Katerin was content with her quiet life of studying the arcane, and wanted for nothing in her life. She had friends, family, and plenty to do.
But life has a way of changing people--a way of pushing them to do things far outside their comfort and ex...
He had missed a total of two shots. One she had blocked with a spell, and the other had not been intended for her, though the hole in her hand surely made her question that decision. None of his shots had been deadly, yet, but it was easily possible he was only toying with her. She retrieved her staff, rolling around a broken half wall of stone, to keep sight of him, and keep cover.
Now all she had to do was get close.
He fired, and the bolt grazed her shoulder before her spell even took effect, but then she stood beside him.
Her staff hit his arm hard enough to force him to lose the bolt he was dropping into place. He grinned, and stepped off the side of the twenty-foot tall pillar without any hesitation, grasping for his cloak. The magic activated and deposited him safely in the sand—far from the pillar, near the other side of the arena. She watched as he fell and disappeared and cursed at him. People were cheering and screaming, but she could barely hear it. She scanned the sand for him. Slippery son of a—A bolt sliced into her arm, another slicing across her cheek. He was running for cover on the other side of the arena.
She was there in another moment, throwing an orb of ice towards him. Hoping to slow him down.
It hit but did not seem to be nearly effective as she needed it to be. He was going to cut her to pieces at this rate.
She dove behind a short wall as three bolts arced for her. She could almost tell exactly what he had been aiming at.
She prepared her spell, with a laugh she rose from her cover. "I need a second!" she said, releasing her spell.
A loud popping sound wrung in her ears. Where Agrata had stood a second before, was now a tiny, white kitten. With disheveled hair and distinctly angry eyes. Roaring laughter came from the crowd and Katerin held her knees, casting a spell of healing. Forcing as much air as she could into her lungs.
Her eyes widened as the tiny kitten charged forward. It bounded off her leg and slapped her across the face, leaving a perfect set of cat claw marks from the edge of her eyebrow to her jaw. She yelped and batted him away. Cursing herself as she realized she ruined her own spell.
Agrata gave her a smug laugh, as he leapt gracefully back to his feet, looking smug. "Don't you know I never miss?"
They stood about ten feet apart, both looking worse for wear. She was getting desperate—she knew if she moved he would riddle her full of holes and that would be it, but if she did not, he would riddle her full of holes. She heard the click of his hand crossbow and shook her head, pointing a finger at the sand between them. Making the decision in an instant. An explosion rocked the Colosseum, and the fire was all she could see. It was like looking through a thin satin curtain. She wrapped the spell around herself, and almost felt bad for ending the fight this way.
Fire and force wrapped Agrata up, and threw him several feet back, heating his lungs and stealing his breath as he faded to unconsciousness. His last thoughts were of shock and surprise.
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