Within a great dome suspended in the sky by magic or technology -- because really, what was the difference? -- the final arena took form. Which was to say it took no form, or any form. The two combatants found themselves deposited on opposite sides of a slick translucent platform, surrounded by pitch-darkness. In that darkness, vague hints of shifting remembrances of old battles swirled, ready to leap out and remake the arena at a whim.

On one side, the warrior lord Hogan Bight, alternatively known as the dragon Crucible.

On the other side, the Viking warrior-girl turned lightning-lord, Ruffnut.

There came no signal, no alarm, no warning, no notice to begin. There came only the simple knowledge that now was the time to claim final victory.