“Now, now, now. It’s time to pair up our contestants.”
All our names shuffled around on the projection screen and they stopped in three groups of four. I quickly searched for my name and was instantly pleased with my partner. All the names stood out on the screen
Melanie and Lilica VS Alise and Catori
Bane and Neva VS Aedus and Stella
Joren and Drayton VS Versanth and Alto.
I turned to look at Lilica standing beside me. Her eyes lit up and she bounced on the spot. Her excitement made me smile. Elijah finally appeared on the projection and the crowd erupted in cheers.
“That’s our line up for the day! Those are some great pairs, and these are going to be some exciting battles. Let’s bring our first teams into the arena.”
The familiar feeling of being transported washed over me and a second later, my feet touched the hard ground of the arena. Lilica stood close beside me, her pink mist already surrounding her legs. In front of us were our two opponents, they were huddled together and whispering, they looked at us every few moments before standing in their places. Lilica and I didn’t need a strategy since we worked and battled together before, our powers were able to complement each other, and we knew if each other needed help without even saying a word.
Lilica was the best partner I could have been paired with. I quickly glanced over to my partner and noticed she was still bouncing with excitement even though she was now floating ever so slightly off the ground. I couldn’t help but laugh. A few seconds later, a flash appeared in the sky and the words we were waiting for stood out above us. It was time for us to start.
The instant the words left the sky, Lilica’s mist surrounded me and lifted me off the ground. That was one thing I had forgotten about her fairy magic; it could support anyone in battle with her. A few seconds later, she shot towards our opponents, starting our attack. While I got used to floating, I sent a barrage of water daggers towards them without moving from my spot. My daggers sliced through the air faster than Lilica could move but as I shouted to warn her, her mist solidified around her and she twisted out of the way, still moving ahead. My daggers showered down on Alise and Catori before they could defend themselves. They lifted their arms above their head to try and shield themselves from my daggers, and doing so, they forgot about Lilica who was barrelling towards them. She stopped a few feet away and pushed her arms out in front of her, a light pink glittering magic circle appeared. A few seconds later, the circle turned green and a glittering green mist poured over the two wizards below. Alise and Catori coughed and spluttered from the green mist making it impossible for them to counterattack.
As I prepared for a second attack, something began glowing within the green mist. A silver and black magic circle appeared on Catori’s back and from the centre of the circle, giant black, feathery wings sprouted. The wings looked as though they were of a giant crow, native to the far north of Hythe but something was off about them. The darkness within the feathers was transparent, almost ghostlike. Catori flapped the wings on her back and blew the green mist back towards us. Lilica quickly floated back towards me and I placed an ice shield around us. The green mist flowed around my ice until it dissipated. Our defence left us open for the other team to attack. When my ice cracked and broke away, two blackish-purple shadows stood before us. One was the soul of a wizard who had two small green magic circles in its hands and the second was a giant sabre-toothed tiger. The two spirits advanced, causing both Lilica and I to dive out of the way.
“We need to attack together or we won’t win. Spirits and wizard souls are hard to be rid of,” I called out to Lilica.
She nodded. “What can we do?”
The memory of Aowyn and Joren’s combined magic popped into my head and I knew what we needed to do to win the fight. I dodged the two spirits as I floated my way over to Lilica, grabbing her hand once I was close enough.
“Focus all of your magic into a circle in front of us, combine your magic with mine. It’s the only way.”
We floated high enough the spirits couldn’t reach us. A large pink and blue magic circle appeared in front of our joined hands and we syphoned all our magic to the one circle. Around us, Lilica’s mist glowed and rose into the air above us and our opponents. The magic circle disappeared from in front of us and my ice spikes combined with Lilica’s fairy wind tornado to create a terrifying frozen tornado. It ripped through the battlefield, a track of destruction in its wake. Alise and Catori tried their hardest to defend against our powerful attack. They sent their strongest defensive spirits and souls out, but none of them were any use.
When the tornado finally hit its target, they were pulled up into the spiral and thrown around the frozen winds before being thrashed into the hard ground. Before they could pull themselves up from the wreckage of the battlefield, I rained a plume of fire down on them, knowing they couldn’t defend anymore. Lilica and I floated above the other team and waited. Waited to see if they would get up from our combined attack. Alise moved. She crawled onto her stomach before slowly pulling herself up using the rubble beside her. However, Catori didn’t.
“One of our wizards is down for the count. Can Alise, the Keeper of Souls, pull it off and make a comeback?” Elijah’s voice echoed around the arena. The crowd cheered and called out but as soon as Alise took a step forwards, everything went quiet again.
I looked over to Lilica and nodded to her. A large, pink magic circle appeared above Lilica’s head, and as it glowed brighter and brighter, I started my own. A small, red magic circle appeared in my hand and my blazing whip ignited. I cracked it and flicked the tip around Alise’s torso, making it almost impossible for her to cast a spell. Using my other hand, I called for my vines to grow through the rubble and tie up her legs.
When Alise couldn’t move anymore, I waited for Lilica’s spell to be finished. A bright pink light flashed over Alise’s head and a second later, solidified pink fairy dust came raining down, piercing and slashing against her skin. When the fairy rain finished, I let my vine release her legs and sent her spinning into the arena wall with my fiery whip.
Alise fell to the ground and her head hit some of the rocky rubble. A few moments later, Elijah’s projection appeared in the sky above us and our names were flashed as winners.
“The battle is over, and our winners are... Melanie Atax and Lilica the fairy! Our winners are the first to go to the final round tomorrow.”
17
A Dragon’s Rage
We were the first ones in the final round. The next day would decide my fate as an elite wizard. I almost couldn’t believe I had made it that far. Still standing in the centre of the arena, Lilica charged into me and knocked me to the ground in a hug. Her eyes were lit up and a huge grin was spread across her face. She was as excited as I was, I just wasn’t showing it. We were transported back to the competitor’s area, still on the ground. Before we could move, the others helped us up. Their faces were filled with delight and some with jealousy; I could see it in their eyes. They all congratulated us on making it to the final round before turning their attention back to Elijah on the projection screen.
“Can you believe it, folks? We have our first finalists. I can tell you now that the final round will be the hardest one in the Games. But enough about that, let’s move on to the next fight.” He paused for a moment and waited for the cheers to die down in the crowd. “Our next teams are being transported to the arena now!”
A few seconds later, the two teams appeared in the centre of the battlefield. They were given a few moments to speak about strategy and what moves they would use. Bane and Neva just stood there; they didn’t speak to each other at all. The team on the other side of the field were huddled over in full strategy planning mode. A small bell rang, and the teams moved to stand on their places.
Elijah appeared again. “I have been receiving questions from some wizards in the crowd and they all ask the same question. Well, the answer is… Yes, this round is an elimination r
ound. Whichever team loses will not make it to the final round. No matter what point score they have.”
The moment Elijah said those words, Neva looked up at the projection screen and her face went paler than normal. She turned to Bane and whispered. A flash of light came down between the two of them and sent Neva jumping to her left. The time for conferring was over. Another flash of light appeared, lighting up the sky and signaling the battle.
Aedus and Stella rushed forwards, their movements in sync with each other. They ran with their arms behind their backs and magic circles in front of their hands, leaving a trail of their magic behind them. When they reached Bane and Neva, they ran circles around them, covering them in their magic, making it almost impossible for them to move. Stella stopped in her tracks and a bright yellow circle appeared before her. Out of the centre came a starry whip like my blazing one. She wrapped the tip around Neva’s leg and knocked her to the hard ground. Stella quickly moved to do the same to Bane but when she released the whip from Neva, the tip was frozen solid. A second later, the whip vanished, leaving Stella defenceless for a moment.
“Now, Aedus!” Stella called.
From above them, a blazing red circle appeared and rained fire down from the sky. Stella ducked and took shelter under a starry blanket she had called above her head. The embers burned into Neva and Bane. Neva cried out in pain as she fell to the ground and writhed around, trying to stop the embers. Bane, on the other hand, stood there. His face was stern and his body looked normal even with the embers burning into his skin.
He took a step forward and smashed his foot into the ground. From under him, a green magic circle appeared and the ground shook. A small crack under his foot expanded until it reached both ends of the arena wall. The crack lifted, and a light green liquid came bubbling out, forming a wave that came crashing down towards Aedus and Stella. The acid wave couldn’t be stopped; it crashed on top of them and lapped against the arena wall, making sure it continued to pour over them. Bane smiled and laughed; each time his acid washed over his opponents, his laugh became louder.
Bane’s laughter stopped as he watched his acid start to bubble on the other end of the arena. The bubble grew larger until it popped and exploded with fire. Aedus’ fire ignited the acid and came blazing across the small lake towards Bane. Beside Aedus, Stella immerged from the acid, her skin was a little burnt, but she was fine. She surrounded herself in her starry blanket which protected her from the wave.
In front of her, a large star appeared and she stepped onto it. She now had an aerial advantage. Using the star, she floated above Bane and showered her astral rain down on him. The sharp edges of her stars cut into him, causing him extreme pain. When Aedus’ fire finally reached him, it was too late. The flames engulfed him, he rolled on the floor trying to put the flames out, but it was no use. Bane’s movements slowed until he stayed still, surrounded by a pool of his acid.
“No! This can’t happen! I am third on the scoreboard. I can’t lose this fight,” Neva screamed as she finally pulled herself off the floor. “You will not win!”
A huge, bright blue circle appeared in front of her body. She reached her hands into the centre of it and drew out two frozen swords that attached to her hands and froze them solid. Neva charged forward with her swords in hand, the troubled look on her face showed she meant business. She was desperate to win, and, in the end, desperation would be her downfall. Once Neva made it close enough to attack, she sent herself into a spin, creating a spiky ball using her body. Aedus placed a small patch of embers on the ground beside him in the line of Neva’s movements while Stella unleashed her starry whip and waited for the perfect moment to strike.
As Neva reach the pile of embers, her feet hit the hot coals and sent her off-balance. She screamed from the pain and her spinning stopped. She dropped her swords to her side and tried to regain her balance, but it was too late. Stella wrapped the tip of her whip around Neva’s feet and brought them together, sending her crashing to the ground. Neva’s ice swords shattered on impact and the shards melted away when Aedus poured some embers over Neva. Her scream pierced the air until she had nothing left. The pain was too intense for her and she passed out, making Aedus and Stella the winners. Stella slinked her way over towards Aedus and gave him a smile, they had won.
The projection screen appeared in the air above them and confirmed their victory and Elijah’s face was beaming as he appeared.
“We have our second winners! Aedus and Stella will be moving on to our final round,” he paused and looked down at Neva, still unconscious on the arena floor. “Unfortunately, even though Neva was third in points on our scoreboard, her loss results in her not advancing to the final round.”
The crowd erupted in cheers as Aedus and Stella bowed to them. A few moments later, they were transported back into the competitor’s area. Neva was placed on a small bed against the back wall and when she finally woke up again, her cries and screams drowned out any other noises in the area. She thrashed around on the bed before standing up, storming out of the area and slamming the door behind her. I looked at Lilica and she shook her head. It was clear that Neva desperately wanted to win. After a quiet moment of everyone not knowing how to react to Neva’s breakdown, the room went back to normal.
As I stood there, I watched Joren talking with his teammate. They were huddled over in the corner, his movements showed how determined he was to win his fight and be the last team in the final round. Joren kept his head down, only looking up to look at his opponents. At one point, his eyes met with mine. We stared at each other for a moment, his face was like stone, no emotion held in his eyes. I marvelled in his constant mood changes. One moment, he acted friendly and the next, he was competitive and a jerk again. I understood his need and want to be in the top five to win, but he didn’t need to be number one. After shooting me a determined look, Joren turned his attention back on his partner.
I continued to watch them until the time when they were transported to the centre of the arena. Still huddled on the ground, as soon as Elijah appeared, the light wall was placed between each of the people in the teams.
“Our final two on two fight is here. The winners of this battle will be our last team to be sent to the final round tomorrow.” He stopped and looked down at the teams. “This is going to be one huge fight. We have Joren the dragon and Drayton against Versanth and Alto. Let the fight begin.”
Fireworks burst into the sky above the teams and they began to move. Alto stepped in front of Versanth and created a sound barrier in front of them both. Above them, a white magic circle appeared, and dark clouds rolled in. Thunder crashed over the stadium and a few moments later, snow fell over the arena. The hard ground was covered in a thick layer of snow within seconds.
Joren and Drayton fought back. Versanth turned up the winter storm and violent winds pressed down on them while Alto’s sound barrier kept his team safe.
The frigid winds bore down on Joren and Drayton, it was strong enough they could barely move. The snow was now up to their knees and even from up in the stadium, I could see the cold was getting to them. Joren’s body was shaking uncontrollably to the point where he couldn’t even move his arms to fight back. Drayton sloshed through the snow and made his way closer towards Joren. He slashed a small gash into his arm with a pocketknife and when the blood was flowing, he wrapped himself and Joren in a small bubble. The warmth of the blood thawed the two of them out before Drayton dropped Joren back into the snow.
A glowing, silver magic circle appeared in front of Joren and solidified smoke came shooting from the centre. The smoke cut through the blizzard and pummelled through the sound barrier and hit its mark.
The blizzard stopped. The clouds disappeared from the sky and the snow began to melt. As soon as the winds slowed down and Joren regained his feet, he noticed Alto taking a stance in the centre of the arena floor. He stood with his legs shoulder-width apart and his hands pushed out in front of his chest. Behind him, three tiers of magic circles ap
peared. I gasped at the sight of such a powerful spell, I had never seen anything like it before. Joren backed up, his face mirrored my own shock. Alto had never used this spell in any previous battles. The three magic circles spun behind his back, glowing more and more with each spin. That was when I noticed his eyes were closed. If there was going to be an opening to attack, that was the time.
Drayton must have seen it, too, because he lunged forward and came sprinting across the arena floor, but Versanth was ready for him. Two dark blue circles appeared above and below Drayton, stopping him in his place. Dark clouds gathered in the sky above the blood wizard and a few seconds later, a massive storm showered down on him.
My eyes flicked back to Joren who was still standing still near the back of the arena. He watched as his partner was zapped with lightning and fell to the ground in a heap. Joren’s face scrunched up in anger and frustration, I could see it in his eyes which he now held low and waited for Alto’s attack. Drayton pulled himself out of his crumpled heap and scurried away from the season wizard, but before he could move far, Alto’s three circles lit up the entire field and before they dimmed away, he called out his attack.
“Ultimate Sound Crash!” Alto’s voiced hummed as he shouted his attack.
His arms moved in a swift motion across his body, sending soundwave after soundwave hurling towards Joren and Drayton. Neither of them could defend themselves from the powerful magic. Joren held his arms out in front of himself, bracing for impact from the soundwave; it pushed him full force into the arena wall. Drayton, on the other hand, got it worse. The soundwave caught him and dragged him along the hard ground, scraping his entire body before slamming him into the wall. The crowd was silent in the moment that would tell if the sound and season wizards would be victorious or if Joren and Drayton would get back up.
The Elite Wizard Games (Elite Wizards Chronicles Book 1) Page 12