Chapter 28 - Rowan

I FIND MYSELF WITH A DIFFCULT DECISION, Lizbeth is going to be in the tournament on one hand I am excited for her and really want to support her, but also, I really want to take it all for myself. The tournament is full of the scariest fighters of each element minus one, the serpent was defeated yesterday by Aven's hands, well his monstrous knee several times. Titan's crash was also beat by me and Gro yesterday, the scariest people of water left is Aven who is a much more proficient healer, but his training with Liz definitely showed yesterday, they both have remarkably similar ways of fighting now. I am no slouch though and I feel like I could fight above most of the people in the selections, and on par with the rest. The two warships flying over the city has my blood boiling and fire in my heart ready to go out there and take it all though.

Snows 45

Five people left and it's a good thing I found Gronaan, because we have already run into most of the people paired up between the two other fights we encountered, I say fights, but they were more like ambushes. The way we fought it may not have been honorable, but they are effective none the less. The crowd seems to like it either way. "I wonder who the odd man out is," Gronaans says under his breath to me a tiny hint of his power at the edge of his words. "Well, there is only one fire that is the color of earth left so I will give you a hint," I say nodding to the pillars of stone resting around the ring. Three crimson flames, one white almost blue flame, and on a deep green flame; it is glowing a little taller and brighter than the rest?

"She is a monster; you'd better not lose to her if it comes down to just you two," Gronaan's voice put a smile on my face. And I turn to him walking backwards my hands behind my back, "I wouldn't make it easy for her to say the least. And explosion and crash of stone fills the air on the far side of the ring. And I flip around only to be pulled back from the opening of an archway filling with fire the marble surrounding it turning whit hot and melting little bits at a time.

The heat of the fire gentle on my skin but the smell of burning skin comes from behind me as I hear Gronaan dunk his hands in the cool water trough running down the length of each wall. A small hiss of steam leaves his right sleeve as it hits the water, and he chokes down a groan as a form comes over the wall slamming a kick into my stomach sending me reeling and flying through the wall of fire.

Gronaan's roar burst through the wall of flame, wait that is the person that attacked me. Wind has a nasty habit of using their voices to deliver a shock wave and who ever this is, was just launched through the fire with me. Knowing the man in front of me can't hear all that well I take my first step in the fight. I through a kick faster than I normally could with a little help from Machina, the jet of flame sending my shin viciously crashing into the attackers lower back and back into the wall of flame.

The flames cut off as a second figure a little shorter than the first dashed into the hall with the three of us. The first attackers bound strolled up to him, and I intuitively knew what the form was, and who the first attacker was, Lyka. The seconds a monitor Lizard, the baby dragon says only one this to me about the second attacker, Red's Blaze. A second massive crashing noise fills the air and triggers the next wave of attacks, Red steps up to Gronaan and throws a fireball the size of a horse his way. Gronaan easily snuffs out the flame removing the air from around it, that is an annoying technique he has used it on me several times.

Lyka's attack was much less obvious, the bandit king himself never makes it look like his being overly aggressive, but always is. A lance of flame pours from his hands and directly as my face. The second part of the attack was the two torches behind me lance flame toward my back, the only reason I knew about that is Machina let me feel the fire's movements. I nimbly avoid as I would like to think, I press a jet of flame out of my shoulder sliding me toward the wall which I smack off of with a second jet of flame launching me toward the man.

My charge was met with what I least expected, a hand around my throat, the iron grip of Lyka's hand pressing the air from my throat and the world becomes a little darker as the pain of the blood trying to force its way to my head can't move. I feel out for my bond to machina, who is right behind me, and call fourth from the embers in the rubble behind Lyka four white hot strings of fire rip through the edges of the garments he is wearing and even cutting his skin, the skin becomes cauterized and seals into four scars instantly on either side of his neck.

The pain obviously taking hold I his face gives me enough room to break free from his grip, and step back from him with a hop assisted by a little fire. A third and fourth boom and crash headed in our direction, Liz must be headed this was and terribly angry. We need to win and fast if we have any hope of beating her and Lyka looking to the sound of the shattering earth getting louder every few seconds. I take the opportunity of him looking toward the sound of destruction to launch myself behind him and wrapping my elbow under his throat and pull back pressing my feet into his knees.

Calling up more flames from Machina, he is starting to get a little tired, I press flames across the top of Lyka's back pressing him even harder to the ground and his throat into my elbow. His hands pulling on my arm become limp and I release his throat from my arm the flames slamming his face into the ground. One flame of fire snuffs out and his body shifts beneath the earth pulled to the safety of the medical personnel no doubt waiting nearby. Booming destruction maybe twenty feet away coming through a wall behind me tells me to move and several stones begin ripping though the marble as if it were made of paper.

And look to the sky to see Gronaan taking several explosions on the stomach from Red's grip, I told him the first time we fought him don't let him put his hands on you. I start moving toward the pair in the air, but as about 30 feet up now, Gronaan makes his final move, he charges down at the man causing flames to rip across his body. The two slams into the earth at a speed that had to hurt both of them if not worse and found myself charging the dust cloud rolling from the ground from the impact. Both men lay on the ground Red completely still but breathing, Gronaan rolls over to his back, agony prevalent in his voice, "Well fought." The two idiots pulled under left just two flames on pillars on opposite sides of the ring. The final wall before Lizbeth strolled through a wasteland of crushed marble and dust storming behind her. I pull the mask on my hood down and put on my best smile freezing her in place and forcing her to take a breath. The mask around her face had long been pulled down and tears streamed down her eyes, "Hey beautiful, I'm sorry for the mess back there, Aven got hurt and I got a little mad." I hold back my chuckle and walk over to her putting my hand on her shoulder, "It's okay this is almost over, and you can go see him, Gronaan and Lyka are worse for wear too."