"So, what do you think?" I asked Akash after Belana had teleported us back to the corridor outside of the Initiate room. 

Akash turned to me and fixed me with a glare that I could only describe as withering, the leaves that made up the outer layer of his body bristled slightly as if a heavy wind was passing through them. 

"What do I… Think," He seethed. "I think that I was put into a situation that could have led to the premature end of my entire species, and now the fool wants to put the both of us on a collision course with even more of those creatures?"

That hadn't been the answer that I was expecting from the tree-like alien at all. I'd been expecting Akash to be guns blazing ready to take these things down, but I figured that the hatred he had for humans didn't run quite as deep for alien races that mowed down species that weren't Eldrani. I was almost disappointed. 

"Personally I think we should help," I said with a shrug. 

"You want to help that… fool of a man?" Akash asked, taken aback by my declaration. 

I rolled my eyes at the Eldrani. "Look, just because this guy is a bit of an airhead, well I say a bit of… a lot of an airhead, that doesn't mean we should condemn all of Prespian city to the fate of assimilation, right?"

Akash slouched slightly, a sign he knew he was wrong. 

"No, I do not wish to condemn the people of this world to a fate such as that, but can I truly risk allowing my entire species to fall in such a way?" He asked, "We shall speak of this again later, all four of us, before coming to our conclusion." 

<Don't be too harsh on him, Jacob,> BB cut in, uncharacteristically serious as Akash walked into the room ahead of me. <He lost his entire species, which means he probably deems the entire legacy of his race to be his sole responsibility. In some ways, he might even be right. Coming up against something that wouldn't just take that away, but make it their own, was probably something that terrified him.>

I had to agree with BB as I walked back into the Initiate room. Perhaps, if I was the last of my kind, I'd be able to understand where he was coming from a little better. But as it stood I'd just have to take BB's word for it and support Akash where I could. 

As I walked back into the room, I noticed that the next fight had already begun. 

I recognised one of the two aliens from the introduction session before the tournament itself had started. They were Kathura, the tall bat-like creature with webbing between its arms and legs, the creature that looked as if it were more suited toward swimming around in water than walking around on land. 

Still, I also distinctly remembered Belana claiming that they were the greatest warrior from their planet, so there was a chance that the bat-like alien might come out on top after all. 

"I recognise Kathura from earlier," I said to Yr'Arl as I sat back down next to him, "But who's the other one?" 

"That would be Convis, Jacob Lyre," Yr'Arl replied. "Squadron Leader Belana described them as a powerful close-range fighter, which is not surprising considering they are the same species as Venad."

Yr'Arl was right, it wasn't exactly surprising that a Fantraxi would excel at close range combat, which was exactly why the many-limbed alien was darting across the battlefield on its four feet at a rapid pace, trying to close the gap between themselves and Kathura. 

Kathura, however, wasn't having any of it. Instead of allowing Convis to draw close, they had wreathed themselves in an armour that seemed to be made entirely of liquid and was currently surfing around the battlefield just out of Convis' reach. 

Every time the Frantraxi tried to put their poisoned hand into the watery barrier, Kathura would just about slip out of their grip. It was a dangerous game, and if Kathura made a single mistake it would be over in an instant. Frantraxi poison could drop just about anything or anyone in a single touch, forcing them into a deep sleep. In other words, Convis' poison was just about the perfect weapon for this kind of tournament, if only they could land it. 

As Kathura darted around in their watery armour they were also firing high-powered jets of the stuff in Convis' direction. None of them were quite managing to hit, but by the scratch marks they left on the supposedly manna resistant material that made up the floor and the walls, it was pretty clear that the attacks were quite powerful. 

"Did they start just after I went to the toilet, then?" I asked Yr'Arl as I settled down to watch the pair fighting. 

"Indeed," Yr'Arl replied, "they have been going for some time."

"Anyone clearly ahead of the other?" I asked as Convis narrowly avoided another blast of high pressured liquid. 

"It is quite clear that Convis has been on the back foot for the majority of the battle," Yr'Arl confirmed my suspicions. "But, all it takes is one touch and they will have likely won the entire thing." 

Well, it looked like Kathura was determined to never let that happen. 

Convis drew close once again and almost clumsily struck out one of their two handed arms. As the grasping fingers at the end of the hands drew close, Kathura took a chance. Their water armour surged forward off of their own body and wrapped itself around Convis, completely cutting off their airways. 

They struggled valiantly against the watery bonds, but the armour wasn't staying stationary. In fact, at this point it could hardly be called armour at all. With waving arms Kathura was forging the water armour into a water sphere, lifting it above the ground so Convis couldn't get any purchase to escape. 

Within just a few minutes the Fantraxi was unconscious and the fight had come to a close. 

"Well," I said, "Looks like it was just a matter of a single mistake for Convis as well!"