Female 1: Shapeshifter Sage Lilja Svana

Running.

Usually, Lilja ran just for fun and recreation. She loved the feel of the wind coursing through her snowy-white pelt, loved the sensation of charging across the plains, once even racing against an eagle's shadow flying in the sky. She remembered the leapt of jubilation she had committed when she had raced in front of the eagle's shadow on the grass, a sense of pride and fulfillment coursing through her veins at the thought of being able to run faster than the king of the birds. It was an amazing moment, one that Lilja would remember forever.

But now, now everything changed. This time, as Lilja changed into her wolf-form and landed with trembling legs on the grass, staring up fearfully at the mist the hugged the craggy mountaintops of the valley, and ran as Chanel yelled, "Go!", she didn't feel carefree or joyful. Far from it, actually. Is it possible for a wolf's heart to pound so furiously that it might burst?Lilja shuddered, eyesight sharper now than ever before, and spotted a rolling tundra not far from where Chanel and Lilja were running to.

Behind them, various magi had started chanting spells or grabbing weapons, attacking the people who once were their closest friends in a maddened frenzy of blind panic and desperation. Chanel had somehow managed to grab a sword as well, one that bore strong resemblance to her original sword, Deathbringer, that had been taken from her when they were captured. Lilja looked up at her sister, who was panting, and Lilja realized with a start that because of the torture that Chanel had faced during her capture that she was weaker than Lilja was, and thus couldn't run as fast as she usually could. The thought of a guard brutally beating her sister made Lilja's blood boil in rage and fury – but she knew that she could do noting now that she was in here, in the arena of blood and fire and death. So instead, she compromised. Lilja slowed her steps to a mere jog to make it easier for Chanel to follow, but still keeping the tundra in her line of vision.

Suddenly, Lilja no longer heard the footsteps of Chanel stepping lightly on the grass – instead, the sound of a grunt and a scream pierced the frigid air. Lilja whirled around, still in her wolf form, to see Jaei Burton pinning Chanel on the ground as they both wrestled each other for ownership of Chanel's fallen sword, with Jaei's piercing blue eyes filled with bloodlust and desire for death. Her talon-like hands were pressed down roughly around Chanel's throat, causing the younger girl to choke as a malicious smile curled upwards on Jaei's lips. Or, to be more exact, Birdie, Jaei's violent alter-ego.

Just like the time when she saw Vaxon trying to attack Chanel with his evil shadows, Lilja's sweeter side vanished with a roar as she launched herself up at Jaei, teeth bared into a snarl. Inwardly, she was screaming, "Get away from her! Get away from my sister!", but of course, wolves could not talk, so the only sound that escaped from her maws were the sound of vicious yapping and barking.

In the back of her mind Lilja knew that what she was doing was going against all that she lived for and learned for – to be gentle and kind, and to help people in their time of need. Yet, there was a powerful sisterly instinct in her heart and soul that drove her forward, made her leap high in to the air and land on top of Jaei, pushing the lither girl off of Chanel and onto the grass. A flurry of curses attacked Lilja's virgin ears, but she ignored them. Snarling and baring her teeth, Lilja had sunken her teeth into Jaei's arm, digging deep into the girl's flesh, and a shriek of pain blended into the ululating crowd behind them.

The first thing that Lilja's rage-driven mind registered was blood. Blood, warm and thick, seeped into her mouth and down her throat, the taste of iron nearly choking her. With a start, Lilja let go to Jaei's arm and took a step back, her breathing hitched when she saw the trickles of crimson running down Jaei's once cream-colored skin and onto the earth. She hardly registered Chanel getting up and grabbing her sword, barely heard her sister's cry of, "Lilja, we need to go!", as her memory took her far, far away to an event which she had locked away in the depths of her mind for oh-so-many years.

"Lilja!" Lolita's voice echoed around the valley, as the younger girl stepped forward towards her friend, grey eyes sparkling with glee as she twirled a daisy around in her slender hands. "Can you change into a wolf for me?"

Young Lilja bit her lower lip nervously and looked down at the ground, fiddling with her fingers. "Chanel and Mathas told me not to, Loli," she whispered, though secretly in her heart she yearned to show off her skills to her playmate. "They said I'm not ready to change yet. My wolf-form might get out of control."

"But it would be so cool!" Lolita pressed, smiling at her and taking Lilja's hands in hers. Lolita tossed her curly blonde waves over her shoulder and showed Lilja the daisy she had been twirling around, "I showed you my plant magic. It's only fair that you show me your wolf form. Besides," she lowered her sweet voice to a mysterious, mischievous whisper that Lilja knew spelled 'trouble' and said, "Mathas and Chanel aren't here. And I won't tell."

Deep in her heart Lilja knew that what she was about to do was wrong. Her mother had often stressed that honesty was the best policy, and that Lilja should always tell the truth. But she wanted so badly to impress Lolita, one of the most advanced young magi, and so she looked up at her friend and murmured, "Cross your heart and hope to die?"

Lolita nodded solemnly, her grey eyes darkening like an approaching storm, quickly crossing her heart with a dainty finger and stating clearly, "Cross my heart and hope to die."

"Lilja!" Chanel's voice cut through Lilja's memory like a serrated knife, jointing her out of her stupor. She tried to look up at her sister, but couldn't, for all of a sudden a powerful wind was blowing into her eyes were dust and sand, and Lilja wheezed. Suddenly aware that she was lying clutched in Chanel's arms, Lilja deducted that with the magnitude of wind along with the dust and sand stinging her eyes, that she was travelling with Chanel through a porthole, but to where she did not know.

Her fur felt damp and heavy with sweat, and her tongue lolled out of her mouth as she panted, feeling the breeze on her water-deprived tongue, feeling the change of temperature as light bended and morphed and changed into a plethora of colors. Only once before had Chanel teleported from one place to another with her, and that was the day that Vaxon and his wicked army had destroyed their village and killed Lilja and Chanel's parents. She had passed out that day, and her memory failed her whenever she tried to recollect what happened. Then, as suddenly as they had flown, they fell.

Chanel landed on what seemed like a marsh first, stumbling in the mud and subsequently dropping Lilja out of her arms. This, however, did not affect Lilja in the slightest – her legs were still study and quickly found a dry patch of dirt to stand on, emitting a soft bark to alert Chanel to a less swampy ground. As Chanel made her way over, clutching her stomach and inhaling deeply, Lilja twisted her neck around, blinking rapidly and trying to adjust to the sudden change of environment around them. The wind had subsided, but was now colder and harsher, which Lilja guessed was because of the flat, grassy land around them. There were hardly any trees to block the hurricane of air that howled across the plains.

With a start, Lilja knew that she recognized the biome in which they had landed. It was the tundra that Lilja had been eyeing earlier, the one that she wanted to guide Chanel to but was intercepted when they were attacked by Jaei. Now that her initial rage was quenched, guilt ate away at Lilja's heart at having attacked the girl. While they had nearly never talked before they were captured, she did not wish her harm, and to swallow her blood and tearing her flesh out of her arm...Lilja shuddered.

"Change back," Chanel's voice had lost its battle harshness, now only a whisper as she clutched her side. "You can change back now, Lilja."

It was still possible to shake your head in wolf form, so that's exactly what Lilja did. She barked once, then twice, then bared her teeth, trying to get a message across to Chanel that she was of better use in her wolf form. Chanel just shook her head and closed her eyes, looking exhausted. No doubt the torture, the running, the fight with Jaei and the teleporting combined had drained her of all her energy. Lilja did not prod her sister any further and let her focus on her breathing, instead turning around and looking over at the plains for any signs of life.

For a few seconds she saw nothing but the grasses bending in the wind, but as she squinted and looked closer, she saw two things that both sent shivers down her spine.

One, Kyren Asherex was crouched behind a tree, and though Lilja could not tell exactly what he was doing because of the distance between them, she still took a step back, trying to find cover while thoughts whirled around in her mind. What's he doing here? Is he looking for us? Is he going to kill us? Lilja nudged Chanel's forearm with her snout, trying to get her twin to budge, but to her horror Chanel only slumped forward into the mire, eyes closed and breathing shallow. Her limp hand left her stomach, covered in her own blood.

As Lilja immediately charged forward, changing into her human form at the same time, she heard through the cracking of bones in the transforming process one long, loud howl. Birds arose from the grasses and into the air as Lilja dropped to Chanel's side, now in her human form. The side of her mouth was covered in Jaei's blood, and her hair was messed up in tangles, but she didn't care. "Chanel," she wailed, inspecting her sister's wound with trembling fingers, glancing around in desperation for any herbs that might stem the bleeding. She didn't even register the first howl in her panic, but Lilja heard the second one. Another howl, long and deep and rough, echoed around the tundra, and Lilja looked back over her shoulders, tearing off her cloak to bandage her sister's wound that the same time. Just in time, her dark brown irises connected with the vague outline of a towering werewolf arising from the grasses. Its yellow eyes found Lilja's like a laser beam, and beast and human stared for what seemed like an eternity before the werewolf howled once more, and leapt towards her.

"Chanel!" Lilja was screaming now, her voice high-pitched and frantic as she shook Chanel's shoulders vigorously, hands trembling with fear and terror. "Chanel, sister, we need to go! Oh, please wake up!" A tear slipped down her cheeks, "Please, please wake up!"

But Chanel didn't, and as the werewolf approached at the speed of lightning, Lilja's mind went into overdrive, pushing away the emotions of her heart. Her survival mode was turned on to a hundred percent, and she found herself stumbling away from her sister's unconscious form, found herself whispering, "Aestus estus,", found herself changing back into wolf form and found herself running. Running away, abandoning her sister, her only sister, to be eaten by a carnivorous monster.

Running.

And what scared Lilja the most was that she didn't even feel sorry. Not one bit.

Female 2: Shadow Sage Jaeyria Lightwood

 Jaeyria stared at Eiridan in disbelief as the leader of the three Syrenae strode over to him and began kissing him. He didn't protest. He didn't even move. How dare he? She clenched her fists. He's kissing her instead of me! She wanted to storm over there and rip every silver hair from that vixen's head in that moment. When the woman moved from kissing Eiridan's neck to kissing his lips, she lost it. "You have just crossed your last line, you piece of pond scum," she hissed, stalking in their direction.

As she went, she grabbed a sword from the ground near the stacked crates. The remaining two Syrenae moved to intercept her, and she growled. If they think they're going to get in my way, they have another thing coming, she thought, baring her teeth.The two Syrenae laughed and waved their hands in unison. Silvery blades materialized from the air, dew condensing on them and dripping down the hilts as the Syrenae tightened their grip on their weapons. They smiled as they drew closer, circling her like wolves circled their prey.Without warning, they attacked. She clumsily fended off one as she drew a hasty set of glyphs in the air. They sputtered, and she was afraid that she hadn't drawn them well enough to get a result, but then they flared and shot shadowy blades at the second, oncoming Syrenae. She blocked them with her blade as Jaeyria spun away, crouching in front of the two.They were now lined up behind each other, and the cave's topography kept them hemmed into the corner where she could strike easily. Smiling, she created a small portal and sent shadow knives spinning through it to sink into the back of the first of her opponents.Sparing a quick glance, she saw red marks on Eiridan's skin from where the third Syren had kissed or touched him. If she didn't stop them soon, the creature would suck away all of his magic and his life force. If she drained his life force, he'd die.Stupid boy! He's always getting into this kind of trouble. She didn't understand why he wasn't fighting back. Sure, Syrenae had a strong pull on men, but Eiridan knew that, so why not fight it? Is he tired of waiting for me to build up the courage to tell him how I feel? Maybe he doesn't love me anymore... Tears flooded her eyes, but she fought them off, snapping her attention back to the remaining Syren, who was hurtling toward her. Deal with it later. It won't matter if you die here.The Syren barreled into her, knocking her to the ground, and sending her blade skittering across the damp floor. Her head hit the ground, splashing into a puddle and soaking her hair. She grabbed the Syren's arm, fighting to keep the sword above her head. The thing was too long for the Syren to wield properly at close quarters, but the fight's dynamics altered immediately as the blade morphed into a short dagger.It inched inexorably closer to her throat, and the blade nicked her skin before Jaeyria was able to force it up again. Hot blood trickled down her neck. Changing tactics, the Syren tried slamming the blade into Jaeyria's face. She grimaced and waited, her heart thumping wildly. At the last second, she jerked her head to the side, and the knife slammed into a crack in the cave's floor. It stuck there, and Jaeyria bucked the lighter woman off with a growl.The Syren's fingers slipped on the slick hilt of her knife, and she lost her hold on it. Jaeyria hurled her into the wall with an angry shout. She snatched up her knife and stalked over to where the Syren was recovering, slumped against the wall.Power poured through her like a torrent of water, fueled by the shadowed interior of the cave. She gripped the pommel of her knife tightly. Knowing that every second counted, Jaeyria slammed the blade into the stomach of the Syren she held. It stopped at the hilt, and Jaeyria let go of the Syren as the creature began coughing up silver blood. The thing tried to reach its sword, but Jaeyria drew more runes and used the shadows to snap her neck.Finally, she was able to step toward Eiridan to get rid of the woman who was killing him with her touch. She bared her teeth, but the Syren seemed oblivious to her presence just as Eiridan did. The situation didn't last for long.Darkness blotted out the little bit of sunlight that was able to get through the frozen waterfall. A silhouette appeared in the mouth of the cave, and moments later, it sharpened into Kyren's black-clad form.He smiled at her and brought his sword to the ready."What are you doing here?" she asked, dumbfounded.Why me? Why do I have to fight off three Syrenae and Vaxon's son? Unlike Eiridan, she felt no pity for the young man. Yes, he had a wife and two children. But didn't they all have someone they loved? Why do we deserve to die so that his family can stay alive? I'd willingly die to save Eiridan, yes, but why should I die for people I know nothing of and don't care for? Everyone in the arena knows that they can't beat him. He's just like his father. Anger pulsed through her, and she clenched her fists."Same as you, I'd say. I came for the supplies.""You have a weapon.""Yeah," he agreed, eyeing her and then looking to Eiridan. "He got himself into a pretty pickle," he laughed, looking thoughtful.Jaeyria glared at him and stepped around the Syren and Eiridan so that she could see Kyren. Maybe she couldn't beat him, but she'd certainly try. He didn't get to laugh at Eiridan's stupidity. Because you're the only who can, right? Her conscience laughed at her."You shut up," she hissed at Kyren. "Before I make you. If you want supplies, fine. Get them. But as soon as that harlot realizes that you're a much bigger prize than Eiri, she'll turn on you. So I suggest you get rid of her.""What makes you think I want to save him?""If you didn't, we'd all be dead: me, Eiri, and the Syren.""I don't want him dead; you're right. You're expendable, however," Kyren said, tracing runes in the air.She dove to the side just as his black glyphs flashed, sending inky webs of blackness hurtling in her direction. They latched onto her boot and dragged her across the floor toward Kyren. Gritting her teeth, she hacked the strands of darkness off with her knife. Shadow against Darkness. He's toying with me, the jerk!Inching back, Jaeyria began tracing glyphs in the air. They glowed briefly, but she didn't get the chance to finish them before Kyren's second set of glyphs flared, and tendrils of darkness wrapped around her wrist, yanking her forward. She flew through the air and landed on her back at his feet. Pain erupted through her as she hit her head for the second time, and she thought she heard something in her spine pop. The urge to cry out in pain was overwhelming, but she held it in, furious with Kyren.Drawing more glyphs before he could respond, she sent his bonds of Darkness flying back at him. "You idiot!" she snarled. "If you don't want him dead, stop trying to kill me and kill her. She's killing him as we speak."Kyren hesitated, and his eyes flashed to the Syren, who was starting to become aware of him. Jaeyria looked over, unnerved by the disgust in Kyren's eyes. When her eyes landed on the Syren, she gasped. The Syren's eyes glinted silver and went back to green. Her formerly silver hair was now blond as she gave them a brief glance while kissing Eiridan. "She... He... He thinks she's me?" Jaeyria choked. I am going to slaughter that witch. "On second thought," she growled. "She's mine!"Kyren laughed. "You killed the other two.""So?""I want to kill it," he said.She glared at him as he strode over to the Syren. "What are you? Two?" she grumbled, stalking toward the group.The creature was still drunk on Eiridan's magic and life force, so she wasn't able to respond to Kyren's actions in time. It wasn't even a fight as Kyren plunged his sword into her back. The blade protruded from her stomach, glittering with blood, before Kyren ripped it from her.She fell to the ground with a wail.Jaeyria covered her ears, wincing. She sounds like a yowling cat. Anger and relief swirled through her, making her feel nauseated. She turned to Kyren, expecting to be forced to fight again. He backed off as Eiridan snapped out of the trance, however, and her eyes widened. Why isn't he trying to kill me? Earlier he... but...Jaeyria turned back as Eiridan dropped to his knees beside the Syren, who was fighting for breath and struggling to keep her illusion going. She was hoping for the ability to sink her sharp fangs into his neck most likely. It wasn't as enjoyable for her, but it worked just as well.Eiridan placed his hands on the wound in the Syren's stomach, clearly intending to help. Jaeyria started forward to drag him away, but Kyren beat her to it, hauling Eiridan back. Eiridan spun toward them, tears in his violet eyes.Jaeyria caught the glint of one as it dropped down his cheek.A pained cry escaped him as he looked at Kyren. "Let me save Jaeyria!" he pleaded.Kyren laughed darkly. "You're lucky I decided to intervene, healer. Given another minute, the Syren would've killed you. Your girlfriend is fine. She dispatched the other two while you were letting the third kill you."A shiver shook her, and goose bumps prickled on her arms as Kyren spoke. She wasn't sure if it was because he'd assumed she was Eiridan's or because of the chill in the cave. It's the chill in the cave. What else would it be? You're so silly, Jae... The fact that he called you Eiri's means nothing, she told herself.When Eiridan just shook his head and continued to look like he was ready to burst into tears, Kyren sighed and pointed at the dead Syren with his gold coated sword. Jaeyria looked too for a brief moment; the Syren no longer looked like her, and she shuddered, grateful. Seeing some other creature, especially an evil one, take your appearance was just disturbing.The disgust was overtaken with joy when she saw that Eiridan had come back to himself. She skidded across the slippery rock floor and threw her arms around him in the gloaming of the cave as he continued to stare at the still form of the Syren. "You idiot," she whispered, crying in relief. "Do that again, and I might just kill you myself." Her voice hitched, and she felt the trembling in her legs as her adrenaline rush faded.Hugging him close to her, she looked at Kyren over Eiridan's shoulder. She still didn't understand why he'd let her live. If she was expendable, why not kill her after he finished off the Syren? Kyren was nothing if not a mystery. Nonetheless, she owed him her thanks. "Thank you," she whispered, meaning it from the bottom of her heart.Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes and her throat tightened as she realized how close she'd come to losing Eiridan. That's it. She let Eiridan go so that he could thank Kyren, but she put her arms around his waist as soon as she could. I could lose him at any moment in this place, she realized. I don't want to die without telling him how much I love him. It was a shame it took a near death experience to get her to this point."Yes, thank you," Eiridan echoed her sentiment, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.Kyren shook his head. "Don't. I'm not going to spare you next time. Take what you came for and leave. Oh, one last thing, there's a group waiting for you on the beach where your first portal came out."She frowned, surprise jolting her from her relief. He followed us here, but he didn't try to kill me while I was fighting the Syrenae? Why is he helping us? Is it because of Eiri? Probably.Regardless of his reason, she would use the advice. She nodded. "We'll avoid them." Jaeyria began drawing runes in the air, but Kyren stopped her, putting his blade to her throat. Her heart thudded loudly in her chest as she stopped sketching the spell's runes and stared at the sword. What the heck is wrong with him? He told us to leave... What does he think I'm trying to do?"What are you doing?" Eiridan cried out in alarm."What is she doing?" Kyren snapped."I'm portaling us out of here, thank you very much!" She shoved at his wrist, forcing the sword away from her throat and Eiridan's face. "Can I return to that before the runes sap my energy for no reason?" Jerk, she added, huffing.Kyren stepped back as she finished the portal and gave Eiridan a handful of supplies and the amulets. She packed her own bag of stuff and stepped through the portal, dragging Eiridan after her again.The two materialized just behind the group Kyren had warned them to avoid. She squinted, trying to make out who was there. Jaxon, Zentra, and Jaei stood on the sand just outside the cave. Eiridan watched them for a while in silence. "I doubt they'd actually hurt us.""Then why are they standing outside the cave? They're expecting to have to fight the three of us, or at least Kyren," Jaeyria said, waving at the three in annoyance. "Come on.""But they're not like that, Jaeyria," Eiridan protested."Of course they are..." What is he saying? They're our enemies now! Vaxon ensured that by throwing us in here with his anomaly of a son.The group turned in their direction as though alerted by an invisible voice. Zentra pointed to them, and the three broke into a dead run."Obviously they're not here to make friends!" Jaeyria tugged on his arm. "Come on, Eiridan!"It was too late. As they turned to run, the world spun out from under them, and they found themselves flying into the air as gravity suddenly reversed itself. "Jae..."A wall appeared in front of them. With a yelp, she began rapidly drawing runes in the air. There is no wall, she chanted mentally. No wall. It's one of Zentra's illusions. Sure enough, the wall vaporized as they flew through it. The runes flashed brightly, and her portal sucked them in, sending them to a place just behind the three. Before any of them could react, Jaeyria was drawing again, and runes were flashing, sending out a hail of shadow arrows hurtling toward the others.I'm going to kill your weakling of a friend, Zentra's voice suddenly echoed in her mind. And I'll make you watch before I kill you too.Jaeyria yelped, and then she let out a growl. I've had enough of her threats! "Oh, it's so on now!" she hissed.Eiridan grabbed her arm. "What are you doing?""Zentra! Ugh! I'm going to kill that witch," she spat."Why?""First, she's trying to kill us. Second, she's a jerk."Proceeding to ignore him, Jaeyria began drawing more glyphs in the air. They glowed brighter, and an explosion suddenly sent the three tributes flying. Zentra crouched on the sand and seemed to be drawing things too.Two clones of the red-head materialized. All three began sprinting towards them. Jaeyria bared her teeth and started tracing the lines of yet another set of runes. They too flashed and disappeared. Take that, you red-haired witch. Mistake numero uno: messing with me.As they went by, Jaeyria sent a set of shadow daggers flying with a hastily drawn glyph. The blades struck true, and the two copies of Zentra winked out of existence as the perpetrator dropped to the ground. Blood bloomed on Zentra's shirt, and she didn't move again. The other two ran up, shaking her, and Jaei broke down in tears. Jaeyria caught Eiridan's wrist and dragged him into the shadows with her before he could go help."We're not helping them, Eiridan. I'm tired, and I can't beat both of them with the energy I have left. We need to leave now." With that, she nimbly drew another set of jagged lines. They all glowed and flashed. Then, before he could figure out what she was up to, Jaeyria shoved him hard, and he went flying through the portal.She eyed the other two for a long moment, thinking. Her fingers slipped into her pocket, running over the smooth surface of the anti-magic grenade that Vassti had given her. Were they worth it? Yes. Anyway, she needed them powerless, or she was too weak to eliminate the threat they posed.She pulled the pin and chucked it at them. The two stared in surprise as it imploded. On its wake, Jaeyria came in, using their shock and disorientation to her advantage. The two tried to fight back, but they weren't armed yet. They hadn't reached the supplies, unfortunately. It took her mere moments to finish them. They dropped beside Zentra, bleeding scarlet onto the white sand.As she stared down at them, she wondered if she should feel bad. If so, she didn't. Three less opponents were in her way now. With a smile, she dispersed her shadow blade and jumped through the portal, finally draining herself to the dregs. Stars exploded in her vision, and seconds later, everything went black.

Female 3: Lightning Mage Ashni Damini

 This is all my fault.

Those five words rang throughout my mind like some kind of sick mantra, filling my soul with guilt as I sat slumped against the stone wall of the abandoned castle that we were trapped in.

All my fault. All my fault. All my fault. All my fault...

I snagged a small rock fragment that had come loose from the wall, and I wondered what would happen if I dug it into my chest right then and there. It would be only the tiniest bit of recompense for what I had just done to all the other magi. Taking my own life right now would at least give them one less thing to worry about. As an added bonus, it would rob Vaxon of the pleasure of killing me himself.

Now this jagged rock would be the rock to end my life. Soon it would drop out of my lifeless hands, covered in cold blood, and it would clatter on the ground, coming to a rest in the place where it would lay forevermore. As I raised it up to my chest, placing it against the place where I could feel my heart beating, I wondered what it would feel like to die. I knew that there would be pain at first, but what would come after? Would I simply cease to be, only existing as a memory in the hearts of the few people who had ever cared to notice me? Or would I be transported to the afterlife, where I would be condemned to eternal torture by some divine deity? After my final breath, nothing would be certain.

The rock rested against my chest, and I could feel its coldness through the thin shirt I wore. One last time, I looked to my left and right at the magi I had spent the last ten years with and had never spoken a word to. I felt the tiniest twinge of regret. Now see where your mistrust has led you, I told myself.

But then the regret was gone, and I prepared to kill myself. I pushed the rock the slightest bit into my chest, and a small twinge of pain followed. I ignored it and readied myself to push it farther in--

All of a sudden, a door slammed, causing me to drop the shard. I bit back a curse and looked up to see what was happening. A small group of guards, about five or six of them, marched into the room with an air of authority. Without speaking a word, they each walked over to one of the magi and loosened their chains. Moving down the row quickly, they proceeded to free every single magi, including myself. I stood up in a daze. What was happening?

One of the guards began to speak, addressing us all. "Magi, the time has come for you to pay for your crimes against Vaxon. One by one, all of you will fall. This is your first task: find the supplies scattered all around this arena. To do so, you must be willing to fight, and kill, your fellow magi. It is the only way you can survive."

Anxious whispers floated up from among the rest of the group. Some exchanged glances, as if this was going to be the most difficult thing they had ever done. Others looked pleased, almost excited, for the task in front of them. I worked hard to keep my face neutral, to show no emotion.

"This is all the information you will receive." The guard signalled to one of his companions, who began to crank a lever mounted on the wall. As he moved it more, the giant doors at the front of the room creaked open, letting in bright sunlight. My eyes squinted, trying to get used to the sudden burst of light after hours of darkness. All at once, the doors were completely open, the guard was shouting, "Begin!" and all the magi were rushing the door. I followed the crowd, completely lost as to what we were doing and how we were to go about doing it.

All the others were running in random directions away from the castle, so I followed suit, heading southeast. No one else seemed to be headed in that direction, so I deemed that the safest option.

I began to move forward at a slow, leisurely jog, trying to save my energy in case I needed to battle. The area around me was quiet, almost tranquil, and a part of me was almost beginning to enjoy myself.

Almost.

In the back of my mind, there was still the knowledge that we were in an arena, put there by a madman, I most likely was going to die sooner or later, and it was all my fault. I jogged a little faster, knowing that I needed to hurry and find the supplies. As I ran, I noticed that the sky seemed to be getting darker. Clouds were beginning to cover the sun, making everything around me look more imposing. The air seemed to drop ten degrees. Shivering, I forced myself to keep running as the sky grew constantly blacker.

Suddenly, the ground below me seemed to give way. I found myself on the edge of a cliff, staring straight down at jagged rocks below me that would pierce my body in two if I fell. The landscape before me was completely made of barren, gray rock, and was dotted with cliffs similar to the one I was standing on.

An ear-splitting screech cut through the air, and I looked up into the sky to behold a pack of griffins. They were completely golden, from head to toe, and their talons looked as sharp as the rocks below me. I quietly gulped and hoped that I wasn't about to become their next prey.

My eyes shifted downward again to the cliffs, and that's when I spotted it. About three hundred yards away, hanging off a tree branch on the edge of a cliff, was the pack of supplies.

I groaned inwardly. How am I supposed to get to that? I didn't have anything on me that could serve as mountain-climbing gear, not even a rope. All I had was taken away from me when I was captured.

I peered over the edge of the cliff, trying to spot handholds so I could climb down. I was interrupted, however, by a whooshing sort of noise that I had never heard before. I looked to my left and noticed a man standing on a cliff to my side. He wasn't a mage I recognized from the camp, but he carried himself with an air of magic. Then he turned his face towards me, and I suddenly saw who he was. I had seen him in pictures. Kyren Asherex, Vaxon's son.

He narrowed his eyes at me, and I got the message: If I wanted the supplies, I was going to have to race him for them. I glared at him in response, telling him I understood and that I wasn't going to lose. Turning away from me, he summoned a cloud of darkness around him. Somehow, he began to manipulate the darkness, forming it into solid bridges that he could use to walk over the gaps in between the cliffs. I watched in amazement. I'd never seen magic so advanced before except in Vaxon himself. He must've had very extensive training, I thought.

I knew that climbing down the cliff wasn't an option anymore. It would take far too much time, and time was a luxury she currently didn't have. Kyren would beat her by a mile. I tried to think of ways to use her magic to get across the cliff, like he had, but nothing came to my mind that would be within my range of energy. Magic wasn't an option.

The ear-splitting screech suddenly cut through the air again, and an idea struck me. The griffins! If I could somehow get onto one's back, I could use it to fly to where the supplies were, hopefully before Kyren.

One of them suddenly landed on my right, as if it knew what I was thinking. He stared at me with large, golden eyes, eyes that carried great wisdom and knowledge. In a way, his eyes reminded me of Mathas and all the wisdom he always seemed to show.

Cautiously, I walked towards the griffin, being careful not to provoke him. I carefully put my hand out and touched his head. When he made no movement, I slowly walked to his side, keeping my hand on him the whole time. He knelt down slowly, as if motioning for me to get on his back. Tentatively, I swung one leg over his side, then pulled myself the rest of the way up. Once I was on, he stood up all the way, knowing perfectly what I wanted.

"Okay..." I whispered. "I need you to take me to that cliff as fast as you can." I pointed to the cliff with the supplies. "It's really important that I get there before him." She pointed to Kyren, who was now about three quarters of the way to the cliff. "Got it?"

The words had barely left my mouth when the griffin jumped into the air, spread his golden wings, and took off at top speed. I grasped his fur for dear life, trying desperately to stay on as he cut through the air faster than I would have thought possible. As we passed in a blur, I glimpsed Kyren staring up at us in awed wonder, then taking off again faster than he had been going before.

As suddenly as we had taken off, we landed, hitting the ground sharply. The griffin knelt down to lower me off his back, and I patted his fur. "You have my thanks," I whispered. "You are free to go now."

Surprisingly, he didn't move, but stood completely still, staring into my soul with those wise eyes of his. They peered into my soul, but it didn't feel uncomfortable. It felt... right. Perfectly right.

I heard the whooshing noise again, and I turned my head sharply. Kyren walked off a cloud of darkness and onto the bare rock of the cliff, his eyes narrowed. Somehow, he didn't appear to be tired at all. "Well, what do we do now?" he asked, almost mockingly. "We got here at the same time. Who gets the supplies?"

I kept my mouth shut. I wouldn't answer him even if I wanted to.

"What's the matter, lightning girl? Too shy to speak?"

Still, I didn't utter a word.

"Hm. You're stubborn. I know I can't change that." He began to pace in front of me. "But you still haven't answered my question. Who gets the pack?" He looked straight into my eyes. "I suggest a duel, using magic only. Winner gets the supplies and leaves unharmed. Loser goes away with nothing, most likely dead. Deal?"

I narrowed my eyes. Lightning against darkness didn't seem like a very fair battle. Then again, I was probably going to die soon anyway, and it would be even more worth it if I somehow won. Narrowing my eyes, I nodded to show him that we had a deal."

He smiled devilishly. "Then we begin."

The words had barely left his mouth when I called down a lightning strike on him. Faster than I would've thought possible, he jumped to the side, and the lightning struck bare ground. The air hummed with electricity.

I called down another strike as fast as possible, which he also sidestepped. "Foolish to use the same move twice," he called.

I knew he was just taunting me, but I decided to change my tactic. I shaped together a ball of lightning in the palm of my hand, then threw it at him suddenly. In the blink of an eye, he threw his hand up, and a tendril of darkness caught the sphere. It squeezed it, somehow shattering it into a million sparks as if it were glass.

More tendrils reached out, surrounding me in darkness, somehow holding me in place. I couldn't move at all. In his hands, Kyren created a sphere of darkness, similar to mine, then threw it straight up into the air. It hovered motionless for a moment, and then another strand slowly emerged from the ball. This one, however didn't hold me in place, but somehow reached straight inside me. As it was inside, I could feel it taking away my magic energy, trying to reduce me to nothing. As my strength weakened, I looked at Kyren, pleading with my eyes for him to stop. He didn't, but kept going. There was, however, something in his eyes that wanted to let me go, I could tell. Was it... remorse?

All of a sudden, it was gone, replaced by anger and bitterness."Do you feel it?" he whispered menacingly. "Do you feel what it's like to have your energy taken away, to have all your darkest secrets exposed?" His voice steadily rose as he continued. "Do you know what it's like to have the darkness crawling inside you, and for you to have no way to get it out? DO YOU FEEL IT?"

Yes, I wanted to say. I feel your anger. I feel your pain. I feel all your bitterness. It's not something I want to feel, but I feel it. I know how you feel towards your father. I feel it.

Then, all of a sudden, the darkness stopped. Something was standing in between me and Kyren, blocking it from hitting me. I suddenly realized that it was the griffin. The darkness somehow didn't affect him, but it shielded me. He turned to look at me, and looking into his eyes, I realized something: I had to get out of there. Kyren would kill me if I didn't leave.

Struggling, I climbed onto the griffin's back, and in the blink of an eye, we were in the air, flying away from Kyren, and, more importantly, the supplies.

"Search for more supplies," I whispered softly to the griffin. "Set me down whenever you find some.

I lay on his back, trying to forget what it felt like, having the darkness inside of me. It had been painful, yes, but there was something else, another feeling that I couldn't name. What scared me was that that other feeling almost felt pleasant. Part of me wanted to feel it again. That frightened me to my core.

I rested under the cloud covered sky, regaining my strength. The ground below us was starting to become less rocky and more green. It was a beautiful transformation. Through it all, the griffin remained steady, never wavering from his flight path. I watched his golden wings move steadily with the wind, feathers ruffling in the breeze.

"You need a name," I whispered to him. "I think I'll call you Xanthos. It means "golden one" in one of the ancient languages."

Xanthos made a soft humming noise, which I took as a noise of approval. I smiled, leaning back into the wind. Flying was so peaceful.

Suddenly, Xanthos froze in midair. We began to plummet towards the ground below us, picking up speed at an alarming rate. I screamed his name, trying to get him to pull up, but he was unresponsive. As we fell, I glimpsed something sticking out of his chest. It looked to be an arrow, and it was stuck right in the place where his heart would be. Fear gripped my chest. If he wasn't already dead, he would be soon.

All of a sudden, we made impact with the ground. The air was knocked out of me, and I gasped for breath. Finally, one came, and I inhaled sharply, taking in as much air as I could. Then, without wasting a moment, I rolled off Xanthos's back and began to check him for any signs of life. He didn't move at all. From what I saw, he wasn't breathing.

Angrily, I pulled the arrow out of his stomach and snapped it in two. Part of me wanted to scream at the sky, yelling every curse I knew, but the other part of me knew that wouldn't help anything. See? the voice inside my head whispered. Everyone you trust, man or animal, dies a savage death. You're just bad luck.

For once, I didn't disagree. Instead, I pulled out a small knife I had hidden in my boot for emergencies. Blinking back tears, I sliced off a chunk of Xanthos's fur, tied it together with a blade of grass, and stuck it into my pocket. Let this be a reminder to you, I told myself, not to trust anyone.

Angry with myself, I stood up and began to walk away in search of another supply pack.

Female 4: Fire Mage Vala Leanour

  Vala was trapped.

Shackles looped around her wrists and ankles, effectively restricting any sort of movement. Around her, her fellow Magi were similarly chained inside a dimly lit room with a closed door. Her breaths came in short, shallow gasps that had slowly become breathless as what seemed like hours had passed. Beside her, Kalix was speaking quietly, trying to keep her calm, but his words had less effect when Vala could feel her wrists and ankles chaffing against metal shackles warmed by the heat of her skin. Hot, slick blood dripped from her limbs from where she'd tried to get out of them, and the sight made her cringe uncomfortably. She'd even tried to use her magic to melt the chains, but the chains must have been made of some sort of anti-magic substance.

The agonizing feeling of helplessness and ignorance of what was going on only made things worse. Everything seemed to be closing in on her, always leaving just enough room for Vala to relax before seeming to cave in once more. The continuous back and forth sent regular pulses of fear and adrenaline through her, and she cursed Vaxon for doing this to her.

Even as the thought crossed her mind, the dark shadows in the room suddenly coalesced to form a dark sphere of energy before reforming into a tall, dark haired man. Instinctively, Vala knew the man was Vaxon, and the whispers around her confirmed it.

In front of them, Vaxon smiled cruelly, looking at each Magi. When his gaze reached Vala, his eyes lingered on the blood that ran down her arms and legs. He didn't speak to her directly though, instead speaking in a loud, powerful voice that rang throughout the small room.

"It's taken me ten years to track down all of you, but now that I have, let me remind you of one thing: I am in control. Outside of this castle is an arena, a cage that I am the supreme ruler of. I have created an arena, where you will all die... eventually. If you're lucky, you'll find supplies, and some of you have even been given hints to help you. But not before fighting each other." His lips curled upwards in an expression of cold satisfaction, and Vala shuddered. "And remember Magi, choose not to fight, and I will hunt your families, friends, everyone who knew you and kill them." His voice was clear and final, leaving no room for doubt. Then the darkness surrounded him once more and he disappeared.

Without warning, the shackles chaining her to the floor released her at the same time Vaxon disappeared. Relief immediately flooded through Vala. She kicked the chains away from her with more force than necessary, heading straight for the door. She needed to get out of this place. Behind her, she could hear Kalix urging her to hurry, and she flung the door open, not bothering to wonder why it was so easily opened. The door led to a large, open room filled with ornate decorations that she ignored. Ahead of her, Vala spotted another door, and she ran towards it.

"Vala wait!"

Kalix's voice stopped her, and Vala whirled around to face her brother.

"Why?" she demanded, every fiber of her being screaming at her to leave the castle they were in.

"We have no idea what's outside and-"

"Vaxon wants us dead. I'm not going to just lie around in a castle and wait for him to find me here. If we go outside, then we might be able to live. I don't want to... I don't want to die Kalix." Her voice cracked on the word die, and her brother's expression flickered with myriad emotions before settling on acceptance.

"Fine, we'll go outside. But-"

"Later Kalix, come on!"

She tugged her brother's hand and pulled him towards the door. The other Magi had mostly filtered out of the castle by now; Vala and Kalix were some of the last to leave the castle. No sooner had they left the grounds and gone past large gates, then the gates closed with an ominous clang, trapping them outside the castle. The sound set Vala's nerves on edge, and she glanced around her surroundings, trying to figure out where they were. She was in a lush, green valley with mountains ringing it. Around the mountains was a shimmering dome, unfamiliar to her but she was certain it was a barrier to the outside. Another way of caging her in. Again, Vala could feel her chest constricting and she looked away from the dome, trying to convince herself that she wasn't really trapped.

"Vala, look at this." Kalix's voice drew her attention away from her panic, and she turned her head to look at him. He was holding a piece of paper.

Jogging towards him, Vala tried to tamp down on her panic. "What is it?" Her voice was tight, and Kalix threw her a concerned look.

All he said was "It looks like a list of creatures and how to communicate with them."

"What creatures?" Some of Vala's panic was replaced with curiosity, and she focused on the paper Kalix held in his hands.

"A lot. Griffins, pegasi, werewolves, phoenixes, and that's just a few." Her brother's voice was thoughtful, and he stared at the paper intently.

"Phoenixes?" In spite of everything, a sense of awe and longing filled Vala. She had never seen a phoenix, let alone met one, though she had always wanted to. "We should go to them," she said. Her brother hesitated, and Vala looked around them anxiously, noting that most of the other Magi had already dispersed into different directions.

When her brother didn't answer she prompted, "Where else would we go?"

"The griffins. I met some when we were traveling and-"

"Great, then I can go to the phoenixes and you can go to the griffins," she said. She bit her lip, hesitating before she saying, "Meet back here," and running in a random direction. Guilt permeated Vala as she ran, but she reminded herself that if she and Kalix split up, they would have twice the chance to get supplies.

She looked behind her at her brother, but he looked frozen in shock. She put on an extra burst of speed until she could no longer see him behind her. Vala slowed down a little after that, but she continued to move swiftly, searching for any signs of the phoenixes.

"Come on, where are you?" she muttered, but there was no answer. At last, she spotted a large nest ahead of, golden and red eggs perched inside. A wide smile crossed her face at the sight. I found them. Vala started to run again, feeling the beginnings of a familiar excitement. As she passed the nest, the entirety of the phoenixes came into view, and she stumbled to a stop, awe filling her.

Vala stared wonderingly at the one nearest to her. The phoenix was larger than she'd imagined one to be, a little bigger than an eagle. It's plumage was beautiful blend of gold and scarlet, like a campfire brought to life, while its tail slowly shifted from gold to a dark bronze. The head was tall and proud, a bright red with a pointed black beak. But what really caught her attention were its eyes. It's eyes were a pulsing black, alive with energy and power; tinges of gold rimmed its pupils.

"Beautiful," Vala murmured, and the phoenix's eyes snapped to look at her. She stilled instantly, Kalix's voice in the back of her mind, reminding her to be wary of anyone and anything.

The phoenix's eyes narrowed and its wings spread, wide and bright against the dull green background of trees. A rush of wind blew across Vala's face as the phoenix launched itself into the air, sharp talons extending as it headed straight for her.

Vala stumbled backwards, inhaling sharply with shock. On instinct she threw her hand across her face, visualizing a fire ball that she aimed at the phoenix. The phoenix dodged it easily, still heading straight for her, and Vala summoned another fireball to defend herself with. To her surprise, the phoenix slowed its descent towards her, wings flapping slowly as it landed with another gust of wind that tangled Vala's hair. Its eyes fixed on the fire in her hands, and Vala glanced down at it as well. After a moment she held the fire out to the bird, and it touched the flames with its beak. The fire slid from her hand to the bird's head, settling around its head like a halo before it dissipated. Hesitantly, Vala stepped forward, and the phoenix simply blinked large, dark eyes at her, like he was giving her permission.

"Can you help me?" she asked, hoping that it understood.

His head tilted, like he knew what she was saying. Intuitively, Vala imagined a miniature phoenix and soon the fiery imitation was held in her hand. She then fashioned a crude human figure beside it, making the tiny phoenix fly around the girl's head.

"I need you to help me," she said, gesturing to the small fiery statues. "There's supposed to be supplies, something here that can help me. Please."

The phoenix stared at her for a long moment before it rose into the air and flew around her head, like their tiny imitations. A disbelieving bubble of laughter left Vala at the sight. She was surrounded by phoenixes, and communicating with one. A dream, in the center of a nightmare. Above her, her phoenix let out a soft musical cry. The sound was like the comfort of Kalix's voice and her favorite music rolled into one. It made her relax, and she laughed again, the sound loud and bright in the relative silence surrounding her.

The phoenix above her let out a low cry again, this time flying slowly ahead of them. Vala ran after it, delighting in the feeling of euphoria that filled her. The presence of the phoenixes was like a shield, burning away her fears and keeping her safe. At last, they reached another nest. Her phoenix landed, a thin cloud of dust rising as it landed. Around them, the other phoenixes were watching with bright, curious eyes, but left them undisturbed.

"Is this it? Is there something here?" Vala asked, panting slightly as she looked around.

Again, her phoenix's head tilted, like he was telling her to look. Vala hesitated, faint hints of uncertainty filling her. She walked forward slowly until she reached the nest. Inside was a small cloth bag, bulging with items she couldn't make out. Snatching the bag, Vala slung it over her shoulder and turned back to face the phoenix.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I have to go; I need to find my brother," she told the phoenix, and his head dipped in what might have been a nod. Reaching out towards the phoenix, she tentatively stroked its beak, whispering another thank you before stepping back. Then he rose into the air, taking off. The other phoenixes followed suit, and she watched them for a moment, a rainbow of red and gold against the blue sky. Then Vala turned only to see a cloud of shadows, like the one Vaxon had come from, appear before her.

Oh gods above, Vaxon isn't here is he? The thought sent a spike of fear through her, and she tensed. She envisioned a tendril of fire, holding it in her hand like a whip as she waited for the darkness to reform. When it did, a flicker of confusion went through her as the darkness revealed a young blonde haired man, not Vaxon. Another Magi? How did I never meet-

"Oh," she breathed, the realization hitting her. He's Vaxon's son. A dark mage, just like his father.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, holding her whip threateningly.

The blonde haired man stared at her with a neutral expression as he said, "You're not the only one looking for supplies." Then he attacked.

Tendrils of darkness flew into his hands before they raced towards her. Vala stepped to the side to avoid them, but they simply changed direction. Cursing underneath her breath, Vala manipulated the flames in her hand, smothering the lines of darkness with her fire. Taking advantage of her momentary upper hand, she envisioned dozens of tiny, flaming darts before aiming them straight at Kyren. He dodged most of them, a sheet of darkness deflecting the others.

A wave of exhaustion went through Vala, her hours of captivity and previous displays of magic taking its toll. She stumbled, and Kyren advanced, this time pulling out a sword she hadn't noticed before. As he swung the blade, everything seemed to narrow until there was only Kyren and his sword moving in slow motion. There was no joy or satisfaction in his face as he brought the blade down, only a grim determination.

Just as the blade was about to cut her arm, Vala twisted away, already summoning a small fire ball even as she could feel another wave of exhaustion. I need to end this soon.

She raised her arm, preparing to throw the fire ball when she noticed a figure running towards her. Vala squinted, and her eyes widened as she realized the figure was Kalix. A new surge of energy and determination flowed through her at the sight, and Vala stood taller, a smile breaking out on her face. As she threw the fire ball she laughed with a relieved happiness, even as it missed Kyren completely. Kyren raised an eyebrow at the sound, his features twisting in confusion.

"Vala, close your eyes!" Kalix shouted from behind Kyren, the familiar beginnings of lightning on his hands. Kyren's head turned at the shout, eyes wide open, but Vala did as her brother instructed, squeezing her eyes shut in preparation. Even with her eyes closed she could see the flash of white lightning and hear the crackle of electricity. Then Vala opened her eyes to see Kyren, temporarily frozen as he blinked rapidly. In the short time it took for him to recover, Kalix had run to her side, an unfamiliar sword held in his hand.

"Just like with Mathas, right?" she asked her brother, throwing him a delighted grin. He shook his head in that familiar this-is-not-the-time-for-jokes way, and Vala shrugged at his lack of reaction. She summoned another sphere of fire, and she could feel it pulsing with new-found energy, waiting to commanded.

Before them, Kyren had recovered from Kalix's lightning strike and now had tendrils of darkness waving in his hands that shot towards both of them. Vala twisted away but wasn't quick enough to avoid them. Thick ropes of darkness began wrapping around her legs, and she tried to ward them off by burning them but they kept coming, too quick for her to keep up with in her weary state.

Glancing upwards, Vala looked for Kalix, panic fluttering in her chest. Her brother had managed to avoid Kyren's attack, and she watched as the same realization crossed his face. Then he looked away and charged Kyren, swinging his sword downwards in attempt to cut the other's chest. His sword was deflected easily by Kyren, the sound of metal hitting metal ringing loudly in Vala's ears. The inky ropes twining up her legs faltered as Kyren's attention split between her and Kalix, and Vala hurried to burn away the rest of the darkness before darting towards the sword fight in front of her.

Kalix locked eyes with her as he backed away from Kyren and he made a small zigzag motion with his free hand. Vala immediately recognized what he meant. It was an old sign they'd come up with years ago. Kalix would start a fire with a lightning strike, and Vala would make it grow. She nodded, and her brother waited until Kyren was in the middle of swinging his sword before jumping backwards. A second later a bolt of white lightning stuck the ground less than a foot away from where he stood. Vala watched with bated breath as her brother ran towards her, skidding to a stop when he reached her. Vala's eyes lit up when the beginnings of a fire appeared, and she heard Kalix mutter a sharp 'now.'

Summoning up what was left in her reserves of energy, Vala briefly closed her eyes and imagined the small fire in front of her growing until it turned into a wall of fire surrounding Kyren. As soon as the magic took effect she could feel her exhaustion increase, and she leaned against Kalix.

"I can't hold this long," she warned him and she felt him nod.

"Can you keep it going and run at the same time?" he asked her quietly, and Vala hesitated before she nodded.

"Yeah." I hope so.

"Okay, let's go!"

Kalix gave her a slight push and she took off, running sluggishly with Kalix beside her. Ahead of them she spotted a small clump of trees, and she turned towards them. Kalix followed her lead, and soon the two of them were safely ensconced behind the thick foliage. Immediately, Vala released her control over the fire, and she exhaled deeply.

Through the fog of fatigue settling around her, she gave her brother a smile and said, "That was fun."

Her brother's expression went through a series of emotions before settling on concerned annoyance and he muttered, "Only you would think almost dying is fun."

Vala laughed tiredly, her head drooping onto her shoulder. "But we didn't die, did we?"  

Female 5: Illusionist Sage Zentra Oromis 

Zentra was trapped into her own thoughts when the horn blast carried across the air like a tidal wave. Is it beginning?She wondered. Her question as answered as she saw the gate open, revealing the arena in front of her. Glad to leave the damp castle behind, Zentra bolted out of it. Looking around, she noticed fellow magi running off into different directions surrounding the castle which had different types of environments. Seeing one that best fit to her tastes, the marshes, she started to head there. It was on the way that she saw magi engaging in feuds against each other. Sweet! She considered where to join in. She saw one of the magi come up to her. From the distance she assumed it was Mordzar because of the hair and eyes and got on her guard, but as he got closer she recognized him instantly as the fire mage. " Vaxon's bastard, I presume." She spat. " Who told you about that?" Kalen stopped. "Everyone knows." Zentra scowled. She had previously read his thoughts. "Looks like you are the first one I will slaughter." She quickly bit her right pinkie and made a rune on the ground. Kalen was in the middle of preparing his attack, but Zentra had taken control and caused him to self-immolate himself. Zentra laughed hysterically as a screaming Kalen had burned himself to nothing. "Disgusting little (censored)" Zentra sneered. "No one will miss you." She continued on her way to the marshes and noticed the earth mage she had saved a while back, locked in battle over some bags she guessed had supplies in them. She used the blood from her pinkie to create a rune and then Atreyu, under Zentra's influence, used the soil of the ground to entrap 2 magi, allowing Zentra to get to the marshland. Upon arrival, she saw Telex Silverblade fighting with Faighnra Covei.She stood back and watched them fight, but then had an idea. She made a blood rune and made Telex lower his weapon: some kind of whip, allowing Faighnra to finish him off by opening a whole in the ground, sending him screaming into the abyss. As Faighnra closed the abyss, Zentra approached her." Earth mage, you remember me? I am the Illusionist sage that saved you form Vaxon's soldiers that day back in Odera." Zentra said.Fainghra regarded her with a suspicious look, but then mumbled a thank you." You can repay me by assisting me in taking out other magi so we could eventually face Vaxon and avenge our master." Zentra offered." What's the catch?" Faighnra asked." Just do as I say and maybe you'll survive." Zentra informed her. "In addition to that, I have a hit list of magi I want to take out."Zentra listed the names for her."Of course." Faighnra agreed on taking them out.Zentra turned to grab a pack nearby, but out of nowhere a giant spider landed in front of her. It was the size of a dragon, with a red and black color scheme along with eight yellow, snake-like eyes trained on Zentra. An Arachne!! Zentra was frozen with fear, trembling as the giant spider started to poke her with its rod-like legs, its pincers moving in curiosity. " Get away from it!" Faighnra shrieked. Zentra could only stand there in terror as the Arachne eyed her over. Suddenly, it was sliced in half, body fluid flying everywhere. When the dead Arachne split, standing behind it holding a sword with a shadow blade in one arm and the pack of supplies in the other was Kyren Asherex. A grin came on his face when he spotted the 2 female magi. "Well, it looks like I will have to fight you both." He stated as he drew his shadowy sword. "But I will try to enjoy it." He set upon Zentra and started to hack at her with his sword, but Zentra evaded the moves. She struck her own blows with her dagger, but Kyren parried them all. He proved to be a very quick and agile opponent. "Not so bad, but it is time for me to end this." Kyren commented. "Other magi need to be taken care of." However, before he got could strike Zentra, the earth shifted and a tree nearly crushed him to death if he hadn't dove away. Zentra knew that was Faighnra intervening. Zentra made another rune and made Kyren lose interest in them and leave. She was about to regroup with her ally when she heard fighting west of her. She turned and saw 2 magi she recognized as Nikolai Aerie and Vala Leanour clashing with flames and shadow tendrils. Then, she noticed a giant yellow shape basking near the river. She was filled with joy when she recognized the creature as a Sporkion. She found excess blood on the ground from one of the wounded magi and used it to create her signature rune. The giant scorpion raised its eye stalks and slowly got up. It made its way toward the fighting magi under Zentra's influence and sunk into the marshes. A few minutes later, it appeared between Nikolai and Vala. It's massive, yellow plated tail impaled Vala like a fork and its claws snatched a surprised Nikolai.Crush him, Zentra thought.A sickening crunch proved that it obeyed its mistress. "Eat them," she ordered with a devious smile playing on her lips. "You deserve the snack." Her focus shifted on Kyren, who had just killed Sigel Silverblade with dark magic, appearing near the Sporkion. Time to end Vaxon's son, She thought. The Sporkion engaged Kyren while Zentra looked on. Now's the time to- "What the hell you think you are doing?" she heard Faighnra say. She turned and her jaw dropped when she saw Mordzar Malthus, standing behind her, holding a mace. He looked to be trapped in the earth. If it wasn't for her ally, Mordzar would have had her with his devious sneak attack. Her gasp had then turned into a sneer. "Mordzar, am I glad to see you." She said in a mocking tone. "You just saved me the trouble of looking for you." "You want me that bad, don't you?" Mordzar mumbled. "Your dreams of a 'rebellion' against Vaxon end here and now." Zentra cackled as she drew her dagger and made her way toward Mordzar. She almost reached him before a blinding white light flashed, temporary robbing her of her vision. Seven hells! I can't see anything! She stumbled backwards and fell on her butt. After a few minutes, her vision returned. She wasted no time grabbing her dagger and charging at Mordzar-until she ran smack into some invisible force which knocked her down. Where did that wall come from? She wondered. She heard voices and turned to see 4 figures approaching Mordzar. She recognized them as his 'prison gang'. She watched as they helped him out of the ground. Her eyes then went on Eris the shield wizard.So that is why I couldn't reach him, she realized." It looks like I will have to take you all out as well." Zentra hissed, her eyes clenched in fury. She bit her left pinkie and used the blood to draw a rune. In no time, the Sporkion who had been giving Kyren quite the fight, appeared behind Jaeyria."Jaeyria!" the weakling Eiridan shouted. He was quick on saving his friend as the Sporkion's poison tail barely missed them. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Faighnra engage the light mage. So that was the asshole who blinded me, he will pay in blood. She quickly snapped out of her thoughts as Mordzar touched the ground. Here it comes. She leapt to a nearby tree as small spikes peppered the ground."You are going to have to do better than that, metal mage!" she shouted at him. "It looks like I don't have to hold back with you." Mordzar snorted. Just as she predicted, he had joined her on the tree and they both fought. As she desperately tried to wound him, she had to admit that for a brat of his caliber, he fought valiantly.When Zentra saw him lower his guard, she threw her dagger at him and cut him with it. The Sporkion venom should do the job soon. " It burns, does it not?" Zentra snickered. " That's because my dagger was encrusted with Sporkion venom." She walked over and kicked the royalist brat out of the tree. She summoned the scorpion with her mid over him. The look that crossed Mordzar's face was priceless when he saw what was towering above him.Zentra howled with laughter as it snatched Mordzar, who was desperately trying to cut his way free with his scythe." This is the part where you beg for mercy." Zentra smirked. "I can't wait to hear your screams of agony as this big boy tears you apart."This is it, she thought. The brat will be no more. She heard the shield wizard scream his name and decided that she would be the next to die. What happened next, however, nearly gave Zentra a heart attack. A black-bladed pendulum had struck the Sporkion and pinned it to a tree, killing it and causing it to let go of Mordzar. She was stunned to see Kyren standing on top of it." This is the last bug I kill today." He sighed. His eyes surveyed the crowd, but then they stopped on Eiridan. " I would love to play with you all, but I have a prior engagement with Jaxon Steele at the meadows." Kyren told everyone with a grin. He turned and began to flee. " Hold up, you are not going anywhere!" Zentra had leapt down the tree to approach him, but Kyren was long gone. Damn him! What was in the healer wizard that caused him to flee? I will deal with him later, but for now, I need to focus on these clowns, she thought. She saw Faighnra fighting the light mage and the fight was in her favor. Go on, kill him. Suddenly, with a look of horror, she saw Mordzar's weapon take the earth mage by surprise. No! Immediately, she used the blood from her pinkie to write another rune. She made all the magi think they were fighting ghosts as she set upon Asawake. " You are coming with me, you dirtbag." She hissed in his ear as she pulled him out. It took a while for Mordzar and his dogs to realize that their comrade was not with them. "Looking for someone?" Zentra's voice was set in a mocking tone. " Let's make a deal. " In exchange for this worthless waste of flesh, you let me finish you, Mordzar!" What will he do now that one of his bootlickers is now my hostage? She saw them engage in combat with fake enemies and laughed to herself. They are all the biggest fools I ever seen. They would never figure it out before it is too late. Mordzar, however, stopped. " Everyone stop! Zentra is messing with your minds!"the metal mage shouted. Damn it! How did he figure that out?! She saw the rest of them look over at her. He still needs to pay for killing Faighnra,she thought. There is no way he can liberate this other brat without giving himself up. She pressed her dagger against Asawake's throat."If I were you, I wouldn't move."she whispered in his ear. "This dagger has Sporkion venom." That is when Mordzar had looked behind her in shock. What did he see? " Zentra, look at the size of that Arachne!" Mordzar pointed behind her. "What? Where?!" she let the light mage go free as she started to tremble, her knees going weak. She slowly turned around, looking for the Arachne Mordzar had seen, but she saw nothing. Only the river and a few chirping birds were heard. "Where was I"- she started to ask, but saw that Mordzar and his pals were gone. "Damn you all!" Zentra kicked a tree in rage. The metal mage had pulled a fast one on her! They will all pay dearly, each and every one of them! She screamed in frustration and continued throwing her childish tantrum. Once she cooled down, she headed deeper into the marsh. She stopped to pick up some rations that had dropped from Mordzar's pack when she knocked him of the tree and set off. Eventually, she found a Sporkion den which she decided to seek refuge in, knowing no one else would step in here lest they have a death wish. She came upon a cyclone of Sporkions, each resting on the soft ground. Unlike the one from earlier, these all had jet-black bodies and equal colored eye stalks. They seemed like big, black boulders until you saw their lethal tails. She walked up to the first one and began to stroke it on the head. She offered it some rations which it took gingerly. She repeated the same process with the others until they accepted her. Looks like I have the perfect army to go after Mordzar, she grinned. She lay down to rest up among the giants. A while later, she thought she heard what sounded like a woman crying. She got up and curiously looked out of the den. Illuminated against the pale moonlight, was a blonde haired woman about Zentra's age sitting on a rock across from her position, crying. Zentra looked closer and realized that it was Verna the conjurer wizard. That little whore! Zentra gritted her teeth and remembered how she was a part of the few favorite pupils of Mathas along with her. It seemed that there was something more going on between her and Mathas than a simple student-teacher relationship. Zentra then grinned when she thought up an idea. If she wanted to use her Sporkion army against Mordzar or Kyren, why not test it out? She bit her left ring finger and made a rune. In no time, the Sporkions poured out of the den and pounced on Verna. Verna's shrill scream cut through the night, indicating that the Sporkions were doing their job. Once, the screaming died down, Zentra went over and surveyed the scene. "Perfect." She warbled as she looked at the Sporkions. The tell-tale sign that Verna had existed was the smear of blood on the ground . She noticed the Sporkions had smudges of red on their black bodies. They deserved such a tasty meal. Grinning, she headed back to the den to rest up for the next day with the Sporkions in tow. She would now rest content that Mordzar's downfall was imminent.

Female 6: Earth Mage Faignhra Caranee Covei

The mild buzzing noises of the magi rung in my ear as we were released from our cells. I looked around, scanning the set of guards guarding the rest of the cells. All of them are rigid and nonchalant at their posts(I almost believed they were statues, glued to their posts). I did another sweep trying to look for familiar faces when, all of a sudden, my eyes locked with the the familiar electric blue eyes.

I look at him and all I can see was the same person I used to love. The same person I used to share secret little moments with. The same person I used to confide in. The person I used to trust with.

Trust, the word felt a pang in my chest as I remember his betrayal. He turned me in, he turned me at the hands of my enemy. He locked me out from my family, my friends and my freedom. I don't need a man, especially a man like him.

Half of me, thought she needs him but the other half was boiling in rage at the thought of his sudden twist. I felt my soft gaze turn into a hard glare and I can see the sad emotion in his eyes at my sudden change, I had to look away.

I straightened my posture and looked straight ahead, feeling cold and harsh. You are nothing but an arrogant, imbecile person and that I have nothing to do with you.

And as if on cue, the castle metal doors creaked open and we all move out in the open.

The chilly stale air of the arena hit my nose like a poison being forced into me. I looked to my side and watched as the other magi took their position.

Shades of blonde and reds covered the entrance of the castle as we all look ahead and into the wild stretch of forest.

We heard a long sharp squeaking sound and we all turn to look up at the top of the castle. Up there, propped up in a huge throne, was Vaxon. He was looking at us with a triumphant smile on his lips. Behind him, was a huddle of monks wearing different capes and looking down at us behind their huge hoods. I shivered.

"Take your positions," I heard a familiar voice behind me and I don't have to look to find out whom it belongs to. Dayelor spoke in a cold detached voice as he explain us the mechanics. I flinched, he was so detached I couldn't recognize him anymore.

'He has nothing to do with you now that he put you on edge. One more push and you going to fall. Your very stupid, I don't even know you still worth being called a daughter to me!' My father growled inside of me, yet he was still weaker than what he had been before and it was all my fault.

I sighed and shook my head before I looked straightforward, playing a scenario of how will I get into the cove.

Before I can picture a scene, in my peripheral vision, I saw the guards already withdrew and a tall, lanky man in suit stood in front of the horn. He put the end of the horn in between his lips and blew a long horn.

And before my mind could comprehend, a flash of black came sweeping past me and I felt a could finger touched my neck.

I reached in my back and tried to grabbed the hand of my captor. But unfortunately, he was a lot stronger and gripped my throat tighter. I choke.

Hot sensation surged throughout my body as I try to claw out for air.

"I c-can't b–b–brea-breathe," I managed to say as I tried to reach his arms. My eyes started to blur and my mind went blank.I'm defenseless at the moment.

I tried to focus on my power but I can't feel any. I touch the roots of my power yet it was still immobile. I'm running out of breath, I'm running out of time.

I tried to heave myself out of his grip when all of a sudden, I felt a hot-cold sensation being pushed down from the back of my throat, penetrating beneath my spine, my nerves until it all spread all the way half of my body.

I suddenly felt weaker and I felt my power vaporize from my body. The cold sensation spreads on my stomach when I started to feel pricks of needles spreading at the site where the sensation once had been. The longer his power penetrates, the powerful the needles become. The pain becomes unbearable and up until the moment I couldn't think of anything that I have to do.

Why does this have to happen to me?I can't breath.There is no way I could escape these needles. They are my weakness and will ever be.

I breathe heavily as I try to concentrate on my surroundings. It was then, when I heard a faint 'No' and saw a figure trashing between a set of men, holding him back.

"Faignhra!"I heard a familiar feminine voice called from a distance. I looked up but to no avail, I couldn't make out her figure properly neither her face.

"H-help,"I tried saying but nothing came except for a hoarse whisper that my worn ability could produce.

The woman came near and she darted towards the man holding me. Before I knew it, I was laying flat on the ground, my senses are adjusting. I looked up and saw the Zentra struggling with his brother, Mordzar on the ground.

I tried heaving myself up but to no avail, I fell limply on the ground, weak and worn. I closed my eyes, tight and felt a hot liquid trickling down my head.

I reached my hand up and felt the sticky liquid in my figures, bringing them right in from of my line of vision. It's a blood. My anger flared at the sight of my blood drawn from my head. He shouldn't have dared to take what is mine. He shouldn't have dared tried.

'No one dared to do that to me, not even my father. Your going to pay for this'. I closed my fist and brought them down the ground.

The ground shook and the both of them stopped in the vicinity. I felt a soft tug and I wrapped the pieces around my fingers and a miniature of earth came to my view.

Anger and eagerness, surged through me and I grabbed the piece eagerly between my palms. I started folding them. Slowly, I pulled them apart and I heard a loud growl of earth, creaking beneath me. I pulled my gaze at the scene happening at my feet and watch the ground crack.

I stood up and gaze down at the crack, my eyes darting from the crack to my victim. I smiled viciously.

I put my hands on either side of them and raise my hand, the walls grew all around them and I tugged on the roots of the earth, tying Mordzar down.

"F-Faignhra," I heard Zentra's voice choking inside my enclosing palms. I was snapped out of my beast and discovered Zentra was trapped. I put a wall between and opened the upper half where she was been.

She moved out of the way to my side and we watched as the walls burst open with a struggling Mordzar in it.

You are going to suffer. You are going to die. And I'll make sure of that.

'That's my daughter,'

I hissed. "You useless of a mage. You never attack your fellow magi and now you deserve to die,"

I gripped my palms and undoubtedly crashed him between my fingers. I heard him trash but it wasn't long when he fall limplessly on the ground.
I watched as his life left his body and I felt weakness drew onto me. My knees buckled and so was the rest of my body. But before I could fall to the ground, I felt a set of strong arms held me upwards.

I saw Zentra's eyes glared at someone behind before stalking away to search for her escape. I looked up to see Faun heaving me up and slung my arm across his shoulders.

"Faun?" I asked, trying to make my mind work why in the world this shapeshifter sage was helping me. He looked down at me and nod acknowledgingly.

"Let's get her out of here, she's getting weak," I heard a small voice said. I looked around trying to find where the small voice came from, when, I caught the sight of a small boy, looking down at me.

"Leo?"I asked as my lips tugged at every corner. He never left me just like how I assisted him before. He smiled at me before turning to nod at Faun.

"We better get going before anyone else will be hurt," he said and with that we all set off, running towards the path that crosses the water.

The stale wind tastes bitter against my mouth which was quite ajar because of the continuous bleeding of my lips.

From a distance, I can already hear a splashing of water and the sound of waves hitting the barriers. The stale air became salty and cool. I shivered.

I looked across the deep blue waters and saw an islet in the middle of the water. I saw a small treasure chest- like box, situated in the center of the islet.

I removed my arms from Faun's shoulders that made him stop abruptly. He looked down at me with full confusion.

"What are you doing?"He asked. I turned to him and shook my head.

"Everybody stop,"I announced they all stopped at my command and turned to look at me.

We all fell in silence as they wait for me to speak. I looked across the waters and into the islet and pointed.

"See that islet? There is a box. That might give us weapon," I said, monotonously as I struggled to keep my feet from trembling.

"Are you sure?" I heard Centauri asked. I watched him in disbelief before shaking my head.

"She was right, the General had explained the mechanics and that included the weapons, situated somewhere between those coves or something."Eris interrupted as he moved towards the cliff of the uneven stone path to examine the islet.

"But how do we get there?"asks Faun,who was at the moment, was short of breath."There's no path."

"I'm a water mage,I think I can manage that."says Evian.

"What about the rest?"asks Centauri, who was at the moment eyeing the water

I heaved a sigh and looked at him incredulously. "Then we swim, right?"I suggested.

They all looked at me with utter disbelief, except for Evian who was convinced. After staring at me for a good full minutes, Centauri spoke.

"We are not getting in there,"He states as a matter-of-factly.I raised a brow at him and shook my head.

"We are getting in there,"I decided."We have powers, Evian can help us too and we'll be alive when we get back."

We have powers and whatever was in there will never hurt us nor do any harm. Evian was here. And we can save ourselves, we are all able.

"She's right,again. We have to,"Leo said, putting on a determined face. Everyone looked at each other then at Leo as if deciding if they would really do it or not.

'This will lead to nothing if we all just stop and stare. I have to be the first.' I thought and before anyone could speak, I detach myself completely off from Faun and moved beside Eris.

Eris sent me a questioning look but I only shrugged and put my hair behind me. But before anyone can register what I was planning to do, I already jumped into the water and swam in its depths.

The water was cold and dark. All I can see was the shadow of the solid carves of earth. I swam further and tried reaching the large block of earth when all of a sudden, A set of arms grabbed me by the waist and pulled me back.

I choke and tried wiggling out of it's arms but it just tightened around my waist and later it moved up to throat, choking me just like earlier.

No, not this again. I looked down and saw a set of webbed hands struggling me in place.

I opened my mouth trying to breath. But instead of air, a large amount of water gushed in my mouth, choking me more.

I closed my eyes and tried to put all my weights on me.As soon as my eyes closed, I pictured a set of roots in my head.

As eager as I was, I grabbed a root and mold it into a huge ball and I felt a heavier weight being laid on my back. Slowly, I felt the webbed hand slipped from my throat.

I opened my eyes and pushed of the mermaid behind me. The rock was huge enough to push her down.

I pushed my feet off the waters and tried to resurfaced myself when I saw a herd of mermaids dashing on me.

I swam higher and reached the surface, waving my hands frantically. "Help!"I shouted then I felt a hard tug on my feet. And as if on cue, they all went frantic and altogether jumped into the water.

I wasn't able to be on surface as long as I have wanted because of the mermaids tugging on my feet. I tried holding them back but to my dismay they were fast enough to dodge my rocks.

The mermaids encircled me and scratched on every piece of my bare skin and into my clothes.

I yelp and tried to shoved them out of my way. I grabbed a mermaids by the throat and threw her to the others behind her back.

I swam through the open and drifted towards the others helping them knocked the others.

Faun,who turned himself into some unknown creepy fish, nod at me and I got that as a cue to swam across and into the islet. But before I can reach the islet, the same mermaid came to view and she flipped me her tail I was caught of guard and was pushed back. I tried charging at her but she was to fast to dodge.

But seems like luck wasn't really on her favor and Evian caught her by her arms and locked her from bending water and tied it around her arms. I instantly moved away from them and swim my wave to the earth surface just enough to see Kyren struggling on the other side.

His arms are full of cuts and I moved towards him to help him up. His hair was all over and his tattered clothes clung to him, all wet. He was clawed by the creepy mermaids.

He groaned as I touch his arms and heaved him up. "Are you alright?"I asked.

Are you stupid? Of course he's hurt!

He nodded and I groaned at my stupidness. I reached at the hem of my shirt and ripped the edge.

I tied the piece into his arms which was now glowing red under the ray of the sun.

"Stay still, this might hurt," I warned and before he could respond, I pressed the piece in his arm. He groaned in pain.

"Ow!that hurts,"he exclaimed as he rubbed his arm.I shrugged and stood.

"That was just small. It was nothing compared to mine. The mermaids' nails have sunk pretty badly when they were clawing at me,"I said, pointing at the set of deep long cuts on my flesh.

"Thanks," He muttered as he shook his head before he stood up. He was limping as he did so. He tried walking towards the chest but it ended him falling to his feet and into the slippery ground.

I winced but I refused to help him further. So I simply slipped off to the side and looked at the waters, wherein they are all now on surface and Eris was glaring at me. He whipped his head towards the something beside me. I looked aside to the chest safely sitting beside me, waiting to be opened.

I rushed to the side and opened the chest, grabbing a handful of weapons. I grabbed a long silvery blue trident along with two wands and a spear with a fang for it's knife. Below the items, lay a long beautiful golden staff with a black stone that resembles mine. It's vines was carved all over the shiny handle and a sharp, pointed tips on either side of the stone.

Before I could fully adore the staff, I hastily grabbed the staff and head off towards my waiting allies. I handed them their staffs and looked behind to see Kyren almost reaching the box.

I turned and pointed my staff towards the huddled group beneath me. Rise and lead us all to the other side, build a bridge of earth between this islet and the path. I raised my staff, and with that the earth raised beneath them and so does beneath the depths of waters, imitating the path we have walked earlier.

I stepped down from the islet as fast and we walked across the earthy path towards the main barrier that would lead us inside the maze.

As we walked on the earthy path, the earth falls after I walk on it, in order for Kyren not to follow. After reaching the other side, the last of the ground fell and we set off.

We have to survive this place, no more, no less.

Female 7: Air Mage Aelia Zephyr

Aelia tapped her foot nervously on the stone floor.

"Would you stop that?" snapped someone. She couldn't see who it was, but she stopped.

The Magi stood in a large circle in the middle of a dark, empty castle's entrance. Aelia had simply woken up standing there, her hands bound behind her back, and she had no idea where they were or why.

She'd tried to move the wind around her ankles just to make her feel better, but the handcuffs were made of the same magic-stopping material. The lack of wind in the castle was making her anxious and the air was damp and unsettling.

"Hello, Magi. Welcome to the end."

The voice startled her and everyone else. Aelia looked around for the source but Vaxon was nowhere to be seen.

"If you couldn't already guess, you will all die. But to make it just a little bit more fun for us all, I won't be killing you. No, you'll be killing each other."

There were several gasps and angry whispers.

"What if we don't? I refuse to play your games."

Vaxon chuckled. They must be so amusing.

"Well, child, if you don't kill each other I'll make sure your family and friends die. Slowly. Painfully. I'm sure that the worst thing you can think would be merciful compared to what I'd do to them."

Everyone in the room was rustling and whispering.

"He could be bluffing," some girl near her whispered.

He wasn't. He'd kill them all.

But Vaxon had already destroyed her family, and the only friends she had were standing in this very room.

She spotted Kyren, Vaxon's son, standing amongst them. He must have messed up pretty badly to have his father want him to die for entertainment like them.

Aelia wasn't even angry. She felt an uneasy calm, because, sadly, she was great at killing people she loved.

This ordeal should've been bothering her, but it wasn't.

"When the gates to this castle rise, I recommend exiting. Unless, of course, you enjoy torture."

And with that Vaxon's voice was gone.

None of the Magi talked, they were all too scared.

However, her hands weren't sweating because of the situation. Unlike most of them, she had nobody he could kill, so it was an easy choice.

Kill none unless they tried to kill her.

No, she wasn't too worried about killing others. Instead it was what was outside the castle that scared her, what sort of lands were they? What horrors awaited her there?

Her imagination got the better of her for the next two hours that they stood there in the castle. Barely anyone spoke, it simply wasn't the time for it.

Now was the time for strategizing.

Who would she kill if she had to?

Not her friends. Even if they turned against her and tried to kill her, Aelia didn't think she'd be able to do it. She'd let them kill her.

By the time the gates began to open her legs were beyond stiff and all she wanted was the feeling of the fresh air around her. But they did, and her handcuffs immediately disappeared.

She sprinted out of the castle as fast as she could, which wasn't too fast because her legs were threatening to fall out from under her.

A small piece of paper appeared in her hand as soon as she exited, but she wasn't interested in it.

The wind.

A mad grin appeared on her face and she sent a gust of air in every direction around her, knocking down several Magi.

It just felt so good.

After getting out her excitement, Aelia looked down at the paper in her hand. It was a little bit crinkled, but she could still read the small words on the map.

A map. That was useful.

She finally looked up and around at the land around her.

According to the map, there was a deadly force field around the perimeter, but she couldn't see it. Still, considering it was some sort of gift and it didn't appear that everyone else had one, she'd trust it.

Sitting right in front of her was a grassy plain full of flowers and - she noticeably gasped - pegasi.

Several of them were flying in the air, their wings gleamed in the sun like sheets of gold. Some were spotted, others dappled, and most were a single color, but all were equally breathtaking.

The childish instinct in her wanted to run right towards them, but she calmed it.

Strategy. Survival. That's what she had to worry about, not the rare, incredible creatures in front of her.

Aelia checked the map again.

Pegasus meadows, vampire coven - definite no - jungle forest, mermaid cove.

The pegasus meadows seemed like the best way to go, considering both vampires and mermaids would happily rip her to shreds if she made a wrong move.

She grinned.

Nobody seemed to be running towards the meadows, everyone was heading to the protection of the forest. Everyone could see her in the meadow, but with the winds and pegasi...

It was her best option, so she started to run towards it and used the winds to push her faster.

What sort of punishment was this, sending her to a paradise?

As she was running a figure came up from behind. She turned towards them, surprised but angry at herself for letting her excitement get the better of her.

Kyren stepped in front of her, knocking both of them off balance and sending them toppling on top of each other.

Aelia groaned as her entire body lit up in pain.

It had not been a graceful landing, but as soon as she regained sense Kyren pinned both her arms down with his leg. He held her shoulders down with her arms, and despite her struggles and the gusts of wind she was shooting towards him she couldn't get free.

She stopped trying. It would only waste energy.

You don't need energy when you're dead.

"Well?" she asked. He seemed surprised that she wasn't even putting up an effort.

"Kill me," Aelia whispered. She wasn't pleading, though. It was a threat.

Maybe it was for the best that she was dead. There wasn't anyone she had to live for.

Nobody but herself, and she was a mess.

Why wasn't she dead? Why couldn't he snap her neck and end it?

"Get it over- Behind you!"

Kyren jumped off of her and turned towards Telex, the warrior sage, who was running to attack Kyren.

Aelia blew a gust of air at the sage, one much more powerful than she'd intended.

It send Telex flying backwards. His body made a horrible, crunching thump! as it hit the ground.

She was too stunned to move for several seconds, what did she just do?

"He could've killed me," whispered Kyren. He looked just as surprised as Aelia.

She rushed towards the mangled body splayed on the ground. Blood was already pooling around Telex's cracked head and it turned the light dirt around him a deep red.

Kyren walked near her, but she sent a warning glare.

Get near me again and the same thing will happen to you.

"Do you realize you just saved my life?" he said. His voice wasn't calm, in fact it seemed more angry at her lack of control.

She nodded.

"And why would you do such an idiotic thing?"

"Do you have a family?" Aelia's voice was the opposite of his. It was whispy like the wind and too light for someone that had just killed an innocent friend of hers.

When she asked this, Kyren's face seemed to turn into a shadow.

So he did a family, one besides Vaxon. A family that he loved.

"That's why."

Aelia ran before he could think twice about killing her.

What did she just do?

She should be trembling, she should be crying, she should be on the floor begging for forgiveness.

Yet here she was, running away from the person - the living, breathing person - she just killed.

She remembered Sigel, Telex's brother, and how much they cared for each other. How Telex always tried to make jokes to lighten the mood.

And yet she still felt nothing.

Monster.

Aelia tried to ignore the nagging voice in her head and she focused on the wind blowing around her. She put one foot in front of the other and let the wind blow away all of her thoughts until there was nothing inside her.

The pegasus fields were only a two or three minute run away, this center area was much bigger than she had thought it was.

The pegasi were still flying in the air as beautiful as ever, but now they seemed like the whisper of a childish dream someone else once had. She could have at least been excited about going to a gorgeous meadow full of exotic animals, but no.

She was empty. It was funny how so much could change in only a day.

One foot in front of the other. That's all she had to worry about.

One pegasus turned its head towards her and its eyes lit up in territorial anger. It started running towards her and the air around him began to crackle with electricity.

She'd forgotten that pegasi were rumored to be messengers for the gods of the sky, and their lightning powers were a gift they'd received.

The pegasus didn't look too friendly, considering his eyes were beginning to light up with fire, and Aelia wondered if she'd chosen the safest biome.

"I don't want to hurt you!" she yelled.

More pegasi began to look at her with the same fire. Oh, this wasn't looking good for her.

She'd stopped running and braced herself for the attack.

I don't want to attack. I can't hurt them, I can't...

"Please stop," she whispered.

Why were they attacking? She came in peace, she just needed somewhere to go...

The horse wasn't stopping, though. The lightning was dancing around the pegasus and she was sure just being near it would have enough energy to kill her. It was almost there. She had to do something.

Aelia closed her eyes.

I don't want to do this.

She had no choice if she wanted to live.

But did she?

The tornado of winds that began to swirl around her seemed to be chaotic, but she was in complete control. It was going to take most of the energy she had, yet it was so liberating to feel her hair whipping in her face and the dirt creating a tornado around her.

She remembered Kyren's look of disappointment after she launched Telex and killed him. She shouldn't be so reckless, she shouldn't enjoy going overboard.

And she didn't care what he thought, or anyone else.

A wild and savage grin spread across her face as the tornado built up around her. It was so much fun.

Aelia let the wind die down until it returned to the peaceful breeze it had once been.

The pegasus, where was it?

Panic gripped her heart.

She began to gasp."What did I do, what did I do, what..."

The pegasus laid in the tall grass several hundred feet away, but she could see it wasn't alive anymore.The other pegasi that had once been crackling with fury looked fearful as they approached their dead friend. Each of them sent her a glare.

Monster.

The word rang through her hand as she rushed towards the pegasus.

The body was no better than Telex's. His legs were broken underneath him from being unable to land with the violent winds, but they were nothing like the neck.

Such a crude, unnatural angle.

Aelia didn't even try to hold back her tears as she collapsed onto the ground next to it.

Monster. Monster.

It was beginning to become a chant inside her head.

Why did she have to be so careless? Why did she have to get so distracted?

Sobs racked through her body and the edges of her vision were spotted with black. She'd killed two - two - being that didn't deserve to die, today.

Monster.

"What did I do, why did you try to kill me?" she whispered, her voice hoarse.

They were just animals, but she knew they could understand her. One approached, full of fear, but it nudged her hand.

The map, how was it still here?

She unravelled it and looked at the pegasus meadows. Right in the middle was a star that said supplies.

"You were protecting these. You were just doing what you were told to do."

She couldn't see them, but she knew that they nodded.

"I'm sorry."

Aelia got up and walked through the herd of pegasi that had formed around her. They parted as she passes, none wanted to get too close yet they all wanted to mourn their lost brother.

She walked numbly to where the supplies were supposed to be. The tall grass made her legs itch and all of her limbs felt like lead, weighing her down.

The supplies were in a metal box and she opened it up.

Dried meats, several sacs full of water, a knife.

It was good enough to survive, which was all she wanted.

Her eyes were drooping and she realized how tired she was. Too much had happened today, she just needed to rest.

Rest.

Aelia laid down on the grass and looked up at the stars.

Emotions were too much. Thinking was too much. Living was too much.

She fell asleep within minutes, emptier than she'd ever been. 

Female 8: Gravity Mage Jaei Burton

No entry

Female 9: Water Mage Myla Nixie

 "You're pathetic"

She glared just thinking of the harsh words Vaxon had hissed at her.

"You must kill in order to live. Do it and you'll see the bastard sister you've always wanted,"

She shook her head her dark brown hair falling in her face. She couldn't stop thinking of the words Vaxon had spoken to her when she was sitting in her cage and he came to visit her.

She was scared of what was going to happen. What would happen when she got out to the real challenge could she actually hurt others for her own selfish needs?

Myla wasn't hurt by his words anymore.

She was mad if anything, for the past few hours or days whatever it had been. She had been hanged by her hands and legs leaving her really sore. She was bumped around hitting her head. Now to add to it she was sitting in a cage all alone with nothing to do or way to escape.

For who knows how long she sat waiting in front of a dull brown wall. Finally the door to her cage opened and she was free. A loud horn sounded all throughout and a door opened. She walked out. She turned back around but the castle gate door had been closed.

Myla took a deep breath when she saw that she was surrounded by different magi. She didn't hesitate currently she was in the dead center of something. She took off running South or at least that's what she hoped it was.

She knew what she had to do but she didn't have anything on hand to fight.

She ran but nothing ever came to place until finally she saw a tundra from the looks of it It. The ground looked dead. Bushes were dying and only sticks were popping up isolated.

She went in knowing there had to be a stream nearby hopefully. She stood behind a tree catching her breath. She heard something rustling and she ran deeper into the tundra. She shivered her clothes not meant for the harsh cold weather that had suddenly appeared. She saw the glaciers the big ones.

She heard steps behind her and she ran faster than before

Her deep breaths were trying to be silent as she stood behind the trees no longer hearing noise. She sighed in relief when she no longer heard any noise. When suddenly she stopped walking when she heard a deep grunt and then huff that made her backtrack a little.

A frost troll. She didn't take any chances and quickly ran before it noticed her. As she was running out of that part she noticed to female magi laying on the floor. Both of them missing pieces of their body. Ogygia Gozo and Jaei. She didn't know them personally but they were fellow magi. She sent a small prayer hoping they were in a better place and kept on running. She didn't know much of Trolls.

The weather was no longer cold. In fact it had turned into something of a cool breeze. The sun was still shining.

She was then out of nowhere slammed into a tree.

She couldn't see anything out of ordinary. When Myla finally got up she winced a little when she saw blood coming out from the corner of her forehead. She didn't have time to think of anything when the ground below her shook and something landed behind her.

She through her head back in frustration. She didn't even notice the magi that was slowly creeping up behind her. She didn't notice until she felt pain in her arm and yelped looked down at the beast that had just bitten her her arm.

She kicked it in the head it growled at her quickly shifting into something much bigger that's when she realized it was a human. A shapeshifter. Oh how she hated those things. They always tried to hide themselves and tried to escape by creating new forms. She growled angry and it brought it's long sword down but she dodged and ran behind a glacier. She saw the beast about to run after her when something else hit the beast first. She didn't take time to see who it was and grabbed the sword when it was dropped on the floor.

She looked at it and then quickly climbed onto a boulder. She didn't waste anytime in plunging the sword right into it's back and saw how the beast turned into another magi Faun she thought was his name.

"You stabbed when his back was turned?"

She recognized the voice. It was Chiara. She'd meet her a while back and struck up a weird but nice relationship with her. She could hear the judgement in her voice but she didn't really care. I mean why would she?

"In case you havn't noticed that thing bit me first with my back to it," Myla snapped at her not caring if she sounded rude.

"Well at least you have a weapon now," she added trying to be helpful and not anger her anymore. Her brown eyes snapped open looking at the sword still in her hand letting it fall to the floor.

"I'm not using that." Myla firmly stated and Chiara decided it'd be best to leave it at that.

Her arm was hurting. The cut on her head was probably bleeding again and her sense were coming back and she was starting to feel extremely guilty. Her heart was pounding harder against her chest as she thought about it.

"I just killed him," she whispered not knowing that she could still hear her.

"Hey, hey it's okay, we all have to protect ourselves," she told her bringing her into a light hug and pulling away wiping the last bits of her tears that had started streaming out.

"I left the bodies of two fellow magi in an open area I-I killed a-a boy! What kind of monster am I?" She stuttered sobbed out loud.

Chiara was uncomfortable she didn't know how to handle emotional woman. she patted her back lightly and tried to sooth her but she only sobbed louder. she actually wanted to make her feel better she felt a touch of guilt for just assuming.

"Hey calm down! We need to stay quiet. Who knows what else might lurk around, besides I need to meet with others soon," she told Myla sternly.

Myla tried to but little hiccups escaped her mouth. She set to start her travel with Chiara downwards. She explained how he had to battle this family of Arachne. She told her how he communicated with the queen of the tribe to try and be released but the queen was far too hungry to listen to reason.

They finally made it to a small stream of water. Myla sighed in relief getting on her knees and putting her hands into the water to bring them up and wash her face. Chiara had gone around to scout the place but she stayed there.

When she finally sat with her knees up. She looked at clear sky and open area. They'd gotten out of the icy part of the tundra but entered and darker looking place. She looked around seeing the place that had no trees at all. Only small bushes and the occasional tall plant. It had a sort of moist ground that was horrible to walk on sometimes as it made too much noise.

She was lost in her thoughts when she heard the whooshing noises of swords.

She saw a man with curly brown hair using what looked to be dark magic to kill someone. It was one against two twin brothers with shocking white hair. The guy using dark magic had just crushed one of the twins heart in front of the other. Myla gasped in horror when she saw the pain the other twin was clearly going through when his brother died and what seemed to be dark binds restraining him from doing anything to help.

She looked at the water beside her and formed a small water ball to throw at the man. When she threw the ball at him not knowing it wouldn't cause any damage to him but dose him with water to distract the magi and let him escape. He did only casting a final lingering gaze at his twin before running off.

She now had the problem of the man coming up to her and when he finally did she recognized him.

Kyren, a man who actually did something to stand against his father. Off course it didn't end well for him seeing as he was here in this place as well. She was stunned in place to actually see him and when he walked up to her. Hair soaking wet and deep anger in his eyes she thought maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to distract him.

She felt something start to crawl up her arms, looking down she realized it was dark shadows of a sort. They were wrapping themselves around her arms and she gasped starting to feel a bit lightheaded.

He glanced briefly at her arm and she wondered what he was looking at. He gave her a dark smirk and walked off into the dark shadows of the tundra.

"Myla!" Chiara screamed she saw from where he was running towards her.

Myla looked back wondering what was going on and when she reached her she realized this was something so much more serious.

"Werewolfs, there's werewolves lurking about here," Chiara told her in one breath.

Myla started to breath deeper when he said this. Her heart clenching in pain as her mind struck back a memory from when she was fourteen.

Myla was walking towards her home in Nighes near the clear clean beach when she realized something was off.

Everything was silent as she walked further usually by now she would be greeted by the small family that had taken her in. The little boy who was only three with bright purple eyes and pale skin. The family was unique and she loved them.

Only this time things were much serious. Things were odd. When she walked into the house it smelt weird. Like something had started to decade. When she looked in she couldn't believe what she saw. She didn't even know where to start.

The mother that had taken her in was on the floor a piece of her stomach open and gone. The father right next to her only he was missing a chunk of neck.

She ran up the room and into the little boys room only to get even more sad. A werewolf had been there he had just bitten into the small meat of the little boys leg. It was to late to even try anything. The boy was long gone.

Her heart shattered then and there and as the werewolf started advancing on her something stopped it. She realized it was herself holding it in place as she cried. She broke down realising it and it attacked. She managed to get away but not before it's claws made there way to her right side hip.

She felt the wolf looking into her soul telling her that it was her fault that the family of three had died. It was because of her that they were found and she wondered who was going against her. Who hated her so much to actually kill innocent people and just a child.

Ever since that night she's had a sort of vengeance against werewolves. They were the worst of the worst monsters.

"Myla! Hello? Earth to Myla!" she shouted waving a hand in front of her face.

She quickly snapped out of her memory. Her hand on her hip remembering how Kyren and stared there. She realized then that he knew. He knew about the wolves there and he knew about her scar.

It was to late though. She heard the loud howl run throughout the place and she looked all around.

"It's a full moon... there's no way they'll talk and see reason. The one night where they don't care for reason and attack in a blood hunger lust for meat," Myla spoke in a low voice. Remembering everything she had learned about them. Everything single detail on how to kill on on her mind.

Only problem was she didn't have the materials.

She looked into the water only to quickly look at Chiara who was looking to her side. A werewolf was slowly crawling towards him.

"Watch ou-!" she yelled but was cut off when she was thrown to the side by the teeth of another wolf. She saw that Chiara had indeed heard her a little but now she had to deal with this wolf. The beast was big, brown and full of hair. It's canies pointy and ugly. It's eyes a golden color. She hated that color.

She started a battle against the beast. She threw water tornado at it hoping to slow it down, but it still advanced on her. She wished she had that sword now but she tried to think of what to do. She walked back not taking her eyes off the creature.

She formed a water ball behind her back and threw it at the wolf where it hit directly in the eye. It howled in pain and she found herself feeling a tiny bit of guilt but then remembered the little boy who never got to grow up and her anger came back as quick as it had left. She saw a little tears drip from it's eyes and an idea quickly came to her.

She closed her eyes the wolf finally catching up to her and grabbing her by the waist. She took a deep breath ignoring Chiara when she yelled at her and she concentrated on the little bit of water in the eyes of the wolf. She found the stream she needed and with a light tug pulled. The eyes in ways exploded onto to her and the wolf.

She groaned in disgust but at least the wolf was finally struck down and injured.

Chiara though sent the wolf flying to the floor chest up and howling. Chiara struck light right in the heart and Myla threw a splash of water directly there. The wolf yelped one final time before staying still and they both knew the wolf was dead or drowned.

She walked to where the other wolf was at but it had disappeared into the foggy mist that had started to form around the place.

She tilted her head a little when she saw something on top of a boulder. Supplies! She ran towards them grabbing the container of water and a decent size sword that was meant for her. She walked back to Chiara with the bag and sword shoving them into his face happily and he couldn't help but smile as well towards her.

"You know I never thought you had it in you to do that," Chiara spoke as they walked off.

"Yeah, I don't like doing that at all to be honest," Myla spoke after a while, "I like my powers to be used for something beautiful not something that would put people in pain, but I happen to really hate werewolves. They are the only ones I don't feel bad about hurting," she ended.

Chiara allowed a small smile but also frowned but didn't say anything.

They quickly left the scene not wanting to be there if friends showed up. When walking out they saw the body of two more fellow magi.

"This is horrible," Myla spoke not being able to look at her fellow magi.

She didn't speak and Myla wasn't surprised either. They all had ways of dealing with things this was one of them.

Finally they reached a huge tree and for the first time in the long while since being there she felt safe.

A few minutes of them both just sitting watching the sun go down did she hear footsteps again but Chiara stood up quickly and didn't allow her to move until he said it was safe.

Except Sigel had already come out helping another fellow magi and and his brother also helping him. Finally she recognized the magi in the middle.

Kandi. She looked like she gone through hell and back. Her lips were busted open. She had a black eye. Her arms were filled with bruises and also blood where she noticed parts of pants had been ripped to place around the bleeding wounds. Yet through everything she was thankful that she was still alive even if just barely.

"Kandi what happened," Myla asked.

"Kyren Asherex, Vampires and other idiotic magi," she growled out in anger.

"She also overused her magic," the Telex added. Kandi picked her head up to glare but it didn't come out as that.

"I needed to save myself," Kandi told Myla but she was stuck on the part that Kyren had actually caused this much damage to her friend.

"Why him though?"

Kandi laughed a humourless laugh, "I have no one left to live for. Of course I would be a primary target to him," then she coughed. Coughing a little bit of blood the other female who soon Kandi learned was Chiara helped her sit down. Kandi laid her head on the tree.

"I only met the brothers just when I was going to reach here actually," Kandi spoke, they nodded agreeing.

Myla wondered how she went through all that pain alone. It almost brought tears to her eyes.

"So how about a fire?" Telex asked after a few moments.

Kandi opened her eyes, "no," she growled and she couldn't help but see the sheepish smile Telex had and the small smirk Sigel wore.

Myla was out of the loop. She didn't care though right now she just wanted to rest while she still could.

Female 10: Space Wizard Chanel Svana

On misty fields

Stained with blood

Once fighting soldiers

Now lie still.

Words and colors flashed before her eyes, swirling around in her mind as she raced out of the castle keep, feet pattering loudly on the hardened earth. Beside her, she heard her sister Lilja yell out a spell. A spell that changed her form into one of a snowy-white wolf.

Chanel had always admired the brilliant, pure whiteness of her sister's fur, but today she found herself despising the bright white. Lilja stood out now, amongst the tall, waving grasses. Briefly, an image of fire and smoke and blood arose from the depths of her mind, and a baby's wail echoed in her ear. She shuddered, pushing away the memory before it could completely resurface, and continued running through the wind that carried the screams of the dying and wounded.

Lilja leapt in front of her, making running seem almost effortless, but every step that Chanel took was forced and painful, as she remembered all too well the beating she had received from the soldier. Bruises lined her skin, a beautiful yet deadly shade of black and blue, and the terrible conditions of the cell in which Lilja and Chanel were kept did not help at all. But she did not give up, did not stop running. For Chanel Svana was a soldier, a warrior, a fighter that did not admit defeat.

In front of her, Chanel saw weapons of every shape and size scattered here and there. Several magi had already picked up some swords or bows or daggers and were viciously fighting each other – fighting people that were once their brothers and sisters, their friends and allies. She adverted her eyes when she saw Faun Asterios murder Aelia Zephyr with a powerful battle-axe, despite the mage's efforts to sweep the blade out of it's collision course with her magic. That's not going to be me, Chanel told herself firmly. Me nor Lilja.

Her hazel irises swept across the ground, catching the glint of light that bounced off the silver blade of a sword that bore strong resemblance to Deathbringer. A small smile crept up onto her face as she steered away from Lilja for the briefest of moments to swipe up the sword, nearly dropping it in the process for it was much heavier than she expected.

Grunting, she continued running after Lilja, who was the definition of a flash of a lightning, half-carrying and half-dragging the sword in the grass. Perhaps it was just malnutrition, but her thin arms felt even thinner than usual and her muscles seemed to have turned to nothing but jelly, burning as she breathed. Chanel wanted to yell out at Lilja to stop running, to stop so that she could catch up, but Chanel knew that to do so would be giving other bloodthirsty magi the chance to stab them in the back. Both figuratively and literally.

Faces and hands, open to the sky

Not seeing, not feeling

Dark, red, gaping holes

Through which life has dashed

Leaving survivors to decide

How many more will die.

If Chanel was completely honest with herself, she had no idea where Lilja was taking her. Not that she distrusted her sister, for Chanel knew that wolves had an amazing sense of smell and direction, but if Lilja would even nod her head in a vague direction of where they would be running to it would be good enough for her. Her eyes scanned the landscape around her, connecting with the vague outlines of what seemed like different biomes scattered to the north, south, east and west, and the towering mountains that stretched towards the heavens. Ugh, I hope we're not going there. Chanel thought, eyeing the mountains in distain. I would-

However, her thought process was disrupted rudely and painfully when something hard cannoned into her side, slamming her down full-force into the dirt ground. The sword Chanel had been carrying flew out of her hands, skidding a few meters away, just as a spark of pain exploded in her abdomen. Her head swam and her vision blurred as Chanel emitted a soft gasp of surprise and shock, blinking hard and glancing upwards to see the malicious face of Jaei/Birdie Burton grinning down at her. One side of the girl's face was covered in dripping streams of crimson blood that no doubt came from her last kill, as her hands rammed down onto Chanel't fragile throat with the force of a freight train, wrapping around her neck and squeezing hard.

She choked. Thrashing out with all the force she could muster, Chanel kicked outwards in an attempt to throw off Jaei's position while her hands reached up to try and pry Jaei's fingers away from her throat. Stars swam before her eyes, specks of white against the black background as she slowly felt her consciousness ebbing away. Panic flared in Chanel's body and she kicked out at Jaei once more, but this time her attempts were weak and futile, causing a wicked chuckle to escape Jaei's lips. No, no, no, I can't die!

Suddenly, beautifully unexpected, there was air. Jaei's fingers were released Chanel's throat, causing the girl to sit up in a flourish and cough, sucking in great gulps of glorious air. She panted heavily, wondering who had come to her rescue, when a shriek of pain was heard not far from where Chanel was sitting and she saw Jaei Burton on the ground, being furiously and viciously mauled by her sister.

Even as we speak

War is waging

On fields not far

"Lilja!" Chanel did not even realize she had spoken until her sister quickly scrambled off Jaei's bleeding body, trembling and shaking like a leaf. Chanel's heart skipped a beat when Jaei did not move, blood flowing freely from various wounds on her body, most from her armsGoodness. Is she dead?

However, it was revealed a second later that Jaei was indeed still alive; alive and breathing as she groaned and twitched on the grass. There is no time to lose, we have to get out of here. Chanel turned to Lilja, trying to get her sister's attention, but Lilja seemed to be in some kind of trance. Grunting, Chanel got to her feet, but nearly collapsed once more as tongues of fire licked her skin, burning her stomach, and she looked down to find the source of her suffering.

Crimson blood pooled around the fabric of her stomach.

A sword is run through

Blood flows from both sides

Everyone sees, everyone knows

The wound won't heal

It's always in the back of our minds.

My sword. Of course. The sword must've impaled her stomach when Jaei knocked it out of her hands, and as Chanel stumbled forwards to where Lilja was still standing rigid, one hand flew to her wound to compress the injury, trying to stem the flow of blood. We have to get out of here, she thought, suddenly weary and tired as her hazel eyes looked up and connected with the waving grasses of a vast tundra not far away. There. Chanel had trained. She was a Space wizard. She could teleport there.

One arm slipped underneath Lilja's fluffy body, picking up her sister with a grunt in her arms as Chanel closed her eyes and concentrated hard. Tundra. Tundra. Tundra.

The wind around her picked up, swirling and blinding and harsh, but Chanel let out a sigh of relief as the familiar floating sensation covered her body – she knew that her teleportation had worked. But her relief was quickly diminished by the pain that travelled up and down her body, and she gritted her teeth hard to keep from crying out when Lilja stirred in her arms, accidentally kicking at her wound.

Chanel didn't even know when she landed until her feet made hard collision with the ground and she stumbled, for the first time losing her balance as her head swam in pain and confusion. She was aware that Lilja slipped out of her arms, but when Chanel tried to call out and alert her sister to her wound, she couldn't. Her throat burned and crackled with dryness, every breath caused her such extreme agony that it was like a thousand knives had pierced her flesh.

She tried hard to keep conscious, tried with all her might to call out for Lilja's help, but as her eyes slowly closed the last thing she saw was the outline of a man far away in the distance, watching them. Who are you? Chanel wanted to call, but her eyes fluttered closed and she hit the ground, feeling the darkness coming in and consuming her.

For we are living matter

Overflowing with love and hate

We are the ones who cut

The ones who blood

We are the wound

Everyone feels the pain.

Female 11: Healer Sage Lydora

I look around in fear at all of these magi chained to the wall by their arms. I'm included. Some of them are in worse shape than others. Some seem to be barely conscious.

I scan the faces to find Jaxon. He's the reason I'm not battered or bruised. If it weren't for him, Vaxon's army and guards would have likely had their way with me.

Jaxon wasn't so lucky. He has cuts on his face, a split lip, multiple bruises...he has those mostly on account of me. I can't begin to understand why he did that for me. He didn't have. But he did and I am going to always owe him.

I distract myself from him. I feel too guilty seeing his scuffs. He doesn't even act like he minds...

I scan the castle walls. It's old. That's for sure. The walls are crumbling in several places. Since we're locked up in the foyer area, there isn't much to look at. The most exciting thing in this room is the gate keeping us locked in.

"How am I supposed to kill these people?" I mumble under my breath.

The kid beside me gives me a puzzled look. He seems to be about my age from the looks of his young face.

"Lora? Is that you?"

I bite my lip and attempt to place his face. He's familiar. I know he is, but why? Wait a minute...

"Leo?" I practically shout with a grin.

"Look at you," he says kindly. "You got pretty." He quickly looks away as if he regrets saying the words.

Blush fills my cheeks. Leo is a conjurer and he spent some time with my family when we were younger. He didn't stay long. Apparently he never does.

"How've you been?" I ask, trying to pretend that everything is normal. Trying to pretend that we're not locked in a cold, ancient castle.

He nods his head to the side in mock contemplation. "I've been better. Vaxon is not a very good host," he jokes.

I smile. How did I ever forget about him? We got along so well.

"No, he definitely isn't," I agree.

We both look away, not knowing what to say next. He was always a shy person. He seems as if he's crawled out of his shell just a little bit though.

Out of nowhere, our chains open and my tired arms drop to my sides heavily. Leo and I exchange nervous glances. What does this mean? Are we fighting in the castle?

Within seconds, the gate keeping us trapped begins to lift in obvious protest. The rusty iron has seen better days.

People start running out of the castle. I grab Leo's arm and look into his blue eyes.

"Help me. Work with me."

He nods his head and the both of us run out of the castle. We're among the last to exit. Chaos has already ensued. People are fighting one another, tackling one another, killing each other.

I stand in motionless horror. I don't understand how they're hurting each other. We were all allies not less than about twenty four hours ago. And now...now they're murdering their allies. Magi are supposed to stick together.

"Lora, we need to get out of here."

I watch as Kyren decapitates Kandi. I scream and run to tackle him or something. He can't do this. Even someone like him can't be okay with murder. He may be the son of a monster, but I don't think he wants to be one.

When I reach him, I beat my small fists off his back all while tears fall from my face. I hear Leo behind me. I'm thankful for his loyalty to me.

Kyren spins around and slices my arm with an incredibly sharp stone. I scream out as blood soaks the thin ripped material of my shirt.

Kyren curses under his breath when he sees my face. He bends down so that his eyes are level with mine. I try to run backwards but fall. I keep sliding back the closer he gets. Leo lifts me from behind.

"I won't hurt you," Kyren rushes. "I want to help you." His voice is barely a whisper and it's hard to hear over the clamor of magi fighting.

"Why should we trust you?" Leo puts an arm out in front of me protectively.

"Because you're still alive. Do you see those trees back there?"

He points to a cluster of trees with blood red petals on them and stark white stumps. They sit near the very back of the castle. I nod my head.

"Go there. I can't tell you why, I just need you to trust me. Now get out of here before someone else kills you."

He didn't kill me. He spared us. Why?

I start running and Leo keeps pace beside me. It's amazing how good you can be at running when your life truly depends on it.

"I don't trust him," Leo says.

"I do.

We keep running with all of our might. It's a challenge not trip over the multiple rolls in the land. Not to mention that the dew sits in slippery droplets on the bright green grass.

The bouncing up and down of my body sends constant pain through the slice in my arm. I grit my teeth to stay quiet. I hate pain but I hate being a wimp even more.

When we finally reach the trees, I notice that the area is large but it's split off from other areas by mountains. I stand in place and turn in a full circle to really get a good look of the place I'm in. We are in a valley of sorts. Mountains surround us in every direction, some jutting out to separate one area from another. This place will not be an easy place to navigate.

"Shall we go on?" Leo asks me.

I nod my head with uncertainty. I don't want to get lost in this place. It's not an inviting one. Since I don't move, Leo takes the first step into the red forest.

Under the cover of the willowy red petals, Leo stops me for a moment. The sun casts red lines onto his face. It makes the red of his hair a bit more noticeable. Not that it wasn't noticeable before...

"How's your arm?"

"Oh," I say looking down as if it's the first time I've noticed it, "it's fine."

"Lora." His tone is warning. He knows that it hurts me.

"What?" I ask innocently. It hurts. I can handle it though. There's no sense in making a fuss over it.

"Why don't you just heal it?" He comes closer to me and touches the back of my arm. Leo examines the cut closely. "It's pretty deep for him just using a stick."

"I'll be fine. Besides, I don't want to use any energy right now."

If anything happens to either one of us, I need to be able to have the energy to heal us. I'm not risking any energy on a stupid little cut.

"That's stupid, Lydora. Just heal yourself. We'll walk a bit deeper and stay hidden until your energy is back."

I shake my head stubbornly. A lot can happen between now and the time we decide to stop walking. My arm will be fine. I know it.

"Well then," Leo rips the hem of his shirt sleeve and carefully wraps it around my cut, "at least cover it."

"Thanks," I say as I begin to walk along again.

Leovarettan Maverson has changed a lot since his time spent with my family. He's gotten a lot cuter and maybe a little less awkward. I don't know... There's something about him that makes my heart beat a little less regular.

While walking along, I put my hands up and hit many of the draping petals. They're very soft. They seem familiar.

I think I remember them from stories Mom would tell me when I wouldn't fall asleep. She always described trees with a curtain of velvety soft petals.

I pluck a petal hanging particularly close to my face and examine it while we walk. I see Leo out of the corner of my eye quietly take the lead. That's probably best since I'm distracted at the moment.

The petals are shaped like a little heart, just like Mom used to describe. She told me that these trees were a home for fairies. The bold colors helped them to hide better from dangers.

I smile at remembering the story. It always made me happy when she would tell stories about fairies. In her stories the fairies were always so nice.

Hopefully the trees will offer Leo and me the same protection as it did to the little fairies.

"Lydora, do you see that?" Leovarettan asks. His feet carry him just a little slower than before.

"I see nothing but these trees."

He stops moving altogether and lightly grabs my wrist to keep me from moving. He brings his lips close to my ears and whispers, "I think I see some people."

I know I should be worried at what he told me, but I have to take a deep breath because of the way his closeness made my heart race. What is happening?

"Leo, I don't see anyone."

"They resemble people I conjure. They aren't solid figures."

I scrunch up nose and raise an eyebrow at him. "Are you feeling okay?"

I don't see anyone, solid or see through. I think maybe all of the stress of our situation is getting to him.

"You don't believe me?"

I press my lips into a tight line. It's hard for me to believe him when he's saying that there are see through people.

"I'm sorry, but no."

He grunts. "Fine. Do you think you have enough energy to heal us if we get hurt?"

"Yeah, but—"

He takes my hand and starts pulling me straight ahead. A guilty smile sits on my lips at the thought of him grabbing my hand.

Stop this, Lydora, I tell myself. You're only fourteen. Stop. These. Feelings.

The last thing I need is to get caught up with someone in a fight to the death. Besides, what fourteen year old has these thoughts? Is it normal?

Something catches my eye. It was a figure of sorts. Leo was right. There are see through people with a golden hue to them.

Fairies.

"It's okay," I say to Leo and any fairy that might be listening.

"You see them then?"

I nod my head. "They're fairies. Exactly like Mom used to describe them."

He smiles down at me before looking out around him. A light laugh comes from him. "Fairies, huh?"

"We won't hurt you. I promise."

A couple of them come closer. Some turn into solid figures. Mom called this their allure. They used it when they wanted humans to be able to see them in a more traditional way.

"State your business, human," a tall fairy man states. His golden hair brushes against his eyebrows.

"Um, we're...uh...we're trying to hide from a war," Leo answers.

My heart hammers in nervousness. Fairies are usually nice, but what if these ones aren't? What if they wish to hurt us?

"War?" the fairy asks.

Leo nods. "She even got a small injury on our way here. We only want a place to keep hidden."

The fairy walks over to us and gets uncomfortably close to me. I turn my eyes away from his face. I don't want him to see my fear. Leo hasn't dropped my hand yet and I squeeze it in fear.

"Where is your injury?" he asks me.

"It's my left arm," I whisper. My breathing becomes irregular when he touches my arm.

Please don't hurt me...

"This way, my dear. My name is Hannikel, by the way."

Hannikel places his hand on my back and leads me to one of the red trees. He guides my hand to the white base. Leo quickly rejoins me and stand close.

"These are called heart trees," he tells me. Most all of the fairies have put on their allure and are standing closely, hangin on every word Hannikel says. I'm assuming he's their leader.

"They have healing powers if you believe in it."

"What?" I ask confused. These trees can heal people? Then why do I even exist? My magic is useless.

"Close your eyes and trust that thee tree will heal you."

I listen to Hannikel and close my eyes. I relax as if I were going to be healing myself. Within seconds I feel a light breeze push my hair back and a tugging on the skin of my arm.

I resist the urge to look at what's happening. It feels like someone is pulling my cut together. Second by second there is less pain associated with the cut.

The breeze stops. The pulling stops.

"Can I open my eyes?" I whisper.

"Yes."

I immediately remove the cloth that Leovarettan wrapped over my injury. The skin is baby smooth as if nothing had ever happened to me.

Leo runs a finger over the spot.

"Incredible," he mumbles.

For a person to heal, it's not a surprise. It's something we're used to. But for a tree to possess those powers...that truly is incredible.

A loud scream breaks us from our awe and we all look around as if we would find the source to be in front of us.

"Come children," Hannikel says. "Follow me to safety."

We start to follow him when another scream rings through the air like a siren. I place my hand on my heart and double over, gasping for breath.

"Lydora," Leo exclaims. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know. It feels wrong. Something's wrong." The screams continue. Each scream feels like a small part of me is dying.

"What do you mean?" Hannikel asks.

"I need to find who that is. They're in trouble."

"Lora," Leovarettan starts. I hold up my hand to cut him off.

"No. I can't explain why. I just feel like I need to go. Do you trust me?"

He nods his head and I sigh a breath of relief. I want ready to go on alone. I want him with me.

"Hannikel, thank you for your kindness, but we have to go. Someone's in trouble."

"If you must, I wish you both the best of luck."

I nod with a smile and begin running out of the red and white forest. It's such a peaceful place.

"Where exactly are we going?" Leo asks through heavy breaths.

"I don't know. I'm just running."

I hear him sigh in what is probably exasperation. He's following me blindly.

We run past the castle and through one of the many streams scattered through the land. I take my chances and turn into one of the sectioned off areas.

The ground turns to a stony slope. Running is getting harder and breathing hurts.

The screaming stops and my heart feels pain again. I am too emotional for this. I like people to much to be pitted against them...

While running, multiple griffins and some sort of hybrid breeds surround us. I scream out. Griffins aren't always the kindest of creatures.

Many of them charge at us while others circle us in the sky. Tears spring to my eyes in fear.

Leo pushes me to the right in our sprint while muttering something in a different language. I look behind us to assess the advancement of the griffins.

I see multiple blue hued figures fighting the griffins. My eyes widen and I push myself faster.

"What are those?" I shriek.

"I conjured them. I can only keep them up for so long though. We need to get hidden."

I find a steep slope and immediately start climbing my way down. I try my hardest not to look down at the drop below me.

"I'm scared, Leo," I cry.

"I know," he states. "So am I."

My foot slips from its place and I nearly fall off the almost vertical slope. I scream out and my body trembles.

"You're okay," Leo shouts. He sounds just as panicked as I feel.

Tears continue to streak my face. When my feet finally hit flat ground, I collapse on it, sobbing. I feel Leo's arm wrap around my back and feel his head rest on mine.

"It's okay. We're okay."

He mumbles something else in the unknown language. I can only guess that he called off the warriors he conjured.

Leovarettan stands and takes my hand to help me up. I lean into him heavily as my body continues to shake. I almost died.

I search around the area with my eyes and find a body lying on the ground, motionless.

I run over to the boy and see that it's Jaxon.

"I need to help him," I tell Leo. "There's a good chance, though, that healing him will kill me." When I say the words, I'm not as scared as I should be.

"What?" Leo sounds angry.

"I have to. He's dying and I owe it to him. Besides, I might live. I probably will live actually. I just want you to know that it's possible."

"He could just be unconscious."

I shake my head. "I don't know how, but I can feel it."

I can feel his energy draining. The light of his soul is fading.

I close my eyes and try my best to calm my nerves from the events that took place moments ago.

"By the suns' healing rays, I call upon its powers to heal Jaxon's broken frame." I place a hand on him and nearly scream when more images flash like before. I need to focus.

I push every ounce of my energy on to him. I can feel my power drain as things fade black. I faintly hear Leo call out my name before my body slumps to the ground.

Female 12: Metal Mage Ogygia Gozo

The gates opened and I squinted and blinked to let my eyes adjust to the new amount of light. I took a few steps forward to be at the front of the group or near it when we left. A klaxon sounded and I surged forward in a rush of adrenaline. I ran forward towards an area that looked like mountains and cliffs. As a started to run I felt someone come from behind me and push me down, probably meaning to do more damage. I looked behind me to see Kyren continue to run for a field. I stood up and at that moment I felt an electric shock and fell back to the ground. The shock only lasted a second and I stood up and whipped around. I saw Kalix Leanour and quickly thought, "Metal shard." It appeared and I flicked my wrist and sunk into his throat. He only lasted a second more until he died. I saw his sister come running at me. Everywhere around me I saw fighting and killing. Mordzar was killing Jaxon, or at least trying, as he was being sucked backwards because of Jaxon using his gravity power. I looked back as I ran away and saw a knife embedded in Jaxon's chest, blood dripping very fast as he bled out, staining his shirt a very beautiful crimson red that nothing else can match in color. I turned around and saw Kyren kill the little defenseless little girl, named Ashni. She never talked to anyone and I think she was a lightning mage. I turned around and ran away, but as I started to run, I felt thud and suddenly felt a piercing pain in my shoulder. Mordzar was standing behind me. I knew that he must have sent a chunk of metal into my shoulder. I didn't want to kill him so I just kept running.

I climbed the first cliff and saw a hippogriff. He was a very handsome creature that was half bird and half horse, in a handsome chestnut brown. I decided that the easiest thing to do was to try to make peace, I looked him in the eye, trying not to blink, and I bowed. The hippogriff looked at me like he was trying to look into my soul, staring deeper than my physical appearance. He finally sank to his knees in a bow. I stood and reached out a shaking hand. He didn't seem to want to bite it off, so I started stroking his sharp, platinum beak. I was still in considerable pain so I decided that I needed to remove the chunk of metal from my shoulder although I knew that would allow it to bleed freely. I thought, "Remove the Metal," and I felt the chunk of metal detach itself from my shoulder. I let my shoulder bleed for a minute or so before pulling off my shirt and ripping a good sized piece off the the bottom and wrapping my wound up. I stood back up to face the hippogriff and reached out my hand again. He walked into it. I continued to pet him softly as I climbed on his back. He walked toward the next cliff, and suddenly took flight and flew there. I had never ridden a hippogriff before, only read about them and how to tame them. The ride was very bumpy, and in the short amount of time that it took to fly to the next cliff, I had felt like I was going to fly off and land on the ground, a good 100 feet below me, multiple times. When we landed on the cliff, I saw a griffin. I knew that griffins were said to protect treasure, so I walked toward it and it eyed me suspiciously, just like the hippogriff. It finally drew aside and allowed me into the cave that it was guarding. I took a step into the cave and it seemed like I was instantly plunged into darkness darker than the darkest nights. I looked around as my eyes slowly adjusted. I saw a small pile of supplies in the corner. I took one step forward and my foot started to sink into the ground. I quickly thought, "Metal platform," my foot was then supported and I conjured another platform and put my next foot down I made it all the way across the cave. I gathered all of the supplies in the provided pack and carried it across the cave using the same system.

I exited the cave, a little more tired because of the energy needed to conjure the platforms, and turned to the griffin. "Thank you." I said. I saw him nod his head in an obvious, "You're welcome." I hopped back on the hippogriff and it took off toward another cliff that overlooked the arena. From there I could see a few fields, a maze directly to my right, a lake nearby, and a jungle in the distance. I opened my bag and removed a few tins of crackers, some iodine, for water purification, an extra set of bandages, a water bottle and some sterilizer. I pulled off my shirt and removed the bloody, stained makeshift bandage off of my shoulder. I dripped some of the sterilizer onto a bandage and while I waited for the bandage to absorb the sterilizer, I dripped some on the wound. It stung beyond belief and I shrunk to the ground in pain. Once I got over the pain, I picked up the bandage and wrapped my shoulder. I threw my shirt back on and turned to the hippogriff, who was still standing on the cliff looking as sweet as possible. Just then I saw a boy or more precisely, more of a man, whom I recognised to be Evian, climbing the cliff below, I guess he didn't run into any of the creatures, as he did not look injured or to have a companion. I moved backwards and waited, still a little tired but feeling better now that I knew my wound was clean. He climbed up the cliff and finally made it over the edge. The hippogriff walked forward, looking rather docile, and for a moment I was worried he was docile. Evian tried to pet him, that was a huge mistake. The hippogriff turned and took a swipe at him. The hippogriff's beak caught him in the stomach. Sadly, it was just a semi-deep wound but not a deathly strike. I put my hand on the hippogriff's back and he calmed down. I walked toward Evian and was quickly doused with water. I conjured a floating knife blade and tossed toward him with a flick of my wrist. It hit his arm, not his heart. I dissolved it and he doused me again, but he couldn't sustain it because his wound was sapping his energy. I summoned another knife and tossed it toward his heart. He ducked and it plunged into his throat.

Female 13: Conjurer Wizard Verna Ningha Ankundinov

When the castle gates were first lowered the the magi came pouring out, Verna did nothing but stare at the towering mountain ranges that seemed to touch the skies for a few seconds, mesmerized by the scenery.

However, Verna knew that Vaxon did not capture them to admire the landscape, for the next thing she knew a thunderous blast shook the valley, rattling her bones. Verna let out a barely contained shriek of terror as she was jerked out of her trance, almost toppling over into the grass. She knew what the horn blast meant. The Games of death had started, and there was no escape.

She almost wanted to drop to the ground and give up at that very moment. She was a Conjurer, and her magic had been wakened by her oncoming pregnancy. That, and the fact that Verna had simply been too afraid to use her magic for free of hurting her unborn baby.

So as the magi looked nervously at each other, contemplating the notion of murdering the people who once were their friends, their allies, Verna quickly and silently burst off running towards a pinprick of green in the distance that Verna guessed was a meadow. As her feet skimmed across the grassy ground with blood roaring in her ears, Verna's pale blue eyes made out the indistinct shapes of horses – pegasi, to be more specific – just as the first scream cut through the air. The woman winced, one arm protectively curling around her belly whenever something frightened her, but kept on running with her heart pounding at the speed of what seemed like a thousand miles per hour.

Don't look back. She told herself firmly, though inwardly she was a bowl of jelly. Her knees wobbled as the sound of battle and warfare rang in the distance, but she swallowed and kept on running. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, Verna glanced back ever-so-quickly to see who had fallen.

Immediately, she wished she hadn't. Though she had covered much distance, she could still make out the shapes of bodies falling to the ground, blood spraying up from wounds into the air as they were brutally killed. Flashes of light and shouting of spells echoed in Verna's ears and seared into her eyes as she turned around, breaths coming hard and ragged. She was still on a course towards the Pegasi herd, and the flying horses seemed to be busy grazing on the lush grasses of the meadow, completely oblivious to the bloodshed around them.

Fatigue catching up to her, Verna slowed to a stop and eyed the herd suspiciously. She had heard that Pegasi were non-carnivorous and were usually gentle, but with the arena being created and designed by Vaxon and his wicked family, Verna wasn't sure if she could trust the Pegasi in front of her. What if they had been mutated? What if their DNA had been altered so that they were no longer tender and sweet like the legends described them to be, and now were just as bloodthirsty and vicious like Vaxon was? She swallowed, deciding not to risk the safety of herself and her baby, and suddenly caught eye of a cove not far from where the meadow resided. From her resting place, she couldn't see whether or not any supernatural creatures resided there, and bit her lip in worry as thoughts flooded her mind.

Are there monsters there? Like the Loch Ness monster? Does the Loch Ness monster even exist? Oh my god, I'm going crazy, aren't I? The Loch Ness monster...what?

Verna shook her head and with another quick glance behind her to confirm that she wasn't being followed and thus, targeted, headed off at a brisk walk towards the cove. The majority of the magi were still fighting, or were dead, or had run off to other parts of the arena. Still, every sense in her body was on alert, hearing sharper than normal, eyes darting around to and fro like a deer sensing a hunter, just like the day when she was captured. When she failed Mathas.

Well, Verna thought, lips pressing together in a straight line. This time I'm not going to fail. This time, I'm going to live through this thing. I'm going to survive, and so is my baby. At the thought of her child, Verna smiled down at her belly, but at that moment of bliss and daydream, she lost her focus. It took just that moment for a tribute to sneak up to her unnoticed and grab her by her long, silvery blond hair. As she fell backwards, neck cricking painfully, Verna still had the time to think sarcastically, What's up with all this hair-grabbing? I mean, seriously, if people had to attack me, why do they always go for the hair?

She landed backwards on the dirt, but this time was more prepared than her last fight with Vaxon's men. Motherly protectiveness fueled her forwards, as Verna twisted around abnormally on the dirt and latched onto her attacker's leg, fingernails piercing their flesh. A curse pierced the air as Verna's attacker tried to shake her off, but the woman was relentless. Like a leech sucking blood, Verna held onto the assailant's leg with one hand and curled her other into a fist, slamming it into the girl's stomach. As the girl who had attacked Verna stumbled backwards, Verna took this opportunity to launch herself upwards, releasing the girl's leg and immediately clawed her cheek, drawing blood. A little bit of hope blossomed in Verna's heart.

Yet, Verna's victory and hope was short-lived, for the girl was taller than Verna was and much stronger, as well. Her brown-and-gold eyes glittered with hatred and determination as she held Verna down by the neck, and as Verna struggled, gasping for air, the girl whom she reconised as the metal mage Ogygia Gozo slowly, viciously, drew out a silver dagger. Verna's heart skipped a beat as she opened her mouth to scream for help, seeing her life flash before her eyes, and then...and then...

Ogygia wasn't trying to kill her anymore.

No, because Ogygia was lying in a pool of her own blood, hands reaching up to grasp her throat were a fine arrow sprouted, eyes wide with horror as she convulsed on the ground. With a scream, Verna launched herself upwards and away from the dying girl, skidding on the wet grass and the grainy sand of the cove. Her lip trembled in anticipation as she stared at Ogygia, who had stopped moving, brown eyes glassy and blank. A spell left her lips subconsciously, and suddenly, a pale blue stag appeared beside Verna. She looked up, slightly surprised that she had conjured up her favorite animal, before glancing backwards at who had saved her life.

Who she saw nearly made her scream.

Because it was the one and only Kyren Asherex who was standing a few feet away, in all his handsome glory, a bow sitting in his hand. He stared at Verna and Verna stared back at him, shocked beyond comprehension. The conjured stag stood waiting patiently for a command, but it was like Verna's vocal cords had frozen. Why would Kyren save her? Why was Kyren even here?

She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could Kyren lifted his finger to his lips in a "shh" motion, before slipping away like a shadow into the trees. Leaving Verna sitting on the grass with a racing heart and a million thoughts rushing through her mind.

Female 14: Warrior Sage Isanabella Spoolblac

The sky was dark when Isanabella awoke. The magi had been piled into a cart and were traveling at a fast past. Guards were crowded with them, the bigger, trained men wielding powerful weapons and holding nothing back. They moved along to the castle and were taken down into the dungeon there, where the water dripped from the ceiling and the stones were damp. Worse than anything did it stink, for there were corners filled with only human excrement and it led out into a moat type place behind the castle. She didn't want to get close to it and held her bladder. The hay rotted in places and she scrunched up her nose at it, wishing she were anywhere else. Anywhere but here. The worst must be behind us...right? A castle of evil cannot possibly be true. Mayhaps...mayhaps there be hope for good to prolong its stay.Her ankles were bound by thick chains that prevented the flow of magic through her body. Nay, this must be worse. The same chains were also found on her forearms, attaching her by lengths of chain to the stone wall. The others were found across from her and around her in similar rooms themselves. Great bars separated the rooms from touching and though she'd never been close to the group, being locked away from them as such was torture.A guy was with them, not tied up, but he wasn't really with them. Liars and thieves and spies sent by the King to ruin us and kills us. He wasn't part of the group. He only walked back and fourth, talking to people as if trying to get a rise out of them. He'll be after our heads, I bet. After listening in to a conversation or two she discovered his name, which was Kyren Asherex, and that he was a prince. The boy was talking, telling them about what His Highness, the king, had planned. "He's going to force us all into a room and we'll have to kill one another.""Never!"The Magi denied it, and though she didn't say it, Isanabella denied it as well. She would never hurt them and they wouldn't never hurt each other. Family didn't hurt family. Even if you hated someone you couldn't kill them if you'd spent ten years listening to them and watching over them. He's crazy if he thinks it'll work! I'll never hurt them. They won't do it either. We'll...we'll fight him! We'll string up his head and he'll die! Why, if I get mine hands upon his throat, I'll rip it apart myself!Kyren, who had curly brown hair and eyes of blue, shook his head. His voice was deep and arrogant. It showed clearly that he thought he was better than the rest of them and that he was royal. "You don't understand," he said, "you're only pawns. He'll offer you promises that you can't refuse. That I can't refuse.""No," a guy was saying, "we would never hurt one another. We love each other. I'll fight for you guys. I'll fight back.""So will I!""And I!"The voices grew louder and louder, yet underneath it all Isanabella felt fear rise in the pit of her stomach. She knew that things would only grow worse. Inside, she hated herself for thinking it, for showing fear in any way, but it was impossible to hide. What if we do die? What if...what if he's right? He already got us here. What if he turns us against one another? Her thoughts collided into one another and they battled with axes and blades that sparked in the lowlight. From above her position in the cell they'd brought them into a small pool of light faded inside. The bars were high and thick, almost blocking out the sun entirely. She ran her hand along the wall, feeling the rough granite surface and poking her fingers into the holes there. Bits of dust and mold clung to her skin, oily and messy but oddly pretty. I wonder what this tastes like...Dust. The second it touched her lips she sneezed, loudly, and she wiped it off onto her clothing. It tastes like dammed dust. Her thoughts weren't ladylike but who could ever call a Magi Warrior Sage a lady?She hadn't had anything to eat and as the hours continued to tick by the likelihood of her getting anything grew slimmer and slimmer. Growls would call in her body, low and just loud enough for her to hear, and she pushed her thoughts from them. It's useless to be hungry here. I wouldn't take their food if I were dying. Her magic was back and it pushed against her skin, willing to escape with her anger, but she restrained it. Later, she knew, it would be needed. It would be useful in stopping the king and useful in fighting the Kyren guy. She planned to kill him if needed. Anything, she promised herself, I'll do anything to protect them.It was only after the hours had passed and when she could barely hold back her bladder that His Highness arrived. Vaxon.Dark hair was a sign of the devil, Isanabella knew, and that evil man had hair darker than midnight on a dark moon. Muscles were thickened by expensive clothes and rich colors. The cloth must've been cotton or silk, anything fine and untouched by the harsh clothing worn by the tattered Magi. Coals had brushed along his face in thick lines to form eyebrows that deepened into a furrow just above eyes so bright blue they could burn mountains whole. "You will all do as I command and any who further disobey me will feel my wrath. I have your families, and will personally destroy them in unimaginable ways. For I am king. I am lord. In me there is power and by me I'll have all your heads. In minutes you will be taken out to an arena and there...there you will meet death himself.""We shall never follow you!""Then everyone you know shall pay the price!" In his voice all evil could be found. Deep, dark, powerful. An evil lord, ready to destroy all who dare disobey. "I'll hang them and whip them until their eyes bleed! I'll set curses upon them until their bodies burn and there is left nothing but a shell of who they once more. You shall survive if, and only if, you kill those around you. What do you value more?"Silence descended and the pause was thick with deceit and overwhelming hate. If she were not shackled by her feet and elbows, Isanabella would use her magic to enchant the small pebble next to her with all her magic and kill the man with a single toss. It would kill her, but she would've done it if not for her inability to use magic."Your family and your life...or the pitiful beings surrounding you?"He left at that, turning hide and leaving the dungeon.No one spoke a word save for a few friends who were close to one another. She didn't listen in. The hearts of those she once loved were hardened and they'd be expected to maim and attack one another. A bloody fight for a wicked King. Isanabella didn't even know if she's survive for long, being smaller than most and not thoroughly taught. Could I fight against them?Moments passed and before she knew it guards flooded the dungeon. The big, burley men spat on the floor and muttered curses under their breath. They reeked of ale and bad meat, which was more than likely their diet. When two entered her cell she didn't even bother fighting back, knowing her magic would fade too quickly. Instead, she hardened her face and scowled as they unchained her and took her through the dungeons to outside the castle. There a large, imposing cast-iron gate stood. The tips ended in giant balls or points and the King's crest mounted each individual piece. The guards halted, hands on their weapons, and stood back from it as people working atop the gate brought up part of it, allowing the Magi to enter. A portal type of magic stood in front of them up at the top, shining out on a weird landscape. A moving picture? The idea was terribly evil, something that only the devil could come up with. Pictures that moved were strictly dark arts and she shuddered at the sight of them."You cannot turn back once you enter. The last to survive shall see their family live," Vaxon threatened. He stood atop the gate as well, watching down on them with eyes of stone. His words held a sense of complete dominance over them all. "If thou chooses not to fight, the consequences shall be worse than imaginable. Your families and friends shall feel the wrath of mine power. Be warned, pitiful Magi." One by one, they entered. She was near last, taking her time to study those walking in and trying to not let her emotions run rampant. Emotions were unbefitting of a warrior. To protect as many as possible she was going to have to allow some to die. Whoever turns, she thought as she crossed the threshold, shall not be allowed to live.Their place to fight was a valley surrounded by high mountains, too high and rocky to navigate, and a slightly reflective patch of sky that screamed 'Magic Not Welcomed'. It was a dome that threatened to weaken her magic if she got too close and one that was the main reason why she didn't want to bother trying to escape. To her north she could see the beginning to a system of caves and past that she could see a dark marshy looking place that held the screams of Arachne. Those hideous beasts walked on three legs and screeched like a dying owl, ready to pounce and suck the blood and other liquids out of its victims. Right of that she could hear the distant calls of fire-birds. A river flowed past all that and her heart longed to go and hide in it, escaping the very people she'd sworn to protect...the people that would kill her.The next thing Isanabella saw was a frozen tundra that ran into the southwest corner of the valley and extended directly into a jungle of sorts. From there it morphed into a golden meadow filled with flowers and what looked like Pegasi. "They did so much," she whispered, "but why? Why go through all this trouble to create such a complex place when we could very easily fight each other in just one of these places? It'll be too drawn out there. I could hide for years, living off the land, and they couldn't very well stop me. He's an idiot, this new king. That's why he'll fail."As she whispered and muttered, groaning about the idiocy of the arena and the complexities that encompassed it, a man was talking to them all. He was explaining things, perhaps going into too much detail, and she didn't care to listen to a single word he said. It wasn't until he shouted a command and a large horn was blown that she took notice.One sound, and the world around her exploded into action. One single sound and friends turned and fought one another, no one trusting the other. Before she could think someone was shoving past her and running into the arena and to her right two boys had already begun to fight one another. Hands against hands, magic against magic, brother against brother.At first, there wasn't anything she could do. No one noticed her still standing there. No one challenged her. She simply watched, yet it was worse than if she'd been killed herself.A water Mage, Myla, was the first to die. As her body fell and her head hit hard, eyes rolled back and unseeing, Isanabella felt her heart ripping into two. Despite her age, twenty six years, the girl had the spirit of a child. Her dark hair, coated in blood, fell across her body in dramatic waves. All Isanabella could feel was the death taking control and as she heard more cries, she knew what she had to do. No, this cannot be true...I must put an end to this.She kept her stance but enchanted her skin with a quickly drawn rune in the air. It thickened and grew tough, preventing her from getting too hurt. Eyes scattering about, she caught sight of the twins fighting together. Naven had cast a shield of magic over his brother, Nikolai, who in turn was fighting to protect him. Neither the fire Mage, Kalen, creeping up. He had a ball of magic bound up in his hand before she could shout to warn them he'd thrown it at the weaker brother. Naven screamed out as it burnt his clothes and turned to attack, only to find that Kalen had summoned up more magic. The fire Mage had always been an impulsive boy, hiding and shifting his personality to those he talked to. Holy hells! His skin, pale as it was, glowed orange from the fire and his eyes sparked a deep blue that contrasted with his darkened hair. "I'm sorry," he shouted at them, "but I cannot let you live!" Another ball was thrown, that one really catching Naven on fire and his screams filled the area in long, horrible bursts.Isanabella ran forward, picking up a stick off the ground and picturing a bright runes in her mind. The stick pulsed with magic and she could hear blades crashing and feel the ends charring until it became finely pointed. Her weapon was held tight in her grip and with a tight face she drew closer to Kalen and Nikolai, who were fighting to the death. Tears stained Nikolai's face and Kalen looked like death."Stop," she shouted. Both turned to her but didn't cease their fighting. "We're friends, we cannot do this. I won't allow you to kill one another!""Then kill him," Nikolai told her. He spat upon the ground and looked darker than ever. "He's going to kill us all if we don't stop him. He killed once already." The hate filled the air, thicker than the magic that clogged them all. Every breath hurt, as though she'd already exhausted herself. "Let me kill him. He's just like his father!""Nikolai, please, we're allies in this. He isn't the enemy-"Even as she spoke, Kalen was summoning up a storm of magic. Shadows crossed over his face and as it grew Nikolai also called his magic. He became like a shadow, blending in on the ground and moving faster than eyes could keep up with. Isanabella bit her lip before lifting her weapon and throwing it as Kalen. As it pierced through the tender skin at his neck he blasted out the fire, exploding half the world around them with it. Smoke thickened and Isanabella coughed, dropping to her hands and knees and hitting her sides to beat the fire out. It was no use, for the fire continued to burn. There was only one place she could think to go and with that in mind she ran, mentally blocking out the pain that radiated through her body as she left the warring magi behind. It's no use. They're blinded by hate.Tears bit at her eyes and she fought them as they dripped down. "No," she whispered as she ran, "I'll find a way to protect them. I just need to think."She ran to the cove, where water was abundant. There I can find supplies, she hoped. There I can think. Her feet carried her as far as the tips of the cove before she collapsed in a heap beside the water, her skin blistered and burnt from Kalen's fire. Little heads popped up. Mermaids blinked at her and swam forward, the water splashing behind them as they glided through it. They came in a multitude of colors, all dark in skin and yet light of hair. Their eyes were silver and golden in the sun. A musical, alto, voice called to her. Though they spoke not a word, their songs were restless and she moved closer, touching the water and feeling the smooth, cold liquid run over her. She dipped her tongue in and drank greedily, filling her stomach with the crystal clear liquid."Mermaids," she whispered, a smile on her face. "Of all the things Vaxon created, mermaids...such a silly King. These creatures are only deadly to those who attack or steal from them." She remembered her uncle telling her about them when she was younger. He'd told her that they could heal wounds of the innocent and good of heart, but would kill any who had evil inside them. Their smiles, red and bright, held rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth and inside their small bodies they had two stomachs because their appetite was never satisfied."I won't hurt you," she told them.They only blinked back. Sunlight glittered off their tails as the water lapped against the shore and fish swam below. Pebbles of ugly and beautiful shades alike filled the bottom of it. Blues of water mixed with the red of her blood as a blister opened and ran down her side. The pain was great and the magic she'd cast upon her skin weakened further. With a sigh, she dropped the rune and left herself open to whoever attacked her. It's no use. Her family had turned against themselves."I want to save them," she whispered to the creatures, "but they don't want to be saved. We're going to die here."

Female 15: Shield Wizard Eriswen

I struggled with the chains that had been locked around my wrists. They rubbed over my wrists, scraping at my skin. I was stuck, chained to a post in the middle of an old, abandoned castle.All around me, the other tributes were also chained to their own poles. Few of them even bothered to struggle with their chains. They seemed to think that if they did whatever Vaxon told them to do, they would be fine. Or maybe they just figured that Vaxon was going to let them go soon anyway since he had sent us here to kill each other anyway.A gate was opening in front of us, looking out onto an open flatland. Green grass blew in the wind, swaying gently back and forth. Trees were visible on the horizon, looking small and dim from the distance. The bright blue sky was lit up by the sun, which was high in the sky. Birds flocked around the fields and with a sickening dread I realized that the birds were crows.Their cries echoed through my head, bring memories to the front of my mind. I pushed the memories down, trying to block out their cries. Death, death, death! They screamed outside, getting louder the harder I tried to block them out.I forced myself to focus on something else, pulling on the chains again. This time, they clicked open, and I was freed. I shook off the chains and ran for the exit. No use getting myself trapped in the fight that was quickly brewing.I checked my energy levels as I exited the castle. They were hovering somewhere in between empty and full, right where they usually stayed. I was going to have to get some real rest soon and fully replenish my magic reserves. It had been a while since I'd been at my full potential, but here, I was definitely going to have to fill them, or I would end up getting killed when they were finally empty.As I ran through the tall grass of the field, I tried to decide which direction to go. Finally, I just decided to head for the trees. They were pretty far off, but hopefully they would provide cover and a good source of food and water.Someone caught up to me and started running next to me. I looked over and saw Mordzar. He looked winded and his face was flushed, like he'd just done a lot of exercise. I stopped running and walked instead to let him rest a bit. He slowed down and matched my pace."What happened back there?" I asked, glancing behind me.Fire was being tossed around by one of the two fire mages and the other shield wizard had a shield up. The fire bounced off it and extinguished itself on the stone walls of the castle.Mordzar looked back too. "Everyone turned on each other. It's a battle field out there.""Did you see Eiri and Jae? I couldn't spot them from where I was chained." More fire and a mini earth quake. I tore my gaze away and started jogging again. Hopefully everyone was too focused on the fight to bother us."They're fine. They got out pretty quickly. You probably just didn't see them because you were so close to the exit."Before I could answer, something floated down in front of me and landed lightly on the grass. It was a piece of paper with a rock tied to it. I stopped and picked it up. "What is this supposed to be?""What makes you think I know?" Mordzar snapped.I rolled my eyes and read the words on the map. It was written on in elvish runes, which was interesting. I hadn't known that anyone had figured out that I was part elf. "It has my name on it..." I muttered, untying the rope and unfolding the paper.It was a map, hastily drawn on. In the middle there was a box with the words 'castle keep' written on it. I figured that must be where we had been chained. "It's a map of the arena.""Good for you. How does that help us?""Well for one thing, we know where supplies are located. For another, we know where all of the bad places to go are. The different sections of the arena house different creatures. There's even a place with werewolves. We should probably avoid that...""Great, all of this is wonderful information, but it doesn't help us kill the people currently headed our way," Mordzar pointed out bluntly.I looked behind us and spotted the magi that Mordzar was looking at. There were three guys that I didn't know headed our direction, murder in their eyes. I looked at them and at the forest that was currently very far away. "Got any weapons on you somehow?" I asked.Mordzar gave me a look. "How would I have weapons? Can't you just take them out with your amazing hand-to-hand combat skills?"One of the guys lights up his hands with fire. It flickers back and forth between his fingers like a fiery spirit, currently contained and waiting to be freed. "They have fire. Competing with them seems like a bad idea currently," I pointed out."Edonna ram!" Throwing out my hand, I gestured upwards and a wall flew up between us and the three magi who were targeting us."Great... do you do that to all of the people who try to fight you?" Mordzar asked. The three guys started to walk along the wall, looking for where it ended."Come on, Mordzar." I started running, throwing up a shield underneath me and letting Mordzar follow me up into the sky.The three guys underneath us gave up trying to kill us once I dissolved the stair up to our perch underneath them and they wandered off to find easier prey. We ran along the shield for a while until I decided that we were as safe as we were going to get.I made more stairs and ran down them, stopping at the bottom to wait for Mordzar. He looked back up at the sky as he landed on the ground. "That was both incredible and sickening. How do you do that so often without feeling like you're going to fall?""You get used to it after a while. Besides, if I fell, I could just use a shield to catch myself, so there's not really much to fear. And when you live with a dragon, you get used to heights quickly.""I guess you do. So where are we going? What's living in the forest?""Elves. Hopefully they'll realize that I've got their blood and let me get the supplies that they're supposed to be guarding... Or they will decide that I'm a disgrace because of my human blood and decide to kill me. I'm going to really hope for the first one, but just in case, be ready to fight.""It's a long ways off, Eris. We probably won't get there for a day or two," Mordzar said impatiently. "We'll need supplies before that. Why don't we just go somewhere else? Is there any place with dragons? I'm sure they'd listen to you too.""There's no dragons marked, so elves it is. Most elves like me, so hopefully these ones do too. And it actually isn't that far. Elves are experts at hiding things, and these ones made it look like the forest was farther away that it actually is.""How do you know that?" Mordzar questioned skeptically."If you watch the trees, they shimmer every so often, and it isn't from the wind or this insane heat. Plus, I have a lot of practice with seeing shields, and this one is pretty obvious compared to some of the ones that I've seen elves do.""So how will we get by the shield?""Just walk through it. And let me do all of the talking please. I don't think they'd like your bad attitude.""Hey!"I shook my head, forcing back a smile. Despite the bad situation that we were currently in and the hunger gnawing at my stomach, I still felt a strange excitement burning in me chest. I felt full of energy and, despite how low my magic reserves were, I felt the urge to fight with someone or something.To take my mind off of the fighting urge that I had, I studied the map again. Flipping it over, I noticed something scrawled on the left bottom corner. "I can help save you if you prove your loyalty to Vaxon, Eris, but until you do, I won't be able to help you much. I will do what I can, however." It was signed with Jahad's signature.I almost told Mordzar about it, but I decided that I would keep it to myself, for now at least. Besides, it was also written in elvish runes, so I didn't think that Mordzar would be able to read it anyway.I tucked the map into my pocket and contemplated the message. I couldn't prove my loyalty to Vaxon because I knew that at the first chance that presented itself, I was just going to turn around and try to kill him again. Why he'd even let Jahad help me was anyone's guess, but I couldn't accept it unless I was ready to give up on fixing things.Mordzar let out a small gasp behind me, and I looked up from the ground. We were in the forest now, completely surrounded by trees. I turned around and looked back. There were trees behind us too, stretching on and on as if we'd been in the forest for hours. Mordzar stepped back again and disappeared through the barrier that separated the forest and the long meadow. When he stepped back in again, he looked at the trees with an expression of awe on his face. It reminded me of when he'd first seen Shurkan, the ice dragon.I grinned and examined our surroundings. The forest was dark and there were little white flowers everywhere. They were growing from the vines that snaked around the trunks of trees everywhere. It wasn't as hot anymore due to the cover that the trees provided from the sun. Berry bushes grew in random places along a narrow path that wound through the trees. I could hear the sound of running water and spotted a stream cutting through the woods. The water tumbled over the rocks, a silvery blue color.Birds chattered in the trees, their singing accompanied by the harsh calling of the crows out in the field behind us. A snake with yellow and red spots dotting its black body slithered across the pathway, hissing at us and the disappearing into the dark undergrowth. Sunlight trickled through the trees in a few places, illuminating the pathway with dancing patterns of light. Butterflies flew from one flower to the next, carefree and beautiful. A blue one with black dots landed on my arm for a second before flying away again.Crickets were chirping in their hiding places under the leaves and an eagle swooped down from above, grabbing a mouse and escaping into the sky again. Something moved in the trees and I headed down the path towards it. An arrow whizzed by my head, embedding itself in a tree trunk behind me. Mordzar froze. "I thought you said elves liked you.""I also said there was a small chance that they would go berserk and try to kill me because I'm a half-breed."A tall elf with golden blonde hair and stormy grey eyes stepped out from behind the trees and pointed a bow at us. I put my hands in the air to show that I was unarmed. "We don't mean any harm. We're just looking for supplies," I told the elf. She didn't lower her bow.Three more elven warriors came out of the trees, their bows trained on us."Um... lvë boe lda resta," I said.An elf came forward. "I speak your language. What do you need our help with?""You guard supplies. We need them in order to survive here. Will you help us and provide a place to hide?""You are humans. You must prove yourselves to us.""I'm not fully human," I protested. "My mother was an elf like you.""Bah. A half-breed. You must still prove yourself to us. You must fight our chosen warrior. He has already proven himself to us.""Who is he?" I asked."He is a human like yourself; but he has strange powers."I looked at Mordzar. "A magi? How did he get here before us?" I muttered."His name is Kyren," the warrior added.Oh. Well, that would explain it. "Who has to fight him?""You, half breed. You will fight him, and if you get by, you may have our supplies. Follow us."The elves escorted us to a large clearing surrounded by a wooden fence. Kyren was in the middle of the clearing with another elf, helping the elf to her feet. He glanced over at us as we came in and frowned, wiping his forehead and leaving a streak of mud there."What are you two doing here?" Kyren asked, looking about ready to attack."We have to fight you," I told him, vaulting over the fence and walking towards him. "Or, I have to, that is.""Really? What makes you think you can defeat me? What if I kill you?""One of us has to defeat the other. How do the rules work? You must know since you've apparently already taken this little test of theirs.""It's easy. First person to pin their opponent to the ground for twenty seconds wins. You can't harm them unless the elves give their consent or it happens during the fight and before the opponent was pinned. Whatever you do to your opponent after they get pinned is up to the elves.""Fine. Let's get this over with then, shall we?"He didn't wait for further invitation. The elves in the clearing jumped the fence to watch as Kyren unleashed his shadows.I threw out my hands, whispering furiously under my breath. "Dar avathar!" A shield formed in front of me, blocking off Kyren's magic. Painfully aware of how dangerously low my energy reserves were, I decided to avoid having to use them if I could. "Now that's not very fair, is it?" I pouted. "This shouldn't be a magical fight. Why don't we fight fair, with good old hand to hand combat?"Kyren eyed me for a moment before nodding and recalling his shadows. I let my shield dissolve and went at him with a sweeping high kick. He ducked and went to grab my leg as it whistled over his head. I blocked his hands with a quick jab before grabbing his shoulders and shoving him hard. He fell, rolling over gracefully and coming back to his feet before I could use his temporary weakness to my advantage. I growled, circling him while he watched me.Without any warning, Kyren went on the offensive, throwing a right cross at me and following it through with a hard left hook. I blocked both of them, ducking underneath another punch and throwing a hard punch into his stomach.He didn't react as much as I'd hoped, but he backed off for a moment to catch his breath. I went for him again, jumping and using my shield to give me a bit of extra lift as I vaulted over Kyren's back and landed softly behind him, wrapping my arm around his neck and yanking him off balance. He stumbled back and threw his elbow into my stomach. I let out a breath as it connected to avoid getting the wind knocked out of me and released Kyren.He whirled to face me, his face flushed and his breathing slightly labored. I smiled at him. "That all you've got?" I asked innocently.He advanced on me, throwing a long series of punches at me. I blocked them all except for the last one, which slammed into my shoulder like a brick. I bit down a moan and started my own combination of jabs, kicks and punches.We became wind, battling each other to find out who was the dominate fighter. Like dancers, we traded blows, neither of us gaining the upper hand, both of us straining against each other to win. I became completely absorbed in the fight, all of my concentration focused on pinning Kyren and getting the supplies we needed.Finally, I got him to the ground and held him there. One of the elves began to slowly count down. "Atwen."Twenty seconds. I held Kyren down as he fought back with all of his strength, pushing against me. My arms locked into position, and I put all of my strength into keeping him securely pinned to the ground."Neterpë," the elf continued to count down, ever so slowly.Nineteen seconds left. I could hold him for that long. I'd been through worse. Kyren got a hand free and punched me in the ribs. I pinned it again, ignoring the throbbing pain that exploded through me."Tolpë."Eighteen. My arms shook and I realized that I hadn't even been holding Kyren for all that long. I wouldn't last much longer."Otospë."Seventeen. Mordzar stood on the sidelines, staring at me silently. I could almost feel him willing me to hold on for the amount of time required."Enempë."Sixteen. I made my arms stop shaking. Kyren continued to thrash in my tight grip, fighting to be free."Lepempë."Fifteen. I could feel my energy being sucked away the longer I held Kyren down. He tried to punch me again but I held him back."Kampë."Fourteen. My arms were on fire. I could feel all of my muscles screaming to just give up as Kyren began to fight even harder."Nelpë."Thirteen. I wasn't going to make it. I felt blackness edging in on my vision, waiting to engulf me in its dark, haunting depths."Tatakwe."Twelve. The memories lingered in the darkness, ever waiting to creep into the front of my mind. Nightmares, waiting to be released. My grip on Kyren tightened."Minipë."Eleven. My arms were giving out. I could feel Kyren slowly working his way free of my grip. I was slipping. I couldn't do this."Caer."Ten. I was going to fail. The blackness was starting to blur my vision. Everything was hazy. Mordzar finally spoke, his voice harsh and commanding. "Remember Odera.""Neter."Nine. Memories flashed through me, bringing back all of the rage and pain from that day when I lost nearly everything important to be because of Vaxon."Tolot."Eight. My arms stiffened, Kyren's struggling no longer doing anything. My anger pushed away the darkness taking over my vision. I was fire, invincible and unable to be broken."Otos."Seven. This task would not break me. I wouldn't let this task break me. I forced Kyren deeper into the dirt, focusing on the memories of horror and terror from that day, letting them make me stronger."Enec."Five. I forced my exhaustion away. I couldn't deal with exhaustion right now. All of my focus went into winning."Canat."Four. Kyren began to fight even harder, pulling his hand out of my sweaty grip again and trying to punch me. I caught him before he got the chance, pinning him back down again."Nelet."Three. Rage burned in Kyren's eyes, blackness pooling around us as he called for his powers. I ignored him."Tata."Two. It was almost finished. Finally, I was almost there."Min."One. Kyren's shadow's latched onto my arms, pulling me away. The elf judge called it before Kyren could free himself."Telya!"I got off of Kyren and stumbled to the fence, completely drained. Mordzar knelt beside me and frowned. "Are you okay?""Happens all the time. I just need a good night's sleep," I muttered, barely able to comprehend my surroundings."From what I know about you, that never happens," Mordzar pointed out."Ask the elves," I replied wearily.I didn't catch where Kyren went before Mordzar got an elf to come over and help me. They threw some sort of powder in my face. I closed my eyes and let myself drift off to sleep.

Female 16: Plant Mage Kandi Kinsey

The cold feeling in my body wasn't leaving. In fact I hadn't stopped feeling this way since that day we all got captured. By now we had been moved to another place. I sat in place waiting and waiting for someone, anyone even to come.

I regretted that desire quickly.

"If you want to live just kill of the magi, if you don't well say goodbye to everyone you love," The king had spoken in a harsh voice his eyes seeming to stare right into my soul. I laughed in his face telling him I didn't have anyone at this point in life.

Vaxon gave a deep sneer, "I'll say hello to Fridana for you then," I gasped out loud, quickly rising from where I sat, "Don't you dare touch her!" I yelled out at him anger rising all throughout my body. I threw myself at him, almost reaching him, but the shackles on my hands pulled me back.

He turned away from me but not without shooting one last triumphant glance at me, his cold eyes telling me that if I wanted her to be okay I needed to do my part. I quickly blinked trying to not let the welling tears I had get out. The coldness of my body came back full force and I felt myself going numb.

'He knew. She was one of my best kept secrets and he knew! I distanced myself from her to keep her safe. I made sure to isolate myself from her. I ignored her to keep her safe! and now it was all for nothing!' The more I thought about it the harder it was to keep the tears from falling.

'I'm sorry Grandma-ma, I only wished to protect you,' I thought sadly my head going down. If I'd known that Vaxon already knew, I would have spent all my time with her. Only I hadn't and now she probably didn't even know how much I loved her, how much I missed her!

Was this what heartbreak felt like? 'If it is I never want to feel this again!'

Hours may have passed before I was dragged away by the shackles. I wasn't paying attention to anything, anger and anguish consuming my thoughts, by time I knew it I had been unshackled. My hands were free but my heart was far from being so.

I looked around seeing the rest of the magi. One of them looking directly at me,but I didn't recognize him. Then a loud horn had rang out and everyone ran. The guy instantly started aiming for me but I quickly started running making sure I made sure to trip him by making a few roots pop up from the ground.

Once I was far enough away, I looked all around trying to figure out which direction was which. I saw a few mountains in the distance but decided I didn't want to be any place cold at the moment. I saw a dark looking forest and I took my chances and ran towards it.

Just when I was getting close enough to the forest I got blown away by a strong gust of wind. Landing hard on the ground I quickly sat up looking up at the magi that had thrown me. He had black hair and brown eyes, looking at me with guiltily. I looked up at him wondering what his next move would be, however he seemed to be in a daze. After a while of just staring at each other and him not doing anything. I cautiously stood up.

The movement seemed to snap him out of whatever daze he was in and starting forming a few wind tornado's but he couldn't do anything with them as I made a bush of thorns grow and wrap around him; effectively trapping him in place. He seemed to want to do something but couldn't without getting pricked.

Ha. Take that Morrow, I thought as I ran toward the forest.

As I got closer the darker the forest seemed to grow and the more wary I felt about taking this path. It too dark, no sunlight seemed to be shining through. I hated the dark. It gave me nightmares.

just as I was about to walking away a little boy ran up to me. He couldn't have been no older than six. He had dark black hair, pale skin, and a surprising auburn colored eyes. He looked so young and innocent looking at me with wide innocent eyes.

"Please come with me! My family and I never have any visitors!" the little boy pleaded, his eyes widening with each sentence he spoke.

My heart was broke at his voice and I let myself be dragged of by the little boy. I couldn't help it, his cute little voice was too much for my icy heart. However with each step we took the uneasy feeling continued to grow the deeper we traveled. Soon no sunlight could be seen.

Finally we stopped and the little boy, whose name I never got, yelled at me to wait while he called for his family. The place was surrounded with tall dark trees. It almost reminded me of home. Only with a creepier atmosphere. Looking around the little clearing we were in I saw a small picnic table with four chairs and lots of food on it in the middle of the clearing. The foods I saw varied from turkey, chicken, dark meat, and desserts, really, It wasn't my fault that my stomach let out a loud rumble.

m

Then the most handsomest man I'd ever seen came out from where the little boy went into, "Hello, I see Mikeal wasn't lying about bringing a pretty lady to eat," he spoke, his voice a deep rich purr. Causing me to blush at the compliment in a way I usually would never do. His eyes a unique shade of brown, almost red-like. His hair the same shade as the little boy's, almost long enough to reach below his ear.

"Well, C'mon sit and eat!" He gestured, smiling, towards a chair. He quickly pulled it out for me and then sat on the one next to mine.

I smiled and looked at everything and decided on a small piece of chicken. He looked at me with a smile and I looked down unable to meet his eyes, feeling the tips of my ears redden. It felt like he could see every piece of me.

Apparently I took too long to eat as he responded by grabbing my fork, getting a piece of chicken and holding it up to my mouth. I could feel my cheeks heating up as I opened my mouth, eating and savoring the delicious taste that had just exploded in mouth. He tilted his head, staring and putting the fork down.

"You have such a cute blush," he whispered running a finger through my now extremely red cheek.

"Don't say such lies," I responded immediately once I got my voice back.

He threw back his head in laughter, "I'm not a man to lie in the presence of woman," he responded,eyes filled with mirth.

He then sat up quickly and left saying he had to check on something, leaving me to wait for him. It was a bit peculiar the way he had reacted, I wondered what that was about. Soon I stood up, the food no longer appetizing, after the first bite I had had my full.

I was standing when he came back and stood directly in front of me. His face so close to mine that I could count his long eyelashes. I sighed swooning a bit as he smirked making him look all the more attractive.

He grabbed my waist pulling me closer until our chests touched, and began to spin me around. We had started a dance with no music but somehow felt amazing. He spun me outwards and then back into his arms. He dipped me for a few seconds and then brought me back up in a quick move, my arms wrapped around his neck in fear that he would drop me but only held me tighter.

I never believed in love but if this was what it felt like, then I would have looked for it much sooner.

We were already so close and he was leaning in closer, just as he closed in on my lips, I moved my head causing him to kiss my cheek. I smiled, I wasn't falling for that anytime soon. I was turning back when suddenly something caught my eye.

A hand.

A human hand.

The illusion in my mind quickly broke as I saw that. I looked deeper and saw the neck of a girl bitten and I gasped quietly.

I was so stupid!

How could I fall for something so, so 'wonderfully dangerous' my mind supplied for me.

He was a vampire. The most seductive creature of the dark. They looked like normal people but more attractive. Somehow alluring people into a false sense of security and then eating or even keeping some as pets!

"What's wrong?" he asked after a moment of silence once I had stopped moving. Soon his eyes followed my stunned gaze and saw the girl's corpse that I had seen.

"I'm afraid I didn't hide my last meal very well before you arrived my dear" he said with a fanged smile as his arms wrapped tightly around me. "but you didn't really give me much time to prepare, what with you coming so soon after she had arrived, as an earth magi her blood tasted thin and pure, now I wonder how you taste like-" he said as he leaned down.

However before he could bite my neck, a strong thick vine grew from the ground and wrapped around his body, pinning his arms behind his back. He struggled to get out but I made the vine tighter, as I did, he stopped at once.

The fact that my mind was going wild with thoughts wasn't helping my concentration as I tried to think of what to do now. This monster was an immortal, you can't kill immortals that easily! 'Hence the term immortal... ' I could run but not only would I look like a coward the distance would weaken my hold on the vine and release him before she could get away. My head pounded with thoughts and adrenaline of my stupidness for falling for such a stupid trap.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice the vines weakening my concentration was lost and he ran, escaping from my trap. Cursing under my breath when I noticed him gone, I felt paranoid, looking back and forth, sideways. He could be anywhere.

Vines grew surrounding me in a bubble-like form, just in case he tried something, walking towards the nearest tree a branch grew with a sharpened end. 'Yes, this could work.' I thought grabbing it as I walked to the nearest exit, only I couldn't leave since the little boy from before showed up.

"Leaving so soon?" he asked with a slight frown, his voice much deeper than before. My eyes widened as I realized he was the man from before. I backed up trying to be discreet but it didn't work as he just kept on walking forward. Each step he took closer to me, he changed little by little, into the man from before.

"Ha. I was lucky enough to keep my shifter powers after I was turned. It's worked to my advantage," he mummered lowly but I could easily hear him in the silent forest.

He ran behind me grabbing my arms pulling them tightly against my back, making me drop the stake that I had made. I shouldn't have gotten rid of the bubble of vines but the need to conserve as much magic as I could was bigger. Groaning in pain as his strong grip tightened I knew I would have bruises later. He tried reaching for my weapon, but I struggled not caring how harder it was to breath.

Concentrating on the roots from the ground, I made two grow out and wrap around his feet and pushed him to the ground as he tripped. Grabbing the stake he pulled at the roots trying to cut them.

His whole body was shifting and soon I saw why vampire truly were monsters. His face had turned paler than before. The long hair from before disappeared leaving nothing but baldness. His eyes turned a darker red, and his fangs once white were a disgusting rotting yellow color.

He grew stronger and larger as he cut open the roots with his long nails, showing no mercy as he threw me into a tree. I yelped out loud, something had popped in my shoulder. The pain was almost unbearable but I needed to survive this. I pulled the last of my magic from my body, gasping as I did so, making so that vines and roots wrapped around him. They pulled his hands up above his head and his legs spread out.

I grew another stake and positioned it above his heart, "No! Wait please! I beg you please don't do this," I didn't care for his words. He would have drained me dry without a second thought if he had the chance. "I have supplies, weapons, take them all if you'd like! We'll make a deal a life for a life," I thought for second looking at his hopeful expression and I sighed. I needed those supplies.

"Okay"

Now,with the adrenaline gone, the pain in my shoulder worsened. I swallowed hard, forcing myself to make no noise as I raised myself from my kneeling position. I let him down, but before he could even try running a chain of vines wrapped around him forcing him to lead me to the supplies in exchange for his freedom..

As we walked in silence, his body transformed into the one from before. Except now, I couldn't look at him without seeing the pale face and yellow fangs. I shuddered trying to think of something else, but I couldn't.

I sighed, 'more things to add to my list of nightmares'. We stopped in front of a giant tree, knocking he leaned forward whispering something to low for me to hear and a secret door opened up. Inside, I saw a bags of supplies, filled with a water containers, along with a few other things. Searching to see if there were anything else useful, I saw a dagger.

It was beautiful, the handle was encrusted with silver, and filled with emeralds and ruby's. It was about three inches long just how I liked them, I grabbed ahold of it out and pulled it closer. I wanted this for sure as my payment.

He looked pained to give it away but he was a man of his word and let me have it. Afterward I was on my way to a new path that would take me to a safer a place. A fairy tree was what he had suggested when I asked.

Making my way down the path I saw the bodies of my fellow tributes. Nikolai Aerie lying on the ground dead. An ax threw his heart.

Morrow, also on the floor only he had no marks but black bruises. Maybe his death had been quick and painless. I hoped it had been.

After a while of walking the pain in my shoulder came back making me bite my lip harshly. When a punch came to my face getting me directly in my left eye. I looked up angry but it died down when I saw it was Kyren.

Betrayal ran through his veins as much as they did through mine.

"You have nothing, and no-one," he snarled at me.

I could have laughed then in relief! Vaxon hadn't told anyone else about her Grandma-ma. My pleasure must have shown for he suddenly made a few hand motion eyes closed and I gasped in pain as I started getting wounds on my arms and legs. Some bigger than the others. The pain in my shoulder also getting more intense. I couldn't even use my magic. I was completely drained. I only hoped he would take pity on me. I was acting like a foolish coward but what choice did I have? It wasn't like I had the energy to fight back.

The rustling of the trees picked up and Kyren concentration was lost as he looked at something behind my shoulder he scowled growling and ran off. I didn't turn back I couldn't the pain I was going through was too much. I forced myself to walk though.

It was to much though. I was getting dizzy, black was surrounding my vision already.

Then just as I was about to collapse I heard someone calling me. I opened my eyes when an arm wrapped around my shoulder helping me.

Telex Silverblade, I wanted to cry finally a friendly face.

His brother also with him and even though we had our differences he still helped me. Telex stopped where he was walking and told me to stay still, when he popped my shoulder back in. I screamed in agony tears welling up in my eyes. I looked at Telex apologetic face and took a deep breath. He made a little of the pain go away.

We walked together in silence. To lighten the mood I told Telex to prepare himself for when I kicked his butt for getting us caught. He only smiled.

Finally, The Fairy Tree.

We made it to the tree where Myla was at and a new girl whose name I learned to be Chiara. Finally after the day I had. I was able to rest my eyes and recharge.

Even if it was for only a while.

Female 17: Light Mage Chiara Gonzolas