The Blood Hound
In the corner of nowhere, somewhere within the Tingel Arm…
Crowds had gathered in the arena in lieu of the fight that was about to commence. Somehow, millions had known how to find this place, this unmarked space station that seemed to be moving swiftly across the galaxy skies. Today, it had come to a stop in this little random part of the Tingel Arm, not near anything important, and yet always inviting, inviting to come and wager on who. Will. Win.
A gigantic hexagon lay in the center of the arena, split into six triangles. For the longest time, it appeared as though nothing would happen. There was no announcer, no one screaming over any mic, just the smell of very cheap junk food fried in questionable oil that seemed to take the place over.
And then the lights went out.
In the darkness, shuffling could be heard, and when the lights went up again half a minute later, the hexagon in the center of the arena had changed - its western triangles now filled with LAVA, over which hung a few flimsy-looking metallic bridges that looked as though they could withstand the heat at least for some time.
The eastern triangles had changed as well, now offering the terrain of snowy hills. The snow was made of special stuff, nothing that falls out of the sky but instead something so cold and deadly that it could burn one's skin if touched without protective gear. This was a snowy area that was meant to kill people, not let them thrive.
In the middle of both of these halves stood Scherezade deWinter, a huge smile on her face, a microphone in her hands.
"People of the Galaxy!" she announced, "Welcome to the Iron Tournament! Today, we have two fighters here -
Isar
and
Avernus
. Two will enter. One leaves. FIGHT!"And with that, she disappeared from the stage. The doors connecting the dressing rooms to the arena opened. Who would show up first? Who would take first blood? Who might die?
