with astonishing speed for one so big and explains his feelings by carefully acquainting a meaty first with his opponent's face. There's a thump as the blow knocks the demon onto his side. Cheers from the audience. The demon stumbles to his feet, cheek red from the impact. Brutality throws another explanation his way, but the demon leaps back like a rat dodging a cat.

Eje shakes her head. "See? I told you he isn't all there."

The demon is doing something odd. The air shimmers in front of him, then coalesces into frozen water droplets. Ice magic. He blasts Brutality with a barrage of hail that forces him to cover up, then conjures again. A larger piece of ice. Broader. As Brutality explains at his face a third time, he brings the sheet of ice up to block it. A louder crack echoes through the chamber as the ice breaks into pieces. Brutality roars with pain, but the demon isn't finished yet. The ice oozes and reforms into a single block flying at Brutality's head Another crack and the ice again shatters, this time around his thick skull. Brutality hits the ground like a concussed pig.

"Not bad for someone who isn't all there, hm?" chuckles the old man.

But Brutality is somehow still conscious and back on his feet. As the demon tries to conjure again, Brutality grabs him by the arms. As if to prove his head is undamaged, he rears back and slams his forehead into the ice mage's face. Twice. Then lifts him up and slams him on the ground. A solid kick to follow up, and the demon twitches and lies still.

Brutality downs a whole mug in celebration and roars to the crowd about 'no bloody magical casters'll put down old Brutality'. A a bouncer lifts up the Demon of Catsbay by the armpits and hauls him out of the ring, the old man turns to Eje with a sigh. "Well, guess you were right after all. That young man put up a fight, but it warn't enough, no sir."

Eje frowns. "You knew he had magic, didn't you? How could you tell?"

"I had an inkling." laughs the old man. "I didn't know for sure, but he was making me mighty suspicious. Something in the way he moved his fingers, you see. Like he was rehearsing a spellcast. I figured he'd have a little more than that to make a challenge, but clearly I don't even know as much as the youth these days. I'd buy you a drink, but I seem to be out of money."

"Here." Eje hands him a few coins. "For the tip about his fingers, but only on the conditional that you don't buy me a drink. Now what'd you make of this next one?"

The old man suddenly looks grave. "Thankee kindly, but whatever you do, don't waste your money on this next one." he whispers. The man with the gold ring is making his way to the ring.

"What's the matter? He scary?"

"That's one of Brutality's old friends. The others don't recognise him, but I do. No drinking, see?" He taps his temple knowingly. "Every so often they swap outfits and run one of these scams. Hard to tell which of them'll take the fall, but you can be sure they'll split their winnings later tonight."

"Introducing our new challenger! A man who only calls himself Wolf!" A few cheers from the crowd.

"You look like you should be at home in bed." smirks Brutality surveying his new opponent.

"Don't worry, I'll be over in your missus's bed to keep her warm soon enough." says Wolf to applause at this witticism.

A few more barbs are traded back and forth. The audience is loving it, but Eje can feel something is off, like it's all rehearsed. The old man is watching with a knowing smile, and she decides he must be right.

"One last chance to back out and not break your mother's heart." warns Brutality.

"My mother's dead! I killed her meself." snarls Wolf. A few awkward looks from the audience; Wolf is either improvising poorly, or knew the effect this one would have.

The combatants take their places as the last of the bets are tallied up, coins divvied out, and drinks sold in anticipation. Eje doesn't have to look to know how the bets are falling. Brutality is a massive favourite. His fans' cheers fill the room when he raises his big hands.

"FIGHT BEGIN!"

They circle and throw a few exploratory punches at each other, then Brutality lunges. The fight is over quickly, almost too quickly to see what happened. Wolf's fists spark as he catches Brutality at an odd angle, dropping him instantly. The audience is silent as they wait for him to leap back to his feet, but Brutality's fat body remains motionless on the ground.

One or two cheers as Brutality is finally revived and escorted out, mostly from the few people who've made good money off the fight.

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"You see?" crows the old man as the announcer tries to find another challenger for Wolf. "If that wasn't a charmed fight, I'll eat my own hat."

Eje grins. "You're a wise man with good advice, sir. If you want some of my own, put it all on the next challenger." She gives him a pat on the shoulder and saunters up to the edge of the ring. Wolf is sipping on a mug while the other challengers slink off, avoiding his gaze. Audience members are egging them on, but to no avail and she can tell the announcer is about ready to start trawling the audience for sacrifices.

"Wolf, huh." says Eje, hands in her pockets. "I've never seen a hairless wolf before." She makes sure her voice is low enough to pass for a man's. It isn't hard.

Wolf looks her up and down incredulously. "Quiet there, pup. Isn't there an age restriction on this place?"

Eje strokes her beard to ensure it's still in place. It is. "Not so young that I can't beat a hairless dog to death tonight." She spits. "Dog." Wolf's face hardens. He nods to the announcer. "What, are you ready to cry?" The audience is taking note.

"I've beaten up a lot of boys in my time." says Wolf, addressing the audience more than her. "If you want to see another kid who should've stayed home with his mama get a thrashing, make some noise." Cheers come up, mostly from those who didn't want to fight Wolf in the first place. It's always this easy.

Eje addresses the announcer. "You there. How much do I get for putting this dog out of his misery? Will the tanner even buy his scabby hide?"

Wolf doesn't like being ignored. His face reddens as he bellows out threats. The announcer pulls Eje off to the side. He's stouter and shorter up close, and with a massive moustache. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asks.

"That's why I came tonight."

"Right then. You'll need an entry fee payable to this gentlemen here." The announcer waves over one of the bookies. "And what's your name?"

Eje pulls out a few brass coins and a handful of silver ones. "That's for the entry. And the rest of it goes on me. I expect it back with interest when I win." The bookie frantically jots everything down and hands her a receipt.

"Ok." says the announcer impatiently. "But what's your name? How should I introduce you?"

"I'm Rabbit."

Eje and Wolf stand at opposite sides of the ring. Eje's back rests against a pillar while Wolf glares at her, trying to break her from a distance. "And now!" bellows the announcer. "A new challenger hailing from -" he pauses and looks at her quizzically. She shrugs. "Well, he's an odd one, but seems confident! The Rabbit!"

"It's just Rabbit." Eje mutters. It's shocking how many announcers get that wrong. No wonder they're stuck announcing for shoddy underground rings. The crowd is sure loving this though. The bookies are swarmed with last minute bets, and they're probably not putting it on her. She spots the old man. He gives her a look and she waves.

"FIGHT BEGIN!"

Wolf crosses his hands behind his bald head and stretches his arms. He yawns. "This'll be quick. Wolves eat rabbits." But Eje isn't listening to him any more. She isn't listening to the audience. She only hears the rush of magic coursing through her head, beating against her temples. She steps into the centre of the ring. Wolf circles from the outside, looking for an opening. She's not guarding. His hands spark again and a gout of flame bursts from his right. She only just sidesteps it.

Wolf is laughing and taunting her again, but she still hears nothing. Fire magic? Too predictable. He no doubt started with colours and progressed to fire, like every other simpleton who thinks power equivalent to spectacle. Dark smoke gush from Eje's hands and arms. She respects no fire mage.

Wolf raises his other hand for a second flaming attack, but Eje is first. She swings a lash of vapour across Wolf's midsection and he flinches. Another one. This time across the face. A third. Wolf staggers and Eje steps in with a kick to his legs. Wolf goes down with a crash.

"Back to the kennel, Dog." Eje spits on Wolf. Wolf growls as he leaps back to his feet. Flame pours from every his body with such intensity his shirt catches on fire. Eje guards herself with a shield of vapour that hisses and releases black smoke on contact with the fire. Her vapour whip cuts through the flames and strikes Wolf again and again. He yields ground, backing up, forgetting to circle away to safety. The magic screams in Eje's head and she screams with it. It converges with her fist in a single grey haymaker that snaps Wolf's head back. A second, a third. He's unconscious before his face hits the ground. As Eje steps back, the magic fades and the roar of the audience rises. "Another dog beaten." But nobody can hear her. She looks out toward the audience. It's a sea of empty faces. They bet and they lost. The old man sitting the corner waves. He's the only one smiling.

"Are you quite finished with the riffraff, miss?" Trila crosses her arms.

"It was a good night, Trila, dear. You should come along sometime and save yourself some worry."

"I'll stop worrying when we find a ring that permits women inside."

"That will prove a ring most disinteresting. Just put on a costume and slap on a moustache or beard. I can get you one easily."

"I don't doubt it, miss." Trila sighs as Eje stows her beard away in her pocket. "Again, if money is such a concern, I could simply write to the master and -"

"Don't be such a bore, Twila." says Eje. "I keep telling you I don't care about having money."

"Then why is your purse so full, miss?"

"Well, it isn't about me having money. It's about them not having it." Eje gives her money bag a shake, but it's too full to jingle. "You can have it if you want, Trila. Do you want a new dress?"

"Absolutely not, miss."

"Or you could return it to its rightful owners." Eje and Trila both whip around to see Brutality and Wolf glaring at them, framed in the entrance to the alleyway against the silvery moon. Two or three footpads and followers back them up.

Brutality frowns. "Is that a girl? You lost to a girl?"

Wolf ignores him. His left eye is swollen and purple. "Who the hell are you coming in here ruining the night for us? Some sort of pro from the big city?"

"Not at all." Eje gives the purse one last shake before stowing it away. "Just a delicate rabbit hopping through the slums, casting her gaze on the filth and degradation of the city and wiping it clean with a disdainful stroke." She curtsies. "Get from my sight lest I truly unleash upon you my wrath."

Brutality smirks his fat face and glances back at his followers. "It's a noble, boys. Just some poncy noble girl coming to slum it up with us poor paupers. Who's that with her? A maid in a silk dress?"

Trila is pulling on Eje's arm, but to no avail. "That's right. I'm Eje Muse. Of the House Muse." She gives another curtsy. "Now that you're sufficiently in awe, I give you permission to leave."

Brutality turns to Wolf. "Hear that? She's from the House Muse. We'd better get going before she tells her father we were rude to her."

"Oh right." says Wolf. "And I wonder what he'd say if he found out his daughter was pulling on a jacket and black pants and mucking about with the unclean rabble of The Bloodied Bear. I guess we'll find out if he ever shows up." He looks around hopefully as though Vander Muse might appear at any moment from behind the lamppost or drop down from an alcove.

"You know what, Wolf? I don't think he's going to show up. In fact, I suspect he he might never find out what's about to happen to his precious little girl."

"You know what, Brutality? I think you're right." They advance on the girls. "Hand over our money and we may let you walk away."

"It's not your money."

"Oh? Is the nobility this desperate for coins that they're fighting underground for it?"

"Actually, I don't care at all about the money. When I'm done here, I might just throw it down a sewer. I care that you don't have it, you broadsided oaf."

Wolf laughs. "Broadsided oaf? You've some nerve for a little thief. I'll only say it one more time: hand over the money."

"Just the money, Wolf?" Brutality licks his lips. "I think there might be something more in it for us. I've never had the pleasure of -" Eje hits him in his fat paunch from ten paces. He doubles over. The shadows whir. They lash out again, but Wolf blocks this time and her blow deflects upward, scraping off the brick walls of the alley and rattling a chamber pot nestled in an overhead alcove.

"You're right. I believe I do owe you something." Trila is muttering more loudly now, and more disapprovingly like she always does. Eje shakes her arm free. Trila really is a bore. "A pig and a dog running scams? It's only the second most odious thing you've done. You're just a couple of plodders."

"Plodders?" Brutality snickers as he straightens back up. "Your words sting harder and harder." His followers titter but hold back as they advance. The single lamppost casts a reddish flicker over them.

"Look here." Wolf snarls, stepping forward. "We don't give a stray shit if your daddy is a prince or a sewer worker. Girls ought to know their place, and I'm happy to show them where it is." His hands are glowing with fire again, but Eje needs only to give one more small tug on her shadow and the chamber pot dislodges and comes down squarely onto Wolf's bald pate with a sickening splat-crash. Eje steps backward to avoid the flying shards of porcelain and droplets of feces. Wolf's hands shoot to his face, and while his own fire cannot burn him, the smell is truly horrific. Eje's followup blow sends him to the ground for a third time tonight.

"Face-down on the dirt is the best position for you, Dog."

Brutality lunges for her, grabbing her by the arm. She's lucky he can't use magic. Her arm shivers with smoke and weightlessly slips from his grasp. He is indeed fast for someone of his bulk, but not as fast as Eje. Magic sings in her head, bursting out the other arm and battering him, but he's tougher than she thought. And he's not afraid to hit a lady. His fist hits her in the side of the head and for a moment she only sees stars. Then the magic roars. It bursts from her body in a wave of smoke, obscuring the lamppost, blotting out the moon. It runs over Brutality like a cart, and as he falls to the ground, Eje's foot crashes onto the back of his head. She aims for the two brutes' followers, but they're already scattered and running.

"Pig. Fat fucking pig. Plodder. PIG! FUCK YOU, PLODDER PIG!" screams Eje. She stomps and kicks at his prone body, her face red even without the lamp light. "Touch me again and see what happens, you fat fucking sewage pipe of a plodder." Spittle flies from her mouth. Brutality groans and covers his head, but she kicks him in the ribs repeatedly. "Commoner filth! Fucking pig of a commoner!"

"That's enough, Miss Eje." warns Trila. But Eje can't hear her. Not because the magic is too loud in her head, the magic is all gone now, but because her temper has taken over. Air escapes Brutality's mouth as she crushes her foot into the small of his back. He struggles to rise, but she kicks him in the temple, knocking him back down. "Enough!" yells Trila. It isn't enough. As she grinds her foot into his head one last time and turns to vent her rage on Wolf, something cold and hard hits her in the solar plexus. She doubles over as another one hits her. It's so cold. But why would there be ice here? Then she realises.

The Demon of Catsbay hits her across the head with an icicle the size of a quarterstaff. "You two ok?" he asks. Wolf and Brutality are not ok. He shrugs and skips over their bodies to strike Eje over the head again. It isn't right. Is he friends with them? Was he a part of their scam, getting the bettors riled up, faking a loss? Or is he just an opportunist, following on Brutality and Wolf's heels, looking to seize any small advantage he can find? He's still a commoner. How can he hit her now, the weak spindly little thing. She's almost taller than he is, or would be if she could stand straight. She collapses under another blow, covering her head. "You're a tough 'un." the demon chuckles. "But I guess I'm the only one left, so let's have a little fun together." Unless your bashful little maid wants to join in. Head ringing, eyes full of tears, Eje can vaguely make out his thin face and shabby shirt drawing nearer to her. His heavy boot presses into her stomach. "Noble girls sure are soft." Then he goes flying. There's a crash as his body hits something hard far away. She covers up again, but it's only Trila lifting her up. Trila, her faithful friend who has always been there for her. Eje tries to stand, but her knees buckle. Trila holds her up, putting her shoulder into Eje's armpit to offer support. Eje's head drags on Trila's neck. She swings her other arm around to give her a hug. Wolf groans and shifts, his face still buried in muck.

"You're amazing, Trila."

"Let's go back, miss. It's past your bedtime."