While tour guides were common around the Great Dessaron Battle Arenas, there was one area where visitors were forbidden to go, where challengers feared to tread and only the bravest of house fighters were allowed to visit. The Panicked Wardens was a heavily barricaded area where the Banikan house fighters of the Great Arena trained and studied, but also lived, as the Wardens backed onto a closed off forest that hid a handful of Banikan huts and a small temple to the Thantophor, the Banikans’ beloved deity. Most beings wouldn’t dare come close to the highly territorial beings’ home, but the Raptor needed to speak to some of the Banikans present, and she had brought some friends.
As they’d walked down the somewhat deserted path into the main hub, Tenuk was feeling particularly nervous, and Nyssi wasn’t feeling great either. Neither of them were big fans of the Banikans. The Temthans had tussled with the colossal, fire-breathing beasts in the past and had lost too many to them, while the Spasts could have been easily considered snacks for the Banikans. However, Kayel wasn’t particularly bothered, what with being an old worshipper of the Thantophor himself, and Retvik had no fear what so ever, since he’d been here before. Still, the Raptor was leading the way, and she hadn’t said why she was taking Xeno Dessaron One to the Panicked Wardens yet.
Eventually, they reached a small, sheltered training area, where four armoured Banikans were sparring with long, bladed polearms. Each Banikan wore a helmet made of black leather, painted in yellow stripes, as well as padded black armour across their backs, around their thighs and up their arms. Despite already having massive jaws, metre-long horns on their heads and spikes on their tails, the Banikans all had blades attached to their forearms and specially made metal talons connected to their inner toes, similar to the raptor-like claws Ksithans naturally had. The Banikans themselves though, despite their dark armour, were all rather brightly coloured and, oddly, had the same colours Xeno Dessaron had: one red, one yellow, one green and one blue.
The Raptor snapped her fingers, and the four Banikans immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to face their visitors, lining up in front of Retvik and his team.
“Aie!” Retvik didn’t hesitate and immediately bowed, showing the beasts the respect they deserved. The Banikans all bowed back.
“Aie, o’ozsof Retvik!” the red Banikan’s voice was deep and gravelly. “Alak etsie?”
“Alak iamie!” Retvik replied, bowing once again. “Siese?”
The Banikan smiled. Well, to the other Banikans, it was a smile. To everyone else, the Banikan just seemed to open its jaw wide, showing off its teeth. “Alak sieme iak etsamie!” The Banikan closed its mouth again, realizing that the tiny blue Spast was getting quite scared. “Bearer of Light, who are your little friends?”
“Retty, dude, you speak Banikan?” Nyssi whispered as she nudged Retvik in the side.
“I know a few words, just basic greetings…” Retvik whispered back, before clearing his throat and turning back to the red Banikan. “Ve’kser, these are my friends and the members of my Dessaron team. They are Nyssi Tharru, Kayel Theanon and Tenuk.”
Ve’Kser lowered himself down. “Aie, Sorofosof oot iolif. Hello, friends of the Bearer of Light. I am Ve’Kser, leader of io Sekalyf Sekieth, the Divine Guardians, the One of Undeath’s other House Fighter Team of Four. My blue solif is Lu’Naax, my green solif is Atteh’Kus and my yellow solif is Ct’Era.”
Each of the other Banikans lowered themselves down briefly, before standing up straight. Their smallest member, Ct’Era, was still a good metre taller than Retvik, but they all had a healthy amount of respect for both Retvik and the Raptor.
“One of Undeath, why have you come here today?” Lu’Naax asked. “Is this another chance to fight? An attempt to end our Ires Oielet, our Perfect Streak, by pitting us against our fellow Team of Four?”
The Raptor stifled a laugh. “Oh no, not at all! In fact, I have brought you all here in order to discuss an idea.”
“What idea?”
“Dessaron battles are fun, but both the Divine Guardians and Xeno Dessaron One have a problem. You have all pissed off the biggest teams. Retha Squad One and the Fangs of the Whenvern are going to want revenge, and the Temthans of Anarchy, the Claws of the Chronowyrm and Imperatorai Mataniai are all desperate to have a go at beating two of the three teams with a 100% win rate. While I would just let them have their way and let them fight Xeno Dessaron One in standard matches, instead, I want something more… chaotic… I want an 8v8 battle. My two House Fighter teams versus two challenger Dessaron teams.”
The Banikans all grunted, then whispered to each other, before turning back to Phovos.
“That sounds… fun!” Ct’Era grinned. Ve’Kser and Atteh’Kus seemed to agree.
“That sounds absolutely insane!” Tenuk protested. “Like, that’s just… so chaotic!”
“Yeah but it sounds like fun!” Nyssi found herself agreeing with the Banikans. “Imagine this: FIVE fire-breathing Banikans, plus the mighty Lightbearer, plus me, all being shadowjumped around by Kayel! We’d trample the fuck out of anyone who challenges us!”
Ve’Kser grunted, then stepped forward, towards Tenuk. “Aa ian, sotamiks saieportatem iasie. Same iasenig. Iasavof it? You become us but you fear us.”
Tenuk shivered, unable to hide his fear. “No offence, but you’re all Banikans. Literally the scariest intelligent race in this universe, to the point that only the Thantophor loves you. I’m basically a snack in your eyes. So yeah, I am scared of you.”
Kayel put an arm around Tenuk. “They’re not going to hurt you, mate. Sure, Banikans are big and scary, but you know who else is big and scary? Retvik. And you know who’s even scarier? Arkay.”
“True… Still… that doesn’t mean I can’t be terrified about fighting Thraki and Rethans at the same time!” Tenuk was still rather concerned. “Like, sure, we beat the Fangs of the Whenvern but I don’t think I can do all that again while also being shot at.”
“Actually, I do not want the two top normal teams fighting you!” Phovos interjected. “We need some build-up to that. Ideally, I want to do a trial run with you eight fighting some of the other higher-end teams. Most likely Retha Squad Two and the Temthans of Anarchy. Maybe Retha Squad Two and one of the Lanex teams, to make things somewhat fairer.”
“We can deal with Lanex, right, guys?” Nyssi beamed, before suddenly pausing. “Uh, Miss Raptor, if we’re going to do this, could we, like, get custom gear first? Because these guys have custom gear, and I think we’ve done enough to earn our own cool stuff!”
“Do you all agree to this idea?” The Raptor replied with her own question.
The Banikans all nodded. Nyssi immediately shouted yes, while Kayel and Retvik both calmly agreed with a yes of their own.
“Tenuk?”
Tenuk hesitated. “Alright, fine, I guess I’ll do it. But I’ll be honest, I’m kinda scared of being trampled in the chaos.”
“We’re basically immortal, Tenuk!” Nyssi giggled. “All we have to fear is a bit of pain.”
“I… I guess…” the tiny Spast relented. “Okay, sure. I’ll do it, we’ll all do it. But Nyssi’s right, we deserve our own custom gear. I want some properly fitted armour that I can actually shapeshift with because every time I shapeshift into something small, my armour falls off. I was nude when we beat Retha Squad One.”
“That kinda… makes our victory even more impressive…” Kayel couldn’t help but laugh a little. “They got beaten by a naked Spast.”
The Raptor clapped her hands together, once again drawing attention back to her. “Wonderful, I am happy that you all want to do this. And yes, Xeno Dessaron One, you have certainly earned your own gear. I still want to keep your identities somewhat secret though, the same way the identities of the Divine Guardians are also secret, so your custom armour will still obscure you somewhat. While I get my armourers to come up with some designs, I’d like for you all to do some training together, get to know each other better and come up with some basic tactics. Understood?”
All eight house fighters nodded.
“Brilliant!” Phovos grinned. “I shall leave you all to it. Have a good day, my prized fighters!”
“And the same to you, Atnathepa!” Ve’Kser grunted. “Arot aig oitna, good bye for now!”
“Bye, Kyr Phovos!” Retvik waved.
The members of Xeno Dessaron One and the Divine Guardians all waited until Phovos was out of sight, before glancing at each other.
“This is going to be so much fun!” Nyssi beamed as she rubbed her hands together gleefully. “I have so, so many ideas I want to try out…”