The move looked deadly and by the fearful look on Neva’s face, she had no idea how to defend herself from it. Lilica’s tornado came on hard and fast, hitting Neva over and over and pushed her halfway across the arena. She hit the floor and stirred up the dirt beneath her, but Lilica didn’t stop there. The tornado stopped and Lilica rose up in the air and sent down a rain of her fairy dust, but it was different than I last saw it. When each piece of fairy rain hit the ground, it set off small explosions. She held her hands out in front of her and a light pink magic circle appeared.
“Fairy wind tornado,” she called just as a long, twisting tornado of silver and pink wind came rushing from the magic circle.
The tornado hit Neva as she pulled herself off the ground. It lifted her into the air and sent her spinning within the wind current. Neva screamed as the fairy wind cut her everywhere on her body. After spinning her a few more times, the tornado dispersed and dropped Neva back to the arena floor. Lilica floated back to the ground and waited for Neva to move. She smiled sweetly and giggled at her opponent.
“You will not win this,” Neva grunted as she crawled onto her knees. Scratches and dirt covered her body and her face was now red with rage. A large blue magic circle appeared above her head and clouds covered the arena sky. With a crash of thunder, the sky opened and icicles rained down over the two wizards.
“Do you honestly think some ice shower will allow you to win?” Lilica asked with a sly tone to her voice.
Neva laughed and as each icicle hit her body, it melted into water and covered her body in a light sheen of ice. Through the ice, I could see her wounds were slowly healing. Neva continued to laugh and she rushed towards Lilica who was standing shocked in place. Two ice swords appeared in her hands and she slashed them across Lilica’s front, pushing her back and causing her to crash against the arena wall. The crowd cheered at Neva’s comeback in the battle. Neva stopped and the ice covering her body cracked and broke away, revealing her newly healed body.
Lilica’s mist covered the field again and lifted her from the dirt. She looked down at her pink uniform which was now cut across her stomach. She floated just above the ground and stared into Neva’s blue eyes. Lilica rushed towards Neva, her elegance gone, and she was now filled with pure rage. Her light pink magic circle appeared in front of her hands and when she stopped just short of where Neva was standing, she called upon the fairy wind again, sending the silvery pink tornado to hit Neva with full force. While she was caught in the fairy tornado, Lilica sent the fairy rain through the wind and directly at Neva. When her screams stopped, Lilica stopped the attacks and let Neva fall to the ground.
The crowd’s cheers died down as they waited to see the outcome but when Neva didn’t move, the stands erupted into cheers again. Elijah appeared in the sky and bright pink words appeared above him.
“Lilica is the winner and reigning leader in points,” Elijah paused for a moment before turning his focus to the crowd. “Remember to come back tomorrow and be here for the return of two of our competitors!”
My face turned to shock. Elijah was talking about Joren and me. I turned to look at Joren who was standing in the back of the competitor’s box. His face was stern and I could see in his eyes he wanted to be out there, fighting to get back on top again. Before Lilica could return, I walked back towards Joren, he nodded to me and followed me out the door.
When we made it back to the infirmary, the healer was standing in the centre of the room. The instant she saw us, she pointed to our beds and gave us directions without even saying a word. She fussed over us, making sure our wounds were healing right. Since we would be back in the games the next morning, she used her unique powers and tended to each injury separately. Once she was done with me, she handed me the green powder and the water and told me to rest before moving along to Joren and doing the same with him. When she finally finished, she quickly left the room, leaving Joren and I alone.
Silence fell over the room and even though my body was almost healed, I felt exhausted. As my eyes threatened to close, I heard Joren stir in his bed.
“Melanie?”
“Yeah?”
“Good luck tomorrow, but I am going to win.”
I laughed. “Of course. Good luck to you, too.”
14
Creatures
The nightmares returned, flashes of marked faces and the laughs of Arman as he attacked me over and over. When I woke screaming, it was still dark. The soft mattress beneath me had been replaced with a hard surface and when I took a deep breath, all I could smell was dirt and dank, wet, rocky walls. My screams became urgent while my thoughts instantly went to the worst thing I could think of; I had been taken again, stolen away from the Games again and held against my will. The darkness overshadowed any light that my eyes could hook onto. I thrashed against the hard ground and screamed for my life until hands grabbed my shoulders and forced me still while a familiar voice sounded in the darkness.
“Melanie, calm down,” Lilica said. Her voice was calm and reassuring.
My thoughts raced after hearing Lilica was there with me. They had captured her, too. I struggled against her grip, but she wouldn’t budge.
“Calm down! If you don’t, we won’t be able to get out of here.”
Lilica stopped talking and the place was shrouded in silence. My eyes finally adjusted to the darkness and I could see my friend before me. She was sitting on her knees and crouched over me, her eyes were filled with worry and concern. She was dressed in her pink uniform for the Games but everything else about her screamed that she hadn’t had time to get ready. Her hair and face were a mess, covered in dirt and grime. I looked down and noticed I was in my own uniform, too. We had been taken during the night, but someone took the time to dress us in our clothes.
I sat up and took in my surroundings. We were at the end of a small passage that lead into a large cavern. As I moved, a sharp pain stabbed the back of my right leg. Lilica used her mist to light the small area of the passage, but before I could see anything, her light burnt out.
“I have no idea what happened. I had plenty of energy left after my battle last night. Now, I can’t even touch my magic,” she said.
“That’s okay. We can get out of here without it,” I said as I ripped part of my uniform shirt to wrap around my leg.
Once it was tight, I tried to stand. My legs wobbled but once I gained my balance, I was fine to move. We made our way into the cavern and since there was no light, Lilica and I felt our way through slowly. I tried to touch any magic energy inside me, but I couldn’t feel anything. The healer said my magic would return by the games today but there was nothing. We wound our way through passage after passage, the cave seemed endless to us. Each cavern was bigger than the one before it and each passage went longer and longer.
By the time we made it into the fifth cavern, something was different. To the side of the opening of the cavern was a weapon stand filled with all sorts of weapons. Lilica and I looked at each other and as we took another step, an ear-splitting roar echoed throughout the cave. A few seconds later, the floor shook with the giant footsteps of something heading our way. I raced to the weapon rack and picked up two scimitars while Lilica picked a long sword. We scrambled into the centre of the cavern just in time. The creature burst through the cave wall and into the large space.
Lilica screamed at the sight of the beast. The wyvern towered over the both of us, its head almost hitting the ceiling of the cave. Its spiky blue body glowed in the darkness as it stood on its two legs. Its barbed tail stuck into the hard ground like it was water. The black wings of the beast spread over almost half the cavern.
Its piercing wail pulsed through the cavern and hit the rocks with a crushing power. The wyvern slowly moved closer to us, sniffing the air as it used the spikes on the tip of its wings as arms to anchor it to the ground as it walked. The beast dragged its tail through the ground, showing us the deadly, powerful barbs on the tip.
Lilica rushed forward,
baring her sword before her. The wyvern wailed at the sight of Lilica and spun its body around and hit the centre of Lilica’s body with the side of its tail, just missing her with the barbs. The force of the tail shot Lilica across the cavern and she smashed against the rocky wall.
“Lilica!” I screamed.
She groaned as she lifted her head from the ground. “I’m okay. Be careful, Melanie.”
I suppressed my impulse to run to her side and help her because I knew if I did, the wyvern would attack her again. I needed her to be back up to strength to be able to fight by my side. The creature focused on me and my scimitars. My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach at the sight of the wyvern. I had read about them before, but I had never seen one.
I hardened my grip on the scimitars and shot forward towards the beast. It moved to flick its tail towards me, and I darted the other way. Using all my strength, I ran as fast as I could around the beast. When I finally made it close enough to attack, I stuck out my scimitar blade and sliced along its leg. My blade stuck into its hard skin and as I sliced across, the wyvern roared in pain. Its leg kicked out, my blade dislodged from its skin, and the force pushed me back, sliding me across the cave floor.
My back crashed against the rocks on the ground, scraping my uniform and cutting into my skin. The wyvern dipped its head low and dug its wing spikes into the ground. When it aimed its head at me, fear screamed in my mind. Its clear eyes glowed for a moment before it opened its mouth, wailing at me as a pulse of magic formed around the sound. It vibrated throughout the cavern in waves, cutting through the air so fast that it cut through the rocks around us.
The wyvern’s attack came at me with alarming speed, but I felt rooted to the spot. The magic pulse hit me and sent me up in the air before I crashed back down to the hard, rocky floor. Pain erupted from a deep scratch in my back and burned through my body, making my eyes water.
Through watery eyes, I saw a flash of silver and pink rush past me and begin circling the wyvern. When my eyes finally focused on the figures that were now racing around the beast, I realised who it was. Joren and Lilica worked together in complete synchronisation, their movements mirrored each other. How long had Joren been there for them to work together like that?
As I watched them, I realised that Joren was holding a strange weapon I had never seen before. They looked like razor-sharp claws on the end of a thick chain. He swung them around and grabbed onto parts of the wyvern and held them down as Lilica attacked with her sword. When they disabled the wyvern’s ability to move, Joren changed weapons. He unsheathed a large dagger from behind his back and followed along with Lilica in attacking the main areas of the wyvern’s body. Blood flowed from the still body of the beast and when the wyvern was dead, they instantly stopped in their tracks. Joren turned away from the wyvern as Lilica ran over to me.
“Are you alright?” Lilica asked.
I nodded as my eyes locked onto Joren’s. I could tell his fiery passion to win was still present even now. He stepped forward and linked his arm around my back, helping me onto my feet. Joren sat me on a large rock and rubbed a strange smelling powder into my wounds.
“Where did you get this stuff from?” I asked as I flinched at the searing pain the powder was causing my wounds.
“As soon as I found myself here, I started making things that would help me. Since I can’t access my magic, it’s all I could do,” Joren said with a bite of worry behind his voice.
We were all silent for a while as Joren continued to tend to the cuts on my back. Lilica cleaned our weapons while she watched me, her eyes glinting in the small amount of light; she was trying hard not to cry.
When the pain subsided, I turned to my friends and gave them a smile to thank them for helping me. Lilica helped me off the rock and wrapped me in a warm hug. Behind us, a loud roar shook the floor and rocks came crashing down from the ceiling. I looked at Lilica who gripped my arm hard when the roar came echoing through the cavern. Fear had completely overtaken her, and she was staring at the cave opening behind us. Joren stood between us and the opening, he held his arms wide as though he was protecting us.
“We need to get out of here now,” Joren muttered as he backed up, forcing us to the opposite side of the cavern. “My guess is this cave is filled with demons and creatures, so we need to move fast.”
As Lilica and I made our way into the cave passage, Joren quickly ran over to the weapon rack and picked up all the holsters we needed before running back over to us. As he pushed us fully into the passage, he handed us the holsters and helped us put them on before all three of us ran down the dark passage. With my scimitars strapped to my back, I found it easy to manoeuvre around the rocks in the dark. As we ran through the darkness, crashing footsteps came barrelling towards us. Loud breaths from the creature sent cold winds through the air which alerted us the beast was getting closer and closer.
The cave opened into another large cavern but this one was different. In the centre of the cavern was a giant, bright blue lake. The water in the lake glowed— under the clear blue waves was a glowing rock. My eyes went wide as I instantly knew what the rock was. It was argentium, the only natural substance that contained magic energy that could be consumed to replenish a wizard’s energy. However, the argentium would only replenish the energy of the one wizard who first touched it. It linked to their magic signature and would only work for them.
A cold breath of air rushed around us and I knew the beast was homing in. The three of us looked at each other but before anyone could speak, Joren ran towards the edge of the lake. I stepped forward and tried to stop him, but it was too late. A second later, he was in the water, diving down to get the argentium. Bubbles rose to the surface as Joren reached the bottom of the lake. His air was running out and he had to bring up the large rock. I waited, wondering if it was possible with how deep the lake was.
The ground shook again, harder this time as the beast rushed through the cave opening. The beast was nothing like the wyvern but still looked deadly. The beast was a giant wolf, bigger than anything I had seen before, with large fangs hanging from each side of its mouth. Its fur was grey with flecks of white through the strands. Around its body was frost smoke that wafted around its fur. Its glowing white eyes stared at Lilica and me before letting out a deafening roar that shook the cavern. When the roar quieted down, it huffed chilling air from its black nose; the beast’s breath froze the rocks beside it. With each step forward the beast took, more and more of the cavern froze until the edge of the lake began to freeze over.
“Lilica, we need to keep this beast away from the lake or it will freeze and Joren won’t make it out.”
Lilica nodded and rushed around the side of the creature. She drew her sword and tried to get the beast’s attention. When the beast turned to her, I made my way to the frozen edge of the lake. Joren finally released the argentium from its crevice and was slowly swimming to the surface. I gestured to him to come up on another part of the bank before turning back to the beast. Lilica was swinging her sword at the head of the demon ice wolf and with each swing, it threatened to bite the blade. I unsheathed my scimitars and ran along the side of the demon, cutting into its fur and flesh.
The ice-covered fur scraped against my blades making a sharp noise that hurt my ears. Blood coated my blades, but the instant they left the demon’s flesh, the wounds dried up and healed. My heart sank. Normal weapons wouldn’t do anything to the demon and neither Lilica nor I had any magic. The wolf swiped its paw at Lilica, knocking her back towards the frozen wall and when she tried to get back to her feet, she slipped again and again. I dug my blade into the side of the beast again and I must have hit something bad as it sent out an ear-splitting shriek of pain. When I released my blade from its body, it instantly healed again.
The demon wolf flicked its head towards me, smoke puffed out of its nose as it was now enraged and let out an icy roar, one that froze the entire cavern. The lake’s surface iced over just as Joren reached the top. Holdi
ng the argentium in one hand, he pounded against the ice. His movements became frantic as he was running out of air. I rushed to the icy lake and used the hilt of my scimitar to bash against the surface. With both of us hitting the ice hard, it cracked. I dug my hilt into the crack and pried it open while using my second hilt to smash the ice as hard as I possibly could. When the ice finally gave way, the cracks expanded and dipped into the frigid water. I backed away as fast as I could and made it to the solid ground as the ice finally broke free. Joren pulled himself onto a giant shard of ice and paddled himself to the bank. With one look at Joren and the argentium in his hands, the demon wolf went charging towards him.
Joren placed the clear rock on the shore of the lake and pressed both his hands to its surface. The magic energy inside swirled around in its silver glory before pouring into Joren’s body. When all the energy was drained, the argentium stopped glowing and returned to its normal, clear, crystal-like state. Our team was outweighed by the power the demon possessed but now, we had some magic on our side.
15
Escape
Smoke filled the cavern and overshadowed the frost. Lilica and I looked at each other from opposite sides of the demon and we both smiled. We now had our own powerhouse in the form of a dragon wizard. The demon wolf continued to charge towards Joren at incredible speed. It went from one end of the cavern and almost directly to Joren in an instant. When Joren finally looked up from his smoking hands, his eyes were glowing the familiar yellow. He held out his hand toward the demon and a glowing silver magic circle appeared. In that moment, I had never been happier to see magic.
The Elite Wizard Games (Elite Wizards Chronicles Book 1) Page 10