Chapter 13- the Fighting League begins
A few hours later
The banquet had finally finished at the Queen's palace and now the participants, after they had been treated to a luxurious time of resting up before the big fight, were ready to be taken to the arena. Up and down the freezing land of Narnia, giant magical TV screens, as well as the smaller versions in the few homes that were lucky enough to have one, broadcasted the event. In one such home, Dashiell and the other adults in his household excluding Shadewing the Bat but now including Honeycomb and Rosemary who were still devastated over the death of their friend Swift the Falcon, one of the few skilled hunting and foraging party leaders in Green Leaf Village, were sat around their magic crystalline TV, watching the event in its unfolding process. It was now the time of the parade, the part where the several hundred selected participants from the Queen's selected families were shown off to the watchers one last time before they were sent into the arena for the main part of the Fighting League itself. The remaining nine kids Kushanku, Satoshi, Akira and Nyarth the Nekomata kits; Sandstorm and Amberpaw the brother and sister of Gingerfur, and Crystal the Parrot chick, Snowwing the Skvader kit and Dahlia the Jackalope kit were in the sleeping quarters with Shadewing once again, only this time Emberflame was babysitting them.
Shadewing hung from his perch once again, distress and distraught over the event still gripping him like the freezing weather outside, which was now snowing once again, and the nine kids, now including Amberpaw, sat on their beds, Satoshi with his injured right arm still in its cast. Emberflame was nearby, residing in the torch lamp to help provide heat for the members present in the sleeping quarters and to look after the kids and Shadewing and to keep them away from the disturbing Fighting League event about to unfold. Much like how depression of the event was still gripping Shadewing, the miasma of depression was also clamped on the nine kids and Emberflame like the jaws of a savage Hellhound. Sandstorm was distraught and clearly very worried for Gingerfur who was in the Parade with several hundred other creatures, as were Kushanku, Satoshi, Nyarth and Akira and also Amberpaw, though the female Cheetah cub had a glimmer of hope no thicker than a thin thread of spider silk glimmering within her, the hope for a better life for Dashiell and his family and escape from this decrepit way of life in the freezing, starving, miserable conditions if Gingerfur could win the League. After all, it was the Queen's promised prize for the family of the victor, wasn't it? The rest of the youngsters, however, weren't betting on it, especially since Gingerfur was only a cub who will be facing several hundred opponents for the prize in the arena and based on these facts, the odds of him winning the League and emerging victorious were extremely slim. Furthermore, none of the other eight kids trusted the Queen either, especially after so many negative things that had happened and were still going on, such as the law that ninety percent of the food delivered and the crop[s grown must be given to the Queen and her followers and seeing the wasteful behaviour of many of the Queen's cronies at the banquet with the MASSIVE supply of food they had on the three massive tables at the Queen's palace on the TV. Amberpaw, on the other paw still clung to the super-thin hope of the better life. However, like the other eight kids, she wasn't betting on it too much, but she had given the Queen one final chance in the Fighting League. After that, she was going to give up on her and her cronies… for good, if Gingerfur EVER died in the arena.
While Amberpaw sat by herself, trying to deal with the sheer grief of seeing Swift the Falcon get his throat slashed by that Banshee when she and her three comrades demanded that most of their kills be handed over, as well as hoping that Gingerfur would win the Fighting League, the other eight kids were talking to Emberflame as she tried to flood the freezing sleeping quarters with her heat, but it was proving a lot of effort for her due to the freezing winter being the result of a horrible spell.
"Are you alright, Miss Emberflame?" asked Crystal with concern, "Your flames look smaller than they usually are."
"Oh, it's just hard for me to keep this room warm because of the freezing cold air from outside," said Emberflame in a laboured voice as she continued to burn the fuel on the torch lamp. Her fiery head and hair of fire protruded from the top of the lamp so that she could talk to the kids while she tried to heat up the room. However, the poor Pyro knew that the statement she had given in reply to Crystal's question was not entirely true. The constant winter and its snow, freezing conditions and ice were not natural, but the result of a very powerful spell cast upon Narnia and locking it in the prison of these conditions. Because of how powerful the spell was, any magical creature associated with fire, such as Pyros, firebirds known as Phoenixes, Fire Bakeneko (which were like Nekomata but were essentially fire fork-tailed cats rather than flesh-and-blood fork-tailed cats like true Nekomata), and Fire Salamanders were struggling to keep their fires burning but the powerful winter spell was not only affecting these fire-based creatures living in Narnia. Weather birds that had the ability to control the weather and summon small thunderclouds on a very small scale, often to help with watering the crops, known as Thunderbirds, were also struggling. It seemed that the strength of the spell was very oppressing to the elemental creatures who were against the Queen and if any Pyro were to venture out into the cursed winter without any source of heat, they would weaken and eventually become extinguished. To a Pyro, the cursed winter was like a fish getting stranded in the hot sun far away from the refuge of water, and much like how the dry air and the hot sun was to fish, the cursed winter and its freezing air were fatal to Pyros and other fire-based creatures. The only fire-based creatures that don't seem to be affected were the Hellhounds, but they were fiercely loyal to Jadis so they were spared from the consequences of the winter spell.
"I suppose the freezing conditions of this horrible constant winter are restricting your ability to provide heat, like you say, but I also think the air is having a bad effect on you as a whole," said Snowwing who sat with Crystal. The other six kids nodded in agreement as they observed the rather weak flames of the Pyro's body. Emberflame emerged some more out of the lamp, formed fiery arms and folded them, before her melancholy gaze of flames rested on the Skvader kit.
"I think you could be right, my Skvader poppet," said the Pyro in a sad, struggling voice, "This winter has been going on for three decades straight now, and unlike the regular winters we've had before that Queen took over," Emberflame growled this sentence with bitter malice but she tried to conceal it, "where we Pyros and other fire-based creatures had been able to cope with the freezing air without too much trouble, even go out into it, the air of this constant winter seems to have a very negative affect on us in a way we Pyros had never expected. I mean, look at my flames, they seem to be getting smaller the more I try to keep myself burning."
Crystal, Snowwing, Dahlia, Sandstorm, Satoshi, Nyarth and Akira examined the size of the flames forming the Pyro's body and saw that she was right. Emberflame's fire was smaller than they had been several days before, and they were still shrinking in size. It was clear the constant winter was indeed having a negative and deteriorating effect on the Pyro and she was struggling to keep her flames burning. Sooner or later, Emberflame may have such small flames and be so weak that she may eventually be unable to provide sufficient heat for the den altogether. Even worse, Emberflame herself had no idea how long she could cope with the constant winter but it was likely for a few more weeks, perhaps months, before she eventually reached a point that she will stop burning altogether. It was a worrying sign indeed. Nearby, Kushanku was up to something.
"What are you doing, foster bro?" asked Sandstorm as he observed the youngest Nekomata kit stand with his upper body leaning forward and the two branches of his forked tail twisted up until the node, his head turned to it as he frowned with effort. The other kids and Emberflame also turned and watched Kushanku as he then spun his tail branches as fast as he could. However, to his dismay, he could not spin them fast enough to achieve lift-off.
"I'm trying to see if I can actually fly by spinning my forked tail branches," replied Kushanku as he re-twisted his forked tails' branches and tried again. Scepticism welled within the watchers.
"Fly?" repeated Emberflame with a frown, "But… you're a Nekomata. You cannot fly."
"Only Fire Bakeneko can, though they actually technically glide rather than fly," said Nyarth. Then Satoshi remembered the incident where he had smacked against the log and broke his arm when he pursued Nyarth with Rosemary, Rubyfeather, Kushanku and Akira when Nyarth tried to chase down Gollum and his group as they drove away with the selected participants, among them Gingerfur. It was when the Dryad who was loyal to Jadis had moved the branches of its tree to break the path of Rosemary, Kushanku, Akira and himself (Satoshi) to halt their pursuit of Gollum and his group.
"Um, actually," said Kushanku's brother as he sat up by using his left arm to lift his upper body, "Kushanku actually did fly by spinning his tail branches when him and I fell out of the trees and I smashed into the log, breaking my right arm."
"Yeah, I saw it too," said Nyarth, "As did Akira, Miss Rosemary and Mrs Rubyfeather."
At this, Sandstorm, Crystal, Snowwing, Dahlia and Amberpaw threw on even more sceptical looks. They had obviously not been there when Kushanku's apparent first flight had happened, but Kushanku, who had obviously remembered himself hovering in mid-air by spinning his tails before hitting the log when he and Satoshi fell out of the trees, continued to try and lift off by spinning his tail branches. However, to his dismay once again, he could not get airborne. Giving up, the young Nekomata kit trudged towards the bed and sat down, a disappointed look on his face.
"Well, if he had managed to fly at all or not," said Sandstorm as he gazed at Kushanku as he breathed a sigh, "it sounds like a very farfetched thing to do."
"Us Nekomata have the ability to jump from branch to branch or between tree trunks agilely," said Nyarth, "I seemed to have learned to do that without any training whatsoever when I went to chase down that horrid Black Dwarf and his cronies and rescue those poor participants, among them Gingerfur," as he said the name of his older adopted Cheetah cub brother, a sad sigh escaped his mouth, especially at how terrified and homesick he must be by now. Emberflame then shot Nyarth a stern look.
"Well it was rather reckless of you at best, and utterly foolish at worst to try and chase down that Black Dwarf and his group, Nyarth," she said in a slightly rebuking voice, "You could have got seriously hurt," her face turned to Satoshi as he gazed at his casted right arm, "which unfortunately is the consequence your brother had suffered," she returned her fiery face back in Nyarth's direction and continued, "What's more, you could have got into serious trouble with Gollum himself and perhaps the Queen as well," Emberflame then shuddered for that was already the case now. The Pyro had heard of horrific stories of creatures trying to oppose the wicked snow woman and ended up meeting either a brutal demise or, according to some Dryads, Sylphs and a few other Pyros Emberflame knew, transformed into a stone cast of themselves. A Cockatrice (a reptilian creature that had a chicken-like face and legs and a thrashing, Dragon-like tail and Bat-like wings like a Wyvern) whom Emberflame once knew before meeting Dashiell and before the wintery curse was cast upon Narnia over thirty years ago was one such victim, but Emberflame had also heard of stories of other creatures, including nature spirits such as Dryads, Sylphs, the water Naiads and Nereids, and even the fiery Pyros, getting turned to stone as well for disobedience or even stepping only ever slightly out of line, despite these nature spirits not being organic bodied creatures in nature. Emberflame did not want Kushanku, Nyarth, Satoshi and Akira meeting the same fate. And although Emberflame was cross with Nyarth for risking perhaps his life to try and rescue Gingerfur and the other selected villagers from Gollum and his group's clutches, under the sternness, the Pyro actually believed that Nyarth did the right thing.
Suddenly, a few shadowy figures appeared in one of the open windows to the sleeping quarters, startling the group and making Emberflame jolt from her lamp and flare her flames in a threatening, defensive way.
"Whoa, don't worry, it's only us," said a familiar voice. At this, Kushanku, Nyarth, Satoshi and Akira, Sandstorm, Amberpaw, Crystal, Snowwing and Dahlia all lowered their fright while Emberflame lowered her guard as the speaker, together with four other creatures, entered the room through the window. The speaker had been Alexandrite from Soran and Growler's house, and she had come to visit Kushanku and the others alongside Cyril the Hippogriff, Desdemona the Griffin and two more creatures also adopted by Growler into his family, another Nekomata named Padparadscha, or 'Paddy' for short and who was Alexandrite's younger sister, and a young Peryton named Link. Paddy was less colourful than her older sister Alexandrite. Her fur was a variety of shades of orange, pink and red with some parts of her pelage a metallic version of those colours, but the Nekomata's forked tail and head hair, which resembled an elegant curled lock on her head between her ears, were a very deep pink-red colour. Her eyes were amber, unlike Alexandrite's and like most Nekomata. Link the Peryton resembled a young grey-white stag, most of his fur a silvery-grey and white in colour. Because he was young, around Kushanku and company's age, he did not have his antlers yet. His feathered wings and tail were also grey-white with the flight feathers on his wings being a very dark grey colour. His hind feet which resembled the talons of a bird; a feature of all Peryton, were also grey in colour. Link, much like Desdemona, Cyril, Paddy and Alexandrite and several other non-Dog family members of Soran's family, was an orphan and was taken in by Growler when he had been a very young fawn.
As the five newcomers climbed through the window and entered the sleeping quarters, Emberflame put her fiery arms on her hips and frowned.
"What are you five doing here?" she asked, "You know you're not allowed in Dashiell's den without his permission."
"I know but we were so worried for you guys that we've decided to come check on you," said Desdemona. Then Link and Padparadscha stepped forward with a couple of grey-white bag-like cloths wrapping something in their mouth or paws. The pair then placed the cloths onto the floor and unwrapped them to reveal the contents inside. Shock and immense astonishment tore through Emberflame, Kushanku and the other kids when they saw that the contents revealed to be a bundle of apples and meat.
"Hey, where did you get those apples and that hunk of meat!?" blurted out Amberpaw and with that, she jumped down from the bed and rushed over to examine the food closer. Paddy stepped in the Cheetah cub's path.
"We received it from a group of Cockatrices, Chickens and a young Kitsune fox," the pink, orange and red Nekomata replied.
"Yes, while we were on our way to here, they dropped by and gave us those cloth-bags containing the apples and dumb chicken meat," continued Alexandrite.
"The Kitsune cub told us that she and her comrades had sneaked up on a group of patrolling Kappa while they were talking and had snaffled some of their bags of food they had had with them," continued Cyril with a small, smug smile on his Eagle-like beak.
"And now they are distributing it amongst the villagers," added Desdemona. Link the Peryton nodded in agreement. This was replied by a silent astonishment of Emberflame, Kushanku and the other kids, and also Shadewing who had dropped from his perch to gaze at the food Alexandrite and her group had brought in shock, his grief over the Fighting League briefly pushed aside. Then finally, Emberflame broke the silence.
"That patrol group of Kappa, and also the Queen herself, will NOT be pleased to hear that their food had been snaffled," muttered the Pyro.
"Yes, you could be SEVERELY punished for stealing food from the Queen's patrollers," put in Amberpaw. Kushanku, Crystal, Snowwing, Dahlia, Sandstorm, Satoshi, Nyarth and Akira just exchanged glances and shrugged. However, due to their ravenous hunger, the nine kids went forward, took the apples and the meat from the bags and began to dig in. As they did that, the adamant and smug looks remained on the faces of Alexandrite and her four comrades.
"If that beastly MONSTER Witch of a Queen once to have us put to death or turned to stone, then so be it," growled Desdemona disdainfully, "We don't care what stupid laws regarding our food OR of the consequences she decides to throw at us."
"Yeah, especially with the amount of food those MONSTERS have served on their tables on the TV at our (Growler and Soran's) house and how they are gorging themselves on it," put in Alexandrite.
"As long as we try and keep as many individuals from death by starvation for as long as possible then we should be okay," added Cyril but Shadewing crossed his membranous wings and shook his head in utter disapproval.
"No, it is NOT okay, you five," he snapped, "That Kitsune and her cronies SHOULDN'T have snaffled that fruit and meat from the Kappa in the first place. It is THEIR food and we are to honour the Queen with our ninety percent sacrifices whether we like it or not…"
"And then what?" Paddy rhetorically interrupted, "Have us starve to death in this frigid, ongoing winter," she gestured with a paw to outside through the window which was now snowing once again, before her voice changed to a more disdainful and outraged tone, "A LOT of poor creatures are STARVING and STRUGGLING to SURVIVE in these HORRIBLE WINTERY CONDITIONS, and even as we speak, some of them are actually DYING from either the cold OR lack of food," then Padparadscha's ears lowered, as did Alexandrite's, "When Alexandrite and I were kits, our father eventually died from the cold and we were given to some forest Elves who then took us to Mr Growler and Mrs Silver-Ears to raise as part of their family."
The words that came out of the orange, pink and red Nekomata's mouth seemed to move Shadewing and made his eyes threaten to ooze more tears, as some of his closest friends in a roost of Bats he used to live with had suffered the same demise, either in a blizzard or just from the freezing cold itself.
"Yes, you don't know what heartbreak this winter is causing everyone," continued Alexandrite, before the colourfully green, sea green and pink and red Nekomata shook her head bitterly, "Not to mention this Fighting League that's going on, and I tell you something, hundreds MORE hearts are about to break once those poor selected creatures are savagely killed in the arena…"
As Alexandrite spoke these words, Shadewing began to shudder and whimper. Kushanku, as he munched on an apple, gazed at the Bat as he continued to tremble and breathe in and out rapidly.
"Mr Shadewing?" he asked with concern. Alexandrite, Paddy, Cyril, Link and Desdemona looked on with surprise as Emberflame left her lamp and put a fire hand on Shadewing's shoulder to try and quell his nerves and panic.
"Are you okay?" asked Crystal as she fed on another apple.
"Was it something I've said?" asked Alexcandrite as regret boiled within her. Emberflame shot the colourful Nekomata a glare.
"Look, just get outa here and return to Soran's house, will you!?" growled the Pyro as she tried to comfort the upset Shadewing as the Bat began to cry his heart out again, "You've landed yourself in enough trouble as it is already."
"Yeah, you're not welcome here, anyway," put in Amberpaw as she ate some of the meat.
"Thanks for the food, though," put in Nyarth as he shoved a piece of apple down his throat, much to Emberflame's disgust but not at his manners. Alexandrite then turned a disapproving eye to Kushanku, Nyarth, Satoshi and Akira, "Well, if you think our Kitsune friend and her friends are reckless in stealing food from that so-called Queen's patrollers, what about that Nekomata over there," she nodded to Nyarth, "who tried chasing down that horrible Black Dwarf and his cronies when they were taking away the selected villagers, among them Soran and Gingerfur?"
"Pretty daring, if you ask me," said Desdemona, "I would have done that too to rescue Soran and the others."
Cyril and Link nodded in agreement while Alexandrite and Paddy just stood there, paws on their hips and a frown directed at Kushanku and his siblings. Then Emberflame decided that the presence of the Griffin, Hippogriff, the two Nekomata and the Peryton youngsters had gone on long enough. Leaving Shadewing's side to let him have another cry, the Pyro glided over to the five members from Soran's family and began to guide them through the corridor, through the main living quarters of Dashiell's den and straight out the front door so that Dashiell and the other adults in there could witness their disallowed presence and tell them off.
"Come on, you five," said Emberflame as she put a fire arm around Alexandrite's back and began to lead her towards the door and prompt Paddy, Cyril, Desdemona and Link to follow, "Out you go."
As the Pyro guided the five out of the door, Kushanku, Satoshi, Nyarth, Akira, Crystal, Amberpaw, Sandstorm, Dahlia and Snowwing, who were still eating, followed. Shadewing looked up tearfully and saw the nine kids follow Emberflame through the door.
"Oi, you nine!" said the Bat despite his wounded heart still bleeding, "Get back here!"
With that, he abandoned his spot and followed.
Meanwhile, in the living compartment of the main living quarters, Dashiell, Honeycomb, Rosemary the Monkey, Chiseltooth the Beaver, Rubyfeather the Parrot, Rosebush, Spikeball, Thorn and Quill the Hedgehogs, Mensa the Skvader and Hopper and Daisytail the Jackalopes were anticipating the start of the main part of the Fighting League. On the magical TV screen, the Tenome and the Wolf continued to narrate the scenes.
"We are now ready for the main part of the Fighting League," said the Tenome excitedly, her hand-eyes flashing between the 'camera' and the scene, which seemed to be some type of parade, "Our selected fighters are just being transported by sleighs to the arena now, and BOY, what a sight…"
"Indeed it is, Gankyu," said the Wolf as he also gazed at the parade-like scene, "Her Majesty's followers are absolutely CHEERING and SCREAMING for the fighters as they pass by on their way to the arena…"
The scene consisted of a crowd of the Queen's cronies, and that crowd was divided into two with a gap slicing through them. In that gap were the sleighs, and on those sleighs being pulled by yule goats and reindeer, were the selected participants for the Fighting League. Dashiell then squinted to try and find Gingerfur as the Hedgehogs began to examine some of the faces of the creatures in the sleighs shown up close by the magical camera.
"Many of them look terrified and fearful," whispered Rosebush with sympathy.
"But some of them look determined," said Thorn as he examined the faces of some of the creatures.
"Aren't they even homesick or terrified?" asked Quill. Then Spikeball squinted at the faces of the creatures in the sleighs.
"From what I can tell," he told his two brothers and cousin, "All I seem to see is determination and aggression in the faces of quite a few of those creatures, rather than terror or fear."
The other three Hedgehogs shot Spikeball a disbelieving look. Rosemary, Mensa and Chiseltooth did the same.
"Are you meaning to say…?" began Rosemary but the Monkey trailed off as the look of dread formed on Spikeball's face. Then Rosemary felt the same feeling of dread well within her as a deduction of the apparent aggression in the eyes of some of the creatures also dawned within the Monkey, but it was a deduction she didn't like at all. Then soon, the magic camera, flanked by the Tenome named Gankyu, and the Wolf, panned to the arena. At the entrance to the corridor, Emberflame continued to usher Alexandrite, Paddy, Cyril, Desdemona and Link towards the door but the five members of Soran's family kept talking back. Honeycomb flashed a glance at the commotion and turned back to the magic TV.
"I think Alexandrite and the other four with her are in deep trouble," muttered the female Cheetah.
"Look at the arena!" gasped Hopper in astonishment.
The arena was an amazing sight. It was a massive, stretched rectangular construction but with rounded curves at its ends rather than straight with sharp corners as in a true rectangle. The walls of the construct were seats and it was filling up with the Queen's followers. Not too far away, Crystal happened to gaze in the direction of the TV and when she saw the construct, she saw that the walls formed stands for the spectators but the centre of the arena, the actual site for the main fight, was a complex construction with a variety of terrains. One part of the terrain was a flat clearing with nothing but snow with no obstacles in it whatsoever but the other sections contained vastly different terrains and obstacles. Another section resembled a small forest, or thicket, with a cluster of dead-looking, leafless trees growing within it but then Crystal noticed some spiky forms at the foot of the trees.
'Thorn-bushes,' thought the Parrot chick. Behind her, Kushanku, Akira, Satoshi, Nyarth, Amberpaw, Sandstorm, Snowwing, Crystal and Dahlia appeared and also gazed at the arena while nearby, Alexandrite and the other four with her continued to argue with Emberflame. Shadewing then emerged but the moment the Bat's eyes landed on the crystalline TV, panic began to take hold of him once again.
The other terrains of the arena consisted of another clearing but rather than solid ground blanketed with snow, this one was shiny ice and under that ice was a lake of water. There was also a rocky zone, similar to the rugged, mountain terrain our world's hikers would be familiar with; a zone dotted with very sharp, jagged rocks, and yet another zone with large block walls positioned at various points within it.
"So is THAT the arena in which the fighters have to fight?" asked Kushanku as he continued to eat an apple.
"It looks dangerous," murmured Sandstorm timidly. Behind Kushanku's group, Shadewing continued to shudder. His eyes were bulging out of their sockets and his teeth were gritted, and his fur was practically spiked out like a hedgehog's spines. Nearby Emberflame continued to argue with Alexandrite, Paddy, Cyril, Desdemona and Link. The Pyro was unaware that the nine kids were about to watch the Fighting League unfold.
"The whole system is completely UNFAIR, Miss Emberflame," retorted Alexandrite angrily, "How is it that those GLUTTONOUS creatures of that so-called Queen have so much food while EVERYONE out here is starving and struggling to find enough to EAT!"
"Don't you DARE call the Queen the so-called Queen, young lady!" snapped Emberflame. However, the Pyro flinched with disgust as Alexandrite let loose a scoffing snort at the remark, as did Paddy, Cyril, Link and Desdemona. Nearby, the adults continued to watch the opening events of the Fighting League.
"In they go," said Dashiell as the sleighs took the fighters in through the stand section of the arena. The Queen and her cronies also entered the arena but will be walking up to the stands, where they took their seats, the Queen in a large, most impressive seat made from pure crystalline ice that glinted in the wintery sun, but don't think of admiring the Queen's seat for its beauty! Then after another good while and with Emberflame STILL arguing with an incredibly stubborn Alexandrite and her four comrades and Kushanku and company including a very panic-stricken Shadewing watching, the Fighting League's main event was eventually set up and good to go. The several hundreds of fighters, among them Gingerfur and Soran whom Dashiell and the other adults still cannot find in the crowd, were set up and poised to be launched into the arena while the stands were finally full to capacity, the cheers of the Queen's cronies flooding the air, and various limbs from the crowd (arms, wings, cloaked arms as in the Shadows, etc) waving wildly.
"Okay, here we go!" cooed Gangyu the Tenome with angst, "I can't WAIT for the action to start!"
"Yes," said the Wolf, "The Bunyips, Manticores and the Bat-Harpies are now starting the countdown to the release of our awesome fighters' release into the arena now."
The camera then showed a group of Bat-Harpies, Manticores (lion-like creatures with a humanoid or ape-like face, a scorpion's tail and bat-like wings; the males possessing larger manes than the females) and the Bunyips (shaggy swamp creatures resembling a cross between a sloth and an otter and with massively clawed hands) then lifted another crystalline screen (the Bunyips being carried by either the Manticores or the Bat-Harpies and holding the crystal slab) showing the countdown numbers to release, starting from 20. Dashiell and his group, and countless other Narnian creatures either living in their homes or gathered outside watching the giant crystalline screens, watched with increasing nervousness as the countdown went from 19 down to 15. There was a deathly silence, both over the arena as the crowd of watchers fell silent, and in the air above the Narnians watching either from their own homes, such as Dashiell and his family's den, or the bigger crowds of Narnians gathered around the large crystalline screens up and down the country.
The countdown soon passed ten and was now in the single digits, and the anticipation was mounting within every watcher: excitement for the Queen and her cronies, immense nervousness or extreme fright for the participants and worry and fright for the Narnians watching either in the few homes that had a magical TV, or those that had gathered in bigger crowds around the larger screens. Then within moments, the countdown reached 0 and as soon as it did, a Manticore rose into the air and let loose a piercing scream to signal to the releasers, those that had been put in charge of the fighters' release, then lowered the barriers to the fighters, which had been set up to prevent the fighters from running out of the sleighs, and within moments, all the several hundred selected participants, among them Gingerfur and Soran, charged into the arena like an avalanche of snow.
The third Decadal Fighting League, which had been established during the Queen's fifth year of ruling Narnia, had begun.