"Nora, Emily, I have an idea, but it's going to hurt."

"Does it increase our chances of winning?"

"Yes, maybe a little."

"Good enough for me. What are we doing?" Emily asked.

"I need you to stop and drop into the poisonous water. I know is crazy but—"

"Ok, anything else?"

"Mm, is hard to explain but…"

David was at the finish line, watching the two teams battle for the lead, when all of a sudden

"What is this? It looks like Dawn's cart stopped in the middle of the Lake of Poison. Sertis takes the lead! Did Dawn’s team give up, or is their cart unable to move anymore?"

"What?" Sertis looked back at his rivals. He was sure they were going to pull one last trick to try to win, but he was ready. He watched carefully, waiting for something, then suddenly something erupted from inside the pond.

A massive tree grew and grabbed Dawn’s cart by the top. The tree twisted and leaned; it took Sertis a moment to notice they were moving toward the finish line. They were about to pass over his head and take the lead again.

He opened his mouth and revealed his hidden weapon, the Poison Spitter. A device embedded in the back of his throat that served as a canister to store his poison. He couldn't attack them directly, so he aimed at the tree.

The ray of poison covered the tree in an instant, but it didn’t melt or even get damaged. He had no time to wonder why. It was too late; the cart passed over him, and Emily made another path of roots. Time seemed to slow down before his eyes as he watched the humans cross the line.

No one believed it; David had to swallow before speaking. "T-the winner is Dawn’s team. Emily, Nora, and Rebecca!"

"Yes!" Emily raised her fist to celebrate their victory. She stumbled a little, but Rebecca’s shadow was connecting her veins into a glass bottle, taking out the poison, and healing her burned flesh.

The Crimson Caravan was stunned, and Grimdow was perplexed, raking his brain to figure out what kind of trick they were playing. Silas smiled quietly in his seat; if it hadn't been for Emily's wounds and the tree that grew in the pond, he'd never guessed what they'd done.

You girls are awesome; it was a perfect combination of powers and teamwork. He could see their plan clearly.

The tree was called "Last Tears" by the pix tribes. It was a special tree that could only grow in water filled with poison. To create fertile ground for the seeds, the old trees produce poison around them. It was one of the strongest poisons they discovered in the forest, and it affected plants and rocks.

They experimented a little to see if Emily could create that tree and others with special requirements, but since she couldn't produce poison, the trees she grew with magic quickly withered away.

She used the poison in the pond to sustain the tree long enough for it to grow and take them to the goal. It wouldn’t have been possible for her to take so much poison into her body alone, but Rebecca used her shadow to heal her and stabilize the poison concentration.

Not enough to kill Emily, but high enough to make it grow. That could have turned bad with only a minor miscalculation. Rebecca was only able to do it with confidence because Nora was helping her; with her power, Nora saw the exact amount needed and the limits of Emily’s body.

"Thanks for helping me Nora, I almost passed the threshold if it wasn’t for you."

"You’re the one who came up with the plan; if it wasn’t for you, Emily and I would have lost the race. Your critical thinking during stressful situations is outstanding."

"What did I tell you. The hidden ace." Emily hugged the two of them and went back with everyone else. She gave a thumbs up to Silas, who did the same.

Meanwhile, the celebration was short-lived as Sertis’s fangs were ready to kill. No one dared to say anything except for one person.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"I haven’t seen the old snake get so mad in decades; this is getting fun, haha." Grimdow said to Silas while everyone else was too scared to move.

Sertis looked at his two pets. "I told you, one of you would die if you failed me. Have you forgotten your position? Did you think I would have mercy?" His hissing wasn’t soft and calm like before; it was erratic and full of anger.

The beasts were petrified; they couldn’t whimper or cry for their lives. They knew their master was serious, but they still lost. Their only hope was for the other one to take the blame and die in its place.

"They wouldn’t have gotten that idea if you didn’t push them into the pond. It was your fault they came up with that plan, using that poison-resistant plant," He blamed the rhino.

Before it could run or scream, the giant snake mouth grabbed and twisted its neck 180 degrees. Sertis yanked the rhino head from the body and bit it into a bloody pulp. He did the same with the rest of the body. Biting the corpse with fury, injecting it with his poison, and mutilating it.

Sertis lost all semblance of respect and elegance; he went from being their master of relics to a ferocious beast capable of destroying a rhino twice his size.

After making sure the rhino corpse was mangled beyond recognition, he took a deep breath and looked at Grimdow. His eyes were calm again, and his hissing tone went back to normal. His body was covered in blood, but that made him creepier.

"I will inform the Baron myself of this defeat."

"I know, but don’t go hide in your tent until the carnival is over."

Sertis nodded and went to clean himself before the next game. Grimdow turned to look at Silas and stood up.

"To humiliate us not once, but twice. I congratulate you and your companions. I’ll give you information about the other worlds after we finish the last game. I hope you do the same after I win the slaves."

Silas could feel the air around him turning cold under Grimdow's glare. He sensed his life being cut short under those red eyes. It was obvious that Grimdow was going to kill them all if they refused to uphold their bet.

"Don’t worry, we’re doing our part because we’re going to win the materials. Be ready to join your friend after losing, Grimdow." He wasn’t going to be intimidated after winning the second game.

They were tied 1-1, but the most important game was coming. Neither side could afford to lose. Silas took off to Dawn’s tent with the rest of the guild to prepare for the last competition.

Last man standing ring.

***

The hooded figures moved the massive stone platforms across the desert. The slaves were hit as they held the stone with their own bodies while their masters used magic devices to raise them into the sky. It took a while to raise the twenty-five platforms; by the time they were done, the sun was setting on the horizon.

There was no need to worry; they had torches with fire ready if the sun went down during the game, but they were going to be done in a few minutes. This game took a lot of preparation, but it was going to be decided in five minutes or maybe less. Se’ky and Sertis were sitting in the back. Everyone was attentive to the announcer.

David extended his hand and, with the microphone, began the last game. "It is time for the third round of the carnival. The third game, Last man standing, ring!"

The crowd went into a roar full of excitement. The rest of the Dawn members stood on the sidelines, and some pix soldiers peered over the wall in the distance.

"The score is 1-1. Against all odds, Dawn managed to win the second game. In the words of our leader, the Crimson Baron, if you play thinking you are going to win, you have already lost to your own arrogance. We must use this loss to learn from his limitless wisdom and be better. That’s why, to win the last game, our own master is going to take center stage, to lead by example and prove the honor and power of the Crimson Caravan!"

"Announcing the Master of the Fourth Caravan. The lord of the elements, the deserter of the ashes, Grimdow!" The tent opened, and he came out with two elementals at his side. He was wearing his combat gear, which included a strange gauntlet.

He walked over to the front and stood proudly, smiling at his subordinates. David looked at him with respect and resumed his speech.

"Master Grimdow, with these two elementals will have the chance to win. On Dawn's side, there are three more humans. Silas, Jacob, and Nadine!"

They were also fully geared up for the battle. The Last man standing ring was the closest thing to a brawl.

"Let’s go over the rules one last time. The two teams will be raised into the sky, and they will choose a platform to stand on. The objective is to push the other team off the platforms. You can’t have physical contact with your opponents or your allies. If you touch anything other than the platform, you’ll be disqualified. Any questions?"

"No."

"I’m ready."

"The third game begins!"

The slaves raised the platforms with the two teams, and Grimdow chose first as his side had lost the previous game.

"I’ll take the center platform."

I knew you chose that; anyone who saw this map would think the same. Five rows of five platforms. The center can attack any place and is the safest position from attacks that come from the outside. We were already prepared for this.

"Nadine, take the lower left corner."

"Sure." She followed the plan, but Grimdow didn’t pay them any attention.

"The sand elemental is in the third row to my right." He was using his own strategy.

"Jacob to the lower right corner."

"Air elemental at the upper right corner."

"I’ll take the upper left corner."

The preparations were done. Dawn members were in the corners of the zone. Grimdow was in the center, with one sand elemental at his side and the air elemental in the last corner.

"You think putting everyone on opposite sides is going to save you from our attacks. Isn't that right, Silas?"

"Who knows."

David grabbed a small flare gun and shot it. "Begin!"

Without wasting time, Jacob summoned his gun and shot at Grimdow. Four bullets flew at his target, but a wall of wind grabbed them. The air elemental caught them with a small tornado and threw them back at him.