The elves were not the only ones who had problems with pirates. It was precisely as Loretta had foretold—the southern sea was swarming with them right now. They were all preying on ships traveling to the Tournament island in anticipation of the Magornis. A lot of nobles and royals were going there, and tons of riches were to be plundered from them—a true pirate's paradise! King Matthew and his fleet also found themselves under some heavy fire from them. They half-expected this, however, and were well-prepared, just like the elves. Still, this didn't stop the pirates from trying. And boy, did they try. The skies were swarming with crow-riders, spells, and flaming arrows while the king and his family sipped tea in their private quarters and let their army handle the situation.
"It's the same every Magornis!" Matthew shouted when the ship shook and he dropped his porcelain cup. "That was a family heirloom as well! My grandfather gave me this tea set!"
Disgruntled, he stood up and unsheathed his sword.
"You're not thinking of going out there, are you?" his wife looked at him with a worried expression. "That's way too dangerous! Stay inside here with us." She hugged their son.
"I wasn't the captain of the White Knights for fifteen years to sit in here and drink tea while my men are out there fighting these mongrels!" he announced and stormed out.
He walked into quite the chaos when he stepped foot on the deck. A bunch of dwarves dismounted their crows and were clashing steel with the White Knights that accompanied the king. He tilted his head to the left as an arrow whizzed past him and rammed itself into the mast behind him. "Damn animals," he grunted. "That does it!"
Matthew swung his sword at an incoming dwarf, breaking his maul and cutting his head clean off his shoulders. Blood sprinkled his expensive clothing and he sighed. "So annoying..."
The king took a walk across the deck, killing three or four more dwarves before turning his head to the skies. There were a bunch of crow-riders trying to set their sails on fire. Matthew grabbed onto a rope and cut it, the counterweight pulling him upwards. He slashed a wing off a crow as he swung himself unto the mast and landed elegantly. Argus was standing on a small platform on top of it, casting spells at them as well. "Showing off again, my king?"
"Just trying to keep in shape," Matthew smiled at him. "Where's that prized student of yours? Probably brushing her hair somewhere below deck, isn't she?" he said mockingly.
"I suggest you hold on to something," the old wizard answered calmly. "She's coming."
A strong gust of wind almost knocked Matthew off the mast and he grabbed onto a rope at the last second before he lost balance. A dragon swished by, making short work of the flying pirates. It flapped its wings, making monstrous winds that blew away practically all the attackers and put out the fires tearing through their sails simultaneously. Argus and Matthew held on to the mast to avoid being blown away as well. When the wind finally died down, they saw the beast fly toward the nearest pirate ship and breathe fire, setting it ablaze.
"What is that thing?!" the king yelled to the headmaster, who was wearing a satisfied grin.
"That's your champion," he replied casually. "I guess she's done brushing her hair."
Matthew fell silent. He sheathed his sword and nodded. "She'll do. She'll do just fine."
***
With the pirates successfully fended off, after a few more days, Tournament island came into view. Velvet stood on the ship's helm, leaning forward and observing it.
"LAND AHEAD!!" she shouted at the top of her lungs and pointed.
"Yes," Loretta, who stood behind her, said calmly. "We know. Why are you yelling?"
"Oh, I just always wanted to shout this," the girl turned around and laughed. "I've read it in many stories. The great Thoracc yelled this too in his ocean adventure!"
"Who's Thoracc?" the princess asked, a bit confused.
"Only the greatest light wizard that ever lived!" Velvet exclaimed. "According to the story."
"Ah, I remember now," the elf smiled. "You told me you loved reading fairy tales a lot when you were younger, isn't that right? Was this one that you read?"
"Correction. I love reading fairy tales. This didn't change. I still do to this day!"
"That's nice," her friend nodded. "Mother used to read them to me too. Not this one specifically, but others. I liked hearing about distant lands and people that traveled them."
"Yes!" Velvet agreed. "Fairy tales are the best! My dream is to travel the world like Thoracc one day. And look, we are doing it right now! Isn't it exciting?! Even pirates attacked us! This is like a real adventure! I am absolutely loving this! Thank you for taking me with you!"
The princess laughed. "I guess it is like an adventure, huh? I never thought about it like that."
Before they knew it, the ship docked at a large port where many others were already anchored. Velvet recognized the Everdale flag and immediately got excited.
"Look! It's the Everdale flag!" she pointed and shook Loretta. "Arianna is already here!"
"Their ship looks like it got caught up in a crossfire as well," the elf deduced, observing the holes in the sails and the burn marks on the side of it. "I hope your friend is all right."
"Of course she is!" the energetic girl slapped Loretta's back so hard that the elf nearly fell forward. Her father shot her an angry glance when he saw this. "Please be gentle with my daughter."
"I'm fine, Dad!" Loretta replied scornfully. "I'm nineteen years old! Not a little girl anymore!"
"This is about manners," Varus raised his head high. "I don't mind you having a friend of a different race, but she should learn to behave herself and treat you with respect."
"She is treating me with respect!" the princess retorted. "Come, Velvet, let's go!" Saying this, she grabbed the girl's hand and stormed off.
"Where do you think you're going?!" the king's voice echoed behind them. "Come back!"
"Your father seems angry," the girl being towed pointed out the obvious.
"Ah, he's always like that!" Loretta reassured her, pulling her between the crowd of people.
Velvet was turning her head around in wonder. For the first time, she saw members of all five races gathered in a single place. There were dracons with their sharp horns and muscular bodies, jakkals with their fluffy tails and sharp teeth, dwarves that were only up to the human's chin, elves with their pointy ears and wacky hair colors, and of course, the ordinary and boring humans. The entire port was bustling with lively energy and diversity. It was magical.
"How I wish the whole world was like this!" Velvet exclaimed in wonder.
"Keep dreaming," the princess shot her off the cloud she was drifting on. "Won't happen."
They came to a sudden halt and the girl's pointy hat fell off as she bumped into the elf in front of her. "Hey, why did you stop all of a sudden?" she asked and glanced over Loretta's shoulder, a large orange drawing of a phoenix staring back at her. It was drawn on a bright red cape, whose owner turned around when they ran into him. No. It was a her. She was only built so strongly that, at first glance, she appeared like a man.
"Watch where you're going, you damn idiots!" a tall dracon woman with spiky red hair tied into a wild ponytail snarled at them. She eyed the elf and human up and down and grinned.
"Well, well, if it isn't the youngest daughter of the Hoshinovs! Have you come here to get your ass kicked? I bet your daddy bribed the academy to select you as a champion, didn't he?"
Loretta squinted her eyes, looking up at the dracon, who was more than a full head taller.
"And who's your friend?" she glanced at Velvet. "I didn't know you elves are hiring human maids now! Or is she your luggage carrier? Either way, you should get her some new clothes!"
"She's my friend!" the elven princess hissed back. "And her name is Velvet!"
"Wait a minute," the woman leaned down to get a better look at the brown-haired girl. She grabbed Velvet's hand and smiled when she saw three marks on it. "So you're Velvet Crow, the 'dragon slayer.' Word about you reaches far across Rumerra. My father's advisor, archmage Korvak, told us about your feats at graduation. I look forward to facing you in the ring!"
"Oh, I'm not competing," the girl replied, tearing her hand from the woman's grip. "My friend is!"
"So I've heard, yes," the dracon said, visibly disappointed. "What a waste. You were the only one I really looked forward to fighting. The rest of these 'champions' are just useless fodder!"
"Arianna and Loretta aren't fodder!" Velvet growled. "Who are you anyway?!"
The dracon's face lit up and she offered her hand to Velvet. "My name is Kirara Stormbane, princess of the dracon kingdom and Draxnia academy's champion! Nice to meet you!"
The human shook her hand and winced in pain at how hard she squeezed it. "Velvet Crow."
When they finished shaking hands, Kirara didn't bother to offer it to the elf as well. She didn't even look at poor Loretta anymore. Instead, she simply continued to talk to Velvet.
"Tell me, how many wyverns did you kill in that cave?"
"Uhm...there were probably about a dozen," the girl's eyes drifted toward the sky as she tried to remember. "But who's counting, right?"
"Nice! Serves that winged vermin right! I hope they died in excruciating pain. Damn filth!"
"I don't exactly remember how I killed them," Velvet admitted. "I fell unconscious, you see."
"Ah. Well, that sucks. I hoped you could tell me the whole story in detail!"
"Hello?!" Loretta butted into their conversation. "I'm still here!"
"Yes, why are you?!" Kirara complained. "Go play with your dolls or something."
"Hey! It's not nice to talk to my friend like that!" Velvet raised her voice now. She didn't like this woman's tone and how she openly mocked Loretta. Who does she think she is?
"Oh. Don't tell me you actually care for this sad excuse for a magic user!"
"As a matter of fact, I do care!" the girl barked back. "Why didn't you shake her hand, huh?"
"Sorry, I only shake hands with those I deem worthy," the dracon princess shrugged. "You proved your worth by killing those wyverns and knocking a dragon unconscious. I can respect that. But I cannot respect some elf posing as a champion just because her daddy is the king and owns the academy! That's a disgrace and she has no business being here as anything other than a spectator! She should be cheering you on!"
"Well, she's my friend! So you better learn to respect that, horn-lady!" Velvet said sternly.
"Tell you what," Kirara grinned. "If we meet on the battlefield and she can hold her own against me for more than two minutes, I will take off my tiara, bow down, and apologise in front of the entire magic world!"
"Deal!" the human immediately accepted her offer in place of her elven friend.
"A word of advice," the dracon leaned toward her. "Don't hang out with weaklings—you will become weak, just like them. And on that note, I have to go. See you around!"
The pair watched her walk away and disappear in the crowd, then looked at one another.
"What a jerk!" Velvet commented. "Now I actually wish I was competing, so I could knock her down a peg and wipe that smirk off her face! She thinks she's all high and mighty!"
"That's normal for dracons," Loretta said. "They are a warrior race, after all. Feats of strength, their pride, and honor are all they care about for the most part. This goes double for those in any kind of position of power. Princess Kirara is a prime example of that."
"Well, if all dracons are like that, then I don't like them!" her human friend concluded.
"They do have a softer side, but one has to prove themselves to them and become their friend," the elf explained. "As you can imagine, that is not easy."
"Don't worry, you'll show her!" her friend patted her on the back. "I can't wait for your duel!"
Loretta didn't look as confident. "I'm actually hoping I won't have to face her."
"After all she said about you?" Velvet was surprised. "I thought you'd want to kick her ass!"
"Of course I do. It's just...I am not sure if I even can."
"You can!" the other girl reassured her. "And you will! You'll see!"
"Thanks for always believing in me," the princess smiled. "Even when I, myself, don't."
"That's what friends are for!" she smiled back at her. "Speaking of friends, let's go find my friend, so you can meet her." She looked around. "Where the devil is Arianna?"
"If you tell me what she looks like, I can help you search for her," the elf said.
"Blonde hair, cute face, about the same height as me. Don't know what she's wearing now."
"Hmm," Loretta looked around. Nobody that matched that description was seen near or far. They kept searching for a while but ended up having to return to the elven camp without finding her, Velvet wearing a disappointed expression.
"Don't worry," the princess tried to cheer her up. "We will find her tomorrow! After all, this tournament is going to last for a while. We're still quite early. It's probably a week or two still before it officially begins. I haven't seen the dwarves and my older sister arrive yet. I hope they didn't get attacked by pirates as well."
"Princess Loretta," a young and handsome elf with cyan color hair walked up to them and bowed. "Zephyr Malkov," he introduced himself. "It will be an honor to fight alongside you, your Highness."
"Ah," the green-haired girl was a bit startled at his sudden arrival. "It's a pleasure."
The boy straightened himself up and smiled dashingly, then turned to Velvet. "And you are?"
"Velvet Crow," she answered, offering him her hand. "I'm training princess Loretta here."
"Training?" he cocked his eyebrow. "You hardly look like a teacher. How old are you?"
"I'm going to be eighteen in just over a month," the brown-haired girl replied.
"You're even younger than I am, then," he smiled and shook her hand. At that point, he noticed the marks of light, air, and water. "Huh? This can't be right...did you draw this on?"
"I assure you, they are real," Loretta chimed in. "Velvet is on her way to becoming one of the greatest witches of our time. Her skill and talent are unmatched."
"No kidding," he was taken aback, still shaking her hand as if in a trance. "Not going to lie; I'm extremely impressed. I didn't know humans had such a powerful champion this time." To the girls' surprise, he leaned down and kissed Velvet's hand. Then he looked up and winked. "Go easy on me if we end up fighting, will you?"
"You don't have to worry," Velvet smiled, oblivious to his advances. "I'm not fighting."
"Oh?" he finally let go of her hand. "Is that so? That's a relief, then. I was just about to hand in my resignation since you would probably be winning this whole thing anyway!"
"Who are you talking to, Zephyr?" an elf with long, curly white hair approached.
"I'm just getting acquainted with the princess and her human friend here," he told her. "Her friend is a tier-three, can you believe it?! At seventeen!"
"Stop joking around," the female elf said but was struck speechless when she saw he was actually telling the truth. "Wow. I didn't know that was possible."
She introduced herself as Warina McCormack, champion of the Snowpell academy. The boy himself turned out to be the champion of the Vrugh academy.
"So you three are the elven champions then," Velvet summarized. "Awesome!"
"That we are," Warina smiled warmly. "It is an honor to be carrying the elven flag with you, your Highness. I will do my very best to carry it to the finals."
"I'm counting on you two," Loretta replied. They talked a bit about where they were from and their journey here. Velvet was surprised to realize that they were actually traveling with them all the time—they were each on one of the warships that accompanied them.
"So the Chalkydry was you," Warina said when she connected the dots. "That's impressive!"
Warina also used light magic. Of course, she immediately asked Velvet if she could show her what else she could do, to which the girl happily obliged. The four of them did some training together before the sun went down and night fell over their camp.
***
The next day, Velvet decided to seek out the human camp and find Arianna. She was curious as to who the other two human champions were. There were namely three magic academies in Ardor. Apart from Everdale, there were also Symmal academy and Westall academy. Sure enough, she found the three champions talking outside a large tent donning the Ardor flag.
"Arianna!" she shouted gleefully and jumped into her friend's embrace, tackling the surprised girl to the ground. "I missed you so much! Congratulations on becoming the champion!"
"You're here!" her friend exclaimed and hugged her tightly. "I was so glad when I got your letter saying you will accompany Loretta to the Magornis! It was the best news ever!"
They picked themselves up and talked for hours; about how the competition went for Arianna, how Velvet discovered that the new friend she had made was the elven princess, and what they had been up to lately. The blonde girl introduced her to the other two human champions—one was a fire magic user named Fernando Maxwell, and the other a darkness magic user named Christopher Bullock. Well-mannered and polite, they were both from noble families and were determined to carry the Ardor flag all the way to the finals.
"We are very fortunate to have such lovely company," Fernando, who insisted that everyone simply calls him Fern," said. "Arianna is great to talk to once she opens up a bit!"
"She sure is!" Velvet ruffled her friend's hair. "Arianna is the best!"
"She is very skilled as well," Christopher chimed in. "I realized that when we sparred."
"Stop praising me so much, all of you," Arianna said, hiding her face. "It's embarrassing."
"Nonsense!" her energetic friend slapped her back. "You deserve to be praised!" Velvet squeezed her cheeks, showing her beet-red face to the two boys. "Look at this face! Isn't it cute? This is the face of the future Magornis champion!"
"It's cute indeed!" Fernando agreed. "Sometimes, I just want to kiss it!"
"Did you really just say that out loud?" the other boy grinned at him.
"Ah...Fern!" Arianna pushed Velvet away and turned a new shade of red. They all laughed at her reaction and continued talking about magic, the tournament, and their expectations for it.
Suddenly, a shadow fell over them, and their heads turned toward the sky, where they saw a colossal airship made of what looked like some form of light metal and wood flying above. It was being pushed forward by several giant propellers on each side and circled by a swarm of armed dwarves riding on great vulper eagles—the dwarven military trained and used these majestic birds that otherwise resided in the Vorgan mountains.
"Looks like the dwarves decided to use the aerial route to avoid the pirates," Christopher said.
"That's Loretta's sister Sofia on there with her husband Oldar, probably!" Velvet exclaimed and jumped to her feet, observing the massive flying object. Logic was telling her that something this size shouldn't be flying. And yet, the dwarves somehow made it happen with their keen intellect and a knack for inventing things. It slowly drifted across their camp, the sun resurfacing once more after it finally passed by. The dracons were here already as well, as was evident by Loretta and her running into their princess. Upon arrival, Velvet had also seen a large ship with a wolf's head at the front and beastly engravings on its sides—the jakkals.
"It seems everyone is here now," Fern said, stretching. "The Magornis will start soon."
Thank you for reading this chapter! It means a lot!
It's time for the Magornis!