The third round.

Cheers echoed in his head, bouncing around in his armoured skull. But he wasn't listening. He had come so far - two more rounds, and a champion would be crowned. He could be that champion, the winner of the tournament. It wasn't fame that he would be after if he did push himself to that point, but the satisfaction of knowing that he could make it to the top, that he was not just a normal knight among the ranks. And, for a dreamer, were those thoughts, those dreams, not reasonable? He thought so as he guided Catahe onto the lane, bringing her to a halt as the knight at the other end of the path did likewise. A bar was all that separated them.

Senz breathed deeply. One of the helpers handed him a lance and whispered a quiet 'Good luck'. The knight smiled and nodded his head in recognition - the boy could not see the former, but that was alright. Hollyrose, his opponent today, received a lance also and moved his free hand to grip his horse's reins tightly. Soon... Every single muscle was tense. He was surprised that he had made it through the first two rounds as he had, generally uninjured, coming out of them victorious. He wasn't the best jouster in the world, but he was certainly better than he had thought. The flagbearer moved towards the centre, on his opponent's side. Lifting the crimson flag, it hovered. Senz's breath caught in his throat. Then it came down, and both knights had jammed their heels into their mount's side, urging them forward.

They thundered towards each other, dust clouds rising in their wake. Senz swallowed hard. His heart was hammering, his eyes were narrowed, staring through the slits in his helm. Both lances lifted in the air, moving into position.

Crash!

Senz's lance collided with Hollyrose's left side; Hollyrose's connected with his opponent's chest, knocking the wind from him. The knight gasped as Catahe carried him to the opposite end of the lane, wheeling around as she had in previous matches. It wasn't long before the flag came down again and they were charging forward once more, meeting in the middle, the cacophonous crash of wood against body tearing through the cheering of the crowd as if it were nothing.

Two more rounds were played out in much the same way: hits were landed, but nothing to unseat one's opponent. By the end of the third round Senz was gasping for air and he could see that Hollyrose was in a similar state. This round will determine who wins, the knight realized. Although they had only clashed three times, each time had been rough, violent, and painful. Senz knew what the state of his body would be before he removed the armour and had a chance to properly survey the damage. Hollyrose was certainly not someone to underestimate: had that been the case, Senz would have been unseated before he had even felt the actual impact of the lance through his armour.

The flag came down for the last time. Head bent, Pirate's Swoop was more than determined to defeat his opponent as he had the previous two. He bounced in time with Catahe's gallop, lifted the lance and aimed for Hollyrose's right shoulder. He had always been aiming there, but due to certain circumstances, had missed on all three occasions. Now, however, he was determined. Now...

They met in the middle.

Senz was thrown from his horse. He twisted off Catahe's back, the lance tumbling from his gauntletted hand. He crashed hard into the dusty ground, helmet rolling off, body hardly moving once it had collided with the dirt. A low hiss passed unbidden from his lips. He had landed on his left arm.

And judging by the pain that had exploded within, it was broken.

Stifling a moan of pain, the knight managed to roll onto his back. His dark hair, soaked with sweat, was matted to his head. His eyes, normally a vivacious and stellar blue, were dulled. He swallowed hard. Catahe trotted towards the other end, the boy who had handed him his lance taking the reins before the mare could trot away. Another helper, this one much older, was rushing towards him - Senz had seem him off to the side before, and could now see his shadow racing forward. Struggling, the knight managed with much difficulty to pull himself to his feet. He cradled his arm, flinching as pain flashed through his face. Moving it was not a good idea. He tried to grin at the other man. "I think my arm's broken..."

"We'd better getcha to a heala then. Looks like ya mighta bumped ya head a bit too."

Senz swallowed hard. "Yeah..."

As the helper walked with him off the field, the knight listened to the cheers of the people. He couldn't remember what had happened between the time when he and his opponent had met in the centre and when he had landed on the ground. Now, however, he heard the people, pleased to see another winner. The last thing he heard was the winner's announcement before they had exited the field.

"Hollyrose triumphs over Pirate's Swoop! Congratulations! You have advanced to the next round!"