Kalashoon Haze, threw his hands to the ground, flattening his palms across its surface at the Lord's word.

The earth shook, rising until it reached a crescendo. Ten feet in front of the smiling Challenger, the salty soil began to crack. Then it crumbled, and a giant stone hand burst from the earth. An arm followed the hand, bending at its earthen elbow, leveraging itself out of the ground. Limb by limb, the massive white Golem emerged, rising to almost fifteen feet in height. A puppet made of stone.

The Challenger stared at his opponent through the puppet's legs.

She looked even more childlike when stood across from the monstrous golem.

Kalashoon’s grin widened.

Kint’s heart raced, anxiety pulsing through him.

The Golem master raised his fists in the air, assuming a fighting stance. The heavy puppet followed his movements.

He pantomimed two punches and the stone simulacrum did the same.

Kint felt the breeze generated from the force of the strikes.

He squinted, observing the Challenger closely. Every movement the Crafter made was steady and full of purpose. Kint could see the strain in each muscle as it activated. The cost of wielding such a powerful tool must be to carry some of its weight on your own body.

The Challenger took another warm up swing.

Kint nodded, his theory confirmed.

He watched muscles and sinews tighten, strain obvious in the powerful man's neck, his stance wide to sustain the weight of the Golem’s motions.

The girl was was not just waiting for her demise however.

She took a few skips back, her movements fluid, light as a feather, eyes locked on her opponent.

The Ice Walker was observing too. Likely judging the Golem’s range.

Haze took a solid step forward, his golem doing the same, but covering three times the distance.

The Ice Walker skipped back again, maintaining the distance.

The Golem followed, lunging forward, throwing a fist toward the ground.

The fist exploded where the girl once stood, as she flipped backward over her hands away from the hulking puppet.

The fist retracted, leaving a sizable crater in its wake.

Tanveer coughed, brushing away the cloud of dust that had sprung up from the explosion.

It was a silly gesture, done for dramatic effect.

It worked, the crowd erupted in laughter.

Even Kint smiled.

The Ice Walker was an entertainer, it seemed.

Kalashoon Haze grimaced, pressing forward, to continue his assault.

The Golem took another step, its speed increasing as another punch shot toward the diminutive girl.

She jumped to the side, dodging at the last moment.

Another cloud of dirt and rubble exploded where she'd been.

She'd cut it close this time, just managed to turn her dive into a tuck and roll. She sprang up like an acrobat, sticking the landing.

The crowd cheered.

The girl bowed.

They were loving it, eating up her antics. She was obviously a favorite, and why wouldn’t she be? A little girl of Kadenite birth, taking on a Blessed of the Apostles. It was a story tailored to excite this low class crowd.

As the girl waved to her many admirers, the Challenger smiled.

He widened his stance, shrugging his shoulders like the weight of the world was upon him.

Kalashoon haze closed his eyes, well muscled chest rising as he took a grounding breath.

He opened his eyes.

Firing off a punch like a crossbow bolt.

The Golem followed the movement. Kint’s eyes widened, as the stone fist of the puppet detached from its arm shooting toward the unsuspecting girl.

Tanveer dove to the ground, laying flat in the sand as the boulder whizzed past her head, exploding into the stadium wall behind.

She moved to stand, stumbling as another boulder shot toward her.

The Ice Walker dove again, barely avoiding the stone but ejected backward by the force of its impact.

The crowd gasped as her frail body tumbled across the sand like a bundle of twigs.

Silence fell over the stadium as the girl lay still on the white sand, blood leaking from multiple wounds.

The Challenger grinned, enjoying the anguish of the audience.

A low murmur went through the stadium as the girl visibly twitched.

Then her arm lifted into the air, planting like crowbar as Tanveer the Ice Walker began to leverage herself to her feet.

Kadenites of all shapes and colors called out to her as she rose, cheering on the diminutive girl.

Even Kint felt to urge to cheer her on.

He glanced to his left to see his partner muttering.

“Come on, Girl… Get up.”

He grinned as the girl stood, looking down at her hands and knees, red blood dripped to the white sand of the stadium.

She patted sand from her raggedy cloths, then raised a hand to the sky.

She was okay.

The crowd erupted, cheering and shouting their joy.

Tanveer moved to face her opponent, face serious as she began to jump lightly from foot to foot.

The puppet master growled, throwing his arms to the sand. The Golem followed, earth exploding its forearms met the ground.

The girl did not wait for whatever was coming next, she began scrambling, slipping, and clutching at the dirt to get moving.

With a mighty heave, the Golem ripped its buried stumps from the ground and pulled two new fists out with them.

Kalashoon smiled, as the girl scampered across the stadium, accelerating into a full sprint at the edge of the bleeding grounds.

He reared back taking his gathering breath.

As he did so, the Champions movements changed.

She began swaying side to side with leaping, lunging strides. While the movements looked awkward at first, with each launch she picked up speed. Each step took her farther and farther.

The Golem threw its right fist, but the trajectory was off. The boulder hit the wall several yards behind the leaping girl.

The Challenger frowned, not expecting to have missed by so much.

He refocused, adjusting his stance to follow the far-striding girl.

Kint’s eyes widened as he picked up on what Tanveer was doing.

He grinned.

With every step of her shiny new boots, the girl's feet were skating across a freshly laid track of ice.

Ice Walker…

“Incredible…” Elsha muttered, astonished. “She’s got the well of a Shaper, but the control of Master Mage.”

Kint had to agree. He’d never seen such control, such aptitude.

With each leaping lunge, the girl was gaining greater momentum, skating around the track as the Golem threw one fist after another in her direction. None of the boulders had a chance however, as she circled the massive stadium to the point where the two fighters were on opposite sides of where they'd started.

Kint shook his head, in awe of this girl.

She had such control. Taking full advantage of her small well of power, only laying down icy tracks for as long as her foot was touching the ground.

Every movement was graceful and precise, every step calculated.

She was beautiful.

But, even with her efficient use of resources, Kint knew she would only be able to spend a limited time moving this way.

Unless she was a Crafter?

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No… Kint had seen the size of her aura, she was a Shaper to be sure. Which meant, if things continued as they were she'd run out of Wave Energy.

As if hearing his thoughts, the girl shifted strategy, taking a sharp turn beneath the Ringmasters platform. Leaning to the bend, conserving momentum.

She ended the turn abruptly with a powerful lunge forward, straight toward Kalashoon Haze.

The Challengers eyes widened at the speed of the maneuver.

She was approaching fast, accelerating with each bound in his direction

Kint’s brow furrowed as he realized… Haze was in trouble.

While the Ice Walker had been circling him, the Puppet Master had continued throwing boulders, his golem's torso spinning on its hips like a top so that it could face whatever direction the girl was racing.

Unfortunately, while spinning and staying in place was a good strategy for launching projectiles, it was less helpful now that the Ice Walker was heading directly at the Earth Mage. And with their positions flipped, his massive puppet was almost ten paces behind him. No longer between the Earth Mage and his opponent.

Tanveer had an open shot.

The Crafter’s face hardened as he steeled himself, widening his heavy stance. He raised his fists, ready to launch.

The girl was a hundred paces away.

Haze squinted his eyes, adjusted for the distance, the speed, and threw a heavy fist at where he thought she'd be.

The boulder launched.

Tanveer leapt from one foot to the other, expertly dodging the projectile as it ricocheted across the sand and into the arena walls.

She landed gracefully, continuing her rampant pace.

Fifty paces.

Sweat beaded on the Challengers face.

He stared her down with deadly focus, throwing his second fist, trying to cut her off in stride.

The Ice Walker shifted her gate, crossing one leg over the other like a dancer.

The boulder ripped past, almost grazing the girl. Wind whipped at her baggy cloths as she landed, continuing her onslaught.

Twenty paces.

The girl drew the curved knife from her belt.

Fifteen paces.

She quickened her steps, building one last rush of speed.

Seven paces.

She took a gathering step.

Five.

She leapt, raising her gleaming knife in the air with both hands to strike the decisive blow.

The Challenger smiled...

He shrugged his heavy shoulders… and the Golem went limp.

Kint took in a breath.

He’d cut the strings.

The Mage’s speed instantly doubled, no longer burdened by the weight of his puppet.

Tanveer’s eyes widened as she realized she was descending into a trap.

The girl tried to quicken her strike, but it was too late.

Haze leaned away from the attack, slapping the blade aside as she careened past him, only managing to leave a gash on his arm.

Her momentum carried her several paces beyond her opponent, his slap throwing her off balance.

She hit the ground and bounced, rolling across white sand… Right into the Golem’s range.

A boulderous fist careened toward her as she tumbled.

Her eyes widened as she saw the strike coming.

She activated her power.

A massive sheet of ice extended below her like a glittering blue path.

Landing on it, she retained just enough momentum to slide past the Golems fist as it thundered behind her.

The slide carried her right between the puppets legs

With no time to waste Tanveer pushed herself back to her feet.

The mountainous Golem spun on the axis of its hips to face her again.

She scrambled, moving as quickly as she could.

The puppet threw another strike down toward her.

The girl pushed off, lunging away.

Her foot slipped.

The Ice Walkers eyes widened in fear as the forearm of the Golem descended.

An explosion of rock and dust shook the arena.

The crowd let out a gasp of shared pain...

Silence descended.

The Golem removed it’s massive arm from the crater.

Hope shattered.

The girl was gone.

Kint let out the breath he'd been holding.

It had been a long shot.

The crowd mirrored his mood. A sullen silence overtaking them as the Challenger, now champion... raised his fist in the air, his Golem did the same.

No one cheered.

The Crowd was silent as a mocking grin split Kalashoon’s face. He shook his victorious fist again.

A gasp broke the silence.

"Look!"

The whole stadium turned, searching for a ray of hope...

There!

Hanging from the Golems' extended fist… Was a diminutive girl in laborers' clothes.

Blood dripped from the side of the girl’s head, covering half her face.

But she was alive!

Swinging like a pendulum from the stone appendage.

Kint smiled.

The crowd shuddered in amazement. Gasps of surprise rose as people realized what was happening.

The Challenger looked around, confused. Unable to spot the girl from his angle.

Seeing her moment, Tanveer released her grip, using her power to slide down the golems arm.

Her feet landed on the puppets shoulder.

The Ice Walker crouched down and in one smooth motion, leapt from the stone beast.

She raised her curved blade behind her head, its tip glinting in the midday sun.

Kalashoon turned around, this time it was his eyes that widened in fear as the relentless Ice Mage descended. He threw his arms up to protect himself.

The knife landed, hitting with a thunk of pierced flesh and bone.

But it did not kill.

In a stroke of luck beyond luck, the blade had split through one of the man's arms, and half of the other, leaving the man’s vitals intact.

The girl let go of the knife, leaving it in the muscular challengers arms as she dropped to the ground and scampered away.

Haze ripped one of his arms free of the blade, lashing out at the girl in anger, but she was far from his reach.

He stared at the diminutive girl, hate in his eyes.

The Mage let out a baleful scream.

The crowd erupted, cheering and yelling for more.

"This is amazing." Elsha whispered, applauding with the Kadenites. "What is this girl?"

A grin split Kints face, but a sour feeling gripped his stomach.

That final exchange might have been the best chance the Ice Walker had.

The cheers continued for a full minute before the audience began to realize what Kint already had.

The girl was a wreck.

Tenveer stood at the edge of the arena, directly below the Ringmaster's platform. She had her hands on her knees. Her breath was coming in large heaves and gasps. Blood dripped from her head, and multiple gashes on her arms and legs.

The Challenger could see it too.

He calmed himself.

Grabbing the curved blade with one hand, he extracted it slowly from his forearm, letting out a hiss of pain through his teeth.

The Crafter’s hateful gaze locked on Tanveer the whole time.

Murmurs of concern rippled through the crowd.

Things weren’t looking good for the local hero.

A silence descended as the Ice Walkers blade slid into white sand, useless.

Kadenites looked around, searching for some way out, some solution for their hero.

"Come on Tanveer!" A young man cried.

"You can do this, Ice Walker!" Came a female voice.

"Ice Walker! Ice Walker! Ice Walker!" The chant rang out, the crowd trying to will her back to health.

"I guess it's over." Elsha sighed, saddened by the sight of the haggard girl. "Her well has to be empty by now."

Kalashoon saw it as well, the signs of a Mage who was Well Weathered, completely drained of magic.

But the Challenger wasn’t going to take the girl lightly. Not after what he’d just experience.

He lowered himself back into a fighting stance, and with smooth purposeful steps, moved his Golem to stand in front of him.

The man lifted his fists into that ready position, the Golem following suit. He took a grounding breath.

"Ice Walker! Ice Walker! Ice Walker!"

The Shaper girl continued her recovery, breathing deep, not even looking at her opponent.

Haze waited, allowing her to regain composure. A sign of respect.

Finally, blessedly, she raised her head.

The crowd cheered.

She gave a solemn nod to her opponent, acknowledging his power.

Taking in one final lungful of air, she put her hands on her knees and heaved herself up to her full height.

Insignificant as it was, the crowd loved it. The cheers rose and the chant grew louder.

"Ice Walker! Ice Walker! Ice Walker!"

She waved to the Kadenite's, acknowledging their efforts.

A wave goodbye to the people who’d supported her.

The girl nodded, gritting her teeth in focus.

She repositioned her feet, crouching down, taking a sprinter's stance. Ready for one last charge.

The crowd quieted,

The challenger readjusted his stance as well.

Silence...

Then…

Tanveer exploded forward, heading straight toward the Puppetmaster.

After a few paces she lunged into her icy strides. Accelerating quickly.

The Challenger smiled, seeing his moment had come.

No more dodging, no more acrobatic tricks, he would sweep her away.

She was 50 paces out, momentum building.

The Challenger did not move.

Forty paces.

Kalashoon haze remained still. His eyes singularly focused on the approaching girl. Blood dripped from his flexing arms.

Thirty paces.

She was at top speed now.

Kint knew she was on her last bits of energy.

Twenty paces.

The Challenger smiled, cocking his right shoulder back, he rotated his body.

Kint’s brow furrowed.

Something was off... this was not the same movement he'd made before.

The Earth Mage took a step forward.

The golem followed.

He took a gathering step.

The Puppet did the same.

Fifteen paces.

Slowly, like he was pulling the weight of the sun, Kalashoon Haze planted his foot, crouched down, and swiped his leg out across his body.

The Golem did the same, and Kint’s eyes widened in horror as the stone beast swung its leg across the dirt, aiming to wipe the girl away.

Ten paces.

It was too late to adjust.

There was too much momentum.

She couldn't dodge.

As the mountainous leg swept like a scythe across the earth, Tanveer saw it, and did not slow.

She continued gliding as the headsman's ax came to meet her, pushing off one more time as the giant earthen leg was only feet away.

Her final step was about to land. The last one she'd ever take...

But it did not land...

Instead the slender girl continued falling, legs curling under her, knees touching on icy ground. Her shins hit the glistening earth and she rotated, flexing backward so her whole body was leaning flat against the ground.

The bun of her hair touched the salty soil below...

… And the stone leg grazed over her with a rush of wind and power.

Elsha shot to her feet.

“It missed!”

Kint was more subdued, smile widening.

The girl continued her slide, all the momentum she'd built up from those final strides now dragging her frictionless body across the barren landscape, directly into the unalterable path of Kalashoon Haze.

The girl raised a gentle arm. A sheen of glittering ice alighted at the edges of her fingertips as a paper-thin blade extended from her hand. She swept the blade across hulking challengers body, completing the scythe-like motion and finally skidding to an abrupt stop as her well ran dry.

Her lungs heaved, blood dripped from her broken body, a raggedy potato sack shirt clung to her sweaty chest.

The girl was exhausted. She'd spent every ounce of energy, both physical and magical.

But there was one thing left to do.

The Ice Walker stood up, raising her fist to the air.

The body of Kalashoon Haze fell dead behind her... split completely in half.

The crowd Exploded.