In the Ruins of Hope (Centauri Asaris: Book 1)

The Final Matches

"Everyone head back to your seats. The final matches will soon begin." Mr. Downy calmly said as he eyed the door. Just as he was about to repeat his message a loud boom came from the opposite side of the man. The Headmaster slammed the door, and steadily paced his way towards the intercom station. When he got to the booth, he sat in an empty space next to Scarlet. She smiled at him and gave him a microphone.

"I'm glad I was able to make it to the final matches of the exam!" the Headmaster huffed as he settled into the chair. As he got comfortable, his words became serious and he said, "I want to say congratulations to all of you that made it this far, but, sadly, there is one more test. A majority of you must be wondering: why can only fifty people pass this year when everyone was accepted last year? The answer to that question is simple. The human race is endangered. The demons outside the walls are finding ways to bypass the ancient spells cast upon them. The military is in dire need of wizards that are strong enough to handle themselves. This exam is currently being used to test if you have the potential to succeed." Suddenly, the Headmaster began to smile again and said, "With that being said, I want to wish everyone good luck! Let us begin!"

As he said those final words, he clapped and the arena shifted into a rain forest. Scarlet began explaining the rules, "Just like the preliminaries, you cannot use magic or seriously harm a fellow contestant. If you break these rules, you will be disqualified. Also, the one who has the most health at the end of the fight will win and will be accepted into our school. However, there will be one change. The fight will end in three minutes instead of ten. Now if everyone understands, let's begin."

After a couple of battles, Alisa's name appeared on the overhead along with her opponent's name, Naomi. She got up from her seat and looked toward the stairs to the armory. I wished her good luck as she walked toward the stairs. After a couple minutes, she stepped out into the arena wielding just a bow. She stood there waiting for her opponent to arrive. Naomi arrived about a minute later holding a crossbow. From what I saw, this will be a battle between snipers.

As soon as the word "Start!" rang through the air, Naomi sprinted into the rain forest with Alisa close behind. Naomi found herself a spot in a tree and quickly climbed into it. As she prepared for her attack, Naomi steadied her crossbow onto Alisa's back. She shot her arrow causing an uproar in the leaves. Alisa heard the leaves rustle as the arrow shot through the air and Alisa dived towards the ground.

The arrow narrowly missed a vital point and grazed Alisa's side. Naomi leaped out of the tree and loaded her crossbow. Alisa saw what her opponent was aiming for and drew her arrow back. As Naomi shot, Alisa released her arrow, and the arrows collided. Naomi reloaded her weapon, but Alisa had already prepared her arrow. Naomi was now in a rush to shoot at her, but Alisa was as calm as ever. The opponents released the arrows simultaneously, but the projectiles collided again. Naomi was now visibly shaken. She reloaded with haste and shot. However, Alisa was too quick and she made the arrows collide again. Alisa had surprised her opponent and was now ready to attack. She quickly reloaded her weapon before her opponent could think and shot. The arrow made a direct hit in between the eyes of her opponent.

The crowd was stunned; Alisa had the skill to shoot an opponent's arrow in midair. I heard the whispers of the crowd behind me mostly mentioning their amazement and how they were glad she wasn't their opponent. When she came back, I exclaimed, "That was amazing! I didn't know you could do that. Where did you learn that?"

"Do you remember when your mother took me hunting over the summer?" Alisa asked as she settled into her seat.

I answered, "Yeah."

"Well we didn't actually go hunting," Alisa explained, "She trained me how to handle a fight with another sniper."

"So that explains all of the scratches you had," I snickered as I remembered how much of a mess Alisa was when she got back.