Alf and Olivia walked in silence the rest of the way to the city gate. The massive portcullis gate, attached to what little was left of the original city walls, had two groups of guards on either side. As they passed through, one of the guards said, "Please state your business here in Glandledale."
Alf smiled at the guard. "We're here for the arena."
The guard nodded and waved them past. "You, and everyone else. Go on in."
"Wait," Alf said. "So everyone here is headed towards the arena?"
The guard stared at him like he was a buffoon. "Of course."
The second guard broke in. "Didn't you know? There's expedition matches going on right now. The arena champion is taking all challengers and there's no limit to group size."
The older of the two guards took off his helmet and wiped sweat from his brow. "I've seen groups as large as two hundred come through this gate today. The arena champion is amazing, but I doubt she can take on that many at the same time."
"I agree," the younger of the two answered. "But the thought of seeing her try almost makes me want to quit my job and go watch, just to see what happens."
The guard put back on his helmet. "True, true. I've worked at this job for over thirty-five years and have a rather nice pension, but even I'm tempted to risk it all just to see such a fight."
"Wow, this sounds like quite the event," Alf mused, his eyes lighting up in excitement.
"But won't the arena champion get tired from fighting?" Olivia asked.
"The arena is providing her rest potions after every battle," the young soldier answered as he noticed the guards on the other side of the gate had already processed two more groups to their one.
"As well they should. They're making millions off of her," the older guard answered in a gruff voice as he motioned for them to move so the next group could come forward.
Alf's body almost quivered with excitement as they walked away from the guards. "We've got to go see this. This champion sounds like someone powerful enough to join us in the fight against Vackzilian."
Drake whispered, "It sounds like a blood oath to me."
"You are such a pessimist," the red-headed maid responded.
"Quiet," Drake hissed.
Alf, trying to hide his enthusiasm, shrugged nonchalantly as he stated, "Either way, we should go check it out."
"That is advisable, seeing as my last report states the one we are looking for works at the arena."
As they followed the throng of people through the city, Olivia exclaimed in wonder, "This city is amazing! I have never seen such exquisite designs and unique buildings."
Drake raised his voice just loud enough to be heard over the din, "Yes, this city is known to have some of the world's leading architects. You see that building to the left? It was built by Milliken, someone I consider to be the world's greatest artisan, though this building is one of his earlier works while he was still a child."
Alf's eyes drifted from a food vender serving what looked unsettlingly like dehydrated monkey over to the building Drake was talking about. "Whoa...," he muttered. He was quite proud of how the student dorms had turned out, but looking at the two-story home in front of him, he realized he had a ways to go as an architect.
Before him, a perfect dome rose seamlessly out of the ground. Its convex, glass exterior sparkled in the afternoon light while its foot thick walls housed an amazing collection of exotic, colorful fish swimming around freely inside. From what Alf could see, even its interior walls had water bubbling within them. As he watched the fish swim around, and the water bubble from the top of the building and stream down the sides, he realized the home had intricate 'light reflecting' spells placed on it that caused the light to shift and flow around its occupants, thus making it impossible to see anyone inside.
"He built this when he was still a child?"Alf asked in disbelief.
"To an extent," Drake answered. "He had other earth and fire magic users underneath him helping him, but the design and art is all his."
Olivia walked closer and gasped. "Alf, look at this."
Alf started to move closer for a better look, but a massive, circular structure towering above all the others caught his eye. He stopped and pointed up. "What is that?"
"The arena," the prince answered.
"No way," Alf exclaimed, "I never knew it was so big."
The arena stood over twenty stories tall, and appeared to be constructed entirely out of earth magic. From what Alf could tell, the builders had pulled up the entire arena from deep within the ground, and its architects had chosen to leave the natural formations of sediments visible. In turn, this gave the structure a rather fascinating appearance. The upper levels of the arena appeared as a sun bleached brown that slowly faded into polished, glistening layers of white limestone. The white stone then gave way to rings of red clay and various other sediments. Finally, the bottom of the structure turned into the black obsidian of bedrock.
What really drew Alf's attention, though, was the gargantuan banner hanging down the wall, depicting a stunning redhead with the words: Grand Champion taking on all challengers.
"I have got to see this up close," Alf blurted and took off running towards the arena.
"Wait up Alf," Olivia shouted for the second time that day. "I swear sometimes you have the attention span of a five year-old," she complained as she ran after him.
Reaching the plaza in front of the arena, Alf's jog puttered to a slow walk. Two endless lines weaved back and forth through haphazardly constructed rope barriers almost as far back as the eyes could see.
"That's a long wait," Alf moped in disappointment.
"That's not all. Look up," Olivia added catching up to him.
Above the lines were two signs. The first read, 'Admission: five hundred crypto per person'. The other sign read:
'To register a group to fight: two thousand crypto.
If group larger than ten members: 4000 crypto.
If larger than fifty members: 5000 crypto.
One hundred or more: 10,000 crypto.'
"The guard wasn't kidding when he said the arena is making millions off their champion," Olivia said.
"Hmm, it appears that I should start taxing the arena," Drake mumbled in the background.
Alf stared at the ground and kicked at the gravel. "Well it looks like we're not getting in. I can't afford the admission price, much less the price to challenge her."
"With a building this large, I am certain they have servant's quarters," the bubbly voice of the youngest sister said.
Alf turned in the direction of the voice. "Servant's quarters?
"Yes, you know, where the caretakers can come and go freely without disturbing the customers," another of the maids replied.
"You're not thinking of sneaking in are you?"Alf asked.
"Sounds like a good idea," Drake whispered. "I could go in and open one of the doors for you in the back."
Alf shook his head. "No."
"What? Why not?"
"Because it's stealing and it's wrong," Alf glared at him.
"Alf, we don't have a choice. We have to get in there and find the woman that can seal the teleportation stones. People's lives depend upon us," Drake replied in exasperation. "This is not a holiday."
"So it's right to do what's wrong if you're trying to do what is right?"
"Exactly."
"Not buying it," Alf said with finality.
Olivia stepped forward. "I think he's right this time Alf. We can't risk what happened at Carlos happening anywhere else." She laid her hand on his shoulder. "If it makes you feel better, we won't watch any of the matches."
Alf felt torn. On one hand, Olivia was right, but on the other hand, he really wanted to watch at least one of the matches. He sighed. He was being childish; they hadn't come for pleasure anyway. Opening his mouth, he started to say, "I gu-"
"I got us in," the silver haired maid said as she walked towards them.
"Wha-?" Alf said in puzzlement. "How? Weren't you here the whole time?"
The sarcastic voice of one of her sisters butted in. "Naw, as soon as she saw the signs, she knew you guys would stand here for a long time arguing about how to get in. So she left to actually find a way in."
"Oh."
"I got us in with the agreement that we clean up after the fights. I was also given a list of spells and protections on the arena that we are to check after each match."
"We can't stay around long enough to clean up after all the fights," Drake interjected.
"We only have to help clean up after those we watch," the maid reassured him. "Honestly, the fellow appeared to be quite desperate for help."
A spark of excitement reignited in Alf. That meant they'd get to find the girl and get to watch at least one or two matches. "By all means," he said waving his arm. "Lead the way."
The head maid smiled with a hint of humor in her eyes and said, "I told him we have six people, so we will need Drake and my sisters. There is a place between some of the concession carts where they can reappear unnoticed."
Alf nodded and followed her through the bustling crowd surrounding the arena as she led them to where four storage wagons had been left in a semi-circle. Safe out of view from any prying eyes, Drake and the other two girls reappeared.
Drake dusted off his clothes and said, "Okay, let's go."
They walked around the arena till they came to one of the servant's quarters in the back where a scruffy, tired looking man leaned against the coliseum, waiting. At seeing them, he seemed to relax a bit as he stood up. "Good, as we agreed, you have a bit before the next fight. You can find a nice place to watch from if there's any room left, or place a bet, if you're into that type of thing, but I want to see you right away after the fight."
"I thought betting was illegal," Alf said.
The arena cleanup supervisor, or whatever he was, shrugged. "It's not really betting per say. You buy tickets, and if the one you picked wins, you can trade them in for trinkets, drinks, and the like. The greater the odds, the more the tickets are worth. On the whole, the Emperor despises betting, but the arena master convinced him to let us have this. Still, the Emperor himself frequently checks up on us to make sure we keep the whole thing on the up and up."
"Ah," Alf replied as he went to walk through the service door into the arena.
"Wait," the supervisor said as he noticed Drake. "The kid ain't going to be of any use in cleaning up. He can't go in."
Alf stopped in his tracks, turned around, and looked the man in the eyes. "Are you telling me to leave a child out here all alone?"
For the first time, the supervisor realized just how immense Alf was, and he nearly tripped over himself as he raised his hands in defense. "No, no, not all. I was just saying that he won't be of much use."
"I see," Alf said calmly. "What if I promise I will do the work of two men?"
The supervisor stared at Alf's bulging muscles. "Shoot, you look like you could do the work of four men. Why aren't you fighting?"
"Not enough money," Alf grumbled.
The man let out a half snort. "Is that all? I'm sure any group would want to have you join them. After this fight, why don't you see if you can find someone who wants you to help?"
Alf's eyes lit up. "Good idea. I might just do that."
Drake tapped him on the arm and jerked his head in the direction of the door. It was time for them to go.
"Oh yeah, is it okay if the boy comes with us?"
"Yeah, I guess," the tired man shrugged halfheartedly, then waved them through.
Alf grinned and walked through the service door and into the underbelly of the arena.
The inside of the coliseum was apparently the same as the outside, since the inside walls were also made out of the black obsidian of bedrock. Three continuous strips of glass, one on the ceiling, and two on either side of them, were imbued with light spells. The glass strips radiated the perfect amount of light while the air around them was filled with the pleasant, clean smell of earth.
Olivia trailed her fingers along the wall and commented, "It smells nice in here. I kind of expected it to smell like body odor and sweat."
"Just wait till we get farther in," the brunette maid quipped.
Alf laughed, and the group followed a long flight of stairs with branching doorways on each side that all read: 'Authorized personnel only,' till they came out into a wide open hallway.
"This outer hallway is called the undercroft," Drake said, trying to sound a tad bit more childish in case someone overheard him. "It winds around the entire stadium and has four levels. It's designed in such a way that it allows access to the stands from all angles. The three top levels are full of vendors and the like, while the bottom layer, which we are now on, is mostly for employees only." He raised his hand and pointed. "That archway over there looks like it's the closest access to the stands."
Alf nodded, and they made their way through the undercroft and up another flight of stairs leading into the arena.
As they emerged onto the lowest level, the smell of popcorn and deep-fried meat, along with the sounds of thousands of anxiously awaiting people, washed over them with enough force to almost push them back down the stairs.
Alf gaped as he stared up at the bleachers engulfing them. Hundreds upon hundreds of layers of chairs seemed to tower into the sky, and far above them, a moon-shaped, glass awning protected the onlookers while letting the sun and fresh air shine into the arena. "Wow, this place looks even bigger on the inside than it did on the outside."
A knowing smile crossed Drake's face. "That's not all. Wait until you see the actual fighting area."
Alf raced towards the railing surrounding the fighting pen and eagerly looked down.
Over five acres of green sod stretched out before him. "No way," he mumbled in disbelief. Half of Brockovich could have easily fit in the arena.
"Olivia! You have to see this," he hollered back over his shoulder.
Olivia smiled in amusement and walked towards him, but as she looked down to the area below her smile disappeared and her eyes widened.
"I know, right?" Alf said.
"How is this possible?"
"A displacement land warp spell," the prince said as he stood on his tippy toes to look over the railing and down into the arena.
"Like the one Vackzilian used to make his tower within walking distance of Brokovich, or something like the one on my medallion?" Alf asked.
"No, it's far more complex than that."
"Really? How does it work?" Olivia asked.
The prince shuffled his feet for a moment, then turned around and started to walk back the way they came. "We need to find a secluded location so I can re-examine my documents. I usually memorize all of the reports. However, it has been some time since I went over the one regarding the Indonesian caverns, and I need to refresh my memory."
"Ha. You don't know how the spell works, do you?" Alf called after him.
Drake turned around. "Contrary to popular belief, I am not all-knowing. Now, if you are done sightseeing, we have a job to do."
"No need to be so snappy about it," Alf muttered under his breath then noticed a man using earth magic to slide a cart laden with snacks up and down the aisles. "Wait. I'll be right back," he said.
He jogged over to the cart, and the man wearing a white shirt and a purple sash asked, "What can I get you?"
"One of everything and four of each kebab," Alf said scooping up an arm load of junk food from the cart.
"That will be twenty-seven, forty."
Alf fiddled with the food, balancing it all in one arm as he reached out his hand and placed it on the man's open palm, then cast the spell to transfer the money.
"Thank you."
As he dashed back over to the others, Olivia frowned at him. "Alf, you know we don't have much money. Why did you buy all that?"
"I had to. It takes a lot of food to keep this new body of mine running. And I got you a honey glazed pork kebab," he said offering her one of his many kebabs.
"Fine," she took the bribe. "But I want one of these to," she said snatching another of his snacks.
The prince raised his eyebrow. "You ready now?"
Alf nodded and took a bite out of one of his meat sticks as he said, "Yup." The hot, spicy ostrich meat burned his tongue and the back of his throat as he chewed, but he couldn't help but smile. This was turning out to be an awesome day.
Drake rolled his eyes and led them back down the stairs.
As they reentered the undercroft, Alf's ears rang from the deafening silence as the noise from the arena abruptly faded. He reached up and almost rubbed his ears before he remembered his fingers were covered in grease.
"This paper with all the spells we need to check is amazing," Olivia said, her voice echoing in the cavernous hallway as she munched on the bribe Alf had given her with one hand and held the paper the maid had handed her with the other. "Did you know it's actually impossible for you to die or suffer bodily harm in the arena?"
"Noo. Hoows ta pos ble?" Alf asked with his mouth full.
Drake glanced back at the group. "The arena is built on a magic device we call a fountain. It produces an infinite flow of energy that never stops. The ancient people who built them called the device a perpetual motion machine. As far as we know, only four were ever built. One is here, and one is underneath the Imperial Palace. As for the other two, no one knows where they are, or if they are even working anymore."
"So that's what powers these spells," Olivia said as she chewed thoughtfully while looking down at the paper. "It says here the arena automatically puts a shield spell around anyone who steps into the pit. As you take damage, the shield weakens and then disappears. When that happens, you are automatically rendered unconscious and a new shield takes its place, which prevents you from taking any more damage. The other spells it list here can also detect how much energy you have. So the stronger you are, the more powerful the shield it puts on you."
"How come I've never heard about this before?" Alf asked, opening the medallion and putting some of his food away so you could eat with both hands.
"Because only a few people know exactly how the arena works," the prince answered. "Also, the spells on that paper aren't even one tenth of the spells on this place. They're just the ones we understand the purpose for. You see, this structure was around way before my ancestors formed the Empire. As far as we can tell, it has always been some sort of arena."
The paper fluttered as Olivia lowered her arm. "Wait, if this place has always been around, then why doesn't the Emperor own it?
"That's a good question and something I will have to look into," Drake said, rubbing his chin.
"The man don't want it because it's too big of a political hassle," a handsome, tall man wearing a green and gold silk shirt said as he appeared out of nowhere.
Alf skidded to a halt, pulled back his food, and stared at the young man as he continued, "You see, the head honcho owned this place two times before, and both times everything went to pot: games being rigged, contestants killed outside of the arena, people losing their homes to gambling debts. You name it, it happened. So old Docdovinun himself finally had enough and outsourced it to people he could trust. These days, he just keeps a close eye on it."
Drake's eyes narrowed in suspicion, and his one visible eye burned an icy cold blue as he demanded. "Who are you?"
The intruder threw up his hands. "Whoa, I'm a nobody. I just heard the beautiful lady there ask a question and thought I would answer it." He winked and said, "I'll be going now. Bye," the man gave a casual salute and dashed down the hallway.
The shortest of the maids stomped her foot and glared at Drake. "Drake, you meany. You nearly scared the man witless."
The redhead sniggered, "No. I think that was Alf's fault. The weird scowl he had on his face could have curdled milk."
"I did?" Alf asked in surprise.
"You did," the eldest sister answered with a sanguine smile. "It quite reminds me of the scowl you wear when Harold finds you with sweets you know you're not supposed to have."
"Oh," Alf said, his face turning red. Truth be told, when the man had first appeared, Alf had half thought it was Harold.
"That man didn't just walk around the corner," Drake spat. "I saw him with my left eye. He was at least fifteen feet down the hallway, and then all of a sudden he was in front of us."
Alf glanced at the eye patch over Drake's eye and shuffled his feet. "Are you sure? I mean, you are just getting used to seeing with your new vision. Maybe it was just a depth perception error on your side."
Olivia shook her head. "I think it's more likely a warping effect of the magic here."
Drake's body relaxed. "You may be right. The magic here does make things a little hard to see." The prince raised his eye-patch and rubbed his eye. "In fact, now that you mentioned it, I'm sure you're right; from what I could tell, that man hasn't even achieved Patuah." He lowered the eyepatch and continued to walk as he said, "There's a small room just around the corner, and it's unoccupied."
Drake strolled up the hall and turned into the small room on the right as everyone else followed him.
A set of three lockers lined the left wall of the space, and several dirt-brown outfits lay casually draped on a bench attached to the right wall. The smell of body odor permeated the air.
"Told you to wait till we got farther in," the redhead said covering her nose.
"It appears to be a changing room of some sort," the eldest sister said as she closed the door behind them.
"I believe it is," Drake replied as he pulled back his left sleeve to reveal a simple black tattoo on his forearm with a small amethyst gem in the center. Then, with his other hand, he tapped the gem. A hologram about the size of a notebook appeared over his wrist, and he tapped the jewel once more. Lines of text sprung to life, and the prince used his right index finger to scroll through the ensuing list.
"Hey, is that a magic tattoo?" Alf asked.
"It is," the prince answered.
"May I see it?"
Drake nodded, grabbed the gem, and pulled. The tattoo swirled around and collapsed back into the gem as he pulled it away.
"I had this one specifically designed for myself," the prince said with a look of pride as Alf touched the gem and the tattoo's swirling black patterns wrapped themselves around his finger.
"As you may well know, most ka'akahs, otherwise known as tattoos, constantly consume energy while activated, which made it almost impossible for me to use. However, I tweaked the..."
As Drake rambled in the background, Alf pushed his energy towards the gem. The screen it had displayed earlier sprung to life over his hand, but this time several times larger than before. "Nice," he breathed.
Alf had seen quite a few magic tattoos, or ka'akahs, in his lifetime, but he'd never owned one himself due to the reason Drake had just mentioned. Before his transformation, he'd never had the extra energy to spare. Of course, the devices were also quite expensive.
Finished with his explanation, the prince reached forward and removed the ka'akah from Alf's finger. He then placed the amethyst gem on his wrist and the tattoo reappeared. Sliding it back down to his forearm, he said, "You should see about obtaining one or two for yourself while we are here. They can be as effective as armor if you find the right ones."
Drake was right; magic tattoos came in all shapes and sizes with a wide variety of affects, such as reducing, or in some extreme cases, negating certain elemental properties. Many of the other High Lords opted to wear ka'akahs instead of armor, though that wasn't always the best option seeing as magic tattoos consumed energy nonstop while activated. The more powerful the effect, the more energy they consumed. However, with Alf's new form that shouldn't be a problem.
"What does yours do?" Olivia asked the prince.
"This is a data storage unit. I use it to keep all of my reports in, so if need be, I can look at them at any time. While I do memorize all of them, sometimes it's invaluable to have a hard copy on hand."
"Isn't that dangerous? What if someone else got their hands on it?"
"It's keyed to my magical energy. Meaning, even if someone else were to acquisition it, it wouldn't do them any good. Also, if I were to be captured, I have pre-charged spells in place that enables me to delete everything on it with a single thought."
"You know, you're right," Alf said. "I should definitely get me one of these. Where can I find one?"
"I doubt there will be any useful ones on the open market, but the black market the crier gave you directions to should have some. However, you forget we have no money," the prince said and flicked back on the screen he had been messing with earlier. From his tone, Alf could tell Drake was still sore over his decision not to give him the information Cutler had provided.
Alf's thoughts drifted to his virtual account. He had less than one-hundred crypto left in it, definitely not enough to buy fancy equipment with. Cutler had suggested doing favors for some of his old contacts, but that was out of the question.
"Man, money has become so important all of a sudden." He sighed and plopped down on the bench. "Before, I never even worried about it."
As if in response to his statement, the silver-haired maid walked to the back of the room and pulled at the wall. To Alf's amazement, it blurred as it moved to reveal a locker embedded in the structure. "This invisibility blanket was hiding the locker." She shook the hazy air in her hand. "There's also a weird suit of armor inside the storage unit. Should we take it?"
Drake looked up from what he was doing. "Definitely. The invisibility blanket alone would be worth a substantial amount of crypto, and the armor might be worth something, as well. We should take it, put it in the medallion, and sell it later."
Alf stared at Drake. "What? No! That would be stealing. The armor and blanket obviously belongs to someone."
Drake sighed in frustration. "And yet you were just complaining about needing money."
"Ya, but I didn't mean we should steal some. That's just as bad as doing favors."
"Semantics," the prince declared. "But as the leader, it's your choice. Just know that the price for the blanket on the black market alone would enable us to buy several ka'akahs and some decent equipment. In the long run, such a thing could save all of our lives, and in turn, save thousands in the Empire."
The eldest sister raised her eyebrows at him.
Alf looked at the prince's tattoo and thought about their need for equipment and the town's need for supplies.
"Alf, you're not. . .?" Olivia asked him.
He shook his head. "Drake is right, it would enable us to buy some decent equipment, and we could take it without anyone seeing, but I won't steal someone else's belongings. Put the blanket back."
The head maid nodded and let the blanket fall back into position, eclipsing the hidden locker from view once again.
Drake pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes as he sighed once more, then went back to reading through the information on the holographic page.
The room lapsed into silence.
"Ah, here it is," Drake said a few minutes later, "I found the report. The subject's name is Zaphaniea."
The shortest maid looked over Drake's shoulder, "No. It's said Zaf-fuh-nee-ah. You said it like zap-ha-nay-ah."
"How do you know?" Drake asked.
She pointed at the page, "The weird marks above her name."
"Ah, I always ignore those."
"Is there any description of her?" Olivia asked.
Drake shook his head. "Sadly, no. My father wrote this report, and for some undefined reason, it lacks details."
Alf ran his hand through his hair and rested his elbow on his knee. "One name is not much to go on. How are we supposed to find her?"
As the words left his mouth, a loud voice echoed throughout the interior building, "Finally folks, the moment you've all been waiting for. Once again, our champion will face overwhelming odds. Will she win the day, or will she fall in defeat? Please welcome your champion, the undefeated, the unstoppable, and completely irresistible, beautiful master of the arena, Zaphaniea Joi Gahlaksiya."
The walls shook as the fans in the stands exploded in cheers.
"Looks like we found out where she's at," Olivia said covering her ears.
The shouts died away and the announcer continued, "Challenging our beloved champion this time is a hundred and fifty men who have faced the horrifying, nation destroying, legendary Fallen One and lived to tell about it! Please welcome theeee... 'X soldiers!"
A few small claps and random shouts of encouragement drifted their way through the walls.
"So...," the announcer coughed, "without further ado, let the fight begin!"
Alf jumped to his feet and shouted, "Follow me, I don't want to miss a moment of this."
Alf ripped opened the door and bolted from the room, barely giving the others time to choose to follow him. He flew down the hallway, up the stairs, and out into the stands. Milliseconds later, they arrived at the railing surrounding the pit.
Drake stared in anger at Alf. "That was foolish Alf! Having us use Traverse Wake like that could ha—"
Alf waved dismissively at him, shushing him into silence as he leaned out over the balustrade and looked down into the arena.
The grand champion sat on one side of the field, sitting with her legs crossed, floating a few feet off the ground like she hadn't a care in the world.
In contrast, the hundred and fifty men on the opposite side had erected a shield and were hard at work using earth magic to construct a giant fortress.
The grand champion stretched, yawned, and crossed her arms as she leaned back farther into her invisible seat. Alf leaned over the edge to get a better look at her.
Though he tried not to, Alf couldn't help but notice that Zaphaniea, the grand champion, was one beautiful woman. Her long, strawberry red hair rippled in the wind, flowing down around her tall, curvaceous form. Her silken-white blouse glowed against her golden skin, while her short leather skirt exposed long, shapely legs. Without a doubt, she was a stunning beauty.
Alf tore his eyes away and looked at Olivia. Dressed in a simple white tunic with her dark hair in a braid lying over her shoulder, Olivia exuded more of a quiet grace. As he gazed at her, his heart jumped in his chest and he grinned. It didn't matter who, no one compared to Olivia.
"I can't see the color of her magic," the prince said in agitation. "The shield the arena put around her is impeding my view. How about you Olivia?"
Olivia stared at the champion in fascination. "Not sure yet. I was trying to see how she's floating."
Suddenly, the ground in front of the grand champion gave way as a man rose forth and launched an array of ice spikes at her.
Zaphaniea casually flicked her wrist, brushing the ice spikes aside, then kicked at the man with her foot. An unseen force smashed into the man's head and knocked him flying head over heels into the dirt where he lay unmoving.
A knowing smile spread across the grand champion's face as she gracefully floated down to the ground and stood up. The earth around her exploded as twenty armed men with swords burst forth and charged towards her.
Zaphaniea yanked her arms backwards, and in a stunning flying backflip, she soared over their heads and landed on an invisible object ten feet in the air.
The assailants' swords clashed together as they skewered the empty space where she'd been a few short moments ago.
Realizing what she had done, the men tried to spin around to face her, but from her new perch, she mercilessly pummeled the ambushers with an invisible force, until all of them lay unconscious on the battlefield.
Alf's countenance fell. "Oh no, that looks like..."
"She's a blood oath!" Drake spat in disgust.
"No!" Olivia shouted in excitement. "She's not. She's a holy user. All of her energy is a golden-honey color just like mine, and she has dragon blood too, almost as much as you Drake."
"That's not possible," Drake argued.
"Look for yourself. Normal Ra'avah can see her blood through the shield just fine."
Drake's right eye lit up with a blue glow as he focused into Ra'avah. After several moments, he exclaimed, "You're right. She does, but not enough to affect the rate at which her body grows from the looks of it. I believe she must be a quarter blood, not a half-blood like me."
The champion jumped down and strolled across the long field. Stopping several hundred feet away from the giant shield, she paused as if waiting for something.
Without warning, the shield dropped, and a wall on the left side of the fortress collapsed to reveal a group of fifty men group charging a fireball.
The men shouted in triumph as they launched their attack at her.
Most people would have run for their lives, but Zaphaniea calmly raised her hands and swatted at it, as if she were hitting a beach ball.
Alf couldn't believe his eyes as the massive fireball turned in midair and headed back towards the fortress.
At that moment, a wall crumbled to reveal a second group of soldiers on the right side of the fortress. They had just finished charging another enormous fireball, and were about to launch it, when they realized the first one was headed straight towards them.
The poor men barely had time to widen their eyes in fright, much less launch their blazing attack, before the fireball Zaphaniea had redirected slammed into them.
Both fireballs imploded, and Alf and the crowd watched in breathtaking awe as the fortress the X soldiers had constructed was ripped off its foundations and sucked into the blazing inferno. Then the implosion, having consumed enough oxygen, exploded, and the entire coliseum rocked as it spewed sand, dirt and fire high into the sky.
The black smoke blotted out the horizon as the inferno billowed outward in a gigantic wave towards the spectators.
Blue shields shimmered to life, reaching from the guard rail all the way to the ceiling, and the raging inferno impacted harmlessly upon them.
Despite the protective barrier, Alf took several large steps backwards.
If it hadn't been for the shield around the outer side of the pit, Alf and the others, along with half the people in the stands, would have been incinerated.
The youngest maid pressed her face against the shield, trying to see through the fire. "She used their own attack against them. That is so cool."
"She did at that," the eldest sister agreed.
"Finally, someone who uses their head," the redhead said from behind him.
"Look!" Olivia shouted as she pointed at the battlefield.
Such an explosion should have ended the fight, but by some miracle, forty-seven of the men on the battlefield had reacted fast enough to gather and protect themselves with ice walls and a group channeled shield. The smoke hadn't even dissipated yet, but Alf could make out their figures with their hands pressed firmly against the ground, charging their next attack.
"Those are some disciplined men," the prince said in admiration.
Zaphaniea had her hands in the air and was blowing kisses to the cheering crowd when without warning she jumped and snapped her fingers, sending herself flying backwards. As she flew away, the ground beneath her, and all around where she had stood, erupted in thousands of giant, curved spikes.
The X soldiers immediately reacted as one group after their attack missed. Dispelling their shield, they launched a wind spear at the champion while she still hung mid-air.
The wind spear howled as it raced towards Zaphaniea's unprotected back, and Alf's breath caught in his throat, but as the magic attack loomed closer, the grand champion turned with an air of supreme calmness, her hands already up, and simply swatted at it. The spear of wind turned around in midair, just like the fireball had done, and went screaming back towards the group of men.
Drake clenched the balustrade till his fingers turned white. "Impossible. She seems to know exactly what they're doing before they even do it."
The X soldiers tried to bring back up their shield, but it was all in vain. The spear smashed straight through the barrier like a hammer through glass, plowed into the men, and launched them flying in all directions like helpless rag dolls.
When the wind dissipated, only a handful of survivors were left, and they lay scattered around the ruined earth fortress like leaves in the wind. Still, the hardened warriors popped right back to their feet and wasted no time gathering together. Forming a large circle around the ruined fortress, as one, they started channeling short lightning strands at each other. In a matter of seconds, the wind roared and dark clouds gathered in the sky as a gigantic, circular lightning array formed, crackling and sparking between them.
As lightning bounced around and in-between the soldiers like the spokes of a giant wheel, Alf watched in fascination. "What are they doing?" he asked, reaching into the medallion and pulling out the bag of popcorn he'd stashed earlier.
Drake blinked in disbelief. "I've only seen this once before, and that was when my father's elite bodyguards were practicing it."
"What is it, and what does it do?" Alf asked eagerly as he popped a handful of popcorn into his mouth.
"I don't know what it's supposed to do," Olivia answered as she nervously watched the sky above the arena. "But it's causing a massive imbalance in the electrons in the air. If they don't stop soon, we'll have a real lightning storm on our hands."
"That's exactly what they want," Drake said. "If they're skilled enough, they will be able to direct those lightning strikes at the champion."
The sky crackled and the world flashed as a massive arc of lightning shot down towards the grand champion. Mere inches before it turned her into crispy bacon, she snapped her fingers, shooting herself backwards, and the lightning bolt smashed harmlessly into the ground.
Milliseconds later, the entire arena shook with the sound of thunder and then continued to shake as the crowd broke forth into shouts of excitement.
Drake's face turned as white as a sheet and he nearly toppled off the box he stood upon as he shouted, "Impossible! That's just not possible! It's impossible to dodge a lightning bolt, I tell you!"
As if in defiance to Drake's words, another lightning bolt split the sky and headed straight for the champion. Just like before, she snapped her fingers, once again pushing herself out of its way. With a thunderous boom, the lightning crashed into the ground, burning through the sod and leaving a black, smoking mark where Zaphaniea had once stood.
The wind continued to rip and roar as the sky broke forth and four more lightning bolts shrieked down towards the grand champion, one right after the other, each so bright and loud, the end of the world seemed to be at hand. Still, against all possible odds, the grand champion dodged each and every one as if she knew when and where they would occur.
Then the sound of thunder echoed in the clouds, shaking the coliseum as the X soldiers lost control of the lightning array.
"We need to get out of here!" Olivia screamed at the top of her lungs in an attempt to make herself heard over the endless roar. "They over did it. They overcharged the air, and the imbalance has become too much for them to handle."
Alf dropped his bag of popcorn into the arena in horror as lightning broke through the sky and shot straight for them, but as the light reached out, it suddenly turned in mid-air and slammed into one of the X soldiers. The soldier's shield drained away, and he crumpled uselessly to the ground, held in place by the arena's second protective barrier.
"Wha..." Alf muttered rubbing at his eyes and trying to see through the streaks left in his vision.
"Look!" the short maid shouted. Her long brunette hair fell out of its bun as she vigorously pointed at the grand champion.
In the middle of the battlefield, Zaphaniea stood with arms outstretched. Her hair whipped about her face, and her lips curled into an expression of pure satisfaction.
As the air crackled with energy, another lightning bolt blazed from the heavens and headed for the stands. Zaphaniea's hand was already in motion. Reaching out for the lightning bolt, she stretched out her fingers and flicked them to the right. The pulsating energy veered from its original course and plowed into another X soldier.
Alf stared at the battleground. Olivia was right about them losing control, but it seemed that the grand champion had been waiting for this as she redirected yet another lightning bolt into her enemies.
Finally realizing what was happening, the soldiers tried to stop the lightning array and run for cover.
But as they broke formation, a fourth bolt of lightning pierced the heavens and Zaphaniea's arms whipped out, redirecting the bolt into the center of their array and overcharging it. A look of pure glee spread across Zaphaniea's face, and her laughter echoed across the battlefield as the array took on a life of its own. The entire left side of the arena turned into a crackling blue pit of energy, and the scent of burnt ozone permeated the atmosphere.
Olivia gripped Alf's arm in fear. Her eyes filled with terror, and Alf followed her gaze skyward to see the clouds flash purple, then explode as an endless stream of lightning ripped the sky asunder.
Down in the arena, the grand champion floated into the sky; her hair stood on end, and her hands danced as she guided each new ray of death into the roiling mass.
"She's utterly insane," Drake cried as the firmament spewed forth an unending supply of lightning.
The X soldiers tried to ground out the expanding energy with earth magic while protecting themselves with channeled shields, but Zaphaniea guided home the deadly bolts time and time again, smashing every pocket of resistance until, one by one, the last of the survivors fell to the ground, defeated.
As the dust settled, nothing but a pile of dirt and a string of unconscious bodies lay where the X soldiers and their fortress had once stood.
Slowly, the rolling thunder faded away, and the announcer shouted, "And the winner is...," he paused for dramatic effect, "Zaphaniea! The still undefeated grand champion of the arena."
Zaphaniea gave a flourishing bow, and the entire arena picked up where the thunder had left off as the crowd broke forth in wild screams of adoration. Grown men fainted, and long-term fans ripped their shirts off, revealing elaborate body arts as an endless stream of flowers rained down into the arena. Even Olivia and the maids cheered wildly.
Alf whooped and hollered right along with them. He had never seen anything like that. Something so ama... His thoughts trailed off as he noticed Drake just standing there, his face contorted in a scowl.
At long last, the grand champion stood up and walked off the battlefield.
Alf leaned down and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Everything!" Drake whispered. "Absolutely everything! Everything she did is impossible." His voice rose into a shout. "You can't redirect spells, and you can't predict where lightning is going to hit. But she did both, countless times!"
The shortest of the maids started putting her hair back into a bun as she said, "Technically, she only redirected three spells. All the others were lightning bolts."
"That's far worse," Drake countered. "The entire way lightning works should make what she did impossible, but she did it over and over again!"
Ignoring the prince's outburst, the head maid said, "You can come out now sweetie. The lightning's stopped."
The redheaded maid uncurled from behind a set of chairs, straightened her clothing, and said, "I was not afraid. I was simply being cautious."
"Suurre," her younger sister quipped.
Before an argument could breakout, the announcer's voice rang throughout the arena. "Zaphaniea's next fight will be in an hour. In the meantime, we have a special match for you. Fifteen men thought they'd have a little fun with one of the lasses here and found themselves challenged to a fight for honor by our vice champion."
A loud twanging sound brought Alf's attention back to the arena, and he startled as the battlefield flickered and disappeared, only to be replaced by a smaller one. On one side, a man dressed in green armor, wearing a metallic silver face mask, stood all alone. On the other side, a group of fifteen, rough looking, street punks huddled together.
The maid finished fixing her hair and asked, "Hey, how did the land change like that?"
"The arena has two battlefields, the warped land and the default one," Drake answered as he poked angrily at a scrying depicting clips of the last fight. "This is the default one."
"Let the mysterious vice champion versus the Backstreet Boys' fight begin!" the announcer's voice boomed.
"Hey look guys, the vice champion's so ugly he has to wear a mask," shouted the ringleader of the Backstreet Boys.
Without saying a word, the vice champion lowered his hand to his sword, leaned forward, and disappeared.
The punks stared on, blinking their eyes in disbelief.
Then the man in green reappeared behind the ringleader, pulled his sword out in an glimmering arc, and sliced the hooligan clean in half, or would have, if not for the arena's shield. Instead, the man went flying into the stadium wall, where he hit with an earth-shattering crash and slowly slid to the ground, unconscious.
Then the vice champion sheathed his sword and disappeared.
The ringleader's groupies stood there, their jaws hanging open, their eyes bugging out of their heads as they turned left and right, trying to find where the vice champion had disappeared to.
As if in response to their unspoken question, dirt swirled and grass flew as the vice champion flashed back into view a few yards in front of them. He leaned forward, and with a flick of his finger, disengaged his sheath from his belt.
"You are so dead," one of the boys shouted and charged screaming towards him. His fellow companions followed behind him, yelling insults and slurs.
As the men charged him, the man in green calmly lowered his shoulders, held his sheath off to his left, and drew his sword in a slicing arc faster than the eye could follow.
A roaring boom echoed throughout the arena as a wave of white wind shot away from the vice champion and smashed into the Backstreet Boys. The wind mowed them all down as if they were a field of wheat being harvested by an invisible scythe, and one by one they toppled to the ground, unmoving.
The vice champion stood up, flourished his sword, and slammed it into its sheath.
A pin drop could've been heard in the ensuing silence. The entire fight had lasted less than fifteen seconds, and yet, without a doubt, it was over.
"And your winner is...," the announcer's voice rang out, shattering the silence, "the mysterious vice champion. I hope none of you blinked because, if you did, you missed the fight."
With those words, the vice champion waved his hand as he bowed, then vanished.
"Alright folks, the next fight will be in an hour."
Alf looked down at the unconscious Backstreet Boys. He wasn't sure what had just happened, and from the looks of it, no one else did either. In fact, no one had had a chance to clap, much less react, and from what he could see, most of the bystanders seemed to have missed the fight altogether.
"That was odd," Drake said as he turned away from the balustrade. "I didn't see him use any magic. In fact, it didn't seem as if he used any at all."
"I didn't even have time to use Ra'avah," Olivia added, a bit in shock herself. "But he had to be using magic. Does that mean his energy is invisible like Vackzilian's?"
"No," Drake shook his head. "I can see Vackzilian's magic with Dragon Ra'avah."
"Then how did he disappear?"
"Disappear? He didn't disappear," Alf said. "He just moved so fast you could barely see him."
Drake frowned. "You could see him? To us, he vanished."
"Ya," Alf said. "But like I said, he moved so fast I almost lost track of him a few times. And that thing he did at the end with his sword, wow!"
"Ah, here you guys are," the supervisor said as he shuffled up to them. "I was afraid you ran off. You all looked like the honest type, except for that kid there, but you can never tell nowadays. As per our agreement, you guys watched two matches, now you have to help me clean up," he said.
"Follow me." The man turned around and began to walk away.
"No deal," Drake called after him. "The fight with the vice champion was completely on accident."
The supervisor glanced back over his shoulder at Drake. "Trying to get out of work huh? As I thought, you're not the honest type."
Alf chuckled and pushed the child towards the supervisor, "It's all right, the green guy didn't make that big of a mess. It should be pretty easy to clean up after him."
Olivia sighed deeply as she followed. "Zaphaniea, on the other hand, definitely left a mess."
The sound of the crowd faded away as they reentered the undercroft. "I'm guessing we have to level out the ground and replace the sod before her next match?" Olivia asked.
The tired man wiped his forehead and his tone softened. "Aye. That we do. I hope some of you are good at earth magic, or we'll have to do everything by hand."
"I am," Alf offered.
He sighed in relief. "That's good. Frankly, I don't know how we're going to be able to clean it up in time for the next match. She knocked most of those men out so hard they won't be waking up for hours. We'll have to carry most of them off ourselves."
The red haired maid wrinkled her nose. "Ugh, carrying over a hundred stinky, unconscious men off the field of battle does not sound like my cup of tea."
"It's not fun. Believe me, I know," the heavyset man confirmed.
The eldest sister spoke up, "Do they not usually have a crew of men to do this type of thing?"
The supervisor sighed once more, "We did, but they all quit after the match where Zaphaniea beat the living tar out of the Buffanators. The team consisted of more than two hundred men, each one weighing over two hundred pounds. She knocked every single one of them out for hours, and to top it off, she put a giant crater in the middle of the battlefield. Normally, we'd have an entire day to cleanup a mess like that, but thanks to this insane expedition, we only had an hour. Two of my workers collapsed from heatstroke, and one had a heart attack, so the men said they'd had enough and quit."
"And you got stuck trying to find someone to replace them," Olivia added.
"Yeah," the haggard man harrumphed. "I've gone through four different groups already. And I'll be honest with you, the words gotten around town that no pay is worth the amount of work it takes to do this job."
"That explains the reason you were so desperate when I found you," the silver haired maid said.
"Aye. The arena master is away on business so his son is in charge. He offered to help me if I couldn't find anyone, but he's never achieved Patuah, and he's always been rather sickly."
"Ah, here we are," the supervisor said as they came to a long hallway. "I figure I'll let you guys fix up the beta pit while I procure the sod for the other."
Alf nodded. "That's fine."
"I'll be back in a few then," the man said and started to walked off. "Oh ya, just push the bodies down the medical hatchets along the wall," he called back then disappeared around the corner.
Alf led the others down the hall and out onto the small field where the sound of the crowd once again washed over them. "I'll fix the dirt if you guys get the men."
"Sounds good," Drake answered.
As everyone else commenced in pulling the unconscious Backstreet Boys off the field, Alf made his way out to were the wind explosion from the vice champion's attack had left a furl in the ground.
Olivia grabbed one of the boys by his hands and started dragging him. As his smell wafted into the air, she crinkled her nose. "Ugh, this guy stinks."
"Use wind spell's to keep the unpleasant odor out of your nostrils," Drake suggested. He and the shortest maid pushed the ringleader of the punks through one of the medical hatches the supervisor had mentioned.
The maid gave the ringleader one last shove onto the slide leading down to what Alf guessed was the infirmary. "And we might want to find gloves," she exclaimed in disgust as she looked at her grime-covered hands.
Alf finished fixing the sod, picked up two of the comatose men, and carried them to the closest hatch. "Six down and only nine more to go."
"You mean a hundred and fifty-nine," Drake grumbled.
"Try not to think about it," Alf said and gently laid the two punks he carried onto a medic slide.
As the group worked, and the sun climbed into the sky, the youngest maid stood up, dusted off her hands and asked, "Hey, do you guys wanna know how the Stone of Kay got its name?"
"You mean the stone with the skill 'Traverse Wake' in it?" Olivia said glancing at the sword hanging on Alf's belt.
"Ya. My sister," she waved at the redhead, "shirked work this morning back at Brokovich while Alf took a nap."
The indicated sister placed her hands on her hips and said, "I did not shirk. I looked up valuable information while you played with pig guts."
"Well, do tell," Olivia said before the younger maid had a chance to respond to her sister's comment.
"Yes. I would like to know as well," Drake said as he pushed the man he and Olivia had dragged off the field into a hatch.
"Wait, don't you know already," Alf asked. "You seemed to know all about Traverse Wake."
"No, I have never heard this story before," the prince replied.
"Then how do you know about it?"
The prince raised his hand and the air popped; then the sound of the crowd faded away. "In the Imperial Library there is a giant conglomeration of books on all the spells, skills, and abilities that have been discovered over the years. When I was only twelve years old, my father had me start memorizing them. I complained at the time, but since then, I am glad I memorized those books as they've helped me immensely in my forty years."
"So you know all the spells and abilities there are?" Alf asked.
Drake shook his head. "There are a lot of skills and abilities that I don't know because they were never recorded in the books."
Olivia's eyes lit up in curiosity. "Really, like what?"
"I am sad to say a great many things, like how Vackzilian is able to control the weather or how he and his minions can move their hands and throw things around like they do." The prince knelt down and placed his hand next to one of the unconscious men. Pulling water from the ground, he formed three, slender ice cylinders and rolled the man on to the devices. Then, using the poles, he pushed him across the grass and towards a hatch. "I believe you were about to tell us the stone's history," Drake said, looking over at the middle sister as the others watched him.
"I was. Until you bored us with your childhood woes," the maid said snarkily then grabbed her own back street boy and started to drag him.
The eldest sister raised an eyebrow at her.
"Fine," she said with a toss of her head. She set the man she was dragging back down, and taking a seat on his comatose form, lowered her voice. "It was six hundred years ago in the battle for Montipora.
"A young coral miner, who was a low ranking officer, was assigned the task of using an underwater cave to sneak past the enemy fleet and attack the right side of the city. But the cave was uncharted, and he and his men were lost for days in its murky depths. With the only way out guarded by an enemy contingent, the party despaired of hope until... they stumbled across the remains of a battle fought eons before, and the coral miner found a stone on the pommel of an old rusty sword with the green gem of 'Traverse Wake' glowing softly in its violet depths. Using its power, they erected an unbreakable charged shield and smashed through the enemy line an-"
Drake leapt to his feet. "Wait. Are you saying 'Traverse Wake' enables a charged shield to be moved around?"
The maid glared at him. "Yes. Apparently, if someone that is following via 'Traverse Wake' casts a charged shield, the shield follows as well."
"It seems this skill is far more dangerous then I first thought," the prince muttered.
Drake was right, Alf thought as he sent two more hooligans down the chute. According to the combat tactic manual he'd read, battleships were currently the most powerful combat tools because they enabled charged shields to be moved. With a moving vessel, one could charge into the enemy forces while charging massive spells and still be protected, but without a battleship, the magic casters would be sitting ducks for the enemy forces once they dropped their shields to cast their attacks. Of course, someone could use a channeled shield instead of a charged one, which would allow for movement, but it wouldn't provide enough defense.
"Which means," he continued his thoughts out loud, "if Traverse Wake is really able to move a charged shield, then anybody using it can become a moving battleship on land," he whispered.
"Exactly, Drake said.
Alf glanced down at the Stone of Kay imbedded in his sword. If the story was right, they might actually have a chance against Vackzilian after all.
The maid crossed her arms, "Can I continue my story now?"
"Certainly," the prince replied. "Please do."
She frowned at him but continued none the less.
"The young coral miner and his men broke through the enemy line and back to the imperial camp where he was promptly summoned by his commanding officer. The officer listened to his story, and after a demonstration of Traverse Wake, he escorted the coral miner directly to the general. After hearing the man's story, and seeing Traverse Wake in action for himself, the general stared at the stone for a long time until at last he asked, 'Do you think you can help us get over the city's walls?'
The young man with the stone shrugged and said, 'I guess so. If you can get me over the wall. From what I've seen, anyone who wants to follow me should be able to.'
The general then jumped to his feet and started to shout orders. Within a matter of minutes, he had a group of three hundred men gathered, and he explained the mission to the soldiers. Using the skill in the stone the man had found, they would mentally choose to follow him as he traveled over the city's wall.
After he was done, the young coral miner asked, 'But how do you plan on getting me over the wall?'
To which the general replied, 'That's easy, the catapult.'
'What?!' the man shouted. But before he could argue, the general's men grabbed him, tied him to a stone, and placed him in the catapult.
'This could kill me!' the young man shrieked.
The general leaned close to him and whispered, 'Sometimes sacrifices have to be made to win the day.' And with that, the general gave the signal to shoot the catapult.
The man went flying and everyone followed him via Traverse Wake, including the general.
As the city wall loomed closer and closer, the young coral miner let out a horrified scream.
Two seconds later, they flew over the castle wall and the general bellowed 'Follow me' as he, and a group of his officers, used a powerful wind spell to help them land lightly on the ground while the man strapped to the catapult's stone slammed into the city's inner shield.
It wasn't long before the general and his men secured the city and the fighting came to an end, at which point the general walked over to where the man with the stone had landed never to get up again and took the stone from him as he said, 'Thanks for the stone Kay.'
"Which is why the stone is called the Stone of Kay," the redheaded maid proclaimed joyously.
Alf dropped the man he was carrying. "That's horrible."
"I don't know. I thought it was a rather funny story, shooting a man over a wall with a catapult to take a city," the maid said with a snicker.
"No, it's not funny at all," Olivia said. "That general was a wicked man."
Drake rubbed his chin with his hand. "I see. The general wanted the stone but couldn't have it because of the empire's spoil law, which states that all spoil found by a soldier belongs to that soldier. His tactic for getting it was sound, though a little morally ambiguous."
"Not at little. A lot," Alf declared.
Drake ignored him and spoke to the maid, "Did it say how it ended up in Zechariah's possession?"
She nodded. "The Emperor found out what the general had done and stripped him of his power. He then took the stone from him, placed it on the decorative sword Alf now has, and personally delivered the stone to Kay's hometown. It served as a tribute to the man who took the city that no one else could. There the stone has remained for the last six hundred years, and from the records I read, it seems that it was passed down to the leaders of the town as a symbol of the Emperor's favor, though I doubt any of them remembered why."
"..see you're almost done," the supervisor said as he walked out onto the field and into Drake's sound spell, shattering it. "I got the grass. If the lass there would get off the last fellow.... we could move onto the big field."
The redheaded maid smiled like a school girl caught with her hand in the cookie jar and stood up. She dusted off her backside as Alf picked up the man he'd dropped, and the last of the hooligans, and finished sending them down the nearest shoot.
"Alright," the supervisor said examining the field with a critical eye, "looks good." He waved his hand. "Follow me."
Alf and the others followed the supervisor across the field to a giant archway in the far wall. As they walked through the opening, they entered a large, two way tunnel. The right side led to the undercroft and the other curved down and around.
"This way," the supervisor said taking the left path.
As they exited the tunnel, they emerged into a wide open, cavern-like structure with a low hanging ceiling. White glass strips lined the roof, the same ones that ran along the walls and ceiling in other parts of the arena, and as they walked forward, the strips switched on, lighting up the massive space.
"Where in the world are we?" the youngest sister asked.
Alf was wondering the same thing when his eye caught on something along the wall. "We're in the larger field," he exclaimed. "Look, there's my popcorn."
"Don't even think about it," Olivia said as he started to run over to retrieve the fallen goods. "It's all over the ground. Besides, we are here to work not eat."
Alf sighed and gazed mournfully at his popcorn. That was the first popcorn he'd eaten in fifteen years.
"If you want, I can switch the arenas around," the supervisor said. "It only takes the flip of a switch."
"The way it is, is fine," the eldest sister said. "It's much quieter and cooler down here."
"True, but it's also a bit stuffier. But to each their own," the man said as he looked out at the field. "Ah man, just look at this mess. Dragging these guys halfway across the field is going to be a nightmare."
It's going to be at that, Alf thought. The grand champion had knocked most of them out smack dab in the middle of the massive fighting pit. "Hey, what if I craft giant earth waves to push all the men to the side of the battlefield? That way it will make it a lot easier for us to drag the soldiers the rest of the way off."
"Ha! I wish. It takes a master of earth magic to do that," the supervisor grumbled.
Drake grabbed Alf's arm as he said, "I am a master. In fact, I cast the highest level earth magic just last night."
The boy let go of Alf's arm and smacked his palm against his forehead.
"A bum like you?" the supervisor laughed. "An earth master?".
"But I am."
"You're delusional. There's only two master earth users in this entire city and both of them are multi-millionaires. It takes years of training to master earth magic, and there's no way a fellow like you who has no money could ever afford that training."
Without a word, Alf took a few steps forward, leaned down, touched the soft dirt, and started to charge the ground.
Drake's eyes filled with alarm. "Alf, stop! Don't make a fool of yourself."
"I won't. I'm sure I can do it," Alf replied.
Desperately trying to stop Alf, Drake turned to Olivia. "Olivia, stop him!"
Olivia looked at Drake and frowned. "Alf, for some reason, I don't think using earth magic recklessly here is a good idea."
He glanced back at her. "You think I'll lose control?"
Olivia shrugged and pointed at Drake who had walked behind the man and was making weird facial expressions and crossing his arms in a giant X. Seeing them looking past him, the supervisor glanced back to see Drake in a weird pose. Reaching out, he grabbed the boy by the scruff of his neck. "It's not funny to make fun of your elders," he scolded as he shook him. He swung back towards Alf and jutted his head towards the field. "You better pay attention to what you're doing. I don't want to end up with a spike through my stomach, though I do want to see you try this."
"The boy wasn't making fun of you. He appears to be worried about me messing up the spell or something. It's not possible that the spells here would interfere with mine is it?"
The supervisor peered down at Drake, and realizing his mistake, let him go. "Don't worry kid. This place might seem dangerous, but it's perfectly fine," he said patting the boy's head.
Drake rolled his eyes, crossed his arms, and muttered under his breath, "I'm surrounded by idiots."
"Then you might want to stand back," Alf said ignoring Drake's comment. "I'm ready to give it a try."
The supervisor took a few wary steps back as he argued, "You haven't charged it anywhere near long enough. All that can do is make a small wall or ditch."
"If I charged it any more, it could get dangerous. This should be enough," Alf replied. He stood up, took his own step backwards, and let the spell go.
A wave spanning more than half of the field slowly rose until it reached as high as Alf's waist; then it flowed forward like a wave on a beach, gently rolling all of the unconscious men in its way to the edge of the pit."
Alf put his hands on his waist as he turned a smug smile on the supervisor.
Instead of the congratulations he was expecting, though, the man fell on his butt and cried, "Who are you, and what do you want!?
Alf stared at the hysterical man in utter confusion.
The fellow must have mistaken Alf's expression for something other than confusion, because the blood drained away from his face and he screamed. "No, no! You won't be able to rig the next fight. It's impossible! And I won't help you no matter what Marcus has you do to me."
"What?" Alf muttered.
Drake rubbed his forehead and sighed. "I tried to tell you Alf, your power is way beyond anything this man has ever seen. It would normally take a group of twenty men to make a wave that big. Of course the poor man is going to freak out."
This time the blood in Alf's face drained away. "Oh..."