Trails - Chapter 16

“I don’t think anyone expected that,” Connor admitted.

“I did,” Laila said.

“Why?”

“Because I saw Evony help him build that crossbow a few nights ago.”

“Then why didn’t you tell us?”

She smiled slyly and looked into Connor’s eyes, a smug look on her face. “Because I knew I’d stand a better chance of winning if I didn’t.”

“Ah, Connor’s influence has rubbed off on her,” Alexa said, shaking her head. “How tragic. She’ll also end up as a failure of a human.”

“Hey.” Connor protested.

“You know it’s true.”

“Just because it’s true though doesn’t mean you should say it,” Kaida playfully scolded her. “Isn’t that right, Eric?”

“Exactly, Alexa,” Eric agreed, nodding his head a few times. “It’s just like my dad used to say: ‘If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all.’”

“Um, I have a slight objection to the whole ‘failure of a human’ comment,” Connor said.

“You lost the right to object to that after you sabotaged our Secret Santa,” Kaida reminded Connor, making him jump a little in his seat.

“Did he do that again?” Alexa asked and Kaida slowly nodded in response. Alexa sighed and said, “Honestly, you never change.”

“What? I thought it would be funny,” Connor protested.

“Was it?”

“Very.”

Eric and Kaida both sighed wearily.

“So? Who do we think will win this?” Kaida asked.

“Kiara,” Eric quickly replied.

“Seb.”

“Kiara,” Connor said.

“Seb,” Laila added.

“Seb,” Alexa said.

“Oh shit,” Eric groaned.

“What?” Alexa inquired.

“I picked the same person as Connor.”

“So?”

“Kiara won’t be winning this round.”

Alexa smirked at him and said, “Sucker.”

***

Kiara’s body was drenched in sweat.

She could barely catch her breath; her mind was cloudy and her heart felt like it had been submerged into an ocean of darkness.

She looked at herself in the mirror and saw that her cheeks were flushed, her fangs were more noticeable than ever, and her eyes were much darker in colour than they usually were. She turned on the tap to its coldest setting and threw the water over her face, washing it thoroughly, hoping to clear her head a little.

Kiara turned off the tap and looked at herself, seeing the pathetic expression on her face which looked like a child, begging for help.

She had managed to keep her vampiric instincts under control in front of Kasmine after realising what she had almost done to Ashar, but, now that she was alone, she could barely keep her bloodlust at bay.

If…I lose control out there, what would Kasmine do? She thought. Kiara shook her head and dug her nails into her own arms, making a little bit of blood trickle from them. She then scooped it up with her fingers and put it into her mouth, hoping to make the cloud in her head clear but, instead, it grew thicker.

“Come on, Kiara,” She whispered. “You can do this.” She took a deep breath and stared hard at her reflection. “You need to do this.”

***

From the East Side, she’s one of our few Vampire students at our school and who is clearly not to be messed with, as the last round show; Kiara Morrigan! On the West, we have the proud and powerful Geomancer from Romania; Seb Mahin!

Contestants, on my mark, begin.

3.

2.

1.

Begin!

Like in his match with Edgard, Seb went to tap his foot, believing that he could end the fight as quickly as he did last time.

However, Kiara had leapt across the field faster than he could strike.

She had flown across the field, devastating the ground where she had been standing, and smashed her foot into Seb’s chest, knocking the wind from him and rendering him unconscious in an instant.

However, because it hadn’t been a fatal hit, the match didn’t end.

Kiara, breathing heavily, her eyes fixated upon his neck, slowly crouched down beside his body, her fangs slowly extending and her eyes turning into a deeper and deeper shade of crimson.

Blood…blood…A voice in her head whispered through the mist in her head, overpowering her thoughts and her own mind. Drink it…drink all of it…

Kiara grinned sadistically and started to lower herself towards him but a siren blasted throughout the arena, louder than a banshee, threatening to destroy the crowd’s eardrums.

It had, however, done its job and snapped Kiara out of her trance.

Winner, Kiara Morrigan! Kasmine loudly announced.

While the crowd groaned and moaned about the siren, they all still found it in them to cheer for her.

However, Kiara couldn’t hear them.

All she could think about and process was that she had lost control and had almost publicly drunk a person’s blood, something that would have labelled her as a monster and could have resulted in her expulsion from Ferris.

Terrified, Kiara flew out of the arena and burst into the nearest toilets and locked the door behind her, barricading it with the bin in the room. She then ran over to the taps, ran the coldest water she could, and washed her face with it, looking at her face which was filled with fear and her eyes scared even her.

They were a deeper shade of red than they had ever been which meant that she was very, very close to losing control entirely.

I…I have to keep going, Kiara told herself, drying her face with a paper towel. Even if it consumes me.

***

“Holy shit, guys,” Alexa said slowly. “Kiara won.”

“Connor…made a correct prediction…” Kaida whispered in disbelief.

“Um, you guys don’t have to act that shocked,” Connor pleaded.

“Yes!” Eric yelled. “I’m in the lead!”

“Good job, Eric,” Laila said, patting him patronisingly on the head.

“Why is it that even though I won I felt like I’ve lost something?” Connor mumbled, slumping back into his chair.

***

After Seb’s incredibly quick defeat, the next two contestants were rushed into the arena as soon as Seb and Kiara had left.

From the East Entrance, we have the steampunk gunslinging badass who is also one of the best shots among the first years; Jasmine Dalena! From the West, her opponent, one of the best snipers at the school and who managed to defeat his previous opponent with only a single shot; Kellan ‘Dead Eye’ Bowen!

In order to keep the match as fair as possible, neither of them were allowed to start with their guns in their hands. Jasmine’s were undeployed in her armour and Dead Eye’s rifle was at his back.

Contestants, on my mark, you may begin.

3.

2.

1.

Draw!

Like Dead Eye’s previous match, it was over in the blink of an eye.

Jasmine deployed her pistols into her hands as Dead Eye flung his rifle into his hands.

They both released their safeties, they both took aim at one another’s bodies and both fired a single shot each.

Dead Eye had fired and nailed Jasmine right between the eyes, killing her instantly.

Jasmine’s landed in Dead Eye’s chest, missing his heart by less than an inch, not killing him instantly.

She fell onto her back and the crowd was unsure on how to react.

Winner; Dead Eye!

“Huh? That’s it?”

“Couldn’t they have made it last longer?”

“He landed a headshot again, though. That’s amazing!”

“Yeah, that Kellan kid is really good.”

Even though there wasn’t much of an applause or cheer for the match, the crowd was still buzzing and excitedly talking about the fight, mainly because Dead Eye had, once again, landed a perfect headshot on an opponent in a high pressure situation, and in less than a second.

***

“I wonder if Dead Eye will win just by headshotting his way to the final,” Eric said, laughing nervously.

“That…would at least be a first,” Alexa agreed, slightly anxious that that eventuality might actually happen.

“Man, I wrote him out in the first round,” Connor moaned. “I’m an idiot.”

“Did anyone happen to get a recording of Connor saying he’s an idiot?” Eric asked. “Because, if you did, I’ll pay for it.”

***

The final match in the second round of the Single’s Tournament was between the two people who were being watched the most closely by the entire world: Izellah and Arian.

When they had both entered, the crowd was almost entirely silent, aside from the hushed conversations between the audience about the two of them.

“You think what the Rose said is true?”

“Maybe. I mean, I’d like to believe what she said is true about redeeming the Rose Knight.”

“Yeah, but she won’t be able to beat Arian, right?”

“Probably…not.”

“Man, I hate this Arian guy.”

“Me too. He’s kind of ruined the entire thing by entering it, right?”

Arian clicked his tongue and spat to the side. “Damn idiots,” He growled.

“Insulting a crowd who already fear you isn’t the best idea,” Izellah said, glaring at him.

She had her helmet under her arm until the match begun so that the world could see her for who she truly was. Izellah didn’t want to hide her identity from the world, unlike Arian.

“Izellah Vartan, was it?” Arian asked in the same monotonous tone that he always had. “I was impressed by what you said to Xantico in your previous match.”

“Oh? Thanks for that,” Izellah replied in a disinterested tone. “So?”

“So?”

“Why bring that up? Were you trying to make me go easy on you?”

Arian smiled sadly and shook his head. “Far from it. I wanted to simply say that I admire your passion and drive towards achieving such a noble goal. In fact, I’d say our goals are almost similar, if not identical. However.” His expression stiffened and he shot daggers at her. “I can’t afford to lose to you.”

Well then, contestants, if you’re done, shall we begin?

“Yes,” Izellah said, putting on her helmet.

“Let’s,” Arian agreed.

Splendid. Then, on my mark, start.

3.

2.

1.

Begin!

Izellah stabbed her sword into the ground, encasing herself in golden vines, just before Arian could land his volley of crossbow bolts into her. Arian discarded his crossbow, pulled out his dagger, and zoomed across the field to her, slicing madly at the vines, cutting them down one by one. Izellah, however, couldn’t move while she had her sword planted in the ground.

She groaned, twisted the blade, and the vines snapped out like whips around her, forcing Arian back. He jumped forty metres away, easily avoiding her attack, and then ran back it once the vines had retracted back to her sword. Izellah pulled it out of the ground and slashed at Arian, but Arian seemingly disappeared before her and reappeared behind her. Izellah had expected as much and had swung her shield back to bash him, but Arian easily caught it in his hand.

He grabbed it hard, pushed the sole of his boot against her back, and pulled the shield towards him, breaking her arm and rendering it useless. Izellah screamed madly in agony and stabbed behind her with her blade, hoping to pierce Arian and expand her vines within him, but Arian caught her wrist, snapped it hard, and broke it.

Izellah screamed even louder and the blade fell through her fingertips behind her. Arian released her, allowing her to collapse onto the floor, and then he smashed her skull with his heel, killing her.

Winner, Arian Rajneesh!

No one clapped this time.

“Jesus Christ!”

“That was…disgusting…”

“He didn’t have to be that brutal, did he?”

“How the hell is that shit allowed?”

As much as they threw insults towards Arian however, none of them dared to say it louder than a hushed whisper.

With that, the second round of the 2178 Ferris Single’s Tournament has ended. The next series of matches and the order in which they will happen are as follows: Kiara VS Ajax and Dead Eye VS Arian.

We will take a short, five minute break and then begin the next matches then.

We wish our remaining contestants the best of luck and hope that they can all come away from the Tournament proud of what they’ve achieved.