Chapter 0 - Personal Training

Agliophilia was even more crowded than usual, and that was saying something. Eleanor Bear found herself being buffeted one way and another, along with every other fighter and spectator in the arena. There had to be someone here to help her let off some steam. Between not seeing Kyran for a few months (due to his travels) and getting nothing but easy jobs all the time, she really needed to punch someone in the face.

"Hey! Eleanor!" a cheery voice sounded from behind her. The bear turned around to see...nothing? A poke at her belly made her look down and realize the source of the voice: Trixday Arkan.

"Oh. Hi Trix." Ellie smiled. "You really need some high heeled boots, you know that?"

"Funnily enough, I do know that. Too bad three-toed feet don't fit into them." the goblin answered, returning the smile.

Eleanor replied. "Custom tailored shoes do exist, you know. They're not as expensive as you'd think, either." 

"I'd imagine they're still outside my price range. I'm not a rich woman." Trix laughed. "But, seeing as we're both here, how about a little sparring match?" she offered. She'd always been one to skip to the point.

"What, the winner gets Kyran?" Eleanor joked.

"Oh, no thank you." The goblin held her hands up in a gesture of surrender. "You have any idea how hard it is for a goblin to take a knot that big? That's all you, honey."

Ellie chuckled in answer. "Well, you glance over at him often enough."

"Well, yeah." Trix conceded. "With that tongue of his, I envy you."

"Hmm... How about you win our little match, and I ask him to eat you out?" Ellie offered the goblin. She noticed Trix's eyes light up a little.

The goblin asked tentatively "You really mean it?" 

"If it gives you a reason to go all out, sure." The bear shrugged.

"Oh, it is on!" Trix told her, jumping into the air with eagerness. The goblin grabbed the bear's hand and pulled her along with surprising strength. The last time Ellie had seen her this impatient about something, they were about to lay siege to a huge slaver camp. 

One trip to the booking official later and the two ladies were in the arena. The crowdstands were packed, and everyone was cheering for their favourite. The booker had told them this would be the first 50/50 bet they'd had in months. Eleanor secretly hoped that more had placed their bets on her.

The familiar booming voice of the announcer sounded: "Ladies and gentlemen! We have a special match for you today! Two veterans of the arena! First, the storm-calling, slaver-hating goblin herself: Trixday Arkan!" A round of applause sounded all around the arena as Trix bowed. "Second, the well-known, well-loved power queen: Eleanor Bear!" Another round of applause bounced around the place as Ellie gave a short salute. "Now, let us not tarry longer! The match begins!"

Ellie fired a quick blast of frost in front of her to block Trix's lightning bolt. The goblin always opened with that attack. She created a huge shield of ice and ran directly at her opponent. She wouldn't win a fight of range with Trix-she had to get close. The goblin's streams of lightning didn't even faze the barrier as the bear got closer.

Trix jumped sideways and threw an orb at the bear's feet. Ellie instinctively jumped back as the orb was struck by a bolt of lightning. She was still close enough that the shield shattered, though. So Trix had learned some new spells; good for her. Ellie had added a few moves to her own arsenal.

Ellie created an icicle in her hand and shot it at the goblin, but Trix had already projected a lightning shield around herself, making her immune to projectile attacks. Eleanor tried to close the distance between the two but Trixday was agile enough to stay away while the shield was up-it didn't help against melee, after all.

Trix suddenly channeled the shield's energy into her hand. What was she thinking? They both knew Ellie could take a lightning-reinforced punch. What's more, Trix wasn't attacking. Ellie didn't realize the goblin's plan until it was too late. Trix slammed her fist into the ground and storm energy erupted in a huge pillar that Ellie only just avoided by rapidly withdrawing.

As the bear backed away, stunned by the aftershock of the move, Trix blasted Ellie directly with a shot of lightning that coursed through the bear. Eleanor felt herself lose balance and stumbled to correct her footing. Trix didn't hesitate: she dived footfirst into Ellie's leg. The bear was forced to one knee. Trix seized her slight chance and lay a clenched fist into the bear's face before throwing another orb at her feet. This time, Ellie couldn't get out of the way, and the lightning struck her directly: searing pain shot through her body and she fell backwards to the ground.

"Stupid." Ellie thought. How did she not see that coming? Maybe she was losing her touch.

She wasn't about to let one idiotic mistake lose her the fight, though. She slowly got to her feet, blocking another bolt of lightning from the goblin. She was still a little woozy from the assault, but shook her head and slapped herself around the face with each hand. She noticed the arena had gone silent and gave a quick thumbs up to the crowd. The deafening cheer the simple action received made Eleanor's heart rise.

Trix thrust a hand skywards and the crash of thunder above Eleanor told her what was about to happen. Thinking quickly, Ellie encased herself in a dome of ice, sealing the top just as the lightning struck it. The lightning relentlessly barraged the dome, but it simply didn't break. Trix couldn't keep the spell up forever, and eventually the lightning stopped.

A second later, the dome of ice burst as Eleanor leapt at Trix, an ice sword in each hand. The goblin was ready though: she leapt backwards and raised her open hand into the air. A blast of lightning struck Trix and her floating body surged with storm energy. "Oh, crap." Eleanor realized her opponent had just cast Stormsong, and dived sideways to avoid the streams of lightning that crackled towards her from Trix's hands. Tough as she was, she didn't stand an ice-cube-in-Hell's chance against Stormsong.

Putting more distance between the two of them, she channeled her magic into her arm and barged the very air. The magic burst from her shoulder and a towering sheet of ice took shape. The lightning couldn't burst through the ice, but Trix was already starting to float around it, forcing Eleanor to retreat. But the bear had been counting seconds in her head; something she knew her opponent hadn't been doing.

The Stormsong jumped high in the air and raised both fists up, dropping down to earth at an insanely fast speed. But it wasn't fast enough. Barely a second before she hit the ground, the lightning left Trix's body and she was left a mere goblin again. She stumbled upon landing and barely regained her footing. Eleanor was already rushing towards Trixday, a warhammer of ice in hand.

Before Trixday could do anything, Ellie swung the warhammer upwards and the goblin was sent into the air. She didn't stay there long though-the bear jumped from a quickly-crafted pillar of ice, grabbed the goblin's leg and began smashing her into the ground from one side to the other. One, two, three, four, five times. After a brief pause to correct her position, the bear swung Trix around her head while firing a beam of frost at the ground behind her before turning around and bringing her opponent into the block of ice she'd created, smashing it to bits.

The bear backed up and raised her fists again, but she knew the fight was over. Trix made a clear effort to stand up, but her knees buckled and she fell. Eleanor raised a fist in victory as the announcer confirmed the win. "Ladies and gentlemen, your winner: Eleanor Bear!"

Some minutes later in the bar section, Eleanor and Trix were sat opposite each other, discussing tactics-namely, why Trix needed to count how long she had left to use Stormsong. Almost nobody disturbed them, other than to offer to buy both a drink for such a spectacular showing. They both declined each time-they had their own drinks (Ellie a strong beer and Trix a regeneration potion mixed with blackberry juice). However, a young blonde woman carrying a large leather messenger bag forced her way through the crowd. She lightly tapped the bear on the shoulder.

"Eleanor Bear?" The courier asked.

"Yes?" she answered, turning in her seat.

"I come with a message from Wakeeda in Lapvale." Ellie almost rolled her eyes at the young blonde's words. "You are to see her immediately. Kyran Wolf is in danger."

The bear's eyes widened and she stood up. "What? What kind of danger?"

"She didn't say. She said that if I told you, you'd think it was a sick joke." The messenger replied, cowering slightly under Ellie's height.

"I'm coming with." the goblin told Ellie, getting up too. The bear turned around but her speech was preempted. "Don't even try to argue. He may be your lover but he's my best friend. I have an obligation to help him as much as you."

Ellie conceded. Arguing would just waste time. "Fine. But if you can't keep up, I'll leave you behind. If he is in danger, I can't waste time carrying you around, as light as you are."

"Fair enough. Now let's go." Trix replied, downing the rest of her drink in one.

The two women briskly walked out of the arena and towards the southwest, hoping that this was just a sick joke anyway. They knew the truth, though; Wakeeda wasn't the type to waste time. Something must be very wrong. Theories buzzed around both women's minds, but they couldn't be certain if any were true.

They were certain of one thing, though: Gods help the poor soul who dared to lay a hand on Kyran Wolf.