Duel:Donatien V Kang, Match 5 of the 2015 Frostmaw Tournament

Duelists: Donatien vs. Kang. 
Duel: Traditional 3 posts each, with final defense. 15 minute posting limit. 
Stakes: Autohit post. Advancement in the Titans of Winter Tournament 2015. 
Judges: Hildegarde, Daisy & Leone

Inside the Meteorite

Hildegarde announced, “Welcome to the fifth match of the annual Titans of Winter tournament! Today we find ourselves Inside the Meteorite, within the Realm of Chaos below the Xalious Mountains. A land of unforgiving heat, darkness and eerie strikes of lightning, the Realm of Chaos is not for the faint-hearted. The flames of Chaos have a mind of their own, often taking the shapes of man and beast alike. Not only will you have to avoid your opponent, you will have to avoid these sentient flames if you wish to emerge victorious. Fight well, warriors! Best of luck to Donatien and Kang… let the battle begin!”

Donatien stands opposite of Kang, the knight lofts a brow and a simple smile crosses his lips as he takes in the surroundings. A string of words run from his lips as the words drift from his mouth a cloud of smoke begins to rise and swarm around Donatien engulfing him in gray, the smoke continues to rise higher and higher. The spell is interrupted by an eerie neigh that echos in the meteorite. The knight races forward on top a steed. The black horse with fire and his eyes, and flames that dance across his back in place of his mane. In his hand, a sword made of long black steel, aimed downward in a thrusting motion. He races forward charging toward the preklek with intentions to run the blade through his opponent.

Kang sniffs the sulphurous stench of the tempestuous nothingness, getting a vague feel for the fiery chaotic atmosphere. The solitary preklek pushes his hood back, allowing him to see his dark opponent as well as the reverse. Long sleeves cover muscled arms that end with scaled hands. In his left, he bears a saber. His right hand slides gently across a grainy knotted staff crafted through shadow-gnome trickery and bit of ingenuity. A quick succession of taps from his middle finger to the staff cause it to begin shifting. Soon, a second saber appears in its place. He darts glances between his mounted opponent and the flame-creatures. Dozens of malevolent eyes meet his gaze. The chaos beings circle around to flank the combatants, steadily moving closer. Kang breathes deep, holding it for a moment. Just a moment, and he gains complete control of his body. He rushes towards the charging knight, much faster than one would think possible and mere milliseconds before collision he spins and bends back, deflecting the blade with saber and countering with the other. All the while breathing steadily and keeping tabs on the restless natives.

Donatien continues through with his charge, the second saber striking into the horse causing the eerie and echoing neigh to fill the area. The knight digs his heels into his battle ready steed he rides out to the outer circle and rides along the edge running his sword along the fire catching his sword ablaze before turning and once again racing towards the Preklek. He raises the flameing blade up above his head as he lets out a battle cry digging his heels in deeper to bring the pace of knight and steed up higher. He races toward Kang, as he passes the man he swings the sword down sending the thin edge of his burning weapon down to meet Kang's back.

Kang continues twisting, swinging his blades in a frenzied dance to repel the sentient flame creatures. Though fast and accurate, even a Krekai dedicate cannot halt every foe by himself. The mounted knight's strike catches Kang across the shoulder, but not sinking in thanks to a last minute swivel. With a hissed curse, the preklek drops the weapon. His remaining weapon is now swung in a figure eight, decapitating one flame man. Not that it stops it in the least. He yells at his dropped weapon. "Can't you do something helpful?" If it were the true saber, this would be a silly thing to do. Fortunately, the weapon dropped is the doppelganger staff, and it just happens to have an idea. It shifts and swirls, kicking up shadows and chasing back several chipmunk-shaped embers. When it is finished, a fiery tiger sits there and quickly and efficiently routs the flame creatures. Kang focuses once more on Donatien, and by now, the preklek has noticed something handy about the local physics. He throws his blade straight down, spinning end over end into the darkness, only to come spearing straight down to impale the mounted knight, or the mount itself should he dodge.

Donatien was focused on the mount more so then the blade and was caught unaware when the saber found a home piercing just on the inside where his shoulder armor gaps to allow movement for his helm. A growl escapes from his form hinting to his true form. Rather then risking movement, he wraps his hand around the grip of the saber and pulls it out. A hiss escapes his lips but now with two swords he stands and places his foot on the saddle of his horse, then slowly places the other and stands up on the moving mount “Amativ” the nightmare picks up speed as the knight draws closer he leaps forward off the mount, using himself as a torpedo and lifts the blades over his head to add a point to his flying charge.

Kang 's thoughts had been racing from the moment the blade had left his hand. He was effectively weaponless now. Not even missing a beat, he kneels and slams his hand to the ground to make a loud whap. The sonic command causes the flames to rise and collapse inward over the two dueling death knights, one who had arrived without a mount. Time seems to slow as the mounted knight dives toward Kang and the flames avalanche inward over them both. The staff seperates and swirls at remarkable speed to cover the preklek in an iron dome, as an afterthought it grows four-foot spikes. Donatiens dive toward Kang now looks bad, and the flood of flame looks even worse.

Winner: Kang

Kang huddles under the very hot dome, waiting for it to cool. After a minute or two he knocks on the side and it shifts back into a staff, albeit a little singed. He peers around the area and sees his opponent, also a little singed, but not as badly as he'd expected. Perhaps this is what the stygian unicorn had sensed when she refused to enter this area. Nevertheless, Kang was still in his battlemind. Before he let's it go he darts up in a blur and thwacks the man on the head knocking him unconscious. The preklek holds the staff up to eye level. "Extra biscuits tonight, you've earned it." Without further thought, he walks away, none too slowly.