Chapter One: The Death of so many, for the rise of just One

Blood; Arvak slid the long blade between his opponents battered plate armour and deep down into his victims flesh. As he fell limply to the floor, his face was vacant, trying to find a refuge in the shallow red eyes of Arvak. The man groaned and began to breath deeply as Arvak drew swiftly away; silently into the dank halls of the Obelisk; seeking his next prey. Arvaks eyes dimmed to a mellow orange glow, but still glinted in their sockets. He heard a distant cry from a chamber to his right. He darted down it, keeping well into the shadows. He heard a clatter as the blade of another Obelisk opponent fell to the cobbled stone floor. Ahead of him, two figures were locked in combat, focusing only on the movement of the other. Naturally, Arvak saw his chance, he eyes once again burning a bloody red. He quickly sheathed his long sword and exchanged it for his large rusty battleaxe. Taking hold of it he lunged forward and raised the axe, his body arching in an elegant but fatal motion. Then he drew his axe down on one off the two Obelisk opponents, tearing through the weak leather armour that clad his victim. The axe buried deep into his second kill, carving angry red lines in the man’s back. The man who was fighting Arvaks second victim staggered backwards, bewildered by what had happened in front of him. Sensing Arvaks next move, he ran. But this was no game of ‘cat & mouse.’ Arvak barely moved, but from his belt he produced a silver dagger; slender, and tapered very gradually to a point at the end. With a mere flick of his wrist he sent the dagger through the air, into the fleeing mans shoulder, just inside the join where his plate armour was separated. It was only a throwing knife; but it was enough. Arvaks third victim stopped; crippled and fell in a heap on the floor. Arvaks eyes glinted a bloody purple. He snatched up the knife from the man’s shoulder and replaced it in his belt; not bothering to wipe the blood from it. Then, in the distance, the faint sound of a war drum pounded, marking the end of the Obelisk Competition.

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Arvak made his way slowly to the exit of the Obelisk Catacombs; an intricate maze with chamber and passageways underground, linked up to form a foreboding blood bowl.