Chapter 10

03/03/2018

Light Pillar, Far Country Falls

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park

State of Washington, Newcastle

9:15 AM



Team 3



Finally,  they’re here! The tall pillar of light that speared through the sky  announced that they finally reached Far country Falls. Team 3 had passed  two different marshes and shallow creeks overnight to be before their  objective. Emilia the statuesque African American girl whooped in joy  when she saw that the fruit of their hard work was finally in sight, she  hugged her best friend Jamie who held her tight at her side too. The  petite black girl smile was blinding, she felt a mixture of relief and  elation.

Jamie  laughed and said, “We outmaneuvered them and we are here!” she put a  hand on her chest as she thanked God to have helped her endure and  succeed.

“Something is finally going right.” Wayne relaxed, his gait slowing.

The fire mage still stayed prudent, scanning around him and once satisfied produced a handsome smile.

“Even though the odds were against us, we beat the rest of the teams to the pillar.” Emilia gloated.

Team  three advanced toward the pillar of light passing the shallow creek,  their booted feet treading through the freezing water; they were all  smiles as they reached the other bank, crushing the snow and rocks under  them. Cody who was tired dredged some more vigor and was five meters  from the light when a force ejected him behind preventing him to reach  the goal.

“What the fuck?!” Cody screamed at the top of his lungs.

The  black boy who was all elated earlier as they were about to enter the  big pillar of light, but in one instant a big glowing red line in the  snow appeared. The 7.6m waterfall and a sizable part of the creek froze  around team three suddenly as a wave of intense cold surged in the air.  The girls were about to brave that weird glowing line in the snow, Cody  following them as he wanted to be done with all this exam shit. He has  been turned into a popsicle, fallen in pit traps and he was tired and  hungry.

“Don’t  cross that red line!” Wayne shouted keeping the girls away from the  line in the snow. “It’s a spell!” The boy could feel familiar mana  emanating from the scarlet glowing line. Wayne chanted an Analyze spell.

The  results of the spell analysis weren’t to his liking; this was some kind  of runic construct that acted on the psyche of those who dared to cross  this red line. Cody didn’t listen to him and tried to pass through the  line but a wave of terror engulfed him, making him scream as if someone  was gutting him like a pig. Paralyzed by irrational terror the black boy  was also stricken by incontinence as he soiled his pants.

“Drag him out, Emilia!” Wayne shouted in urgency.

Emilia  grabbed the dumb boy with her telekinesis and dragged him kicking and  screaming from the glowing line. Once that was done an acrid smell of  feces and urine assaulted the tall black girl who looked at Cody with  disgust.

“What the hell is that?!” Jamie screamed.

Her  finger was pointed at the red glowing line separating them from the  goal. She couldn’t believe that they have suffered and pushed on all  night just to be stopped right now!

“This  is a barrier, I have never seen one like that which inflict  psychological effects on someone that crosses it!” Wayne informed loudly  her of his discovery.

Emilia tried to say, “Who could have done th-” but was interrupted.

BAM.  The hulking form of a man in the same uniform and armor as them landed  before them, their CLO identified who it was instantly. Donovan Sims,  aka Titan, a member of team one! Jamie and Emilia’s eyes grew wide as  they saw him rise from his hero landing pose and make a huge grin when  his eyes fell on them all. He began to crack his neck and his knuckles  showing that he was ready to take them on.

Wayne chanted an evocation spell.

A  long projectile of flame came into existence and was projected toward  Donovan who extended a gauntleted hand toward it and when it reached him  he caught it and crushed it. Thanks to Elissa’s ice construct in the  form of a gauntlet, he was ready for the fire mage in team three. Doing  this had the psychological effect to crush Wayne’s confidence in beating  this foe. The fire mage looked disdainfully at Cody who once again  seemed to be useless after ignoring his warning.

Three  other human forms landed at Donovan’s sides with a thundering bang and  electricity crackling beneath them. The leader of team two, Danny Sparks  used her electrical manipulation to cushion her team descent from the  flying sled thirty feet in the sky; once she looked at the fire mage in  team three she blasted him with a beam of electricity she emitted from  her hand that was charged beforehand. Wayne barely deflected the  concentrated electricity safely with a mana barrier, but the strength of  the beam ejected him toward the creek behind his team.

“Carolyn take out the tall girl, she’s a TK like you,” Erika told her friend.

The  willowy blonde looked at Emilia Dor and smiled, unleashing the strength  of her mind as it made rocks and pieces of frozen wood orbit around  her.

“Gladly,” Carolyn said.

Carolyn  let the power of her mind fill her body, boosting her capabilities even  more and she lunged at Emilia who deployed a telekinetic shield in the  form of a sphere to ward off the blonde missile coming toward her. It  worked but she didn’t take into account that Carolyn was a brute; the  blonde girl dug the ground under the shield of Emilia as if she shoveled  it and lifted the tall black girl in the air. Emilia screamed and tried  to levitate to avoid falling in the creek, however, once she  deactivated her shield to fly she was caught by a stone the size of a  fist that hurled toward her and it caused the first shield break for her  as her armor protected her from the oncoming projectile. The tall black  girl ended up in the creek too, landing on Wayne who was trying to  cross.

“Emi!” Her best friend Jamie screamed horrified by the fight that just broke out.

She  looked at her feet and made a disgusted face when she saw Cody still  laid on the ground unconscious. The short girl kicked him in the side.

“Cody, wake up! Do your job!” Jamie screamed at the useless boy.

“I-I am awake, what-” Cody stammered waking up feeling the worse for wear.

He tried to stand but he took time, and Jamie had to help him.

“No time! Team one and two teamed up to take us out! Fight!” Jamie ordered.

She  couldn’t believe she had been so complacent and think things could be  this easy. The short girl looked at her foes and divined the nature of  their power and how strong they were with her sensor abilities. That  Carolyn girl was a stronger telekinetic than her best friend and Danny  Sparks felt like a low Alpha rank with electrical powers. Jamie asked  herself where was Von Braun, the dark horse of this exam.

*Were they waiting for us? Where are the rest of them?!* Jamie asked in her heart.

“Shit, I knew it was too easy!” The strongman cursed.

Cody  felt awful as he noticed that he shat and pissed himself at the same  time, his dignity was crumbling, even more, when he noticed that Jamie  stepped back from him while holding her nose. He got angry at the two  teams for doing this to him and charged toward the shorter blonde with  all his strength, only to be stopped by Donovan who absorbed the kinetic  force of his charge and gained more strength and toughness. The tall  teenager took Cody by the neck and violently put him in the ground and  punched in his armor. The punch hit Cody,  who struggled vehemently against the assault of the taller black boy;  though the result was that he made Donovan even stronger. Donovan slugged Cody on the jaw with the force of a freight train, creating the second shield break. Cody was almost eliminated from the exam.

Erika  went toward Jamie ready to fight, charging at the girl when she foresaw  a lance of fire being thrown at her; Erika ducked and threw herself on  the side. The lance of fire was evaded successfully, Jamie looked behind  her and saw the fire mage of her team who smiled at her and focused on  defending as a blast of ice came to strike at his mana shield.

“Jamie, move you are an easy target!” Wayne screamed.

He  looked at the sky and saw something like a vehicle in the air, dread  filled him when the blue and white contraption shined in the light of  the sun. Two people could be seen on it, a redhead and an Asian girl  with big headphones on her head. Dread filled Wayne when he saw the  vehicle landing, but the boy didn’t despair. He chose to go out with a  bang if he was destined to lose to a superior foe! While the ice sled  was landing, Wayne chanted a spell calling on the most powerful fire  elemental he had command of. The signature spell of his family, it had  never failed in all the history of his lineage!

*Conjure Elemental!* he shouted in his heart.

A  brief spatial tear appeared in the sky, flame, and lava spilling out of  it in big glob for half a second. A screeching cry emitted from a hole  in reality, a bird made of steel melting flame materialized. Wayne  looked defiantly at Elissa who primly climbed out of her snow sled. She  didn’t look concerned at all and it rattled Wayne.

*I effing conjured an Elemental from the plane of Fire and she isn’t even looking at me?!* Wayne complained.

He  expected to see Elissa in awe of his power and mastery of magic! The  Asian girl at her side certainly was looking at him with big eyes and an  open-mouthed expression. But Elissa was just watching the big firebird  with a condescending smile. The fight around them had stilled when Wayne  had materialized the Firebird, Emilia was behind Wayne panting in  exertion. Donovan has shield broke Cody a third time and he was finally out,  the body of the black boy instantly teleported somewhere leaving  Donovan looking around him. Erika didn’t pay attention to the scene and  began to engage Jamie in grappling. Carolyn looked around and found  Emilia but didn’t charge as she did before; the willowy blonde just  gathered the power of her mind in an overwhelming attack, waiting a good  moment to unleash it. Danny Sparks was doing the same, Elissa patted  her shoulder.

A friendly gesture that irritated Wayne even more and made him see red.

“Take me seriously! Von Braun!” The teenager exploded.

The  redhead looked at him as if he was insignificant, bone-chilling disdain  was reflected in her eyes, a predatory smile appeared on her face.  Elissa opened her full and attractive lips to say, “Huh what for? Just  because you manifested a giant flaming chicken?” Elissa taunted, as she  tilted her head.

The  venomous dismissal of his accomplishment stumped Wayne and shocked him.  He had a squad of female magi vying for his attention in the Magi  organization that is led by his father. Wayne has always been a  hardworking and talented boy in the Western magical arts. This young  girl, from an unknown mage line, didn’t even give him the time of day.

“You…” Wayne choked on his words.

He was about to insult her, but he remembered in time what happened to YOD when he pissed Elissa off.

*Calm down, she’s just ignorant, yes that’s it!* Wayne chose to cloak himself in denial.

Elissa  made a sign to Dawn and Danny who erected defenses around them; the  Asian girl, an atmospheric spell and Danny her most powerful forcefield.  The redhead let go of the control she had on her cold aura, the snow  around the area turned into elemental matter and surrounded Elissa. The  redhead began to levitate, as shards of ice orbited and surrounded her,  the glow of the ice magic and cosmic energy the young girl generated  turned her into an ethereal figure bristling with supernatural beauty  and power. The cold becoming more and more unbearable around the  redhead. Donovan moved to generate more kinetic power and gain more  strength and toughness to not freeze. Carolyn levitated in the sky and  escaped the bubble of cold generated over the area. Jamie was shield  broke and lost consciousness as Erika dragged her body to a safe area  away from the expanding sub-zero temperature. Wayne enveloped Emilia who  was behind him in a thermal and atmospheric barrier to stave off the  effect of the cold generated by the redhead.

Once  everyone was protected or away from her, Elissa spoke, “You should take  me seriously, Griffin; after all, you are surrounded by my element.”  The redhead’s voice became cold and menacing.

Elissa  looked at the fire elemental, the extraplanar being shivered and  attacked without input from Wayne the fire mage. The firebird spits a  giant tong of fire at the redhead in her ice avatar state. A temperature  capable of melting steel to the point of fusion warmed the cold  temperature to create water and then steam. The redhead sent raw mana  infused with ice elemental matter toward the flamethrower bird. Absolute  zero against the temperature of Lava.

Wayne was confident enough to say loudly, “In a fight between ice magic and fire magic, it’s always fire that wins!”

However,  his moment of triumph and all his hopes were dashed when the fire  actually froze after the wave of elemental cold struck the fire attack.  The firebird screeched in fear as Elissa’s magic froze it over. The  elemental died as its metaphysical liquid mana core became solid. Elissa  snapped her fingers loudly, and the firebird disappeared into particles  of ice. The redhead turned her head toward Wayne who was frozen in  shock, paralyzed by what he just saw.

“You-you monster!” The fire mage shouted.

She  killed it, the signature spell of his family as if it was nothing to  her! What kind of magical school or discipline this girl used? Were  these the fabled divine spells he had heard from the legends?!

“Ouch, that’s not what you call a Lady.” Elissa quipped.

Wayne  chanted a spell and multiple fire magic missile appeared around him, he  sent them all toward the redhead at breakneck speed, slowly emptying  his mana.

Elissa  huffed in annoyance, “Enough, you are weak.” and the magical  projectiles died around Elissa as they were snuffed out by her pulsating  cold aura.

“Fire  magic always wins in a fight against Ice magic? That’s what you said,  right? You couldn’t be more wrong.” The redhead levitated toward the  fire mage, her feet not even touching the ground.

Elissa held her hand before her, palm extended toward Wayne.

“This is a real evocation magic attack, watch and learn.” She said smugly.

A  freezing blast launched at the speed of thought struck the armor of  Wayne reducing the kinetic energy of the atoms composing it and froze it  with absolute zero temperature. A crack appeared on the steel-like  metal, more and more spread and Wayne's shielding armor were no more. He  didn’t get burned or get any frostbite from the attack, it showed the  control Elissa had on her power and the colossal difference in their  abilities. If he was a shining moon, Elissa was a star.

Wayne  lost all will to fight. Emilia who was protected by the fire mage  atmospheric barrier didn’t want to test Elissa’s might either. They made  a gambit and they’ve lost.

“Do you surrender, team three?!” Elissa’s voice was enhanced with a spell.

Her  voice spread to all present, her presence was overwhelming making  everyone feel as if they were ants gazing at a superior being. Erika  slapped Jamie out of her unconscious state and she woke up with a start  ready to fight when the precog girl stepped back from her. The short  black girl stood up slowly and searched for her teammates. Jamie felt as  if something was missing; then she realized that the vegetation and the  landscape changed from a creek to a tundra-like environment, as the  cold assaulted her. The black girl shivered and put her arms around her  for warmth.

“You  should declare that you are giving up now. I don’t think Von Braun is  in a mood to play anymore.” Erika pointed at the glowing avatar of  death.

Jamie  looked were Erika pointed, staying on her guard but the blonde girl  didn’t attack her. Her eyes fell on Elissa and the redhead looked  terrifying as she levitated unconcerned by everything around her,  waiting. She looked so cold, so detached it hurt to actually look at  her.

“Huh, what happened?” Jamie’s brain finally clicked and looked for answers about her situation.

Erika sighed loudly and crossed her arm under her breastplate looking disparagingly at the black girl.

“Well,  Elissa took out your fire mage, Donovan eliminated your strongman Cody  something… and your friend, Dor is her name, right? She gave up.”

“Shit!” Jamie swore as she saw Emilia hiding behind Wayne who had no armor on.

The  fire mage looked broken as if he was giving up on something. Jamie’s  heart ached for him, he had been a solid guy to have within her team  compared to the useless Cody; he had even protected them from the  elements while they were running all night to reach the light pillar.

“Yeah,  I didn’t think she was this strong, fighting her always finish with us  losing badly or wounded when I look at her with my precognition.”

“No wonder I couldn’t win against you! You are a precog.” Jamie stepped back from the girl who was the same height as her.

Erika smiled at her and said, “Tick Tock, you are running out of time.”

“We surrender!!!” Jamie cried loudly to Elissa who was already preparing a blast spell.

“Good.” Elissa stopped glowing, the ice falling on the ground loudly.

Her  feet landed on the ground as she slowly breathed in and out, letting go  of the strain that the cryo form had put on her body. To be honest, she  had almost run out of mana, but she wouldn’t show it, preferring to  cultivate this aura of invincibility that she had put on.

“Let’s go, shall we? Team one will be first to pass, and team two second and team three will be dead last.”

Danny Sparks nodded at Elissa, awed by the power of the redhead.

*She didn’t go all out when we fought?*

Dawn  took Danny by the arm and approached her to murmur in her ear, “No  Danny, Elissa didn’t use that ultimate magic against you. She might look  like she’s not tired but she’s about to keel over.” Dawn had understood  the troubled gaze of Danny and decided to not let her lose the new  confidence Elissa had given her. The Asian girl wasn’t fooled by Elissa,  the kind of magic she just used had a price. She let go of the girl,  and waved at her and dived into the pillar of light, Donovan followed  her running at full speed. They were teleported as they disappeared.

Elissa sashayed in the pillar of light, winking and waving at Danny.

Carolyn  and Erika came at each side of their leader and crossed their arms with  hers and they dove into the light too, disappearing. Only the broken  team three was left and they resolutely followed, sad and defeated  toward the goal.