Young Writers Society

The pond was crystal clear, and if it weren't for the darkness, Kynina would be able to see all the way into its depths. The gem appeared to be a few dozen feet down, not the deepest of dives, but definitely out of reach. Thin and wispy shapes danced under the surface, back and forth in the movement of the water. She knelt down by the edge of the land, dipping a hand in to check the temperature. Cold, with no heat source to warm it, but not nearly enough that it would make someone go into shock if they dove in.

And if they wanted this crystal, there was no question that someone would have to go in.

"Who's feeling up to this?" she asked, shaking the water off her hand and looking up again.

Sylkalyn glanced from Safi -- staring determinedly off into the forest -- to Cyra -- visibly about to lose their mind -- and then back at Kynina, her ice-blue eyes as smooth and unreadable as the phenomenon they resembled. "I think it's between you and I. Flip a coin for it?"

Kynina reached into her coat and held up a coin. "Heads or tails for you going in?"

"Heads."

She tossed the coin into the air, watching it flip a few times before she caught it in the palm of her hand smoothly. "It's tails, so it looks like it'll be me." She had the coordination to catch it one flip sooner or later, and she could have done it, but it was only right to be fair about it.

Sylkalyn nodded. "Dive in, then. Looks..." She eyed the pond suspiciously. "...nice."

She hesitated a moment, then sighed softly. "Be careful. The arena is trapped to hell and back. If anything looks suspicious, it definitely is. If you need help, fully activate your Aura. Alright?"

Kynina nodded, skimming the surface with her hand one more time before she stood up. "Alright."

She pulled off the rope she'd carried around her to secure the two fire pokers and dropped it the marshy ground. She wasn't worried about leaving those unsupervised-- to anyone else, they were just unwieldy poles of metal, not an unexpectedly dangerous weapon. She was a little more unwilling to remove her coat with all the knives inside, but she'd want it dry when she got out, and she wouldn't be helped if she weighed herself down. She kicked off her boots and socks, leaving them in a pile not too far from the edge, then moved back to the pond and took a few steps in.

The water felt colder on her legs than it had on her hands as she waded in the shallow parts, the water level rising from her knees to her waist. When it got to her chest and bare arms, Kynina shivered a little. The temperature wasn't at all enough to dissuade her, but she'd need to get more used to it before she went under the surface. She treaded water for a few moments when the water was up to her neck, waiting until she wasn't shivering anymore before she took a deep breath to fill her lungs and dove underneath.

The depths of the pond got dark very quick with little light to go through, but the glow of the crystal was always visible, nestled at the bottom among sediment, rocks, and swaying algae tendrils. Kynina reached out an arm, kicking faster to close the distance until her fingers wrapped around the polished, carefully carved shape of the crystal.

The moment she had a firm grip on it, the darkness of the pool was replaced with a burst of images flashing before her eyes, almost too fast to follow. She saw the fake city first, bird's-eye views of the streets and close-ups of buildings. Then a mountain, imposing despite the lack of space for its height in the arena. Caves, rocky mines where the jagged stone walls crept in and narrowed to dead ends, a maze of tunnels linking and spreading like a spiderweb. A glittering room fulled with crystals much like the one in her hands, everything in sight sharp and glittery. Last, a flash of roaring orange across her sight, vibrant and fierce like volcanic lava.

It all went by in the time it would have taken her to blink.

Once the vision cleared, Kynina felt something brush against her hand. She didn't worry about it, knowing it was just the algae and grass. Arelinor's beaches were hardly pleasant, either being privately owned by rich people who could somehow make a coastal home boring and stifling or crowded and littered with uncollected trash, with nothing in between. She hadn't learned to swim there. But during the summers, Isrith had sometimes taken a week off for the two of them to go somewhere further south, away from the Fracture, and the water there hadn't been cleared of everything interesting or polluted to the point of being repulsive. Kynina had always been swimming in water with kelp, and being touched by it wasn't as scary or uncomfortable as people often described. It was meant to be there. The lack of it was more unnatural than anything else.

So she was surprised when it wrapped around her wrist and pulled strongly, tugging her all the way down to the bottom.

Kynina had barely enough control not to release all her air in a gasp. Not all the crystals could be trapped, surely, so this was unlucky. She pulled her hand back, ripping the tendril off her wrist and floating back up a little, but it was replaced by another strand, then two, then a dozen as the algae reached for her and tried to hold her underwater.

Her head was still clear, and she wasn't out of air yet, but this was enough to make her panic a little. She kept shaking the tendrils off, but they kept grabbing at her and pulling her farther down. It was all she could do to hold on to the crystal as her hands got slimier from removing all the grass from her, and now her chest was burning. When she had to pry off a coil that had wrapped its way around her neck and started to squeeze, Kynina got truly nervous.

This is definitely not safe, she decided. How are we supposed to blow a whistle if we're underwater and haven't got any air to do it with?

Without sighing, though she certainly would have if it weren't for all the water around her, Kynina threw her head back. Her black hair spread in the water, blending in with the darkness around it. And then she activated her aura, making the pool glow with teal, much brighter than it had with just the crystal.

Immediately, dark tentacles broke through the water's surface, shooting down to wrap warmly and stickily around Kynina's wrists and waist just like the grass, except these tentacles also began unwrapping the grass faster than it could spiral around her. The tentacles broke apart a little as they tugged on her, misting into the water and leaving the bitter, sharp taste of iron behind, but they remained solid enough to drag her upwards easily.

Just before she broke the surface, Sylkalyn reached into the water and grabbed her free hand, pulling her all the way out of the pond with a force that sent them both stumbling to the ground. The dark red tentacles wrapped around Kynina dropped away, and Kynina realized they were connected to Sylkalyn's wrists. The other girl's aura faded as the tentacles retracted into her body.

"Are you hurt?" Sylkalyn asked, a little breathlessly. Her bare arms and shoulders were well-muscled -- most likely from the longbow she carried on her back -- and she probably could lift Kynina easily under normal circumstances, but fighting the vines would've made the action more difficult.

"Nope, just in the mood to sue somebody," Kynina joked as she coughed, clutching the crystal to her chest. She shook some of the water off by throwing her head from side to side, making droplets fly everywhere. She felt even colder now that she was dripping wet and out in the air, and so she quickly pulled on her coat and wrapped it around her before she turned back to Sylkalyn. "Thank you."

Sylkalyn nodded. "You're welcome." She looked toward the pond, the clear waters now murky with red, then back at Kynina. "You're going to need to wash that shirt, by the way. Do you know how to get blood out of clothes?"

"Of course. And this really is blood?"

"I should hope so, otherwise I'd be very concerned about what's running through my veins." Sylkalyn cautiously knelt next to the pond and extended one hand to the water, a tiny blood tentacle snaking its way down to the surface. The cloud of blood drifted up to meet her touch, then dissipated until the water was just as clear as before. A touch of colour that Kynina hadn't noticed was missing from Sylkalyn's face returned. "Having anything else would be a bit worrying, I think, and bring up some questions about my parentage, such as which one wasn't human?"

Kynina smirked slightly as she pulled her socks and boots back on, shivering one last time before getting her coat on fully. "I don't usually expect to be concerned about that question, so it's good to know I don't have to."

Sylkalyn stood up, but didn't respond immediately, instead standing still and closing her eyes for a second before taking a deep breath and turning back to Kynina. "Alright. We should get moving again. Who knows what else Fea has waiting for us in here."

Kynina nodded, picking up her fire pokers again and throwing the rope sash over her again. The crystal was tucked away in a coat pocket a moment later, and she was good to go. "Then let's go on our way. There's still three of these left to find."

She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw a vague look of approval flicker over Sylkalyn's face before her expression returned to unreadable ice.

With that, the two of them returned to join Cyra and Safi in the woods.

When Cyra heard Fea's voice over the intercom, he was prepared for many things. Dumb rich kids looking to pick a fight? That was a given. Giant bloodthirsty monsters that want to consume everyone's essence? Whatever. That was fine. Cyra was too good for that bullshit.

But a whole fucking pond complete with murky surface and barely visible bottom? That was a level of fresh hell that Cyra was willing to murder over. Whoever designed this arena was getting a potion bottle to the face. And then a battle ax to the chest. And maybe some fire to their everything.

It's your turn, demon.

Nope. Nope. Fuck no. Cyra was staying a good three thousand miles away from that shit. If anyone questioned her, Safi or otherwise, Cyra would be happy to fling them into low space orbit. And they wouldn't even need a spell.

Doesn't that look fun?

Cyra blinked, trying to stay far away from Bullshitville: Population, a bunch of fuckery. There were trees here, just like that whole thing, but they were different. These were evergreens, and they were surrounded by oak and poplar trees back then. As long as Cyra didn't glance back at the devil's sauna behind xem, xe could keep everything to a low hum in the back of their traitorous head.

Maybe they could be fine.

Soft steps over twigs and leaves came from the direction of the damned pond, and a few moments later, Kynina and Sylkalyn moved into view. Kynina had evidently been the one to go in, as her black hair was straight and dripping still. There was a faint glow coming from the inside of her coat.

"We got it," she said, flicking a wet strand of hair out of her face.

Cyra gave them a curt nod, hand still clutching a bottle of liquid fire on their band of potions from when they first heard the footsteps. Fuck. They hated when they got like this.

"Ohhh." Safi seemed to be snapping out of some sort of trance. She gave them a double thumbs up before waving her arms wildly.

Cyra crossed their arms, trying to get their stupid fucking vocal cords to cooperate and get literally any string of syllables together, but they decided to flip Cyra off and hang uselessly in faer throat.

Well fuck them too.

"Let's move," Sylkalyn said neutrally. "Keep an eye out for any more crystals, but if you see one, don't immediately go for it. This one had a nasty trap protecting it, and knowing Fea, it's only going to get worse from here."

Cyra managed a grunt in acknowledgment. Traps. Cool. Ponds and traps and monsters. What a way to start a year. At least only one of those things was complete hell. Unless one of the traps was spontaneous formation of a pond beneath the poor bastard who tried to grab the crystal. If that was the case, Cyra's first action as a Lux student was mass murder and a spot of arson.

"Traps. Bad. Understood. Noted. Received. Acknowledged," rattled off Safi, sounding like she was half asleep.

Kynina adjusted the fire pokers on her back. They had to be heavy, but she had no trouble setting the pace as she took the lead, pointing to a path that would take them further into the woods and away from the city, but out of sight of the pond, Cyra noticed. "This way."

Cyra quickly followed after her. Any path away from the fucking pond was welcome and if any path that led them closer was suggested, Cyra wouldn't hesitate to fillet a bitch.

Safi brought up the rear. She kept glancing back at the pond, as if she was waiting for something to crawl out and follow her.

Cyra rolled their eyes and grabbed Safi's shoulder and tugging her forward. "Hurry the fuck up, princess." Oh. Vocal cords were back. Good to know. "Rich kids and crystals to worry about."

Safi stumbled a little before she managed to regain her footing. "Crytals. Yeah. Trying not to die. Sorry if I'm being a bit slow. Won't happen again."

"No time for apologies, save them for someone who gives any shits."

"Sorry for apologizing," started Safi immediately before she froze. "I..I mean sorry..." She groaned, going bright red. She proceeded to bow in Cyra's direction and turn the other way as she whispered in a much smaller voice. "Won't happen again."

Cyra huffed. "Buck up, princess. It's a long road through hell, and we barely reached the entrance."

They continued walking in silence, Cyra slowly feeling less pissed off as the path continued. They were in a forest after all, and no one could defeat Cyra in a place she grew up in.

They scanned each plant, ears piqued for any fraction of sound. Even the natural groans and chitters of the trees gave him pause. Anything here could be a dumbass lying in wait.

A glimmer caught Cyra's eye and xe stopped in xer tracks. "Wait."

Safi nearly jumped a full foot in the air as she whirled around to face Cyra. "Yes?"

"Did the Crystal in the..." Cyra couldn't bring himself to say the word. "...over there glow like that?"

They pointed at a bush that seemed to shimmer deep within its branches. Now, Cyra had never been to Glinthaven before, but he was pretty damn sure it didn't have glowing bushes.

Sylkalyn nodded curtly. "That's crystal number two," she agreed. "Check around it. See if you can figure out what this one is protected by."

Cyra approached it. "Should we throw something at it in case it bursts into flames or some shit?"

"That might not be a bad idea. Although I doubt this particular crystal will be protected by fire, we can't assume anything."

"I can shoot it?" offered Safi.

"The some shit was my catch all." Cyra took a step back. "Have at it, princess."

Safi nodded, doing another half bow. She whirled around to face the crystal, arrow knocked and ready to go by the time she'd completed her turn. She took a deep breath before she fired.

The arrow landed in the branches with its usual thud. Nothing happened for a second before the bush shook and thorns erupted from the branches.

"Oh, thorns."

Cyra didn't hesitate to stick their hand in the bush.

Safi marched up to xem.

Cyra didn't look and digged around for the crystal. The sound of thorns scratching at his affinity filled the air.

"Cyra?" Kynina sounded confused, but not judgemental. "What is it you're doing?"

Cyra snorted. "Making pancakes, obviously." Their fingers wrapped around the crystal. "There's the bastard."

"Did you find it?" asked Safi.

Cyra nodded. "Yep," they said through gritted teeth as they tugged at the damn thing. Their affinity always made their fingers stiff, so it was hard to get a good grip.

Safi clapped a couple of time, staring intently at his hand.

With one final tug, the crystal finally came loose as Cyra successfully pulled it out of the bush. The crystal outshone the swirling green and orange light of eir affinity. "Got you, bitch."

Safi gave a little cheer, leaning in a little closer to inspect the hand holding the crystal. She let out a small gasp, frowning.

"You good, princess?" Cyra pocketed the crystal, deactivating their affinity. They streched out their fingers.

"Please tell me that's not the hand you..." She made a vague gesture. "On the way down."

Cyra blinked. "I think it is."

Safi frowned, grabbing the hand and proceeding to give it a thorough inspection. After a cursory glance she let it go. "Looks like you got lucky there. Be careful next time. At least until that's fully healed. Please."

Cyra snorted. "Lucky? What, did you not see my affinity?"

"Just because you use that doesn't guarantee that you won't aggravate a injury that's already there."

"It's literally armor. How much safer can you get?"

Safi shook her head. She put her hand back on the arm. "Look, my knight. Just...trust me okay. Sometimes armor over a wound can be worse than no armor."

"Not when it comes to sticking your hand in a fucking thorn bush."

Safi tapped on the arm she was holding onto. "If you insist on being like that...you..." Safi trailed off. She seemed to notice what her fingers were doing and released Cyra's arm in a hurry.

"We got the crystal, right?" Kynina asked, almost uncertainly, like she thought there must be something strange or wrong about the situation for there to be this much discussion. "That should mean we're good."

"All of you, shut up," Sylkalyn suddenly ordered. Cyra turned to her, ready to demand an explanation, but paused when he saw her staring into the woods, an arrow nocked on her bow and ready to fire at a moment's notice.

The four of them stood in silence for a moment, then Cyra heard what had Sylkalyn on edge: a soft, unsettling skittering somewhere deep in the forest, definitely not human but with a sickening twist that made it not quite animal either.

Whatever it was, it was coming toward them, and fast.

Cyra could feel something in their aura shift. Usually, their aura felt like a storm, the orange and green rolling against each other like two tidal waves fighting to the death. But now, they seemed to hang suspended in the air, flickering like a dying campfire. Her skin felt thin and exposed, like someone looking at it would be enough to make it bleed. No, that damned thing in the forest was no human and no beast.

That bitch was a voidborn.

"Fuck." Cyra swung their battle-ax into their hands, the wood of the haft scratching against faer barely closed wound. But it was fine. Cyra had fought through worse.

Sylkalyn's gaze was cold as ice as she kept watching the woods, remaining perfectly still with her bow at half-draw. Her aura had flickered briefly to life, but it faded now, presumably because she'd come to the same conclusion Cyra had.

The air had so much tension in it that Cyra was almost glad when the voidborn screeched -- a sound that made them shiver involuntarily, not that anyone had to know -- and crashed through the trees.

It was some sort of large lizard made of shadow, its edges slightly misty and indistinct but still solid enough that Cyra could make out each and every razor-sharp claw and bared fang. The monster's eyes glowed the violent red of fresh blood, and they glinted with hunger as it surveyed the group.

The world seemed to bend around the monster as if its very existence was breaking the fabric of reality.

There was a shocked gasp from beside her. The brilliant glow surrounding Safi dimmed, flickering dangerously. She had another arrow knocked in a flash, but her hands were shaking. Meanwhile, Kynina pulled one fire poker off her back, jaw set as her palm briefly glowed gray, and she hurled it at the Voidborn like it was a javelin.

The following explosion wasn't as dramatic as Cyra had seen with all of Maie's weapons-- Kynina must not have wanted to risk activating much of her aura-- but the metal went flying apart at terrifying speeds. None of the shrapnel seemed to hit the Voidborn, as the remnants of the fire poker passed right through it without causing injury, but the edges of the creature looked slightly less misty. It was like someone had added a few more lines to the outline of a drawing, making it ever so slightly clearer where it began and where it ended.

"Right," Kynina panted, watching the undeterred beast. She was ever so slightly more pale in the face. "Someone had to try that. Now we know what it does."

Cyra growled. "So weapons are useless until it's not-" They waved their hand wildly. "-that?"

Safi stumbled back. "Seems that way." She drew her arrow back, concentrating on its point as she aimed for the thing. The glow around her body dimmed ever further as it seemed to concentrate around her hands, a tendril of light like the one that had caught Cyra earlier extending from the hand holding the arrow. It spread like a fast-growing vine, wrapping securely around the arrow and charging it with golden light.

She let loose, stumbling as soon as the arrow had left the bow. It suffered the same fate as the fire poker, sailing through the head of the beast, only this time, it emerged from the other side with one small change. The glow around it was gone, reducing it to be like any other arrow, and if Cyra wasn't imagining things, the creature looked more solid now, sharper details of scales that weren't evident before coming into view.

Safi's glow was almost out. "It... it feeds on our auras. I don't think we can win this fight."

Cyra shook their head. "We've just started." They yanked off one of the potions around their belt. It was a simple bottle of liquid fire, but it was made with snake skin. That made it a high aura potion. They tossed it into the air and caught it once before aiming it squarely at the voidborn's face.

The glass bottle phased right through, but hit the ground and burst, the potion spraying the inside of the voidborn. The potion's own aura activated as the potion caught fire, lighting the creature ablaze.

But the fire didn't last long before it seemed to be consumed by the shadow, the aura seeping into the damned beast.

"Safi's right," Sylkalyn said calmly-- but quickly. She'd backed off as soon as the voidborn showed itself, retreating to a position where she couldn't easily be reached by the creature. "That thing is going to drain us all of our auras and then tear us apart. We aren't equipped to kill this thing. I'm not sure we can even hurt it. We need to run."

The voidborn screeched again, its half-solid muscles tensing in preparation for attack.

Cyra scoffed, looking at their teammates. They weren't going to stay behind and go through intiation alone, but it was pissing them off that everyone was folding so damn quickly. The voidborn was clearly weakening! What the hell was everyone on about?

"I agree," Kynina said, backing away as she kept her eyes on it. "The path continues behind where Sylkalyn is. That's where we should go. And soon."

Fuck. Fine. They were running. They glanced back at the voidborn. "I hope you're not too exhausted to run then because we're not just walking away!"

It screamed in response and launched itself forward. Sylkalyn needed no more encouragement to take off through the forest down the path Kynina pointed out, quickly disappearing among the trees. Kynina herself followed only a moment later at the same speed.

Safi hesistated, looking between the two starting to put some distance between them and the voidborn and Cyra. She stumbled backward, nocking another arrow. "You... you better not follow us... Bubbles." Another glowing arrow shot at it.

"Cyra, come on." She began to jog backwards.

Cyra nodded and took after Safi. It was fine. Running away was fine. Not a wasted opportunity at all. Nope.

They glanced back at the voidborn, only to see that it was taking a couple steps back. Her heart started hammering in her chest. He had seen countless animals do that in the thrill of the hunt. And it always meany exactly one thing.

"Safi! Whatever you do, don't stop running!"

Her eyes widened. She looked hesitant, but she nodded. "You better be behind me."

"Always, princess." Cyra ground to a halt as the voidborn lunged forward. They only had a few seconds to roll to the side, the voidborn landing exactly where they had just stood.

With a yell that seemed to echo through the forest, Cyra swung their battle ax right through the creature's neck. This time, when it hit the forest floor, something happened. The voidborn's head fell alongside it. She let out a surprised laugh. It worked. It worked!

But something was wrong. The shadows of the voidborn just started shifting again, swirling like the water tornados that would happen on Desdemona's lake. Cyra took a step back. No. It didn't work. Cyra was foolish to think it ever could work. Sylkalyn was right. Fighting was futile when the creature you were trying to kill could die a thousand times, but it only had to kill you once.

Cyra sprinted with everything xe had, hoping, praying, that xe at least slowed it down. Maybe that would be worth something in the end.

Thane had thought she would be prepared. She was used to sudden, unexpected, generally dangerous changes. But she clearly overestimated herself, because she was now plummeting through the darkness with absolutely no idea what to do. She tried to orient herself, but it was difficult when she was freefalling, and the backpack she wore was throwing her weight out of balance, meaning she was doing somersaults through the air on her way down. She needed to figure out a way to slow this fall. But how?

Magic was her best bet, but unfortunately, her strongest magic trick was a thick fog, and considering she could: A, already not see, and B, fall right through the fog, she'd get nothing out of it other than an energy drain. Which meant she was going to have to lean on something she never wanted to have to lean on: symbology.

It might be the official magic specialty on her paperwork, but she doubted she could compare to the average middle schooler on the subject if the middle schooler got decent training and cared at all about symbology. Her heart sped in her chest and she tried desperately to get her breathing together. She wasn't used to being out of control, and she didn't like it.

Concentrate-- she forced her mind to focus. Something to get her out of a pinch. It didn't need to be perfect, just something to crash into that would soften the fall. The ground was growing nearer and nearer; she couldn't see it yet, but she knew it had to be close. What should she--

In all honesty, she panicked. Her mind stuck on the word "soft" and went, "feather!" And before she could even process it, she was plummeting through a flock of half-formed birds, crashing into them and sending monstrosities into each other. She wasn't even sure they could qualify as birds, but they would work. She put all her effort and focus into summoning more deranged horrors below her, concentrating on shifting her body so she slowed with each one she ran into.

All too soon, the tops of buildings began to appear, raising up out of the murky grey. From her height, it looked like she could easily fall onto one and be stabbed through the chest, though as she fell, they began to grow in size. Her eyes adjusted to the dark, and the more she could see, the more she realized how terrible her birds were. Beaks were on sideways, if they were there at all, and most of them were just blobbed forms with wings that she barreled into and sent spiraling. Feathers exploded in puffs all around her.

And then she was crashing to the ground, landing on an already formed pile of dead birds and heartbreakingly terrible symbology skills. She groaned, planting a hand on the ground to push herself up into a sitting position. Her hand slipped on one of the things and she fell backwards again. She winced and brushed her fingers lightly across her ribs before pushing herself to her feet, careful not to slip on another one of her sins.

"Backpack," she muttered to herself, checking it to make sure it was still on her before she began to stumble away from the enormous pile. Whoever stumbled across this spot would discover a massacre, and she didn't want to be around to see it-- or hear them trashtalking her terrible symbology skills.

She let her eyes wander around, taking in the scenery around her before she began to run down the road. She needed to find some place to hide and take stock of everything in the bag, but she couldn't do it too close to the pile or she might run into other contestants, which was exactly what she wanted to avoid. She wasn't in the mood to get double-crossed.

After running several blocks, she ducked into an abandoned building with the front display window smashed in. Broken glass lay scattered across the floor, but the window was just high enough that if she crouched behind it, nobody should be able to see her, which was what she needed-- somewhere she could easily look around and still not be seen. She kicked broken glass away from her feet with her boots to make a clear spot, then kneeled behind the wall, back pressed against it as she caught her breath.

Alright. This was fine. She was used to this. This was her strongsuit. Avoiding people, and fighting them if she happened to run into them. She could handle that. She fingered her knuckle-knives absent-mindedly as she caught her breath, before she swung the bag off her shoulders and into her lap, opening it up. Water bottles, a flare, a whistle, flashlight, rope, glowsticks, a blanket, and-- she let out a sigh. Good. Flint and steel. She didn't want to have to start a fire for any reason-- primarily because it would draw attention-- but it was nice to know she'd be able to if she needed to. She'd attempted more elemental things with her symbology when she was younger, but she hadn't done it in years, and if memory served correctly, she'd blown something up at least 50% of the time. She didn't love those odds, especially with Headmistress Fea and all the professors watching.

She reshouldered the bag and peered over the window, before crouching down again. Logically, most of the crystals were going to be as far away from where they were dropped as possible, which meant the only way to find them was to get there are quickly as possible. She was sure there were a few scattered nearby, but she wasn't going to bother going for any of those. They were likely already all snatched up. Her best bet was to get all the way to the other side and work her way backwards-- others would stop along the way to search, so she'd have a better chance of finding one without the mess of fighting someone for it.

She took in a deep, steadying breath, attempting not to wince as the pain in her ribs lit up. The landing had jostled them, and while she hated to use too much of her magic now, she couldn't risk running around with a fractured rib or two. It would slow her down and make her an easier target. Gently, she lifted up her shirt and pressed her fingers to her stomach, letting her eyes flutter closed. Breath in, breath out. She pushed her magic through her fingers, wincing as it spread like fire through the tissue and to the bones. After a minute, she let out a relieved breath and let her shirt drop. She'd be fine.

She checked to make sure the coast was clear before she stood, then sprinted out of the building, immediately swerving to go down a side street. She needed to try to stick to the small ones; the big ones were too exposed, and she didn't trust others to not play dirty and try to take her out of the match for good. She pulled her hood up over her head, which must've fallen off during the fall, and kept her eyes peeled for any sign of danger as she weaved between buildings, trying to put as much distance between her and the dropzone as possible.

She was beginning to feel more confident. This was her speed. She was used to being put in danger like this. While at first, it took a bit of adjusting, she always got the hang of it. And this evened out the playing field for her-- what she couldn't do in essay-writing skills and symbology, she could make up for here. It was her chance to prove to whatever professors were watching that she had earned her place here, and she intended on keeping it. And the more she ran, the better she felt.

At least, she was feeling better until a throwing knife whizzed by barely an inch in front of her face. Another caught the edge of her cloak and slammed it against the wall, trapping her. She yanked on her cloak until it tore away, slipping her hands into her knuckle knives as she turned to face whoever her opponent was-- and narrowed her eyes. Four people, all dressed like posh uppers, all eyeing her like she was a meal, or perhaps a toy they were excited to tear apart.

Well... shit.

Pel couldn't think. Or, at least, his thoughts weren't helpful. They were mostly about how terrifying it was to be falling (he'd never fallen more than a few feet before), whether his family would be okay if he died, and how he regretted getting in to Lux Academy. Then he regretted that thought for a moment and remembered what a great opportunity it was. But none of these thoughts solved the problem of him falling for who knew what distance--

Pel got a grip on himself and defaulted to his main battle move: summoning his flock. A cluster of origami cranes and other birds soon surrounded him, and Pel desperately willed them to slow his fall.

A couple of birds grabbed his clothes in their beaks and flapped their wings frantically. Others tried to fly below him like a floating cushion. Pel suspected he looked quite silly, but his fall did seem to be slowing, so... it was fine. No one would be judging the potential students on the quality of their descents, right? Aha. Ahaha. Pel tried not to think about that.

Once he felt like his fall was a bit more controlled, Pel resisted the urge to keep his eyes closed and took a moment to glance around. All around him, he could see flares of colored light in the darkness as other people activated their auras. There were some kind of ropes of light to his right and a shimmering splotch of blue along with pulses of green light a little above him and to the left. Pel turned his attention back to the ground and saw a flash of flames below him, illuminating a cluster of buildings.

As the buildings quickly approached, Pel felt wind rushing past him faster, and he realized he was speeding up. His stomach lurched alarmingly and Pel squeezed his eyes shut, deciding that today was probably the worst day of his life. He thought he would very much like for it to not also be the last day of his life, however, so Pel activated his aura fully and called on his affinity. Swirls of brown and gray whipped around him in a chilling windstorm. Pel's cranes were swept up in the tempest, but Pel remained untouched in the center of his bubble of wind.

Pel figured he needed some kind of force to counteract his downward motion, which meant modifying the circular motion of his affinity. He imagined the windstorm gathering below him, acting like a fan blowing upwards. Pel's cranes were swept in with the wind, however, so as the wind pushed up against him, so did his cranes. Pel winced as a couple of cranes brushed against his arms. The injuries weren't much worse than paper cuts, but still... this was the first time Pel had been injured by his flock in a while.

He did feel himself slowing, though, and his eventual meeting with the ground didn't go as badly as it could've. Pel's cranes flew out of the way at the last second and Pel tumbled to the ground, trying his best to roll. He remembered somersaults from physical education, at least.

When Pel finally stopped tumbling, he lay on the cobblestones for a moment, slightly stunned. It... it didn't feel quite real that he'd survived, and Pel briefly wondered if he'd already died and Hell was this creepy dark arena. But Pel shook his head as he watched trails of Aura light streaking through the darkness. No, this had to be real. He'd get through this ridiculously dangerous initiation and study at Lux and go home to enjoy the holidays with his family and he'd regale them with tales of magic school and he'd laugh about all this initiation stuff in a few years and everything would be alright because... just because. It had to be.

Wincing, Pel pushed himself up into a sitting position. His neck and shoulder protested at the movement, and Pel suspected he'd have some nasty bruises later. But for now, Pel gently swung his pack around from his back and made sure that everything was still in there. A soft croak reassured him, and after taking a sip of water, Pel shrugged the pack on again.

He used a nearby wall to support him as he stood up. "Okay," he mumbled under his breath, "how can I get a jewel while also not getting killed by monsters or other initiates?" Well, for the jewels, Pel supposed he'd have to explore the arena. They probably wouldn't be lying around just anywhere, but it should be straightforward enough. The real problem was fending off attacks.

The images of a smiling, auburn-haired guy and a girl with leaves in her blue hair popped into Pel's head, and he cracked a smile. Right. I don't have to do this alone.

With his new goal of finding Eda and Railyn in mind, Pel set off between the forbidding buildings, a determined note in his steps.



Pel ran after Railyn, still breathing hard from their run-in with Francois. As if throwing knives weren't deadly enough, the guy had to make them explode too? Just how dangerous were these other potential students? Pel gulped, tried not to think about that any more, and concentrated on not tripping on the uneven ground.

When they reached the boarded-up mineshaft entrance and ran into Eda, Pel breathed an internal sigh of relief. Three fighters were better than two, right? Unless their attacks conflicted with each other or they were all just miserably uncoordinated or he was just miserably uncoordinated and messed things up or something or... right, he was overthinking things again, wasn't he. Pel took a deep breath and tried to focus on the positives.

Except suddenly it felt like something was tugging on Pel's insides and trying to turn him inside-out, and his relief at finding Eda and Railyn was swept away in the face of some vast hunger, and he couldn't think of any positives anymore-- Pel wanted to run. Or scream, or fight, or something, anything at all. But for some reason, he couldn't remember how... What were the steps involved in walking, again? Or speaking, or blinking?

Suddenly, Railyn grasped his face, and shouted something... something about auras?

"Wh... aura?" It took a moment for the word to register, but then Pel trembled as his aura swirled and tried to light up frantically. Slowly, the Voidborn's influence became more manageable. Pel jumped back, his aura swirling gray and brown around him, and tried to take stock of his surroundings.

He was still outside the mineshaft, and (thank goodness!) he could remember how to breathe again, and Railyn and Eda were here. As her aura roiled around her in dusky blue waves, Eda hissed, "We're being attacked."

And, as if punctuating her words, a shadowy creature leaped in front of the trio. Pel clutched his pack protectively as it pinned them with violent red eyes.

Railyn gulped. "A Voidborn."

Out of the three of them, Railyn acted first, flaring his aura to life and setting his chakrams on fire, which were now in his hands. The intense light flooded the area, making the Voidborn stand out with the way it not only didn't reflect the fire, but even seemed like it absorbed any light around it.

Railyn launched his weapons out, sending them soaring towards the Voidborn, encroaching on each side. The moment they reached the monster, their light vanished, and Pel couldn't see where they went afterwards. Did the Voidborn absorb the chakrams, like it seemed to absorb light? Could Voidborns absorb people, too? Pel shuddered at the thought.

Quickly, he started to summon his flock of cranes, figuring that he could summon more if the Voidborn really did absorb everything. But before he could launch any at the Voidborn, it charged at him, moving faster than Pel could react.

Pel's vision blurred as he got tackled by something. He didn't think the Voidborn could be so... solid. But, no, the Voidborn passed the corner of his vision. It was Railyn who'd tackled him to safety.

Pel hit the ground tumbling, rolling away from the Voidborn, which made a strange, distorted growling sound as it passed through the space Pel had been. When Pel finally stopped moving, he lay on the hard dirt, breathing hard and looking wide-eyed up at Railyn's cool blue eyes, piercing through the darkness. Had his eyes always been that bright, or was it just the dramatic lighting that was making them glimmer like jewels? "Th-thanks."

"Are you all right?" Railyn asked.

Pel gasped out a "Yeah." He felt his face grow warm. It was probably embarrassment from having to be saved so many times... like from Francois, and from his trance when the Voidborn first appeared. Hahh... He resolved to save Railyn too at some point to make up for it. But first, he had to catch his breath and get up. Thankfully, Railyn had caught on to that too, as he rolled off from on top of Pel and jumped to his feet.

Wincing, Pel slowly raised himself onto his elbows and looked for the Voidborn as Railyn disappeared into the shadows.

Pel watched on helplessly as the beast turned its attention to Edalyn, who held her staff with both hands. As Aapeli struggled to catch his breath, he saw the Voidborn charge. Edalyn dodged the charge, rolling out of the way. Her aura flared to life, a mute blue that was still brighter than any of their lights. The Voidborn's shadows shifted and coiled in on itself. It was like it changed its shape-- if Pel could even call it that-- as soon as Edalyn sparked her aura to life. Edalyn slammed one end of her staff into the ground, and vines sprouted out of her aura right in front of the staff. They were a mixture of green and blue, blending into each other haphazardly. The vines shot out into the sky, their tendrils ramming into the Voidborn. Or, at least they were supposed to, but the Voidborn seemed completely unphased. Edalyn barely had the time to dodge as the monster barrelled right through her vines. Pel could no longer see Edalyn.

Finally catching his breath, Pel scrambled up to his feet and hardened his aura. The brown smudges swirled faster, like dead leaves in a mini whirlwind. Taking a deep breath, Pel summoned his flock of cranes.

The Voidborn's scarlet eyes swiveled towards him, and Pel froze. That sucking feeling returned, and his aura wavered towards the creature like a candle flame in a draft. Pel held his breath-- why was he holding his breath?-- and tried to imagine tugging his aura back, but it kept gravitating towards the Voidborn. His cranes fluttered their wings frantically as they tried to keep orbiting around Pel.

Pel gritted his teeth and grasped at his flock, but the outermost ones were inexorably being drawn into the Voidborn. Pel could summon more cranes, but they'd just be lost as well... He scowled unconsciously and yanked on his flock, as if he were playing a game of tug-of-war with the Voidborn. Maybe if he pulled hard enough and then released his control suddenly, the Voidborn would... maybe not stagger backwards, but do... something? But what happened if the Voidborn just absorbed the flock and was completely unaffected?

Pel was shaken out of his brainstorming by a shouted "Hey!" Between Pel and the Voidborn, Pel looked first. Railyn was mostly cloaked in darkness, his silhouette lightly outlined by his shifting auburn aura. He raised one arm high, and the chakram he was holding up high lit up in bright fire, lighting up the dead trees around him like a beacon. Pel thought the Voidborn had swallowed those weapons in its darkness and they were never coming back, to be honest. Was there any hope for his poor cranes, or had the Voidborn actually digested them or something? Either way, Pel was immensely relieved that Railyn had recovered his weapons.

The fire spread to Railyn's hand, then down his arm, and within a moment his entire aura roared to light and life. That was when the Voidborn's attention shifted from Pel (thank goodness) to Railyn. Pel took a moment to gather the remnants his flock, though he still kept his eyes on Railyn.

"Come get me!" Railyn shouted. The Voidborn definitely didn't need any challenge, as it charged before he could finish shouting. Railyn arced his chakrams out to the left and right, and they left trails of fire as they soared to intercept the monster's charge. He jabbed out two shots of flame directly at the monster. Instead of dodging out of the way, the Voidborn just accepted the magic. The first two flameballs, the direct shots, didn't impact the monster. Instead, they phased right through it. Pel could see the fire burn through the smoke of the monster's insides for a moment, before vanishing instantly. It wasn't like it flickered out. It was smothered. Okayyy, perhaps his cranes were not alright. Pel gulped.

The Voidborn roared, and a ripple of barely visible purple light started from its face and pulsed through its entire form. Seeing its silhouette, it was much smaller than Pel expected, considering all the smoke around it. But, somehow, seeing its actual body terrified Pel more than anything else. At least when the Voidborn had been shrouded by shadows, he hadn't been able to see the wicked, shimmering spikes on the end of its tail. The purple light stopped right where the chakrams met, and they disappeared into it just like before.

Pel stood motionless, not sure what to do. If Railyn and Edalyn couldn't do anything to the Voidborn, what could he do? The thing ignored his origami like it was a light breeze. Actually, less than a small breeze. So far, his flock had been about as effective as sighing on the Voidborn and politely asking it to leave.

The Voidborn hissed and sputtered. Railyn readied his aura for another strike, but the Voidborn struck first. It whipped its tail, firing spikes of shadow at Railyn. (Since when had Voidborns been able to do that?) The first few Railyn dodged by rolling to the side, and he slid through the mud as spikes stabbed into the ground where he was moments ago. Railyn stumbled up and tried to side step the final spikes, but...

As if in slow motion, Pel stared as two spikes pierced right through Railyn's aura like it wasn't even there. One passed through the aura-tinted air harmlessly, puncturing the other side of his aura before vanishing into the darkness. The second one was not so lucky for Railyn. It disappeared behind his vest. Did it hit skin?

Before Pel fully realized what he was doing, he was running towards Railyn and the Voidborn. "Over here!" Pel's aura swirled frantically around him, the smudges of brown whipping around like dead leaves in a whirlwind. The Voidborn lashed its tail in Pel's direction, releasing another barrage of dark spikes. Pel dove towards the ground, scraping his chin against the rough surface. Once the spikes had flown over his head, he picked himself up faster than he'd thought possible-- turned out getting attacked by vicious monsters was a great motivator to become more acrobatic-- and sprinted the rest of the way to Railyn.

Pel gulped in air. Okay, okay, he had to get the Voidborn away somehow. He thought a silent apology to his flock, then yelled, "You want some cranes? Go fetch!" He'd definitely cringe over that line later, but in the moment, Pel willed around half of his flock to split off and fly towards the Voidborn. Right before they reached the creature, they veered to the right. The Voidborn hissed.

Pel gritted his teeth as he fought to keep his cranes from getting sucked into the Voidborn too easily. They flapped their wings furiously and dove towards the rocky wall next to the mines, but the Voidborn didn't follow. Its eyes were firmly trained on Pel and Railyn's auras, and Pel grimaced. So half the flock wasn't enough of a distraction, huh? He hated leaving himself unprotected, and he didn't think he had the energy to summon many more cranes, but... With a strangled cry, Pel sent the rest of his cranes careening towards the Voidborn.

The cranes flew around the Voidborn dizzingly, then converged into a flock, still trying to lead the Voidborn away. The Voidborn let out some kind of distorted growl as the cranes swarmed around it, and it seemed to grab at them more fiercely. Pel crouched down and braced himself against the ground, stubbornly holding on to his cranes.

Seemingly frustrated, the Voidborn lunged at the cranes, which darted away nimbly. The flock fluttered a short distance away, then moved again when the Voidborn lunged again. The flock was about two thirds of its original size now, and Pel could only hope that was enough. He drew on his desperation and summoned a few more origami cranes, which joined the flock. Pel felt a little wobbly, but he couldn't faint now, not when he was so close...

Suddenly, with a final darting away from the Voidborn, the flock reached the wall. The Voidborn snarled and leapt at the cranes.

But instead of finally absorbing the origami, it crashed into the stone with a squishy thud. There was a sound almost like a balloon deflating, and Pel stared as the Voidborn released small wisps of darkness into the air. It shuddered, as if trying to reorient itself.

Pel let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He wanted to celebrate actually being able to somewhat influence the Voidborn (and not dying! well, not yet, at least), but he was sure it wouldn't stay stunned for long.

"M-mines," he stuttered, looking around for Railyn and Eda. "Let's get into the mines."

Thane's first thought, rather than her safety or how close the knife had come to her face, was her cloak. She wasn't an upper, she didn't have the money to spare on a ton of clothing--and it had been a hand-me-down from Oya, one of the few Thane had gotten before they'd discovered her body in the alley, oozing aura and blood. That alone sent a spark of rage through Thane as she sized up the four people in front of her--all clearly uppers, all clearly snooty and excited to be picking on someone. They were probably hoping to steal a crystal, which was unfortunate, considering Thane didn't have one and hadn't even seen one.

"Well?! Someone get her!" One of the uppers, the one who most obviously looked like an upper, whined, her arms crossed.

One of the other uppers stepped forward, past a bush, and Thane could just make out a twirling knife in one of their hands. "Gladly," that Upper said with a devious grin on their face.

Something dark inside Thane reminded her of the streets, a twisted feeling that lurched around in her stomach, screaming at her to run. She didn't have to think on that, she knew from that smile that these Uppers didn't want a crystal. They probably didn't even think Thane had one, or would even care if she did.

They wanted their fun.

Thane didn't wait to confirm the feeling. She knew her gut, and she knew uppers, especially the ruthless ones raised in a culture of watching poor kids beat each other up for fun. The bachelorette party she'd "performed" before leaving Arelinor was confirmation enough that being exposed to violence pushed you one of two ways--numb to it, or craving it more.

She turned and bolted, eyes scanning the back alleys, clutching her knuckle knives tightly and pushing all her speed and built up energy into her legs. She hesitated to send out her aura this early, especially before knowing what any of them were capable of. She knew so little of the arena that she wasn't particularly eager to flood it with fog. Besides, she wasn't seeing many side-street options as she ran, not any narrow enough that she could actually cover herself in an escape effectively. No forked path that she could cover and make them guess which way she went. As her thoughts raced, a knife whizzed past Thane's ear, barely missing her. The knife flew into a concrete column, thudding against it with a sharp Click!. Thane readied herself to duck behind the column, but before she was able to, the column exploded, the force of it knocking her into a wooden door. She tumbled into a delapated house, the sound of the knife impacting the concrete reverberating in her ears.

She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the ringing noise, as she thought through her options. She couldn't go back out into the street, at least not where she'd come from. She wasn't looking to get blown into pieces. Her mind wandered to the professors, no doubt looking and having a fun time, and a part of her even considered the possibility that she'd been brought here not because of her talent or skills, but because this was some sort of training exercise for the students who had actually been admitted, and they'd taken her because she was someone who wouldn't be missed. Well, her family would miss her, but they wouldn't have the funds to do anything about it. Thane was sure the headmistress Fea was no doubt having a good laugh over Thane's naivety.

Outside, the sounds of foodsteps inched closer, and Thane. They were slowing down outside, almost uncertain-sounding. Her mind raced; they didn't know where she went, otherwise she would have been found already.

Thane carefully picked herself off the ground, leading with her hands so she wouldn't step on anything that would give away her position. She pressed herself to one of the remaining walls of the house. She grimaced as a piece of wood embedded itself into her side, but she remained quiet.

"Good job, Leighann." That was the same whiny voice from before. Thane didn't get much of a good look for any of them, but she could tell this one was basically useless. Maybe she could go after this one, if she had to. She took in a slow and steady breath. This was what she was good at--make a battle plan, execute it. She'd been in a few free-for-all matches, ones held for special events at the arenas. You couldn't take people all at once. Knock them out one by one, and make sure they didn't know where you were. Alright. She could do this. Maybe. She winced, fingers brushing over her side, where the wood had made a home.

"Shut your mouth, Hillary. We wouldn't be chasing after her if you didn't tip her off." This one, another female voice, but she carried herself with authority. Were they the leader?

"I'm not the one who threw the first knife." Hillary, the whiny one. She sounded closer than the supposed leader.

"I was just having a little fun, Hill." A chill ran down Thane's back. That must have been the one with the knives. Whoever they were, they sounded just as nasty as their smile. Their voice was more distant.

That's three, Thane thought. Keep talking. She needed to find out where the fourth person was--

Something inside her shivered, and she turned around to just barely avoid a bat to her face. Thane didn't think, she just ducked and rammed into her attacker's center of mass, ramming both of them into the other wall, and they collapsed into a shallow alleyway.

Thane rolled off of her attacker, scrambling to her feet and took off, not bothering to see if the attacker was following her.

"On me!" A shout called out behind her. Shit. So, she hadn't knocked the attacker out. She wanted to punch them in the face, even as she kept running. What type of lunatic tried to take a bat to someone's head? Clearly, the type who couldn't care in the slightest whether or not Thane lived through the arena. Not that she expected the other recruits to care whether or not she died; but she certainly hadn't expected them to actively seek it out. Maybe she should have, though. The more Thane learned about Uppers, the further they fell in her mind. Was there no limits to their evil?

The alley ended abruptly in front of Thane and she slammed her shoulder in the wall to keep her momentum as she veered to the right. She could barely see where her feet were landing, with the dismal light that peeked through the broken roofs of the buildings, peering over the debris as if to mock her current predicament. And Thane couldn't hear them anymore; the blood was rushing through her ears too much for her to hear anything else. She had no doubt she was still being chased down, so she kept running.

She didn't stop, she couldn't even glance back to see if someone was trailing her. Her instincts, built up from years in Arelinor and the arenas, kicked in and shoved her brain and reason out of the way. She just had to survive, and that meant getting the hell out of this cramped city. She'd worry about finding a crystal once she'd lost these people, but for now, it was no longer the top priority. While she'd been falling, she hadn't been able to see much of anything besides the monstrosities she'd made and quickly put out of their misery, and the ever-expanding horizon of an enormous city. Still, she couldn't believe that there was only city down here. That was far too simple, especially for an academy as prestigious as Lux. Besides, there wasn't only cities in the world. There had to be something beyond the city boundaries, and that was what she was betting on. She'd have to lose them there--wherever that was.

The tight corridors filled out to the point Thane couldn't see either end of the alleyway anymore. In front of her was pitch darkness, and the shadows enveloped either side. Something stopped her there, and she could no longer force herself to move. Her brain kicked back in. She needed light. She needed to not get caught. Which one did she need more?

Thane knew the answer without hesitation. She'd gone without sight in the arena countless times--it was what her affinity, and her most honed skill in terms of magic. With a single finger trailing the edge of the building next to her to keep her going straight, she pushed ahead into the darkness.

1468 words

Railyn barely had time to register what had happened to him before his vision faltered. He was about to become best friends with the ground. But, he didn't. His vision filled with black and white dots, but he saw Pel through them, struggling to keep Railyn on his feet. How odd, they were moving but Railyn could not feel his feet touching the ground, impacting with the dirt. He couldn't even feel Pel's body lifting him up. The only thing he could feel was something intense dragging him down, like a weight that tugged at his body and soul.

Perhaps Edalyn was also helping him walk, but he couldn't see her through the dots. He couldn't really see much of anything, but he felt a blast of cold pummel his stomach and he doubled over. That shocked his senses and he could now feel everything coming back to him. Aapeli was right beside him -- had he taken him down as well?

His hands felt cold and damp. He glanced down. The area was dimly lit with a warm light, and the feeling on his hands were from stone, not the earth soil he expected. It was hard to breathe, like something was constantly slamming into his chest.

He could vaguely make out that Aapeli was saying something, but he couldn't quite figure out what those words were supposed to be. All he knew was that a nap in the dirt sounded quite nice at the moment.

Railyn closed his eyes. If he focused enough, he could block out most of his senses which seemed better than whatever the alternatives were.

This was not the first time Railyn had felt this way before. His mind really didn't want to work with him, so he couldn't place where he had felt this before, but some answers popped into his mind.

Breathe.

He needed to breathe. Everything can feel worse if he didn't get enough oxygen in his system.

He focused on his breathing. It was as if his senses had vanished from his body and his breathing dragged them back in. And they returned, reluctantly it felt, as they filed in one by one. His hearing came back first, with ringing a high drone that thudded against his eardrums.

He weathered through that and the audible pounding lessened with time. How much time, he really had no clue, but as long as he continued to focus on his breathing, the intensity stopped.

His vision followed. Only blots of black and white, but those blots reminded him that his vision was a thing that existed. He was unintentionally clamping his eyes shut, so he forced himself to relax. He opened his eyes and met Pel's molten clay eyes staring back at him. At first, his hearing didn't want to work with him on actually hearing anything, but he was eventually able to process what Pel was actually saying. It felt like he had to restart at step one of life. Relearning how his body worked, and how to actually... do things again.

"Railyn!" Aapeli's exclamation pierced into his mind and awoke something deep inside him. Pel could have said "Wake the heck up!" with the effect it had on Railyn. That was when he could finally feel again.

And he felt pain.

He struggled to his knees, with both Pel and Edalyn helping him up to his feet. Red-hot searing heat radiated from his midriff. He couldn't really see anything besides wherever Edalyn was shining her flashlight. Railyn tried to spark a light up by snapping his fingers, but it didn't work. He tried again. No success. His brows furled in a mixture of concentration and pain and he focused his mind on activating his aura.

However, it already felt activated, but he couldn't draw upon it. It was as if it was being redirected somewhere else.

Then he looked down.

His stomach was glowing faintly, a dull orange that encircled a nasty gash right above his navel. His fingers traced the edges of the wound, the tips of them flaring to life with magic as they brushed along his orange aura. The wound itself looked horrid, with what seemed like purple or maybe black puss that bubbled out from the wound. The puss sizzled as it made contact with his aura, which was trying to heal the wound as it would normally, but this was different.

Scrapes and bruises, which Railyn had his fair share of, and even from magic, Railyn was used to and was able to heal from naturally, so his aura was as well. But, this was something entirely else. This wound was from a Voidborn. Could it even be healed?

Railyn didn't give that thought the time of day. There was actually no way the school would send basically children to their deaths. This was difficult, of course, and dangerous, but deadly? There was no way.

Then again... they did hand out emergency whistles. Maybe they would point to those if anybody was actually in danger.

Railyn shrugged off his backpack, struggling to extend his arms as heat and pain radiated from his wound. He hung the backpack out in front of him. Was he in enough danger to actually warrant blowing the whistle? Something told him that would be considered the easy way out, and a place as prestigious as Lux Academy didn't accept those who took the easy way out.

The pain was unbearable, and it made it hard to think about anything else. He stumbled forward. He had to do something; there was no way he would be able to get through initiation with this wound the way it was.

He tossed his backpack to the ground and fumbled with his shirt. Well, it wasn't really a shirt, more like a thin jacket that stopped at his stomach, but Railyn considered it his shirt. He didn't really like clothing, especially shirts. They restricted his movement too much and felt suffocating. He was not a fan of feeling suffocating. And he was also not a fan of ooze gushing out of his wound onto his stomach and pants. So, using his shirt as a bandage was a win-win for him.

Railyn tore apart the bottom of his shirt, a thin long strip and judged the size in the dim light. It was a good enough piece, and he tied it around his midsection. As he tugged, the wound sent shocking vibrations throughout his body, from toe to finger, and rocked through every joint in between. He gritted his teeth and tugged again. He could feel the pain resonating from deep within his stomach, even though this was very clearly a flesh wound.

A simple bandage wasn't going to do crap against this, but he could feel his aura begin to let off from constantly trying to heal the unhealable wound. But, he also felt something leaking from the wound. Perhaps it was blood this time, but it could has still been that pus. He didn't want to think about that anymore, and wrapped the rest of his shirt around his wound.

Railyn was finally able to breathe, actually breathe, after he finished wrapping the wound. It wasn't perfect, but it felt stable enough that his aura had relaxed and he himself had physically relaxed. He felt sore all over and the next breath he let out was more of a groan than an actual breath. But, he was able to stand up fully -- how long had he been crouching? -- and he picked his backpack back up.

Pel shone his flashlight on Railyn's face, which made him squint. "Are-- are you okay?"

Railyn fished out his own flashlight and flicked it on, hovering the beam of light on Pel's features. The boy's face looked absolutely freaked out with a splash of concern written underneath his wrinkles. Railyn managed a smile, something kicking in deep within him to kick him in the rear and remind him that he wasn't the only one in this horrible situation. He didn't know why, but he cared more about getting that horrified look off of his face than his own fate, and the thudding of his wound was shoved into the back of his mind. "I'm okay... for now," Railyn breathed out between a pained half-smile. "At least we got away from that Voidborn." He flashed his light over the entrance. Thick vines broke through boulders, blotting out the entrance.

Railyn glanced at Pel in the corner of his vision. Nothing he said eased the look on his face. He decided to worry about that later. Instead, he focused his attention deeper in. "The only way to go is forward, then?" He asked, chuckling hollowly.

The three of them ventured deeper into the mines, with no crystal between them and no clue how to find them.

As the three of them ventured further into the mines, the space grew narrower, the craggy walls encroaching on each side. So, they formed a bit of a line naturally. Pel in the front, with a flashlight, Railyn behind as he struggled to follow, and Edalyn in the rear, partially to keep Railyn from slipping and falling, and partially to defend their rear if the Voidborn were to return. Pel had offered to stay behind Railyn, mostly to not lead, but it was quickly deigned that Edalyn would be able to do the tasks needed of the person in the rear far better than Pel. Aapeli could have tried to catch Railyn if he fell, but... well, looking at the amount of times Railyn straight up knocked him over...

So Pel was in the lead, with absolutely no clue what he was doing or what was needed of him.

Well, at least he figured that as long as there was only one way to go, he could follow it.

Pel flicked the flashlight back and forth. It never illuminated anything interesting, which Pel was very thankful for. As long as all he saw was dirt and rocks, he could pretend that that was all there was in the mines. And crystals, of course. There had to be crystals.

Slowly, the walls around them started to open up again. Pel felt occasional drafts from cracks in the walls, but he stayed on the main tunnel. It could have been minutes to hours later, but finally, the flashlight beam no longer reached the walls to either side of them. It looked like they'd reached a cavern.

The three of them spread out. Edalyn's voice was hushed as she said, "Is that a crystal?" She pointed forwards, above rings of stepping stones that circled a pond in the center of the cavern.

Pel's eyes followed the stones as they spiraled up towards an island in the center of the pond. Each stone was higher than the previous one by about a foot, meaning the island was dizzyingly high up in the air. A welcoming, pale green light winked from the top of the island. Pel gulped.

"I-I'm going to go up there?" Pel tried to measure the distance between the island and the pond below, but he all he could figure out was that it was somewhere between probably-going-to-kill-you-if-you-fall and definitely-going-to-kill-you feet high.

"I mean, I could try..." Railyn said, hesitation clear in his voice. "I think I could catch you if you fell better than you could if I did, though." His laugh was dry, but it still alleviated some of the tension in the cave.

Pel laughed nervously, but looked pointedly at Railyn's makeshift bandage. "I think I'd kill you if I fell on you. You're in no condition to catch anyone, no offense."

"No, no, I am strong and definitely stable right now."

Pel squinted at Railyn. He was clearly not "stable." Pel took a deep breath. "No, it's alright. We've each got to get a crystal sometime, right? I... I can do this."

"If you really don't feel like you can do this, I can." Edalyn offered. She glanced behind them to the way they came from. "I could... cover up this way before I go up. It would be able to keep that Voidborn at bay for a bit."

Pel shook his head. "That wouldn't help for long. You're our best defense. I'm the one best suited for getting this crystal." The most expendable, he added silently.

The other two exchanged a glance, then shrugged. With that settled, Pel started analyzing the situation.

His Affinity could support him to some extent, like when he'd first arrived in the Arena, but it could really only slow falls, not stop them. And considering the horrors of the rest of this place, inside the pond was likely not a great place to be.

Pel took a deep breath. I can do this. We've been through worse. It's no scarier than the Voidborn. Thinking of the monster they'd encountered was a bad idea. Pel shivered, remembering the way it had felt like the Voidborn was attempting to devour his soul. Was it suddenly cold in the cavern? Pel felt cold. But he couldn't think of that right now. He had to get the crystal, had to get up those stones somehow, had to survive, had to... had to...

"Pel?" Railyn piped up.

"Y-yeah?" Pel blinked. Right, the crystal. "Sorry, I'll... I'll get right on that."

Railyn stepped past Edalyn and planted his hands on Pel's shoulders. "I believe in you."

A shaky smile formed on Pel's face. "Thanks."

Railyn offered a smirk. "You got this."

Pel wasn't one hundred percent sure that he did, indeed, "got this" (it was more like... maybe forty percent, or possibly forty one percent), but for some reason, Railyn's words still reassured him.

Railyn glanced back at Edalyn. "Right, Eda?"

She glanced at him, confused.

He looked back to Pel. "See, she agrees!"

"Yeah, definitely... I can see the total agreement..." Pel couldn't help but laugh a bit. Pel smiled at his two allies, a little less shakily this time. Railyn might or might not be able to catch him if he fell, but between the three of them, surely they could work something out so that none of them died? With that questionable reassurance in mind, Pel made his way to the pond.

Pel stepped onto the first stone, only inches above the surface of the pond. He tried not to think about the way his legs were trembling. Pel held his arms out for balance and stepped onto the next one.

He continued that way for about ten steps, his eyes focused solely on the next stone. Pel fell into a kind of rhythm- look at next stone, right leg up, left leg up, balance, repeat.

Aapeli's breathing slowed. He was doing it! He looked up, trying to judge how much farther he had to go. His eyes traced the rest of the path leading up to the island. Approximately twenty more steps. Pel let out a nervous breath and continued with his rhythm.

Look at next stone, right leg up, left leg up, balance, repeat. Look at next stone, right leg up-

"Woah!" Pel overbalanced, frantically wheeling his arms in the air. He tipped backwards, falling for a heartstopping moment. The roof of the cavern with its glistening stalactites flashed across his vision. Pel's Aura activated in a burst and icy cold winds whipped around him.

Pel's back landed on the next-lowest stone with a thud, his Aura only barely softening the impact.

Pel lay there for a moment, catching his breath. What happened? Had the stone just moved? Or had his foot landed wrong?

Slowly, Aapeli fumbled for a grip on the stone, and he pushed himself upright. He stared at the next-highest stone.

It floated in space, motionless.

"Are you okay?" Edalyn shouted down below.

"I think so. Yeah." Pel stared at the stone in front of him suspiciously. "I just... slipped."

"You got this!" Railyn said.

Pel was about thirty percent sure he got this now. Still, he called down a "Thanks."

Pel decided not to take any more chances. He reached for the next stone with both arms, making sure he had a firm grip on it before bringing his legs up in an awkward half-climb, half-crawl movement.

About nineteen steps left... Now eighteen...

The next stone jerked erratically in Pel's arms before he'd had the chance to bring the rest of himself up. Pel just about swallowed his heart. He clutched the stone in a death-grip for a moment.

"These... these stones are definitely moving," he gasped out. Forget the cold of the cavern. Pel was sweating now, out of sheer terror.

"What?" Railyn said, but his voice was much quieter this time.

"Yeah." Pel gulped.

When he felt that he could breathe again, he clambered up onto that stone. Pel gritted his teeth and moved on to the next, then the next... Every so often, a stone shifted mischievously to the left or the right, and Pel had to stop all progress. Every time, his confidence was worn down, until he was finally kneeling on the island, too spent to do anything but lift his head wearily and gaze at the crystal in front of him.

It rotated slightly, throwing soft peridot sparkles in all directions. The crystal shone with an inner light that seemed to call out to Pel. Pel was exhausted, but even so, something compelled him to stretch out a hand towards the crystal.

Rock. Tunnels. Crystal room. Lava.

Pel blinked. As soon as his hand had closed around the crystal, he'd seen brief flashes of images. It had almost seemed like a route to somewhere in the mines? But he could discuss that with Edalyn and Railyn later. For now, he had to get back down.

Pel peeked over the edge of the island and immediately withdrew. That was... a lot higher than it had seemed when he'd been climbing up. Pel waited for his head to stop spinning.

"It's okay," he whispered to himself. "Just get back down, one stone at a time."

(1,540 words)

Aapeli stowed the crystal away in a pocket and waited for his legs to stop trembling. Pel didn't consider himself out of shape, but the climb up had taken a toll on his nerves as much as it had tired him out physically.

When he felt like he could stand without his legs turning into cooked spaghetti, Pel took a deep breath and clambered down to the first step. And he froze.

The pool beneath him was starting to churn. In the space of a few moments, the water had frothed up into waves that reached a quarter of the way up to the island. As Pel watched, the waters rose higher and spun faster until the island was surrounded by a mini cyclone.

Pel heard Railyn and Eda try to shout something, but their voices were drowned out by the whipping winds. Pel's hands started shaking as a spray of water hit his face.

"I... I can't do this," he wheezed. His "Pel's got this" percentage had plummeted to zero. At this point, he'd be lucky to get out of this alive.

Alive... wait, wasn't there the whistle? Pel fumbled in his backpack and pulled out the whistle, tracing its lettering that declared, "For extreme emergencies ONLY." Well, this was an emergency. He raised it to his lips, barely managing to keep his hand steady.

Then Pel paused. Blowing the whistle meant forfeiting. It meant leaving Railyn and Eda behind, as well as all his chances at a magic education at Lux Academy. It meant giving up.

Pel started to lower his hand. Maybe... maybe he could wait. He gulped and analyzed the path down again. The cyclone's winds were whipping viciously around the island, but there was a clear space until perhaps the fifth step down. That was where the eye of the storm ended.

He could get there and re-think the situation, right? Maybe he'd see a solution to getting out then. Right. Pel took a deep breath.

Then a wave crashed against the shore of the pond, letting out a startling boom, and Pel's hand jerked up. The whistle tumbled from his fingers. Pel stood there, petrified by shock.

"Oh, shoooot." Pel grabbed his hair with his hands, watching as the whistle sank into the frothing waves below.

There went his only safety net. Pel felt himself drowning in despair, as if he were already caught in the raging waters below. How had he ever thought he could do this-- this was worse than falling into the Arena-- worse than the fight with Francois-- maybe even worse than the Voidborn-- he couldn't-- he-- ahh--

Suddenly, he heard a ribbit.

The sound was so incongruous with the screaming of the cyclone that Pel forgot his fear for a moment. He peeked into his pack again. "...Rando?"

The glimmering Kaldan frog gazed up at him and croaked again. His bulbous eyes seemed to silently admonish Pel. Pel wasn't sure whether Rando was reprimanding him for losing the whistle or for spiraling into hopelessness, or possibly even for leaving him in his pack as Pel experienced his various adventures, but... Well. It was nice to have a friendly face here.

Slowly, Pel smiled. It was a trembling, nervous smile, but still. "I've got to get you out of here safely too, huh? It's not just me I have to worry about." He took a deep breath. "Okay."

Pel secured the pack again, then crouched down. He lowered his legs to the second stone, then shifted his weight and brought his arms down as well, clutching the sides of the stone in case it moved again. He exhaled. Then he did it again. And again.

Soon enough, he was at the eyewall. The wind and water whipped by, completely obscuring the walls of the cavern from Pel's vision. He activated his Aura.

As the winds of his Affinity whipped around him, creating a personal cyclone that left him untouched, Pel could think clearly for the first time since falling into the Arena. The brown smudges of his Aura whipped past him like falling autumn leaves, whisked along streaks of cloudy gray. Pel's vision sharpened.

The little town of Kalda was not a place that was frequently visited by cyclones, but Pel had read about them before. The eyewall, right outside the eye, was where the strongest winds were. Things would get better once he broke past that.

The question was, how? His Aura protected him from the sprays of water that jetted out from the eyewall and managed to reach where he was crouching, but he doubted it could hold up against the full fury of the cyclone's winds.

Perhaps if he spun his Affinity faster? Did the direction matter? The winds of the cyclone were moving clockwise. If Pel spun his Affinity counterclockwise... No, that would be moving directly against the cyclone, and he simply didn't have the energy for that. If he spun it clockwise... He ran the risk of feeding the cyclone, but if he could use his winds to deflect the cyclone's currents for long enough to slip through the eyewall...

Pel groaned. The truth was, for all his careful analysis and attempted plans, he had no idea what would happen.

But he had to do this. For himself, and for his frog.

Pel narrowed his eyes and willed his Affinity to spin faster. The gray winds whipped clockwise around him, letting out a deafening whoosh even as they left Pel's hair and clothing untouched.

On the count of three, Pel entered the eyewall.



The first thing Pel noticed was the noise. He'd thought his Affinity was deafening before, but it paled in comparison to the ear-splitting sound of the winds of his cyclone colliding with that of the pond. He felt the pressure of the wind against him, pushing him rightwards, even as he held on to the stone with all his strength. Pel gritted his teeth and reached for the next stone.

You can do this. People believe in you. Fake it 'til you make it. Maybe that last one wasn't quite as motivational, but repeating self-affirmations helped Pel distract himself from the raging storm around him. He tried to keep himself steady as he descended to the next stone.

The roaring increased until Pel felt as if he'd never hear anything else in his life again. He wished he could cover his ears, but his hands were busy clinging onto stones for dear life.

He felt his Affinity weakening. Despite all the hours of practice he'd had with his Winter Tempest, despite his endurance training-- Pel gritted his teeth. He'd have to work even harder from now. But at this moment, he could only hope his Affinity lasted for a few more minutes.

A gust of misty wind broke through his cyclone and tossed him off-balance. Pel didn't have the time to scream-- only the time to flail towards the next stone and hang onto it desperately. He righted himself again. The winds seemed to be slowing down slightly. He was almost out of the eyewall. He reached for the next stepping stone.

And then, the stone moved.

It jerked just a few inches out of reach, and Pel toppled past it, his fingers grasping at uncaring winds. He felt like he had gone past fear now, his emotions overloaded until he could only think, "Oh."

And then the cyclone had caught him and was carrying him along, like a cruel child who flies a toy airplane through the air only to make it crash against a wall. Pel could see the walls of the cavern now. They blurred into a dark shape in front of him, growing ever closer. Darkness was comforting. It was like sleep, and Pel was so tired. He let his Winter Tempest lapse into silence.

And then, into his ear, an indignant ribbit sounded.

Pel's eyes flew open. Rando! Adrenaline flooded his exhausted body again, and Pel looked frantically at the walls of the cave and the floor far below him. Both of them were coming towards him and his frog too fast for comfort.

Belatedly, Pel screamed. As his voice mingled with the shrieking of the cyclone, Pel activated his Affinity one last time and willed his winds to rotate faster. Just enough to stop him from crashing into the wall-- just enough so he wasn't killed upon impact with the floor--

His swirling winds extended down towards the cavern floor. They played there for a moment, picking up rocks and dirt. Then they reached up towards the clouds the cyclone had created overhead, connecting the earth to the ceiling.

A... tornado? Pel watched with wide eyes as the space around him cleared, leaving a small circle of absolute calm within the twister that was now dancing across the cavern floor. Somehow, he was still suspended mid-air.

Pel was exceedingly confused. His Affinity had never done this before. But then again, he'd never been in a life-and-death situation before.

Aapeli tentatively willed himself to descend. His tornado obeyed, and Pel dropped down to the cavern floor, about twenty feet away from Railyn and Eda. His feet hit the cavern floor with an impact that, although jarring, was nowhere near strong enough to break his bones.

Pel looked at his friends in surprise. "I survived," he whispered.

And then he fainted.