***Not sure why the format is kind of weird on this chapter. I tried fixing it but couldn't. Sorry about that but I hope you enjoy reading!***
This trial should be over by now. Hydro fumed at Cain's last act of defiance. It wasn't enough to mock my intelligence; he had to destroy my hovercraft too. Hydro hadn't even checked to see if the prince was still alive. Because of Cain, the past three miles were a medley of walking and running and panting and sweating and cursing the grueling gaze of both suns.
By the time Hydro arrived within five hundred feet of the estate, rancid sweat drenched his upper body. In the silver light of the afternoon, the white walls appeared sepia. The estate beckoned him to become Eska's apprentice with an auspicious gaze. He didn't run. He couldn't run, albeit he wanted to. Triumph sewn onto his face, he cradled the orb in his left arm, cherishing it as he would a trophy.
Within three hundred feet, he summoned his remaining energy to awkwardly jog. The once plush leather sole of his shoe was now beaten and extinct. Prince Evber had been more of a challenge than Hydro anticipated. Where the halberd had connected, gashes converged like tributaries of a dried river. Was anyone else here already? No, they can't be, Hydro reassured himself.
One hundred feet. Victory within his grasp. He paused. From the shadows of the estate's east side, a figure emerged. Zain.
Hydro scanned his opponent but saw no orb. "Could not figure yours out, I take it?" he muttered.
Another fifty feet and he would win. Hydro stepped forward. Zain blocked Hydro's advance, the tip of a rusty blade lightly poking the rhinoskin.
"Out of my way." Hydro brushed the sword aside and continued walking—until Zain reshuffled himself in front of Hydro, halting his progress.
"I can't let you pass."
"You do not want to face me, fool." Hydro tried pushing the sword away again, but Zain held it tight.
"Yes, I do."
Determination stared Hydro in the eyes, but he merely smirked. "That is a bad decision."
Hydro gripped his sword and swung it at Zain, who jumped back. For the majority of the dance, Hydro lunged and swung to his right, trying to accommodate for the orb he held in his left arm. Zain was always faster than him though. Sparks flew as the swords sang to one another a ballad of defiance. An animalistic side of Hydro enjoyed the fierce battle. His royal side did not. There was a time and a place for battle—and now, when he was exhausted and so close to victory, was not one of them. He swung his sword, managing to close the gap between Zain, and lifted his elbow into Zain's face, causing him to stumble backwards. This needs to end.
"Maa!" Hydro shouted and lifted his arm upwards.
Nothing happened. Hydro remembered the orb. Stupid ball. He wanted to drop it, but he couldn't risk Zain picking it up to claim it as his own. How to dispose of him? A breeze attracted his attention, and he looked to his left.
A light-blue, glowing cloud swooped in from the direction of the breeze. What is that? It vanished. The commoner appeared in its place. What kind of power did he use? Hydro spotted an orb in the commoner's hands. How did he solve it? He's closer.
"What are you two doing?" the commoner asked.
"Eirek, get inside. Now!" Zain yelled and then redirected his attention back to Hydro. He smirked.
That cur! This was his plan all along. Rage boiled inside him. Hydro stepped forward and threw all his weight into his stroke. Sure enough, Zain blocked it—but Hydro's slash was so powerful that the rusty sword broke in half.
As Hydro followed through with his cut, he focused his mind on changing the sword to a hard, metal shield, and within seconds, his weapon obeyed. Using the momentum of the slash, he changed his position and brought his shoulder upwards—connecting the steel with Zain's jaw. It worked even better with Zain than the tactic had with Cain. Zain was thrown back and skidded to the white porch, the steps of which the commoner walked.
"Are you okay?" The commoner turned around at the loud collision.
"Get inside!" Zain grimaced.
My chance! Hydro changed his shield back to a sword, sheathed it, and sprinted. Five steps. Four steps. Three steps. So close. And then . . .
His side thundered with pain as he was thrust to the ground—Zain's panting, broken body toppling over him. Broken gums bled their jelly onto him.
"Not today, Prince!"
Hydro kicked Zain off of him and stood up. Eirek had disappeared. No! Hydro bolted up the steps two at a time. His hope sank as he saw Eirek holding his orb over his head in the lobby. Hydro clenched his fist. A struggled laugh drew his attention away from indoors. Zain still lay on the ground as he laughed. Hydro bolted down the steps.
"If this was Acquava, I would have you killed." Hydro knelt by Zain.
"Too bad you aren't in Acquava." Zain laughed some more.
Hydro grabbed Zain underneath the chin, forcing him to look into cold, hazel eyes. "You will pay for my loss today."
Zain still managed a grin. "In spells or in bonds?"
Hydro bristled. How dare he jest with me! The orb weighed heavy in his left arm. "It is a shame you were stupid enough to botch your riddle. Seeing as I will not need my orb anymore, I shall give it to you." Hydro smirked.
Hydro took the orb in both hands, raised it over his head, and slammed it down over Zain's right hand. Orb and bone broke upon contact. A howl erupted from Zain's mouth, a note of pain Hydro only heard when his father took him to the dungeons of their castle to mock the liars and murderers and cheaters who deserved pain.
Hydro took him under the chin again. His hand felt the moistness of Zain's tear-soaked cheeks. "Try fighting now, filthy cur."
Hydro stood up and left Zain behind—broken, beaten, and bloody on the ground. As he turned around, Conseleigh Tundra glowered at him from the steps. "I heard a yell. What happened?"
The other conseleigh stepped outside as well. Hydro didn't answer.
"Hydro, did you do this?" Tundra looked toward Zain, who clutched a bloody hand.
Guardian Eska stepped forward, past the conseleigh. He looked at Hydro. And then to Zain. And then back to Hydro. He knew that look; his father gave it to him whenever Hydro rowed with his mother at supper or when he saw Hydro disinterested in council meetings and village hearings that he had been forced to attend.
"He broke my hand!" Zain yelled. He rolled on the ground and stomped while holding his limp right hand with his left.
"Hydro, did you do this?" Guardian Eska crossed his arms.
"He got in my way."
"So you be breaking 'is 'ands?" Ethen strummed his short beard.
"You are dismissed from the Trials!" Tundra yelled. "A call will be made for your departure." She stormed up the steps.
A pit formed in his stomach. No. It couldn't be. He needed to win. He had to become guardian. He didn't want to continue to receive those same looks of disappointment, as he couldn't bring himself to change his attitude toward his mother or the tedious duties. He couldn't bear hearing the snickers from all the families of power. He couldn't bear the thought of Pearl's wrath for squandering her blessing. For the first time, a cold feeling crawled over him. Disappointment. Not only his own, but his family's—and the guardian's as well.
"Tundra!"
The older woman with blue hair came back into view, summoned by Eska's voice.
"That is not your decision to make."
"Hydro broke Zain's hand out of spite!"
"He deserves a hearing," Guardian Eska said.
"Edwyrd, the trial was already over!"
"Tundra, I agree with Edwyrd; it is not your decision to make. The boy is entitled to a fair hearing," Luvan spoke.
Hydro wanted to correct Luvan, who dared to call him a boy—but the man argued on his behalf. He figured he'd let that stand. His fate hung in the balance by the elders before him.
"You are blind, Luvan! This was an act of hatred!"
"Be that as it may, every action requires a just and equal reaction," Luvan responded.
"And that is dismissal!"
"Enough! All of you," Guardian Eska spoke. "There will be a hearing. Zain, you will be required to attend. It will wait until you heal. The Trials will be postponed until any decisions are finalized. Ethen, instruct the servants to take Zain to the apothecary. Riagan, take Tundra's location device and keys to a hovercraft and retrieve the straggling contestants. Tundra, Luvan, to my chamber—now!"
The elders departed. Hydro still shook, but he looked up when footsteps echoed from above him. The commoner stood with the orb in his hands, shocked. "Why did you do it?"
"You want to have a heart-to-heart with me, Commoner?"
"No, I want to know why you're so angry."
With you? Your bourgeois blood. The fact that you stole my trial. And because you don't deserve to be here. Hydro walked up the stairs, and when he was on the same plane as Eirek, he stopped. "You might want to visit Zain in the apothecary. To thank him for your victory today. He will not be helping you out again." Hydro chuckled and scanned him over.
The commoner just looked back at him. Silence.
"No remark? Perhaps the feeling of winning is just so new to you?"
"Perhaps the feeling of losing is new to you?" Eirek walked back into the estate.
Hydro continued to glare at the commoner despite the fact that he never looked back to notice it.