ELEMENT

Chapter Twenty

"Strike."

If you've ever read a certain dystopian novel series that will go unnamed for copyright reasons, you know at least two things.

Firstly, a fight doesn't usually have a trigger word, or a trigger sound, but in this particular book series, the protagonist waits on a podium until a haunting horn is sounded to begin a fight.

And secondly, when this horn sounds, you must fight. There's no choice, no going back. Whether you were here by chance, or you volunteered, you couldn't go back at this point.

This is what the word sounded like to Sage Stonewing, the heir to the Element Kingdom, who stood with her friends that immediately snapped into action upon hearing it. But to her, all it was is a noise, that deafened her and made her ears ring.

As Peter teleported away, Meadow and Cole dashed at Sage and Ethan, while Robin's wings carried them up and above the action, resting on a pillar.

And, ever so slowly, they etched at the siblings' souls, withering them down.

It was a grueling process. But Robin, thankfully, had done this before. No matter what, they'd get this done. They'd get it finished. Everything was riding on this.

Meadow was pushing against Sage, her shield breaking. So with their other hand, Sage brought up a blast and hit Meadow at the side of the head.

Cole and Ethan's blades were clashing, like a magical swordfight. At the moment, Ethan had the upper hand, pushing Cole down onto the ground.

"Keep them still, please keep them still!" Robin whispered to their friends. It was hurting them to keep focus, but slowly, it was working.

As Meadow charged again, Sage held her hand up. "Ethan!"

Ethan whipped his head back, and quickly, tore the Light Emblem off his neck and tossed it to Sage.

As she hooked it around her neck, Sage waved her hands and kept Meadow back with wavering pressure.

Meadow was fighting it, yellow energy against black particles. Her magic was slowly eating away at Sage's.

And then, she let go. A sharp pain in her chest caused her to trip back.

Robin gasped, with a relieved smile. "I'm doing it!" They tried to remain quiet, while also being excited.

At a stomp of Cole's foot, the ground crumbled under Ethan's feet, and Cole stepped forward as it knocked him down. Ethan, trying to stay balanced on the ground, held his hand up. "Toss it back!"

Quickly, she tossed it back to Ethan, before being slammed against the wall.

"What did you do?!" Meadow had Sage pinned against the wall, staring down at her. Her voice was pained, screaming, and staticky.

Blood sputtered from her mouth as she tried to fight back. "It wasn't me." Sage smiled, being a little teasing.

Sage knew one thing about Meadow if she knew anything, and it was that she was a Celestial. Sage was a child with less practice than a newborn has with walking, and they knew in their heart that they'd never match her power.

So, with all the energy she had left, Sage would have to try something a little different.

"Fuck--Sage, keep her there, I promise I'm almost done!"  Robin's focus was on Cole now.

Ethan was attacking Cole, but it wasn't keeping him back very well.

Cole suddenly stopped in the middle of fighting. He gasped softly as he clutched his chest, almost falling back.