The Lands of Ralosia & Ranuulo (Books 1-3)

Comet Tournament Chapter 12- Fire & Ice

~Chapter 12- Fire & Ice~

"Next up is Celcius Vs. Aero! Come on out you two!" Cho shouted.

Razan watched as the two walked out alongside each other. Aero took a confident stance on stage while Celcius maintained a more reserved and closed off form. Razan glanced at the finalist's lobby and saw the masked boy watching from the window again... Was he only watching Aero's fights?

When the drumbeat signaled the match to begin, and fighters approached each other. Celcius threw carefully timed tactical punches, but Aero was always just out of reach.

A sphere of ice emerged from Celcius's hand, and Aero found his foot frozen to the stage. Celcius reeled back and kicked Aero square in the chest, and the young man rolled back from the strike.

"Point to Celcius! 1-0! Return to your starting positions."

"The Warden can use ice as well!"

"Smart move!"

Razan tapped his foot. Aero might have trouble against such a versatile opponent. But Aero strode to the starting position in a light on his feet stance.

As soon as the drum was beat, Aero lunged forward. Celcius cast a sphere of ice at him, but he ducked out of the way and came in swinging, forcing the Mecarne onto his heels. Aero feigned a strike on the left and followed up with a hard right which landed on Celcius's chest.

"Point to Aero! 1-1! Return to your starting positions."

"Not bad kid," Celcius said.

"Same to you," Aero replied with a smile.

Aero and Celcius returned to their starting positions. With a drum beat Aero charged. The Mecarne cast cold on the ground, creating a thin sheet of ice. Aero felt himself lose his balance on the ice. Celcius swung at him, but Aero narrowly avoided it, and struck the Mecarne in the side with a kick.

"Point to Aero! 2-1! Return to your starting positions!"

"That was close!"

Razan nodded to himself. Even in a pinch, Aero was pretty good at adapting to his opponents. Perhaps there was some luck involved as well though. Aero had a determined look on his face as the match resumed.

Celcius began to cast spheres of fire and ice from across the stage, the Mecarne used the ice to strike Aero and the fire to control his range of motion, not really intending to burn the boy. He bobbed from side to side, and when a sphere of ice came rocketing toward his face he struck it, shattering it to pieces.

"That boy won't be able to keep that up forever."

While continuously dodging, Aero began staring at his hand. Razan learned forward in his seat and noticed a faint glimmer at his son's fingertips. An orb of red light formed there, just like the one Oshu was using in the previous match.

"Got it!" Aero exclaimed. He chucked the orb at Celcius and it broke through an ice sphere and struck Celcius head on.

Celcius flexed his arms and punched the ground. A wave of flames spread across the stage, and Aero jumped as high as he could, stories into the air. The flames stopped at the rings edge. Celcius knew how to control the fire such that the audience wasn't harmed.

Gravity pulled Aero back to the ground and Celcius sent spiraling flames at him. The crowd cooed at the show before them. Aero used small bursts of Focus to push himself out of the way of the fire. He was helpless in the air. Celcius would certainly attack and ring him out before he hit the ground.

"The boy won't be able to get out of this one."

As he continued to fall Aero threw successive punches towards the ground and red Focus Bursts plummeted all around Celcius, and the Mecarne was forced to evade. Aero launched a Focus Burst above him, rocketing him back down to the stage.

"He's fast!"

Aero touched back on the ground while Celcius had only barely avoided his Focus Bursts. He sprinted across the stage, cracking the stone beneath him as he went. He charged into Celcius shoulder-first, knocking the Mecarne off stage.

"Ring out! Point to Aero! 3-1! Match goes to Aero!"

The crowd cheered as the final point was struck, amazed that Aero had somehow managed to get himself out of such a difficult situation. Even Celcius congratulated the boy on a job well done.

Razan glanced at the Finalists lobby and saw the Efilon was gone once again... Why was he watching Aero so intently?