"Get down!"
Vernon hears Duke shout and without thinking he reacts. It was a special bond between the two. When one yelled an order to the other they didn't hesitate, they reacted. Like how one reacts when leaning too far back in a chair. Right as it begins to tip over instinct takes over trying to stop a fall. This was the result of all the training the two had been though with one another. Neither took the lead in issuing all the commands and neither preyed on this bond. It had saved them more times than either could count in training and team games they have played throughout the years. The back and forth I-owe-you-ones had quit years ago.
As Vernon drops to the ground a wall of ice flies over and smashes the air behind him. Turning over to look where the ice wall hit, he see the boy materialize on the ground close to him. Two golden magical blades extending from either of his hands disappear.
Vernon gets up off the ground and walks over to the boy’s side. From what he sees, it looks like he wasn't expecting to get blindsided like that at all and got knocked silly from the hit. Vernon kneels down being careful not to slip on the melted ice from the shattered wall and leans in close to the boy’s ear. Whispering in the most derogatory tone he can muster.
"Well I guess that didn’t turn out for you like you planned huh, this zero just got the better of you."
Not sure if the boy heard him, he decides to give him a message he wouldn't miss. Laying his opened hand over the boy’s chest with his gloves still glowing, a furious blast of wind comes out of his hand. The shimmer and glow fades back to just the leather polish. A stasis field forms around the boy amidst the wind within the blink of an eye. The power of the rune spell makes a crater for it to lay in, like placing a golf ball in a divot. Vernon stands and glances up to see the score in the overlay, and the scoreboard ticks up two points for his team, now totaling three.
The whole crowd makes a unified gasp, and the Saint Anthony section goes wild. People begin running in from the concession stand lines to see what all the commotion is about. Duke walks up eyeing the whole scene, not quite able to contain the pride of his handiwork on his face.
"That worked out better than I planned. But did you need to use that much energy on that guy? He was already down?"
Vernon knew it was a halfway rhetorical question but felt like answering anyway. "Had to make sure he was out and yea it worked. They still have about thirty more seconds before they can’t revive him. If his team gets here before we have a plan. Lets just say three on two isn't good odds in our favor. Especially when they still have their healer in the mix."
"I guess we just have to outsmart them. Without Ashley and Flint we’re gonna have to think this one out. Now I know that’s not your area of expertise."
"Hey that’s my line, but thanks for the assist." Vernon replies as Duke gets a good chuckle out.
"Let’s just take some cover behind that boulder, and try to ambush them."
"Alright, we can try that. We have three points now. One from your ice wall hit and two from my knock out. They have 4 on us because of those long range fireballs they threw knocking out Ashley and Flint."
"I'm sure Ashley's pissed at me for that one."
"Don’t worry about it too much. You couldn't know that was going to happen like that, and she'll understand. Maybe. So back to what I was saying. If we can get two more points by taking out one more of their team or get in just some cheap shots, we can still qualify!"
"Yea but...", Dukes reply gets cut short.
Vernon turns around as hot breeze blows through followed by a fireball flying right for the two of them. With no time for both of them to dodge, Vernon gets pushed out of the way by Duke. Taking a fireball in the back. The blast knocks both boys into the nearby wall. Duke goes into stasis before he hits the wall. Vernon slams up against it and slides to the ground. He sits upright, shaking his head and glances over at his health readout. Only a fourth left. This time it feels accurate at least, because he is sore all over. The stasis overlay might be more accurate than he believed.
"Duke, you alright?..." Vernon says and looks to the stasis cocoon beside him. Letting out a large sigh, "Great now I get to do this alone. I should have taken that one. You might have been able to get the team to qualify because you always got a trick up your sleeve."
Vernon knows that Duke can't hear him, and realizes he was just talking to himself. Duke wouldn't have taken that hit and knocked himself out if he didn't believe in Vernon and his abilities. That is what best friends are for after all.
"Alright, alright, I’ll get the points needed to qualify us." Vernon says to Duke placing his hand on the pearl white cocoon.
He feels better just saying it and turns to focus on the task at hand. They need to have a score of five points to qualify for the proceeding tournaments. The tournaments were an ever changing set of qualifications. Applications started to rolling in from every school across the Astrum Government like wildfire.
They soon realized the staffing wasn't there, let alone the finished facilities. In response to this they started to put restrictions on team entries. They reached out to the government for extra help, but was only given to get a few Paladins for the referees. The government then charged each school district for the stasis bands. This caused some of the smaller schools in the undomed cities to close down their program and send back the bands.
Vernon hears voices getting closer and he is no closer to figuring out what to do. Needing to act fast before they reach him, he starts looking for cover. There are echoes coming from the wall behind him, which make it sound like they are approaching from everywhere. Up is the only option and it seems he’s in luck. There is still one floating rock that is just big enough to conceal him. Pushing some magic energy into his boots, he jumps the fifteen feet and grabs the ledge to pull himself up. From this vantage point he’s able to get a better look at who's coming. He might even be able to get the drop on them.
3
He glances down again at his overlay and it's the same as the last time he looked at it. He needs to rests long enough so some of his magic comes back. The readout shows exhaustion but not fatigue. If he doesn’t rest and something to eat or drink he might just pass out from the fatigue of using his runes. This takes Vernon’s mind to the container of food in his locker right now, making him wishing he would have eaten it before the match. He looks to the stands to see if Marie is in view. She’s in the middle of a dance number with her group. She isn't paying attention to the match right now but he knows what she would say if she knew he didn’t eat the lunch she prepared him.
His stare lingers there a little too long, forgetting to watch for an opening to attack the other team. He can now hear voices talking below him. He controls his breathing to take shallow breaths, and peeks out over the floating stone he is laying on. The first to come into view is a short and pudgy boy with blond hair and light skin.
"There are two cocoons here, but not William. So where’s the other guy?"
"We missed the time limit? Damn it, how'd they get William down so quick?" This new voice comes from a tall, light skinned, blonde haired girl that is twice the height as the pudgy boy. Between the two they have similar facial features, which makes Vernon think they are most likely siblings.
A third voice calls out to the other two, "Would you two shut up or keep it down? We need to find that last player so we can finish this or he might get the drop on us."
A caramel skin colored girl with fire red hair talks in a hushed tone as she walks out from under the floating rock, to stand next to the others. Her robe is full of runes woven throughout the material, each is shimmering between the different shades of orange and red.
Vernon had seen that type of robe before, it's a caster’s robe. The runes are there to make their spells more potent, by combining casting and rune casting. The colors the runes are giving off gives her away as a fire caster. The pudgy boy has a patch on his arm signifying him as the healer. The blonde seems to be a wind caster. Vernon assumes
this only because she is floating around instead of walking. Most of the wind casters that he knows float around instead of walk. They think it makes them special and more connected to their magical aptitude.
Vernon finally puts the pieces of the puzzle together. They were able to attack with such accuracy, because the gusts of wind before each fireball was like a missile guidance system. He tries to see who has the least amount of health left but realizes how stupid it is to even look. Their team hasn't taken damage yet. Deciding to go for the healer was a easy choice. Being the largest target to hit, and if he knocks out the healer there is a better chance he might wear the other two out.
Healing magic is a rarity within the world. People are either born with it or they aren’t. Everyone on Eden, even healers, can cast basic spells. It takes a special trait and mind set to cast healing spells. Ashley always said, it was a passion of hers to heal right, and if you didn't do it right it would leave scars. With the number of wounds that she has healed for Vernon it’s amazing that he isn’t riddled with scars. He and the team practiced for those three weeks leading up to this match. Ashley healed everyone over and over again not leaving even one scar.
Vernon readies himself to pounce from his rock but as he stands, his shadow covers the red haired girl. Her orange eyes lock with his as her face lights up with surprise. Losing the upper hand he focuses on her instead. She flings her cloak open, revealing her toned figure. Her arms begin to glow as her stance widens and she braces herself. Bringing the butts of her palms together and the glow of her arms moves to her hands igniting the air in front of them creating a ball of flame.
Vernon's eyes grow wide as her robe's runes brighten and all turned a neon red. In a panic, he looks toward his right glove, and it still has some energy stored there for an attack. He pushes about half of what he has left into both his boots for good measure. Looking back at the red head, he can only see her head and legs from the knees down, everything else blocked by the fireball in her hands.
She releases her spell yelling, "Take this!"
The blond boy and girl turn around to see the fire casters attack. The blonde girl lifts her hands in the air as a quick gesture and aims at the fireball. A gust of wind forms behind the fireball, feeding the flame, increasing its flight speed and size. Vernon loses sight of his target and finally sees just what Coach Hill was talking about. Potency of combining spells was a scary thing. Vernon has to push what magical energy he has left into his boots for a quick and dirty midair course correction. Wind blasts out of his boots.
The fireball passes by him, singeing his shirt as it passes. He slams into the south wall shoulders first and proceeds to an ungraceful roll down the wall. Clothing and jewelry flying everywhere.
With a groan of pain, Vernon mumbles to himself, "What the hell did I just do?"
"So," the fire caster says, "Thought you could get the drop on us huh?"
"I guess not. I was aiming for short and stout over there but you saw my shadow.”
If Vernon had only learned one thing in the last three weeks it was distractions. Now more than ever, he needed to use one with three people coming ever closer to surrounding him. The fire caster is now only a few feet from him, and her face comes into view. She is almost as stunning as Marie.
Not knowing what to say, he just lets his thoughts speak for themselves, “You're a cute girl you know that. What’s a good looking girl like you in doing in Mixed Magical Arts?" Vernon says as he makes slow movements to stand, keeping his eyes trained on the other team.
"Cute huh, you must be that cocky rune user William kept going on about. He showed us the news report about the Saint Anthony Magic and Runic Academy and how all the casters quit after a rune user got team captain. It also said that the captain thought he didn’t need casters on his team to win. If that is you, you’re a little too cocky for your own good. Also if you think girls can't be as good as guys in mixed magical arts, you’re dumber than you look."
"Yes that was me that made that comment, and I still stand by it. I just asked about the cute part because I can see that you colored your hair from here. Most girls I know aren't into fighting and fashion." Vernon says not having any idea if it was true. Saying anything in desperation to distract her long enough to think his way out of this spot he's gotten himself into.
"Wait, what? How can you tell?" She says while stroking her fingers through her hair. "Also, I can have interests in whatever I want. Who are you to judge me? I did this because I thought I would look better matching my hair with the color of my fire spells." She says as her voice trails off at the end, and her face becomes flush.
"Is that why you did that?" The blonde girl finally chimes in, "I was wondering why you would do that, your natural red color was fine."
Vernon is grateful these two aren't wise enough to realize he just bought himself some time. Which pays off with an opening to get away to the bolder that he dodged behind when their captain attacked earlier. He makes a run for the boulder.
"Would you two girls quit being girls for one minute and take that bastard down. He's running away!" the blonde boy shouts and points at Vernon.
The two girls shoot an angry glare back at him. They then looking back to where Vernon was standing and see he is no longer there.
"Alright Emma, light that sorry zero up and melt him good!"
Emma turns to face Vernon raising her hands in the air she starts to cast a spell with only a whisper at first. Her eyes begin to glow yellow and orange along with her cloak. Small parts of the sky within the shield of the arena turn dark and cloudy above their heads. The clouds swirl together like a pinwheel as Emma aims. Red streaks fill the clouds and flow to the center as meteors start raining down from them. Vernon looks over his shoulder with bewilderment as bright red molten covered rocks start falling from the sky. Explosions erupt across the whole open field as he tries to pick up his pace, dodging all the smoldering rocks.
A glance back toward his destination shows he wasn't as lucky as he believed. A now smoking crater is where the boulder once stood. Vernon stops. He looks into the shallow hole where it once was and can feel the hopelessness fill him as he turns around to face his opponents. The field is now riddled with small pits and craters making it difficult, if not impossible, for him to run anywhere. She had leveled everything within fifty yards of him. Vernon looks over at Emma, and she has a smile on her face from ear to ear. He can see just how pleased she is from that glowing smile.
"Gotcha." She says with a smile.
"Whelp I didn't see that coming. Nothing like using a sledgehammer as a fly-swatter. You're just about as strong as Marie is. Almost as good looking too." Vernon saying this hoping that lightning might strike twice.
“No, you’re not gonna distract me again you silver tongued devil. Have a taste of round two."
Emma brings her hands up to her face and throws them back down to her sides as she conjures up a small yet dense looking fireball in both hands. Heat begins to radiate from her entire body. Her eyes become glazed in fire as though she is on the verge of immolation. Vernon knows this look, and has seen this before.
The last time that he and Marie had got into a real argument. They tore up the whole front yard at her parents' home. It was the first time that Marie had been able to use her elemental form, and it was a sight to behold. The only thing that stopped her was a tornado spell her trainer used to extinguish her by taking away all the oxygen for only a moment. That was the answer Vernon was looking for.
Emma throws from her right first. Vernon braces himself, praying this will go as he thinks. Repeating over and over in his mind that wind can work against fire as much as it can for it. He hurls himself straight for the ball of fire. He uses the remaining charge in his right glove. His HaLO now showing he is completely out of magic as he leans back and puts his body into a punch surrounded with swirling wind. Aiming right in the middle of the ball of flame and releases an explosion of wind within the center of the flame. The fire wraps aroun
d him and flames kiss him all over leaving their mark on the tips of his hair and clothes. The gust saturates the fire just long enough to have the fireball to disperse.
"HA HA HA, I can't believe that just worked." Vernon rejoices, as a second fireball comes flying at him.
"Oh crap..."
4
The fireball lands square in the center of Vernon's face, and before he knows it the stasis cocoon is covering his body. The quiet is deafening while in stasis. Vernon hates being inside this cocoon. It may heal but it’s always so boring left with nothing but your own thoughts. Mostly because he just failed. He knew that he was the only hope they had at going any further in the tournaments, and he just blew it. He thinks back to before they got the news the school was going to take part in mixed magical arts. Before the school merged, when training was for trainings sake. The teachers and mentors were always right there to prevent anyone from getting hurt or cheating. They were also encouraged to not use full force because how easy you could injure or even kill someone. It was necessary to learn how to control your runes and your strength so you wouldn’t hurt yourself or someone else by accident. If nothing else, he thinks, he’s been lucky to spend more time with Marie. He didn’t realize how much he had missed her being around.
Vernon hears his stasis band beep, which startles him. He wasn’t in the cocoon for more than just a few seconds. It would mean that someone was taking him out. That can only happen one way. His overlay reactivates as the cocoon disappears. The crowd had been shuffling out to get to the vehicles waiting outside. Parents and spectators alike all turn and run back to their seats and watch with bewilderment as this new turn of events proceeds.
Cypher Theorem Series Box Set: Books 1-3, The Zero Class, Shadow Moon, Dragon Fire: A Science Fiction Fantasy Page 2
