"Enough with your cheap magic tricks, mud creature!" Balthazar roared. He stepped forward, stamping his right foot so hard that a spiderweb of small cracks rippled across the stone floor of the altar.
He pointed a trembling finger at Ryker. "You think you can fool us with a shiny toy?!" Balthazar jeered. In his eyes, Ryker was just a fragile land-dweller. One solid strike from a real warrior like him, and the human would be dead.
Balthazar's eyes darted slyly toward the whispering crowd, trying to claw back his support. "Listen to me, warriors of the sky! Are we going to let a wingless creature steal our princess and our throne just because of some stupid sorcery?! I challenge you, Ryker! A one-on-one, bare-knuckle duel right here, right now!"
Balthazar was entirely confident he would w
