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The sun rose over the verdant mountains, cascading down to bathe the world in its warm glow. It glared down on a short squat man standing rigidly watching the tournament ground below. The man did not flinch when the sun hit his face. He did not cup his eyes, nor turn his face away. He, in fact, did not move at all, just continued staring down into the valley.
“What are you doing Cingar,” a voice echoed from the air, “You look like you turned back into what you were.”
The man turned at the voice and looked around. When he didn’t see anyone he glowered even deeper and then called out, “I’m not in a mood for your games today, Ava. Show yourself or leave.”
The outline of a person appeared in the air. It shimmered and shone before resolving into a beautiful woman, tall and fair. The figure laughed delicately at the man’s glower.
“What has you so grumpy today? Did you chew on a rock that is too tough even for you?”
“It’s the tournament. All of those humans are competing using my power. At the end of the week they will choose new links and more humans will have control of my power. They don’t offer tribute. They don’t take orders. And they certainly don’t show any respect. They left us when we needed them and they still have use of my power.”
Ava grew serious at that her laughing face turned grim as a summer storm as she said, “What can you do about it though, Vermox has spoken. We cant withdraw our gifts again. We keep the peace and they guard our mountain.”
Cingar “Vermox is being hypocritical. He gave his first power but he is making the human work for it.”
“He isn’t the only one, several of us are limiting how our power can be used. I for one only allow those with strong willpower to use my power in the arena. They don’t understand what is going on, they have never had their amulets fail before. Those who are worthy can use it though.”
“Hmm, that gives me an idea. I think I know how to make these tests more interesting at any rate.”
“I’ll go tell the others, the challenges will be much more entertaining this year.”
They both smiled grimly down at the arena for a moment before Ava disappeared into the ether and Cingar rejoined the earth.
Cadence 