Chapter Four

Today we finally demonstrate our powers and abilities. Mages will show off their magic abilities, warriors will show off their combat skills, and thieves will show off their talents. Mages will go first, and our skills vary. They can be anything from elemental to puppets to spiritual to mental abilities. A mage with elemental magic can usually only control one element. Some very talented or very powerful mages can control two elements. These elements include air, water, metal, earth, fire, ice. A mage who controls things like puppets is actually considered a possession magic. Any inanimate object like dolls, keys, weapons, hollowed tiki pieces are considered puppets.

The majority of the time they can make these puppets do anything they want or need them to do. Possession magic is carefully watched however because the dark side of possession can control human souls. Mental abilities are things like telekinesis, drawing, and building; anything that requires you to think of it then do it or where you can gather the thoughts of someone or something else. Spiritual magic is where fairies or spirits of different things help you out.

Lucky for me, the man with fiery hair is the first one to go. I ask Ayita if she knows anything about him, and she says that all she knows is that his whole entourage uses dark tricks in all three categories. Because they are not harming anyone with their evil ways, they are watched closely but not imprisoned. His name is Merikh, which seems to fit him. I determine that his dark, powerful magic is a reflection of his soul or possibly just because of the nation from which they came.

Ayita’s turn comes quickly enough, and she has strong, entertaining magic. With graceful movement and ease, little balls of light, silver with a light pink aura, shoot quickly from her hands. It is as if she has picked stars out of the night sky and made them dance around the arena. Someone could be seriously injured watching these dancing balls. Ayita’s magic falls into the spiritual magic category.

There is a couple of guys who are elemental magicians one of them can control fire. He does not have to demonstrate very much other than how he can control his fire. There is a lot of power in hot flames like his. It is very destructive.

The guy right after him is an earth elemental mage. He shows off all the things he can control or do with the power of earth on his side. Earth seems very strong and possibly more reliable than fire is. The elders watching the matches let the two spar showing their different strengths better.

Finally, it’s my turn, and I walk into the arena. Although I’m feeling a little nervous that I won’t measure up somehow, I realize that’s not the point of these demonstrations. I decide to show my fire first. We are provided with targets that are supposed to represent the enemy. I pretend that I am in one of my teacher’s, Master Bellsulion, magic classes. I shoot my first ball of fire and let it sit there while I send out two others. I can hear the awe in the crowd as they notice that nothing is burning and that my flames are uniquely my own green and purple. I then make them grow in size and even explode; I still don’t let them burn anything.

A talent like this could make an enemy run in fear before I ever harmed them. I decide that I shouldn’t show all of my tricks, so I do one last demonstration with my fire. I control how fast it burns an object of my choosing. I could let it do a slow agonizing burn or a fast sanitizing one. After I finish, the elder watching over our demonstrations calls me out of the arena. They will use our talents to decide where to place everyone. I showed a strong, controlled magic just like Bellsulion taught me, but I don’t feel it came anywhere close to Ayita’s performance.

Ayita and I replace seats on the outside rim of the arena to watch the other mages demonstrate their crafts. Once the mage trials finish, the warrior trials begin. They usually display their skills in mock fights or by showing their forms they can shift into. Some warriors can only shift pieces of their bodies into weapons or into parts of animals. Warriors are extremely complex when it comes to the array of talents some possess. Some warriors have extraordinary bo-stick talents, some possess super strength, and others have amazing skills using a blade; even more impressive are the warriors that can morph into different creatures. The different types of warriors and combat skills being used amazes me, and even the women are fierce. We are only halfway through this part of the trials, and it’s already mid-afternoon. In order to regain our strength, everyone takes a late lunch break.

We empty out of the arena and into an open field nearby. While I’m enjoying the break and a chance to finally eat, I can’t wait to see the unique skills of the thieves’ category. I’m also starting to think about the man with the haunting eyes again. Something in me wants to befriend him and show him all the joy and wholeness life can offer What baffles me most about him is his dark presence. I am determined to replace some little bit of light inside of him. I turn to Ayita and ask if she has any juicy details about him.

“Well, we sure do have an eye for the dark, broody ones, don’t we?” She winks and laughs at me. “I do know that he is an elf, but he doesn’t want other people to know that, so he always has the appearance of a normal human. But, his elvish blood shines through too much for people to believe it. His assassin-type skills are said to be the very best. He is a pessimistic loner and couldn’t save his childhood love from the hate that seemed to follow him everywhere.”

I can’t stop my eyes from searching him out and wishing I could help ease his pain.

“Even though he has spilled no blood, rumors say his heart is cold and dark with self-hatred and loathing.”

I can only imagine the hurt and anger he feels at the love of his life turning on him because of something he can’t control. It’s no wonder his eyes appear as they do.

Everyone finishes eating and heads back to the arena to finish out the rest of the day. When almost everyone has shown their skills, someone who stands up to take his turn catches my attention. He is tall with well-formed muscles; sun-darkened skin; short, spiky midnight blue hair that’s so dark it’s almost black; and pure, glowing blue eyes that seem to contain a silver crescent.

He has my full attention before he’s even halfway through his demonstrations. He is enthusiastic and full of energy, and his skills are numerous and extraordinary: bo-stick, blade, hand-to-hand combat. And, just when I think he can’t do any more, he transforms, shifting from human form into a night blue wolf. He has silver crescent eyes (this makes sense, considering what I saw before) and silver tips in his fur, along with silver tipped paws and a howl that makes my heart skip a beat. He is so majestic looking, I can’t take my eyes off him.

The terrain changes, and he takes off as if he’s after his prey. Suddenly, the terrain changes again, and he is surrounded by animated human targets. These figures start firing their weapons at him, obviously aiming to kill, but he snarls viciously and rips off their limbs. When he is finished, he lets out a victory howl that sends chills up my spine. He shifts back into human form, and wild whispers erupt through the crowd.

“Who is this man?”

“How can one person have so many different talents up his sleeve?”

“Is that all he’s capable of, or is he hiding more dangerous tricks?”

After the remaining warriors perform, it is not time for the thieves. I am sure to be blown away even more by their many talents. The festival masters changed the whole arena for them. There are objects that have to be stolen, items to camouflage with or behind, locks to pick, dummies to attack, and other things one could only imagine.

The thieves are even more amazing than one could imagine, each thief better than the last. One is silent and almost completely invisible in the darkness. She is able to back into the darkness almost like it decided to swallow her completely.

Another one is just as silent in the light. He is able to blend into his surroundings or maybe he just made us think he can. I am not totally sure. No one can see him, I watch hard trying to replace him. It’s like a trick of the light almost as if he can bend the light around his body. I am curious to know if he will be counted as an illusionary thief.

The next one appears in the middle of a thunderstorm. His target is to get the captive dummy free from the AI robots. Suddenly, lightning strikes down beside him. Then he disappears just as suddenly, like he rides the lightning back up into the storm.

During this time, I start to get a dull pain in my stomach. The longer I sit there, the worse it becomes, but I am determined to stay and keep my eye out for the man with the haunting eyes. I am just about to give up and go see a nurse when he walks silently, but gracefully, into the arena. I forget all about my stomach and watch him with such focus, nothing can distract me. The arena suddenly turns into a forest, and he just disappears. It is quiet for a moment while everyone tries to figure out where he could have gone.

The entire arena gasps as arrows fly from random trees and hit a dummy in the middle of the circle. Eight arrows flew very quickly out of the trees before one could even tell where they came from. Although his skills can kill someone very easily, he spills no blood, and this surprises me. If everyone already hates him for it, why prove them right by using those skills for evil? I also realize he must have some light somewhere in his brooding heart.

The pain in my stomach is becoming severe, so I think it’s time to visit the nurse. I look over at Ayita, but she clearly senses my distress, because she’s already standing up with a look of concern on her face. She grabs my arm and helps me to the nurse’s tent.

I try to keep my mind off my pain and exclaim, “I don’t know what to do Ayita! I am in excruciating pain, but I don’t want to miss the dinner tonight.” She gives me a sweet smile like a mother about to sooth her child.

“Don’t worry, Elysia, they usually only match up the most obvious people before dinner actually starts. Sometimes, they do half matches like mages and warriors or mages and thieves. You need to take care of yourself. If you get matched, I will notify them of your illness.”

I huff, “Alright, fine. But, you act like I have some kind of fatal disease, and they have to see me before I die.”

She giggles. “How do you know you don’t have some kind of fatal disease?” Before I can answer, we enter the nurse’s tent, and I am immediately approached by one.

The nurse tells me to replace a seat on one of the beds and tell her what’s wrong. I tell her about my stomach pains, and she knits her brows together and performs a magic examination to see if she can sense what’s wrong. After a few minutes, she decides that I must have a stomach virus. She orders me to take an elixir she concocts and puts me on bed rest for the rest of the night. I down the disgusting liquid and try my best not to whine.

“Don’t worry; I am sure if they have a match for you this evening, your friend here will explain how you will meet them at the full matching ceremonies in the morning after breakfast. Now, go lie down and get some sleep, so you can go in the morning.”

The nurse is stern, but she smiles, and I nod. Ayita helps me up, and we head back to our tent.

When we walk out of the nurses’ tent, there are people all over, and the festival is abuzz with activity. Seeing this tells me that the thieves are finished, and everyone has been released to prepare for dinner. We are in sight of our tent when Ayita and I are shoved by a group of warriors. I almost catch my balance when I trip and start to fall to the ground. I suddenly feel a pair of strong, sun-darkened arms around me.

“Whoa there, you okay?” I look up into the face of my rescuer and realize it is the warrior I was so mesmerized by earlier today.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I hear that my voice is squeaky, and I can’t help but feel hypnotized by him again.

He gives me the most wonderful smile, and I almost melt. “Well, I’m glad. Sorry they shoved you. We can get a little too boisterous sometimes.” He laughs as if he had just heard a joke that no one else understands.

His voice is raspy, yet crisp and very dreamy. I am unable to look him in the eye, and he finally lets me go.

“It was nice to meet you! Hope to do it again soon!” I wave goodbye and turn to Ayita who looks back at me with one of those ‘someone-has-a-crush’ faces. I’m just amazed that he even knows my name.

I roll my eyes at her; we giggle and hurry back to our tent. I feel exhausted, and my stomach pains are starting to return. I sprawl out on my bed in a comfortable position and instantly fall asleep.

I’m not asleep very long when I realize someone else is in the room, someone who doesn’t belong there. I bolt upright just in time to see a dagger coming my way. I instinctively roll to the right and land in a heap on the floor as the dagger hits my bed right where I had been lying only moments before. I hear a curse and run quickly towards the direction from which it came. I must’ve taken him off guard, because he goes down relatively easy when I tackle him. There is a brief struggle until he gets the upper hand and places his arm across my collarbone. I lay still, trying to catch my breath, when I notice his eyes.

I gasp as recognition hits me. I had seen those eyes before. We lie there for a moment, as if staring into each other’s souls, and it was like a sudden force connected us. Unexpectedly, he grasps at his chest and rolls off me. Just when I am about to ask what’s wrong, I groan as a searing pain rips through my chest. We both lie there writhing in pain, but it stops just as quickly as it began. I sit up panting and look over to see him doing the same thing.

After a few minutes, I open my mouth to speak, and my left wrist starts burning and glowing. I look down to see why I’m in pain and notice tattoos appearing on my skin. The one on the center of my wrist is a green flame with a purple lightning bolt struck in the middle of it, and on the left side slightly below it is a tree with brown and dark green leaves. My attacker is also staring at his own left wrist. I let out the air I am holding, as the pain subsides.

“What the heck just happened? Why did you try to kill me? What kind of voodoo did you do?” I exclaim at him in a burst of anger.

He just stares at me silently for a few minutes, and this makes me even more frustrated. I start to think he isn’t going to answer when, in a smooth but deep voice, he starts to talk.

“I think....We were just matched.”

I drop my jaw in surprise, as I was not expecting that answer from him. I try to comprehend what he just said, but I am having a difficult time believing it, as this goes against all the stories I have heard regarding matching. I have always been told it’s the masters’ job to match you, so how could it have happened this way? I stare at him in disbelief, waiting for a further explanation.

“I have heard stories from some of my elders that, when evil strikes again, there will be a Triune match so strong and destined, their very souls feel the strength and fire of that connection.”

I refuse to believe what he has just told me. He just tried to kill me! And, now we are matched as two-thirds of our Triune? Something just doesn’t add up. How am I supposed to trust him?

“Why did you try to kill me?” I can hear the anger in my voice, and I don’t try to hide it.

“Well, it’s a long story that we don’t have time for right now. We should focus on the fact that I didn’t kill you, which means we are both now in danger.”

I huff at him. “I hope you don’t think this is the end of this conversation; you need to tell me everything.”

He stands up and holds out his hand. I reject him and stand up on my own, despite the crooked grin he’s giving me. I retort back with my best evil eye. I realize now that we are alone in the tent; I have no idea how late it is or whether everyone else is still at dinner. I start to head towards the entrance of the tent to see what’s going on outside when he grabs my arm.

I turn to look at him. “You can’t go out there now; they are watching to make sure I killed you. If you go out there, they will kill you and then kill me for failing.”

This aggravates me, and I begin to yell at him. “Who wants...” He puts his hand over my mouth before I can finish.

He places his finger over his lips and whispers, “They will hear you. Remember, you are supposed to be dead.”

He seems to know what I am about to ask and shrugs. I can tell he’s hiding something from me, but I decide it’s better to wait until later to discuss that. I go over to my writing desk and write a short letter telling Ayita not to come back to the tent tonight. I said that I was okay and would somehow explain everything to her. I tell him to give her the letter, and he nods and leaves without a sound.

I stare at the entrance flaps, trying to reason out how this could be happening in one of the safest places in over a century. I change my clothes and write another letter, this one to my parents. I tell them that I am alive and safe, and they should wait for me to contact them, no matter what they see or hear. I know they will be furious at the lack of details, but I strongly hope it’s convincing enough for them. The letter is safely in my bag, to be sent off as soon as I can, when I can hear footsteps coming towards my tent. I freeze, not making a sound, and sincerely hope it’s my supposed ‘matched’ elf and not someone else.