Candle light filtered through the room giving off an eerie half light, just enough to see dark shapes sitting at a conference table. The large table had five legs and was made of good solid oak. The shadowy forms sitting behind the table were quiet and patiently waiting for the signal. The ground surrounding them was clear and clean except for a freshly incanted circle that would be the focus of the magic waves that would project this group and what they were saying to the various looking glasses and crystal balls around the realm.

            Surrounding the circle were five men, robed in black. The initiates didn’t say anything, lost in their own world of secret spells and meditation. This projection would take volumes of concentration from each one. This projection would be available to see for the first time worldwide, and as such only the most powerful mages had been chosen.

            A low rumble began, a heavy base tone that the people at the table could feel through the floor. The circle around them began to glow green. The initiates changed the pitch and tone of the strange words that they were speaking and the circle in turn changed from green to purple. The mages raised the pitch and volume of the spell and the circle changed from purple to white.

            As they continued to chant their spell, the men at the table were surrounded by the brilliant white light. The light increased until they could not see each other, so brilliant was the white light they were bathed in. Then, the light faded. The mages lowered their voices and continued in a whisper that the men at the table couldn’t hear. The circle glowed magnesium white. The men at the table were still bathed in light, though it had softened to what they might have found outside on a perfect summer day. The man at the head of the table, knowing that it was time, began to speak.

“Welcome back, sports fans, for another season of competition as we are here to celebrate the opening day of another season of the ECB. To my left is the veteran pit fighter Conan, the Elwin sorcerer in training Willow, and I am Tanis half-Elvin. We welcome you to this epic battle between two long time rivals, the Unicorn and the Minotaur.” Tanis wore a forest-green jacket that covered a light brown shirt underneath and his hair was a light brown, though his full beard was slightly red.

            “The real power of this match comes from the differences of the two fighters,” said Conan. “I am really interested to see how the Unicorn plans to deal with the Minotaur’s power. The Minotaur knows of steel but has yet to master its discipline and he has yet to come away with a crushing victory. This one will be close.” Conan didn’t appear to have anything on except a pair of leather short pants and a leather strap that ran across his bare chest.

             “Where I come from there are a lot of gophers,” replied Willow. “So I can say that size doesn’t always matter. What the unicorn lacks in size and strength, he will find ways to make up for it with his agility and of course his horn, a great source of magical energy.” Willow was wearing a simple blue woolen shirt and his light brown hair was a little messy. “The Minotaur is strong and fast, but he lacks all understanding of magic and his intelligence is subpar at best. If the Unicorn stays away from the corners, he will give this Minotaur some problems. I foresee an upset.”

            “As you know I have some experience going up against bigger, stronger, opponents,” said Tanis. “I also have some experience with magic users and I have to give the advantage to the Minotaur on this one. He’s big, wields his huge double axe, has plenty of speed and endurance, can take a hit and dish out punishment.”

            “Don’t underestimate the powers of magic and illusion” said Willow. “My mentor once told me, ‘magic is the bloodstream of the universe’. I think the Unicorn will make the big guy bleed before the day is over.”

            Tanis replied, “Well, there you have it, folks. I can’t help but bring up some historical stats on these two fighters. The last time they met was almost two years ago. Granted the Unicorn was much younger then and hadn’t really come into his own with his magical prowess but he did do a good job of staying away from the Minotaur and making the beast play his match. However the Unicorn was defeated and injured pretty badly. The Minotaur managed to clip the unicorn leg and take a huge chunk out of the Unicorn’s shoulder with his horn. If you remember it took seven white mages and four animal veterinarians to heal him and help him make a full recovery. It shows just how much guts the kid has just to want to get back into the ring again.”

            “Yes, and that match occurred in this very coliseum,” said Willow. “The Unicorn was at a disadvantage then. He hadn’t reached an age where his magic had matured, and they fought during the winter, where the sun has the least amount of influence. Today is the middle of spring and the sun is in a favorable position and should be of great help to the Unicorn.”

            “My friend, time will tell. For now, we turn this over to the lovely Red Sonja who is now on the coliseum floor, Sonja?” The initiates quieted their chant and the circle surrounding the table stopped glowing white.

            On the coliseum floor, however, four other initiates, surrounding a much smaller circle, began to increase the volume of their chant. The woman inside the circle stood perfectly still until the light from the circle around her faded. She was a very attractive woman, with long red hair. She had broad, well muscled shoulders, which were bare. She was wearing a leather slip under her chain mail shirt that didn’t have any shoulder straps. The outfit was not really functional for battle, but she looked good in it so she wore it for the projections.

“Thanks, Tanis. I have spoken to both of these fighters. The Unicorn feels pretty confident about this fight. He says that he is feeling one hundred percent with no bad repercussions from his last fight. He feels he learned a lot from that fight two years ago and he can just be patient this time around and wear down the Minotaur a little then he feels he can come away with a huge win for his race today.”

“The Minotaur says that he is going to try to corner the Unicorn and take away the creature’s agility and maneuverability. He feels that ‘the whelp’ still won’t be a match for his axe and he expects to have this over very shortly. Back to you, Tanis.” The projection circle surrounding her faded completely as the mages grew silent.

            The projection circle surrounding the men around the table began to glow again and Tanis continued. “Thank you, Sonja. Folks, I suppose I should tell you now,” said Tanis. “As with every match of the ECB we have a guest commentator. Today we have beseeched the most powerful magic users on our world and have reached deep across the heavens and brought you a man who comes from a planet so far from us that we can’t even see it’s star. Please join me in welcoming John Madden from, Earth, is that correct?” Over in a small corner of the room a large fat man, standing in a smaller projection circle that was glowing happily, began to speak.

            “Yeah, that’s right. You see, I was in my RV driving to a Steelers game and suddenly I feel myself being squeezed really hard and then, boom, I’m here. You people sure know how to make a guy feel welcome, though. The past couple hours have been really great. That nice blue girl, what’s her name, Nymph? She showed me around and explained some of the rules of the battles for me. Everything has been really great. All I need now is a good Turducken.”

            The four men at the table looked at each other with questioning glances, “What’s a Turducken?” asked Willow.

            “Oh that’s a thing I do every Thanksgiving back home. It’s a turkey, stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a chicken. It’s a lot of fun back where I come from,” replied John.

            The four men looked at each other again, not knowing what to say to this strange man who made very little sense. Tanis said, “Oh, Kay. Well, let’s go over to the magic grid and see how this match might play out, Willow?”

            At this prompt, Willow got up from his chair and quickly walked to a large empty space behind the table. Here too, there was a large circle on the floor surrounded by initiates in black robes. Willow stepped over the already glowing circle and began his own spell. The air shifted and changed as he completed his spell and an image of the Unicorn and the Minotaur were standing opposite of him and he was right in the middle.

            “Thanks, Tanis. As we have already pointed out, the Minotaur has speed and power. The Unicorn has magic and agility. Now let’s take a deeper look at their stats and possible strategies.” As Willow spoke the two images moved and reacted to his words, illustrating what he was saying.    “As Sonja pointed out, the best way for the Minotaur to get the upper hand in this fight is to push the Unicorn up into the corner and take away the escape routes. If this happens, the Unicorn will be over-powered in moments. However, what some people may not know is that the Unicorn has control over the natural elements. This match will be happening at dusk, which means that the coliseum will be lit with torches. The Unicorn could use those torches and control the fire from them, to use either as a weapon or a defensive screen.” The illusion Unicorn’s horn began to glow and the torches from the walls of the coliseum erupted and spit forth the fire they were carrying. The fire swirled around and coalesced around the Minotaur.

            “This isn’t a sure thing for the Unicorn, however. The Minotaur has a very thick, tough hide and doesn’t give in to pain readily.” The illusion Minotaur burst forth from the maelstrom, steaming slightly. “The Unicorn will have to find a way around the defenses of the Minotaur if he wants to win this match.”

            From the far corner of the room John began to speak, “Yeah and that’s what I always say, ‘defense wins championships’. You can win without it but not very often. From what I just saw the Unicorn is going to be a tough opponent out of the slot, but if the Minotaur is as fast as you guys say he is, the Unicorn is going to have a tough time getting to the edges and rounding the corner.”

            The two men at the table looked at each other and then at Willow; they were all thinking the same thing: Does anyone understand this guy? Tanis looked at the three other men at the table, shook his head slightly.

Willow continued, “The last time these two fighters met, the Minotaur was able to force the Unicorn into the corner.” The steaming illusion Minotaur bull-rushed the Unicorn and slammed him into a nearby wall. His massive dual horns had pinned the white animal against the rough stone of the arena wall. “The Minotaur does have the advantage of a humanoid shape and he used it very effectively in the last battle.” The Minotaur drove his knees into the underbelly of the Unicorn. “The Minotaur made an aggressive back kick and broke the Unicorns leg, as I’m sure we all remember.”

A crack resounded through the room and Tanis winced as he was forced to relive the devastating blow. The illusion Unicorn’s hind leg had been snapped cleaning by the Minotaur’s powerful kick and hung limply against the floor; useless.

“Once the Unicorn’s agility had been taken out of the equation,” Willow continued, “It didn’t take long.”

The Minotaur backed away from the Unicorn and, raising his double axe, took one massive swipe at the helpless form of his opponent. The axe cleaved flesh and rendered bone. The illusion faded and with it a sigh of relief from Tanis and Willow.

Willow made his way back to the table, slightly drained from his illusion spell.

            John asked, “Was that a legal hit?”

            Tanis replied, “Yes, John, brutal as that match was for everyone who watched it, the Minotaur was well within the rules of the fight. The Unicorn might have died from his injuries but we have white magi on hand at all times. These fighters know what they are getting themselves into when they sign on for the circuit.”

            John said, “I have seen some collisions in my time, sometimes guys get their helmets knocked completely around on their heads. They must have been thinking, ‘who turned the lights out?’ I’ve never seen anything like that. I bet the Unicorn started to get happy feet after taking a hit like that.”

            Willow asked, “Happy Feet?”

            John said, “Yeah, after a quarterback takes a hard hit from a defensive end or a blind side sack, he starts to get nervous. When a quarter back gets nervous you see him start to shift and move his feet around a lot. He’s not comfortable in the pocket. Back home we call it, ‘happy feet.”

            “So you’re asking if the Unicorn is nervous about this fight,” asked Conan.

            “I’m sure the Unicorn is more than ready for the fight,” interrupted Tanis. “Maybe John has a point. The Unicorn has a long memory and I’m sure he remembers the loss he was handed the last time these two met. I think he will be looking to bounce back from his injuries and show just what kind of a fighter he is. That’s why we fight the matches. Folks at home you know where we stand and now it’s time to go down to the coliseum and begin this match.” With that, the initiates silenced their chant, and the circle on the floor dissipated but remained glowing.

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            The initiates begin another chant, higher, and more shrill in voice and content. They raised their robed arms and with a collective scream that rivaled thunderclaps, the three men, the table, and the lone visitor from the corner of the room vanished, a faint trail of steam was all that was left to mark their passing.

            Inside the coliseum, the men who had just been teleported appeared out of steaming air and looked outward onto the sands of the main fighting area. The Coliseum was an elegant and intricate design of stone and mortar. There were seven levels, all with a capacity to seat almost fifteen thousand people per level. Tanis could look out the arches of the upper levels and see the beautiful forest that had been allowed to grow right up to the massive stone building.

It had been the Elves idea, of course. They said that if the humans were so brutish to destroy the land for such a ‘monstrosity’ as the coliseum, then they demanded that the forest be allowed to grow back up to the very base of the stone walkways outside. The human alliance had agreed to the terms so long as the elves tended to the forest and made certain that the forest edge around the coliseum were well manicured. The elves had agreed, grudgingly.

            Tanis wondered to himself if this place and the battles held within its walls would be the cause of another race war. A disturbing thought but not something to concentrate on now, “This is what you have all been waiting for, folks,” Tanis yelled out to the capacity crowd. “I welcome you to opening day and introduce to you, the Unicorn!”

            The far end of the coliseum opened up. A massive double gate swung wide. The beautiful white beast trotted out of the darkness towards the center of the arena. His vibrant, white coat of hair caught all of the fading sunlight and shone with brilliance. The Unicorn made his way to the middle of the coliseum. Once there he looked up to the four men in the announcer’s balcony. The Unicorn looked over the crowd, and heaved himself up on his two hind legs and saluted the people who had paid to be there this evening.

            “Man, now that right there looks like a champion,” John said. “He’s got all the confidence and swagger that any winner needs.”

            Tanis looked over to John who was standing off to the side. “That may be, John. But if you are impressed with him wait till you see his opponent. Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve seen him before, his power and strength are legendary and he’s a true veteran of the battles. I give you the Minotaur!”

            On the opposite side of the coliseum a portcullis raised itself, and out of the darkness charged a massive red beast with his great horns gleaming from the torchlight. His fur was already slightly lathered from perspiration. His arms bulged as he tightened his grip on his massive double axe. The Minotaur usually liked working himself up before he came out. This time was no exception and he looked like he wanted to end this fight in less than five minutes.

            The Minotaur charged toward the center of the arena and the unicorn stood there waiting. He seemed very relaxed and confident. As the snarling engine of rage and death bore down on him, he lowered his head to sniff at the ground. This sent the Minotaur into more of a rage and his speed increased closing the gap between the two fighters quickly.

            The Unicorn jumped to the side just as the Minotaur swung his great axe, missing by inches. The swing was with such force and the Minotaur was traveling at such speed he was thrown off balance, and the Unicorn placed a great double-leg kick to his side and was sent reeling, his axe thrown to the side, momentarily forgotten.

            “Folks, I hope you are watching what I just saw. The Unicorn pulls a great feint and lands the first blow of the fight,” said Tanis.

            “Yeah, that guy showed great vision and awareness. It was like he felt the pocket close in around him. He felt the pressure, hung in there, and comes away with a great play,” said John.

            “He used his enemy’s rage against him,” said Conan. “Rage can be a great help or hindrance in battle. The Unicorn doesn’t seem to be bothered at all or have, ‘happy feet’? Was that the term you used, John?”

            “Yeah, that’s right. Happy feet or no, he seems very relaxed out there. That comes from just plain being prepared.”

            “The Unicorn is showing some restraint, he hasn’t used any magic yet and he already seems to have the Minotaur off his game,” said Willow.

            Down in the arena the Minotaur raised himself up and dusted off his legs. He watched the Unicorn warily and edged closer to his lost axe. The Unicorn didn’t give him the chance to move any closer. The Unicorn charged, taking the offensive. He lowered his head, his great horn like a lance aimed right over where the Minotaur’s axe was lying on the ground. The Minotaur saw the beast move and decided to act. He did a full body dive and roll, barely grabbing his axe before the Unicorn got there. The horn, however, did get there and made a deep red gash along the Minotaur’s side.

            “Wow, that is gonna leave a mark,” said John.

            The crowd was on their feet yelling and chanting. Someone started ‘the wave’ at the far side of the coliseum and it rippled through the crowd encircling the two fighters.

            “That mistake might have cost the Minotaur the fight,” said Conan.

            “He just got knocked around by the Unicorn. He needs a little more help with his defense,” said John. “He needs to stay at home and wait for the opening to come to him. When you force a move like that, you usually come away with a loss.”

            Tanis looked over at John, bewilderment clearly written across his face. A loss of what? Tanis asked himself quietly.

            The Unicorn wasn’t done. With his horn pointed at the injured Minotaur, he called to magical energies and he forced the fire from the surrounding torches to engulf his opponent. The sun was just dipping below the horizon, painting the sky in gorgeous reds and oranges. The crowd owed and awed as the fire from the torches made a rainbow of flame, with the Minotaur at the end of it. The Minotaur screamed as the fire licked and enveloped him.

The blood oozing from his side wound was searing and crackling under the intense heat. Being that the wound was magical it wouldn’t cauterize from the flames heat alone. The Minotaur would have to have a magi heal him after the match. There were no breaks for injuries or wounds in the battles, only submission.

The Minotaur screamed as he tried to maintain a hold on his axe, but the metal, superheated by the fire, became too much for him and he was forced to drop it in the sand. The Minotaur’s fur was singed and burning; as he tried to escape the maelstrom, he took several steps to one side then the other. His footsteps left glass hoof prints on the sand.

            “Magic truly is the blood stream of the Universe,” said Willow. “The Unicorn is showing an incredible amount of focus, maintaining his attack. He must have been working on this precise maneuver for a long time now.”

            “It all comes down to practice,” said John. “I remember I used to set up the eight-man sled and let guys just go to town on it. In a match up like this, it usually comes down to who is more prepared. I think the Unicorn came in here prepared and ready. That’s why the Unicorn is in the position that he’s in right now.”

            “The reason the Unicorn is in the position he is in right now,” said Conan, “is because the Minotaur was careless and over aggressive. He is being a coward using only magic to finish this fight. It’s not against the rules, but I prefer my steel over the sordid magic’s of the magi.

            The Unicorn finally let the spell die. The tornado of fire spun itself out. The Minotaur collapsed down on the sand. He rested his burnt hands gingerly on the singed fur of his legs and raised his massive horns to look the Unicorn in the eye. He slowly and painfully raised himself up, glass crunching beneath his hoofs as he tried to shake off the pain of his wounds. A trickle of blood was coming from his nose.

            The crowd sensed something was wrong and began to cheer for the Minotaur’s bravery and stamina. The Minotaur took one step and collapsed down to a knee. The crowd inhaled collectively as the Minotaur again struggled to raise himself up.

            “This fight is over,” said the Unicorn as he backed away from his injured opponent.

            “I will never yield,” the Minotaur panted. “To a pretty boy like you!” the Minotaur yelled and lunged at the Unicorn.

            The Unicorn kicked out into a one-hundred-eighty-degree turn and buried his hooves into the midsection of the oncoming Minotaur. The Minotaur, anticipating the kick, caught and held the white animal by his hind hooves. The crowd cheered and began to chant again. Only this time, the chant was for the Minotaur, “Who has hooves? He has hooves! Who has Horns? He has horns! Who’s gonna win? He’s gonna win! MIN…O…TAUR! MIN…O…TAUR!”

            The Minotaur, fighting to keep hold of the unicorn, began to turn. He had the white animal’s legs in a death grip and as he pushed himself backward and around the Unicorn was jerked back, off his feet, and flung around behind the Minotaur.

            “That was a great move!” shouted Conan. “I knew he wasn’t finished yet. What about your magic now, Willow?”

            “Magic, like all life, ebbs and flows,” replied Willow curtly. Conan just laughed.   

The Unicorn landed awkwardly and struggled to regain his footing, dazed slightly from his impact with the hard, sand covered floor. The Minotaur was breathing heavily with his head down. He clenched and opened his hands again and again.

            “Folks, looks like the Minotaur is not out of this one yet,” said Tanis.

The Minotaur made his way gingerly over to his axe and picked it up. His hands started to steam as the metal, still beyond any human tolerance, singed and burned the Minotaur’s flesh. He looked over at the still dazed unicorn as the white animal shook his head, as if to clear his vision of something.

The Minotaur smiled and charged. This time his massive dual horns, black as midnight, were angled at the beast’s midsection. The crowd gasped. Just as the Minotaur was about to lay a huge hit on the Unicorn, the Unicorn bolted getting just out of reach of the enraged Minotaur.

The crowd cheered. There was a Unicorn chant echoing through the coliseum, “One… HORN! One…HORN!”

The Minotaur gave chase to the fleeing beast. Just as predicted, the pure sprint speed of the Minotaur quickly closed the gap to the scampering Unicorn. Just as the Minotaur had reached the white beast, axe raised, the Unicorn blindly kicked out and made a solid connection with the Minotaur’s axe. The heavy steel weapon was thrown out of the fighting arena.

The crowd erupted into cheers again. “What is a weapon?” asked Willow, “when it doesn’t have a hand to wield it.”

Conan grumbled something about Krom under his breath.

“The key to a successful offense, is knowing what weapons you have, and using them effectively,” said John.

“How can one use an axe effectively?” asked Conan, “If they don’t have it to use?”

“Well, that’s why, back home, we have backups,” said John. “The starter goes down with an injury and the backup is expected to go in and do the job the team needs him to do. You don’t throw away your entire game plan because of a loss. Though the whole ‘losing an axe’ thing, that is new to me.”

“Well, you do come from another planet,” said Tanis, blocking the snide comment that Conan was getting ready to give the visitor.

Down in the arena the Minotaur was looking at his hands, as if questioning why they had betrayed him. The Unicorn used this time to get some separation between the two. He quickly turned around and lowered his horn. He once again called upon the elements and created a concentrated ice storm around the Minotaur. Mystical winds swirled around the Minotaur driving snow and ice that cut and enclosed the animal.

            A massive roar was heard from inside the dense white hurricane. From its depths sprang forth the Minotaur, ice clung to his side wound. They were delicate crystals covered in blood that was still oozing from the open wound. He charged at the defenseless white animal.

            It took the Unicorn several moments to really understand what had just happened. And that was all the time the Minotaur needed. The Minotaur lunged into the Unicorn and raised the animal above his head. He pressed the full body weight of himself and the white beast into the air, and slammed the Unicorn down onto the hard sand.

            The crowd grew silent, for a hairs breadth, and then the Minotaur supporters erupted in cheers. The Minotaur raised a hand to the crowd and as he looked down at the helpless form of the Unicorn he faltered.

            The Minotaur dropped his raised hand and fell to one knee, using his hands for support. The wound in his side continued to freely seep deep red blood. The Minotaur shook his head, tried to stand again, and stumbled down to his knees.

            The Unicorn Jumped to his feet and got a safe distance away from the seemingly incapacitated Minotaur.

            The Minotaur pressed his hands to his side. He held his hand up and saw that his hand was completely coated in his own blood. His vision was very blurry, it had been for a while now, but only now was he acknowledging it. He looked at the Unicorn, so far away, and raised his hand toward the creature, then darkness. The red animal collapsed into the sand.

            “Now, it is over,” said the Unicorn. The beast slowly picked his way back toward the gate which let him into the arena. He walked with a slight limp and bruises were showing through his once pristine white fur. It might take a couple of days to fully recover from this fight. The crowd cheered and the Unicorn walked out of the arena, the day’s victor and surprise upset.

            White magi jumped into the arena and began their healing spells so that the Minotaur could be moved. With the help of some black robed initiates the Minotaur was floated off the sand floor of the Coliseum.

 “The Unicorn showed poise and grace with that finish,” said Willow. “A truly magnificent animal, wouldn’t you say so Conan?”

            “Poise and grace?!” Conan almost shouted. “He’s weak. Standing around letting the Minotaur collapse? The Unicorn should have crushed his enemy and seen him driven before him. Why did he let the Minotaur lose in disgrace?”

            “An unsatisfying win, perhaps,” said Tanis. “But a win is a win no matter how you come about it.”

            “Yeah, and that’s the whole point. The Unicorn really got in there with some early hits, softened the Minotaur up and then, boom! He came in for a big defensive play that won him the match,” replied John.

            “Letting an opponent collapse,” said Conan, “is a ‘big defensive play’ where you come from, John?”

            Tanis interrupted, “Well, like I said, a win’s a win. John, we thank you so much for being here tonight.”

            “Hey, anytime,” said John. “Next time you guys should warn me a little first, I’ll get a six leg turkey going and we can all have some Turduc…” John never got a chance to finish as the magi surrounding his circle finished their spell and John was teleported back to wherever he came from.

Tanis breathed a small sigh of relief, now he wouldn’t have to save John from a grudge match against Conan. Tanis said, “That’ll about do it here for us at the coliseum. We hope that you enjoyed this presentation of Extreme Creature Battles. I’m Tanis Half-Elvin and from all of us here at Battle Network Projections, we wish you a good night.”