The Time Mage

Chapter 7: A Fight in the Coliseum

Kason and Harper reached the coliseum in high spirits. As they neared, they began to hear faint explosions and other, stranger noises, sounds that made them shiver and feel afraid. This fear was quickly replaced with renewed excitement, however, and they began to walk more quickly, impatient to reach their destination.

At the entrance was a grand archway carved into the building which seemed to have been carved from one massive block of stone, there being no obvious sign of bricks being laid or rocks joined together. They entered through the magnificent arch and found themselves in a short hallway of paved stone with wooden double doors at the end.

They proceeded through the doors and found themselves in another one of the round rooms with doors spread out along the walls.

"Another nexus huh?" Harper said when they entered.

There were signs on each door like always, Kason spotted one that was labelled 'Viewing platform' and walked towards it, calling out to Harper as he did.

They walked through the door and entered a large room with a rather low ceiling and a crimson carpeted floor. The wall facing into stadium was made completely from glass and shimmered ever so faintly with a azure colour, suggesting that the glass was enchanted or in some other way, protected from being broken by whatever magic was released inside the arena. There were chairs and a few tables lined up near the massive window for people to use while observing whatever was happening below. Quite a few people were sitting there talking excitedly, most of them looked like they were seniors, but a few thrilled looking juniors could be spotted among the crowd.

Harper and Kason wound their way to the window and looked down into the stadium.

It looked like there was a whole world inside the stadium below the viewing area. The entire area of the arena was huge, and looked more fantastical than anything Kason had seen so far, in one area, huge columns of rock protruded from the ground looking like gigantic thorns on a rose. In another area, clouds hung low over a barren looking landscape where enormous moss covered, irregularly shaped lumps of rock hung in mid air, completely at ease, as if gravity had given up affecting them like it should. Yet another area was covered in lush trees and thick undergrowth and although not being as impressive as the forest that was visible from the dorm's windows, Kason thought it carried an air of wildness and ferocity that the forest out side their windows did not have. There were other areas as well, a lake, a swamp and even a volcano, all fit into the massive arena.

Kason could not begin to imagine how they had managed to fit everything into the coliseum but as he looked around, awe struck, at the magnificent sights, he noticed that beyond the boundaries of the current environment that the contestants were sparring in, the land seemed to give rise to a sort of haze, the kind one might see on a very warm day. He didn't know what this signified but, but it reminded him that there was probably some magic going that allowed the all the different landscapes to fit inside the arena.

After a while lost in thought, gazing at the bizarre yet beautiful landscape below him, he was brought back to reality by Harper, who suddenly gave a delighted whoop. Kason looked over at him and saw him staring avidly at the competitors in the arena below. Kason, seeing his fervent gaze, looked down as well to see what was happening. One of the participants, a male, was retreating hurriedly away from the other, using some kind of magic to allow him to fly short distances, weaving between outcroppings of rock trying to get away. The other, a female, chased doggedly after him, blasting away the obstacles in her path with great bursts of flame. Both of their bodies were encased in a kind of light blue cocoon over the top of their college robes, the male's being very faint to the point where it was almost invisible, where as the female's was much brighter.