Chapter 27 - Part 3

Haiden watched closely as Maree stepped onto the arena, people cheered and screamed. On the opposite side a tall Ashen woman stood unphased, her face was one of eagerness rather than defeat like Vick. Unlike the previous two battles, this Ashen stood against someone whose family denounced their titles. She was free to unleash all of her strength.

"... and it is with great pleasure that I accept Wielder Maree of the former house of Hoffer as my personal protege, absolving him and his Ashen of any military duty in his journey of achieving Mastership acting as my personal assistant from this day onward and so..." A sea of gasps drowned Headmistress' next words. Even from the stands of those of higher standing chatter flowed and gasps of shock as they repeated the name of Hoffer. "Let the fight begin." She announced and retreated to her stand.

Maree felt every eye on him as they whispered his name in disgust. He had been discussing this moment with Helena from the very first day he began his training, while he was thrilled at the opportunity and protection this gave him, being one of the most powerful Wielders that the Empire had seen, it also came with looks of envy and cruel gossip. Anyone in their right mind would have accepted the offer regardless of others might say or speculate, it was too good to be true, the opportunities this opened for Maree were incredible and it made him untouchable to boot, not even Bras with his standing could lay a finger now without a proper reason.

He focused on the woman in front of him which the Headmistress introduced as Amira Ga'hir, she was a statuesque woman with chiseled muscles that flexed and rippled with each movement. It showed how dedicated she was to working on her body. Her leather armor exposed her right hand while the left had leather plating encrusted with the same clear crystals the Ashen used against Wielders. In her right hand she held a whip that nestled a crystal every few inches, while at the tip, the whip flattened into a sharp blade.

She watched Maree carefully, waiting for him to make the first moove and Maree obliged. From his bag Alva jumped onto the arena between him and Amira. The white fur of the Fennik Fox shined blue in the bright light of the summer sun. It's pure blue eyes glinted as his vertical mout opened and licked his lips. He was excited for the fight and he showed it by giving an ear shattering squeal. Amira was taken aback in surprise but quickly recovered.

People gasped again, some rose from their seats and shouted "Cheater" and "Scum".

"Just like your parents you are! Tractor!" A woman yelled at the top of her lungs. Maree ignored them and focused on his opponent, but he couldn't fully block out the hurtful words of the crowd.

The Ashen smirked as the people demeaned her opponent. She unfurled her whip. Amira gave it a twirl in the air, the small crystals tore through the air with a melodical whirl and the moment she snapped the whip a thunderous clap filled the pit.

"Alva!" Maree called out and the beast engulfed itself into blue flames. People watching were in shock. Some even yelled "It's killing itself!" their laugh died the moment a beast almost as tall as Maree emerged from the flames. It's fur danced like fire in the wind, pure white glistening light blue, it was ethereal. It grew knife like teeth that stuck out from it's vertical mouth. Jet black nostrils in sets of threes on each side flared as it breathed and steam escaped. It's long ears laid neatly behind him, half as long as he was. They twitched with every sound.

"Quite a beastie ye'got ther." Amira called out. "Too bad I'll hav'ta tear it in two." Her soft and playful voice did not match her rough appearance.

"Don't get too cocky, fucker." Maree smirked as he prepared his first spell.

"Didn't'ye ma' tell you it's not nice'ta cuss at wee lil'girlies." She laughed.

"You should thank the Cretors I don't discriminate." Maree had casted his mobility spell and the moment his foot left the floor of the arena, Alva ran on the opposite way closing in quickly on Amira, flanking her from both sides. Maree gathered his Fios around him create a couple of fireballs that he sent right towards Amira's right and Alva snarled and pounced on her left.

With a swing of her arm her whip slashed with ease through his attack while the leather tiling protected her from Alva's bite, wounding the fox instead through the crystal embedded on them. He whimpered as he tested a few bites to make sure everything was alright.

"Alva! Switch!" He yelled and they moved away with great speed, and flanked her again. The leather plating protected her from the fireballs and Alva could not even get close to make his move.

"S'that all ye got, pretty boy?" Amira taunted. "Very well." She said and began swinging the whip around her with great speed. She threw her arm at Maree, the whip followed. He quickly dodged, but the moment the whip got to bending point, it flicked to the other side so fast it was invisible. Maree only heard Alva's yelp as it got struck and flew a few feet away.

"Alva!" Maree called in concern. He was alright, but wounded by the Ashen crystals, he won't be able to heal that as fast as a normal wound.

Amira began a flurry of strikes on both of the swinging her arm left and right. It hit the ground with explosive force, creating small craters in the stone. Maree and Alva couldn't do anything but dodge with their speed, hoping for fatigue to settle in their opponent, but they were out of luck. The more Amira swung her whip around the more she laughed and her vigor intensified. She became more and more agile and her strikes more powerful.

"What's the holdup? I'm still waitin'on a good fightin'" Amira stopped her attack and smashed her whip on the stone arena. The sheer power fractured the stone sending pebbles and rocks towards both Alva and Maree.

Maree simply stopped the stones in their track and sent them right back at the woman who waved her whip to destroy the projectiles in mid air. She laughed.

The young wilder tried to hold his position taking everything in to think of a strategy, but the moment he had stopped moving Amira's whip struck down hard. He had to keep moving.

MAree sent a mental command to Alva and the fox stopped while his master drew Amira's attacks and sent powerful lighting strikes in turn. She had no choice but to ignore Alva who was preparing an attack.

Haiden felt the buildup of energy, it was massive. He began to take deep breaths and exhale pure steam, through its six nostrils. Each breath is more powerful than the next. This caught the woman's eye but she could not risk going after him now, she had to defend against Maree. The lighting strikes were not predictable and they off shoot at random, but if Amira didn't deflect all of them, she'd risk the ground current striking her down or at least immobilizing her long enough for her opponent to win,

With one final breath Alva released through his nostrils hundreds of sparks that floated gently with the breeze.

Maree had to stop his attack on Amira, giving the Ashen a moment to catch her breath, as he concentrated on the air around the sparks. He Suspended the sparks in mid air and with a push of his arm he sent a couple to test the attack against his opponent.

Instead of gently flowing towards her like they did when they were released, Maree placed his Fios behind them and propelled them fast at his target. It was hard to control them, the sparks would detonate the moment they'd touch anything but the air. If he wasn't careful his own Fios would detonate them, this made for bad trajectory control and the first shots he fired missed terribly. But it made for a good display of power.

The sparks flew feet away from Amira, she didn't even bother swiping at them to nullify the spell. But once they touched the ground the burst into an infernal column of blue fire. There was no residue hit that touched the Ashen's skin. Everything outside its radius was cool and unmarked. Columns of fire burst out around her as Maree missed his mark.

"What the fuck!? Ye'gotta be kidding me!" Amira stepped back holding her left arm up for protection.

"Hope you're ready," Maree began pulling sparks from the air and sending them towards Amira. She quickly composed herself, gritting her teeth she began swiping with her whip elegantly through the air as it went through all sparks that headed her way, leaving the rest to incinerate everything in their path. They left behind circles of red molten stone that cooled hard almost immediately after. The rapid cooling made the stone crack and diform.

"Your power is useless if it can't touch me!" Amira called out, it became harder to breathe all of the sudden, the air becoming dry and thin. But she stuck her chest out in pride.

The sparks, even with Maree's help, were too slow. His bad aim also allowed the woman to dispel them with ease. She fake yawned as she swiped at them with one hand. Her dry laugh became even more confident as it scratched her throat.

Maree stopped his attack and pulled all the sparks in the air, swirling them around his opponent creating a vortex of small lights that zipped through. Amira whirled hier whip around herself trying to create a safe zone, but erratic sparks zipped through close to the ground she stood on.

"Concede, you bitch! There's nothing you can do!" Maree called out as pulled and pushed at the air, controlling the sparks around the woman. His aim was never directed at her, but close. He didn't wish to harm the Ashen, or worse. He knew how powerful the sparks were, the left no trace, everything vaporized into beautiful light blue flames that looked as cold as ice.

"Fuck you!" Amira called out and increased the speed of her whirl slashing through the vortex of sparks, slowly dispelling them away. Her hand was going numb as the effort of maintaining her defence increased and fatigue settled in her shoulder. Her clenched jaw tightened with pain as she avoided the columns of blue fire, sweat dripping down the sides of her temples and her short hair stuck to her forehead.

"What's the matter, are you feeling a little hot?" Maree asked as his lips tugged at a smirk.

"What're you doin>" Amira called out as the vortex was still closing in but it was much thinner than before. She had managed to dispel a good chunk of the sparks.

"Direct attacks won't work on you thanks to your handy equipment you got there, so there's only one way to beat you, you overdeveloped muscle brain!" He began laughing.

Haiden felt the second hand embarrassment from Maree but he was quite impressed with his friend. He saw how much he had grown thanks to Alva and the Headmistress. It was like watching an entire different person than the one had saved almost one cycle ago. He felt Maree's Fios permitting the entire area of the arena. He was increasing the temperature around Amira and pulling all moisture he could from the air.

"Ye're a real twat! I'll kill ya and yer pet!" Amira screamed as the last of the sparks were dispelled. She sprinted towards Maree with great agility while dry heaving for gulps of air, and Alva rushed in to intercept. He hit the Ashen's leather plating on her left, pushing her off her feet at the cost of great pain.

Maree's teeth gritted as he heard Alva's yelp and mental cry. "You've already lost." Maree's Fios was everywhere around the woman. Her head began to spin as she tried to pull herself together and get her bearings. Alva was still incapacitated and she focused on Maree, with each breath it became harder and harder to breathe.

"Ye're cheatin'"! She barely called out, her voice cracking from the dryness.

"All's fair in war and ... whatever...." Maree replied as he watched the Ashen warrior struggle with her whip as she pulled back for another strike. She missed.

Amira's final attack had expended too much energy, regardless of how much she breathed, a sense of choking overcame her as she grabbed at her throat in panic dropping her weapon beside her. In moments the woman dropped back to her knees after which she fainted on the ground.

Haiden felt how Maree instantly retreated his Fios and poured air back into the arena, his attention was on the woman. He prayed his friend did not just murder someone, praying that that she was still alive. The pit was silent as people were shocked and speechless. They were all staring in disbelief at Maree's display of power and the woman slumped on the ground.

Haiden sensed Fios around Amira. It was from Maree. He was sending his energy down her throat, forcing open her airways. It didn't take long and the woman gasped air but remained unconscious. Maree with Alva's help they dragged her to the edge of the arena and pushed her over gently.

Maree stood up and raised a fist in victory and the crowd began to scream. Some were moved by his display of power and cheered for him, but most were still spewing venom, curses, and names at Maree.

Haiden began to clap excitedly, relieved that his friend was not capable of murdering someone in cold blood. He screamed and cheered for him until the Headmistress silenced everyone to announce the next battle.

It's moving! IT'S MOVING! Screeched boomed in his mind drawing everything around Haiden. He quickly sensed at the string that attacked him and his memories, it was moving away from the tent.