The area around the fairy queen's throne rapidly emptied, leaving a wide open space for the duel to take place in. The only ones who remained in the area were the queen and Ammeline, glaring at each other a Ross the combined throne room/courtyard.

"Well!?" Ammeline demanded. "Bring out your champion!"

"Hwe certainly will!" The fairy queen glared back, clapping her hands. "Bring out the royal champion!"

"Bring out the royal champion!" A voice echoed.

"Bring out the royal champion!"

"Bring out the royal champion!"

"Bring out the royal..."

On and on, the voices echoed through the forest, fading into silence. A silence that stretched on, broken only by the soft rustling of wind in the leaves. Finally, an undulating shadow began to unfold behind the queen's throne. A shape slinked out of the darkness and into the light. Ammeline stared at her opponent in horror.

"What is...but that's...I don't....WHAT!?"

"HAHA!" The fairy queen laughed. "Regretting your foolish arrogance now!? Hwe will watch our champion's blades cut you to ribbons!"

"Aye yer majesty," the champion said in a rolling brogue. "We'll not have ta worry, I'll clear this up in a shake and a jiff."

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Then he doffer his hat to the queen with one of his arms.

With one of his eight arms.

Because the champion was a giant octopus.

The champion was an octopus the size of a sofa wearing a heavily plumed musketeers hat.

"This is insane!" Ammeline said. "For that matter it's unthematic! Aren't you forest faries!?"

"Me family is third generation immigrant," the octopus explained. "Very established family."

"Oh wonderful!" Ammeline drew her sword. "Whatever! I'll win anyway! Ahahahahahaha!"

"Yer confident," the octopus said, drawing eight rapiers from the ring of sheaths around it's body. "I'll give ye points for spirit. But yer not taking me queen's throne while Kalbert Abernathy has ought to say about it! Defend yerself!"

He spun towards her, blades flashing, and she me his strokes with hers, batting the blades out of the way. But they just kept coming. He twirled along the ground, bringing fresh blades towards her in rapid succession. Ammeline hissed and spun under the whirling blades, stabbing for the body of the octopus, but he hurriedly backed away.

"I think I see the flaw in your fighting style!" Ammeline said.

Ammeline dashed forwards, pressing the attack. The octopus backed up, blocking Ammeline's swings.

"It only LOOKS like you've got a huge advantage in swords. But you need your tentacles to move around. And even if you were sitting still, you can't bring all of them to attack at once without getting in each other's way! So really it's only like fighting two or three extra people. Easier, because you all have to come from the same direction. If I keep you on the defensive you can barely even do that!"

"Not bad!" Kalbert called back, fending off he blows. "Most people I fight don't figure that out."

"Ahahahahahaha! That's because you overwhelm them right away with that spin move, isn't it?"

"Yer not wrong!" The octopus laughed. "But I got other tricks!"

His tentacles flickered, and suddenly he was high in the air, a whirling mass of blades plummeting towards her from the sky.