Chapter 23 - Ashes In The Wind

*3rd person POV*

Kaler and Aurora both settled down on the bench to watch the upcoming match. Their embrace was extremely precious to watch. It was so adorable that Lindsey could not resist but stealthily take a picture. "The Ice-Cold President and The Lightning Incarnate" She captioned it as she posted it on her Instagram page. It seemed that both of them did not realise what she had done.

"Alistair Rafael and Thalia Zaref, step onto the field." Ms Black announced as both fighters walked on to the scorched turf. Kaler leaned forward in his seat and Aurora mimicked him, making Lindsey chuckle silently. Watching these two was adorable. Kaler, who seemed invincible just a few minutes ago, and the untouchable student council president, were like two peas in a pod.

On the battlefield, Thalia flourished her wooden staff, pointing it Alistair to threaten him. Her technique seemed to be well-practiced. Her readied stance served to prepare her for both for defence and offence. She was obviously well trained. Alistair on the other hand, was no amateur either. He threw away his jacket, revealing the scabbard of two knives on his waist. He drew them, producing a sharp metallic scraping sound and held them in reverse grip. They were dulled to ensure that the opponent could not be killed, but flesh wounds were still a very real possibility.

A blank fired and both contestants squinted, lunging at each other at immense speeds. The speed of them, caught them both off guard. Thalia thrusted herself away using the wind to avoid collision and Alistair stamped his feet on the ground, bringing herself to a screeching halt. It was clear that both of them did not expect the other to go on the offensive.

They both circled one another, moving in a complete rotation around the battlefield. They sized each other up, neither willing to make the first move for fear of a counter attack. Everyone watched with bated breath as two of the most capable fighters simply stared each other down, moving in a circle. The students started to cheer, coaxing either one of them to attack.

Alistair decided to make the first move. His fingers twitched slightly as both of his knives ignited in hellfire. "Oooooh" the crowd sounded as the bright red flame danced on the blade of the knife. Alistair flourished and spun the knife in his right hand to intimidate Thalia. However, she was unfazed. Alistair scoffed. 'This is gonna be harder than I thought' He thought.

He tossed the knife in his right hand into the sky. As he expected, Thalia's eyes were drawn to it, even if for a brief second. Seeing the window, he made a mad dash for it, aiming for Thalia's abdomen. However, Thalia was swift as the wind. "Gale force!" She chanted and spun the staff in her hand. Alistair's blade met with the wind barrier produced and his strike was repelled, knocking him up and back. As he flew back, a trail of fire followed his knife. A smirk grew on his mouth, unbeknownst to those watching.

As he was in the air, he somehow gained control of his body once more. His eyes found the knife he tossed, still flying in the air. He kicked it to Thalia. Thalia's eyes widened seeing his expert manoeuvre. She could not react. She closed her eyes, seeing the bright red knife flying straight to her, she thought she was done for. To her surprise, the knife did not reach her, instead, landing on the ground in front of her.

In a flash, a circle of hellfire surrounded her. She was trapped, everywhere she looked, the bright red doors of the inferno stared back at her. Alistair let a smile form on his face. The students were all having mixed reactions. Some were struck by immense horror, some were mesmerised. Thalia tried to used the wind to blow out the fire, however, it only danced in the wind, adamantly refusing to be extinguished. Her brain was working fast, thinking of a way to get out.

Alistair closed his fist. As he did, The circle of hellfire started to close into the centre. Thalia was starting to panic now. There might really be nothing that she can do but sit there and burn. She looked to the audience, some of their faces full of fear. Then she looked at the benches and saw her idol, the one she admired the most. Aurora was watching the match intently, her face was one of neutrality. However, she still admired her, she aspired to be just like her. She was not going to let this playboy best her.

She looked up, remembering that the sky is the limit. The walls of the flames were tall, however, it was her only option. She gathered the wind in the palm of her hands. She remembered the president, Aurora. She wanted her approval. With all her might and resolve, she pushed of the ground and above he flames. She felt and the wind in her hair and in her face. She actually succeeded, however, she knew the battle was not over yet.

Alistair saw the girl jump over his wall of flames and was dumbfounded. After seeing her capabilities in the reflex test, he did not think that she was capable of jumping nearly 10 metres of the ground. However, he welcomed the challenge.

Thalia thrusted herself downward, bringing her staff down upon Alistair. He swiftly side-stepped the strike and left a flaming imprint on where he was before. Thalia realised it was a delayed attack and quickly redirected herself. Just as she did, the flaming footprint that was left behind erupted in a spout of flames, nearly burning Thalia's face.

They were both back to square one. They stared each other down once more. Thalia continuously made circles with her staff, flourishing it. Alistair on the other hand stood still in front of his wall of flames, giving him an imposing presence. The crowd cheered louder than they ever did before. They conveyed their support to the fighters, who seemed to be evenly matched.

Kaler, Aurora and Lindsey were all invested in this match as well. Both combatants were extremely skilled in martial prowess and in magic ability. No matter the outcome of the match, they were sure to be inducted into the club. However, what was on the line now was also important, pride.

Thalia analysed her opponent. He was the first to go on the offense, and it almost finished her. She cannot let herself fall victim to another deadly trap. She noticed that Alistair was still missing his other blade, likely to have been consumed by the fire wall. It would be unlikely that he would dive through the wall just to retrieve it. Not all are immune to the affinities they possessed after all. She determined that based on the opponents speed, she would have to distract him first, then go in for the kill.

"Gale blade!" She chanted. As she did, cyclones formed around the edges of her staff. She swung it at Alistair, producing strikes of our wind. Alistair focused up, this was the spell that could cut through the target, he had to be vigilant in dodging and blocking. Alistair was forced on the defensive, using his remaining knife to block the incoming wind strikes.

However, as Thalia struck, she was running at him with extreme speed and ferocity. As she got closer, she continued producing gale blades which her opponent had to stave off. As she grew closer, Alistair had to continue to fend off her strikes. By the time she was right in front of him, she had done it, she had won. Alistair could not deflect a full force strike from her staff with only one knife.

She brought her weapon down in an overhead strike. The attack was aimed right at Alistair's head. He will be knocked out from this strike. Thalia has won…

*CLANG*

Thalia's eyes widened and she let out a gasp. It was impossible. Her attack was stopped by a cross of two silver blades. In front of her, Alistair was on his knees, using all his might to repel the attack. He was smiling as he did. He knew that Thalia was not expecting that. One could see the sense of victory on his expression. Unknown to Thalia, Alistair had used all his effort to use telekinesis and pull his second blade from the flames, blocking the attack in the nick of time.

Thalia was starstruck, absolutely dumbfounded. That hesitation was going to cost her. Alistair pushed up and Thalia stumbled backwards. "Not bad girl…" Alistair said with sincerity, spinning the knife in his right hand. "But you are about to see that I am no just a pretty face and a sack of money. I'm the real deal honey." He said with a wink

He drew a semicircle on the ground with his left foot, It was now pulled extremely far back. He looked like he was in the brace position for a 100m sprint. He crossed both blades and all of a sudden, his eyes faded to pure black. "Equaliser of nature, rival of the light, shroud this world in eternal night!" He chanted. As he did, black mist emitted from the cross on his two knives. He diffused quickly and all of a sudden, the world faded to black.

The mist enveloped both fighters. The spectators now could see nothing but a black cloud. The cloud only enveloped the battle ground. Everyone watching was astonished. Alistair was dual elementalist. To see one being able to use two elements was potentially more rare than pure gold. It was a hard skill to master if one did not have an affinity with both elements. `Even if someone did have multiple affinities, it was difficult to master both.

Kaler was impressed. His friend was certainly no slouch. His victory now was all but certain, Kaler smiled thinking that he would have the chance to face off against such a fearsome opponent soon.

In the cloud of darkness, Thalia was frantically looking around. She made a pulse of wind around her to disperse the dark cloud, but it was no use.. From the shadows, Alistair lunged at her.