Elise’s hands clutched and released a few times as the prince rose to announce the next duel.
The crowd, who had been returned to their dull roar, only grew slightly more attentive as Prince Genofar announced, “For our next match, please welcome two first team duelists, both of the Dire Beavers. Pita, elementalist of the Mosswarren Enclave.”
Pita ran out toward the sandy pitch, vaulting himself into a dazzling flip with a twist and a half before landing in a spray of sand. The crowd seemed distinctly unimpressed. Standing barely more than five foot three, and with a lithe body type made only more childish looking by his cherubic countenance, Pita did not strike the crowd as a real contender.
He hadn’t worn his cloak today, though he had kept the horned circlet - which had been modifi
