Rumerra - The Journey Begins

Chapter 19 - A Warrior's Pride (Part I)

Velvet woke up and looked around the room. Long turquoise drapes were hanging off the window, denying the sun access and allowing her to rest peacefully. On the opposite end, a large wooden wardrobe stood tall, its right wing open and revealing a bunch of dresses that hung inside, neatly stored for future use. When she glanced down to her feet, she saw a blonde girl resting her head on the side of the bed, sleeping, fresh tears glistening on her slightly reddened cheeks. She felt a strange feeling of déjà vu wash over her.

What happened? Velvet rubbed her head, trying to remember.

That's right. She was at the tournament. Arianna had lost control of her angel transformation and pierced her with a spell. That was the last thing she recalled before darkness took her over and a black curtain fell upon her memory. Getting up from the bed, she found her legs to be a bit wobbly. Carefully, she stumbled to the door and opened it, letting her friend sleep.

"She's awake!" a voice shouted, and not a minute later, Loretta and the other two elves, along with Christopher and Fernando in tow, ran up to her from the other room and hugged her.

"How are you feeling?" the elven princess asked. "We brought you to our camp to rest after Fumina healed you. That must have hurt a lot!"

"I don't remember any pain," Velvet replied. "Thank you for taking care of me!"

"We were fortunate that insanely powerful elf was there," Christopher said. "I don't know if any of the other water mages could heal you that well. You would probably be all bandaged up right now, but she actually made you as good as new!"

"Please thank Fumina for me again," she turned to Loretta. "She probably saved my life!"

The elf nodded. "Will do. How's Arianna? Is she still sleeping?"

"She is," Velvet confirmed. "Is she all right? I don't know what happened after..."

"She is, and she isn't," Fernando answered cryptically. "Physically, she's completely fine and unscathed, only a bit tired from the battle and overexertion. Mentally, however..."

"Arianna really took to heart what she did to you while in her angel form," Warina chimed in.

"We tried to tell her that it wasn't her fault and it could happen to anyone," Zephyr continued.

"But she simply wouldn't listen to any one of us," Christopher concluded. "She's still thoroughly convinced that it was her fault and that she's a terrible person and friend."

"That does sound like Arianna," Velvet said. "She always takes things to heart. Don't worry; it will be better once she wakes up and I tell her that everything is fine and that I am fine!"

"It also didn't help that she got disqualified, not that she really cared about that after what happened with you," Fernando said, looking thoroughly displeased.

"She got disqualified?!" Velvet's eyes went wide. "But why?! She won the battle fair and square before that fiasco with the out-of-control angel transformation even happened!"

"That's what all of us argued as well," the elven princess said. "But the judges and the announcer were adamant about it. Apparently, the rules are not bound by the duration of the battle but are in effect the entire time a contestant is on the battlefield. Because she endangered the lives of the audience and landed a fatal wound on you, she was disqualified."

"Well, that's a load of crap!" the brown-haired girl exclaimed. "She was the rightful winner!"

"What surprised me the most was that the dracon champion also argued in her favor," Zephyr pointed out. "She was right there in the front attacking the judges together with that crazy old headmaster of yours! Argus, was his name? That man is a riot! The sheer profanity those two spat at them was glorious to listen to! They probably invented like twenty new insults!"

"Yeah," Warina chuckled and took a wide stance, imitating the flame empress. "She said something along the lines of: I don't want this pity win, you mongrels! Winning on a technicality is like winning a swordfight because your opponent forgot his sword!"

Warina spoke this as deeply as she could manage, and everyone laughed at her impression of the angry dracon.

"In any case," Fernando said after they shared a good chuckle, "she was still declared the winner by the Grand Magus, despite our collective protests. She didn't look at all pleased, let me tell you that! I bet you'll be able to see her sour face tomorrow at the awards ceremony again. Her pride got hurt greatly."

"That was a bit of favoritism as well, I think," Christopher said. "The Grand Magus is a dracon, after all, and the first advisor to the king whose daughter was declared the winner!"

"Wait, a dracon?" Velvet cocked her eyebrow. "Wasn't the Grand Magus that dwarf guy?"

"Apparently not anymore," the male elf said. "Now it's that Korvak dude for some reason."

"Word goes around that he challenged Grand Magus Tolpenheim to a duel and beat him, then took his position as a result," Fernando explained. "It happened during the semi-finals."

"Since the dwarf took the bribe, I guess that makes him kind of inadequate," Warina said.

"Word also goes around that he advanced to tier-four, becoming the third sorcerer in Rumerra at present to achieve that rank," Fernando added. "Only Argus and Loomar are next to him."

"Where are you getting all of this information?" Loretta asked, genuinely intrigued.

"Let's just say... Chris and I made a few friends in the dwarven camp when we went to their event a couple of days ago," the boy grinned. "A few friends who know things."

"Interesting," Velvet scratched her chin.