Adam glanced up when Ileeya and Kirlothenin entered the room. The night elf immediately sat next to Lord Aron's bed to check on him. "Dormir told us what happened just a few minutes ago. How is he?" Kirlothenin stood behind Ileeya as he inquired after Adam's father.

Adam shook his head. "He's still alive." The rogue ran a hand through his disheveled hair. He watched Ileeya say a couple of her healing spells and Lord Aron's color seemed to darken a little. He stirred and opened his eyes.

"I feel terrible." Aron's voice was hoarse. Adam moved to be in his father's line of sight. "Adam."

"I'm here." Adam hadn't slept much. He didn't realize that despite his hatred and anger towards his father, he still cared about him. And dying to a forsaken's poison was the last thing he had wanted for his father. He recalled what he had told his father before all this had happened. He had wished that Lord Aron and his late brother, Reuben, had switched places. With a bit of surprise, Adam realized that he now regretted that wish.

Lord Aron's hand reached out and with just a slight hesitation, Adam took it. That was the first time they touched since, well, he couldn't remember when ...at least fourteen years. Lord Aron spoke again. "Well?" Adam flinched. Well what? "Do I have an heir?" Adam frowned. This again?

…

Kirlothenin watched Lord Jorach Ravenholdt step outside where the two conflicting groups were gathered. The Horde on one side, the Alliance on the other. Four of the Alliance group were missing, however. Lord Aron, Amy, Adorei, and Dormir. They were excused from this meeting with good reason. Per Ravenholdt's request, Shaw, Baros, and Maggie did not join the Alliance group. Instead, they stood near Lord Jorach. Many Assassin's League rogues surrounded both groups.

Both groups looked up at Ravenholdt expectantly. He had asked them to meet him outside when he announced he had come to a decision. "I trust you all had a good night's rest?" He paused, though none responded. "I thought long and hard about your conflict and decided that your conflict is not mine. However, it has been brought to my land and therefore, I will use the rules I provide to those in my Assassin's League."

Kirlothenin frowned. They weren't a part of this Assassin's League. Why should they comply to their rules? "And what are these rules?"

Ravenholdt glanced at him for a moment before looking back at the crowd before him. "If you agree, you will fight your battle in the Judgment Ring. I have chosen leaders for each of your groups. Mr. Jerold Grimmort for the Horde. And Mr. Adam..." Lord Jorach glanced at the human, apparently unaware of the man's last name.

"Boxley. Sir Adam Boxley," the rogue replied to the surprise of many of their group. Adam gave Jerold a hard look. "Son of Lord Aron Boxley." Kirlothenin allowed himself a slight, but sad smile. The man had finally forgiven his father.

To this, Lord Jorach merely raised an eyebrow in his own surprise to Adam's relation, but continued with his short speech. "Sir Adam Boxley will lead the Alliance group. My choice for leadership is based purely on the fact that you two are the first ones who stepped forward from your respective groups to speak to me when you had arrived.

"Gentlemen, you are to each choose one champion who will fight in the Judgment Ring. I believe you are both familiar with this ring and its rules. Your champions are not to kill each other. Should Boxley's champion win, he will be allowed to lead his group out of here, while the other group is detained. Should Grimmort's champion win, my assassins will aid him in making sure Boxley's group is returned to imprisonment. If you accept these terms, step forward."

After a minute's hesitation, Jerold stepped forward. Adam glanced at those around him as though to ask their opinions. No one shook their heads, so he stepped forward as well. "Good!" Lord Jorach clapped his hands together and rubbed them back and forth. "You have fifteen minutes to choose your champions."

Adam, Kristie, Kirlothenin, Ileeya, and Jelune huddled up to discuss who to send in the ring. Kristie was automatically out, as was Ileeya. Despite their successful escape, they were still not experienced fighters. Jelune spoke up. "I'll fight. Kirlothenin can't do anything with those shackles on. And you're tired, Adam."

Adam shook his head. "I've fought in this ring once before, Jelune. I respect your abilities, but this ring is small. It's not designed for hunters. It was designed for close combat fighting. Besides, you don't have a weapon."

Jelune protested. "But you're tired from last night, Adam. You'll be sluggish."

"I didn't say I would be going in the ring." Adam almost smirked at Jelune's surprised face before he looked at Kirlothenin. "Did you mean it when you said you almost always won in those arenas?"

Kirlothenin nodded as he tried to figure out what Adam was up to. "But I never handicapped myself to the extent of not being able to use my magic. You or Jelune would be better suited-"

"Do you trust me?"

The mage studied the man's face. There was a twinkle in his eyes. He was definitely up to something. And he realized that, yes, he did trust him. "Oddly enough, I do."

"Good. Then you're going in that ring as our champion." Adam raised a hand to stop Jelune's, Kristie's, and Ileeya's protests and looked at them with a smile. "Trust me."

Jerold waited until Adam announced his choice of champion before snickering and saying something to his group. He then announced Gavor as his champion.

Everyone stepped over to the ring, which wasn't a ring at all. It was more of an oval area marked out with wooden pegs and rope. Some old, wooden bleachers surrounded it. Lord Ravenholdt stepped into the ring and motioned for someone to come forward. This was an aging orc with tufts of white hair, a thinly braided beard, and a simple white robe.

"Gentlemen. This is Master Kang. The Judgment Ring is his domain and he will be officiating. As with every fight within the ring, his word goes. Now, will the two champions please step into the ring."

Kirlothenin glanced at Adam, unsure if he had made the right choice. But the rogue only motioned for him to enter the ring. The mage closed his eyes briefly to get himself to focus then stepped in. At least he still had his sword.

Gavor grinned maliciously. He was obviously thinking this was going to be easy. Kirlothenin ignored the warlock as he prepared himself for battle. This was no time for self-doubt. He looked at the orc who was studying him.

Master Kang stepped up to Kirlothenin and held up one of the shackles, examining the runes inscribed on them. "You are a magic-user?" Kirlothenin nodded and told him he was a mage. "And does this prevent you from using your magic?" Again he nodded. "Are there keys to these?"

Jerold Grimmort stepped forward. "He must fight in those shackles. It's part of the deal." The undead looked to Ravenholdt for confirmation.

"I told you, Master Kang's word goes in the ring. Your champions have already presented themselves."

The orc shook his head. "My ring holds only honorable fights. I will not allow this man to fight in shackles that prevent him from using all of his abilities."

Now Jerold looked annoyed. But he gave a grim smile and said, "I'm afraid I didn't bring the keys with me."

Master Kang waved the undead off. "We don't need keys." He turned to a female orc rogue near him. "Please ask Mr. Wolfe to come here. His services are needed."

Jerold was now very annoyed as he turned to Lord Jorach Ravenholdt. "You said no one was to remove those shackles."

"I also said that Master Kang's word goes in the ring. I believe you can withdraw your champions, though that hasn't happened before. Master Kang, can they change their champions?"

The orc nodded his head. "In the event that either of the champions cannot perform their duty, then the leaders must step in and fight instead."

Kirlothenin now began to smile as he saw Jerold scowl at the prospect of having to fight Adam by himself. The odds were definitely in Adam's favor. The undead man protested to Ravenholdt who only raised his eyebrows. "Mr. Grimmort, did you or did you not agree to the Judgment Ring to resolve the issue?"

"I did." He glared accusingly at the guild leader. "I can't help but wonder if you were favoring the Alliance, Mr. Ravenholdt."

To this, the guild leader merely tilted his head slightly. "Tell me, Mr. Grimmort, who chose the champions?"

"I did and he did." Jerold pointed to Adam without looking at him.

"Now, how could I favor anyone if I did not choose either champion?"

Jerold didn't answer. He couldn't help but think the man had manipulated this, but he had no proof whatsoever. "What's to say that the mage won't teleport away once he's free?"

Lord Jorach glanced at the blood elf then back at Jerold. "If he does that, then you automatically win and the others here will be taken prisoner. My agents will personally escort them to wherever you want. And then I'll send more after Mr. Dawnwhisper here. Understood?" He glanced at Kirlothenin, who gravely nodded his understanding. Jerold stepped away, having no more protests.

A man approached Kirlothenin and introduced himself as Winstone Wolfe. He examined Kirlothenin's shackles and pulled out a lockpicking kit. It took longer than normal due to the complicated lock mechanism, but the expert lockpicker had the shackles off within minutes.

The mage rubbed his raw wrists and tossed an approving look at Adam as he could feel the magic within him stir once more. Adam had a broad grin on his face. He obviously had known that Master Kang wouldn't allow the shackles. With a sudden show of respect, Kirlothenin bowed his head towards Adam's unexpected wisdom. He then focused his attention on the warlock who had summoned his felhunter.

Both spell casters cast wards and armored themselves in preparation for the fight. Master Kang stood in the middle of the ring with Gavor on one side and Kirlothenin on the other. He raised his hand unceremoniously and said, "Begin!" before stepping quickly out.

The warlock immediately began casting something. Kirlothenin counterspelled him and had to quickly dodge the felhunter. Not only did he have to avoid its sharp teeth, he had to pay attention to if the demon removed his wards and other spells that helped him survive.

Kirlothenin felt alive for the first time in ages. Having been unable to do anything for the past three days, he was very happy to be able to do anything. He knew the others were relying on him and he was confident of his own abilities. Pain pierced through him as one of the warlock's spells hit him. Kirlothenin cast his frost nova spell, binding the felhound in place as he moved away from it once more. He cast his arcane bolts towards the warlock, then ducked to avoid a shadowbolt.

Apparently, there was some sort of magical enchantment on the Judgment Ring that didn't allow the magic to leave the borders, thus the spectators were safe from errant spells. More pain throughout his system let him know that the warlock's continuous damage spells were well at work, wreaking havoc on his body.

Gritting his teeth, Kirlothenin cast a spell that blasted the warlock with a cone of cold air, freezing his muscles and slowing him down. The mage felt one of his protective spells fall off and turned to see the felhunter looking to cast its own spell to remove another of Kirlothenin's wards. He shot a frost bolt at it, but suddenly felt himself grow very scared, the urge to flee overpowered anything else and his legs took him to the other side of the ring. By the time he had regained control of his emotions, Gavor had poured more of his spells into his body.

The blood elf quickly removed a curse, then stole the warlock's fel armor spell. But almost as soon as he had gotten it, he lost it to the felhunter. Kirlothenin knew he had to deal with the demon first or else all of his protective spells were going to disappear. And if that happened, the warlock's spells would be hitting him all the harder. He aimed a frostfire bolt towards the felhunter, but suddenly felt himself weaken as his life energies began to be drained from him. Kirlothenin counterspelled Gavor to stop the life drain spell. He then polymorphed the warlock into a sheep.

Pain tore into his leg as the felhunter bit him. Kirlothenin couldn't help but let out a yell of pain as he cast a frost nova spell, binding the demon to the ground again. He stepped back and cast a frost bolt into the creature, followed by an arcane bolt and a frostfire bolt. The demon fell over, out for the count now.

A burning pain hit his shoulder and he turned to see an ebon imp beginning to cast another fireball. Kirlothenin instantly cast his arcane explosion, knocking the imp out, but also damaged Gavor which canceled the polymorph spell. Kirlothenin cast his protective spells once more, and had to cast a ward that allowed his magical energies to absorb the damage from the warlock for a short time.

His ward was cast just in time as Gavor let loose with a blood curdling howl. Terror filled him once again and Kirlothenin was overwhelmed with the urge to flee. More damaging spells hit his body as he struggled to regain control of his fears. Both his magical and life energies were getting low. Kirlothenin cast an ice block around himself. This nullified the lingering spells that the warlock had pelted him with. It also gave him time to come up with a plan.

The downside to the ice block was that Gavor also had time to plan. Kirlothenin saw him recast his own protection spells and conjured a green orb, absorbing it into his body. He then began to summon another demon. Kirlothenin canceled his ice block spell and counterspelled the warlock's summon. Gavor was not happy about that, but Kirlothenin didn't care. He cast his mirror image spell and three Kirlothenins appeared. They ran around quickly to confuse the warlock. The mage then summoned his water elemental.

Gavor gave a cackle and banished the elemental, then summoned an infernal to drop in the middle of the images, causing damage to them all, including Kirlothenin, and making the images disappear. Kirlothenin began to cast a frostbolt when he realized that his magical energies were just about gone. The blood elf realized that the warlock had more stamina than he did and was relying on that to survive the fight.

Well, there were ways around that, he thought. Kirlothenin quickly canceled the frostbolt spell and instead spellstole the warlocks fell armor once more. That depleted him of the last of his magic, but he had one more trick up his sleeve. Calling upon a faint connection to the Sunwell, he cast an arcane torrent on the warlock, interrupting whatever spell the forsaken was casting, and gaining some more magical energy. He then cast his blink spell, appearing just behind Gavor and surprising him. The warlock's surprise grew even more when Kirlothenin unsheathed his sword and immediately speared the forsaken in the gut.

Gavor fell back as Kirlothenin pulled the short sword out of the undead man's body and quickly moved to lay the weapon across Gavor's neck. "Yield!" he demanded. The warlock only looked up at him with cold hatred. He was refusing to yield, knowing that killing wasn't allowed. But with the sword at his throat, Gavor couldn't get up either, especially with the major wound to his body.

Master Kang stepped back into the ring. "I declare the mage the winner." A cheer went up from the Alliance group and the spectators who had watched the fight. Kirlothenin backed off, breathing hard. With the adrenaline of the fight leaving him, his limbs lost their strength and his knees buckled. Adam and Jelune caught him, each putting an arm around their shoulder's.

A familiar tingling sensation let him know that Ileeya had cast a rejuvenating spell on him. He could feel his life energies slowly return. It would take time, however, to replenish his magical energies. "Let's get you to a room to lie down," Adam said. All Kirlothenin wanted to do was go to sleep. The fight had lasted longer than he had expected. Gavor was obviously experienced in fighting. And if Kirlothenin hadn't had training as a battle mage, the warlock might have won.

…

Mathias Shaw was torn. On the one hand, he was glad that Kirlothenin had won. In fact, he wasn't surprised at all considering what he knew of the elf. He wasn't sure if the blood elf knew he had spies watching him from time to time. Anyone who could sneak past Jaina Proudmoore's barriers in Onyxia's Lair, steal something, fight a drake, and disappear had to get the attention of SI:7's leader. Ever since then Mathias had been researching just who this elf was.

As he watched Kirlothenin being led out of the ring, his eyes flickered to the other opponent, and the reason for his trepidation right now. At the moment, he seriously wished he had some authority here. The warlock was being helped by a forsaken dreadguard and shadowpriest. The fact that they were leaving, didn't bother him. The fact that the warlock was smiling, did. He quickly glanced at Jerold, who was talking quietly to a mage and a forsaken rogue. He had a strong suspicion that they were not going to just give up.

But, there were other matters to attend first. Mathias followed Lord Ravenholdt, Baros, and Maggie into Jorach's office. "So Baros," Ravenholdt said, "it looks like your daughter and her friends can leave as soon as they are ready. I fulfilled my end of the bargain." He had a big smile on his face.

Mathias positioned himself between the architect and the noble as Baros crossed his arms and asked, "How did you do it? I mean, you didn't know that Adam would choose Kirlothenin. And you didn't know how well the mage would fight. I say it was just luck!"

Jorach chuckled and moved behind his desk. "It's true that I gambled on the mage's skills. But I was fairly certain that Adam would choose him as his champion."

Mathias glanced at him now, curious. "How?"

Ravenholdt sat at his desk and pulled out a blank parchment and quill. "Adam has fought in that ring before. He knows Master Kang's rules." He began to write something on the parchment, then paused and looked up at them with a grin. "A certain elderly orc came to me last night saying he recognized a certain human. Apparently, he had given him a few lesson's in the ring a few years ago. And anyone who has been trained by Kang knows he insists on a fair fight."

"What does that have to do with Adam choosing the mage instead of himself or the hunter?"

Ravenholdt wrote a few more sentences before replying. "Because, my dear Baros, the reason the group came here in the first place was to get the mage free. It was an opportunity to do so, and fortunately, Adam knew it." He wrote a few more lines and the others grew silent.

Another few minutes and Ravenholdt blew on the fresh ink to get it to dry faster. "Now, Mr. Alexston, if you would kindly sign this agreement, you can start your work on my renovations."

Baros took the paper and read it, but didn't sign it. "I didn't agree to this." Mathias stiffened slightly. The game has changed. Didn't Baros realize that?

"Yes you did." Lord Ravenholdt was quick to reply. "We made an agreement last night. I fulfilled my end of the bargain..." He held up the quill.

But Baros was still being stubborn. "We agreed that I would pay you for your services. I had intended to pay with gold, Jorach." Baros smiled, apparently thinking he had finally one-upped the man. Shaw caught Maggie's gaze. She was aware of the change as well.

Ravenholdt slowly put the quill down and stood up, locking eyes with Baros. "If you recall my exact words, Mr. Alexston, I said, 'that would be something more worthy of the payment I expect'. At no time did I mention what you expected to pay."

The noble's voice was calm, but Mathias could tell that Jorach was running out of patience. In Ravenholdt's mind, it was no longer a case of him trying to woo Baros' business. Lord Jorach considered the case closed and a deal had been made. If Baros didn't accept this, things could get ugly real fast.

Baros opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. "Damn. You did say that, didn't you." He sighed, resigning himself to the situation. "Alright Jorach. You win." He picked up the parchment to read it again, not noticing the two agents beside him silently letting out their breaths.

Lord Jorach grinned and sat back down. "See, I knew I liked you, Baros."

The architect mumbled something about there being too many rogues in his life as he picked up the quill. He paused and looked at Jorach. "If I sign this, I'm free to go?" At the man's nod, he signed his name and tossed the quill on the table. "I'll draw up some blueprints and get them to you by the end of the week."

"Thank you, my friend. I look forward to your business." Jorach picked up the contract and folded it.

"I'm not your friend!" Baros turned and left the room, followed by Maggie.

Mathias Shaw lingered in the office, watching the noble. "You know, I think he likes you."

Jorach smiled. "Why not? I'm a likeable fellow." He put the contract in a drawer. "I'm actually rather surprised he agreed so quickly, Mathias. I was afraid I was going to have to resort to a more serious threat to get him to uphold his end of our bargain."

"It's a matter of perspective, Jorach. Before, you were just a bully. Now, you were business with something more important to offer...his daughter's safety."

Ravenholdt leaned forward, lacing his fingers together on the desk. His voice was quiet, but serious. "You might want to warn him that it is unwise to break a contract with me."

"I won't have to. He's a man of his word."

"Good." He sat back again and cocked an eyebrow. "Now, I'm curious. Why doesn't he like rogues?"

"VanCleef. Baros was his assistant, second in charge of the Stonemason's Guild. He considered the man his friend. Then Edwin screwed him over, big time. Now he takes his hurt out on rogues just because VanCleef was one."

"As I recall, VanCleef was your friend as well. In fact, you taught him all he knew."

Mathias was silent for a moment. "His betrayal to me was painful as well, Jorach. But, I live in a world of betrayals and know how to deal with it. Baros is an innocent."

"You sound like you care about him," Jorach observed.

Shaw shrugged. "After fourteen years of having to deal with the man, I guess I'm used to him." He then turned to leave but paused at the door. "If I were you, I'd send men to make sure those forsaken don't do anything rash, or stupid, or both."

Author's Note:

So, in case you didn't figure out my rather ambiguous hint in my A/N from the last chapter, Kirlothenin was the 'sleeping lion' who finally 'woke up' and got to do something for once. :)
I hope the fight scene was okay. I don't have a top level warlock or mage, and I don't pvp, so I did the best that I could with just spell descriptions from wowhead. :) Things are going to get intense next chapter.
And thanks again for the reviews! They are much appreciated!