>>5320417You suddenly bite your tongue to avoid crying out at a bolt of pain.
“Your ribs are still badly bruised,” the Novice reminds you, withdrawing her hand from the affected area. “You may not even realize it, but since returning, you have been favouring one side—your bad side. You are right-handed, Degenerateborn, and you step forward with your left foot, always. That has reversed, because your knee is tender, and your ribs prevent movement of that arm.”
“I am still six times his weight and thrice his height,” you say.
“You are still slow and clumsy, and genuinely less practiced than he is,” the Novice snaps back, smacking you with her tail. “Be smart, or at least as intelligent as one such as your glorious and noble self can manage.”
“I did not know you cared so much,” you note.
“You have great research value,” she asserts.
Then, after a long pause, she adds: “And… Glowie would miss you, certainly.”
The Novice squeezes your arm, perhaps unconsciously, before she leaves your side. You and Agno, naked as the day of your hatching, step out onto a hastily-constructed raised platform of metal and wood. It is big enough for the two of you to manoeuvre, but not to flee or dodge overmuch. This prevents you advantage and disadvantage: you hope it will negate the benefit of your defiant subordinate’s agility and speed; but also, it means he can easily dive under your reach and, if he exploits a weak point, it will be harder for you to deny him access to it for a second blow. You have seen how kobolds fight big folk: they get underfoot, or climb atop them.
And below you… Is the basilisk, in its pit. The battle is to take place above its enclosure, where the no-longer tame beast paced and squawks hungrily. To fall into that pit is to invite immediate petrification and death.
For his part, Agno has clearly managed to find some steel in his spine. His tail lashes slowly. His quaking has ceased. His teeth are bared, a mouth full of tiny razors. He assumes a fighting stance. You see scars all over his body, a monument to a hard life. You realize, with a start that this male is likely older than you—and, indeed, more seasoned in battles and brawls.
What do you do?
>Fight defensively, cautiously, and smartly; go for non-lethal victory>Shock and awe! Intimidate him with force, and defeat him swiftly and with lethal finality>Attempt to cheat, using magic subtly to throw him off his game>Write-in 