Brutes Clan:2

There was meant to be a second round, but it was clear that many of the Haedians were tired and had other things to do. The trio of empyrians had won round one. Aule and Griffith were happy to end it there, but Oeric was clearly still excited about the contest. The leader of the Brutes clan approached them offering a choice; call it there or one more round against her. 

“Three against one, it’ll be easy!” Oeric tried to convince his friends. Aule and Griffith looked between one another, both very undecided. 

“We can vote.” Aule spoke evenly.

Oeric growled out a refusal, “We all know how that will go.”

Griffith shifted around clearly displaying his discomfort. Aule watched the two but didn’t offer another option. While the trio was discussing it, Zarod sat back and patiently waited. 

Oeric sighed and then added, “We did it your way with the Forgotten clan. Now let’s do it mine.”

There was a moment of silence as the three stared at each other, but ultimately they all agreed. They would go against the leader, Zarod. She gave them a big smile, clapped her hands together and said, “Great!”

It only took a few moments for the four tyrians to settle into their positions. Zarod positioned her pile in a corner so there were limited points her opponents could access the gold rocks. While Oeric, Griffith, and Aule positioned themselves evenly in front of her. At a glance, from any of the onlookers or passers-by, it looked like Zarod had a clear advantage. 

“We’ll begin when one of you moves out of position.” Zarod spoke, “and we’ll only go for a minute. Whoever has the most at the end, wins.”

Griffith and Aule nodded, and Oeric smiled, “sounds easy enough.”

Zarod smiled back as Oeric launched himself at her. She was more surprised by the speed he moved with than she was that he tried to strike immediately. After watching the three in round one, Zarod felt she knew their tactics. 

Oeric moved faster than most could see. He zigged and zagged before vanishing out of her sight as he dove into the crevices in the wall behind her. Zarod stood strong, trying not to fall for the trick to turn around leaving Aule and Griffith out of view. Aule moved much slower, but his size made up for it.

Aule walked straight up to Zarod and used one of his long arms to knock some rocks out from behind her. The goal was to have her focus on one limb while the other reached from the other side and grab some rocks. It played out in Aule’s head very well, but in practice, not so much. Aule didn’t take into consideration her heavy tail, or her feet that she could control like another set of hands. 

Zarod had managed to hold down one arm with her forearms and the other with her hind legs. However, while this all played out she lost track of Griffith. He had moved up with Aule and moving faster than she expected, dodged around the tangled limbs to scoop some rocks. With a few rocks in his hands he shuffled back to where his team started as Zarod and Aule detangled themselves.

Griffith placed the rocks on the ground, proud of himself and their team work. But this moment Griffith was having, gave enough time for Zarod to realize she hadn’t seen Oeric in a while. She stood still and flicked her ears one way and then another trying to pick up any noise that might be from the orange empyrian. 

Oeric had been watching from the deep crack in the walls behind Zarod. When there were big noises he would shift lower down the wall. His plan was simply to sneak up behind Zarod. She was confident that the wall would protect her from behind so Oeric thought she wouldn’t be paying attention. 

Griffith and Aule caught sight of a bit for Oeric’s orange fur peeking out of a crack in the wall near the pile of rocks. He was almost close enough to reach out and grab the rocks. Moments past and nobody moved.

Zarod, growing bored and impatient, reminded the group of the time limit, “There isn’t much time left.”

Griffith and Aule exchanged looks and started to approach the confident haedian. They’re goal this time was to distract her and Oeric watched them feeling he could easily read what they had in mind. So he waited and luckily he didn’t have to wait long. Griffith and Aule took turns distracting her with different methods. 

Oeric shifted down until he was on the ground, there he easily filled his arms with gold rocks. He was feeling so confident that he stopped keeping an eye on the haedian and his friends. It wasn’t until he felt Zarod’s heavy tail knock him into the wall that he realized his mistake. Zarod quickly turned and ripped the rocks from Oeric grasp. 

He growled with the loss of his prize and tried to strike out at her. 

“Tsk, tsk,” Zarod clicked her tongue at him, “time’s up.”

Oeric got up and collected himself, “Let’s go again.”

Zarod looked over her shoulder to see Griffith and Aule laying in a heap on the ground. Oeric followed her gaze and rolled his eyes.

“Griffith, Aule, get up!” Oeric called to them. He heard groans in return, but followed up with, “Oh quit being so dramatic.”

Griffith and Aule stood up and glared at Oeric, “We’re done.”

“Oh come on!” Oeric shouted, “one more go!”

The pair sighed and eventually agreed. Zarod nodded and gave them all a smile, “alright.”

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