Young Writers Society

Rose smiled wearily as the referee lifted her hand, blue eyes twinkling with triumph. She had won. Another ice mage lay at her feet, blue from cold. The fire mages would revive him, like they had done to countless other ice mages throughout the tournament.

She looked towards the Imperial Box. The Empress was watching her with admiration. Rose had just proved herself to be the best ice mage in the Realm. At sunrise the final match had started. Now, as the sun was red in the western sky, only one was left standing. Her. Rose's left side was numb and ice sparkled in her blond hair, but she didn't care. She had won.

"Better luck next time." She murmured to her fallen opponent. He would have another chance next year. But for now, Rose was the head ice mage.

A novice fire mage supported her left side, a nature mage her right. She would try for head nature mage next year, after she had honed her talents in that Element further.

Water dripped down her neck from her hair. She ran the droplet around her neck just to prove she could. The Empress was still watching. Rose wondered what task would await her in the morning.

Mages of Darkness were not like mother elements. The losers of the tournaments were faced with physic disorders. Much kike the losers of the Death element almost always dies.
I had no lost yet, not this year at least.
I looked at my opponent, half dead on the marbled floor of the battle ground. I lifted the darkness from the arena so the audience could see what was happening. Before the darkness surrounding me lifted i whispered to my opponent "A nice fight, you will fare better net time" My opponent smiled and mouthed the word 'thank you' as he was taken away a few minutes later.
I smiled, i was finally the head mage of Darkness, it was a great honor, I walked into one of the now open hallways and walked towards the royal box.
"You called your highness's?" I asked kneeling before the open doors.
"we have a job for you" said the king, in the darkness kingdom the tasks were given to the head mages after the match, so they had time to prepare.
"We want you to get a large crystal locate in one of the Moon temples."Continued the king
"But Sire, that could take years, there are several hundred moon temples" I said surprised and confused
"Do not address us unless you are spoken to" Snapped the Queen, and i nodded silently.
"You have 1 year to find it and give it t us, beware there are other kingdoms looking for it to. Keep it a secret from anyone, now off you go" commanded the King
"Nodded bowed again and stood up, bowed yet again and left.

(Okay?)

(Nice. It works. And it gives me something to go off of. Just break up a few sentences and it's perfect.)

Rose woke up with the dawn by habit. She sat up in bed and looked at her hands. Both were dark ivory. Not a trace of blue was left. She smiled when the rest of her body was the same shade. The fire mages had done their best work yet. Usually they burned the people they were trying to warm.

But, then again, head mages got better treatment.

She twirled around the head mage's room- her room- as she got dressed. "Victory is so very sweet," she laughed.

A few minutes later there was a knock on the door. Rose opened it to see a novice water mage. "M-m'lady Rose," he stammered, "th-the Empress is willing to see you know."

Rose looked into the distance, imagining what mission the Empress would send her on. "Very well. Tell her I will be there in a few minutes."

~~~~~~~~

Rose knelt in front of the throne. "You wanted to see me, Highness?"

"Yes," her monarch answered in a clipped voice, "I have thought long and hard about your task, and because of your extraordinary powers, you must go find the Crystal in one of the Moon temples. You will have one year."

Rose fought to stay still. "But highness, who will do my tasks as head mage? I cannot do them from the farthest reaches of the Realm." That had to get her out of this. There were hundreds of Moon temples. This task should take a lifetime, not a single year!

The Empress's staff turned to ice. "I have thought of that already, mage. Do not forget I am your monarch. Nathanial will take the position."

Rose leapt to her feet. "I defeated him! Head mage is my position! I--"

"Enough!" Ice now coated the entire floor. "Your task as head mage is to find that crystal. Keep talking and you will lose even that privilege."

Rose kept her fists tense at her sides. She could feel snow forming on her palms. She smiled. "Whatever you say, Highness."

"Now go!"

Rose turned her back on the Empress. Vines broke the ice, allowing her to walk out of the room. The turned the frigid door handle, and slammed the door in her wake.

I walked out of the marble gates as i listened to the laments for the dead contestants. They were sad to me and to everyone else, which is why no one came outside to listen to them.
I remembered the king saying "The crystal is currently broken. scattered around several temples. All of the temples are guarded though and are almost impossible to enter as they contain traps and are guarded by head saints that have mastered several elements. They have not yet been defeated.... ever. You may have to fight your own kin and people you know to succeed in this mission."
I shivered at his words as i walked on unhindered by the foul smoke of the burning bodies. I reached a crossroad, to the right was the water kingdom. to the left were the 'barren lands', where three of the temples were supposed to be. I was ordered to wait ere for a guide as they called those who helped traveler pass the barren lands unharmed, not that i needed one, it was just the kings orders, to keep me safe for as long as possible was his supposed reason.
And then a saw a figure coming from the right side.

(Are we even going to have a guide? If so, who'll play him/her? And, you'll have to come up with a name for your character.)

Rose slowed her walk. Nobody else was supposed to be at the crossroads. Not to the barren lands. Not even to the water kingdom. The wails for the dead were too horrible from the kingdom of darkness. For a week after the tournement everybody avoided this road. Rose had wanted to avoid this road too, but the Empress had ordered her to go after the shards in the barren land first. The mages guarding them were supposed to be the easiest to defeat, only having masted one element and sharply honed a second.

The crystal just had to be broken into shards.

Rose stopped herself from wrapping vines around the young man's ankles. He hadn't shown her any hostility..... yet. She didn't want to anger him in any case. There was an aura of command around him. She wondered if he was another head mage off on a task. If he was his badge was hidden-- like hers.

"Hello," she said simply. "Where are you headed?"

Zire-

I looked at her examining every detail i could see. Her clothing suggested she was from the Water kingdom. She had woken early as she did not look tired at this early hour.

"The same as you Head mage of the water kingdom" I said bowing as customary "I am on a mission like you"

"How do you know i was a...?" she started to ask

"A head mage?" I finished.

She nodded and i started to explain "Its the day after the yearly tournaments, My kingdom is lamenting over the dead as usual. You are not tired or sleepy either. All this suggests that you have been ordered to come here, why? because you are on a mission, because you are a head mage, am i right?" I asked smiling slightly.

"Yes" she replied bowing in turn "are you always this observant?" she asked

I shook my head. "No i just suspected you of being a enemy" I replied.

A man walked towards me, i guessed it was my guide, so i walked towards him to greet him.

*The guide, I'll control since he will be here for only a little time, you cant control him too if needed, but this time you think of a name for the guide please!*

Rose looked at the second man. He was from the Barren Lands; a guide from the red cord tied around his waist. She didn't need a guide. He must be for the second mage. The Barren Lands were feared for their dryness, but there was water under the surface. She didn't know why the Water Kingdom hadn't conquered the Land. Perhaps they feared the rogue mages that haunted the barren land's red earth.

"Where are you headed?" Rose asked again. The guid would probably be more willing to tell her where they were headed. She wouldn't mind company, even if it was only for a few leagues.

"I'm to take him to the Blood Cliffs," the guide said. He extended a hand. "The name's Martin. You must be crazy to try your hand at crossing the Lands. Or a mage."

She kept the shock out of her eyes. The Blood Cliffs hid three Moon temples. "A mage I am. Would you mind if I joined you? I'm headed in that direction as well." Rose glanced at the other mage. He was looking at her with the same observant stare as before.

Slowly he nodded. "A water mage would come in handy on this trip. My name's Zire." Zire extended a hand.

Rose took it. "Rose." She wouldn't tell him she could control other elements. A mage of Darkness was a formidable opponent. It would be testing fate to tell him what her limits were.

There were too many questions around this young man, Zire. Head mages of Darkness were some of the most respected in all the kingdoms. The Blood Cliffs were some of the most dangerous territories. Only an insane mage would attempt the trek. That, or he was after the crystal as well.

(How many temples should we face? It won't take them long to figure out what the other is doing now. Unless they split up once they get there, quelling most suspicions.)

*The first temple could be empty thus they only suspect each other, afterward they could fight for the prize and one of them should win, you choose who, I'm fine with both because i've already made up my mind what to post if i lose my chance.*

"So" I said "How long is it to the closest inhabitants?".

"That would be very close, one of the moon temples are about a few hundred feet away. But i doubt we would be allowed to enter. The sand mages there have the best advantage as you can see, everything around is made of sand and dust, almost like a desert." explained the Guide.

"Sand mages?" asked Rose almost as puzzled as i was.

"yes sand mages, They are originally earth mages but they specialize in sand thus the name 'sand mages'" replied the guide.

"So are they powerful?" I asked.

"That you should know. Would you be powerful if you used all of your talent on only a part of one element?" said the guide.

I smiled to myself. Yes, they would be very strong stranger than many mages in the world, but there also was a dawn side to leaning only one part of an element, meaning that they had many weaknesses. They would have no chance against me or the water mage.

we traveled in silence for a while, the wind blew to the side that we were moving towards making it easier to walk and see. There were occasionally a dead carcass of a human or a animal. The guide explained to us that there lurked creatures here that no normal mage had any chance against unless they knew where the creature was which was very rare as the creatures were under the ground.

And then i sighted the first temple, guarded by two mages.

*Changed to: Fight each other, join forces, fight rival mages.*

Rose stopped and looked around. Magic was already at work. The sand mages had spotted them and were calling up a dust storm. Darkness was already beginning to smother the sand.

"Leave the storm to me!" she called. "You take care of the mages." Zire nodded and pulled his magic back.

Rose reached with her magic to the water deep under the sand. All she had to do was wet the sand and it would be too heavy for the mages to control. The water came up slowly. She fought to keep the balance between sand and water correct, otherwise the desert would turn to quicksand.

In response to the water, roots began to spread under the sand. Rose quickened their growth, letting them hold the sand in place.

The water was almost to the surface. She could feel her feet sinking as the sand turned deadly. She snapped her hand shut. The water froze.

Rose gasped and opened her eyes. Everything within a hundred feet was shimmering with ice. Zire was a few feet ahead, the sand mages smothered in Darkness by the door.

"I'll reverse it once Zire is done," she whispered at the guide's mournful look. She had never done something on such a scale. Even the cliffs ahead were frozen.

Zire released his magic and nodded towards them. The sand mages were dead. Rose slowly undid the freezing and let the water drain back underground. She shrunk the roots back to normal size, feeling the magic she poured to the plants return to her. That was the advantage of Nature, it was always willing to give back.

Rose walked towards the entrance, carefully noting Zair was behind her. Her mind reeled, remembering what to do in a battle against a Darkness mage. It was all for nothing, however.

The Moon temple was empty.

It was empty, the temple was completely empty. I banged my hands on the smooth marble ground as i wondered why the moon temples were empty.

"Hey!" I called to the guide who came to me obediently "How far is the next temple?" I asked.

I saw Rose exit the temple but i didn't think of it.

"That would be a little far from here, I suggest we wait here for the sun to end is reign and then carry on." Said the guide.

Rose entered the temple as i agreed with him.

"We're staying here until the sun goes down" I explained to her.

She nodded and made her way to one of the edges of the temple, thinking of something. I on the other hand started to talk with the guide, i knew that i had to know as many things about these temples and geography if i was going to journey alone for things that could happen to us on the way through this place.

*Sorry its short have some work to do.*

*I still have enough to go on. Let me know if you like this direction. If you don't I'll change it.*

Rose cautiously walked past Zire to look at the dead sand mages outside. He had smothered them in minutes. She crouched down and looked at the scratches on their faces. They had tried to claw away at the darkness, but Zire was powerful enough to stop them.

"We're staying here until the sun goes down" Zire explained when she walked inside. Rose nodded and headed off to the side.

She glanced behind her and saw he was talking to the guide. She smiled at the map hidden in the packs slung over her shoulder. If she needed to go alone, she could.

Making sure Zire didn't notice her, she went deeper into the temple. Every chamber she passed was empty. That couldn't be right. There were no signs of looting anywhere. This temple had to have something.

She walked a few more paces and stepped on a loose tile. She jumped as a section of wall slid aside. Rose quickly ducked out of sight, listening to what was on the other side.

Silence.

She waited a few more minutes before going inside. Soot blackened almost every wall. Heat still hung in the air. She carefully stepped over the charred remains of more sand mages and pools of yellow glass on the floor. After a bend in the hall she was in the main chamber. A glowing moon was on the far wall, an altar in the center.

Rose carefully went up to the alter, digging into her Earth ability to find any traps hidden in the floor. It was exhausting using such a new magic, but she found three traps in her path. On the altar was a gold claw face up. The points had been holding onto something, but that something was gone now. Rose quickly ran her hand on the stone around it. There wasn't any soot.

"I was too late," she whispered. A Fire mage had gotten here first and taken the Crystal. Rose had underestimated how far they were from Fire Kingdom. Earth Kingdom was supposed to be closer to the Barren Lands, but Blood Cliffs were closer to Fire. If she traveled just a little deeper into the Cliffs, Fire mages would be whom she'd have to face guarding the temples.

She made her way back to the main hall and stepped on the tile once more. The wall slid back into place. Only her sooty footprints marked the enterance. She rubbed them into the sand floor and made sure no soot was visible on her.

Rose quickly decided not to tell Zire about this discovery. She could withhold information well. Not even her most observant friends could tell when she had a secret. She was about to search for more hidden panels but thought better of it. If she used more magic she might black out. After a few hours rest she could come back and search, but for now she wanted to see what the guide had to say.

"we cant move any further for at least a day" said the guide sighing.

"What? Why?" Asked Rose coming into the room, she seemed to act strange but i just brushed out the idea.

"It seems that we have a rouge sand storm" I said pointing outside where the storm looked like it was alive in rage.

"we better sleep and get our strength when we can" Said the guide siting on the floor.

i nodded and spread my self on the floor and willed my mind to sleep.

---------------

The next morning i didn't know what would await us but i knew it wasn't good when i say that Rose was missing. I awoke the guide and tried to go outside but a similar faint awaited us. he doorway was blocked, we were buried alive inside a temple by sand. A living nightmare.

"Come on lets loom for Rose first" I said going into the inner cambers of the temple.

That's when i saw a few sooty foot prints, they were freshly made. That was also when i realized that she had left us here and escaped through some other way.

"Spread out and look for Rose and anything strange" I ordered the guide and started to run through the temple searching.

Rose looked at the golden claw in her hand. She had gone back to get it. Why, she didn't know. Something about the claw increased her own powers. She guessed that the gold had taken on the Crystal's properties after so long in exposure. It also emitted a faint glow, something that was needed in the dark passageways.

She rounded a corner and quickly ducked back out of sight. Flickering firelight on the walls told her she had company. She carefully looked around the corner and spotted another mage lounging in front of a fire, his back to her. Rose guessed this was the fire mage that had burned the Moon temple and taken the crystal shard.

She flicked a finger, sending water crashing over his fire.

"Didn't expect company, did you?" she called, stepping out into the light. "I know why you're here, and I want it."

He sneered. "A water mage? I'm the head fire mage for the Kingdom, nothing like you've ever seen before."

She sent a blast of snow to his lip, causing it to split. "I'm the head water mage, your little title doesn't impress me. I've seen stronger cooking fires then your little demonstration in the Moon temple." Rose rubbed her hands. "Don't make me use my full powers on you. Just give me the Crystal, and you'll walk out of here alive."

"Never." A wall of fire streamed out of his hands. It stopped a foot in front of her, blocked by a wall of cool air.

"I'll give you another chance." She hissed, beginning to turn the stone around his feet to ice. "Give me the Crystal shard, or you'll never see your precious kingdom again."

"I'd die before turning my back on that task. No mage has ever managed to recreate the Crystal for the good of their kingdom."

Rose shrugged. "Death it is, then." Before he could send another blast of magic she snapped her fist shut. He screamed, his body turning to ice. Before he could thaw it, she drove her magic deeper, freezing the blood in his heart. He dropped to the cold stone, blue.

She sagged against the wall. My own heart is ice. She had never killed somebody so suddenly, she completely, out of cold blood.

'You will have on year to find the Crystal.' the Empress's words haunted her memory. Rose shook herself and went through the Fire mage's packs. Two shards were safely stored in the pouches. She smiled at the unexpected discovery. That would save her some time. She began to spread everything out, double-checking that there were no more shards, when she heard a shout.

"I heard something down here!" That was Zire, she was sure of it. Rose cursed under her breath. She had forgotten to cover her footprints!

Not wanting to make the same mistake again, she formed footprints in one tunnel, sending them out a hundred yards. By the time they reached the end she'd be long gone down another tunnel, all the closer to reaching another Moon temple and perhaps another shard.

She risked looking over her shoulder. Zire would have been an asset on this mission, but his orders, like hers, were to get the Crystal for their kingdom. Had she told him about the shard, he would have been forced to battle her, just like she had been forced to battle the Fire mage. After seeing his power, she didn't now if she would have been able to win.

She adjusted her packs on her shoulder and took off down the tunnel, erasing her footprints as she went.

"Impressive" I whispered as i examined the dead Fire mage, most likely the Head fire mage judging from the the clothing.

Rose had evidently taken the crystal or crystals from the fire mage as he had some crystal shards in his pocket.

There were two tunnels, only one leading us to Rose, i saw some drops of water going into one tunnel as well as some fresh dust that had been disturbed.

"Come on lets go" said the guide who pointed to the footsteps that lead into a dark tunnel.

"Wait a second" I said guessing what she was doing "We go this way"

"What ever you say" said the guide as he lead me into the tunnel.

Very impressive, she killed the mage first, took the crystals, made new footprints and also wiped her real footprints off, true, it would have worked if it was a soil covered floor, without marble tiles or if the ground was covered with snow, but one could see the disturbed dust if one looked closely enough.

I realized the tunnel going downwards, i smiled and opened my bag, inside a human eye severed from the skull lay in a small bottle. I took it out and used my powers to make it live again, then i threw the eye into the tunnel, each second my left eye grew blind. It was a temporary blindness, i could now see through the eye i had thrown for the cost of the blindness in my left eye that would heal itself once the severed eye returned to the bottle.

Rose slid down the incline and trotted a few more meters into the tunnel. The gold claw grew warm in her hand, and she ran much deeper. It had grown warm right before she had rounded the corner and seen the Fire mage. It seemed the claw warned her of danger.

Zire. She knew it had to be him. She should have known that mage of darkness would have seen through her ruse. It was time to take more drastic action.

She reached into the Crystal shard's power to sense which temple had more shards. The shards always had a tie to others, and with a little prodding...

There, towards the east, near the Fire kingdom, was the next shard. Rose walked a little farther until she reached a tunnel that would take her there. She walked down it and drew on her earth power.

First, Rose sealed off the tunnel with the same rough stone as the walls. Behind it, she put five feet of limestone, pulling it from deep underground. Zire wouldn't be able to get through that. Not even another Earth mage could, unless they had three Crystal shards to break through a spell woven by two.

Rose slumped against a wall and took a waterskin out of her packs. Her powers were almost drained for the day. She dug out some bread and cheese and sat down against her newly-made wall. An idea came to her, and she disturbed the dust farther down the tunnel she had just left.

Her meal finished she continued down the tunnel, just in case an Earth mage with three shards came along. She doubted it, since Light kingdom was to the north. Earth kingdom was much farther south. She found a dark alcove and settled down, the claw in her hand to warn her of danger. She closed her eyes, letting her powers recuperate.