Mira stood on the dirt of the coliseum and looked up at the dais. Two thrones were central to four other chairs slightly behind them. Queen Azalea and Prince Krission looked down at the group of warriors that eagerly awaited the tournament to begin. On the other side of the queen, Prophetess Talia sat on a plump cushion. With her eyes still covered with bandages, she couldn’t see the proceedings below. Next to the prophetess, an elf with sliver skin and hair folder her arms neatly in her lap. On the other side of the royal crowns, Reiner the Defender sat in fully decorated armor. On his other side, a stern dwarf frowned down at them. As she understood, this was Vespen, the elusive head of the Royal Guard. He never left the queen’s side and was rumored to be the father of the prince. As her personal guard, it wouldn’t be unbelievable.
“Greetings, friends and honored guests,” Queen Azalea stood and addressed the crowd, “Today begins the first annual Zrud Tournament. The winner of this battle royale will be gifted a large some of coin, fame and fortune, a boon from the crown, and the opportunity to lead a new group in our armed forces.”
The crowd roared and she lifted her hand to calm them.
“Today, hundreds of you enter. Only twelve will move on,” She raised her glass of wine to the crowd, “Once we have our victors, I will host a dinner for you. You will be honored guests in my home tonight.”
“Then, tomorrow we will pair you off to duel. The victor will move on,” Krission stood next to her, “The final six will be sent through a trial of Prophetess Talia’s making. Only four will continue. After that elimination, our final day will conclude with the final two until one of them is victorious. The parade and ball in their honor will be spectacular and open for all to attend!”
“May the Goddess and almighty Zrud hold you in their favor,” The two royals toasted the crowd then drank from their goblets.
Mira looked through the hundreds of competitors around her. Most hoped to make a name for themselves and find some minor lord or lady to work for. The packed seats of the coliseum roared as they threw the goblets into the crowd. As the elven woman stepped forward, she held her hand up to calm the crowd again. Her dark red suit stood out against her pale skin.
“We have healers available, free of charge,” She threw her silver hair over her shoulder, “Do not aim to kill. This is for sport, not to conquer. Run behind the lines if you forfeit.”
Amethyst shook Mira’s shoulder’s eagerly, “Oh, Opal knows we’re about to be in a blood bath.”
“Opal?” Mira looked over her shoulder at the orc.
“Yes. She goes by her given name, Skymara,” She pointed to the elf that waved to the crowd, “High Sorceress of Zrud.”
Prince Krission stepped towards a large bell and held a ceremonial hammer above his head. As he brought the hammer against the golden bell, he yelled, “Let the tournament begin!”
Mira felt the fight around her rumble to a start. She nodded to Amethyst and the orc scattered for her mission. Unlike Mira, Amethyst’s only job was to protect their friends. Mira came to play the game. She summoned the glaive to her hand and turned to block at sword coming at her from behind. She sliced into the man and threw her weight backwards to knock the woman behind her down. She heard whistles blow as the fallen competitors crawled towards the edge of the fight. With every thrust and slice, droplets of blood rained against her. Her skin greedily drank the offerings of her opponents.
Mira knew she had to keep her powers close to her. Nothing that could be mistaken for the wraith could be seen in the battle. Still, their blood fueled her strength. As she worked her way through the crowd of bodies, she looked for anyone she knew.
Bobabano stood back-to-back with Ravenna. Both of them were finely decorated in red and gold with symbols of their tribe etched into the metal of their armor. Her glasses were tucked into away and her black eyes showed her opponents moves. Her two scimitars elegantly reflected any attack that came at her. Mira smirked as Ravenna’s flickering eyes roamed over the dwarves that attempted to surround them. She called to her cousin, Bobabano, whose golden sword sparkled under the high sun. As it cut into his enemies, he grunted and threw his weight into the attacks.
Tiero danced between all his tribe members. Without a weapon, his fists slammed into anyone that came close to him. He did not have any armor, but his hands worked quickly to heal himself and any Cauldronbone that needed it. The thought was ingenious to Mira. The group was a tightly functioning team. When one of Tiero’s protectors was struck, he lathered the yellow goop across the wound, and it instantly sealed over for later healing.
Mira sprinted towards another man and kicked him over with her momentum. She jumped off his shield as he threw it up and looked further into the fighting. Many Travel Knights stuck to a large group and worked together. Off to one edge was the golden-haired man she wanted to watch. Jonen held his shield up to be battered by a barrage of attacks. He let the concussive force fill him before swiping forward and released a magical blast. The energy forced their opponents off their feet. The other knights around him moved in to cause them to forfeit or take further injury. His gritted his teeth as he jumped in front of them again to take the abusive onslaught of hits from the next wave of contestants.
Mira danced around blades as the solitary fighter she wanted to be. Without worrying about her friends, she could move without fear of consequences. Most of the contestants were armored, except for her. Her black tunic was tucked into her leather pants. She didn’t want anything to restrict her movements. Her lack of armor seemingly made her an easy target, which is exactly what she wanted. Swords around her clashed at the chance to down the fierce woman. She moved from a position as the white robes of healers approached a scene. She flipped over blades and slid under legs to avoid anything that threatened to collide with her. Her intricate dance of fluid attacks and dodges made her grin. This was one thing she knew well and could do without a care in the world: fight like her life depended on it.
A tortured cry caught her ear and she turned to see a young man fall to the ground and grip his side. A dwarf with a wide sword went in for a deadlier attack and Mira kicked him away. Mira looked to the injured man and realized he was barely older than a boy. He could have been Pallik’s age. His pitiful leather armor split where the blade cut into him. Blood eagerly oozed from the wound. She looked to see more blood on the ground around him.
“Help,” He looked up to her with tears in his eyes.
Mira couldn’t see any healers near them. She slid to his side. As his blood pooled at his feet, her spear morphed into a dagger, and she cut the leather from him. Encante’s vision echoed from her and warned her of anyone approaching. She worked quickly and blasted a bolt of fire at anyone that approached them. His bewildered brown eyes looked over her as she ripped the shirt from him. It was a deep cut that would need healing, but she had to stop the bleeding for now.
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“This will hurt,” She said flatly and placed her flaming palm against his side, “But it’s all I can do.”
He screamed and dug his fingernails in her arm to pull her away. His body fell limp when he passed out from the pain. The dagger quickly lengthened to a sword and cut at the dwarf behind her that tried to strike her down while she helped the boy. Mira crouched down and grunted as she threw him over her shoulder. The smell of burnt flesh stained her nostrils as the sword turned into her favored glaive. She grimaced as she felt his wound reopen on her shoulder.
Jonen blocked another blow when he looked up to see Mira. She struggled to hold the boy as hordes of blades rushed to cut them both down. He pointed his sword towards her.
“She needs help!” He called out to the other Travel Knights, “The kid is injured.”
Teal tunics and plate armor soon surrounded her, and she got ready to fight. When Jonen ran up beside her, she breathed a sigh of relief. Though they couldn’t see the amount of blood he lost, Mira knew the boy needed a healer fast. She dismissed her spear and moved the body to her arms.
“How bad?” Jonen blocked a swipe at him with his shield.
She readjusted the boy’s weight and scanned for a healer nearby, “He’s unconscious.”
Mira so badly wanted to let the power within her to unleash and end this nonsense. This child was seriously injured. How many more hadn’t she seen? She could help all of them if she didn’t have to keep her strength to herself.
“Where are the healers?” He launched another powerful blast, “I thought we weren’t supposed to go for kill shots?”
“He didn’t have good armor.”
“Neither do you, Mira!” He grunted as another blade swung at her.
She twirled around Jonen as he threw his shield up to protect her. He blasted the dwarf off his feet with another spell and stepped in front of her to block any more attacks. Mira’s eyes scanned the battlefield until she saw the white robes.
“Jonen, shield!” She jerked her head towards a group of healers.
As she stepped back, he charged his energy and crouched. She held the boy close to her as she ran towards him. When she jumped, Jonen pushed his shield upward and stood as fast as he could. Mira’s foot collided with the force, and it launched her skyward. Mira held the boy against her as she crashed to the ground. She looked back to see how deep in the battle she was. Mira grabbed one of the blood-stained white robes that ran past her to stop the healer.
“The boy,” She laid him on the ground, “I did what I could.”
Before the healer spoke again, Mira launched back into the thick of the fight. She forced energy into her legs and leapt over heads. When she crashed into a heavily armored dwarf, she used his armor to surf along the muddy battlefield and extended her arms as the glaive animated and flew towards another. As the momentum knocked over her intended target, she grabbed the pommel and swung its full length to bat over another that approached her. She cursed at the muddy stains on her and leapt off of her impromptu board.
Before she knew it, less than fifty people remained. Mira’s eyes greedily searched the battlefield for another worthy opponent. Her muscles pulsed with energy as she dug her feet into the ground and launched herself at her next victim. The Travel Knight flew from her feet against a marble wall. She saw a large red orc kick Jonen to the ground. He wiped the mud from his face and held his shield up as his opponent kept striking down at him with a large hammer.
She watched as the man continuously rained down attacks on Jonen. Mira did not want to intervene and cause another scene. Any time she gave him attention, it seemed to only hurt him later on. Rage filled her as Jonen winced from too many attacks.
“Careful, now,” Encante chuckled in her mind, “We aren’t trying to make an example, are we?”
The next collision of the hammer cracked her friend’s shield. She couldn’t watch any longer. Mira sprinted towards the pair. Her glaive glowed as its blade serrated and burst into white flames. Jonen held his arms up to block the next strike. He closed his eyes as he was sure his bones would shatter with the impact. He felt something warm instead. He looked to see Mira standing up against the orc with a demonic glaive in her hand. A strong protective instinct filled her veins. She knew she would kill this man if he tried to hurt her friend again.
“That’s my friend,” Mira growled under her breath, “Leave him alone.”
The man laughed and didn’t hesitate to swing the hammer down at her. She grabbed it with her hand as it nearly collided with her head. His laugh stopped when the swing didn’t crush her instantly. The color drained from his face as she made eye contact with him again.
His fear seeped into the air around and tickled her skin. A wild smile spread on her lips as she stared up at him. When her fingers flexed, the hammerhead exploded. The orc shrieked as pieces of metal rained down to the ground and shredded his face and arms. Encante cheered at her destructive display of power.
She growled at the man, “Flee.”
“What are you?” He fell onto his backside and scurried backwards.
“I said,” Mira stabbed her glaive into the space between the man’s legs, “Flee.”
When he jumped and bolted towards the forfeit line. She turned to look at Jonen. He noticed her eyes softened from a harsh white to the soft honey. A monstrous cheer rang through the stadium. When he grabbed her offered hand and she hoisted him back to his feet, the ceremonial bell rang throughout the stadium.
“Well done!” Prince Krission announced to the remaining twelve competitors, “What a beautiful display of magic and athleticism.”
Mira looked around in confusion. When she ran to help Jonen, there were nearly fifty fighters left. She looked behind the forfeit line and saw a sea of terrified expressions. She didn’t understand why they jumped away from her as she helped Jonen get to the healers.
“Goddess, Mira,” Jonen took a deep breath and gripped the dent in his armor, “I’m glad I’m on your side.”
“I do not understand,” She looked coldly at those around her.
“You shattered that man’s weapon with nothing but your hand,” A dwarf besides them gawked, “I wouldn’t want to fight you either.”
“Mira, your hand,” Jonen ripped his shirt from under his armor to wrap it around her hand.
The metal shredded most of the muscle away and she saw chipped bones. She moved her fingers freely and picked at the shards of metal stuck in the remaining fleshy bits. It had been a while since she saw her own bones. An odd wave of nostalgia washed over her as she smiled. The onlookers gasped at her nonchalant behavior until Jonen put a piece of bloody cloth over it. Though his heart swelled at her previous words, he was concerned.
“They don’t know what you are,” He whispered, “Go see a healer and act more injured.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you, Sir Jonen.”
Blood mages were the strongest type of mage but had to do terrible things to get the power. Most blood mages were executed or recruited by royal families across the world. If she didn’t want to draw more attention to herself, then she would have to act accordingly.
Mira could feel the magic weaving the wound closed on its own as she approached a man in white robes. She caught a glance of the boy she saw earlier laying on a gurney nearby. His torso was wrapped, but he still lay unconscious. She flicked some of his hair from his face to look at him. He was so young. She wondered why he was even in the tournament. Who paid for him to be there?
“Excuse me,” She held up her hand to get the healer’s attention, “Is he okay?”
“Goddess, just barely,” The healer clapped his hands, “Someone brought him–”
“I did,” Mira looked at the charred skin over his wound, “Will that heal?”
“I don’t suggest doing that again,” The healer scratched his head, “But, the boy will live. He’s lucky. Some of his organs were lacerated, but he would’ve died from blood loss before anything else. He’ll have to come back a few more times to make sure everything heals.”
“I don’t know if he’ll be able to pay,” Mira rifled through her pockets with her uninjured hand and place a few gold into the healer’s hand, “Here. Take care of him.”
“What about your hand?” He pointed at the clean cloth.
“Ah, yes,” She took it off and pulled at the metal splinters, “Could you get these out for me?”
“Your hand isn’t torn from whatever spell you cast?” His eyebrows raised, “I’m surprised. Not many mages have that much control.”
She let the healer pluck the slivers of the hammer from her hand as Ravenna approached. She had a black eye and busted lip that contrasted to the grin plastered against her face.
“You look dreadful,” She squinted at Mira and pushed her glasses up her nose.
“Me?” She laughed, “I thought you would be able to see someone’s fist in your face.”
“It was this or a knife in Tiero’s back,” The pink orc shrugged, “I still cut down the man that did it before I forfeited.”
“Is everyone okay?”
“Bo and Amethyst made it to the last twelve. We all sort of stopped to watched whatever –” She motioned towards the flaming blade that still pierced the ground, “that was.”