Languard. Awe had never overly found a purchase in Harvenger. He had been amazed, surprised, or shocked by something's fighting style, technique, or ability. Now though, Languard called upon all his strength to merely blink. To black out this wonder, if for a second, seemed like a sin.

The massive, golden stone gates and white roads, green trees and shrubbery seemed almost a dreamscape. Beautiful bridges with stage coaches and pedestrians everywhere, all vied for the Kato's attention. One thing he noticed right off, were monsters walking the streets. In most large cities it was outlawed to have one without a leash. Here, they ran about, day to day, generally running errands for their masters. Harvenger had heard tales that some even worked with the City Guard, and the really good ones got to be Palace Guards, but only the best were placed as the Royal Guards.

The castle itself was something to its own right. Words like 'gorgeous' and 'enormous' fell limply in comparison to the actual thing. Huge towers of ivory and pearl seemed to erupt from the bustling city, their height made it seem as if the builders were trying to impale the very sky with their blue tipped magnificence. The flags of the palace were lovely as well, a bright, shining white gauntlet, outstretched towards the viewer, as if inviting into the protection of some knight or paladin.

"That seems...familiar..." Harvenger couldn't place it, but continued on.

The pair walked up to the wall slowly, as not to be spotted. A monster could not enter the city without a master. Slowly, lightly, Shilieka fluttered up to the edge of the wall. Harvenger still was amazed by the black angel wings she boasted, but never really asked about them. She looked both ways quickly. With a quick glance down and a slight peep, followed by a hand motion up, she darted over the edge of the wall. Harvenger thought about climbing with his claws, but it almost seemed wrong to defile the splendor of this place.

Well, if he was going to put holes in this wall, perhaps as few as possible was in order. He sprinted back, quickly turned, and sped at the wall. He bounded with all his might, flying high into the air. Both claws hit true, but neither penetrated, as the Kato fell back to the ground. Landing on his feet, naturally, of course.

He glanced at the wall a bit dumbfounded, a testament in itself to the builders. He could barely see the six points where his claws connected. The Pixie's head appeared on the wall. Harvenger looked up at her as she whispered, "Hurry up!"

Harvenger plotted a bit, then backed up, slashing the air in front of him twice. He bonded into the twister, trying to get as much altitude as he could. The current was a bit stronger than he thought, as he catapulted completely over the wall. He managed to land softly on the roof of the building, but he knew he was in plain sight of the guards, if they were watching. He quickly scurried down the side of the building, his companion meeting him there in the ally.

"Good job." She jested.

"Well, not all of us can fly."

"Either way. Come, we must find our way into the palace." Shilieka spoke as she poked her head into the bustling streets.

"Oh really? That shouldn't be too difficult." Harvenger mocked lightly.

"You know a way? Great!" She cheered.

Harvenger could only stare with a raised eyebrow, curious if she had actually gotten stupider or if his demeanor was just that trustworthy. She noticed his look and, with a sigh of disgust and a flip of her hand, she returned her gaze to the streets.

"Come." She motioned and fell into the crowd.

2 hours later...

Lost. Gone she was and with the money, while Harvenger totted the gear. Where did she run off too? The Kato noticed a building, the sign was a mug of ale, bubbling over with foam. Good thing Howard taught him how to read, even just simple words, "Inn and Tavern" were pretty easy.

As he walked through the noisy door, he found the place packed. The bartender working triple overtime, whilst assorted monsters and people went on with their conversations, each trying to over power the rest.

A hand lightly fell on his shoulder, whispering, "This way."

He turned to see the cloaked figure going up the stairs, and pursued. Once up, she opened the door to their room, and took their things in for a much needed rest.

"Where did you go? Weren't you following me?" She asked with slight disdain.

"How did you actually purchase a room?"

"Well, being human like has its perks." She smiled brightly.

"Did you go by the palace?" He asked, dropping his pack beside the bed.

"Its locked up tight. They are having a festival next week, with a Palace Ball to be held on the last night." She said as she pushed some of her golden hair over her left ear, "Both princes are to attend, as well as the King and Queen. Perhaps we should attend?"

"Well, two problems, " Harvenger said as he flopped onto the bed, disregarding anything similar to Kato trademark dexterity or grace, "One, we are monsters..."

"Not a problem, monsters may attend, you'll just have to go as my monster." She smirked, slightly chuckling.

"Right..." Harvenger said looking at the roof with lazy and annoyed eyes, "Problem two is we don't have anything to wear to a fancy Ball of Royalty anyway."

"Well, actually, I did some shopping."

He didn't want to ask, nor look. He would rather just claim ignorance to whatever luxuries she had purchased with what little cash they had. He'd prefer not to work as a lumberjack, or a butcher, or anything else part time really. Looks like he'd be heading back to the tournament ring after all.

"What do you think? Do you like it?" She asked, seeming slightly self conscious of her flawless form.

Perhaps to amuse her, perhaps to have an excuse to look, he did. She had one of the most elegant white dresses he had ever seen. She held it in front of her with her left hand, the right reached around and pressed the dress into her mid section. The bottom fanned out, not a skin tight dress, this was much more noble like. The top was like a tube, cut at about the cleavage and running full circle around the body. The back laced up, and it came with two, full length white gloves that would have to come up to her elbows.

Harvenger blinked a few times, uncertain if his heart could take seeing her in that dress, but he nodded a few times as he brought his hand to his chin, playing it off rather well with a simple, "Eh, its nice. I think it will do just fine."

She looked at him, perplexed for a moment, then back down to the dress, "Are you sure? You don't think it'll make me look big in the hips, will it?"

"Well, it might, " Harvenger began as she shot her gaze to him, "That is, if you had hips."

She gave him that look. You know, that look, and he lightly chuckled, falling back against the bed.

"I'm glad you got just one, I was worried."

"What kind of self respecting lady would I be to come to wonderful Languard and buy just one dress?"

The Kato's eyes opened and looked towards the Pixie as she opened the closet. There were roughly eight dresses, some red, blue, purple, along with assorted shoes and heels. He also noticed some jewelry on the shelf above them, on which noticing, she took down a pearl necklace.

"I think this will go best with the white dress, huh?"

He couldn't breath. He couldn't. The air just refused to enter, like there was no air in the room. He blinked, hoping each time that the flash of darkness would wipe away this sight. They returned, every time, mocking him more so than the last disappearance, letting him know that they were still there.

"By the way, I think we need some extra cash for food and stuff, did you have any on you?"

No, she didn't. He heard her wrong, to the last syllable, he misunderstood. She could not have just asked, "Did you have any money on you?". Not possible. No monster would be that brash. None. She was a woman though, and...

The air came suddenly now, rushing in for the yell that could never come. He tried, but couldn't. The shock had set in too much. Was this an aneurysm? Maybe a heart attack? What kind of mind could handle this, on a journey this important?

"Why....did you buy....that....much...CRAP!?" The last word seemed to explode from his mouth with all the fury that a thousand losses couldn't muster.

She jumped a bit, pulling the necklace to her chest with both hands, a shot of fear dashed into her eyes, "What?"

He couldn't even react. He slowly, steadily, got up. Walked to the door like a miniature Frankenstien. Very jerky, but solid foot placement as he exited the room.

He walked like this out into the street, turned, and followed the path and crowds of people.

Some of the humans cracked slight jokes like, "Someone must have hit it with a zombify spell or something. Hehe."

Indeed, magic was a very big part of the Languard community, but not even the best restoration spell could alleviate his mind of the atrocity he had just been exposed to.

Then he saw it. It was amazing that he couldn't see it entering the city, but he knew it was here somewhere. The giant arches of stone that marked the path inside the massive coliseum was worthy of such praise as the mighty palace itself. He slowly walked inside, running his hand along the smooth walls of this monument.

He heard the clamor of the spectators. Then the announcer, "Entering from my left!"

He didn't hear the rest, but the crowd cheering made him sound like a hero to them. He barely heard the other combatant's intro, but then he thought he heard a name he recognized from somewhere.

"Lesander? or was it Lancaster?" He muttered to himself as the bell sounded.

He was walking quickly now, the sounds of battle raged. Then a fateful thud billowed forth like a titan's collapse. As he saw the sun's rays shining through an opening, he heard the crowd whooping and cheering. As he entered the spectator area, he had some light blindness in his vision. As his sight regained, he saw what looked like an unconscious Celious in the center of the arena, a Centaur with a Tiger heritage. He was holding a wound in his abs, that seemed to be bleeding more than it should. Harvenger's eyes darted around for the movements of his opponent, and his gaze shifted to the gate to his immediate right. The only glimpse he saw was a purple tail sliding into the darkness, the gate closing behind.

He immediately searched for a match card, but had his question answered as one of the audience members exclaimed, "You suck Sven! Man, I should have bet on Lethander..."

The Kato smiled at the thought of the powerful Naga. He glanced over the match card quickly, noting that Lethander was back to his old tactics. Red circles, across the board, and he had only one match left. A Dragon named Hesferion, also undefeated.

Harvenger did have about 200 gold pieces on him, so he went to the bookie, "I got 200 on Lethander for the win."

Of course, when the tourney comes down to two undefeated monsters, betting then brings back a triple reward. So, if Lethander is as good as he was, Harvenger will bank some 400 extra, if not, he just lost 200. However, Lethander was good, and he knew it, first hand.

Later that day...

"Ladies and Gentlemen, are we prepared for the final bout!?"

The screams and yells seemed to pour up and meld with the night sky. It was dark now, Harvenger looked at the stars, they seemed to blink and bounce, cheering as well. His gaze fell slowly back to the earthen floor of the only place he could call home now as the man continued to speak.

"Tonight's Main event, we have two of the fiercest monsters ever to come through this arena!"

The crowd cheered loudly. Violence sells, even the monsters knew that. People loved the ruthless ones and the crowd pleasers. Harvenger, was neither, he just fought for the cash like so many others

"Arriving from my left, this sinister beast has injured or crippled nearly every monster he's faced. His strength and technique are surpassed only by his thirst for blood and victory. I present to you, the Master of Mayhem, the Naga, LETHANDER!"

The Master of Mayhem? Harvenger chuckled to himself as the stadium almost collapsed under the force of the crowd roaring. Surely enough, the gate opened slowly, to reveal only the darkness behind. The form slowly came bobbing out of the shadows, the claws lead the way to the chest, then the head, followed shortly there after by the tail. It pushed and slithered the monster forward, as the crowd's praise and jests were equally as ignored by him. He had a purpose, and that was to win. He had twin scars on his chest, one was a giant bite mark, it would seem, the other more like a burn. On his right arm, however, lay the handiwork of Harvenger himself. Six, grooved circles ran completely around his forearm, scarred from the Kato's claws. The rest of his wounds had healed without scarring, but those were the deepest. The Naga stared at the other gate with cruelness brewing in his eyes.

"And to my right, the creature that has set an all time fatality record for this arena. In a single tournament, he killed six of his ten competitors. In this tournament, he is up to 6, but can he break his old record against such an awesome foe?! Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, Death's Delivery Boy, the Dragon, HESFERION!"

Once again, the crowd blew up, and the Kato snickered. Death's Delivery Boy? What would Harvenger be, the Blood Wrapped Cat? He laughed to himself as the crowd screamed into the arena, and, as before, the metal doors opened slowly.

The shadows were still as the doors opened completely, and a hush fell over the crowd as nothing came. Harvenger had to wipe his eyes to ensure that the shadows weren't moving, but they were. The Dragon was so large it literally ducked to enter the arena. The darkness behind the doors was not darkness, or even shadow, it was the Dragon.

Harvenger sensed that this was a very dangerous foe. Monsters are able to size up any opponent, especially the ones bred for the ring. He easily was larger than Lethander, but the Naga held his game face, and gave none.

The Dragon didn't seem sadistic at all. He wasn't smirking, snickering, or pleased with the thought of his next kill. He wasn't even trying to intimidate the Naga, or perhaps he was taking him with a little bit more caution than his other fights. The Naga was undefeated, too, and if he could injure his opponents, he could kill them if he wished. Lethander held firm, chest high, showing his scars proudly, as they hadn't killed him.

The fact that Hesferion had killed fifty percent of the competition in one tournament kind of put Harvenger on edge, but the fact he had also done it now was amazing and, with Lethander's death, he'd have broken that six out of ten, and claimed seven.

This fight would be more devastating than anyone else in the arena could possibly imagine....

-Enjoy the return. Next one going to be good. CHB-

I'm on the edge of my seat. Gonna read five now. Awesome story CHB!

Wait! This is five. Oops. Well, I'll be reading six now.

Darn pixies, spending up his hard earned money... ;)

Heh, just read this, nice bashing of sven! Anyhoo, this whole Epic is possibly my favorite, All Hail CHB!

I didn't think anyone would catch that...