The smells and sounds of The Arena were as familiar to Des as those of the common room upstairs at the Inn. The moment she had read the notice of the special event coming up on April 12th from 9-11pm she knew she had to meet the person who would be calling the Duels.
That was what had her heading down the basement stairs on this particular night. The Cowgirl didn?t know anything about him except his name, he was male, and called Duels on Thursdays. She decided not to bother asking around about him when the Arena was just a few stairs away and she could even take a mug of coffee with her.
The scene she walked in on was nothing new. There was a couple lovingly spending time together as they waited for the Caller to arrive for the evening?s dueling. The man she knew from way back, G. The woman, Kaja, looked familiar but less so.
Des was about to make her way to a seat with a good view of the magically warded dueling rings when it happened. Poof! A little blue Imp arrived on the scene announcing ?the P?Imp? was here. The man tried to thrust the woman to safety behind him but the Imp had already seen her and grabbed her around the neck and began wailing about her belonging to him.
The next several minutes passed with her watching in fascinated horror as things escalated from the poor woman being mauled by the Imp as the man futilely attempted to dislodge the small blue creature from around his girlfriend?s person while hurling quite creative insults at the creature. All the while the creature repeatedly screamed ?minemineminemine? at him while biting, kicking, and various other personal attacks were delivered to each other by the males.
It became apparent that this wasn?t going to end any time soon without some kind of outside intervention even though she wanted no part of this brawl. Des quickly darted into the midst of the ear-pulling, biting, kicking, screaming, molesting, cursing, writhing mess to grab Kaja?s arm and, while Imp was distracted by G, pulled her free.
?Could this really be the Imp that was coming up to the Inn to call the Dueling for them while she was tending bar in a couple of weeks?? Des asked herself. There were so many beautiful women in the Inn and if Imp behaved this way with Kaja what was going to happen upstairs.
Before she had time to dwell on that huge arms beckoned and she was running straight into them full speed. Come to find out the man even still had the hat of hers he had won as a prize in a tournament a few years ago.
Des was smiling, laughing and visiting with Harris, she hadn?t realized how much she had missed seeing him around, right up until he bounced a coconut off Imp?s head while Imp was calling a duel. That was when the trouble started.
She tried reminding him that she had taught him better than that but he wasn?t listening so she hauled off and hit him, as usual. Mistake! She ended up with a bruised fist and he, being him, asked her to marry him. She could have screamed but instead politely said no.
Harris simply picked her up, threw her over his shoulder, and asked if she would like to be kept in the basement or attic. The petite cowgirl was horrified to find out the husband of none other than Stick was attempting to abduct her publicly. Stick, she of pool cue fame!
She yelled for help repeatedly but no one came, not even the woman she had saved from the Imp. Then Harris began to whirl and kept on whirling. The moment of true complete and utter disgrace approached and still the crazy brawler would not stop whirling. Her dinner made an untimely reappearance on his person which quickly aborted the kidnapping attempt.
There was more to come though, she wasn?t smart enough to retreat back up the stairs to safety in the common room. Des decided after four years away she would take up the sword again. Only one problem... She had never dueled with a sword; she always used her boot knife.
There she was over where they kept all the practice blades trying to remember everything she had ever been taught about picking out a blade and failing miserably. Finally she gave up and just grabbed any old thing so she would have something to use when someone agreed to duel against her.
Her heart was pounding, palms were sweating, and her knees were beginning to knock so she walked back towards Imp. That was when she heard Imp cheerfully yelling to the crowd. ?Somebody come and beat up Tera!?. If looks could have killed there would have been one less Imp in the world.
Kaja volunteered. If hadn?t been for the fact that Des had stood toe-to-toe and stared down the much larger Harris earlier that very night, and countless men and women before, she might have declined had she any idea just who Kaja was. Being the fearless fighter she is though she stepped into the ring, gave her bows, and wished luck then began.
The conclusion of her first Duel in four years had her marveling at Kaja?s speed and agility. That club was a weapon to be respected, as testified by the slight ringing in her ears and a bruise on her temple. Thank goodness the Warlady had taken it easy on her for the most part! Des had lasted 9 rounds out of a possible 15 against her rather than just 5 and she was proud of that. She had even gotten a couple of points on the board during the duel.
She was battered and rumpled when the stairs finally got the use they should have way back when the Imp first made his appearance. Her shirt had stains of questionable origins, the jeans she wore were filthy and her hat was still somewhere in the Arena where it had taken flight during the mad whirling incident. Whatever style her hair might have once had was long gone and it was tumbling in a wild riot wherever it pleased.
The bar had been her destination as she reached the common room. To her happy surprise the Vixen had been there. Soon she was settled in telling her tale of woe to her new best friend when out of the blue HE walked in the door.
Before she could blink the dashing French Pirate was standing next to her. Des leaned up against the bar in an effort to hide the stains on her shirt and prayed the overhang of the bar would hide the filth that her jeans had swept up off the Arena floor. She ran a hand through her hair trying to tidy it as best she could while smiling to Jean. That was his name, Jean de La Fontaine.
He didn?t seem to care that she looked like something that had been drug through a knot-hole backwards. He was charming and polite. She could sit for hours and just look at him. He wouldn?t even have to open his mouth and she?d be happy. She adored his accent and best of all he didn?t care that she came with a boy toy and one grouchy, possessive old dragon.
Right then and there she made up her mind she was keeping this one come hell and high water he belonged to her and no one was taking him from her.
That was what had her heading down the basement stairs on this particular night. The Cowgirl didn?t know anything about him except his name, he was male, and called Duels on Thursdays. She decided not to bother asking around about him when the Arena was just a few stairs away and she could even take a mug of coffee with her.
The scene she walked in on was nothing new. There was a couple lovingly spending time together as they waited for the Caller to arrive for the evening?s dueling. The man she knew from way back, G. The woman, Kaja, looked familiar but less so.
Des was about to make her way to a seat with a good view of the magically warded dueling rings when it happened. Poof! A little blue Imp arrived on the scene announcing ?the P?Imp? was here. The man tried to thrust the woman to safety behind him but the Imp had already seen her and grabbed her around the neck and began wailing about her belonging to him.
The next several minutes passed with her watching in fascinated horror as things escalated from the poor woman being mauled by the Imp as the man futilely attempted to dislodge the small blue creature from around his girlfriend?s person while hurling quite creative insults at the creature. All the while the creature repeatedly screamed ?minemineminemine? at him while biting, kicking, and various other personal attacks were delivered to each other by the males.
It became apparent that this wasn?t going to end any time soon without some kind of outside intervention even though she wanted no part of this brawl. Des quickly darted into the midst of the ear-pulling, biting, kicking, screaming, molesting, cursing, writhing mess to grab Kaja?s arm and, while Imp was distracted by G, pulled her free.
?Could this really be the Imp that was coming up to the Inn to call the Dueling for them while she was tending bar in a couple of weeks?? Des asked herself. There were so many beautiful women in the Inn and if Imp behaved this way with Kaja what was going to happen upstairs.
Before she had time to dwell on that huge arms beckoned and she was running straight into them full speed. Come to find out the man even still had the hat of hers he had won as a prize in a tournament a few years ago.
Des was smiling, laughing and visiting with Harris, she hadn?t realized how much she had missed seeing him around, right up until he bounced a coconut off Imp?s head while Imp was calling a duel. That was when the trouble started.
She tried reminding him that she had taught him better than that but he wasn?t listening so she hauled off and hit him, as usual. Mistake! She ended up with a bruised fist and he, being him, asked her to marry him. She could have screamed but instead politely said no.
Harris simply picked her up, threw her over his shoulder, and asked if she would like to be kept in the basement or attic. The petite cowgirl was horrified to find out the husband of none other than Stick was attempting to abduct her publicly. Stick, she of pool cue fame!
She yelled for help repeatedly but no one came, not even the woman she had saved from the Imp. Then Harris began to whirl and kept on whirling. The moment of true complete and utter disgrace approached and still the crazy brawler would not stop whirling. Her dinner made an untimely reappearance on his person which quickly aborted the kidnapping attempt.
There was more to come though, she wasn?t smart enough to retreat back up the stairs to safety in the common room. Des decided after four years away she would take up the sword again. Only one problem... She had never dueled with a sword; she always used her boot knife.
There she was over where they kept all the practice blades trying to remember everything she had ever been taught about picking out a blade and failing miserably. Finally she gave up and just grabbed any old thing so she would have something to use when someone agreed to duel against her.
Her heart was pounding, palms were sweating, and her knees were beginning to knock so she walked back towards Imp. That was when she heard Imp cheerfully yelling to the crowd. ?Somebody come and beat up Tera!?. If looks could have killed there would have been one less Imp in the world.
Kaja volunteered. If hadn?t been for the fact that Des had stood toe-to-toe and stared down the much larger Harris earlier that very night, and countless men and women before, she might have declined had she any idea just who Kaja was. Being the fearless fighter she is though she stepped into the ring, gave her bows, and wished luck then began.
The conclusion of her first Duel in four years had her marveling at Kaja?s speed and agility. That club was a weapon to be respected, as testified by the slight ringing in her ears and a bruise on her temple. Thank goodness the Warlady had taken it easy on her for the most part! Des had lasted 9 rounds out of a possible 15 against her rather than just 5 and she was proud of that. She had even gotten a couple of points on the board during the duel.
She was battered and rumpled when the stairs finally got the use they should have way back when the Imp first made his appearance. Her shirt had stains of questionable origins, the jeans she wore were filthy and her hat was still somewhere in the Arena where it had taken flight during the mad whirling incident. Whatever style her hair might have once had was long gone and it was tumbling in a wild riot wherever it pleased.
The bar had been her destination as she reached the common room. To her happy surprise the Vixen had been there. Soon she was settled in telling her tale of woe to her new best friend when out of the blue HE walked in the door.
Before she could blink the dashing French Pirate was standing next to her. Des leaned up against the bar in an effort to hide the stains on her shirt and prayed the overhang of the bar would hide the filth that her jeans had swept up off the Arena floor. She ran a hand through her hair trying to tidy it as best she could while smiling to Jean. That was his name, Jean de La Fontaine.
He didn?t seem to care that she looked like something that had been drug through a knot-hole backwards. He was charming and polite. She could sit for hours and just look at him. He wouldn?t even have to open his mouth and she?d be happy. She adored his accent and best of all he didn?t care that she came with a boy toy and one grouchy, possessive old dragon.
Right then and there she made up her mind she was keeping this one come hell and high water he belonged to her and no one was taking him from her.