Chapter 5

It was a rough two weeks, Crystal was scared and barely paid attention in class. On the day of their departure, she was awoken by someone pounding on the door.

Breeze flew to the door and opened it. "Hello?" she said sleepily.

"Oh, hi honey." someone familiar said.

Crystal sat bolt upright, "Amber?"

Amber's orange hair and large face peeked past the door. "Oh my goodness, the ring?" She hugged Crystal tightly. "They can't do this, you're new."

"That's what I said." Crystal declared.

Breeze and Amber both shared a look of disgust.

"That governess will do anything for entertainment." Amber said.

Crystal tensed up, she was nervous about the ring. "Amber, if I don't make it out alive, I just want you to know that I'm very grateful for everything you've done for River and I."

Amber smiled, but it soon faded when the Governess arrived.

Crystal saw River, Icy, Ash and Ripple waiting for them.

Amber hugged Crystal one last time and left them.

"No hug for me!?" River asked.

Amber was already out of sight.

The Governess walked them over to a silver carriage, they were greeted by two air mages.

"Gust, Wind take us to the ring please." The Governess ordered.

The mages took the reins of the carriage and made the unicorns move.

The ride was bumpy and rough.

Icy and River were arguing with Ash about the Fire Realm.

Breeze, Ripple and The Governess were talking about the ring.

Crystal didn't know what to think. She was scared to think of what was to come, would she die or would she lose a friend.

"Crystal, are you excited for the ring?" The Governess asked sweetly.

"No, I'm not," Crystal snapped."You're forcing kids to kill kids, it's brutal."

The Governess smiled. "You'll see how much fun it is."

Crystal groaned. "I don't think so."

They arrived at a circular dome building somewhere near the middle of the dark realm.

The dark realm was a place where no mage dared to go. It was covered with dark clouds.

"Nightingale, let us in." The Governess ordered.

The mage opened the door of the carriage and the kids were escorted inside.

"Welcome to the ring."

The dirt floor was beautiful, it was covered with small patches of grass. There were tents in said patches of grass.

"What are the tents for?" Crystal asked.

"They are used because sometimes battles go on for days." Nightingale said.

River tensed up, "Days?"

Icy gulped.

They were escorted across the field and into a small chamber. It had three bunk beds and a table and a few chairs in the middle.

"This is your living space, make yourselves comfortable, your first battle starts at five tomorrow morning." Nightingale left them.

Ash looked around. "It's going to be awkward living with a bunch of girls.

"Let alone a fire mage." River scoffed.

Crystal set her belongings on the table.

Breeze nudged her, "wanna share a bunk?"

Crystal nodded dismissively.

River and Icy went to the far pair of bunks beds.

"Dibs on top!" River declared.

Ash sat down on the bunk under Ripple.

Ripple slid down the ladder and sat next to him. "You scared?"

"Not really, this is just an average day in the fire realm, lot's of war.

Ripple looked at Ash with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"That's why I refused to go to Flame preparatory school," Ash sighed. "I wanted to get away from all that war, but I always feel not welcomed at school." He looked at River.

Crystal heard all of this, it was really sad to hear how he felt.

"At least I'll die doing what we're known for, battle." Ash said, placing his head on Ripple's shoulder.

Steam began to form from Ash's head.

Ripple wrapped her arms around Ash and closed her eyes. "I'll protect you."

"Aw," Breeze flew down from her bunk, "That's so cute."

Ripple let go and Ash's skin looked normal. Ripple's had washed him off with her water.

"So the soot and stuff, how long was that there for?" River asked.

"We're not allowed to bathe, they said that it was like praising our enemies."

"Well, that explains why you guys look so burnt." Crystal smiled, patting Ash on the back.

Ash blushed, "Well, I have taken a bath, once."

"What happened?" Breeze asked.

"I was thrown into lava, it's like a timeout corner, it just hurts more." Ash smiled.

Crystal tensed, "That's brutal."

River and Ripple began to sweat, a lot. They had lots of water in their bodies so when they would cry, sweat or go to the bathroom, it took a while before they would stop (Not sure why you guys needed to know that detail).

As they awoke the next morning, they were dragged out of bed and placed on the field.

On the other side of the field, a group of girls looked ready to kill.

"Choose your five!" The Governess yelled from her throne.

"Ok, who has the most experience here?" Crystal asked.

"Ash or Breeze," Ripple suggested. "Breeze has been getting A's on her report cards."

"Ok, Ash and Breeze I want you guys out here." Crystal instructed.

"Guys, most of them are water mages, Ash is going to die if he stays here." River said.

They decided to send Ash back to the room.

"River, take that younger girl over there, she's a fire mage so you should beat her." Breeze said.

River nodded and got ready to attack.

"Crystal, you go for that other earth mage, your amethyst will overpower her easily and the longer she survives, the more time she has to destroy the landscape." Ripple told Crystal.

"Got it." Crystal said holding her amethyst.

River gasped as the amethyst started to shift into a wand.

"What?" Icy gasped.

"Guys, pay attention, we can figure that out later." Ripple commanded.

The battle began with the sound of an air horn.

Crystal waved her purple want at the other earth mage.

A blinding purple light erupted from the wand's tip.

The girl used the ground as a shield raising a stone from the ground.

Crystal waved her wand again.

This time, thousands of small pebbles rained down from the sky.

The girl screamed and used the rock as a shield.

"Now's your chance, kill her!" River yelled as she drowned the fire mage.

Crystal couldn't go through with it.

The girl saw that Crystal was thinking on what to do. She threw the rock that shielded her and threw it at Crystal. She killed herself in the process however.

Crystal ducked as the rock was about to kill her.

River swooped in out of nowhere and used a strong jet of water to hold the rock off. "Go, I can't do this forever."

Crystal ran out of the way.

River dove for cover as the rock collided with the wall of the arena.

Crystal saw the limp body of her enemy. She fell to her knees in shock, "What did I do?"

"She would've done the same to you." River said.

Crystal looked around the battlefield.

Ripple had drowned her opponent as well.

Icy had frozen her enemy with a thick layer of ice.

Breeze had flown to a high height and killed her opponent by throwing her to the ground.

It was over, they had won.

Ash came running into the arena.

Two night mages chased after him.

Ash ducked under a tree and slid on the grass.

The night mages hit their heads on the tree's branches and fell onto the floor.

"You did it!" Ash squealed.

"Sir, please return to your room." one of the night mages said as he lay on the floor panting.

Ash grinned and returned back to the room with the mages.

The girls followed closely behind him.

Breeze hung back however. She kicked the dirt and let out a long sigh.

"Are you coming!?" Crystal called.

Breeze looked up and followed the group.

"What's up?" Crystal asked.

"It feels wrong that we're killing other kids." Breeze said.

Crystal knew where Breeze was coming from. She knew that Breeze was also struggling to bring herself to kill others.

They returned to their room in silence. Neither said a word.