Chapter 24 - Rowan

The snow outside my window has been letting in a cool breeze, the entire season I am so glad that I am bound to fire. Machina gives me the ability to heat myself up a few degrees or on particularly frigid nights I will start a small fire in the sir right by the window and the breezes become a little warmer as they enter each time. So, I never really have to be cold ever again, well sometimes I put the flames out when Lizbeth is over, and she presses herself against me and we spend time a little more cuddled together. She laughs when I do it so I am quite sure that it is okay, I would put the fire back if she were to ask. Life has been pretty great, and for a few days I actually forgot about the tournament, but I never stop my training and practices. Liz is an absolute monster now that I have trained against her, if we had to fight each other I don't know the outcome and with most of the advanced classes graduates, I couldn't tell you how each fight would go. We got a letter delivered on the air through the windows this morning, good thing I didn't have a fire in it, I guess.

Snows 44

The familiar feel of the training hall's stone floor under each of my steps fills me with the surety and confidence needed for the fight. Gronaan is moving out at my side, as soft blue eyes show me the elements are mostly in charge, the soft sky blue like that of the flag. But with our final steps a tempest stirring of light grey swirls dances across them, he is serious today good. "Well Rowan, it is a good thing we have been fighting together since day one of the mixing of fire and water," Gronaan says putting his fist out toward me. I tap my knuckles off his and a vicious smile fills my face as the other two take position across from us.

Titan's crash, a decently built half elf and human, blessed by water, he is a force of nature himself, the nickname doesn't do him justice most of the time. His feet planting across from us are met by the hooves of his bound, a small boulder I think just covered in fur, I have heard a few people call it a capybara, but it is cute. Venro on the other hand, takes to steps to arrive next to his partner, the earth beneath his feet shifting to speed his steps the motion is something I have seen everyone of earth do at least once, it must come in handy. He is solidly built like most dwarfs, and I say that lightly, even though the camouflaging uniforms I can see the pillars the dwarf calls of arms and legs. His bound hops up behind him, a ram of some kind, I am not sure, but his horns look like they are made of stone and the lines of power running through the spiraling horns on its head are kind of imposing.

Machina's his fills my ears, good he is ready for a fight to, and the heat of our bond fills me to the core, and I am ready too. I put my feet together and give a respectful bow to the group in front of us. A tightening of the air around us tells me that Gronaan is ready as well. The instructor pulling cards from the box, without a doubt, Lizbeth's mom speaks, "Leave no stone unturned and nothing behind, you are only given one chance to advance to the tournament's final event. Fight with all your souls might, begin!"

With a rush of power Gronaan, sends a volley of air whistling through the air toward Titan's Crash, it is met by a stone wall about five feet high and three feet across halfway between us. The crash of the two forces shatters the stone and shows me Titan's crash making his move, a tsunami of water crashes through the room, and hunks of the stone wall careen toward us in a horrifying motion. My connection to Machina flares in my feet and twin flames lift me from the ground alongside Gronaan floating up to the roof of the tall room like he doesn't have a care in the world. His voice fills my head as he sends a message though the air to me, the heat of my flames distorting it a bit, "The dwarf is mine." A chuckle rolls up my chest because the distortion caused his voice to raise three octaves. He gives me a puzzled look and with a boom of air from behind him vanishes from my sight flying toward Venro. The room is large about 75 feet to either wall, and 25 feet tall, but Gronaan covers the fifty-foot gap between us and them in an instant. When did he get so fast?

A torrent of water covering the floor begins to swirl and twist around the floor under me; the rush of air it creates begins to pull me into the vicious spiral. With that thought maybe I should go on the offensive too. I see Gronaan lift the other dwarf off his feet and into the air and send him careening toward Titan's Crash. The crunching sound of the two men colliding was a bit, I dare say it satisfying, and extremely helpful, the whirlpool beneath me ceased and water began to become a bit more stagnant. Using the window Gronaan created for me, I shot forward like a lightning bolt. The flames protruding from my back and feet launching me forward at speeds that began to make my vision blur from the wind. Then, I was over the two; I am not known for my raw strength because I think it leads to sloppy fighting but every once in a while, it has its uses.

I pull my connection to Machina, and he is more than ready to comply, he likes these parts. A beam of flame, I should call it a wave, it was about 15 feet around lances out from my outstretched hands and with a roar and an explosion of force I rain the fires of the sun down on the pair. Sounds of hissing earth and steam scream from the beneath the flames and I let off of the show of raw power. As the flame finishes its dance over the field where I had sent them, I see a dome of earth hiding one of the boys, the other severely burned on his hands and the parts of his face I could see, he lays unconscious and surrounded by boiling water downed from the torrent of flames. I set myself as gently on the ground as I could without falling, I am much to graceful for that, as the feedback of Machina's energy depleting from the sheer destructive force, wracked my mind.

Gronaan's scream was the only that alerted me to the molten stone being lobbed at me, and with a small jet of flame I could manage pushed myself out of the way of the projectile. This time I fell back from Machina's feedback. I heard the whooshing and popping of wind bombarding the dome of earth and the cracks of the earth as Gronaan poured wind onto the dome cooling it to a solid piece of burnt stones. Through the hole created by the tossed stone I found I could barely make out whipping cloth as Gronaan's wind turned the small hole into a vortex of shredding wind.

My vision began coming back to me along with my other senses as a scream of defeat left the dome and Gronaan landed next to me. "You alright Rowan?" His voice is so kind sometimes, and he is much nicer and less flirty than he used to be, must be Sheila's work, "Yeah just a little push back Machina's exhausted."

A voice, I'm not sure which instructors filled the almost silent room; I say almost silent because the pops of heated stone and water still carried through the air, "With that the first round goes to Fallen Royal, and Sky Dwarf!" A roar from both the new trainees and graduated class sounded throughout the room, I could make out Lizbeth's voice among the crowd, and can't help but think I'm glad it wasn't her under my tower of flame. Gronaan's hand outstretches to me, and I take it, the dwarf lifts me to my feet and another spell of dizziness washes over me, but I manage to say as I return to my feet, "Thank you Gro."