03/03/2018

Light Pillar, Far Country Falls

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park

State of Washington, Newcastle

9:15 AM



Team 3

Finally, they’re here! The tall pillar of light that speared through the sky announced that they finally reached Far country Falls. Team 3 had passed two different marshes and shallow creeks overnight to be before their objective. Emilia the statuesque African American girl whooped in joy when she saw that the fruit of their hard work was finally in sight, she hugged her best friend Jamie who held her tight at her side too. The petite black girl smile was blinding, she felt a mixture of relief and elation.

Jamie laughed and said, “We outmaneuvered them and we are here!” she put a hand on her chest as she thanked God to have helped her endure and succeed.

“Something is finally going right.” Wayne relaxed, his gait slowing.

The fire mage still stayed prudent, scanning around him and once satisfied produced a handsome smile.

“Even though the odds were against us, we beat the rest of the teams to the pillar.” Emilia gloated.

Team three advanced toward the pillar of light passing the shallow creek, their booted feet treading through the freezing water; they were all smiles as they reached the other bank, crushing the snow and rocks under them. Cody who was tired dredged some more vigor and was five meters from the light when a force ejected him behind preventing him to reach the goal.

“What the fuck?!” Cody screamed at the top of his lungs.

The black boy who was all elated earlier as they were about to enter the big pillar of light, but in one instant a big glowing red line in the snow appeared. The 7.6m waterfall and a sizable part of the creek froze around team three suddenly as a wave of intense cold surged in the air. The girls were about to brave that weird glowing line in the snow, Cody following them as he wanted to be done with all this exam shit. He has been turned into a popsicle, fallen in pit traps and he was tired and hungry.

“Don’t cross that red line!” Wayne shouted keeping the girls away from the line in the snow. “It’s a spell!” The boy could feel familiar mana emanating from the scarlet glowing line. Wayne chanted an Analyze spell.

The results of the spell analysis weren’t to his liking; this was some kind of runic construct that acted on the psyche of those who dared to cross this red line. Cody didn’t listen to him and tried to pass through the line but a wave of terror engulfed him, making him scream as if someone was gutting him like a pig. Paralyzed by irrational terror the black boy was also stricken by incontinence as he soiled his pants.

“Drag him out, Emilia!” Wayne shouted in urgency.

Emilia grabbed the dumb boy with her telekinesis and dragged him kicking and screaming from the glowing line. Once that was done an acrid smell of feces and urine assaulted the tall black girl who looked at Cody with disgust.

“What the hell is that?!” Jamie screamed.

Her finger was pointed at the red glowing line separating them from the goal. She couldn’t believe that they have suffered and pushed on all night just to be stopped right now!

“This is a barrier, I have never seen one like that which inflict psychological effects on someone that crosses it!” Wayne informed loudly her of his discovery.

Emilia tried to say, “Who could have done th-” but was interrupted.

BAM. The hulking form of a man in the same uniform and armor as them landed before them, their CLO identified who it was instantly. Donovan Sims, aka Titan, a member of team one! Jamie and Emilia’s eyes grew wide as they saw him rise from his hero landing pose and make a huge grin when his eyes fell on them all. He began to crack his neck and his knuckles showing that he was ready to take them on.

Wayne chanted an evocation spell.

A long projectile of flame came into existence and was projected toward Donovan who extended a gauntleted hand toward it and when it reached him he caught it and crushed it. Thanks to Elissa’s ice construct in the form of a gauntlet, he was ready for the fire mage in team three. Doing this had the psychological effect to crush Wayne’s confidence in beating this foe. The fire mage looked disdainfully at Cody who once again seemed to be useless after ignoring his warning.

Three other human forms landed at Donovan’s sides with a thundering bang and electricity crackling beneath them. The leader of team two, Danny Sparks used her electrical manipulation to cushion her team descent from the flying sled thirty feet in the sky; once she looked at the fire mage in team three she blasted him with a beam of electricity she emitted from her hand that was charged beforehand. Wayne barely deflected the concentrated electricity safely with a mana barrier, but the strength of the beam ejected him toward the creek behind his team.

“Carolyn take out the tall girl, she’s a TK like you,” Erika told her friend.

The willowy blonde looked at Emilia Dor and smiled, unleashing the strength of her mind as it made rocks and pieces of frozen wood orbit around her.

“Gladly,” Carolyn said.

Carolyn let the power of her mind fill her body, boosting her capabilities even more and she lunged at Emilia who deployed a telekinetic shield in the form of a sphere to ward off the blonde missile coming toward her. It worked but she didn’t take into account that Carolyn was a brute; the blonde girl dug the ground under the shield of Emilia as if she shoveled it and lifted the tall black girl in the air. Emilia screamed and tried to levitate to avoid falling in the creek, however, once she deactivated her shield to fly she was caught by a stone the size of a fist that hurled toward her and it caused the first shield break for her as her armor protected her from the oncoming projectile. The tall black girl ended up in the creek too, landing on Wayne who was trying to cross.

“Emi!” Her best friend Jamie screamed horrified by the fight that just broke out.

She looked at her feet and made a disgusted face when she saw Cody still laid on the ground unconscious. The short girl kicked him in the side.

“Cody, wake up! Do your job!” Jamie screamed at the useless boy.

“I-I am awake, what-” Cody stammered waking up feeling the worse for wear.

He tried to stand but he took time, and Jamie had to help him.

“No time! Team one and two teamed up to take us out! Fight!” Jamie ordered.

She couldn’t believe she had been so complacent and think things could be this easy. The short girl looked at her foes and divined the nature of their power and how strong they were with her sensor abilities. That Carolyn girl was a stronger telekinetic than her best friend and Danny Sparks felt like a low Alpha rank with electrical powers. Jamie asked herself where was Von Braun, the dark horse of this exam.

*Were they waiting for us? Where are the rest of them?!* Jamie asked in her heart.

“Shit, I knew it was too easy!” The strongman cursed.

Cody felt awful as he noticed that he shat and pissed himself at the same time, his dignity was crumbling, even more, when he noticed that Jamie stepped back from him while holding her nose. He got angry at the two teams for doing this to him and charged toward the shorter blonde with all his strength, only to be stopped by Donovan who absorbed the kinetic force of his charge and gained more strength and toughness. The tall teenager took Cody by the neck and violently put him in the ground and punched in his armor. The punch hit Cody, who struggled vehemently against the assault of the taller black boy; though the result was that he made Donovan even stronger. Donovan slugged Cody on the jaw with the force of a freight train, creating the second shield break. Cody was almost eliminated from the exam.

Erika went toward Jamie ready to fight, charging at the girl when she foresaw a lance of fire being thrown at her; Erika ducked and threw herself on the side. The lance of fire was evaded successfully, Jamie looked behind her and saw the fire mage of her team who smiled at her and focused on defending as a blast of ice came to strike at his mana shield.

“Jamie, move you are an easy target!” Wayne screamed.

He looked at the sky and saw something like a vehicle in the air, dread filled him when the blue and white contraption shined in the light of the sun. Two people could be seen on it, a redhead and an Asian girl with big headphones on her head. Dread filled Wayne when he saw the vehicle landing, but the boy didn’t despair. He chose to go out with a bang if he was destined to lose to a superior foe! While the ice sled was landing, Wayne chanted a spell calling on the most powerful fire elemental he had command of. The signature spell of his family, it had never failed in all the history of his lineage!

*Conjure Elemental!* he shouted in his heart.

A brief spatial tear appeared in the sky, flame, and lava spilling out of it in big glob for half a second. A screeching cry emitted from a hole in reality, a bird made of steel melting flame materialized. Wayne looked defiantly at Elissa who primly climbed out of her snow sled. She didn’t look concerned at all and it rattled Wayne.

*I effing conjured an Elemental from the plane of Fire and she isn’t even looking at me?!* Wayne complained.

He expected to see Elissa in awe of his power and mastery of magic! The Asian girl at her side certainly was looking at him with big eyes and an open-mouthed expression. But Elissa was just watching the big firebird with a condescending smile. The fight around them had stilled when Wayne had materialized the Firebird, Emilia was behind Wayne panting in exertion. Donovan has shield broke Cody a third time and he was finally out, the body of the black boy instantly teleported somewhere leaving Donovan looking around him. Erika didn’t pay attention to the scene and began to engage Jamie in grappling. Carolyn looked around and found Emilia but didn’t charge as she did before; the willowy blonde just gathered the power of her mind in an overwhelming attack, waiting a good moment to unleash it. Danny Sparks was doing the same, Elissa patted her shoulder.

A friendly gesture that irritated Wayne even more and made him see red.

“Take me seriously! Von Braun!” The teenager exploded.

The redhead looked at him as if he was insignificant, bone-chilling disdain was reflected in her eyes, a predatory smile appeared on her face. Elissa opened her full and attractive lips to say, “Huh what for? Just because you manifested a giant flaming chicken?” Elissa taunted, as she tilted her head.

The venomous dismissal of his accomplishment stumped Wayne and shocked him. He had a squad of female magi vying for his attention in the Magi organization that is led by his father. Wayne has always been a hardworking and talented boy in the Western magical arts. This young girl, from an unknown mage line, didn’t even give him the time of day.

“You…” Wayne choked on his words.

He was about to insult her, but he remembered in time what happened to YOD when he pissed Elissa off.

*Calm down, she’s just ignorant, yes that’s it!* Wayne chose to cloak himself in denial.

Elissa made a sign to Dawn and Danny who erected defenses around them; the Asian girl, an atmospheric spell and Danny her most powerful forcefield. The redhead let go of the control she had on her cold aura, the snow around the area turned into elemental matter and surrounded Elissa. The redhead began to levitate, as shards of ice orbited and surrounded her, the glow of the ice magic and cosmic energy the young girl generated turned her into an ethereal figure bristling with supernatural beauty and power. The cold becoming more and more unbearable around the redhead. Donovan moved to generate more kinetic power and gain more strength and toughness to not freeze. Carolyn levitated in the sky and escaped the bubble of cold generated over the area. Jamie was shield broke and lost consciousness as Erika dragged her body to a safe area away from the expanding sub-zero temperature. Wayne enveloped Emilia who was behind him in a thermal and atmospheric barrier to stave off the effect of the cold generated by the redhead.

Once everyone was protected or away from her, Elissa spoke, “You should take me seriously, Griffin; after all, you are surrounded by my element.” The redhead’s voice became cold and menacing.

Elissa looked at the fire elemental, the extraplanar being shivered and attacked without input from Wayne the fire mage. The firebird spits a giant tong of fire at the redhead in her ice avatar state. A temperature capable of melting steel to the point of fusion warmed the cold temperature to create water and then steam. The redhead sent raw mana infused with ice elemental matter toward the flamethrower bird. Absolute zero against the temperature of Lava.

Wayne was confident enough to say loudly, “In a fight between ice magic and fire magic, it’s always fire that wins!”

However, his moment of triumph and all his hopes were dashed when the fire actually froze after the wave of elemental cold struck the fire attack. The firebird screeched in fear as Elissa’s magic froze it over. The elemental died as its metaphysical liquid mana core became solid. Elissa snapped her fingers loudly, and the firebird disappeared into particles of ice. The redhead turned her head toward Wayne who was frozen in shock, paralyzed by what he just saw.

“You-you monster!” The fire mage shouted.

She killed it, the signature spell of his family as if it was nothing to her! What kind of magical school or discipline this girl used? Were these the fabled divine spells he had heard from the legends?!

“Ouch, that’s not what you call a Lady.” Elissa quipped.

Wayne chanted a spell and multiple fire magic missile appeared around him, he sent them all toward the redhead at breakneck speed, slowly emptying his mana.

Elissa huffed in annoyance, “Enough, you are weak.” and the magical projectiles died around Elissa as they were snuffed out by her pulsating cold aura.

“Fire magic always wins in a fight against Ice magic? That’s what you said, right? You couldn’t be more wrong.” The redhead levitated toward the fire mage, her feet not even touching the ground.

Elissa held her hand before her, palm extended toward Wayne.

“This is a real evocation magic attack, watch and learn.” She said smugly.

A freezing blast launched at the speed of thought struck the armor of Wayne reducing the kinetic energy of the atoms composing it and froze it with absolute zero temperature. A crack appeared on the steel-like metal, more and more spread and Wayne's shielding armor were no more. He didn’t get burned or get any frostbite from the attack, it showed the control Elissa had on her power and the colossal difference in their abilities. If he was a shining moon, Elissa was a star.

Wayne lost all will to fight. Emilia who was protected by the fire mage atmospheric barrier didn’t want to test Elissa’s might either. They made a gambit and they’ve lost.

“Do you surrender, team three?!” Elissa’s voice was enhanced with a spell.

Her voice spread to all present, her presence was overwhelming making everyone feel as if they were ants gazing at a superior being. Erika slapped Jamie out of her unconscious state and she woke up with a start ready to fight when the precog girl stepped back from her. The short black girl stood up slowly and searched for her teammates. Jamie felt as if something was missing; then she realized that the vegetation and the landscape changed from a creek to a tundra-like environment, as the cold assaulted her. The black girl shivered and put her arms around her for warmth.

“You should declare that you are giving up now. I don’t think Von Braun is in a mood to play anymore.” Erika pointed at the glowing avatar of death.

Jamie looked were Erika pointed, staying on her guard but the blonde girl didn’t attack her. Her eyes fell on Elissa and the redhead looked terrifying as she levitated unconcerned by everything around her, waiting. She looked so cold, so detached it hurt to actually look at her.

“Huh, what happened?” Jamie’s brain finally clicked and looked for answers about her situation.

Erika sighed loudly and crossed her arm under her breastplate looking disparagingly at the black girl.

“Well, Elissa took out your fire mage, Donovan eliminated your strongman Cody something… and your friend, Dor is her name, right? She gave up.”

“Shit!” Jamie swore as she saw Emilia hiding behind Wayne who had no armor on.

The fire mage looked broken as if he was giving up on something. Jamie’s heart ached for him, he had been a solid guy to have within her team compared to the useless Cody; he had even protected them from the elements while they were running all night to reach the light pillar.

“Yeah, I didn’t think she was this strong, fighting her always finish with us losing badly or wounded when I look at her with my precognition.”

“No wonder I couldn’t win against you! You are a precog.” Jamie stepped back from the girl who was the same height as her.

Erika smiled at her and said, “Tick Tock, you are running out of time.”

“We surrender!!!” Jamie cried loudly to Elissa who was already preparing a blast spell.

“Good.” Elissa stopped glowing, the ice falling on the ground loudly.

Her feet landed on the ground as she slowly breathed in and out, letting go of the strain that the cryo form had put on her body. To be honest, she had almost run out of mana, but she wouldn’t show it, preferring to cultivate this aura of invincibility that she had put on.

“Let’s go, shall we? Team one will be first to pass, and team two second and team three will be dead last.”

Danny Sparks nodded at Elissa, awed by the power of the redhead.

*She didn’t go all out when we fought?*

Dawn took Danny by the arm and approached her to murmur in her ear, “No Danny, Elissa didn’t use that ultimate magic against you. She might look like she’s not tired but she’s about to keel over.” Dawn had understood the troubled gaze of Danny and decided to not let her lose the new confidence Elissa had given her. The Asian girl wasn’t fooled by Elissa, the kind of magic she just used had a price. She let go of the girl, and waved at her and dived into the pillar of light, Donovan followed her running at full speed. They were teleported as they disappeared.

Elissa sashayed in the pillar of light, winking and waving at Danny.

Carolyn and Erika came at each side of their leader and crossed their arms with hers and they dove into the light too, disappearing. Only the broken team three was left and they resolutely followed, sad and defeated toward the goal.