Then the announcer screamed my name. “Madi Mendoza and her stone bear Tejón versus Akira Zhao and his flame leopard Xiao Pang!”
Did he just say flame leopard? Crap. Too late to back down. I stumbled forward. My hands were cold with fear and my mouth had gone dry. Then Tejón nudged me with his massive body and I nearly lost my footing.
Stand tall, Madi. We will win if we fight together.
My laugh started soft and inaudible but quickly built into something greater. By the time I walked out, my feet crunching softly in the sand of the pit, I heard the sound of my own insanity finding new depths. I belly-laughed before a crowd and a startled bowman and his leopard.
As I came within range to extend my axe and bump it against Akira’s bow, I composed myself. This crowd of people wasn’t here to gawk at the girl in the wheelchair, they were here to see a warrior stand and fight. I would not disappoint them.
Then none of it mattered as the referee shouted “Fight!” behind me.
Tejón roared, his great form crouching low in anticipation.
I lifted both of my axes. There had been several Warrior builds and even one Barbarian just like me. I would not show this crowd another wild and reckless display of strength and folly.
Akira darted away and nocked an arrow. He released a probing shot at me and I managed to deflect it with one of my axes. The speed of the projectile was dizzying, though. There was no way I could keep many of those at bay.
At the same time the leopard rushed toward Tejón and the bear pulled back a paw to strike it. Instead of attacking, though, the leopard stopped a few feet away and did something that I should have been expecting. A stream of fire flew from its mouth and wrapped around Tejón’s chest and face.
Tejón winced in pain and recoiled, and the leopard circled, preparing to pounce and finish his kill with claws that looked very capable of doing just that. But Tejón roared in its face, seemingly unperturbed by the fiery attack. His roar was defiant and loud enough to scare the daylights out of half the people in the arena.
His fur had the same ashen tinge it had gotten in our previous wyvern battle.
A look of surprise passed across the Ranger’s eyes and the leopard rebounded as if struck, not wanting to tangle with Tejón’s might.
The Ranger launched another arrow at me, and this time I was forced to activate Dodge as I could barely see it streaking toward me. I remembered what Teegan had said about the delay that happens after the skill is used, but thankfully no other attack came.
I watched as the ranger pulled his bow and began a charged shot, this time aimed at Tejón. Though I had wanted to start the fight defensively, it was time to shift the momentum. I dropped my axes quickly and pulled the throwing axe that I’d strapped to my opposite hip. I gripped the axe in both hands and flung it overhead.
Akira saw my attack and abandoned his shot, jumping back instead. I bent to pick up my axes again as quickly as possible, but the damned leopard jumped at me, its claws flashing out, trailing streamers of fire.
As I stood up and braced for the attack, I felt the scorching touch of the leopard’s claws scrape across my greaves. The pain was only an afterthought, though. Only the fire itself had penetrated through, burning me with the heat produced in the attack. Yet even that, I remembered, had been reduced by Wardahl’s armor. I’d need to buy the bastard an ale for this.
Tejón had not been sitting idle, though, and when the leopard presented its flank to him, he sprang. For the second time, I saw the devastation of his Mauling Frenzy. His bulky form shot forward in a blur and he struck the flame leopard in its ribs.
The sound of bones snapping told me exactly how punishing the attack had been. In response, the poor cat rolled away and limped to find some degree of shelter behind its master.
Rage colored Akira’s features, and the Ranger activated some arcane ability. He suddenly lifted up off the ground, hovering in a pale blue light. I was worried that he’d target Tejón, but the man swiveled toward me and drew his bow.
A series of blue arrows formed along his bowstring, all made of the same glowing energy. As Akira drew back his mighty bow, a pair of seraphic wings formed in the air behind him.
I lifted my axes in front of me to block whatever might be coming, hoping the flat of their sides and my armor might be enough to survive.
The bow fired, launching a single blue arrow out toward me. It arced slower than any normal arrow. I thought of simply rolling out of the way, but even as I looked, the arrow split into a hundred fragments that fell down on me like deadly icicles.
A wave of cold and pain crashed into me, my axes deflecting many of the shards, the rest landing in the sand around me. At least a dozen pierced my body, finding gaps between my armor.
I cried out and watched in horror as another arrow left the bow, splitting like the first and falling toward me. I used Dodge this time, but still, several small wounds peppered my body.
Tejón cried out, a look of worry in his eyes. Hide behind me.
He made to lumber toward me and act as a shield, but I shouted to him to stand down. No, Tejón! I have an idea.
The third volley rose and fell toward me, and just before it connected, I used my newest skill, Palisade of Flame.
A blast of fire burst from my chest and became a sphere around me. It glowed an
