“How’s it looking?” Stella asked.
Assan ignored her, focusing on what he needed to. The walls shattered. Black tendrils oozed from Rick’s hands, turning into two long whips as the people started rushing toward them. Ricks tendrils flicked in and out grabbing people and tossing them back. Stella spun to protect them from the other side, using her magic to throw people with the wind. She glanced at Rick. A third tendril formed and was connecting Rick to Assan.
What is that for? she wondered throwing several more people back.
Quickly the trio started getting overwhelmed the circle closing in.
A hand scratched at her before she threw the offending party back into the mass.
“Done!” Assan yelled his voice sounding deeper.
Stella glanced at him. Black lines covered his face. But in an instant, they were gone. Rick leapt on top of the lens and placed his hand on the back.
“Angel Soul,” he said.
His entire being glowed so bright it was hard to look at. A portal opened beneath him and falling through, the ice began to glow. Stella threw more people back and looked up. Rick appeared in the sky and the entire cavern filled with light. Stella quickly shut her eyes, but not before the blinding light gave her a pounding headache. The cavern went silent except for the sound of ice shattering. Stella opened her eyes but couldn’t see a thing.
Is Rick okay? she wondered.
After a few minutes, either her vision or the moss began to return to normal. Soon she was able to see the results. A mass of bodies lay in a ring around her all tangled up together. A few people began to moan. A portal opened beside them, but Rick didn’t come through. Assan looked at her and then at the portal. Walking through, they stepped back into the room with Mera who now was awake.
Rick pushed off the wall he was leaning on and walked to Mera. “I’m taking her to the surface,” he said without looking at them. “Do I take her to the prison or the guild’s cell?”
“How do you know we have a cell?” Assan asked.
“Let me go you monster!” Mera yelled. “He knows—”
Rick gave her a nasty shock, shutting her up. “Which will it be?” he asked again.
“The guild,” Stella said.
Rick looked her in the eye and nodded. “I’ll meet you there.”
Snapping his fingers, Mera dropped, but she never landed. Rick opened a portal just below her. Jumping through after her, he disappeared.
Stella couldn't help but feel like something was missing from that stunt. Oh, that grin of his.
“Wow that was cool,” Assan said shaking his head.
“We should get to the top,” she said walking away.
They made their way down the castle steps and out to the courtyard. The crowd was dispersing but plenty of people remained trying to get oriented. Weaving their way through the crowd, Stella stayed on high alert. Once they were past the throng, they made their way through The Undercity and up the tunnel to the surface.
“The lad said you were behind him,” the guard said moving to unlock the gate.
Stella took in a breath of the cool evening air.
“Stella,” Assan said. “How long was I down there?
Stella hesitated. “Over a week.”
Assan took off running. “Flare will be worried sick!”
She already was, Stella thought. That's why she sent us down there. “But I think it might have messed things up with Rick,” she said to herself.
Striding up the steps, Stella pushed open the door a blast of warm air escaping. The guild was in chaos with people yelling and rushing around. Stella spotted Devlin sitting and reading a book. Walking over she sat on the arm of the chair. “You’re in my spot.”
Devlin flipped the page. “The guild is going crazy, and you’re worried about your spot?” he said not looking up.
“Priorities. Now scooch.”
Devlin ignored her reading his book. “Not even a guess?”
“Because of Mera?”
“Yep,” Devlin said ducking out of the way as a glass cup smashed into the wall. “Flare, Rick, and Assan are in the dungeon.”
“It’s not a dungeon,” she said standing up. “And when I get back, I want my spot.”
Devlin waved his hand. Stella hurried making her way to the cells. The first thing she noticed was the dead silence. The three of them sat staring at Mera in her cell. For her part, Mera was doing the same.
“Hi,” Stella said.
Flare launched from her chair and gave Stella a big hug. “Thanks for helping Assan.”
Stella hugged her back. “Of course! He’s my friend too.”
“Rick and Assan filled me in. We have a couple things to discuss.”
“Yeah,” Stella said glancing over at Rick. “A few things.” Flare beckoned to the two men and they walked out. “Where to?” Stella asked.
“The council room,” Flare said her hair bobbing as she passed.
“The council room?” Stella hissed. “But that's only for Element Five.”
Flare looked at her. “We have an opening.”
“We need to talk about Rick,” Stella whispered.
“We will,” Flare said.
They walked down the halls in silence until they reached the spot. Flare did the honors, pushing on a wooden panel in the wall. Stella stepped back watching the door open to a secret tunnel.
“Wait here,” Flare said to Rick.
He nodded.
Entering the passage, the door closed, and the three of them strode down the short tunnel, made of stone bricks. It led to a room with an old, black, circular table, five black chairs with red cushions surrounded it.
Flare plopped down and looked at her. “What am I missing?”
Stella sat. “He was on the verge of killing Mera.”
Flare gave a sad smile. “He told me.”
“And Mera admitted to torturing him,” Assan said.
Why didn’t he tell me? She thought. “Oh,” she said.
“I made a deal with him,” Flare said. “But I wanted to ask you about it.”
Stella sat and thought for a bit. “I think, I still trust him,” she said.
“Is he strong enough to make up for Adam not being back?” Flare asked.
Assan chuckled. “I think he’s stronger than you.”
“Any word from Adam?” Stella asked.
“No,” Flare said sighing. “Devlin’s brother is cutting it close.”
Stella yawned. “What time is it?”
“Almost dawn,” Flare said. “All in favor of Rick kicking butt in the tournament?”
Stella smiled and raised her hand. Assan did likewise.
“Would you be a dear?” Flare asked Assan.
Nodding Assan stood up and walked out of the room to fetch Rick.
Flare leaned in. “You kiss him yet?”
Stella quickly shook her head. “Quiet!”
“He’s gorgeous!” Flare whispered. “I thought you liked him.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I need to think.” He looked evil when he attacked Mera.
Assan and Rick came into the room and sat.
“Do you still want to compete in the tournament?” Flare asked.
“It’s the only lead I have at getting my stuff back,” he said not looking at Stella.
“If I let you compete with us you have to be there to win.”
“I’ll get you a victory.”
“Then I’d like to officially offer you the fifth seat in the Element Five,” Flare said.
Rick coughed. “I thought this would just be a temporary thing.”
“We’ll see,” Flare said under her breath barely loud enough for Stella to hear.
“That’ll be your choice,” Flare said. “There's a lot of fun and gold to be made here.”
Ricks eyes flicked over to look at Stella locking with hers.
“I wonder what you’ll look like in the guild’s yellow uniforms,” Flare said nonchalantly.
&
nbsp; Stella had to suppress the laughter that threatened to burst at the look on his face. His eyebrows knitting together, and his lips twisted up in a crooked grimace.
“Yellow?” he asked.
“It would make a nice contrast to your blue lightning bolts,” Stella added. Please laugh.
Ricks eyes flicked toward her once again.
There!
He turned his lips up ever so slightly. Stella’s breath caught in her chest. Those eyes of his never seemed to decide what color they were. Constantly switching between blue and green in that spiral pattern unique to him.
“Please tell me you’re joking,” he said
“Yeaaah,” She said dragging it out distractedly
Faintly she heard Flare laughing. Breaking eye contact, Stella looked at her. She was laughing at her! She was trying to hide a big smile on her face.
One of these days you’re going to get it, Stella thought glaring at her.
“Are there uniforms?” Rick asked.
“Yes, but they’re black,” Flare said calming down.
“Much better,” he said that grin of his appearing on his face.
Finally! Stella thought. A smile! Staring at him, she sunk a little. It’s forced.
“I’ll get you a badge too,” Assan said. “Both Stella and I have seemed to have lost ours.”
“Again,” Flare coughed.
“Badge?” Rick asked
Flare twisted the small pin on her chest drawing his attention to it.
“Oh, the crest,” he said.
“Yes, the crest.”
“Why do I need it?”
“All guild members wear it,” Flare said.
“Hmm, that’s different.”
“Different from what?” Stella asked.
“Never mind,” he said shifting his eyes.
“Which only leaves one last thing,” Flare said drumming on the table. “The Tournament!”
“Does it have a name or is it just—“ he started.
“Its name is, Theee Tournament,” Flare interrupted. “Have you never been to The Tournament?”
Rick shook his head.
“Well every year is different. But usually there is an elimination round, leaving the top eight, and then there are three official rounds after that. Last year, you had to fight on a surface slicker than ice.”
“You could be fighting by yourself or fighting in any combination of members from our team,” Stella added.
“Is it fight to the death, or what?” Rick asked.
“In a way,” Flare said. “No one will die, but you'll be killing them.”
“You’ll be inside a crystal chamber found in that realm,” Assan said. “It will create a copy of you. You will feel real and look real in the arena. Oh, a realm is another world.”
Rick nodded and then scratched the back of his head, opened his mouth and shut it again.
“Did he say something off?” Stella asked smirking at him.
“Well,” Rick said. “A realm is an alternate version of this world. Not quite another world.”
Assan laughed. “I was keeping it simple.”
Flare drummed on the table. “Now that everything is settled, we have to get at least bit of sleep. Assan, can you show Rick to a room? Stella and I have one more thing to talk about.”
“What about Adam?” Stella asked.
“I’m gonna burn him to a crisp,” Flare growled.
Chapter 17
R ick felt the guard’s spittle land on his cheek as the man yelled. “I don’t care what your story is, there’s a line for a reason!”
“I’m a member of the Element Five, I just—“ Rick started.
“Now I know you’re a liar. I know all of them, and you aren’t one.”
“I’m new.”
“Oh, so there are six members in the Element Five? My apologies. I’ll let you right in.”
“Mera is gone,” Rick growled. And now Stella hates me.
“Get lost,” the guard said turning away.
Rick muttered under his breath. He stood outside of the stone building built around The Arch. Two guards stood in front, ushering the long line of people through. Meandering off, Rick kicked at the ground. Oh, how he hated lines. None of the other Element Five were here yet, and there was one thing he was sure of, there was no way he was standing in that line!
Wandering around, he found himself in front of the marketplace. Striding toward one of the stands, he examined a bunch of berries.
“That’ll be one copper,” the vendor said
Looking at him Rick noted the ragged and worn clothes the man wore.
“These berries look worth to a gold piece to me,” Rick said with a grin. Dropping his hand down to his hip he pulled out a coin.
“But sir, that’s far too much,” the man said.
“AlI I have is gold,” Rick said handing it to him. “It’s my fault for forgetting my coppers.” Holding back tears, the man gave Rick his berries. Thanking him, Rick walked off.
Spotting a girl who looked exactly like Stella, he stepped toward her. Except, instead of her blonde hair, it was a dark brown, almost black… and her face was completely different. So, in other words, she looked nothing like Stella. He just missed her smile. Who was he kidding, after what she’d seen, Stella would never look at him that way again. Wandering around he slowly began making his way back. Besides, he couldn’t be thinking about Stella that way. He had to get his bag and make it to The Gate. Time was almost out. He closed his eyes, the regained memories flashing to mind. Why did it have to hurt so bad? Opening them again, he kept walking.
A wicked idea popped into his head. Grinning, he trotted back to The Arch. Pulling out a small slip of paper he rolled it up to resemble a scroll. Reaching The Arch, he held out the scroll to the guard from before. Taking it, the man glared at him. This next part was tricky. As the guard unrolled it Rick made a script and a seal appear. The guard's eyes grew wide as he read.
”How did you?”
Rick grinned. “I suggest you hurry.”
The guard took off running.
I’m probably going to pay for this, Rick thought. Worth it.
“What did the scroll say?” the second guard asked.
“No idea,” Rick said stepping up to stand next to the entrance. “I was only just asked to deliver it as a representative of Element Five. I can lend you a hand and stand guard here while I wait for the others.”
The man looked him up and down and then went back to ushering people through. Rick only had to wait for a few minutes before Devlin arrived. Dressed in something fancy, he wore a jacket and pants the color of bones with a dark red shirt.
“Not bad,” Rick said.
“Thank you very much,” Devlin said spinning. “Have you seen the others?”
“Nope. Just standing guard.”
Devlin raised his eyebrows. “Yeah about that. Why are you standing guard?”
“Looked fun,” Rick said and then whispered. “I met a nasty guard, so I sent him on an important mission to meet the king.”
“That must have been Fred, he’s always like that,” Devlin whispered back. “I wonder who they picked to fill in for Adam.”
“Adam? I haven’t met him yet have I?” Rick asked.
“No, which is the problem. He hasn’t gotten back yet.”
“There you two are!” Flare yelled running up. “We are so late! There’s only a couple of hours before it begins, and I’ve got so much to do!”
Grabbing both Devlin’s and Rick’s arms, she pulled them into the building. The guard nodded to them as they passed. Stepping inside, The Arch came into view. It was a deceptively unimpressive structure, made of what looked like stone. Except Rick knew better. Whatever it was made of was ancient and stronger than anything else he had come across, including Omeral. The race that built them had to of been short. The peak of the arch only came to his nose, which made him duck every time he used it.
Flare dropped their arms and started t
apping her foot.
“What held you up?” Devlin asked her.
Stella, Assan, and a man Rick didn’t recognize followed them into the room.
“Me,” said the man.
“Adam!” Devlin yelled walking over and giving him a hug.
“How you been little bro,” Adam said.
“Let's go!” Flare said running over to The Arch.
For the first time, Rick noticed a Court Elementalist sitting next to it. The girl placed her hand on The Arch. Rick grinned knowing what came next. A blue light shone. Fading into a clear image it revealed a grass-covered field.
“Come on.” Flare leapt through.
Running around to the other side of the portal, she slipped out of view. The rest of the group began walking through. Stepping through Rick felt the familiar tingling. Spinning, he rounded the portal and the forgotten city came into view. Compared to Halven it was massive, and it was all made of stone.
Closing his eyes, he took in a deep breath. Ah, the wonderful smell of... earth? Where was the fresh air? Opening his eyes, he looked around. Instead of a grassy field, he stood in a tunnel.
Where am I?
Light came from both ends. Hearing the sound of yelling ahead, he made his way forward. As the tunnel opened, he instantly knew where he was. But how? The tunnel opened up into a wide-open space. Rows of benches started a few feet up stretching all the way up to the top of the wall. He couldn’t see a single empty spot in the whole arena. Other Elementalists filled the arena floor.
How did I get here?
Pushing his way through the crowd, he looked for the rest of the Element Five. Several men gave him dirty looks and grumbled as he pushed past.
Rick froze at the sound of Devlin's voice projecting throughout the arena. “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BOY’S AND GIRLS, NOBLES AND COMMONERS, ELEMENTALISTS AND PEOPLE OF ALL AGES, WELCOME, TO THEEEEEEE TOURNAMENT! I’M YOUR ANNOUNCER FOR THIS EVENT, DEVLIN!”
A little dramatic, Rick thought chuckling.
“THE GRAND PRIZE FOR THIS YEAR’S WINNERS IS 500 GOLD COINS! PLUS, THE KING’S CONTRACTS FOR THE YEAR!”
Rick whistled. That much gold could feed a village for months. Or pay all the bills for the guild for a year. No wonder there were so many contestants.
“AS USUAL, THERE WILL BE AN ELIMNATION ROUND TO WIPE OUT ALMOST ALL OF YOU LOSERS! ONLY THE TOP EIGHT WILL REMAIN AND CONTINUE ONTO THE REMAINING ROUNDS! AND NO, IF YOU’RE ELIMINATED YOU CANNOT GET YOUR ENTRY FEE REFUNDED. NOW, IT IS MY PLEASURE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO LAST YEAR’S CHAMPIONS! MY GUILD, LIGHTNING GEM!”
Gemini- The Beginning Of The End Page 19