The break helped, I guess, for the time being. Sari Frame at least provided me some comfort.

But it seems things have gone from bad to worse while I was gone. Alas, Peter Crane defeated Dyla Cormick in the run for the Dungeonmaster position. I honestly do not know what's in store for the Society.

I tried to talk some sense into Dyla about this, how being irrational over the duel made Caucus voters lose trust in her. But even then, she refused to understand. She has been extremely hell-bent at "getting back at Kara Martins." She's emotionally awash and relishing the attention she is getting from the duel. I, honestly, am absolutely disgusted with Dyla right now.

So today the duel took place. Yes, I was disgusted. But for some reason, I felt compelled to go and witness the spectacle. I can't put a finger on what exactly motivated me to go, I went.

Yet I felt alone. Ivella had to leave the day before owing to pressing business with Thomas Snow.

So here was a fancy rubber-plastic turf lining the sidewalk between the Fountain and Fleming House with markers indicating where each dueler was to stand after taking twenty steps, a line at the halfway point indicating where each dueler was to start, facing back-to-back before the step off, and lines at either end indicating the dueler to have lost owing to "losing ground" should they cross their lines. In the middle of that and on the sideline stood the Arbitrator in his brilliant blue robes and hat.

And the area surrounding this field was packed with cheering University students, much to my disgust. First Kara Martins walked out onto the carpet, acknowledging the cheering crowd; then the same with Dyla. I was not there to greet Dyla, by the way, more like I was there as the silent witness.

Then the two women huddled together with the Arbitrator as the Arbitrator explained the conventions. So there were three rounds. For each round, the two duelers, at the signal of the Arbitrator, would step off in a series of twenty steps. Once the twenty steps were completed, the dueler would, as quickly as possible, turn around and strike the opposing dueler with a Stun Spell. The rule was that if a dueler fell to the ground or fell back behind the edge line, she would lose the round. If both remained standing and in a good area, there would be some sort of a draw, and the same held true if both fell.

The Arbitrator also forbade the use of Stun Spells above Level IV intensity under the Circlarian School Standards for safety.

In any case, there was a fifteen-minute break between each round while each dueler saw to sideline caregivers to do things like short-term tending to injuries or giving water...despite the cold and rainy weather.

"Step!" the Arbitrator shouted. And amidst the roaring cheers, both Dyla and Kara, facing back-to-back stepped off in twenty steps to either end. Thus began the first round.

I was worried that Kara would get to her spot first, but then suddenly Dyla whipped around and struck Kara in the face with a Stun Spell. It was not full in the face but more of a face-glance. Regardless, it was enough to knock Kara down.

There was an uproar of cheers but also jeers of "Cheater!" and "Witch!"

The fifteen minutes that followed felt like the worst in my life.

Then came Round Two. Same call, same step off. But this time, when Dyla struck first, Kara face-glanced the hit but remained standing on her line. Kara sent a discharge of her own, which sent Dyla reeling backward. Dyla remained standing but staggered back over the edge line.

Therefore, Kara won Round Two.

Then came Round Three. This time, Dyla did not even get a chance to throw a discharge. She was hit full in the face by Kara's discharge and flew backwards off the Dueling Carpet. Seeing the medics rush over to her amidst the cheers and clamor, I saw that Dyla had, in fact, been knocked out cold.

So it came to be that Kara Martins won the duel. I'm sure that she is proud of that, and Dyla is humiliated at not only having lost the Dungeonmaster election but also having lost the duel...and I, at this point, believe, that is how Dyla is prioritizing this.