The three Kingdoms of crystal

Cap X

(In the upper image is Alma, not mine)

"Get out of my way, Arlo!" screamed Toby towards the black-headed boy who practiced his water ball technique next to a crystal pond. All the water that he managed to put in what looked like an uneven ball, flowed back into the pond. Koen looked up angrily at Toby who had his hands surrounded by black flames, which were soon thrown towards Koen. A sadistic smile appeared on Toby's face when all his opponent could do was stumble and fall into the deep pond.

This was how the last three days passed.

Azura notices them from afar among the shady trees, with a worried but at the same time confused face. Praying in her mind that what she thought was not true. Sara appeared behind the deity, and looked at them before asking her without looking up from the two, who were now using everything they knew from spells to hand-to-hand combat against each other.

"Why have you called for me grandma?"

Azura  raised her hand to her chin and asked "That boy," she said pointing her finger at Toby "Did he ever practiced magic before?" Sara straightened her back and frowned. "N-no. If he ever practiced magic, he would have had a mentor."

"Hmm." replied the goddess thoughtfully, affirming her words. Turning her face to Sara she asked "How are the girls doing with the discovery of the element?" Sara's eyes traveled to the area where she came from. "Well..they made progress.."

Seeing Sara's face, Azura bent down to her level and put her hand on her shoulder. "Honey, why don't you want to practice?" Sara inhales and thinks. "Well...I know my elements but..I'm afraid." "Oh dear. Why would you be afraid? Magic is such a beautiful thing. You can heal the people of the town, but can you also protect them?" Sara's eyes widened and her mouth was open "What do you mean? Isn't mother's protection enough?"

  "It is. But one day, something strong and dark will come to you. I'm too old, and people need a fearless leader they can count on. That's why your mother chose you." 

***

Azura had leaved the traininng field a long time ago, but Sara was still there. Watching Toby rise black flames from nowehere and Koen defend himself, with blocks of ice was captivating. But something was fishy. Toby aparentlly, knew how to master every flame, and fight with magic, to well. For someone who didn't have contact with magic for  decades, he was to good at it.Koen barely got to rise some ice around himself, when he was already surounded by Toby's black flames.

Caught in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed Alma sitting on the cement bench next to her. That is until Alma spoke "So.." she said, waking her friend from her little investigation "What could you be thinking, so deeply..?"   Shaking her head, Sara smiled at him and crossed her arms. "Ah..nothing important. Where's Luna?" Alma's smile disappeared, "Isn't she with you?" Without a word, Sara shook her head. Alma closed her eyes and breathed. "she's probably somewhere practicing his sword moves." Sara looked down in shame "She's..determined." Alma nodded to her and said "Yeah. She doesn't really want to give her leadership position to someone else. And if she did, that someone wouldn't know how to lead an army like she does."

"HEADS!" Toby yelled as his consuming flames nearly touched the two. The luck was that Koen raised a small layer of ice enough to prevent the flames. Opening her eyes, Sara saw Koen a few meters away from Toby, who was soon shrinking. Walking with big, heavy steps towards Toby, Koen roared right in front of him.

"Idiot! Get those flames under control! You're a danger not only to us but to everything around you!" Koen was sweaty and exhausted. Covered with dust and dirt

Toby's face became worried as he looked around a bit. The leaves of several trees were burnt, the grass was now gray in some areas and some trees were torn down.

"My apologies. I didn't realize. I got carried away and..I didn't realize."

Looking more closely, Sara realized that the boys were covered in scratches and there was blood hidden next to the mud on their clothes. Both were breathing hard and as they looked, they had trained far beyond the limits of their bodies. She closed her eyes and said "That's it for today. You've done enough. Both of you."

Standing up, he continued with a stern tone. "Now it's our turn. You go rest and then go to the healer in the palace."

~

'I became weak. My body needs to be trained more. And this hen doesn't help me at all. I need a stronger opponent.' Toby thought as he and Koen exchanged glances. The healer turned out to be a woman with blue hair and black eyes. 

'Of course, she doesn't even have as much power as me. Not even as much as Sara.' he thought. And then his light bulb came on. 'Of course..Sara was trained from a young age. But she was also the granddaughter of a deity and the daughter of one of the most powerful magical figures.'

'Let's see how well you can fight.' he thought with a smirk.

~

Meanwhile, Sara was on the field with Luna and Alma. Sara raises her hand and counts on three fingers

"One.." Luna bent down a little and from her hands, small sparks began to appear.

"Two." echoed Sara's stern voice.

around Alma, small shoots of plants begin to grow ready to attack.

"Three."

The two warriors rush towards each other, with an unprecedented speed.

Flames in the form of balls were now coming out of Luna's hands. Alma did not back down when she saw the strength of her opponent; In fact, it advanced stronger, raising shoots as big as the branches of some trees. Luna took out her sword, which now had a blade of fire, and began to cut the shoots that were advancing from the ground.

Sending fireballs to Alma Luna, return to cutting shoots. Alma shied away and tried to get closer to Luna, because she was too busy fending off Alma's offspring. As she got closer to her among the shady trees, Alma took out her sword and grew a shoot that climbed Luna's leg, immobilizing her. Alma's forehead was decorated with a layer of sweat from the effort of magic. But Luna was sweating because of the wall of fire she created to destroy her sister's vines.

Jumping from behind the trees, Alma waved her sword in the air and reached her sister's neck with it.

"You lost" He said smiling. But Luna replied, breathing heavily, "Yes.." And with a quick movement, she moved away from the sword, grabbing Alma's hand with force, and hitting her in the nose with her fist. Because of the shock, Alma dropped the sword. Taking a few steps back, he put his hand to his nose and checked if there was blood. Her vision was blurry because of her tears, looking up at the moon, Alma realized that she no longer had her sword. "Or maybe not." Luna said running a finger over the blade of the sword. Alma straightened her back and took out a dagger from the sheath tied to her back. "Yeah...I don't really feel like losing today either."

And with that Alma crossed her dagger with Luna's sword. Sparks soon came out of the heated fight, but neither girl backed down. Luna was about to stab Alma with the sword, but she blocked it with the dagger, then Alma used a leg to put Luna down. But with quick reflexes, Luna grabbed onto Alma's blouse and pulled her down, she stood up and put the sword to the back of Alma's head.

"I think..." she said "the roles have changed."

In all the commotion, the girls didn't see Sara, who was carefully studying every move. "Very good." Her voice caught their attention as they rose from the ground.

"Go rest. Tomorrow will be a new opportunity for both.