I held my breath as I watched my teammates jump around the arena, the Fire Dome, as everyone in the circus has taken to calling it; is the gate that'll turn an acrobat into something more. Rings of fire, ramps that go up in flames after a well timed tick, and cannons that, if you aren't careful, burn your skin because the explosion used to send you flying away uses liquid that lined the cannon's inner walls. For the circus' acrobats, going through this thing is a chance of a lifetime, a lot of people love to watch someone dodge fire after fire with their life on the line and so, a lot of money goes to the circus every time the Fire Dome is showed.

It's the highlight of the night and the reason why people went to the circus in the first place.

The acrobats, as good as they are, have practiced in a safer version of the arena that only uses blinking red lights. And it still looks like they're struggling in keeping themselves steady inside the super hot arena. I eyed one of the many acrobats performing, he's currently holding onto the metal bars that enclosed the area in a dome, he looked fine as he moved across the top of the dome and I imagined he was treating the situation like he's climbing a monkey bar rather than a life threatening performance.

If I didn't notice the sweat forming on his forehead, I would've thought that he's breezing through it.

My heart started racing but I didn't let the fear control me as I started to take in deep breaths. I exhaled for the last time and started slapping my cheeks, "Calm down, it's not that scary." I gave myself the best pep talk I could for my first ever performance inside the Fire Dome. It didn't help because my heart started beating hard again a few seconds later.

Watching everyone perform didn't help to calm my nerves either so I left the entrance of the arena with regret. I got out and walked until I could see the circus tent in all its glory; white and red cloth draped over poles to create a castle-like image, the castle had three towers, each one held aloft by tall poles. A yellow flag with a cartoon explosion drawn at the center sat on a pole that popped out of the tallest tower, waving as the wind pushed it around.

On the ground are people, dressed extravagantly, costumed or not, the men and women who perform and go to watch at the circus could be seen talking to each other. I spotted a few people laughing when they hear a circus clown joke here and there. Speaking of which, the circus clowns are pretty attention-grabby with their clothes- on their face, they have pure-white masks that always smile, long, striped hands in various colors that end in colorful gloves, star-like jester hats that end in little bells, white button-up vests that make the clowns look puffy yet thin, red pants that match the color of their mask's nose, and large blue shoes that make them look silly.

The way they stand out from the crowd is the reason why I catch sight of them whenever I scan the crowd with my eyes and the clown outfits are also why I can never really be left alone when I'm here in the circus-

"Mommy! Mommy! I want to play with the clown over there!" A reluctant smile grew on my face. Standing up, I fixed my mask and faced the place where the child's voice came from. A family of five, with two adults and three children is walking over to me. The three kids- two boys and a girl, - were all smiles as they dragged the two adult women with them, who looked reluctant to approach me.

As I prepped myself mentally for the regular, showman-ny persona that I have as Bolbo the clown, I heard the children whisper something about why I'm alone and I decided then that that would be my opening act.

I waited for the family to come closer and said, "Hello children! I am Bolbo the lone and happy clown!" my voice is over-exaggerated and deep. It had to be, or else people would just think I'm weird and not really a clown. I took long strides and hopped over to the children before bending down, I raised both my hands and shook them, then, like a hundred times before, I pressured the index finger of my gloves and colorful little strings came out the mouth of my gloves: they serve as the perfect distraction for my act. "Do you wanna see a magic trick?!"

All three children yelled a happy 'Yes!' in unison and I continued with my act. I pulled out a deck of cards from the overtly large pockets of my pants and showed it to the kids, "Pick a card, little fella!" I said to one of the boys. He had brown hair and his black eyes stared at me with curiosity. He picked a card and I took it, "Oh!!! A nice little 5 of Hearts!" I flipped the card and showed it to the three kids. I put the card back in the deck and tilted my head to face the blonde, blue-eyed girl and asked her favorite number. She answered 7.

"Now, I'm gonna start shuffling and I want you all to start counting with me till seven okay?!" they all nodded, "Okay! One. Two. Three. Four-" A loud explosion rattled in the background and I felt my nerves rise. That explosion should be the cannon of and that meant the current act is now halfway done. Even with my flared up nerves though, the familiarity of what I'm doing lets me keep the act up, "-Five! Six! Andddddd-"

I gestured to the three kids and they all yelled "SEVEN!" and the deck got shuffled for the last time.

I faced the last child, a boy with brown skin and black hair. "And what about you mister?! What's your favorite number?" the boy turned his head upwards and stared at the sky, his eyes focused on the shimmering stars as if they held the answer to my question.

"Hm! I know! 8!" he said with a confident smile, "that's my favorite number! And I also know that you won't be able to pick the original card then!"

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

I started laughing. I saw the two adults smile as well. "Very well!" I replied jubilantly and straightened my back, I raised the hand that hold the deck and showed it to the two adult women, "It seems that the little boy is confident that he'll beat me! A smart little lad for thinking things through!" the little boy stopped whispering to the two other kids and faced me, he nodded with confidence, "but!" I raised my index finger, "will he be able to beat me?!"

One of the two women, a ginger with green eyes grinned, "maybe," she replied with a shrug, "maybe not."

"I see!" I bent down to the kids' eye level and started messing with the deck, I removed one card, "One!" and another, "Two!" and another, "Three! Count with me!"

"Four! Five! Six! Seven!" the kids started chanting in excitement, clearly riled up by what the other one said to them. But, right before the last number, I twisted my glove and out came the original card that had been picked, I slid it into the deck while grinning. I stopped for a second to raise the suspense, "will the little kid beat me?!" I loudly asked and the kids nodded, "Very well!" I slid the last card slowly, revealing a hint of red, "Oh?! It seems that we've gotten a heart!" the brown skinned kid frowned at that, and like a good clown, I misdirected his attention, "It was a valiant attempt little hero!"

The kid frowned but looked resolute, "I'll win!" he yelled and the two other children chorused positively, saying 'He will!'.

"Oh? But you didn't!" Like the metaphorical band aid for the kid's worry about losing, I quickly slid the card from the deck, revealing the original 5 of Hearts. "Aha! I have bested you!" I took the card away from the deck and showed it around to the wide eyed kids. "I, Bolbo the clown am victorious!"

"How'd you do that?!" all three kids asked in varying word lengths and structure.

"I- how?!" the little girl took the card away from my hands and stared at me with shocked eyes, "Garry said that he thought it through and things always go right when he does!" she looked impressed.

I gave out a low chuckle, "That, I'm afraid, is a secret in the industry," I finished with a flourished bow, "Well, it seems that I have overstayed my welcome-" a loud bang came from inside the massive tent, "and I must go, see you, little children! And be good to your parents!"

They waved at me as I started walking away. I turned around and waved back,

Back to the show, the first act of the Fire Dome is reaching its climax, my heart beat faster and faster the more I watched the acrobats dance around the arena and risk their lives. And if you focus hard enough, you can even see the coattails of the suit of a few acrobats catch fire. In these rare and small moments, I'm reminded that when I go inside that caged dome later, I'm basically risking my life.

I inhaled a deep breath, held it in, then started counting. After ten seconds, I exhaled, and a painful sense of relief washed over my entire head. It didn't do anything to calm me down and I know that feeling that way probably means that I'm oxygen deprived but it's understandable- is my go to reason because in the end, I'm in a room full of fire right?

A part of me said that it probably just increases the chance of a heatstroke but I ignored it because what do I know?

I started hopping in place to get my blood pumping, I continued on like that until finally a loud ring resounded through the entrance of the dome and we clowns are finally getting called for the second act of the Fire Dome. As I mentally prepared myself to risk my life, I heard a roar and I peeked on the corner of the entrance to see a red-furred lion that I know is just genetically modified to breathe fire.

I took in a deep breath. I stared at the Lion. And I'm what? Gonna put my head in the open mouth of that thing?

While the Fire Dome is starting to sound more and more like a death sentence for someone like me, the announcer for the circus picked up the mic and started tapping it, dull thuds went through the interior of the tent and silenced the people. Then, everything went dark before a spotlight erupted and shone on the middle of the room, the light is pointed directly to a man wearing a red tuxedo with a black undershirt, on his chest sits a white bow tie and on his head is a red bowling hat.

"Hello fine men and women of Gloria City!" the spotlight followed as the man started walking, "I am happy to present to you all today the second act of my dear Circus' most famous show- THE FIRE DOMEEEEE!!!!!" His voice gained a tinge of soprano as he announced the name of the show and people loved him for it. The men and women in the stands cheered and yelled as the lights came back on one by one followed by the very loud snapping sounds of them activating.

Then, it all went silent. "Ahaha! Now, lookie! We have the first of the clowns coming out!"

My fellow performers marched out of the entrance in full color, to say that our costumes were varied is an understatement because with our costumes comes customization and the circus went all out with it; Some clowns have hands that were striped in black and yellow, others, have red and blue, their pants, shoes, and even vest varied too and the only thing that can be considered a stable would be the red nose at the center of our smiling masks.

I, for one, have purple and white striped hands and gray pants, my shoes are red and my vest is a very light yellow. My hat, just like everyone else's is an assortment of colors that ended in golden bells that jingle with every step.

And step I did- now that I'm in the spotlight, my heart started to calm down. The more steps I took forward, the more confident I became and I was soon watching the stands with interest. The people that come here aren't exactly what I would call poor because buying the tickets to watch a performance on the Fire Dome alone is enough to cripple most families that live in the slums. Spending money on the food sold here will make those families go bankrupt.

So, it's with a sad thought that I say that the people watching me and the other clowns risk our lives for their entertainment- would be arrogant, stuck-up assholes that have a metal rod shoved up their asses.

I turned back to the Fire Dome and stared forward unflinching. Even with all the fires, the lion at the center of the stage, and the cannons, I didn't feel threatened anymore. With the feeling of fear that I felt earlier now gone, I walked forward with confidence and started the show-

And that's when it all went to shit because as I jumped off a pole and into an assortment of fiery rings, something in the stands exploded and I lost my balance and almost fell to my death.

The keyword here being almost.

To me, it was as if the world suddenly slowed to a crawl, the crowd watching me looked like they were panicking but the way their hands slowly moved made it look less obvious.

I spent a minute in that state until the world suddenly exploded right in front of my very eyes. And when it did, I was able to see the energy all around me-

In the middle of the fiery circus, I, Tyler V. Kyle got to become a magic user.