I think you all know what music to play here... if you want to.
Begin Anew Part Two: The Rout
Chapter 6: Duel!
After a few minutes, Will, who wanted to know why we were there in the first place, was up to speed, and everything was set up: Chrome and I were standing in our own, smaller circles on one side of the magic circle, while Abraxus and Dean were in similar circles on their side. Will stood outside the circle watching carefully, having appointed himself referee. It looked like our duel, after some small distractions, was finally underway. Will cleared his throat and said in a mock-official tone, "This is an official doubles match between Dean and Abraxus of the Fir Darrig, and Nicole and Chrome of Unicorn Way! I am William StarSpear, your referee! The duel will start on my command. Is everyone ready?"
"Ready," Chrome said shortly.
"Ready," Dean lilted, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
CLANG, Abraxus's shovel rang as he clapped it against the ground.
I gave a thumbs-up with my left hand; my right was in my pocket, clutching the deck.
Will nodded. "Then this duel's first round has officially begun! You have thirty seconds to prepare your attacks!" The circle glowed and displayed countless runes and glyphs, the ancient magicks within them binding us to the circle until the completion of the Duel. A small, white orb of benign-feeling energy—a Pip—sprang up on the edge of each duelist's circle. Chrome, Abraxus, and Dean closed their eyes, the spells they were preparing requiring absolute concentration to even have a chance of working. I looked around for a bit, enjoying the concentration of magical energy in the air, before I pulled out a full hand of cards and looked at my options: Fire Elf, two Glacial Shields, Lightning Bats, Dream Shield, Fireball (Fireball?), and Fire Cat. The circle indicated that Dean and Abraxus were first, so I decided to cast Dream Shield. Holding it in front of me, I put the rest of the cards back into my pocket, outside their box; it crossed my mind that I really needed more than one pocket to hold things. Will was blind to the whole thing, as he was speaking into thin air, too soft for me to hear. He looked back at the duel, registering the card in my hand but not reacting to it, choosing instead to shout, "Time! Round start!"
I hid the card, not wanting to throw Dean off on his turn. He quickly drew a Life symbol in the air and activated it. The center of the circle flashed, and a tiny, cackling green creature, with stubby nubs for legs—an Imp—appeared. Still laughing, it veered in front of Chrome, pulled out a fiddle, and clanged its bow against the strings, striking impossibly jarring chords. Chrome reeled back as far as the circle allowed, clutching her ears in an attempt to block out the sound. After a few seconds of this, the Imp stopped, allowed the fiddle and bow to fade, and gave an exaggerated bow to everyone before vanishing with a small pop. The circle's indicator then pointed to Abraxus.
He drew a Death symbol with practiced ease, and swung at it with full force. A spiked Ward appeared in front of me, radiating dark energy; it was a Death Trap, used specifically to amplify the power of a Death Spell. Considering he would get a Pip next turn to join the Pip he already had, Abraxus would more than likely use Ghoul, not only belting out an impressive amount of damage, but also healing any damage he might receive this round. No time to think about that now. The indicator turned to me; it was my turn.
I brought out the card, and heard gasps of shock from the other duelists. I couldn't fault them for it; with the odd exception here and there, Card Magic was exclusive to wizards. Other beings used actual spells to perform magic. Being an outlier also represented a new danger, however: unpredictability. Normal spellcasting creatures had a School of magic, a set power-based Rank, and a few types of spells within their Primary (and Secondary) School they could use to their heart's content, as long as they had the mana. Wizards, though having the obvious disadvantage of limited deck space and being bound to the hand they drew, had two main advantages over other magic users. The first was magical diversity. Wizards, being able to learn a number of spells from a variety of Schools (not to mention being able to use disposable Treasure Cards), are notoriously difficult to set up a proper strategy against. The second was that, while most Ranked beings rarely, if ever, moved into a higher Rank, wizards use an entirely different system using levels, allowing them to become stronger at a substantially faster rate. Paired with the streamlined method of learning combat magic via cards, this made even the greenest wizard, given several months at Ravenwood, a match for any opponent in this World, save for their upperclassmen. Unpredictability had its downside, though: an ally wouldn't be able to guess at your strategy or your hand, and due to the nature of a duel, you couldn't really discuss tactics with your partner without the enemy hearing you. It would take someone with intimate knowledge of the wizard's fighting style, or who knew them personally, to be able to predict their movements and choose a course of action accordingly. Seeing as not even I had the first thing, and my acquaintance with Chrome had only just reached the two-hour mark, Chrome and I were more likely to get in each other's way than actually help each other in this duel.
I drew a Death symbol and, with a snap, activated it. A green ward and a yellow ward appeared around me, guarding against Life and Myth magic, respectively. The card in my hand then crumbled into ash. I had no reason to fear, though; it, along with any other cards I used, would return to my deck at the end of the duel. Finally, it was Chrome's turn. She drew an Ice symbol, and pressed its center to activate it. An Ice Beetle flash-froze into existence and slammed into Abraxus.
"Round end! You have thirty seconds to prepare!" Will seemed to be done with his conversation, and had his full attention on the duel. Dean was definitely thrown by sudden reveal of my deck, and was sweating profusely. Abraxus, on the other hand, seemed much calmer. So calm, in fact, he didn't seem to be preparing a spell at all. There was only one reason he would do that: he was going to use an even higher rank spell next turn. I didn't know how much damage I could take, but a Rank three spell paired with a Trap wouldn't be a picnic for anyone. Next to me, Chrome looked like she was taking my revelation much better than Dean, but still stole glances at me when she thought I wasn't looking. I brought out my hand, adding to it the Death Shield I drew from my deck. Time to nip his little strategy in the bud, I thought, picking the Shield and putting the rest of my hand back in my pocket just before Will clapped his hands once and said, "Time's up! Round two start!"
Like last round, Dean drew a Life symbol, but because of his nerves, it came out crooked and dim, and with a fizzle crumbled into a pile of ash when he tried to activate it. I prepared to use my card, willing the indicator to go over Abraxus quicker, but it wasn't budging. Instead, Abraxus's Pips disappeared and his circle dimmed, allowing him to leave it. What the hell? Did he just quit? I looked at the rim of the main circle; still glowing, meaning he couldn't leave the duel proper. Then what the hell is this?
He strode to the center of the circle, facing me. Two things happened in quick succession: the Death Trap suddenly burst in front of me, leaving a cloud of dark energy between the two of us; and I suddenly realized what he was doing. I began to fly upwards the same time he hurled his shovel through the cloud, charging it with Death magic. It connected with my gut, driving the air out of my lungs and knocking me to the ground.
"Nicole! Are you okay!?" Chrome shouted, panicked. I did my best to answer, but only managed a mangled "Groooaaauugghh…" in response. It took a minute or two to get my breath back, but when I did, the first thing I did was look at my torso. My tunic had a huge gash where the shovel connected, and when I pulled it up to check the damage on my body, several leaves broke off and fell. My stomach was a mottled gray and indigo bruise, the darkest area being right above the navel where the shovel's edge struck. It was a thick, wide line of black and gray flesh, and in some places the skin was broken, oozing glistening black blood. Looking at the wound, I knew that taking another hit like that was out of the question. I stood up tall, ignoring Chrome's protests and Dean's low whistle, and looked Abraxus square in the eye. Safe in his circle, all he could offer me was a shrug; it was a duel between (relative) equals, and pulling punches would most likely end in defeat. The cloud of an unidentifiable dark emotion drifted over me, and I held my fist out in front of me, thumb stuck out to the side. He seemed confused, until slowly, I turned it until it pointed down. The others in the circle were confused, but Abraxus flashed a grin and smacked his shovel against the ground, relishing the challenge. Will understood the significance of my gesture, too, but unlike Abraxus, he didn't seem to approve. It didn't really matter to me, though, as it was finally my turn. I drew my symbol, and my Death Shield appeared with a flash, nestled between the two slightly smaller Wards I already had. Chrome's turn was next, and she delivered: drawing her Life symbol with ease, she summoned a translucent copy of a Sprite. The Sprite circled me, forming a thin veil of healing energy around me before fading away. "Round two is over!" Will's voice rang out. "You have thirty seconds!"
I drew a new card, a Sunbird, and returned the rest of my hand to my pocket. Soon after that, Will called the beginning of the round. Dean, having gotten a measure of his cool back, drew and activated a quick Balance symbol. A ghost-like sword, chipped and rusty, phased into existence over my head, leaving me cursing silently; I didn't know the Charm's name off the top of my head, but I knew it would weaken my Sunbird. Abraxus passed, sparking relief at the respite, and worry over what he would use next round. My turn began with a pulse of healing magic from Chrome's spell, soothing the pain enough so that I could bear standing as tall as I was without feeling the urge to scream. The moment I began to draw, the thrum of power in the air began to grow louder, reacting to the imminent activation of a higher Rank spell. The symbol grew hotter even as I drew it, driving me away from it. Changing from orange to white in the span of a few seconds, it ended not with the expected explosion, but rather with an anticlimactic fizzle, leaving a crumbly gray Fire symbol hanging in the air until a stronger gust of wind reduced it to ash, carrying it away. I looked at the direction it flew off towards. "…Shit." Chrome tsked cheekily, cast a Death Shield on herself, and that was the end of the round.
I was really feeling the heat now, having drawn another Dream Shield. My entire hand is garbage!, I thought wildly. What do I do?! I was beginning to sweat, trying to work out a strategy. But unless a miracle happened, this would be my last turn. On impulse, I dumped half my hand, hoping I would last until next round. Then, from my pocket, I heard a slight shift. Pulling out my deck, I saw a slightly different card on top of the others. I drew it, and quickly stifled a gasp.A Treasure Card of- I put away the rest of my cards and held the Treasure Card close to my chest. Will's voice rang out, "Time! Begin!"
Dean drew and activated yet another Life symbol, summoning a see-through copy of a Leprechaun, that catapulted a cascade of gold coins directly on top of Chrome's head. As small as she was, she was buried under the pile of metal until it (and the Leprechaun) disappeared. Chrome managed to get up, though she seemed to have trouble keeping her eyes open. I called across to her, "You okay there, Chrome?" She started waving me off irritatedly, but had to catch herself before she fell.
Abraxus drew his Death symbol with a grin, and activated it with a whack. The center of the circle erupted a fountain of dirt as a Ghoul jumped out of the ground, facing me. It pointed its shovel at me, and began to will my energy away. I felt my energy being drained away, leaving me with a deep chill. The Ghoul then faced Abraxus, and transferred the energy-my energy-to him. It was finally my turn, and I didn't hold back.
Unflinching, I drew the Fire symbol before it immolated. It took all of my resolve not to pull away from it before I completed it; the symbol before was hot, but this was burning. Finished, I activated it with a snap from my other hand and collapsed, biting my tongue before I began cursing at literally all of existence. A boom snapped me out of it, and I looked up just in time to see Dean get sent sprawling by a meteor larger than he was. Abraxus tried to defend against his imminent defeat, to no avail. The fiery space rock slammed into him, throwing him back into the ruined building behind him. The circle faded, and the buzz of magic followed suit. The duel was over, and Chrome and I had emerged the victors.