Eleanor's legs were on fire. It was a sensation she had come to know well. For the last few months, the young woman had been on the run, a lifestyle that involved more than a little cardio.

She was currently booking it down a cramped side alley, the high heels of her armored boots making a distinct clatter as they slammed against the pavement. Just on her wake were a trio of soldiers, some of the kingdom's best, who kept on Eleanor's tail even as she overturned stacks of crates and pulled down clotheslines to slow them down. The young woman vaulted and ducked under obstacles, just barely managing to stay ahead of the soldiers without slamming into something at breakneck speed.

The series of events that had lead to this frantic scene was almost too complicated to explain. The abridged version: she had been a top student at one of the kingdom's highest regarded magic academies, but her sharp skill and sharper attitude had scored her more than a few enemies. Not just jealous students: important staff. One thing lead to another and soon enough, Eleanor had been scapegoated for the murder of a number of nobles, leaders of the movement against the new king's legitimacy. While she had managed to escape capture so far, her family hadn't been so lucky, thrown into jail at the king's request.

Though her mind was racing as fast as her feet were, Eleanor was able to keep herself calm and strategize. Another tower of empty crates was coming up on her right. Perfect. Just what she needed.

She banked towards it, hands outstretched, and shut her eyes tight. As soon as her hands touched the wood, the crates burst aflame. Swinging around, she launched a powerful kick at the bottom of the stack and they all tumbled over, the flame spreading in a line over the length of the alley.

The three soldiers skidded to a stop at the fire's edge. Focusing her mana, Eleanor extended her hands and slowy brought them up. The flames rose with them, soon growing into a wall of raging fire. Even just the air around it was searing hot. If one of the soldiers tried to step through, they would be cooked alive inside their armor.

Eleanor took off again. The fire should buy her some time, but soon enough, the soldiers would locate her again and the chase would start over... she needed a disguise.

Emerging from the alley, she slowed down. She was on a main street now, and the last thing she needed was attention. This city was the closest to the southern border of her kingdom. Soon enough, she'd be in the clear. Well, at least from the threat of the king's men sent after her. She'd still need to figure out a way to save her parents...

She put that aside for now, forcing the thoughts to the back of her head. No need for angst at the moment. There were more immediate issues. Turning onto the sidewalk, she spied an old woman with a billowy red hooded cloak.

Okay. She was gonna feel really bad about this... but she needed it more than granny did.

With her face now hidden behind her freshly stolen garment, Eleanor was able to move with a bit less urgency. She decided she would try to find someplace to stay for the night. If she couldn't find a hotel, she supposed she'd have to find some abandoned building to squat in. Tomorrow, she'd be off over the border, out of the king's jurisdiction... once again, not a solution to every problem, but a definite advantage.

She walked in a loop around the town square, reading off the signs on the different buildings. There was an inn, but no vacancy there. A hotel too, but with the same issue. Hmm. Was there an event going on?

There was a lot of noise coming from down the road. She decided to check it out - and found a huge crowd all swarmed around a fighting ring. It looked hastily built, with ropes on each side of the square platform like a wrestling ring. Canvas-like fabric was stretched over the wooden frame that served as the floor. Only one person stood in it, a buff woman tapping her foot impatiently. Jeers and yells came from the audience.

Someone else climbed up into the ring, a foreign man with a funny hat and outfit made from shimmery red silk, his long sleeves lined with gold at the hem. He was very skinny and had a worried look to him. Surely he wasn't her opponent?

"Everybody, everybody!" he called out, waving around his scrawny arms, trying to calm the rowdy crowd. "Please try to relax! The Hooded Warrior is coming, you'll get your fight!"

Eleanor rose an eyebrow. "Hooded Warrior?" What was this, a wrestling match? 

She approached someone on the edge of the crowd, a restless young man who seemed a few seconds from walking away.

"What's going on here?" she asked, keeping her head down and changing her voice a little. It was a habit she had developed over many nights in hiding like this.

The man spoke to her without looking. "What, did you crawl out from under a rock? It's the final title defense, the winner goes to the tournament."

"Tournament?" she asked, only realizing after the word had already passed her lips. It was that... phoenix thing, whatever it was called. Eleanor had done martial arts all her life, but she had never entered into a competition or anything. It just wasn't her scene, really. She mostly did martial arts for exercise, and preferred getting into playful scraps with her friends rather than any kind of organized bout.

The man turned around to face her, then did a double take. He pointed at her with a smile, nearly bouncing up and down in place.

Uh oh. Eleanor's eyes widened. Had she been recognized? He must've been eager to claim the bounty on her head... she prepared to strike him down with a high snap kick to the head, but to her surprise, he called something out.

"Hey everybody, it's the Hooded Warrior! Look, look!"

Huh?

Everyone turned to face her, and in an instant, jeers became cheers. The crowd transformed into a living organism of its own, swallowing her up like an amoeba. Hands and shoulders pushed her up to the side of the ring before she could even process the new turn of events. Standing behind the ropes on the raised platform, the man in the red silk stared down at her.

"Oh, thank the gods." he breathed, mopping the sweat from his brow with his sleeve. He quickly became mad. "How could you be so late!?"

Eleanor was prepared to tell him she wasn't whoever the Hooded Warrior was, but before she could, she noticed something: the three soldiers, investigating the crowd. She needed to keep up the ruse... it might've seemed like a bad idea on the surface, climbing up where she could easily be seen, but she still had her cloak disguise on. Plus, these people were riled up. They wanted, no, needed a fight. If anybody got in between them and watching two people slug it out, then they'd probably end up the victim of a crowd stomping.

Eleanor climbed into the ring, pulling her cloak around her tight. "Sorry." she said, once again changing her voice. She figured the Hooded Warrior sounded pretty gruff, so she brought her voice down low and rumbly.

"Well, whatever." the man stomped off to address the audience. "Sorry for the delay! You know the rules, anything goes!"

Anything goes... that was good. She'd still try to avoid using her fire, though, just since she didn't know if this Hooded Warrior person was capable of such magic. Eleanor had always been conservative with her powers, ever since an accident long ago. It had claimed her friends life... once again, she pushed her thoughts out of her head. She had to keep her mind on the moment.

"On one side, we have the Hooded Warrior!" the crowd cheered. "And, defending her champion title, Darla!"

Ah, yes, her opponent. Darla wore a wrestler's singlet with a leather belt around her waist. The woman had some height on her, which was impressive since Eleanor was already pretty tall for a woman. She had a lot more on her on muscle, though - the skin over her biceps looked about to pop from the size of them, and her legs were sturdy like two tree trunks. Darla must've lifted weights every day or something to look like that.

From a pouch on her belt, she drew out a rolled up piece of paper. She wagged it around, taunting Eleanor.

"You want this?" Darla said. "Huh?"

Not particularly, Eleanor thought. She figured it was the ticket to the tournament or something, which, once again, she really couldn't care less about.

The brawny woman put the scroll away and cracked her knuckles, then her neck, snapping her head from side to side.

"Alright." she tensed up her body, then let it go slack. "Enough talk."

You're the only one whose said anything! What was up with this lady? Was she trying to hype up the audience or something?

Whatever. Beneath the shadow of Eleanor's hood, a smug smile spread across her face. If there was one type of person that brought out her competitive spirit, it was arrogant hot-heads like this woman.

Eleanor began to circle her opponent with light, bouncy footwork. Darla was easy to read: your classic strong-but-slow grappler. From her sloppy wrestler's stance, it was clear she wasn't particularly well trained or skilled, just tough. A battle plan quickly formed in Eleanor's head. One kick to the gut to blow the breath from her lungs, another to the face to leave her clinging to consciousness, and a chokehold from behind to seal the deal.

Darla charged forward with surprising speed, but Eleanor had been ready. She whirled around with one of her long, powerful legs extended, shooting her foot forward just as Darla came in range. It drove into the woman's stomach, but to Eleanor's shock, Darla powered through the blow.

"Fighting in high heels?" Darla said through gritted teeth. "Okay, you're braver than I thought."

Wrapping two strong hands around Eleanor's armored boot, Darla whipped the girl around in circles. Eleanor had to cling to her cloak with all her might to keep it from flying off and revealing her deception. After building up speed, Darla tossed her to the ropes. Her body half-limp, Eleanor slammed into them and tumbled back.

Darla stomped towards her as she rose to her feet. Shaken from the blow, she was unprepared to avoid Darla's next two strikes: a jab to the cheek and a stomp to the foot. Reeling back from those, she felt Darla grab her around the waist. The world flipped over. Darla had thrown her overhead like a ragdoll, and she slammed face-down into the canvas floor hard enough to nearly shatter the reinforced wood beneath.

Okay... perhaps she had been the arrogant one here.

Disoriented, she heard Darla's rumbling footsteps and decided it was time to bust out the fire magic. With a thought, she lit a small spot on the seat of Darla's singlet ablaze, and heard the woman cry out and thud to the ground. She rolled over, succeeding in putting out the patch of flame... and looking like an idiot while doing it. The audience laughed out - to them, it must've looked like the woman's butt just spontaneously combusted.

Eleanor was back on solid footing and edging her way towards the ropes. Sneering, Darla rose to her feet. Smoke rose up from the scorched patch on of her singlet.

"Magic? I figured a wimp like you would need magic to win."

"I can kick your ass without it." Eleanor shot back, in that fake gruff voice. "But I guess I burned it already, huh?"

Darla swung forward in a clumsy attempt at a punch, but Eleanor ducked under the blow and slammed her with a kick to the side. Toughing out the blow again, Darla tried another wide, crazy swing. Eleanor ducked under it again, this time grabbing her arm, twisting it, and landing a strike right to her elbow. Seething in pain, Darla pulled back and gripped her arm.

"Oh, that hurt..."

She charged again, and this time, Eleanor leapt up at her through the air, driving her tucked in leg forward. It smashed right into Darla's nose, and Eleanor could feel bone and cartilage shatter beneath the metal kneepad of her armored boot.

The big woman reeled. Eleanor landed catlike, crouched down. She leapt again and landed a second kick, a high swing that knocked Darla beneath the chin. Launched three feet up, she landed limp on the ropes, struggling to recover. Her face was a twisted mess, blood running down from her broken nose and splattering down onto the canvas.

Eleanor approached her slowly and grabbed her around the ankles... but Darla wasn't done yet. Before Eleanor could flip her over into the cheering crowd, Darla pushed herself off the ropes and wrapped her thick tree trunk legs around Eleanor's waist. With a twist, the two fell to the ground.

Eleanor tried desperately to escape the grapple, using all the moves she could think of. She managed to break out for a second, but Darla trapped her again in a rear naked choke. Ironic... the move she originally planned to finish her off with.

"How about I take off that hood?" she asked, flecks of blood leaving her mouth with every word. Eleanor could feel the woman's thick fingers close around the top of her cloak, ready to pull the hood down and reveal her face at any moment.

Alright. She needed to end this. Now.

Gritting her teeth, Eleanor sent waves of intense heat throughout her entire body. It rose off from her like radiation, the air around her body warping, nearly hot enough to turn a raw steak well done. Darla instinctively let her go, like someone pulling their hand back from a red hot stove. The huge woman jolted back in surprise - and tumbled right over the ropes. She fell into the crowd, the three men beneath her barely able to support her weight.

"Wow! What an intense match!"

As she got to her feet, Eleanor became aware that everyone was cheering. She brushed herself off and tried to regain her posture as the man in the red silk marched over and grabbed her wrist.

"Behold, your champion!" he said, raising her arm into the air. "When you see them fight next, it'll be on Phoenix Island!"

The crowd went crazy again. Eleanor was too tired to be happy. Phoenix Island, huh? After all this, she hoped it was somewhere nice and tropical...

Darla had recovered already. The man looked at her expectantly, and she grudgingly pulled the scroll from her pocket, throwing it over to her. Eleanor caught it in midair.

"You gave me a good fight." she said, trying to recover her pride. "Maybe we'll meet again sometime and we can settle the score, no magic."

"Yeah." Eleanor said. "Maybe sometime."

Her eyes scanned the crowd. The soldiers had left, successfully thrown off. She let out a sigh of relief, then turned her attention to the scroll. With her nail, she popped the wax seal and read it.

You are most cordially invited to the Phoenix Empress Tournament. This invitation grants you entry into the matches, which will be held at Phoenix Island...

After that was listed the name of a wharf, along with the date and time to arrive there. Apparently, that would be where the ferry that brought the fighters to the island would show up. She read it over again - it was in a place called Goldport. She recognized the name, it was a big city near the coast of the country she was about to enter. Still a long journey, but hey, not as long as it could've been.

It also said something about the winner getting a single wish from the Phoenix Empress - according to the scroll, it wasn't just the name of the tournament, but a real person, a woman immensely skilled in magic. But could anyone really do that? Grant a wish? Or was it just some kind of metaphor?

She took another look at the crowd, and thought of the soldiers that had been so close to catching her. Phoenix Island was pretty far away, and with all the people flooding in, it would be hard for the king to send anyone there to catch her. Then, she allowed herself to think of her family, her lost friend, of what she could do with a single wish... or even just with help from someone as powerful as the Phoenix Empress. Even if she wasn't as strong with magic as the letter claimed, she still had the wealth, resources, and influence to run a world-popular fighting tournament.

Alright. Tomorrow, Eleanor would be out of this kingdom. And in a month, she'd be standing at that wharf when the ferry to Phoenix Island arrived.

Eleanor

Age: 24

Bio: A competitive and calculating girl who has been a fighter since her childhood. She discovered her affinity for fire magic in an accident that resulted in the death of her best friend. Attended an academy to train in magic, but ended up as an unwitting pawn in a politcal scheme that lead to the murder of several nobles being pinned on her. She now lives as a fugitive running from the government.

Abilities: An excellent hand-to-hand fighter specializing in kicks and wrestling holds. While she's talented with fire magic, she uses it in a conservative way, heating up her body and surroundings to inflict more damage. However, she's perfectly capable of more lethal techniques - she only uses them as a last resort however.

Appearance: Tall and slender, with wavy, light brown hair in a bob cut. She wears armored knee-high boots with high heels that are effective at conducting heat. She also has a similar pair of gauntlets. Wears a red skirt, black tights, and a blouse.

glenn-fletcher

Next time will be Jadania's intro chapter. This is the first chapter based on a submitted character. If you're interested in submitting a character to fight in the tournament, make sure to check out the first chapter. We've got eight fighters in the tournament already, so we're halfway towards the goal of sixteen.