Teliko Mageia: Curse of the Frozen Flame

by A. J. Carbonell

  He let out a brave gasp and clutched his hand to his heart. Then he went to the now defeated double, and said, “I have bested you. You owe me the truth. Tell me the things I do not know.”

  He nodded. “Very well, Jael–here is what I can tell you. Your real name is not Jael. Your true name is Shion.” He disappeared.

  He underwent a confused mixture of emotions. Elation at his victory, doubt about his past and future. “My name is not Jael? Shion? Ugh. I don’t understand. This is too much. Shion? I don’t know that name. That thing was just an illusion, trying to manipulate me–a mechanism installed by the maze to cause us to lose focus? I’m not going to let it get to me.” He put his worries aside for the time being. “Frekkis, we won! Get Izabelle, I’ll go get Vaan and let’s roll the dice!”

  This time when he rolled, the number eight came up. He grinned when he saw the dice result because they had successfully finished Terrania.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, here are your three teams advancing to the final obstacle! Bullets, Voyager and Phoenix! That wraps up our second obstacle for this year’s Salamanka Grand Race! See you tomorrow for the final obstacle!”

  Terrania had been a gruelling obstacle, both physically and mentally. The victory this time had come with its scars. No one had energy to celebrate. The team slogged back to the inn to exhaustedly eat some stew on special and then straight to bed. But Jael smirked in his sleep, recalling the victory, and preparing for another.

  “Welcome to the final day of Salamanka Grand Race! Let me introduce to you our bravest, most kind, truly beautiful leader, our queen, Jeannah Edea!” The stadium crowd erupted with cheers and applause as the queen stepped forth onto the platform, overseeing the final obstacle of the Salamanka Grand Race. She waved to the crowd before stepping forward to the microphone.

  “Let us enjoy this day, my fellow countrymen. This will be the final day, our final obstacle for the Salamanka Grand Race! All twelve mages who completed Terrania will now showcase their fighting skills in the arena. Each mage will face an opponent in a one-on-one battle, all six battles happening simultaneously. The six winning mages will be paired off to battle once again. The three final mages of course will all rank as winners. But we need to know who will reign supreme in the end! They will have a Triad Battle. The first mage to quit, be knocked out, or fall from the ring will be third place! Then the final two mages will battle for the top spot, the Salamanka mage of the year. I wish everyone good luck! Let the race begin!” She waved to the crowd with her gentle eyes and delicate grace smiling upon them and gestured sweetly for the announcer to resume his position.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting to you the top twelve mages of the Salamanka Grand Race. From team Bullets, their leader a Dimensional Mage, Repa Riveris! Their Telekinetic Mage, Filchner Jazz! Their ravishing Nature Mage, Julia Annidiem! And lastly their giant, the Ice Mage, Mandrag Exhauler! From team Voyager, their leader the Lightning Mage, Rakkar! The swift Wind Mage, Afirra Blake! The strong Brute Mage, Gobbir Omeji! And the Steel mage all the way from Fulbor, Emil Asero! And the last team who completed the final challenge, team Phoenix, with their leader the Fire Mage, Jael! The unusual wolf mage, Frekkis! Their Earth crushing mage, Vaan Krieg! And last but not the least, the incredibly cute Beast Mage, Izabelle! Of course, her beast isn’t so cute, isn’t that right? Haha!”

  “All will fight for the Salamanka Cup! Who will be the top three? Who will win the grand prize? Let’s all watch and be amazed as twelve mages clash in stiff competition with each other for the top spot in this year’s Salamanka Grand Race!”

  All six matches began simultaneously. The mages were given their opponents: Jael versus Gobbir; Vaan versus Mandrag; Frekkis versus Julia; Izabelle versus Afirra; Repa versus Rakkar; and Emil versus Filchner. The committee gave them a few minutes to assemble, then the battles commenced.

  Jael faced Gobbir. As a Brute Mage, using enhanced physical strength, Gobbir was challenged by Jael’s intangible magick. Jael barraged Gobbir with blaze attacks and finished Gobbir off with a mighty Explosion spell to his gut. Gobbir lost all of his stamina and fell to the ground, unable to fight. Jael avoided all injury and advanced to the next round.

  The battle between Frekkis and the Nature Mage Julia ended just as fast. Julia could conjure trees and vines from the ground, and she summoned a large cage woven with trees and branches around the stage, and tightened it around Frekkis, binding her with vines. Unable to move, she was defeated and Julia advanced to the next round.

  Izabelle and Afirra’s battle went quickly too. Izabelle had reclaimed her Osona but her connection was still weak after being shredded apart in the battle with her counterpart. Still shaken up, she was easily defeated by Afirra’s wind magick, which whipped right past Osona. The barrage of wind attacks and Afirra’s stunning speed left Izabelle standing helpless, and she was rapidly whipped down before Osona could step in to defend her. Afirra moved on to the next round.

  Repa Riveris was the leader of the Terrania group Bullets. He was a Dimensional mage, wielding gravity magick. He could shift his own weight to jump higher, or cast a manipulation onto his opponents to drag them down by, and manipulate the magnitude of gravity within a set area. But Repa was a student of the best schools available. After casting several gravity spells, he would alternate and use his secondary element, Brute refinement. Like Gobbir, Repa could increase his physical strength, although Gobbir’s strength increase was greater than of his.

  Rakkar faced Repa in a strategic fight. Because of Rakkar’s lightning speed, Repa couldn’t cast his leaden gravitational spell on Rakkar. Rakkar in turn summoned bolts of lightning, which could instantly kill a normal person and were unaffected by gravity spells. Rakkar was a cocky opponent, and when he saw Repa’s spells did nothing to his lightning, he let his guard down and taunted Repa. When he stopped dashing about, Repa immediately massively increased Rakkar’s gravitational weight, creating an invisible obesity that weighed down upon his limbs until he was nearly paralysed because of his own weight. Repa seized the opportunity and smashed his way to victory. Repa smugly advanced.

  Emil and Filchner’s battle was one of the most anticipated battles of all the pairings. Filchner was a Telekinetic mage and could manipulate objects almost twice his size. He could also manipulate a person’s body. Emil’s steel magick too was bent underneath Filchner’s magick, and this resulted to a one-sided match between the two of them. Filchner quickly used Emil’s first spell, his own steel to defeat him, and advanced to the next round.

  Vaan faced Mandrag, a formidable fight. Mandrag was an ice mage, and he was the one responsible for the huge ice cage in the previous Key Mansion. His power was great, and style familiar. He produced ice to use it in the same manner as Vaan’s magick. Both defensive, large showers, heavily armoured. Vaan summoned up an Earth Shower, but he made the pebbles small and sharp, like a rain of sandstorm to wear through Mandrag’s ice armour. Eventually he hit vital parts of Mandrag’s body numerous times and the man’s concentration wavered. Vaan then struck him and knocked him unconscious. Vaan and Mandrag’s battle was the last to be finished, many of the others having been quickly decided.

  After all six battles were finished, they were given one hour to rest and rejuvenate and some dancers went on to perform during the intermission. After drinking some water to refresh themselves, Vaan and Jael went to Izabelle and Frekkis to cheer them up.

  “Don’t be distressed, guys—you fought well. If one of us wins then we all win, we aren’t finished yet! Will you stay to support us? It would mean a lot,” Jael said to Izabelle.

  She smiled at him and said, “Of course I will,” with her bewitching delightful voice.

  A few minutes passed and the next round was set to commence. The Queen drew the names of the fighters randomly: Jael versus Vaan; Repa vs. Julia; and Filchner vs. Afirra. Jael and Vaan stared at each other in shock, feelings rippling at the queen’s announcement.

  “Jael, I can’t do it—I will forfeit the match.�
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  “No, my friend. You clearly are the better fighter between the two of us. I will forfeit.”

  “Jael, you are the leader of our team! You should go to the final round. And another thing! This is good news! We know we have already won top three of the race!” Vaan said.

  There was no sense in getting tied up arguing over it all day. And besides, Vaan knew how much he liked to win. “Okay, then. Thank you for doing this. I’ll do my best not to fail you guys,” Jael said in high spirits.

  The announcer stated: “Ladies and Gentlemen, here comes round two! Mages compete against each other for the Salamanka Cup. It is unfortunate that Jael and Vaan will face each other in this round! After all, we know they were on the same team in Terrania and are good friends! And they are not the only Terrania teammates forced to battle! Repa and Julia face each other as well! Will Filchner versus Afirra be the only real battle? Stay tuned to find out! Round two commences!”

  At the beginning of round two, Vaan immediately forfeited the match, making Jael the victor of the battle. Jael automatically advanced. The final match would determine if he placed either first, second, or third.

  On the other hand, Julia fought Repa head on. Repa easily wielded his gravity magick to seize Julia’s vines and broke through to grab her in a friendly grapple hold. Had he meant to harm her, it would have been an easy win, but she laughed and surrendered. They were allies before the start of the race and, much like Jael and Vaan had no desire to battle, never intended this match to get in the way of their friendship.

  The fight of Afirra and Filchner began with a large gust of wind, but it would end with a large gust of ego. Afirra cast a mighty gust to throw Filchner away. Filchner in turn hastily manipulated rocks to shield him from the torrid wind, waiting for her to become exhausted from her attacks. Once Afirra spotted Filchner’s absolute defensive mode, she ceased her attacks. Suddenly, Filchner cast the rocks toward Afirra. With a quick leap, she dodged. That was when he put his master plan into motion. Filchner cast his magickal spell called Puppeteer, a spell allowing domination over a person’s physical body as long as the caster’s concentration held. He jerked the invisible strings and mockingly controlled Afirra’s body.

  “Stop it!” Afirra shouted.

  “If you want me to stop, you have to quit,” Filchner said. “Let me go and fight me like a man!”

  “Well, the problem is, I am not a man. So you will have to endure my spell,” Filchner replied.

  “Just let me go!” Afirra screamed, struggling.

  But that was hardly Filchner’s plan. Instead, he moved to humiliate her into surrender, making her dance, jump, run and other ridiculous frivolities. When she did not cave, he forced her to strip in front of the crowd, removing her outer garment, until she stood only in a black corset and panties.

  “Hahahaha! You look ravishing in your undergarments, sweetie,” Filchner sneered. Everyone in the crowd who enjoyed a peek at a sexy woman screamed in delight. Afirra in her corset only with a large, nearly exposed bust with long smooth legs drove every horny man berserk. Above on the viewing platform, the queen politely covered her eyes. “Look, listen, they love you! Did you ever think about being a model? I suppose not. Very well, then, let’s have a good show for the crowd, shall we?” Filchner said, and he posed Afirra like a model from a men’s gazette.

  Jael and Vaan, like most men and boys in the crowd, gawked at the sight of Afirra.

  Izabelle looked at them and blushed furiously, scoffing in annoyance. “Ummm… can you stop fantasising about that woman? I’m a woman too, you know. It’s rude.”

  Jael and Vaan shook their heads violently. “I’m not fantasising, I’m studying his tactics!”

  “I’m just getting references for future enemies!” they protested simultaneously.

  Izabelle turned her head, visibly upset by the deriding exhibition. The two boys, however, drooled over Afirra, the stubbornly attractive woman.

  “How about this pose? Or this pose? Hahahaha! You are so adorable.” Filchner continued to mock Afirra.

  Afirra shouted again, “Stop making fun of me!”

  “If you want me to stop, you need to quit the match.” “Never!” Afirra shouted.

  Filchner had enough cat-like taunting of his prey; the fun over. He became serious, face sobering up, eyes dark and grim. He had killed before and it was obvious he took something sick running far deeper than mere pleasure from the experience of tormenting a hostage. “If you refuse to quit, I’ll torture you.”

  It was clear he meant it, even if some part of him tried to warn her, to convince her to take the easy out, to surrender and make it end. “I can manipulate parts of your body to function abnormally. You will experience extreme pain. First, I will stretch your skin,” Filchner stated, and he did what he said with brutal efficiency. His magick ripped, stretched Afirra’s arm skin away. The sound of was like the loud shriek of rubber off a roll. It tore up and up and up, stretching so much more than mere skin ought to have before it snapped.

  Afirra screamed at the top of her lungs, tears welled up and spilled from her eyes and sweat beaded up all over her body. “AAAAAAAAAHHHH!”

  It had gotten past fun for Jael to watch and he winced in sympathetic pain at the sight. Izabelle stood in the corner, her eyes covered, shoulders shaking. Vaan went to console her.

  “Next, I will dislocate your left shoulder so you cannot cast wind spells properly,” Filchner stated mercilessly. Her left shoulder lurched forward, and she screamed at the top of her lungs again.

  “That’s enough! Afirra, surrender!” Rakkar, Gobbir and Emil all shouted.

  Afirra could bear the pain no longer. She raised her right- hand and said, “I am defeated.”

  Filchner smiled dark and coldly and said to her, “Good call.” They had no idea how much farther he would have gone; there was no remorse on his inhumane face. Afirra’s left shoulder was dislocated, and she was escorted to the city’s hospice for treatment.

  “Jael, you need to be extra cautious in facing Repa and Filchner, they seem to be very powerful mages,” Vaan warned. “What I plan to do is run from them and let them fight first. In that way, I can defeat them at their vulnerable state.”

  “I doubt they’ll fight. They are allies. They will most probably eliminate you first.”

  “So be it. If I must, I will fight the both of them head on!” Jael said. After all, he had already placed. Jael, Repa and Filchner would advance to the final round. Whatever happened, the three of them were already winners. Another rest period of one hour passed. The last round would decide the Salamanka Grand Race winner.

  “This is the last battle, the Triad Battle!” the announcer said. “Who will grab the Salamanka Cup? Who will be the victor of this year’s Salamanka Grand Race? Will it be the flames of Jael? Will it be the gravity of Repa? Or will it be the manipulation of Filchner?

  The final battle begins!” the announcer stated.

  Imperator Piorus conjured a massive crater at the centre of the stadium to contain the battle. Jael, Repa and Filchner ran down the crater. There was no place to hide. Jael cast Blazia; Repa and Filcher ran toward him, and the head-to-head battle for the cup commenced.

  Deafening shouts and cheers echoed all throughout the stadium and the triad battle for the Salamanka Grand Race unfolded. The announcer continued to declare everything going on in the cavity down below–but he hardly needed to. Everyone was riveted, all eyes on the battle below being broadcast all throughout the stadium. Repa and Filchner shook hands and immediately turned towards Jael.

  “It seems like Repa and Filchner have agreed on an alliance against Jael!” Then Repa cast Gravidium on the entire ring, a spell in which Repa manipulated a certain area’s gravity, altering the stage’s gravitational pull.

  Jael was dragged to his knees, his arms propped against the ground, shaking in leaden support. Repa and Filchner were unaffected. As Jael struggled with the gravitational intensity, Repa stormed across the arena to his now he
lpless opponent and began to pepper him with kicks and punches, backed by his secondary brute magick.

  “Come on and fight. Stand up!” Repa shouted at Jael. He strained against the intense gravitational pull, tried to fight back with his flames but he couldn’t stand, let alone sweep his hands and speak against the enormous invisible load bearing down on him. “What’s the matter, Jael? You can’t move?”

  At the farthest end of the stage, Filchner stood with his arms folded, observing the foray as it unfolded. “Hmmmm. It seems I can simply wait for Jael to be defeated and then Repa and I, we can have our little petty fight for the first prize.”

  Jael suddenly shouted aloud, “ROKKA!” and he battered the ground beneath him with flames, trying to use the force to boost himself to his feet. Slowly, Jael stood. Repa watched him struggle. With gruelling effort, Jael forced both his legs beneath him and stood heavily, but balanced, angry determination creasing his face.

  “You’re pretty exhausted, Jael,” Repa said.

  “A little more time and my body will adapt to this gravity of yours,” Jael replied.

  “Let’s see it then,” he answered. Repa charged Jael and tried to punch him but Jael managed to dodge by crouching. It took some time to stand back up again. Repa laughed. “Shall we start?” Jael intensified his Rokka spell and managed to take a stride, little steps, staggering unevenly right into an immense kick to his gut from Repa. Jael cried out, winded, and once again fumbled to the so very close ground. He gasped for air, and Repa struck him again before he could rise.

  “Quitting is better than losing your life,” Repa said. “But I’m not going to let you quit. You know the crowd likes a good show. I would like to play with you a little more.” He struck Jael’s throat. He spluttered and writhed on the ground, unable to breathe, his eyes wide. Repa stomped his hand, crushing his fingers beneath his boot.