A wooden tower stood sixty feet tall at the center of the arena, balanced on one iron hinge. Every footstep on its boards made the structure sway, a shiver that ran straight up through Juna's teeth.
'It's a see-saw built by someone who hates people.'
"Welcome, welcome, to the Tilting Tower!" Herald Quillon shrieked from his floating platform, nearly dropping his crystal horn.
"Three to a side, one banner at the top, and anybody who falls off starts again from the bottom!"
"On the left, the Baron of Barely-a-Rank with the Moon Hound and the Sweetest Avalanche in the Kingdom!"
Ninety thousand voices roared back, shaking dust from the rafters, and Loccy waved happily at every one of them.
"Hound?" she growled, ears flat.
"He means it as a compliment, Mutt," Hajin said, stretching his arms over his head.
"He means it as a damn insult, idiot."
"Sweetest Avalanche is accurate, I do like being called sweet," Loccy said, patting her hammer fondly.
