Ember woke up the next day, bouncing off the walls. She was excited to see who she would be paired up with for the Element fight and she couldn't wait for Force-Field Generation. Basically, it was learning how to create a shield made of solid protons. Then a thought hit her. Ellis had said that Dune was taking that class but that was a Light class. Maybe he had it for Energy but that was doubtful. She would find Ellis later and ask him.
Ember scampered to the door and skidded to a stop when she noticed a papyrus sheet on the floor. It looked as though it had been pushed under the door. Ember gingerly picked it up and then she got even more animated. It was the Element fight pairings. Ember found her name and saw that she would have to fight two different people. She was paired with Ash for her first fight. That made sense but she was paired with Dune for her second fight. Ember spit out the water that she had just drank. Crap! Dune was powerful and it had already been proved that Dune could best her in a normal fight any day. A part of Ember told herself that this wasn't a normal fight; it was an Element fight.
Ember shook herself once and told herself not to think about it and just train really hard.
Ember did work very hard in every single one of her classes, even Catastrophic History. She was determined to beat Dune. First thing, in Air Imitation, Ember transformed into a cloud and back out almost effortlessly and Mr. Omosa made Ash keep practicing while he taught Ember how to change into fog which was the next easiest. By the end of the class she could do that too. She did just as well in all of her other classes.
At lunch she had no homework so she searched for Ellis. Mostly she had a lot of homework in the classes after lunch. She found Ellis sitting with a few other guys. Ember ran up to the table and sat down across from Ellis.
"Can I ask you a quick question?" She demanded. Ellis looked shocked that she came over but he also looked quite pleased. His friends were all winking at him and making weird noises but Ember paid no attention.
"Sure." He said eagerly.
"Yesterday you said that Dune was taking Force-Field Generation?" Ember asked. Ellis's face fell a little but only for a moment so Ember was sure she had imagined it. She had to do that a lot lately and it was becoming a habit.
"He was allowed to choose one extra class and that's the one he chose." Ellis explained. "Perfect" Ember thought to herself but she didn't say it aloud.
"Well, thanks Ellis!" She gave him a thumbs up and scurried away leaving a red faced Ellis behind. Why did Dune get to choose an extra class and why did he choose a Light class? That made absolutely no sense to Ember. It made her outraged.
She didn't eat lunch at all but instead went to wait in the hallway for her next class.
The rest of the day went just as well as the first half and Ember was doing much better than Ash much to her delight. Ash sure didn't thank her for that though. He became even moodier throughout the day. Ember wanted to throttle him all day but figured that wouldn't be good for her training.
ℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓℓ
It was the day of the Element fight and Ember was confident that she was prepared. She had mastered everything her instructors taught her and she practiced in her room every night. Ember just hoped Dune hadn't been doing the same.
Ember searched her closet for something that would be suitable for fighing. She chose, brown cargo pants, a black skin tight t-shirt, and her work boots. She threw her hair up into a ponytail like usual and was about to leave but something stopped her. She turned around and looked at her bag lying on her bed. She bit her lip nervously.
Finally, the part of her that said 'it's okay to be paranoid' won and Ember rushed back to her bag. She stuffed an extra change of clothes, a jacket, her running shoes, a couple books, a brush, crackers, plants, popcorn, and gloves in her bag and hauled it out of the room with her. She didn't know what was going to happen at this fight but with Dune, something was bound to happen. Maybe Ember was being paranoid but she wasn't going to take any chances. It wasn't like Dune could do THAT much damage. He wasn't powerful enough. Ember kept trying to convince herself that everything would be alright.
Ember was supposed to meet Violet outside of the fight room. Ember was sitting against a wall, next to the doors of the room the fights were taking place in, waiting for Violet to appear. Ember leaped up when she saw her.
Violet ran to give Ember a hug.
"I'm so glad I'm finally getting to see you again!" Violet squealed. "That hair really suits you!" She added as an afterthought. Ember laughed and hugged Violet back.
"I'm glad I'm getting to see you again! So how's Fire training going?" Ember asked curiously.
"Oh it's going great! I'm learning so much and it's definitely my Element. Fire just speaks to me!" Violet said dramatically. Violet was a rather dramatic character. "What about you? How's all of your training going? It's amazing that you have three Elements!" Violet exclaimed.
"Good. I think I'm really picking it up but it's a lot of classes." Ember lowered her voice. "And the guy that's in all of my classes is so mysterious. He doesn't even have three Elements. I don't know what his Element is. He never talks about it and he's a jerk." Ember said. Violet and Ember shared practically everything.
"Is he a hot jerk though?" Violet asked hopefully.
"A bit." Ember gave a brief answer because she really didn't want to have this conversation. Ember especially didn't want to have that conversation because Ash was walking right by them. "That's him." Ember whispered to Violet. Violet gasped.
"Hi is SO hot!" Violet sang out. Ash, who had just about made it through the doors, turned around and narrowed his eyes and Ember and Violet.
"Hello ladies." He smirked, coming towards Ember and Violet. Ember hit Violet on the shoulder.
"Now look what you did!" Ember hissed at Violet. Violet just giggled.
"Why aren't you two inside the fight room yet?" He asked.
"We were just meeting up here." Violet explained with a wink. He nodded.
"So what's your name?" Ash asked Violet while drawing closer to her. Violet was a total flirt but she was also very strong and independant and when she flirts it's more of an act.
"Violet." Violet said breathily. Ash had gotten much closer to her.
"And your Em's friend?" He whispered.
"Yes." Violet said and then pulled away. She smiled at Ash and winked as she and Ember walked into the room.
It was already packed. Ember followed Violet to an empty seat midway up the stadium. Almost everyone in Helvna was going to be in this very room, watching. Ember nudged Violet.
"How many fights do you have?"
"One." Violet whispered. "You?"
"Two. Who are you fighting?"
"Ellis." Violet said and Ember winced but she was going to have faith in Violet.
"I have Ash and then Dune."
"Dang! That's unlucky."
"Yeah, it is."
The announcer of the day walked up to a podium that was placed in front of the ring.
"We are now going to begin the Element fight of the month! I am your announcer and snacks are outside this room and down the hall but please only leave during the breaks!" The announcer said into a microphone that made his voice boom out across the stadium. "The first fight is Ashyo Delios and Marcus Bunar!" The two boys made their way down from their seats in the stadium. The announcer beckoned them to him and turned off the microphone.
"Now, boys this is going to be clean fight. Here are the rules: Only use the Element skills you are in classes for. Also, use skills that you have used in training at least once before. Now skills should be used to kill or seriously injure the opponent. Stay inside the ring at all times. Are the rules clear?" The announcer asked. Both boys nodded and the announcer turned his microphone back on. He gestured for the boys to step inside the ring.
"Ashyo is to stand at the black marking and Marcus is to stand at the blue marking!" Both boys hurried to the designated starting points. "You will have fifteen minutes! Whoever gets the most points in that time wins! In the case of a tie, we will fight untill the next point and the next point will win! Fighters you have ten seconds to prepare yourselves!" The announcer stopped talking. It was a slow ten seconds. The crowd was eager for the first fight of the day to start. The announcer stepped back up to his microphone.
"Aaaannnnddd...FIGHT!" The announcer yelled and his voice echoed across the whole room.
Ash used the first skill. It was the force-field generater skill for himself. He also used the next skill. He became a cloud of fog and shot acid down on Marcus. That was a skill that Ash and Ember had learned only yesterday specifically for the fights.
The fight went on and Ash was declared the winner. Marcus only had three points and Ash had seventeen.
The next fight was Violet and Ellis. Ellis won by one point and thankfully, they shook hands politely and were talking afterwards.
There were several more fights and then it was Ash and Dune's fight. The fight before the break and Dune's first fight of the day.
Dune was told to stand on the black marking and Ash was given the blue marking.
"FIGHT!"
Dune and Ash used a skill simelutaneously but Dune's had more effect and he got the point. The fight went on with Dune recieving a point and then Ash recieving a point. With one minute left, Dune rose up in the air and shot thorns into Ash's body. Ash crashed down to the floor blood spultring out of many tiny holes in his body. They faded up, leaving little scars just as the bell rang to signal the fight was over. Dune had won by only two points.
Dune left the ring looking victorious while Ash looked in pain. It was the official break but not much of the audience left. Ember left first, telling Violet she would be back in a moment. Ember slipped out the doors and rushed down the hallway to Miss Delios's room.
Dune, Ellis, and a bunch of their friends left next. They surprised everyone by slamming the double doors shut and locking them.
Ash and a few of the adults ran to the doors and tried to open them but to no avail. Ash finally tried a Air skill that would blow the doors out hopefully. It worked successfully with a loud blasting sound. The doors broke into pieces and Ash jumped over the rubble. Ash ran out to see what havoc Dune had created. It was horrifying. He slid into a hallway near Dune, Ellis, and their victims. He peeked around the corner to watch. When he could watch no longer he turned and fled into a hallway further down and slumped to the floor in pain and fear for everyone in that room. Ash wasn't scared for himself but he couldn't go out there and help because he knew he was no match for Dune. Yet.
Right outside Miss Delios's office, Ember saw a body. There was blood seeping from a large gash on Miss Delios's side. Ember knew there was no time to run and get someone and she certainly couldn't save Miss Delios.
"Em...ber?" Miss Delios gasped out and blood shot out of her mouth. Ember gently place her hand over the wound.
"Yes?" Ember asked curiously. She knew this was no time to panic.
"I'm...sorry." More blood came out of her mouth. "I was horrible...but...I thought it was...right." Miss Delios said breathing quickly and deeply.
"For what?" Ember asked softly. Miss Delios looked her in the eye.
"Dune...it was my fault." Miss Delios looke horrified.
"What do you mean?" Ember applied more pressure to the wound.
"No time. See...that bag? It has...skill...and element books...for you...and Ash. There is a...journal...don't let...Ash see the-" Miss Delios coughed and more blood flew out. "journal. It's for...you."
"Miss Delios, please tell me what's going on?" Ember asked gently. Miss Delios just gave a small shake of her head.
"Take them...find Ash...and go into the...forest." Miss Delios mumbled.
"Which forest?"
"Stygian." Miss Delios mouthed. She no longer had the energy to speak. "Go...would have been proud." Miss Delios whispered.
"Who would have been proud?" Ember demanded but Miss Delios coughed one last time and was motionless. Ember sighed and then meticulously shut Miss Delios's eyelids. Ember grabbed her bag and the bag with the books Miss Delios had told her to take and went off to find Ash.
Ember found Ash two hallways down with his head on his knees.
"Ash we have to go." Ember whispered. She didn't want to alert Dune to their presence.
"Go where?" Ash demanded.
"To the forest. We have to escape. Tell me what happened. I also have something to tell you too." Ember said. Ash got up and eyed her bag.
"Food?" He asked.
"And clothes for me." Ember nodded.
"I'll tell you once we're in the forest." Ash said. Luckily for them, there was a door in that very hallway that led outside. Right to the Stygian Forest. Ash almost walked past the entrance to the forest but Ember stopped him.
"This forest. We have to go to this forest!" Ember said. Ash stared at her openmouthed but finally agreed and cautiously walked in.
They walked for about ten minutes before Ember sank to the floor.
"This should be far enough for now. Start talking." She looked at Ash.
"After you left, Dune, Ellis, and their cronies followed you out but they shut and locked the door behind them. I finally got it open and I ran to the nearest hallway and watched from around the corner. Dune had already sucked the energy out of everyone who wasn't in the fight room. He sucked the energy out of everyone that was in the fight room too. Then Ellis and some other guys started hauling everyone's bodies away. Everyone was screaming and it was terrible." Ash shook his head. "How could you not hear the screams?" Ember looked at a tree, lost in thought for a moment.
"I wanted to talk to Miss Delios. She's dead." Ember said simply. Ash stood up, his face red and he started advancing towards Ember. Ember looked shocked and then quickly added on, "I didn't kill her! Sit down! I don't know who killed her! She wouldn't tell me! She said that she was sorry and that what she did was horrible. She said she thought it was right. She also said that Dune was her fault. Then, she gave me these books," Ember motioned to the other bag. "and told me to find you and go into this forest. The Stygian forest. The books are books for our Element skills. Ash, we have to become stronger and get allies so we can go back and defeat him." Ember persuaded. She now knew what the Sparklefly meant when it told her that her goal would be to conquer Dune. No doubt that he would also be looking to control other lands and races to. Ember and Ash needed to hurry.
"I can't believe she's dead!" Ash cried out. He stood up again and kicked the tree he had been leaning against. Ember didn't stop him. He needed to get it out of his system, after all, his mother had just been killed.