Mage Fade

by C. J. Thompson

  His head twitched in an odd manner as it slowly stuttered towards me. It was if he had seen a ghost. The exact emotion that covered his face was hard to describe. A mix between sadness and anger it seemed as his lips receded into his mouth. There was a tremble to his voice as his eyes rolled up towards me. “I know you do,” he replied.

  My eyes drifted towards the ground as it felt just as uncomfortable as I could have ever imagined. Still, there was a sense of relief that came over me after saying those words. As I looked over towards the Mage it seemed he was just about done with his speech.

  Then, he put one arm around me as the crowd went quiet. “On my right stands the older brother Edmund. He is a half blood. Will his age make up for his lack of elf qualities? It's hard to say. He looks rather healthy and alert. A fine contender for his brother indeed.”

  Removing his arm from around me, he put his other arm around Gavin. “Ah yes. On my left, is the full blood Gavin. He is the younger brother but shows a lot of promise. It is rare that I see such great promise in such a young elf. There are no words to describe what this promise looks like. He's just got that spark! A spark that you cannot look away from. Will this spark allow him to become a great Knight? That is what we will find out today!”

  The crowd cheered as they jumped up and down with great intensity. To be honest, listening to his little introductions made me feel sick to the stomach. He treated us like we were worth nothing at all. Just some items to entertain himself with. It all made sense though, these elves cheered because they had to. Otherwise they would be locked up just like Herbert.

  The cheering got louder as the Mage pointed me towards the right corner. As I walked over to the corner, I couldn't help but notice the Mage whispering something in Gavin's ear. It was impossible to know what he said, but then, Gavin gave me a little thumbs up. The same little thumbs up he'd been giving me since we were kids. A smile came upon my face as I knew everything was going to be okay. Funny thing is, even as a bigger brother, his thumbs up would some how make me feel better. Like everything was going to be okay.

  In the center of the arena, the Mage quieted the crowd. “Take your votes,” he yelled with both hands into the air.

  The screams were mixed at first. There wee about the same amount of screams for Gavin as there were for Edmund. Then, Gavin's name was heard more and more until it overtook. “Gavin...Gavin...Gavin!”

  The cheers grew in intensity as I glanced over at Gavin. Both of his hands were in the air as the crowd went crazy for him. Then, to quiet the crowd, the Mage lowered both of his hands. With the crowd quiet, one arm went back into the air as a bright blue fireball shot out of it. “Let it begin!” the Mage yelled.

  Chapter Eight

  It was the moment of truth. My breathing became rapid as I kept my eyes on Gavin. It felt so strange to look at him as my potential enemy. Then, his feet slowly lifted off the ground as he made his way closer to me. Cheers from the crowd grew louder as we got closer and closer to each other in the arena. Only feet apart, we both stared each other in the eyes while walking in circles. His eyes, they seemed to have a look that I'd never seen before. “Are you okay?” I asked.

  “I'm fine,” he screamed as he put both hands into the air. “If we gotta fight then we might as well get this over with.”

  I took a deep swallow as I knew he was right. Both of my hands covered my face as we looked like two true warriors ready to battle. “I'm gonna hit you. Just go with it. We will just fight back and fourth for a while.”

  He gave me a nod as I hopped side to side. It was so foreign, having to hit him. I knew it had to be done, but it was literally torture. Swaying back and fourth, the crowd started throwing a few booing sounds our way. Those sounds seemed to fuel Gavin as he signaled me closer. “Come on!” he yelled. “What are you waiting for? Take your best shot! I'm serious!”

  My arms went back as I started to throw the first punch. But, it just seemed impossible. Lunging forward, I pushed him to the ground. Gavin jumped to his feet as the cheers flared up around us. Then, with speed I didn't know he had, he charged me until I fell to the ground. On top of me, his hands held my arms flat against the ground. “You gotta hit me!” he screamed. “Don't you remember the plan? Come on, Do it!”

  I shoved him off and crawled to my feet. Once again, we were dancing in front of the crowd as I struggled to muster up the will to fight him. Suddenly and without warning, Gavin threw his left hand into my stomach. The blow knocked the air out of me as I went into a coughing fit. Holding my hand up, I tried to let him know I'd had enough. I dropped to my knees as I was huffing and puffing. “That's enough Gavin,” I said with a struggle. “You didn't have to hit me so hard. Why did you do that? Just wait and give me a minute, I can't breathe.”

  Gavin turned around and threw his hands into the air as the crowd cheered his name. Was he really enjoying this? How could he hit me and show no worry? After climbing to my feet, I got closer to Gavin giving him a look of disbelief. “What are you doing? Do you know how hard you just hit me? I didn't even know you could hit that hard.”

  Gavin pushed me as a look of disgust covered his face. “You didn't know I could hit that hard? I'm not your little sister Edmund,” he said with fury in his eyes. “Now come on! Stop talking, we gotta give these people a show they'll never forget.”

  Brushing my hair out of my eyes, I realized Gavin was right. “Don't worry, we'll give them a show. Just go easy on me. Guess I over looked how strong you've become over the years. That was a mean blow you hit me with.”

  A smile came upon my face as I was starting to see the fun in the situation a little. If we had to do this, we might as well do it right. A little life came back to me as I weaved back and fourth. Leaning to my side, I delivered a light blow to Gavin's stomach. In obvious pain, he held his stomach as he coughed a little. Concerned I hit him too hard, I wanted to make sure he was okay. “Are you okay? Hope that wasn't too much. Just wanted to get some brotherly payback. That's all,” I said with a little laugh. “Just let me know if it's too much though.”

  His smile became wide as his teeth were on full display. “No, not at all. That was good. Real good Edmund,” he replied.

  With one big leap, Gavin was on top of me. With every blow he landed, the crowd cheered louder and louder. Thump after thump, I struggled to get him off. “Stop it! That's too much,” I screamed. “It hurts!”

  Gavin leaned back as he looked at the blood on his fist. A sense of panic took over as I knew it was my blood. “That's my blood on your hands. Where am I bleeding? How could you do this to me?” I asked in disbelief.

  He laughed as he extended his hand towards me. “Grab my hand. You gotta let me have a little fun before you become the champion. It's only fair isn't it? I gotta get in a few blows before I die. That way the elves have something to remember me by.”

  Looking at his hand, I was hesitant to grab it. “Who are you?” I asked.

  Grabbing my hand, he pulled me up as he whispered into my ear. “I'm your brother. Relax, I was just having a little fun. You can do the same to me. Go ahead, I'm ready when you are.”

  It was like some sort of nightmare as we once again were on our feet. There was a sharp pain coming from my head. Reaching up, I tried to locate where it was coming from. “Is that a gash? How big is it? That's big isn't it?”

  Gavin leaned towards me as he took a look. “Oh wow. Yea, that is big. I really didn't mean to do that,” he said with a little laugh. “It's just so intense and exciting with the crowd cheering. Don't you feel it? I've never felt so alive in my entire life!”

  “It's my turn isn't it?” I asked as a little anger set in. “We gotta make sure it was a close fight don't we?”

  He nodded his head while letting out an odd sounding laugh. “Go for it. Give me everything you got.”

  The gash on my head couldn't be ignored. Sure, he was my little brother, but there was no harm in giving him a taste of his own medicine. It was for his own good. With both hands
in front of my face, I danced around Gavin until the moment was right. With all my might, I hit him straight in the face making him fall to his back. There was a loud thud as he hit the ground. It was something I instantly regretted doing once it happened. “I'm sorry Gavin! Are you okay?”

  Bending down, I put my hand under his head as my eyes became a little wet. “I didn't wanna do that. You just went wild on me back there. You know I had to do something. You realize you brought this on yourself right? I had to give you a little tough love.”

  On his forehead, was a little bit of blood. His eyes opened as a smile came upon his face. “It's okay, I deserved it,” he said without much emotion. ”There was no excuse for what I did. Just got too carried away, that's all. I'm sorry. The good news is, you hit harder than I expected.”

  My body got closer as I pulled him into my chest. With my face against his shoulder, I rubbed my tears away just in case anyone could see them. We climbed to our feet as we heard an object hit the ground near us. Only feet away, was a long silver sword. It's handle was ingrained in gold with red diamonds running up it's side. Me and Gavin just gave each other a cold stare as the crowd chanted “kill him...kill him...kill him.”

  I wiped the blood from my forehead as I gave Gavin a gentle nod. “Okay. This is it. Remember the plan. You do remember the plan right?”

  Gavin gave a weak nod as he moved a little closer to me. His demeanor was more like himself as he replied. “Don't worry. I remember the plan.”

  Still, my eyes were on Gavin as I wasn't sure he could be trusted anymore. After seeing the animal he turned into earlier, I wondered what he would do next. The cold metal actually felt good as I gripped it in my hands. It was much heavier than I expected too. Raising it into the air, I pointed the sword straight at Gavin as the crowd went crazy. “Looks like we got the blood part covered,” I yelled. “That makes things a bit easier doesn't it?”

  “So now what?” asked Gavin. “You are going to defeat me, be carried away and live a life of riches? Is that it?”

  “What are you talking about? Why do you keep saying things like that?” I screamed. “Of course not. We will both be rewarded from the Mage. He will see how loyal we were to each other and want us both. I guarantee it!”

  “You better be right,” replied Gavin. “So let's do it if we are gonna do it! Go ahead, I'm ready when you are!”

  The crowd seemed a little upset with our brief moment of inactivity as they started to boo us. With the seriousness of the situation, I had to make sure Gavin fully understood what I was going to do. “I'm gonna spear the sword to your left side. Don't worry, it will be a far left. Grab it and pull me into you. Once on top, I will do all of the work. Here it comes! Get ready Gavin!”

  Nodding my head three times just as we had planned, my hands went over my head as the crowd went crazy. Coming down, I lunged straight ahead towards Gavin. With a yank, Gavin's hand slid down the end of the sword as he grabbed it. Worried he would be seriously cut, I yelled to him. “Drop it! Drop the sword and I will jump on you!”

  He fell to the ground as the sword dropped next to him. Judging from the roar of the crowd, I'd say they believed our little stunt. On top of Gavin our bodies merged into one as I shook him to make it seem like there was a struggle going on. The crowd grew louder and louder as I could barely hear my own voice. “Just lay here!” I said. “If the Mage finds out your not dead it's all we can do. We did our best Gavin. Don't worry, he will respect our decision. He said so himself.”

  “I'm scared,” yelled Gavin as his excitement seemed to be replaced with fear. “Herbert said they'd kill us both if one of us didn't die. What if he's right?”

  He was so close that I could smell his breath. It was a familiar smell. Our eyes were nearly touching as I stared straight into them. “Don't worry. Everything will be okay,” I said as I grabbed his hand. “Surely the Mage will understand that not every blow is fatal. We put on a good show just like you said. Besides, If Herbert is right, we will escape. I won't let them do anything to you. I promise.”

  We continued to stare each other in the eyes as the cheering grew lighter and lighter. “I'm going to get off you now,” I said. “I will turn to the crowd and act like you are dead. Just stay on the ground and don't move an inch. I will deal with the Mage if he comes to check on you. We will take this step by step. Do you understand?”

  “Okay,” he replied as a tear rolled down his cheek.

  My head slowly got further and further away from Gavin's face as our eyes remained dead locked. Once on my knees, I quickly jumped to my feet and threw my hands into the air. The roar was intense as the crowd chanted my name over and over. “Edmund, Edmund, Edmund!”

  To my left, the Mage made his way closer to me. His hands went into the air as the crowd went quiet. There was no sound as he hovered only inches off the ground. Once in front of me, his watch dangled right in front of my face. “What an action packed day,” he said. “The fight couldn't have ended at a better time. Perfect timing like this is rare indeed!”

  Then, the Mage glanced down at Gavin's body as he asked the dreaded question. “Is he dead?”

  “Yes,” I replied with as much confidence as possible. “He is dead.”

  His dark eyes looked back towards me as he gave a firm nod. “You are certain of this?”

  “Of course I am,” I replied. “It was hard, but it had to be done.”

  The Mage hovered closer to me until he was right in front of my face. “I want to be certain he is indeed dead,” said the Mage with a firm voice. “If you are truly certain, you wouldn't mind me examining the body now would you?”

  My body froze as I was at a loss of words. No sounds left my mouth as I struggled to speak. The Mage leaned even closer into my face as he spoke slowly but loudly. “If your brother is alive, I will kill you both. The kingdom has no room for weaklings. Do you understand?”

  Those mere words sent a shock throughout my body as a sense of dread took over. Then, without warning, something struck me. A pinching pain that grew in intensity. Deep inside of me, something was burning as the pain grew heavier. As I looked down, I saw it. It glistened in the sunlight as it stuck out of my stomach. My hands grabbed the bloody blade as cold tears ran down my face. Then, something unexpected happened. There was a flicker in my vision as the cheering crowd around me was starting to disappear. Falling to my side, my body became paralyzed as the sounds around me dimmed. Like a fly who had just been poisoned, I fell to my back unable to move. My eyes rolled to the left as I saw him. There he stood with his hands in the air. It was Gavin. His face covered in anger and tears, my world started to fade as I heard his voice. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry,” he yelled over and over.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight