Stars of Magic: Wings of Power (Book 1)

Chapter 19

The goblins all cheered.

"Disappointing," Heist muttered.

"Great, just great," Scoundrel said. He had come down next to Heist during the fight. It turned out, Scoundrel was in on Heist's whole operation. "Look at them all, the goblins love them now!"

"Do not worry," Heist said. "I have an idea."

She clapped her hands and addressed the crowd.

"But now," Heist said, "it is time for the Rebel Fairy! My queen-anniversary present to me!"

Scoundrel unchained Sprite and threw them into the arena. They squeaked and flapped their wings hurriedly. Sprite landed in the arena and their wings spread fully out.

"Wait, stop!" Luna shouted. "Send me in instead!"

"These magets," Heist muttered. "They haven't even known each other for a week, and they are already pushing and shoving to save each other. It's so strange."

"Hmm," Scoundrel said. He made his way back up to his spot above the ledge and spoke. "The rarest to be in this arena, a Rebel Fairy! We have never had one in the arena before, too tricky to catch, and they're on our side. What will happen when two Magets of Magic have to fight each other? How strong exactly is their bond? Sprite of the Rebel Fairies versus Artemis of the Ultra Unicorns! Powers charged, stances ready, FIGHT!"

Sprite furled in their wings and looked at Artemis. Artemis looked at Sprite. Luna hadn't known how many conversations the others had had with the bracelets, and Luna wasn't sure if Artemis would hurt Sprite or not. Sprite walked forward a few steps, then stopped. Artemis did the same. They looked at each other some more, then Sprite opened up their arms and did the strangest thing. They hugged Artemis. And he hugged Sprite back. The goblins weren't sure what to do.

"Boo?"

"Awwwwwww!"

"I can't believe how much worse this is getting," Scoundrel whispered down to Heist.

"Yes," Heist said. "This is not as exciting as I expected."

Luna then heard something. Spray. Hello? Anybody there? I need my copilot!

Luna thought back, Spray! It's Luna! I'm here!

Luna! You're still alive! Are the others still alive? Has anyone fought yet?

Yes! The others are still alive. One battle has passed. Artemis fought them, and his opponent died. Now, Sprite and Artemis are . . . not exactly fighting but . . . hugging.

Artemis? And Sprite? Really? You don't think-

No. I've checked their minds. They only think of each other as friends. Anyway, how much longer until you get here?

We are leaving the mountain Bigwings saw you near. This group is flying really fast. We should be there in a very little while.

Please hurry.

Suddenly Heist stood up and went over to Fowl's chains. She unlocked them and grabbed the phoenix maget by the neck. "Let's see if this one will be able to finally make some action!"

"Wait, do me instead!" Luna cried.

But Heist didn't listen. She tossed Fowl into the arena. Fowl turned into a phoenix and flared her wings to catch a current, but she couldn't. Fowl was falling right at Artemis and Sprite.

"LOOK OUT!!!" Fowl screamed.

Artemis and Sprite looked up and saw Fowl. They couldn't both hold Fowl's weight with her as a phoenix, so they dove out of the way. Fowl crashed into the sand and bumped and rolled until she turned into a human and sank her right hand into the sand to stop herself. Fowl shot her head up at Heist with her teeth bared and a dangerous look in her eyes.

"Okay, new plan," Fowl said to the others. She reached into her pocket and threw the Magicslayer sword into the air. Fowl leaped into the air and turned into a phoenix to catch the sword. "ATTACK!!!"

Fowl grabbed the sword and flew at Heist. Sprite unfurled their wings and zoomed at Heist herself on the right side of Fowl. Artemis turned into a unicorn and used his cloud to join the attack on Fowl's left side.

But then, Heist snapped her fingers and six soldiers ran out from behind Heist. Four made a square around their queen. The other two had brought spears with two prongs on the ends. They shot their spears forward, and Heist shot one of her hands forward. They seemed to make a protective dome around the part of the ledge over the arena. When Artemis, Sprite, and Fowl ran into this dome, they were hit with an electric shock and were knocked back into the arena.

"Do something!" Scoundrel whispered down to Heist as the three magets in the arena got back on their feet. "The force field won't hold them back for long. We need to kill them before they can disagree to make Meriam ruler of Magic!"

"I know!" Heist said to Scoundrel. She cleared her throat and stood up. "Bring out the trolls!"

"Smart one," Scoundrel muttered, pleased.

A door opened on the left side of the arena. Six grunting, hairy, tusked, muscular, muzzled trolls were led out to the arena by teal-clothed goblins.

"Unchain all of them!" Heist hollered with a hint of anger and frustration in her voice. "Six trolls shouldn't be hard for three Magets of Magic!"

Artemis, Sprite, and Fowl spun to face the trolls. Artemis formed a glowing ball on the end of his horn. Sprite formed fireballs in her hands. Fowl turned into a human and readied her sword.

Luna had to do something. Even armed, the magets in the arena wouldn't stand a chance against the strongest animals in Magic! She was stuck up here . . . next to Heist. Maybe if Luna tried her tail . . . she could feel her tail! Luna arched her tail up and turned towards Heist.

"Let us go," Luna growled.

"Shut up," Heist said, turning towards Luna. "What are you even-AAAH!!!"

Heist put her hand over her heart and panted. She was shocked and scared by Luna's tail pointed right at her.

"Let us go," Luna growled more deeply, "or I'll blast off your head and feed the rest to the bears!"

"Do not speak to me like that!" Heist shouted. "You meaningless freak!"

"Call me that again," Luna growled, reaching for Edward's cage, tail still arched.

"Woah, woah, woah," Heist said, holding her hands out as guards started walking toward Luna with electric sticks. "Don't open that cage! If you open that, he'll start running around, trying to kill people!"

"He won't go for just anybody," Luna said, grabbing the handle on the cage, "I'll aim him right for you!"

"Grab her!" Heist shouted.

Luna unlocked the cage, but before she could open it, the guards grabbed Luna by the arms and dragged her over to Heist's throne. The Night Bringer maget arched her tail at Heist and fired. The blast of energy that left it shot at Heist. She ducked and the blast hit the bars of a cage that contained a rogue phoenix. The bars melted and the phoenix lept out and flew away.

Heist stood back to her full height and glared at Luna. Luna glared right back. Heist grabbed Luna by the chin and looked her in the eye.

"If you're such a good fighter," Heist growled at Luna, "then why don't you join your friends?"

The guards let go of Luna and Heist threw the Night Bringer maget into the arena. She hit the sand and rolled until she was on her side in front of the trolls. Luna pushed herself up and blinked. That was all she could do. Spray was too late. Luna and her friends were going to die by these trolls. With their thick skin that could repel even Luna's magic, they didn't stand a chance.

We won't stop the war ourselves, then. Spray and Edward will still be left. Using the army, Spray and Edward can spread peace, and find a way to choose the next ruler of Magic. But for the rest of us, it's over.

Luna closed her eyes as Heist gave the orders to wait for her signal. When Luna opened her eyes, a large shadow was covering the arena. She turned around and saw the others looking up. Everyone was looking up. So Luna did. And in the sky, there was a big group of dragons nearly blocking out the sun. In front, there was a Night Bringer. But it wasn't Bigwings. It was Fortune.

Thanks for reading guys! Hope you enjoyed! Have a great day/night!