The Fire Immortal-Book 5

Chapter 40

My exams are over! Results come out tomorrow... Wish me luck! Haha... :P Anyway, because my exams are over, I have a chance to update much more frequently now. Yay! :D Here is the latest chapter! :D Please vote and comment for it and share it with your friends on wattpad, Facebook etc. I hope you guys like it a lot. :) Picture of Dahlia on the side... (And I suppose you can think of the other blonde as Sapphire even though she's not the normal actress whom I use to play Sapphire, haha) :) 

Chapter 40

                         Varmer smiled viciously, lifting his staff so that tongues of fire appeared in an arch over the makeshift battlefield. Both Dahlia and Cedric ducked, but the flames weren't meant to hurt them. They signalled the start of the battle.

                         Helen kept her fingers clenched around Sapphire's hand, trying to keep lending her magical energy, both to keep from icing up and also to enable her to keep using her healing magic. She had never felt so powerless in her entire life. Relying on Dahlia to defeat Cedric was not something that she felt extremely comfortable with; Dahlia was second after Sapphire at not being willing to kill others.

                         "The rules of this tournament are hence," Varmer began, his voice loud and commanding, "That the two champions are to fight until one mortally wounds the other, not until death. Upon victory of one of the champions, he or she shall chose one of their party to die in his or her place. Should Dahlia reign victorious, her entire party shall live and get to leave this place and she shall choose one of my guard to die instead. Should Cedric win, however, Dahlia's entire party shall stay here instead and he gets to choose one of them to die instead. Not any of those who are already dead, though."

                         He cast a dismissive glance at Raven and Sapphire on the ground. Sapphire was still bleeding badly, her healing fingers pressed tightly against the wound in her stomach. Even though she had magic, she was still weak. None of them could see if her injury was getting any better at all. Despite Helen preventing her from icing over from an overuse of magic, Dahlia was no longer lending her energy to heal. There was a high chance that she was still going to die.

                         Helen felt a wave of relief at Varmer's words; Dahlia was not going to have to kill Cedric. Even if she won and had to choose someone to die, she would probably not have the strength to nominate Cedric for death, even at the expense of someone else's life. Knowing her, she would find some other way of twisting her victory around for them to win.

                         "Both champions are free to use any and all weapons at their disposal, including but not limited their weapons, elemental magic, second magical power and any magical items on their person at the present," Varmer continued. "There is to be no interference from the spectators be it in the form of magic, weapons or distractions. Is that clear?"

                          No one responded.

                          Varmer raised his voice. "IS THAT CLEAR?"

                         Jenna flinched and her shields of protection flickered. Troy put his hand on her shoulder, strengthening her magic and lending her support simultaneously.

                         "We understand," he said in a tight voice.

                         Varmer looked over at the three magicians on his side, all of whom nodded.

                         "If the champions survive the first half-an-hour, there is to be a five minute interlude," Varmer continued, acting as if he were the person presiding over a tournament battle back in the Roman times. "There is to be no healing magic, lending of energy or transfer of powers during the break, but non-magical aid is allowed, such as advice from the coaches of the champions and non-magical bandaging of wounds. Is that understood?"