Bit by bit, it stretched and expanded, wrapping felted tentacles around the centaur. Its tendrils became more grabby, soft doll fabric melting and infusing with the centaur’s body. Woollen strands melted each tendon and muscle down, pulling and dragging it into itself, covering the whole body and then tugging back in, wrapping and pulling and wrapping and pulling. Finally, it had consumed the whole body and dredged its essence into the soft shape of a miniature doll.
“Yes!” Izabelle shouted, ecstatic. It was the first time she had captured a beast. She had of course tried to use Manikka Encagement on other monsters but up until now she had failed many times. She was appalled and devastated when the Manikka centaur doll disappeared. “What happened?!” she exclaimed in frustration.
Jael groaned and pushed himself up. The seventh monster appeared. A giant crab with its shell made of steel. “I’ll try to melt it, stay behind!”
“I’ll try to help!” Izabelle replied.
“I saw what happened back there. You used a great amount of magick power to capture the centaur but it vanished. No, you are almost at your limit. You need to rest. Let me handle this,” Jael said, and he invoked flame throughout his body. The metallic crab jumped high. Almost landing directly on Jael. He managed to dodge it.
While Jael battled the huge metallic crab, Izabelle went to Vaan and Frekkis to aid them with recovery mystos. Within a few minutes, they were replenished and ready to fight. When Vaan, Frekkis and Izabelle went back to Jael, he had already defeated the metallic crab with his Pillar Flare.
“Nice one, Jael. You have mastered your Pillar Flare! You should take a rest and let us handle the next few waves until we reach the twelfth monster,” Vaan said.
Jael nodded and went to the dried log to sit and rest for a bit. The others successfully defeated the eighth, ninth and tenth, until the eleventh monster had fallen before their teamwork. When the twelfth monster came forth, they were dismayed to see a massive tree rise from the earth before them. It was monumental, rapidly growing and spitting out small vines that looped into each other until it was the height of a skyscraper, invading the land and marsh with its invasive and growing tendrils.
“What now?” Vaan said.
“I think we just need to cut this down,” Izabelle stated. “We’ve got to try,” Jael said, and so they attacked the tree.
Vaan tried to uproot the tree using his Upheaval, but it didn’t work. He made a little grunting sound in the back of his throat. “Should we end the challenge? We have 25 points. If we waste more of our stamina here, we might not finish the race.”
“I don’t think this tree can be brought down just by pure force, it has to have a catch,” Jael replied. They brainstormed how to destroy the tree.
Meanwhile, Frekkis constantly slashed at the tree and only four leaves fell.
Jael scoffed. “I’m out of ideas. If Frekkis can’t damage the tree, it can’t be brought down by force alone.
“Let’s just end the challenge and go on,” Izabelle said. They pressed the button on their watches and the hologram appeared. They selected ‘END’ on the hologram and were awarded 25 points.
An announcement echoed through the terrain map.
“Team Bullets has finished the Terrania! There are five more teams left! Team Hurtlock has been dropped because of a gruelling challenge in Stop #80. Who will be the next team to finish Terrania? Team Voyager is now at stop #130! Behind them is Team Speed at stop #119. Team Quasar is at stop #110, successfully overtaking Team Phoenix who is treading toward stop #89. Just near them is Team Resentment at stop #84. Let’s watch!”
“Stop #64 took that long? Whew, we should have not wasted our time there,” Vaan said.
“Let’s not argue, we might lose if we waste time arguing about the past, let’s just go forward,” Jael said.
“Jael’s right, let’s get to stop #89!” Izabelle added.
Not too long they reached the icy terrain. Full of large ice wedges and jagged teeth spikes of trapped frozen plants. The very ground was challenging to walk on, the ice slick and uneven. Finally, they reached stop #89 and easily completed the task. Carve a polar bear.
Jael rolled the dice; the number seventeen came up. “That’s a good roll, Jael!” Izabelle said.
They crossed the icy glaciers, making their way along to the dry plains. Team Phoenix reached stop #106. The challenge was to be a Luck and Skill challenge. A man wearing red pants and a white top, not a hologram this time, was teleported at once to stop #106. At this stop there was an arena, and a cage. He explained the challenge.
“This is a luck challenge. One of you has to battle me in a five round match. Every time you lose, you lose one life and my opponent will be locked in this cage beside me for 30 minutes but every time you win you will advance five times your wins. Right now you have four lives. If you lose five times, then you are eliminated from this race. Consider this as a lucky stop. So decide now! Who will battle me first?”
“I’ll go first. I have good perception,” Jael said, and he went to the man.
Once Jael stood before the man, ready for anything, a holographic being appeared and said, “The first game is rock paper scissors. Ready, begin!”
Jael chose paper, and the man chose rock. Jael got the first win. Four more winning battles to go, and they would advance 25 stops.
“The next game is a speed challenge. You need to reach that flag at the top of the hill and then get back here,” the hologram said.
Jael swapped with Frekkis and the challenge commenced. “Ready, begin!” the hologram said and Frekkis quickly cast Full Swift. With her quick dash, Frekkis won.
Three more battles. The hologram stated. “Third game is a strength challenge. You need to smash this large button. Whoever has the strongest smash wins this round.” A button on a pedestal rose from the arena, large, tempting and red.
They all looked at each other and nodded. Vaan came into play and the third challenge began. Their opponent smashed the button. He reached 340 points. Vaan cast Golem Heart and raised his fists into the air. Then he smashed the button with all his might. He reached 510 points. “This is quite easy,” Vaan said, and the hologram gave the fourth challenge.
“The fourth game is a multitasking challenge. The participants need to finish this puzzle and juggle three balls at the same time. If one ball drops, the participant loses. Whoever solves the puzzle first wins the round.”
Vaan looked at Izabelle. “Do you know how to juggle?”
She shook her head. “I have an idea. Hi, sir! What if I summon a monster? Is that considered cheating?”
“No, your summons are magick spells, and this is a magickal race,” he replied.
“Okay, I’ll go.” Izabelle called out Osona to juggle for her and she easily solved the puzzle.
The hologram registered the fifth minigame. A concrete wall towered and high above that, a red balloon floated. “The final round is all about skills. First you need to find the ice pick hidden inside this concrete wall and then reach that floating balloon and pop it with the ice pick. Finally, you have to get a chunk of ice from the glaciers back there and return here.”
“I’ll do this,” Jael said.
The challenged commenced and Jael and the man broke down the concrete wall. Jael cast a massive amount of fire to easily shatter through the wall. But the man found the ice pick first. He jumped high, as if he was flying and struck the balloon, which burst. He tumbled to the ground and took off like a shot, dashing quickly to the glaciers. The man cut a portion of the ice and dashed back to the stop. Jael raced to catch back up to him, his legs beating faster and faster across the slick ice. Hurriedly, he cut a large amount of ice. He cast Rokka, using it to propel a large chunk of ice rapidly across the slippery ground. The man had been leading but, by a fraction of a second and a magickal burst of speed from Rokka, Jael managed to win the race.
The man congratulated them, teleported away, and they took off from the stop.
“Status update! Team
Voyager joins Team Bullets in finishing Terrania! Who will finish next? Team Speed is hopefully on their last challenge at stop #135 while Team Quasar is on stop
#116. Team Phoenix landed on stop #106 and amazingly they won the whole challenge and will advance to stop #131. Team Resentment has lost all of their lives and they are out of the race. I wonder if they resent it! Will these three remaining teams join Voyager and Bullets? Or will they also be eliminated? Let’s stay tuned as Terrania draws to a close!”
The team finished listening to the announcement and Vaan perked up. “That’s just grand! We still have four lives left. All we need to do is finish Terrania! There are three slots left for this obstacle and three teams left!”
“We can do this!” Jael punched the air in excitement and they all agreed as they continued on the plains toward stop #131.
As they arrived at stop #131, a wooden signage was before them. Jael read aloud the writing, “Lose a life, Re-roll and proceed to the next stop.” A lucky stop indeed.
Without a moment’s hesitance, Jael pressed the button on his watch and fourteen came up. “That should be the last stop for us.” Vaan said with a smug look all over his face. Three lives remaining.
While on their way to stop #145, an announcement was made: “Teams Speed and Quasar are both eliminated after losing all of their lives! Will team Phoenix make it through? Let’s all join team Phoenix in their final challenge!”
Stop #145 was located inside a gloomy cave populated by mushrooms. A gentle tinkle of a distant stream could be heard. Jael and the others entered the cave and reached their final stop, near the dark rushing water that cut its way through the mountains. Once they stopped walking, the hologram once again appeared to advise them on the upcoming challenge. “This challenge is what you may call a self-assessment. Each of you will fight and defeat your own selves to advance. If you are defeated, your team loses a life. Luckily, you still have three lives left so only two of you need to win this challenge! Izabelle–please come forward. Ready? Begin!”
A mirror image of Izabelle appeared but clad in different garments, dark brown pants and a black tunic, making it easy to tell the two apart. Izabelle immediately cast Osona, as did her counterpart. Two Izabelles and two Osonas stood face to face, but unlike the real Osona, this one was paler grey in comparison. The two grizzly bears roared and battled in to fight. Osona raised its claws and savaged the other bear, but every move was matched, every strike equal in power. Suddenly, the counterpart cast Polukka.
“What?” Izabelle was shocked. “I cannot cast two Manikka at the same time!”
Her counterpart spoke and said, “You are weak. You have never considered yourself a strong mage. You'll never know your real power. Always fizzling-out your Manikka Encagement because you never believed in yourself. Now, you shall witness what you should have been years ago!” Then the counterpart casted Manikka Encagement on the original Osona. Ball tendrils entangled the first summon, and Izabelle screamed as the Manikka doll consumed her own Osona, and her counterpart cast the summon onto the battlefield. Two Osonas, slightly different in colouration, and a Polukka. Izabelle cast her own Polukka with great fear.
Vaan and Jael shouted, “Izabelle, don’t listen to her!”
But Izabelle was afraid, and without her own strong guidance, her Polukka was defeated easily. She was left unguarded, without her Manikkas, and she looked around, frantic fear in her eyes. Her counterpart smiled a grim smile, her eyes set hard and cold, and she commanded Izabelle’s original Osona to strike.
As the beast approached, Izabelle broke down and wept her heart out, wailing, “Osona! Stop!”
The original Osona slowed, and huffed, pawing at the ground and looking back and forth, confused as to who was its master. Furious by the failure of her domination, Izabelle’s counterpart seized the moment of confusion on behalf of Izabelle’s Osona. She sent in her own Osona to strike Izabelle down, who was knocked out with one blow. Izabelle’s counterpart disappeared and team Phoenix lost a life.
“Vaan is next. Please step forward,” the hologram said and Vaan stepped towards the centre of the stop. With Izabelle out of the game, the stakes were now enormously powerful. The cavern ceiling began to shake apart, rocks tumbling from above and shattering as they slammed into the ground. Vaan’s counterpart appeared from behind, a Golem Heart already queued up. The counterpart punched Vaan from behind and he was thrown away, smashing through whole rocks, rocketing him breathless to the ground.
After a few seconds Vaan stumbled up and his counterpart cast Earth Shower. Vaan successfully blocked it with his Revolut but an instant Upheaval followed up the Earth Shower and again he was thrown away.
“Vaan, Vaan, Vaan. Why don’t you activate your rage?” the counterpart asked.
“What are you talking about?” Vaan replied.
“Remember when you faced the netherbeast? Come on! Do it!” his counterpart taunted him.
“I don’t understand,” Vaan said and the counterpart in silent rebuttal cast Golem Heart on Vaan. The Golem Heart acted like a massive python, squeezing Vaan slowly, torturing him bit by bit. The pressure was immense, and Vaan struggled to breathe, his face turning violet. He gave an agonised loud shout, tried to burst through the Golem Heart, but every breath was heavy and sparkles invaded his every blink. Suddenly the darkness seemed not so very far away, not the rage but the unconsciousness, the slide into freedom from the pain.
“You’re gonna die if you don’t fight to your full strength,” the counterpart said.
Something out of the darkness deep within his mind whispered to Vaan. Master the fate. You should master the fate. There was no clear source for the disembodied voice, whispering low, androgynous, gentle, repeating before Vaan’s rage trance dredged him into a gasp of consciousness, as it had when he faced Kras. Enormous magickal stamina overwhelmed him. The Golem Heart crumbled before him; rocks and stones floated about.
Jael felt fear, and Frekkis crouched down, growling fright at the awe-inspiring sight of Vaan’s trance. Vaan’s eyes went pure white, his turban thrown away and his hair floating in the air as he strode deliberately toward his counterpart.
When he stepped on the ground it crumbled and he emitted a yellow aura around him. His counterpart attacked him, assailing him with every spell at his disposal yet nothing affected Vaan. “Very well done, Vaan. You truly will be a powerful mage. Your tribe would have been very proud of you,” his counterpart said.
Vaan seized his counterpart’s arms which crumbled into sand, and with them the rest of the illusory double.
After a few seconds, Vaan fell to his knees and fainted.
“That must have taken a lot out of him–we should let him rest,” Jael said.
Team Phoenix had won the second battle. One more win and they would roll the dice again. “Please step forward, Jael,” the hologram said.
“All right, Frekkis, if I am unable to defeat my replica, then this challenge is up to you,” Jael said, and scratched her head. He readied himself, and watched, but it took long minutes before his counterpart entered from the shadows of the cave. Just like Jael, watching, stalking, preparing himself for this battle by gathering.
Then his counterpart spoke. “I am a part of your subconscious mind. You and I are one. I know everything about you. I know the answers to your questions about your past. I know your story, as, on some level, do you. It is embedded within you. But I choose not to tell you, because it is important that you find about it on your own. However–if you defeat me, I will tell you a little of what you need to know.”
It was on.
“Blazia!” Jael shouted. His counterpart cast Blazia as well and they ran to each other and collided in one massive burst of flame. Intense heat threw them both apart in an explosive blast. Jael suddenly jumped, casting Rokka, and the double bolted with all due speed, but then Jael was on top of him; the double cast Pillar Flare but Jael cast Kappe Flam ahead of him.
My flames will not affect him, and his can�
�t hurt me either, Jael thought. This fight would be a battle of stamina, strength and heart.
With Kappe Flam activated, Jael strode toward his enemy. The double cast a massive Blazia as Jael drew near, but then cast a spell yet unknown to Jael. Dragon’s Breath, a magickal spell flowing flame through a tunnel, directing a tornado of intense concentrated flame like the immense breath of a beast towards the caster’s opponent. The intense wave of fire flowed over Jael and he could barely sustain Kappe Flam, by the time the attack ceased his defensive spell had been consumed by the burning, licking stream of flame.
I’ve never received such an intense fire attack, Jael wondered in his pain. “You and I are one, but how do you do those spells which I do not know?”
“These flames are also yours. You are just too feeble to know about this spell,” the double replied
“I don’t understand!” Jael cried, charging Kappe Flam. “In that case, you will be left defeated.”
“I refuse to be defeated!” Jael said to himself and stood up, embracing the pain. The flame tore through his Kappe Flam; he ran toward his opponent who smacked him with an Explosion spell. He was thrown away.
Jael stood again and shouted “BLAZIAAAAA!” He gathered all of his remaining stamina. Again, he charged but this time, the double took a defensive stance and cast Kappe Flam. When he neared, the double punched the wall of the cave and debris began to fall, raining down upon them. First it was small bits of gravel and pebbles easily melted away with flame, but then a massive rock fell from above his counterpart. It rolled, entrapping his legs against the cavern wall. Unable to move, he made to destroy the boulder with Explosion.
Just before he destroyed the rock, Jael concentrated all of his magickal stamina into his right fist, casting Explosion. He punched through his opponent’s face, and the ground below him was blasted into utter oblivion. The ground collapsed, creating a large crater below them, and obliterating the double’s face, revealing its lingering holographic underparts.
Teliko Mageia: Curse of the Frozen Flame Page 10
