Twins of Love*

17. The tournament

That damn week that seemed to last an eternity had finally passed. The tournament was about to begin, everything was organized in detail: in addition to the help of the boys, Riven had received the help of former advisors of his family who, out of fear, had surrendered to the young king. Among them, there was the good old Laetius, who had helped Nymeria to escape. The trials consisted of magical battles, divided into several trials. Sky, an expert in the field, had divided the participants according to their number and, before the actual tournament, a pre-selection test would be held.

"I'll never know how to thank you..." mutters Riven, indebted to his friends.

"Take us back home to our women after this experience and you'll have paid off your debt!" laughs Brandon.

"Yeah... " he sighs. Two more days and he would be back in the arms of his fairy. Being in those ridiculous sorcerer king robes annoyed him even more, on top of the whole situation. He faces the balcony, clearing his throat.

"People of Obscurion... witches, sorcerers, wizards and dark fairies. Welcome to the tournament that will decide who sits on the throne of this place!" he says in a solemn tone. "Today we will begin with a pre-selection test of basic spells. Those who are able to perform them without any problem will move on to the next phase, and so on. The last test consists of a magical duel between the finalists. The best, will be crowned as the king or queen of Obscurion." he says more convinced than ever to leave.

"LET THE TOURNAMENT BEGIN!"

All of the challengers prepare to perform their spells; some were simple but others, as basic as they were, had difficulty performing them. Riven watched bored, sitting on the throne with his feet resting on the balcony sill...he hadn't lost his bad boy prince frown, that was his title. Sky wanted to tell him to keep his composure but Helia stopped him, shaking his head.

"Let him show his true self. He's already tight in his kingly robes, not to mention following protocol."

"All right, Helia...How about we warn the girls?"

Helia shakes his head "I'm sorry Sky, but the transmission went down due to magic overload" he says pointing to the presence of the tournament participants.

"Ah, we missed that too! Alright, thanks anyway, man."

The tournament seemed to proceed. Having passed the preliminary round, with eight winners, they moved on to the first round: potions. The wizards and witches present there had to be able to make a flower sprout by creating the right potion. To be chosen for the test, randomly, are a wizard and a witch. Riven gives a slight smile of one who knows better....

"These little beasts don't even have the faintest idea of what life is, what nature is..."

"You wanted to start off with a bang, huh, Riv?" Brandon tells him.

"Yeah. Magic has to be used for everything, even for the most unfavorable conditions. When I hung out with that geek Darcy, I used to take a few classes in Cloud Tower. I learned a lot from those witches..."

"If Musa could hear you..."

"Musa is no fool, she knows. She knows that I am one who observe, assimilate, and then raise." He says crossing his legs on the windowsill.

"And that's how Riven Carter, the man who never opens a book, gets the same grades as Timmy," laughs Sky's squire. Riven chuckles softly, he was glad to be in the company of those three, they made him forget a little about the situation they were in.

The potions test ends with the young witch winning. Riven clapped smugly, the girl resembled his pixie in a way: petite, brunette, almond shaped eyes, bangs all neat but definitely darker and gloomier with her icy eyes.