"It's not that easy, little hayseed," her father said, gently ruffling her hair while his eyes remained fixed on the battle below. "These men are strangers here, but look how well they know her. They covered the arena in dark ash so her white snow would instantly give away her position and stop her from hiding. They're attacking the trees she could rely on as allies and they haven't taken one step toward her, forcing her to leave the protection of her trees to come to them."
On the arena floor, there was no sign of Heila at all, leaving the audience craning their necks and peering through the smoke as they searched for a sign of the missing witch. Her opponents, however, seemed like they were in no hurry to approach the trees and search for her.
Instead, wave after wave of obsidian shards swept across the arena, shredding the bark of willow trees and snapping several of their branches that hung limply in the air, awaiting commands that never came.
