Chapter 318

318 Lapis Flame Vs. The Catalyst

***CONTENT WARNING: LANGUAGE AND VIOLENCE***

As Skye pushed a mental image of Shasta from her mind, she readied herself for an intense fight. She’d never faced a Fire mage before, but the challenge had her heart racing with anticipation.

A large smirk stretched across her face as Skye replied; “We’ll just have ta see who’s magic is more powerful..”

Amara chuckled; “Oh, ye sweet wee lass! Power is only part of the equation. Without a steady mind and hand, power can nae stretch past yer palm.”

Skye nodded as she continued to funnel her magic into the ground, and maintain her water barrier. She already had three of her four traits active..

‘Do I really wanna attack her yet? Me magic won’t keep goin’ forever, and tis taken too long ta melt the snow me self...!”

As a thought popped into her head, Skye’s feet moved before her brain could fully process what she was thinking. The instinct to conserve her magic dominated her thoughts as she kept to the outside of the ring..

************

While Tidas was busy watching Amara and Skye, Murdoc had gotten up, and stood off his the side. It surprised him to see how distracted the prince had become. He wasn’t sure if it was due to Amara’s magic, or worry for his wife. Either way; during a fight was not the place to become distracted..

.....

“Ye shouldn’t take yer eyes offa yer opponent!” Murdoc bellowed as he kicked Tidas in his side.

With a strained grunt, the Alconian Commander was flung several feet, and landed on his side with a hard thud. He immediately scrambled to his feet, but Murdoc was already behind him. Unable to block, Tidas dove forward, rolled, the put his long sword up right as Murdoc was coming down with his two.

With his arm barely holding the two swords back, Tidas used his short sword to try and jab the Highland King in his gut. Jumping backwards, he avoided the hit, but now Tidas had his footing back..

Jumping at Murdoc, Tidas put him on the offensive right away. Their swords clashed with lightning speed, sending the spectators into another brouhaha. They went hit for hit as sparks flared from the intensity of their fight.

As Murdoc deflected another jab from Tidas’ short sword, his long sword snapped..

They both looked at each other with shocked expressions, then burst out in laughter as Murdoc said; “I guess this means I lose..”

Tidas looked at his short sword, then down at Murdoc’s broken one. As he walked over to the edge of the ring, Tidas sheathed it, then tossed it to Petrie to hold. As he walked back towards Murdoc, they grinned at each other, then Tidas said; “I’m getting a good workout in! No point in stopping yet.”

Murdoc grinned mischievously as he replied; “Aye! Just don’t get pissy when ye lose!”

As he finished speaking, the two Commanders took off and clashed, sending the echo from their blades over the entire area. The crowds erupted with enthusiasm as the two fights started to reach their crescendos..

Skye was running as closely along the edges as she could without endangering the spectators. There was a decent sized gap all the way around the ring, but the range of Amara’s fireballs was mind boggling. If she didn’t intentionally ditch them in the snow, they could’ve caused real injuries.

Skye’s split-second decision was a gamble, but so far; it was working. Amara’s flames melted the snow a hundred times faster than Skye’s technique of making the molecules speed up. It saved her magic, but it was also putting her in danger..

Instead of having a barrier around her, Skye had condensed the water she was using to make a shield. The steam released by the fireballs hitting it was dangerous and painful, but she’d dealt with much worse when she’d made Tidas’ armor. Keeping the memory of that pain in the back of her mind made most others seem like a little cat scratch.

As she ducked and dodged, Skye realized that the amount of water she needed had almost been reached. As a small smile tugged at her lips, she began to separate the loose sand particulates mixed within the dirt and rocks. She would need them if she were to complete her plan..

As Skye went to turn back, Amara was rushing towards her with a volley of fireballs at the ready. She expanded the condensed water to work like a barrier, but it was too thin to withstand the intensity of multiple heat sources.

The first three that penetrated her defenses didn’t touch her, but the other three did. Skye was hit in her left shoulder, right arm, and the top of her right thigh. It didn’t penetrate the armor, but she could still feel the heat. After crying out like she was in pain, she quickly used her Earth magic to force Amara to retreat.

Despite the fact that she wasn’t a tank, and that she was older; Amara moved ridiculously fast. Her clothes were thick and fluffy, but they didn’t hinder her movements. Honestly, Skye was shocked that she hadn’t gone up in a puff of smoke from her own magic.

Needing just a few more minutes to gather what she needed, Skye called out to Amara; “How are ye not just a wee puff of smoke right now? Yer flames are brutal!”

Amara chuckled; “Do ye get soaked whenever ye use yer Water magic?”

Skye smirked; “Depends on if that’s me goal or not while usin’ it.”

After having a hearty chuckle at Skye’s candor, she replied; “Well, me Flame magic tis a bit different from yer Water. Tis not as useful, but it does pack quite a punch when I crank it up all the way.. Have ye had enough time to prepare yer self yet?”

Skye maintained her confidence as she replied; “Aye, but if ye knew what I was doin’, why didn’t ye attack me?”

“Maybe yer not the only one with plots afoot,” Amara countered, smiling as broadly as Skye was.

Even through the screams from the gathered crowds fell away as Skye and Amara stared each other down. Only a low drawl could be heard as Skye brought her left hand up...

The ground around Amara exploded as six columns of water and earth spewed forth. They gathered into the air above Amara, and extinguished the enormous fireball she’d had hovering above them.

It was very similar to how Skye had beaten Tidas in the Mage Trials, and the heat coming from it was noticeable to her in her unmoving state. If they had been moving around the ring like Murdoc and Tidas: she most likely would’ve missed it.

As the waterball finished extinguishing Amara’s fireball above her, it came crashing down. The spectators gasped and called out as the water, rocks, and sand swirled around her. Refocusing her power, a bright light began to shine in the middle of the spherical torrent..

Skye had asked about her Fire magic before for a reason. She wasn’t sure if Amara’s flames would grow hot enough, but the theory was worth a try..

The questions had been a roundabout way of trying to suss out hot hot Amara’s flames could get, or so she’d thought.. ‘If she wants to see how hot I can make it: she’s on!’

As the water began to evaporate from the intense heat, the sand and rocks began to melt, and spread out. An enormous grin settled on Skye’s face as she maintained the spherical shape of the melted sand..

“Do ye know what happens when ye super-heat sand with metallic particles in it?! Ye get super-strong glass!”

************

Both Tidas and Murdoc had stopped their fight when Skye had unleashed her magic. They’d both felt it building, and Murdoc was leery of her control over such a vast amount all at once.. Tidas, however, was not.

After he saw what Skye’s endgame was, he went back to fighting Murdoc..

“Now who’s distracted?!” Tidas yelled as he swung down with ferocity.

Murdoc barely had time to counter, Tidas was moving so fast. It was like seeing his wife so near victory gave him a burst of energy that Murdoc just didn’t have left. As he slammed down with his sword barbarically, Murdoc did the only move that he could think of.

Grabbing Tidas by the collar of his armor, Murdoc picked him up, and slammed him down into the ground..

As the leaned over the Southern Prince with his sword to his throat, Tidas had the tip of his sword resting against Murdoc’s breast plate. It wasn’t how he would’ve chosen to end a fight, but given their ranks and positions; it was probably for the best.

Breathing heavily as they looked at each other, Murdoc straightened up, then offered his hand out to help Tidas up. They smiled at each other as the Northern King lifted up the Southern Prince, then they shook hands vigorously.

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Right as they turned toward the crowds, Skye cried out from being hit by a fireball she hadn’t seen...

************

Amara had hidden a smaller one above the fireball that Skye had taken out. It was a classic diversionary tactic for her, but Skye was only the third person that she had ever needed to use it on. When she considered how little experience sky had, she was quite impressed with her capabilities.

But even with the final blow from Amara, their match had technically ended the same way that Murdoc and Tidas’ had: in a draw.

While Amara had gotten a good hit in, it wasn’t enough to stop Skye completely. She was still maintaining the glass barrier, and Amara’s air was running low. Neither of them could fight any longer due to their low magic, even though technically Amara could still create fireballs on the outside of the glass.

With their magic drained, and the sky darkening; they decided to call it a night. Most of the Highlanders were happy with seeing the fight, but some were angry that both had ended in a tie. The RMC members were insisting that their commander had won when Murdoc’s sword broke, and the Highlanders were saying that Amara had bested Skye because she could’ve cooked her alive if she’d wanted.

It wasn’t the unified outcome that they had wanted, but at least it had defused the animosity for the most part. Because of how their leaders had handled the situation, no one could really start a confrontation over the results. The only thing that could come of it all were spirited debates, or so they all hoped...

************

As the four fighter walked over to the edge and announced the outcome to the fights, a lone Alconian walked off into the wilderness. Pulling out a tiny roll of paper and a tiny pencil, he wrote a note describing the outcome of the fight. Once he finished, he called to a raven that was one of his companions.

After tying the scrap of paper to the bird’s ankle, he sent it off to the palace. As soon as the bird was out of sight, he headed back to the bunker, and rejoined the rest of the RMC members unnoticed. As he listened to the false king yammering, he wondered what King Marco would reward him with for such faithful and timely reports...