Finals of the Warrior Sets

[Envin]

~ The Tenth Trial of Single Combat | Finals of the Warrior Sets ~

Upon a plain of the Pelennor, south of the White City, a large space of grass had been plowed under into a rectangle of soft, brown sand. About this sand was set a fence of white wood, and flags and streamers ran from the poles of the fence. Pavilions and tents clustered round the field, and within the high pavilion at the center of the field's side sat the Lord Aragorn, here to moderate this the tenth event of the Trial of Lords. At his right hand sat his bride, the fair Arwen Evenstar, come hither to observe the match, to have a glass of wine with her husband, and to offer advice should the match prove difficult to judge. This is the tenth of the trials in single combat, and the third of the elimination rounds for the Warriors. It is to decide who will face the winner of the Mage Sets in the Trial of Lords, the Championship. The contestants of this event are to be the Lord Garland, stalwart master of melee - the Lord of Moria, and the noble artisan of combat, Lord of Lothlorien, Ashuron Leafbow, continuing his first-place seed in these Trials of Skill. Even now they enter the field at opposing ends, and now the crowds assembled cheer for them. Bowing to one another at distance, they make their way to the Pavilion of Lords to take the Cup of Tournament, and to pay homage to the Lord of the Trials ere the event begins. Aragorn rises, and all follow his lead as the contestants draw nigh. Aragorn proffers them the Cup, they drink, and bow to all assembled, and then walk to their places at opposite ends of the field.

Aragorn drops his hand and sits, and the Tenth Trial is begun.

[Faron]

Ashuron, freshly recovered from his wounds from the battle with Doren, or Ilius as he was called, drew his bow and aimed an arrow at Lord Garland, but did not fire. "I will offer you the chance to leave this battle before it starts," he said.

[Garland]

Garland entered the arena clad in much the same armor as his previous fights: Mail shirt, shoulder guards, mithril bracers on each forearm, shin guards etc. He had his broad sword and short sword at either side of his him and his bow and quiver on his back. He smiled at Ash's comment. "Now, what fun would that be?" He then took the bow from his back. "So, are we to have an arcery contest?"

[Faron]

"Good, I hate it when people take that offer," Ash said, dropping down and rolling to the left. He knelt down on one knee, aimed, and shot his arrow at Lord Garland's neck.

[Garland]

Garland followed Ash's roll with his bow and released an arrow just as he came to his knee to fire. Garland quickly spun to the right to avoid Ash's arrow while drawing another arrow from his stuffed quiver and let loose another arrow, aimed at Ash's chest.

[Faron]

The first arrow hit Ash in the leg, and after he had fired his own arrow, he jumped up and dodged Garland's second. Then in rapid fire, he fired one arrow at Garland, one to his left, and one to his right, just as he had done in the trials before.

[Garland]

Garland had seen Ash do this in previous fights and had put in much practice as to a counter to this move. As the arrow was shot at him Garland jumped quickly to the right, not taking his eye off Ash, or his bow. As the thrid arrow was released and flew towards him he turned himself sideways and arrow zipped by his chest his hand shot out with lightning speed and grabbed the arrow by its shaft. As he did this he instantly rolled again to the right and came up with Ash's own arrow nocked in his bow. He aimed and released, quite suprised that it had worked so nicely, as he was only able to accomplish it once of every three attempts in practice.

[Faron]

Ash leaped to the side, out of the path of the arrow. "No arrow I've made will ever harm me," he taunted, and began to run forward, placing another arrow on his bow as he ran and leaped left, and then right, and then right, and so on in an erratic pattern of leaping from side to side till he was near Garland, at which point he fired the arrow at much closer range.

[Garland]

Garland stood still watching as Ash jumped around, waiting for him to make his attack. He put away his bow and drew his broad sword in one hand and just as Ash came close to fire Garland leapt forward and knocked the bow with the bracer on his other arm, causing the shot to go whizzing past his head. He then swung his sword down hard at Ash, who was still holding his bow.

[Faron]

Ashuron blocked the strike with the mithril band on his left arm, and performed a spinning leap, ending with a kick from his leg towards Garland's side. This move gave him enough time to exchange his longbow for his golden broadsword.

[Garland]

Ash's kick was swift and caught Garland in his side, knocking him a step back. He turned and brought his sword before him as Ash drew his own blade. He smiled, "Now the real fun begins." He stepped forward towards Ash and swung his sword towards Ash. The swing wasn't excessivly hard, just a swing to get things started, and to see how Ash would counter.

[Faron]

Ash blocked the sword with his own, the middle of his blade meeting the middle of Garland's. He then decided to use up all of his old tricks before adding new ones, so he changed the angle of his sword to reflect the sun's rays straight into his opponent's eyes. Then he moved his sword quickly away and slashed at Garland's leg.

[Garland]

The glint of the blade caught Garland's eye for a moment, giving Ash's swing time to slice his leg a little before Garland brought his broad sword down on the golden blade. As his broad sword met Ash's blade he held it there to pin Ash's sword angled down for a moment and swiftly pulled his short sword with his left hand and stabbed towards Ash's heart, making sure to keep pressure on the golden blade with his broad sword the entire time.

[Faron]

Ash spun so Garland's short sword slashed his shoulder and dragged his own sword around the ground in a circle with him until it was free of his opponent's sword and then in a vertical arc over him to bring it down over Garland's head.

[Garland]

Garland raised his broad sword up as Ash spun and parried the slash at his head and . As their blades met again Garland stepped forward and raised his leg and thrust the bottom of his boot towards Ash's abdomen. After the kick Garland spun quickly twice to the right to get to Ash's back. He let his broad sword slide free of the parry and then swung again with his short sword at Ash's back, keeping his broad sword ready to parry again if need be.