“Please welcome the first team of Apprentices looking to move up the ranks,” Jubblun introduced them to the thousands in attendance. “And now, welcome their first round opponents.”
The giant gates at the end of the arena rose open and a swarm of Planeya creatures entered the Hollow.
“Ah, they should pass this round easily,” Jed said. “We kicked Planeya’s ass on our Badlands trip. I hope our first round is this easy.”
Jed was proven wrong, however. Porgree Galwitz lasted just two minutes before being blinded by pollen. Evan was impressed when Porgree destroyed two Planeya skilfully, but he wasn’t quick enough to dodge the attacks of the one behind him.
Unfortunately, Team One failed their trial altogether when four more of their number were eliminated by gargoyles in the second round.
“Rueda,” Emi whimpered. “None of us stand a chance.”
“Don’t talk like that,” said Sabine. “I saw you guys on the Badlands trip, you’re almost as good as me. We’ll be fine.”
“Humble aren’t you?” Xavier rolled his eyes.
Team Two were up next; fortunately they fared better than Team One. Three of their number didn’t make it, but the remaining Venators managed to defeat the mechanical troll in their final round, by the skin of their teeth.
Evan’s nerves reached paramount when Padrake returned to lead the third team downstairs. Evan and his team were the only ones in the waiting chamber now, in a matter of minutes they’d be down in the Hollow itself.
Team Three’s trial ended in another fail when the chupacabra they faced eliminated all but two of them. Evan only knew the two remaining girls vaguely, Poppy and Taylor, but they both looked devastated to get so close and still fail.
“It’s time.” Padrake had returned.
Evan suddenly became acutely aware of his mouth and throat as they followed Padrake out of the chamber. His hands were covered in cold sweat and he was breathing far too fast. C’mon Evan, get it together.
It was only a short walk from the preparation chamber to the narrow tunnel that led directly to the arena. The sounds of the crowd grew louder and louder as they entered. Evan could see the portcullis gate feet away. Once it had risen, there’d be no going back.
“Okay everyone.” Padrake had to shout over the audience noise echoing off the walls. “As soon as you hear the gong, your trial begins. Good luck.”
Evan attempted to keep calm whilst Sabine reminded them all of their battle plan. They’d decided Xavier would look after the grenades and potions, as he was skilled in creating shields. He’d encased both the blue sphere-like grenades and the small vials in a bubble of energy magic, which he attached to his belt. If they could dispatch their enemies with their weapons they would, leaving as much sorcery as possible for the third round, where it appeared their strongest opposition would be. Their plan of attack was to position themselves as a line of four in front, four behind. Those who had healing magic were in the back row, whilst Evan, Jed, Tristan and Izekiel were in front.
“Time to put our helms on I think,” Emillia said.
Feeling numb, Evan reached round and pressed the tiny button on the neck of his armour. His helm retracted and slid over his face smoothly. The technology was so good he barely felt the difference, his eyesight the same as it was before, even with the glass eyeholes. His teammates followed suit.
“Oh dear,” said Padrake. “You’re missing Arianna. Where is she?”
“We don’t know,” Sabine replied frantically, “she never showed up.”
Padrake nodded. “I suspect nerves got the better of her. I’m sorry you lot are going in at a disadvantage. I’ll make sure you can still have three eliminations before the team fails.”
They all murmured their thanks. Evan was relieved somewhat, but the fact they still had to compete with one teammate less was ominous.
The terrible sound of the drums started up outside. THUD, THUD, THUD. Beating almost simultaneously with the pounding of his heart. THUD, THUD, THUD.
The combined sound of the onerous drums rolling and the chanting crowd was deafening. Suddenly the drums stopped. Evan could hear Jubblun’s voice announcing them, and then the gong crashed like a clap of thunder.
The gate began to rise.
“C’mon everyone,” Izekiel roared unexpectedly, “we’ve got this!”
Zeke ran out onto the Arena. Evan jogged after him with his teammates, adrenaline had begun to blot out his fear.
The ear-piercing screeches of the crowd washed over him as the suns blinded him. The rain had stopped now and the suns were peeping out between black clouds, enough light to make the sands at their feet glisten.
The white sand was smooth and as fine as powder, stretching out like a pale sea. Dante’s Hollow was so enormous the closest audience members were barely distinguishable. In the very middle of the coliseum however the sands dipped into the huge pit that had given the arena its name. Along the barrier which encircled them in a vast circle were portcullis gateways at intervals.
The audience howled and a thousand bright lights flashed, it was so overwhelming Evan had to look away. He unsheathed his sword as the rest of his team did the same with their weapons.
Evan focused on the sands, tensing as he tried to guess from which gate their enemies would appear. It turned out to be the western gate which opened up, without warning. From out of its depths a group of monsters lurched forth. He heard Emi gasp in fear beside him, and Jed swore violently. Evan didn’t recognise the wretched creatures at first, but he knew they were as lethal as they were abhorrent.
The monsters had a vague human shape, but if that human’s skin had melted and shrunk. Their flesh resembled bubbled wax, ranging from angry red to dark pink. They were naked, hairless and eyeless. Their faces were merely gaping mouths full of very few teeth. Evan realised what they were, as orange flames sprang up along their arms in patches. The flames ignited as they ripped off scraps of their own skin. Going by his training, these monsters had to be Magmerians.
“Magmerians,” Sabine cried, confirming his suspicions. “Their skin turns to magma when they tear it from their bodies and their flesh instantly grows back so they have an endless supply to throw at us.” For the first time Evan heard fear cut through Sabine’s pompous manner.
“Okay then, get into position everyone,” Jed took command.
The dozen Magmerians didn’t notice them at first. They moved around, shuffling like apes and croaking to one another like irate toads. As the team got into their battle formation however, the Magmerians took notice.
“We’ll have to use magic for this round, not our weapons,” Iris yelled.
“Agreed,” Evan said. “It’s too risky to fight them in close combat. If I remember right, their fiery flesh sticks if it hits you. So everyone make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“Shall I use our first grenade?” Xavier asked as several Magmerians loped toward them.
“No,” said Jed. “Try and wait until two or three are real close to each other, then lob it.”
“C’mon,” Izekiel roared. “I’ll destroy you, you lava zombies!”
By now the Magmerians were halfway across the pitch. There they stopped and, as one, threw their magma missiles. Magmerian flesh was so deformed that the monsters could easily ball it up in their fists before throwing. It struck Evan as heinously bizarre as he watched the fireballs shoot into the air and then start to fall upon them.
The team didn’t have to speak to know a shield spell of some kind was required.
Half of them hastily erected shields of magical energy, causing the lava bombs to bounce off elsewhere, exploding on impact and throwing up mounds of sand. The other half, including Evan, used air sorcery to throw the fireballs back toward the enemy.
Zeke used the strongest spell, flinging a fireball destined to land on his chest all the way back into one of the Magmerian’s faces. Unfortunately the attack didn’t affect the monster at all. In fact, the skin reattached itself to th
e creature’s body.
“Oh my,” Emi squealed, “how do we fight them?”
“Any other magic aside from fire element should work,” Evan cried.
“I think we should break formation,” Jed said rapidly, before the Magmerians struck again. “If we spread out they’re less likely to get us.”
“Good idea,” Xavier agreed.
The eight of them split off in different directions just as the monsters let loose. The magma bombs splattered into the area they’d just ran from, causing a dozen mini explosions.
Xavier caused his own explosion when he threw their first grenade. When the sphere hit the ground, it burst into bright blue light, decimating one Magmerian into a dozen fleshy pieces, but only injuring another, blowing off its arm.
“Focus on eliminating one monster each for now,” Sabine shouted, barely audible above the screaming crowd.
Evan stupidly gestured at one Magmerian, hoping to lure it away from his kin. The monster shuffled toward him, croaking incessantly as it tore a long strip of skin from its stomach and started swinging it like a lasso.
Before he could think of a spell, the Magmerian flung its fiery flesh at him. It was heading right for his face. Evan acted instinctively, slashing the flame strip in half with his sword, Ruaden. The flesh fell to either side of him, sizzling.
The Magmerian’s croak contorted to a roar as it charged, reaching for Evan with its bare hands. Evan wielded Ruaden fluently, hacking off the Magmerian’s hands in two quick strikes. The monster wheeled away, its roar dying out as lava seeped out of its bloody stumps. Evan quickly plunged his sword into the monster’s chest before it had a chance to recover. The Magmerian slid off his blade, dead.
He looked around to see if any of his companions needed help. Jed fired off a spell which struck his Magmerian in the chest. The spell was named Encase, Earth sorcery which turned the monster’s body to stone even as it fell. Zeke was faring well too; reducing his enemy to ash with powerful jolts of electricity.
Tristan, however, was cornered against the arena’s wall, two Magmerians advancing on him from either side. As Evan ran to help him, he saw that both Tristan’s shoulder and knee were on fire, the flames eating into his armour.
Evan threw two energy blasts in quick succession. They both struck the Magmerian nearest to him in the back, sending it rolling across the sands. Before Evan could attack the second Magmerian however, it hit Tristan with two more lava bombs. Tristan’s armour shattered as he fell. The safety shield sprang up around him so he wouldn’t come to serious harm, but he was still eliminated from the team.
Evan swept his free hand through the air violently, causing a terrific energy blast that hit the Magmerian so hard its head splattered against the arena wall.
He realised the sounds of battle had ceased and turned to see all of the Magmerians had been defeated. The gong erupted through the stadium, signalling the first round had been completed.
The magic shield vanished and a dejected Tristan limped out of the arena whilst the rest of the team huddled together.
“Right, who needs potions?” Xavier asked.
“Me,” Sabine said instantly. “I used loads of magic, taking out more Magmerians than all of you.”
“You didn’t kill the most,” Jed rounded on her. “Me or Zeke did. We need to restore some of our sorcery”
“No, little boy, I assure you I-
“Sssh,” Evan interrupted, “we don’t have time to argue.”
He’d kept his eyes focused on the giant screen at the end of the arena that served as a timer. They only had two minutes between rounds to rally.
“But we can’t use all three of our potions now,” Xavier pointed out. “We’re only a third of the way through.”
“We can share them,” said Emillia.
It was a nice idea, but the vials were so small there was only just enough for two people to share, and that would mean less of a sorcery boost as well.
“Let Jed and Sabine split one,” Zeke said. “I’m fine.”
“No you’re not,” said Xavier, “You fired off multiple spel-”
“I’m fine,” Zeke repeated. “Others need it more.”
“Quickly,” Iris yelled. Evan followed her gaze and saw the timer had less than a minute left now.
“Okay, Jed and Sabine share one,” Evan said. “And we’ll keep the other two for the final round. Yeah?”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Don’t down all of it,” Jed warned Sabine as she drank first. She merely gave him a spiteful look as she passed him his half.
Only a few seconds were left on the timer after Jed had drained the vial and they all moved back into formation.
The western portcullis grated open this time. Evan’s stomach twisted in fear as a horde of monsters stampeded into the coliseum.
“Man flesh!” The creatures bellowed repeatedly to each other whilst banging their swords and axes against their steel shields.
Evan was suddenly reminded of a rugby or American football team descending onto the pitch, if the team was a group of bloodthirsty orcs that was.
At first he thought they were orcs, but moments later he realised it was their ancestors instead, Orcura. They were even bigger than orcs and their tusks were twice as large, as well as curved at the end like a mammoth’s. Unlike orcs, the Orcuras’ mottled grey and black skin was covered in shaggy hair and their heads were smaller too. Their bodies looked disproportionate, arms and upper bodies incredibly long, but their legs short and bowed.
He rifled through his teachings. Orcura were devolved orcs, with far less intelligence. Unlike orcs, they weren’t civilised and their favourite food was human meat, but they liked to gnaw on human bones too, and flesh as an appetizer. Most importantly, Orcura were highly resistant to magic; their spells would bounce off their hides. Evan counted eight of them, they were outnumbered.
Evan hastily reminded his team. “We can only hurt them with our weapons.”
“Fine by me,” Jed and Zeke said simultaneously.
“We can use magical shields though,” Xavier pointed out, creating his own as he spoke. The rest of them followed suit.
Jimmy appeared paralysed by fear however. Evan tried to give him a reassuring smile, but the Orcura moved to attack abruptly.
“Man flesh!” The Orcura continued to snarl as they charged.
Venator and Orcura met like two sides of a great army; the ensuing melee was madness. Their shields of energy magic were smashed apart at the Orcura’s first strike. Evan and his companions fell back from the blast. Evan brought Ruaden up on instinct, blocking the iron sword of the Orcura leering down on him. The brute was terrifying to behold. Evan felt like he was in a fight with a monster from the horror movies, only worse. The Orcura swung for him again, and again. Evan parried each blow, easier than he’d thought. His opponent was large and strong, but slow with his swings. It was easy to predict where he was going to strike next to deflect it.
The brute suddenly swung his other hand, bashing Evan’s face with his shield. Evan grunted as the metal collided with his helm and the force knocked him to the ground. The Orcura made to slash down but Evan rolled to the side. As he rose to his knees he flung out his hand. His gout of flames swirled forward and consumed both the Orcura’s sword and shield.
His magic might not be able to affect the brute, but it could melt their weapons. They’d been so stupid, why didn’t they think of it before?
Weapons clashed together and echoed around the arena. The Orcuras’ roars mixed with his team’s shouts as they struggled.
“Melt their weapons,” Evan shouted to his companions. “Mel-”
He cut off as his enemy came for him again. Evan swiftly sidestepped however, hacking off an ear simultaneously. Even as the monster howled in pain, Evan lopped off his head.
He hastily checked on the team. Zeke and Xavier were faring well, finishing off their own opponents. Emi, however, had tried freezing her Orcura’s sword instead of mel
ting it. Now the brute attacked her with a sharp icicle. Jed had tried to save Jimmy from elimination, but one Orcura had smashed poor Jimmy’s armour to pieces with his giant hammer. Jimmy was hurt, but protected under the safety shield.
No sooner had Evan dealt with one foe then another assailed him. He ducked the Orcura’s swinging axe, then parried the dagger in his enemy’s other hand.
“I eat your eyeballs, runt,” he roared, “I eat ‘em now.”
“Glarq off!” Evan created a tendril of air to snatch the dagger from his hand whilst parrying another axe blow. He then whirled to the Orcura’s side, slicing his hamstring as he went. As the Orcura staggered, Evan plunged Ruaden into his chest, piercing the heart.
As he yanked his sword back out, the gong sounded again. They’d passed the second round. They gathered together again, only seven of them left now Jimmy had been eliminated.
“Rueda,” Emi exclaimed. “We’ve nearly won. And we’ve still got two potions and two grenades. We’re going to pass guys.”
“Careful,” Zeke muttered darkly. “Two more eliminations and we’re all out.”
“Crap,” Jed swore as they looked at each other anxiously.
“Poor Jimmy,” Xavier panted, watching the boy limp from the coliseum.
“Who cares,” said Iris. “He was weak. I need a potion.”
Evan was surprised by Iris’s attitude; he guessed she really wanted to win.
“Hold on,” said Sabine, “we have enough for four of us, so-”
“You’re not getting another one,” Iris snapped. “Or you Jed.”
“Okay, okay,” said Evan before there was more arguing. “We didn’t use much magic in that round anyway.”
Even as he said it he could feel himself start to slump. From using sorcery in both rounds combined he was starting to run on empty.
“If we exclude Jed and Sabine,” said Xavier, “there’s five of us who need the potion, but only four places.”
Moonlight War- Act I (The Realmers Book 2) Page 23