The Elite Wizard Games (Elite Wizards Chronicles Book 1)

by Gina A. Watson

“What?” he said, not looking at me.

  I took a deep breath before beginning, careful to keep my voice low enough so no one else heard. “When I woke up this morning, I found a strange book in my room. The book was about dragons. It’s in the ancient language of Drakor. After I found it, I went back to the library and found some books to help me translate it, but when I returned after today’s event… they were all gone!”

  “What do you mean the book was about dragons?” he said as his eyes flicked to meet my own.

  “The title was Dragon Lore. But I couldn’t read any of it yet as I only know the basics of Drakor. But that’s all useless now that it’s gone! Someone broke into my room and stole it.”

  “Then don’t worry about it. It’s obvious I’m not meant to know anything about my dragon side. Thanks anyway.”

  Joren stood from his seat and walked away from me. His head hung low and it seemed he was back to his old self again. As I turned away from him, a sinking feeling rose in my stomach. I felt horrible that I couldn’t give him the answers he wanted and deserved, but I also felt strange… like something was off. Like something was off about this whole competition, but I couldn’t place it. Every time I thought about who would have broken into my room and stolen the books, it sent a strange and horrible feeling through my body.

  I made my way to the front of the stands where I could see the first fighters in the arena. Lilica stood off-centre in the arena with her opponent next to her. He was a tall man with a lot of muscles; his deep red hair was short and spiky and matched his red eyes. The way he held himself made him look strong, and when he turned to look down at Lilica, I swear I saw him laugh.

  The projection screen lit up the playing field and Elijah’s face took up the whole screen. “Welcome to the battle round of day two! Today’s first battle is fire versus fairy. We have Lilica the fairy against Aedus, the fire wizard. Let’s get to it!”

  They moved to their sides of the field and waited for the signal. As the word ‘fight’ lit up the sky, it was on. Aedus attacked first, sending a wave of fire towards Lilica. I winced at the thought of her getting hurt. When the wave got close enough, Lilica floated into the air gracefully, surrounded by her pink mist. She gave a small laugh and sent her own attack. The mist solidified and rained down on Aedus, and no matter where he moved to dodge, the fairy rain hit its mark. As I watched Lilica’s battle movements, I could tell she had improved since I last saw her, and although she was my opponent, I was proud and impressed.

  Aedus caught a piece of the fairy rain in his hand and lit it on fire before hurling it back towards her. As it passed more of the rain, each piece ignited and were sent back towards her. Before they could hit, a pink bubble appeared in the space around Lilica. My eyes flicked to Aedus; his face was filled with complete shock, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. He was caught by surprise by her fairy shield. While floating, Lilica spun in the air and sent her mist around the field.

  Once the arena was covered in the mist, she struck, flying fast and aiming at Aedus. In her hand, one of her best weapons— the glittering dagger. Created from the fairy dust of the most powerful fairies, the glittering dagger can’t be broken. It can pierce through any metal and can withstand any heat. My breath caught at the sight of the dagger, the steel was coated in fairy dust and sparkled intensely. Lilica looked fierce as she brandished her dagger and slashed Aedus over and over, floating through her mist.

  She emerged from the clouded arena in the air and sent down another fairy rain which dissolved the misty cover. Aedus was laying on the ground, covered in cuts and scratches, but still moving. He picked himself up off the ground, his face red with rage.

  A giant, red magic circle appeared underneath him. He knelt on one knee and held his hand flat on the dirt of the arena. The crowd became silent as we all wondered what was happening. The circle under Aedus grew bigger by the second. Lilica floated just above the ground, unsure of what to do.

  “Do something, Lilica!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

  She flicked her head in my direction and nodded. Her pink mist rolled along the arena floor and surrounded Aedus as he continued to mutter his spell. It solidified around him, making it almost impossible to move, but it didn’t stop the spell.

  He raised his head and stared directly at Lilica. “Volcanic Eruption!”

  The magic circle disappeared and the arena floor turned to red, steam spewing from the small cracks in the dirt. The stadium shook as things heated up. Aedus laughed and pushed his hands towards the sky where another magic circle appeared. A second later, lava erupted from the ground, covering the entire battlefield and spitting into the air. Lilica quickly activated her fairy shield, but it was too late. The lava touched some of her skin and she screamed in agony.

  “Lilica!” I screamed.

  No sooner did she hear me, a gigantic, pink magic circle appeared in the air above her. It was her fairy protection spell. The sky turned to a bright pink and fairy dust rained over the field like an acid. As soon as it touched the lava, it cooled and a fine mist rose into the sky. Screams pierced the air and when the mist went away, Aedus was laying on the floor, rolling around in pain. Lilica’s fairy protection stuck to his skin and burnt him. A few moments later, he blacked out.

  The crowd went wild as a voice echoed through the stadium. “There you have it, folks! The winner is Lilica the fairy!”

  Lilica looked around at the crowd until her eyes fell on me. She gave me a smug smile before she was transported back into the stands with the rest of us. The other wizards praised her for her fight, but I didn’t even have a chance to get near her. As my focus turned to the back of the stands where all the other wizards were, something shifted behind me. The hairs on my arms stood and I had the strange feeling that someone was watching me. Everywhere I looked, the moving shadows made me jump and I was becoming paranoid.

  After everyone had stopped talking to Lilica. I looked around to see if I could find Joren, but he was nowhere to be seen. The feeling grew and goosebumps appeared on my skin, but before I could do anything about it, the next fighters were transported down into the arena. When Elijah’s face appeared on the screens, the crowd cheered.

  “For our second fight, we have Versanth, the weather wizard, against Alise, Keeper of Souls. Please keep the applause going for these two fine wizards.”

  When Elijah disappeared and the words to start the fight appeared, something shifted in the air. Dark clouds gathered over the arena and the temperature suddenly dropped an it started to snow over the stadium. In the distance, the town was still sunny, but in the arena, Versanth chuckled as the snow fell on him. I could feel his magic power pulsing from the field.

  Alise stood with her eyes focused on the falling snow, but she wasn’t paying any attention to Versanth. He twisted his hands in front of him and a bright white magic circle appeared. From the circle came a tornado of snow and ice, the force of the blast pushing Alise back towards the edge of the arena.

  When the tornado dispersed, Alise stood there without a scratch on her body, but her arms were covered in a purple-black ghostly shadow that protected her from the blast. The crowd gasped at the sight of the ghostly shield. As soon as it disappeared, a purple magic circle appeared on the floor in front of her and another ghostly figure appeared. Alise was summoning figures out of nowhere.

  “What are you?” Versanth asked.

  “I’m a wizard like you, but I can control the souls of fallen wizards. They protect me, they fight for me.”

  “A little ghost isn’t going to stop my seasonal magic,” he said.

  I had never seen anyone who could call on fallen wizards from the netherworld. Although the wizards didn’t have a full form, I could still feel their magic coming from within. When a wizard died, their magic doesn’t, that’s why we were sent to the netherworld and not the afterlife. However, the netherworld blocks all magic, so the dead don’t rise again. So, to be able to call forth wizards in the netherworld was a strange and
wonderful power.

  Alise forced her hand forward and the soul followed her command. The soul ran towards Versanth and didn’t stop. No matter how many snowy attacks he threw at it, it kept coming towards him. Panic overtook Versanth. He froze on the spot and his attacks stopped. The wizard’s soul ran straight through his frozen body. In the sky, the snowy clouds were now gone and the sun came back. Versanth was stunned; he fell back against the slush and stayed there. Alise summoned another wizard soul but this one was different. It materialized as the same purple-black colour as the other ghosts, except for its hands; they glowed with a fiery red hue. With a click of her fingers, Alise unleashed another heavy attack. The new soul’s arms morphed into two whips that looked as though they were scorching hot. The soul’s whips flicked Versanth’s skin with no intention of letting up. Each flick of the whip hit his skin, creating singe marks all over his body. He quickly began to sweat and convulse from the pain. When his body stopped moving, Alise called off her attack.

  Elijah appeared with a shocked look on his face. “The winner of the second battle is Alise, Soul Keeper! We will return in a moment with the third battle.”

  As Elijah disappeared from the screen, the other wizards moved into the back of the stands. I was left alone looking out into the crowd. The goosebumps and shivers returned and suddenly I felt as though I was being watched. I started moving into the back of the stands when a bright flash appeared out of the crowd. It almost blinded me.

  A second later, I was transported out of the stands and somewhere I hadn’t seen before. The walls were made from a dark stone and I could still hear the cheers of the crowd. Beside me stood a figure wearing a dark blue cloak, but I couldn’t see their face. Behind the figure was a row of more figures, all of them wearing the same cloak as the first. Dark magic circles appeared underneath each of the figures. The one at the front held up his hands and a second dark magic circle appeared.

  A piercing pain erupted in my head, feeling like my skull was going to explode. I cried out in pain, but the figures didn’t move.

  They spoke a few words I didn’t understand before their magic transported us away from the stadium. The pain in my head was becoming too much, I continued to cry out in agony, but it was no use. With one more jolt of pain, I blacked out.

  7

  Awakening

  The only thing I could hear was muffled voices. My vision was dark and I couldn’t feel my body. I tried to move but it was no use. The voices grew louder and footsteps cracked against the flooring, echoing around wherever I was. They stopped and I could finally understand them talking about me. I tried to call out, but nothing came out.

  “What did he do to her?” one of them asked.

  “He placed her in hiatus until he is ready to confront her.”

  “Why do we even need her when we have the key and the books? Can’t one of us do it?”

  The second person sighed. “You know why we need her. She is the only one that can read the ancient language and do the spell.”

  “I still think we should have killed her. She didn’t know it was us who took the books. I say she is a loose end.”

  The voices stopped and the crack of a punch sounded in its place before the footsteps started again away from me. When they left, their words flashed in my mind and sent me into panic. I was still conscious and alert, but my body had been placed in a hiatus. I couldn’t use any of my magic and I couldn’t move. I had no idea who these creeps were or why they wanted me to translate those books for them.

  Hours passed. I occupied my mind by counting the minutes. It was all I could do. Footsteps passed by where I was being held every ten minutes when, finally, the hiatus was lifted. My body slumped to the ground and the feeling slowly returned. My legs welcomed the hard ground pressing against them, but I still couldn’t see anything in the darkness. I looked around as much as I could but there was nothing, only darkness. When my feeling finally fully returned, I felt around my holding and found I was being kept in a tiny room made from rock and metal bars to keep me inside. After a few more hours, I realised my vision was fine. The darkness came from the dead of night, and when the sun finally rose, I could see exactly where I was.

  The room looked as though it was carved into a larger piece of stone with the bars drilled into the rock. It was only big enough to hold one, maybe two people. Now that I could see again, I watched as the men guarding me walked by every ten minutes. They were wearing the same dark blue cloak as the men who abducted me, their hoods pulled over their faces, heads hung low. All I knew was that I needed to get out of there.

  After a while of sitting there staring at the rocky wall, the bars of my cell opened. Three hooded figured grabbed me, blindfolded me, and dragged me down the hall. My legs and feet scrapped along the hard ground, but I didn’t care, I had a chance to get out of there. I could feel the magic spell on the holding cell that was stopping my magic slowly beginning to wear off the further away from the cell I was taken. When the hooded guys stopped, my blindfold was removed and I was faced with a room full of them. They stood in rows of three, which rose from wall to wall in the vast, open room. Their leader stood in front of them all and about five feet from me. My guards pushed me to my knees as I waited for someone to speak.

  “You have been captured for one reason and one reason only. You will translate the Dragon Lore book you were given and many more. You will find the spell we need, then when you have learned how to perform the spell, you will cast it.”

  I snickered. “Why would I do that for you? Besides, how can I do something for you freaks when I don’t even know what you look like?”

  As the words exited my mouth, their leader pulled back his hood, followed by the rest of them. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Everyone had the same markings covering half of their face, which looked like an ancient symbol I had seen in history books before. When their leader turned to address his men, I knew exactly who they were. On the back of his head was an ancient sun symbol. I read about their cult before, they weren’t a guild of any sorts, but they sought power. While I didn’t know exactly what power they wanted, I knew their kind was eradicated centuries ago: The Order of the Awakened Sun.

  Centuries ago, The Order of the Awakened Sun almost destroyed the entire continent with a source of power that was never named. The magic kingdom, along with the Magic Council disbanded The Order and all its members were killed for treason. All the records containing information of their doings were destroyed along with them. However, rumours started that one of their members escaped before they could be executed, but they were never able to confirm it. The leader’s marks looked older than his followers. He looked like an older man in spirit but with the body of a man in his forties.

  “Men, our order has waited centuries to regain the power that was stolen from us. With the translations from all these books,” he pointed to the left side of the room where there had to be hundreds of books sitting in piles, “we will obtain our power!”

  The room erupted in cheers as I shook my head.

  “No, no! I am not translating anything for you!” I screamed.

  The leader turned to me with a harsh and angry look on his face. He stepped closer to me and raised his fist, punching me in the face and causing me to fall back against the rocky ground. He grabbed my shirt and pulled me close to his face.

  “You will translate them. If you don’t, you won’t like the consequences,” he whispered.

  “You won’t kill me. You need me, so do your worst!”

  The leader motioned to a few of his men who left the room then came back moments later dragging a limp body along with them. Two thoughts instantly jumped into my head: the body is either someone they killed to force me into doing the translations or the body is of someone that won’t cooperate with them. They dragged the person closer to me and I saw they had placed handcuffs on him. The person had messy black hair. A strange feeling of recognition washed over me when they dropped the person in front of me but far enough a
way that I couldn’t reach.

  The person rolled over. I saw his face and I wanted to back away. That’s why I couldn’t see him after the event. They had taken him. They took Joren just like they took me. His face was cut and puffed and he looked like he had been beaten multiple times. His eyes met with mine and grew wide when he realised it was me. He tried to pull himself up into a seated position, but his body buckled underneath him.

  “Now, little wizard, you will do what we tell you or your friend here will get it.”

  I shook my head. Joren looked as though he had already been through the netherworld and back. I didn’t want to put anyone through anything like that if I didn’t do as they said.

  “I—”

  “Don’t do it, Melanie. Don’t do anything they say. I will be fine.” He tried to give me a small smile.

  I nodded to him before turning back to the leader. “I won’t do it.”

  “Then your friend here will pay the price,” he looked back towards his followers. “Take them both away, put them in cells next to each other so she can hear his suffering.”

  They grabbed me again and pulled me towards the door with Joren in tow. This time, they didn’t bother blindfolding me. They took us down a small hallway and threw us in two cells side-by-side. Before they left, they worked on Joren again and knocked him out cold.

  “The quicker you agree to help us, the less pain he will be in.”

  Hours later, the sun had begun to set and I wondered if anyone was out looking for us. We had been away from the Games for a day now, which meant we weren’t getting more points. We both needed to get out and back to the Games quickly. Joren stirred in the cell next to mine, and I wondered if he was alright. Each time the guards came to check on us, they would make sure he was still knocked out and ask me again and again if I would do as they asked, each time I gave them the same answer.

  “Joren, are you okay?”