Warrior Bracket - Match Two: Aegon VS. Roxanne

Aegon entered the arena. He had equipment provided by the arena for this battle. Over some simple white robes a full plate cuirass protected his chest, shoulders and upper legs. A bastard sword, simple and sturdy hung in its sheath on his belt and a jambiya dagger was stashed in the center of his back. He would see his opponent before choosing his weapon and strategy to face them

With his opponent's arrival he began walking to the center of the ring. The crowd was starting to get to him. He was ready for the fight. He would bow when he reached the center, his arms out to the sides as he did so. Upon straightening he would lock eyes with the woman he would fight, his dark blue eyes trying to get a read on her.

The referee for this match is a perky young woman with a head of excessively curly, vibrantly orange hair offset by simmering emerald eyes. She is, curiously enough, dressed a yellow blouse under green overalls. Somewhat strange attire for a referee to be wearing, perhaps, but she comes off as an eccentric sort. To deepen this notion, in lieu of any sort of weapon or obvious protective measures, she holds a small cube- about as large as a particularly large apple, made of gold, and inlaid with curious markings that can’t quite be made out. Some manner of casting device, perhaps.

She watches with a funny sort of smirk as the competitors approach the center of the ring and prepare themselves for the fight ahead. After spending a moment to ensure that their protective enchantments are all in order, and waiting for them to conclude their bowing and staring and such, she steps back thirty paces, leaving the two standing about twenty meters apart.

“Remember the rules, you two jokers! Match starts on the gong!”

With that said, she snaps her fingers and in a fabulous motion, points her finger up toward one of the upper seating boxes.

A few moments later, a gong rings out from somewhere above, signaling the start of the match.

At the sound of the gong, Roxanne drew her sword and held it with both hands. Seeing her opponent's raised blade, she held her own sword in front of her, blade held diagonally with her hands on her right side. Once she realized that Aegon was not going to move, she advanced slowly towards him, taking cautious steps. Once she managed to get within about five feet, she lunged forward quickly, swinging her sword upwards towards his upper right arm.

The impact of the blades knocked Roxanne's blade down to chest height. However, she wasn't able to swing back before Aegon swung for her throat. As soon as she saw the sword coming, she stepped closer, almost up against him, in an effort to get inside his swing. She brought her left arm up to try and grab his left forearm in an effort to block his swing, and swung her sword in a low left-to-right swipe towards his left leg.

Roxanne realized too late that she'd miscalculated. The blade was too close and too fast for her to get inside the swing, and it smacked firmly into her neck. Even though the magic prevented it from breaking skin, the impact sent her to the ground like a rag doll. The sword fell from her hands, and she clutched her neck, coughing and choking and trying to breathe. It seemed as though she was out of her depth here in this arena.

Roxanne struggled to her feet, coughing and rubbing her neck. A bright red line would cross her throat, signifying to all who were watching that she would have been decapitated if not for the protective magic. She accepted the sword, looking up at her opponent with her eyes watering from the pain. How had she lost so easily? Clearly, she'd overestimated her own skill.

"You...you won, Aegon. Congratulations."

Sheathing the sword, she turned to the ref to await the final call.

Well. Alright. That was pretty cut-and-dry.

A slightly disappointed pout crosses the referee's face as she herself crosses the ring to approach the two combatants. The fight didn’t even last twenty seconds, and she didn’t get to use her infamous chain-magic at all. (Just like her last lover.) Already, the crowd is in a mild uproar. It’s clear to even the most casual of observers how that fight went.

As she approaches, she eyes the massive red welt on Roxanne’s neck. Yup. That’d be death, alright. Perhaps not a clean beheading, but definitely enough damage to incapacitate and cause the poor girl to bleed out in a matter of minutes, if medical attention wasn’t applied promptly. Good thing for these protective magics, she muses. It wouldn’t do to have her blouse covered in blood.

Regardless, she nods to each of the competitors, declaring the fight finished, and steps between them. Raising her curious cube contraption up near her mouth, she motions for Aegon to raise his sword arm in the air.

From the cube, her voice booms out across the arena, drowning out the crowd as she declares, “And the winner is Aegon Windwalker, with a quick strike to the jugular!”

Roxanne coughed some more, glaring at the smug-looking Aegon. That was just embarrassing. As soon as the ref let her, she limped off the arena and back to the resting area for the contestants. Who knew the tournament contestants would be so skilled? It seemed as though she had a lot of practice to do. Perhaps she would ask her cousin Raena for help.