Well, I guess I've been putting this off for too long now.

I will now attempt to write the 59th chapter of this darned story. The only things that can possibly help me now are my writing playlist and my bag of store-brand marshmallow-mateys.

They're like lucky charms, but crunchier.

Song for this Chapter: Sober -- P!nk. Definitely sets the mood. No doubt.

Disclaimer: after 59 chapters I've grown tired of this claiming game. Disclaim that, fanfiction.

Chapter 59: Outsource the Wattage

In the last chapter...

James is sentenced to death by hanging. At the gallows, the ceremony begins. The Scanran guards place the rope around his neck and drop him to his death.

There was an accumulative gasp from across the crowd as the rope snapped in two. James' body hit the ground hard, and the great momentum caused him to roll a few feet before halting a couple feet away from the spectators. His eyes were closed as he laid unconscious, back facing the ground.

On the top of the roof of the nearest building stood Romeli. Her stance was weak and her body was covered in unhealed gashes and bruises, but in her eyes burned a fury that invoked fear in every observant. On her back were two powerful black wings, most likely her means of getting on the roof in the first place. Her hands glowed with a fiery emerald green that rippled with menace.

"Lost dogs break my heart most of the time. But the other thing with that is: lost dogs are some of the luckiest creatures on earth...I kind of wish I was a lost dog." - Gary Amdahl

"Impossible," murmured Maggur, more vexed than surprised. He walked towards the front of the crowd and out into the open. Behind him stood the shocked masses; in front, his enemy. "We burned your body."

Romeli looked down at him, eyes narrowed. Her lips grew into a smirk. "Or so you thought." Despite the strength in her voice, her stance was weak. She clutched her right arm in pain as it hung uselessly.

Maggur's face began to turn red with fury. The plan was foolproof. He killed her himself. He checked the pulse, discarded the body, lit it on fire. Every act was thoughtful, every plan had been double checked for loopholes...this was impossible.

When he didn't reply to her words, she leapt down from her perch and lightly landed on the ground in front of him. The large black wings on her back leveled her descent and even made it even look smooth. Her hands were no longer full of the fire of her Gift, but the intimidating atmosphere surrounding her remained.

Up close, she was more tattered and torn. With the injuries in full detail, they looked much more extensive than when she was on the roof. Bruises and cuts covered her face and chest. There was a large gash across her chest that stretched from her neck to her opposite arm. Her arms revealed countless welts. Though her legs and torso were covered with a loose top and breeches, blood was beginning to seep through the fabric. Blood stained her legs; her feet were bare and blistering. Across her torso was a smear of dark blood that was soaking through. The culprit was a large gash from Maggur's whip that had ripped across her. Dotted on her back were drips of blood from the spikes that stabbed her.

The King of Scanra eyed her with unease, as if he were seeing a ghost.

Disregarding his expression, she limped passed him and towards James, who remained unconscious a little ways from her.

Seeing her next motive brought Maggur's voice back. "Stop right where you are!"

The authority in his voice made her stall for a moment before looking back at him with level eyes. "No."

Maggur pursed his lips. "You have no right."

Romeli's eyes lit up angrily, a spark of fury flitting across them. For a moment, fear crossed his eyes. Scanran guards began to group behind their king, sensing the hostility of the situation.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Romeli spat, walking a couple steps towards Maggur. She stole a glance at James' body. He was breathing, but barely.

"Of course I know what I'm talking about," Maggur snapped. "You are a slave of Scanra. I own you."

Romeli turned on her heel and towards James.

"Get her," Maggur ordered at his guards.

Right when Romeli was at James' side crouched next to him, the guards came at her.

She gulped, unsure if fighting them off was possible right now. Her body ached and protested to every move she made and her right arm was completely useless. There had been no time to heal herself within the whole process of saving James.

Of course, this didn't stop the guards and Romeli turned to doing the only thing she could do: use her Gift.

There was a much more logical maneuver that could obliterate them all in seconds, but she left her Golden Magic out of the question. When and if she used it, it would be a last resort. The power was too unpredictable, especially when everything she did now had to be pristine and thoughtful.

The Gift flashed out of her good hand in seconds and a bubble-like shield encircled her and James an instant before their weapons came crashing down. The impact of the metal against her shield sent shivers down her body—that was too close.

The guards stalled, not expecting the bubble to form around her so quickly. A couple of them glanced at each other uneasily, not sure of what to do next.

Her shield collapsed unexpectedly, leaving both her and the attackers puzzled. Romeli drew to conclusions quicker than them however. There was a mage in the area—a mage strong enough to vanquish her shield.

The thought would have worried her more if the guards hadn't taken advantage of the opening. A guard towards the front of the pack brought his axe into the air.

Romeli shot her Gift out a second time. This time her emerald magic took the form of a blast of fire. She threw it at the hostile guard. The force of the fire ball sent him crashing to the ground, his axe spiraling out of his hand. She flashed a second shield just in time to block another blow from her side.

In a battle of mediocre guards, Romeli would have said she had the advantage. However, she fought them from the ground, hunched over James' body more for support than protection. Every time she moved, her body protested. She had no weapon to spar with besides her magic. Even if she did, using it would be impossible in her condition.

She took care of the guards towards the back easily. Though the ground of the gallows was dry and dusty, deep below rested ancient roots and soil. She ushered the roots to the surface and wrapped them around a few guards, leaving them immobile.

When her shield collapsed again, she brought out the full force of her Gift. she engulfed two guards in merciless emerald flames that turned them to ash in seconds. She knocked a third guard out with a blast of magic.

There were three left.

Two of them came at her mercilessly, one holding a long sword and the other two, daggers. She blocked one attack with a temporarily shield, holding her left palm out for protection. The guard who swiped at her staggered back, shaken by the strong shield in front of him. He almost dropped the sword in his hand.

While the swordsman was temporarily fazed, she turned to the one with the daggers. Disarming him was easy, all she had to do was use her Gift as a means to levitate objects. She yanked the weapons out of his hands, leaving him completely exposed. With another twist of her wrist he sunk into the ground, stuck in the hard soil.

The other swordsman shook himself out of his shock and struck again. Romeli brought the dagger to her hand and threw it cleanly into his forehead right before it was too late. The guard crumpled to the ground, dead.

Meanwhile, the third guard had other tricks up his sleeve. Knowing that fighting Romeli was a death sentence, he turned to the next best thing: James. If he were to maim him more, hopefully the girl would give up. When the two guards had been distracting her, he snuck around outside her vision and towards James from behind.

Just when he was about to bring his sword across James' neck, Romeli's second opponent collapsed to the ground, a dagger sliced through his head. Romeli sensed a movement behind her, whipped around and disarmed the last guard before he could even react. Weaponless, Romeli sunk him into the ground, immobile just like her other victim.

Maggur growled, irritated, as he watched Romeli turn to James and begin to heal him. She was panting heavily, a sign of exhaustion. He was tempted to send another group of guards after her, but the order would be in vain. It would take more than guards to finish her off.

Romeli placed her good hand on James' chest desperately, he was still breathing, albeit shallowly. His heart rate was beginning to slow. Around his neck were deep cuts from the rope that had lashed him as he fell. Sure, she saved his life, but barely.

With great speed, she sent her Gift into his body and worked on healing him. His lungs were filling with fluid, blood. He was starting to bleed internally.

"Shoot," she whispered pursing her lips. This would take longer than she had time for. Unease began to prick the back of her neck and she knew that Maggur was watching her. All she could do right now was keep him alive—hopefully that would be enough.

In seconds, for seconds was as much time as allowed, she took care of his bleeding and pumped some energy in his heart. At least she had set him on the right track towards recovery. Under normal circumstances, James' Gift would have kicked in by now to speed along the healing process. Unfortunately his magic was still blocked by the Blood Spell, and she had no choice but to leave him there.

With a wince, she brought herself back to her feet, legs shaking beneath her. Though her posture was slumped and blood was oozing down her open wounds, her eyes held strong. They burned with a power and fury incomparable to both her opponent and the crowd watching silently behind her.

"You just wont give up will you," muttered Maggur, unamused.

Romeli smirked. "Never."

She held her hands behind her back, concealing them from Maggur's prying eyes. Silently, she snapped her left hand, lighting up a ball of fire in her palm. After bringing out her Gift, she placed the ball of fire on her lower back and pushed it into her skin. She sensation burned through her veins and loosened her muscles to a relaxing state. The light warmed and soothed her to the point that even her nerves were beginning to relax.

The healing process was beginning now. It would take a while to complete, but at least Maggur didn't know. Already the pain her in dislocated right arm was beginning to ease.

"Well then where does this leave us," he said mostly to himself. It was more of a concluding statement than a question, and Romeli didn't bother answering it. "You are too powerful to control. My will to control you is too powerful to let you go."

"It seems we are at some sort of a deadlock," she agreed, her voice strengthening.

"So it seems," he mused. "Though you are forgetting one thing."

Romeli's brows rose. An inch of fear crept up her spine. "And what would that be?"

"You are a slave of Scanra, Romeli," he reminded, enunciating his words clearly. "By law you have no right to rebel against me."

"Right," she murmured back, lowering her head a little bit. "Except the idea of slavery is so pointless anyways. In the end it's just an idea. People can't own other people; that's impossible. Free-will is free-will and nothing could possibly change that. Not even your little mind games or torture chambers."

"But magic can," he argued. "With magic and slave collars people can become property."

Romeli shook her head. "Your sense of morality astounds me," she said under her breath before looking at him assertively. "Not as long as I'm here."

"I blocked your Gift," he pointed out.

She snapped her fingers and a small ball of fire lit up in her hand. "Yeah. You did a really great job with that."

His eyes narrowed. "Either way, it seems like we have two choices here. Either you die, or you come with me to Scanra. Slavery is slavery. Rules are rules."

"I choose neither," she said instantly, extinguishing the flame in her hand.

"That's not a part of the deal," he growled angrily, patience growing thin.

"There is no deal," she argued clearly for him to understand. "I'm not your slave any more."

His eyes widened slightly though he was still irritated. "What are you talking about," he snapped.

Romeli pointed at her neck, a wicked smile across her lips.

Maggur stared at her for a moment, not understanding what all of this was about. A moment later realization spread across his features and his skin turned pale. The scars that had burnt her neck were no longer there. There was no slave collar, no spell, no sign of ownership. Nothing.

Romeli was free.

"How did you..." he voice trailed off in disbelief.

Romeli lowered her hand to her side as she stared him down. "I freed myself from your ownership once before. The second time around you actually know what you're doing."

"You never freed yourself in the first place!" he hissed.

She exhaled heavily. Believe me, I know that. "The spell to gain my freedom may have failed, but that doesn't mean my knowledge of what that spell was evaded me. I remember things well—especially things I've failed."

He clenched his jaw tightly.

"Besides," she started again. "It's just an incantation after all."

"In order to successfully break the bondage spell you need your Gift," he told her. Of course, both of them knew that information was old news. "And you got your Gift back how?"

The corner of Romeli's mouth twitched. "I think you should be more concerned with the fact that I'm supposed to be dead right now. Never mind such a dumb question as that. Ask me the good stuff." She egged him on with brightened eyes.

Maggur stared at her vexed. "I have no temptation to figure out your little magic trick in the torture chamber," he snapped.

That's too bad, she thought to herself as she met his eyes. You'd like the explanation.

"Instead," Maggur began again after a moment. "I want to make a little bet."

One of Romeli's brows rose slightly. "Oh good. What are the stakes?"

"Your freedom."

Much to Maggur's surprise, she laughed out loud. "I hardly see how that matters much at this point. I'm already free."

"You're free, and I leave—forever."

"Much better."

"You jump ahead of yourself," he pointed out calmly. There was a bit of a smile on his lips. "You don't even know the challenge yet."

"Oh that's right, what's the challenge," she asked, humoring him.

Maggur put his right hand up. Immediately a group of burly men walked up from the crowd and to Maggur. They stood in a straight line directly behind him. Some of them stood strong, their muscles more intimidating than any she had ever seen before. Others were shorter, leaner. All of them however, looked strong—powerful. She eyed them uneasily.

"I'd like you to meet my head war mages," he said to her as he motioned behind him.

Romeli's brows rose as she looked at them all. Their eyes were on her like stone, boring into her. She couldn't help but shake the feeling that they knew more about her than they had a right to.

"They are the masterminds behind my greatest work," Maggur told her uniformly. "They created the spells in your slave collar, the charms in the palace, the weapons in the war. They are your worst nightmare."

Oh, thought Romeli, a look of examination in her face. It was all she could manage thinking at this point. Something about them shook her mindset and dissolved her self-confidence.

"All of them are registered black mages," he added, almost nonchalantly.

She exhaled heavily. No wonder they were so intimidating. The only other black mage she'd ever met was her father—one of the only people biologically programed to love her...well sort of. Black war mages though...they were merciless. She didn't need a textbook to tell her that.

She also didn't need a textbook to remind her that she'd only dueled one black mage. And though she'd dueled him many times, victory had been hers only once.

"And the challenge?" asked Romeli, her voice a little shakier.

Maggur grinned. "If you defeat all ten of these black mages, you will be free from Scanra forever and I will leave Tortall alone for the rest of my reign. If you lose (which means either they kill you or you forfeight), you come back to Scanra—for good."

Romeli's mind couldn't wiggle herself around the idea that there were ten of them. The chances weren't good.

She weighed her options carefully, taking her time with the reply to Maggur's bet. Option one: fight the black mages and hopefully defeat them. Option two: Run. Option three: kill Maggur, this instant, and then run.

Of course, options two and three would have the same outcome as the first. In running, the black mages would attack her anyways and most likely kill her.

Fight or flight.

She exhaled deeply, calming herself down with the release of air. It's always better to go with dignity, isn't it, she told herself with disbelief. So fight it is then.

"Just one condition," Romeli told Maggur, her voice stronger than ever now. Suddenly, standing up straight wasn't such a heavy task. Her Gift was working its magic well. "Leave James out of this. Whether I lose or win, you leave him alone."

Maggur's mouth twitched. "Fine," he said nonchalantly. The king seemed convinced of his victory.

Romeli was going to do everything in her power to prove him wrong.

With the deal set, she glanced behind her at James' body. He still laid there completely unconscious. The look of his body lying carelessly on the ground would have worried her if it weren't for her knowledge of his current state. He would be okay for now, though he was in need of a healer.

She looked back at Maggur with a little hesitance before walking back towards James and crouching next to him.

"Alanna?!" Romeli cried across the crowd. The front row spectators glanced around, mumbling and whispering to those around them. They carried the message towards the back where words could not be heard as well.

Loud orders could be heard and suddenly Alanna stumbled out of the crowd accompanied with Numair. Her face was red with anger—apparently the crowd had not moved fast enough. Numair stood next to her with a pale expression. His lips were pressed in a thin line, though a hint of relief crossed his eyes when he stared at his daughter.

"Something told me you weren't gone," he whispered to Romeli quietly, easily out of the hearing range of Maggur. "That training has done some good after all."

Romeli nodded, a wave of serenity washing over her as she looked into her father's eyes. She motioned for Alanna to come to James.

When Romeli spoke it was fast and quiet. Maggur's prying eyes on her back reminded her how lucky she was that he hadn't sicked more guards on her. "Alanna, he has severe bruising and cuts on his neck, two broken ribs, and internal bleeding. I took care of the worst bleeding, but the rest I couldn't spare helping..." She trailed off when Alanna nodded.

"Good, we'll take care of him from here," Alanna told her. Her violet eyes were calm but nervous. Trying to seem calm in front of Romeli was a challenge when both of them knew the potential outcome of the duel.

Romeli had no idea how pale her face had become. The expression of panic covered it and her voice was shaking, though she didn't seem to notice. The risk of death was nothing new to her, of course. Yet here she stood, walking the line between life and death. The determinant was what scared her the most. Ten black robed mages—and all of them looked more interested in killing her than in teaching her something new.

Numair's eyes, however, remained calm and cool. He didn't seem confident—in fact, his expression seemed more pained and desperate than anything. But that didn't stop his steady words and clear mind. He clasped Romeli on the shoulder and stared at her deeply.

"Remember everything I've taught you," he told her sincerely. "Think quickly and accurately, pace yourself, and focus. Duels such as these have no rules and they will not hesitate killing you. Most importantly, do not show them any sign of defeat. You are stronger than any of them. Show them that."

Her heart began to beat faster at her words and she nodded quickly. He gave her one last look, his black eyes warm, before he retreated back in the crowds again. Alanna had James in her arms, holding him steadily as she followed him. Romeli exhaled shakily and turned around to face Maggur and his mages. She glared at them all, a dangerous expression on her face as Maryann's words ran through her:

...you must walk into every situation with pride, passion, and brains...

She would not let them see the face of defeat.

Maggur stepped out of the way and the mages stepped forward. All ten of them stood in a straight line at the other side of the field. Romeli relocated so she was directly across from them. Behind her was the edge of the forest. Standing with her back directly at the crowd was a bad idea, especially since she had no idea what would be coming for her now.

The enemy mages all brought out their Gifts. Suddenly the line across from her was much more colorful than before. There was certainly a good representation of color. Crimson, purple, orange, and even an aquatic teal. None of them were green however, not even close. Her Golden Magic stirred within her as their Gifts burned in their palms, exposed.

Romeli closed her eyes and turned to her center being. The bright light of her own magic glowed within her infinitely. With as much focus and might as she could muster, she pulled it out to the exterior. The air around her began to ripple, like the magic was diffusing the molecules surrounding her. Her skin began to glow with a slightly green radiance. The power shaken within her became so strong that it saturated her skin and the air. Even her eyes began to glow with emerald flame. In her palm burned a bright fire that cast shadows on anything its light did not touch.

The power brought out from her soul made her adrenaline kick in and she found a sly smile begin to snake itself onto her lips.

This would be the biggest duel in years. History had not yet written away the outcome of this duel, and it was up to her now. Either death or life would be hers soon, and the showdown to cause such a fate would be forever remembered. There was no use in holding back now. Every bit of power must be used.

And here we go.

Maggur's mages operated like a machine. Each of them was an important part of the system. They were all different, with different uses, advantages, weakness—but they worked as one.

Three mages attacked at once. The one in the middle shot out shards of glass with pointed tips like spikes. They blew through the air with rapid speed. Right when the first of the shards reached the midway point, a blue-like balm from another mage covered them

Romeli clenched her jaw, reigning in her powers as the glass came closer.

The third mage took the balm to his advantage and lit the shards on fire.

She exhaled shakily and closed her eyes. There was no need to use her sight, she could sense the magic from their Gifts inside of her. Every inch the glass grew closer, her gut began to tighten.

Right when the spikes were a breath away, she cut her forearm in front of her head and flashed a bright shield. It disintegrated the intruding glass in seconds.

Taking advantage of any hesitation the enemy mages may have succumbed to, Romeli returned the attack. She crouched to the ground and dug her fingers into the dirt. Then, with a large breath, she focused all her plant magic into the ground. Green light, which she saw clearly in the back of her mind, shot into the ground, traveling through roots and leaves until she found what she was looking for. Right beneath the Scanran mages lived a remarkably old root. The root, a part of a nearby willow tree, was thick and powerful. It definitely had the capabilities to restrain them if she protected its skin with her Gift.

She did this now, covering the old root in a protective shield that fit like an invisible glove. To her, the shield was more than obvious, but to anyone else, it was unnoticeable.

The mages certainly got a taste of her strategy when she brought the roof to the surface and pinned down four mages with it. It erupted from the ground, spewing rocks and dirt in every direction and crushing the mages to the ground heavily. The weight of the willow's root was notable, and the mages struggled to untangle themselves from it. All of this happened in a matter of seconds, and no more than a moment later the remaining six black mages turned towards her again, not even giving the attack a second glance.

Romeli stood up from her crouched position, sensing another attack coming on. But before they came at her again, she sent another dose of plant magic towards the great root behind them. Slowly (but with much more speed than normal), the root began to grow and branch out. Smaller tendrils began to break free. The willow began to consume its struggling victims, and their Gift had no effect on it.

Meanwhile, the other mages began their second attack. Fireballs shot at her with rapid speed from all six of the enemy line. The first wave of flames came from the center black mage, who, as she noticed with great awareness, was also the same mage who began the first attack. This meant he must have been their leader and was therefore the mage to get rid of first.

With this as the newest goal, she braced herself for the onslaught of fireballs. With pristine care, she held her palm out in front of her. A bright crescent light formed, following the contour of her palm. Her hand began to shake as the fireballs grew closer. The crescent shaped light slowed down the attack the nearer they got to the palm. The light served as some sort of anti-magnet, forcing the fireballs and her palm to separate.

Finally, the fireballs came to a complete stop, the light holding them in midair. As the fireballs ceased, so did the feeling of time. It felt like the seconds froze right in front of her.

Then, she pushed her palm forward. The fireballs snapped to the opposite direction immediately, all of them aimed at the center mage.

The leader dodged the balls of fire with ease. He shielded most of them with his vibrantly orange Gift. The last of the fireballs skidded across the ground in front of him and he merely stepped out of the way to let them pass. The only harm done in the whole scene was to the dirt ground which now sported a few scorches.

Fail, Romeli thought with narrowing eyes. This would be immensely hard, wouldn't it. Then again, she knew that—and so would anyone else in her position. Besides, it was just a fireball attack. The maneuver was elementary compared to their abilities, and defending it was just as easy.

So what did this mean?

It means that this isn't a duel of brawn, she thought with realization. It's a duel of brains. Every attack must be well thought out and reserved. Every thought must be concise, and every detail must have a backdoor...

If I'm going to continue with fireballs, I have to set up something behind them. It needs to be more than just a fireball, it has to be a fireball with a catch, an extra surprise that they aren't expecting.

It'll take more magic, she thought with reservation. But I suppose that's not necessarily a detail to worry about.

Besides, little did they know that four mages behind them were now out of the picture. They were completely encased in thick roots, snared by the willow's tendrils and Romeli's accompanying magic. The trap would last for now, but there was no doubt in her mind that the four trapped mages would find a way out somehow.

That was the least of her worries however. Six mages were still holding strong, and their threats had just begun.

The working mages turned to another glass attack. This time, it wasn't the lead mage doing the major magic, but a different one. They were using a cycling strategy so as not to drain any of them. Together, they created a giant glass jar which they flew towards Romeli and placed over her like a child would catch a fly.

Romeli would have laughed at the irony. It was not the first time someone had placed a glass jar over her during a duel. She shot fire into her palms and channeled the energy of her magic into the obstacle. Slowly, she lifted her arms above her head, the glass rim mirroring the same movement. The process was slow and arduous, but eventually she had the jar hovering completely over her.

Element of surprise, she reminded herself tactfully.

With as much speed as possible, she clapped her hands together, crushing the glass into millions of sharp shards. After the initial implosion, she shot them towards the enemy mages. The glass pieces whistled as they cut through the air.

The attack was a good one, for only luck would be on the side of her opponents. Unlike her, they could not defend themselves from glass. Only the most powerful shield could block the objects, and such power required an amount of magic unreachable by anyone who didn't have a pitless Gift. They were left to dodge the spikes physically.

Most of the mages did this just in time. The lead mage dodged behind a rock, attaining only a graze to the leg as he lunged. The others hid behind trees or ran out of the glass' falling range. Only one did not have the time to bolt, and he retreated to the only defense he could think of.

The blue shield burned brightly, with a light that seemed to rival her own. But it was too much. The shield succeeded in deflecting the glass, but he was completely drained. Realizing this, the mage began to tremble and shake as life slowly began to leave him. His Gift was completely gone, and without the energy inside him, he collapsed, dead.

Romeli felt something stir inside her, and it was a combination of mixed feelings. There was a pang in her heart as she stared at the dead body of the emptied mage. Despite the hostility previously expressed between the two of them, she felt like she had lost something. They were both mages—they were some sort of family. At the same time she also felt quite full, like someone had slipped an extra meal into her mouth without notice. The death made her fingers itch with power, as if the mages' emptied Gift had somehow transferred back to her.

She could hear a few cheers in the background, but they didn't mean much to her anymore. Her ears felt stopped up as she stared at the mages popping out of their assorted hiding places. Unlike her, they looked unfazed. The thought disturbed her slightly. They were unshaken by their partner's death, and here she stood, slightly trembling.

There was not time to tremble for long. The mages rounded on her again, attacking with vigor. An assortment of attacks came at her, all of them different. There were glass spikes, giant spheres of fire, blasts of magic, lightning, and even an immense gust of wind that made her balance unravel.

A shot of pain swept up her arm. A second glass shard swept past her head, nearly piercing the top of her ear. She ducked down just in time to dodge another aimed right at her forehead. Cursing under her breath, she mustered a shield just in time to block the major onslaught. Blood began to ooze down her arm, and her muscle felt sore—the glass must have torn her bicep when it grazed her.

A strike of lightning hit her shield and it immediately dissipated, leaving her seconds to dodge blasts of Gift aimed right at her. This proved to be harder than anticipated, for the shield had successfully blocked the gusts of wind, but now that it was gone, she was nearly knocked over. She shot up another shield, this one much stronger than its previous. It had the strength to sustain another lightning bolt and many other magic blasts.

The giant balls of fire however, were a different matter, and she knew the shield would do little to dissipate the smoking spheres. She brought her emerald Gift into her right hand and stretched it out in front of her. Her eyes narrowed as she focused on the approaching threat. The more she centralized her power upon the fire, the more her eyes burned until eventually the balls exploded in a crack of miraculous sparks.

With her shield still activated, she continued to her next attack. It was an act she had only read in books and had therefore never experimented with herself. But unlike all her previous duels, this was a duel of life or death, and there were no rules when it came to survival.

With a fierce action of her right hand, she sprinkled flames on the ground in front of her until they smoked and lit into a great wall of fire. The flames were of an abnormal size, creating a height that made her view of the enemy line invisible. Its heat was unbearably hot and sweat was beginning to form on her brow. She knew this was for the best however—the fire had the power to burn any object it touched into soot.

This was proven correct when the mages commenced in attacking the fire wall. Knowing that little could penetrate the strong defense, she took the time to double over and gasp for breath, a wave of exhaustion finally hitting her. Sweat dropped off the rim of her nose and onto the ground. She didn't realize until now how thirsty she was—the dry ground had taken its toll on her throat. With reluctance, she began to heal the graze on her arm which was beginning to stain her already blood-soaked shirt.

The process didn't take long, and she clenched and stretched her fists as she stared at the burning flames in front of her. Any minute now.

The wall began to tremble in front of her, and she knew it was time to fight again. The flames began to increase in their shakes until they began to morph completely. A small grin played on her lips as the fire began to transform into multiple fiery beasts. There was a large serpent, its tail lashing out as sharply as its hot fangs, a large dragon smoking in menace, and a glaring eagle with flexed claws. They pursued the Scanran mages without hesitation.

There were five of them left at the moment, and all of them grouped into pairs to fend off their own beasts. Only one was left to fight solo, a circumstance that was also a death wish. The serpent wheeled on him without mercy, engulfing him easily with its stretched jaw. All that was left was a pile of ashes that dispersed ceremoniously with an easing gust of wind.

Romeli held her hair back with one of her hands to protect it from the wind as she watched the scene play before her. Four were left now, two fighting off the dragon, two dueling the eagle.

The eagle was defeated easily. The two mages, one of them being the group's leader, teamed together to first trap it in a hovering glass bubble. The eagle thrashed and clawed at the confines, but had no affect upon the trap. Glass could not burn, especially if the fire doing the burning was that made from the Gift. The eagle clawed at the rounded walls endlessly until the mages filled the bubble with water.

The pressure of water and steam increased until the glass bubble exploded into millions of tiny shards. Romeli shielded her face with her hand as little bits of glass rained down on her. When it was safe enough to look again, the eagle was no where in sight—the water had washed it out.

All that was left was the dragon, and it flew over them intimidatingly. With every beat of its wings, hot embers fell to the ground, burning anything they touched. A couple of times the fragments of flames landed on the Scanrans' shoes or robes, causing them to flinch in pain before extinguishing the fire.

In the small battle between dragon and four Scanran mages, the dragon seemed to be winning. Every time a mage attempted to make a move, the fiery beast would snap its jaws at the mages' person, causing him to jump back to safety. They tried to fight it off with bolts of lightning and blasts of their Gift, but they had little affect on the great creature.

Then, a mage took out a weapon from under his charcoal robes. He unsheathed it quickly, exposing a gleaming sword. Only this was no normal sword, and Romeli looked upon the blade with widened eyes. Instead of a metal cut, the blade was made of solid glass. The edges were sharp and the sun's rays shined down on the point, creating a plethora of colors as it passed through.

The mage held the sword tightly in both of his hands, and cut hard into the dragon's leg. The dragon hissed in great pain as the cut spliced through and disconnected a portion of his leg. The amputation caused his limb to wither away and dissipate. The mage continued to cut away at the dragon until nothing was left but a thick black smoke that began to collect in the sky.

Romeli stared at the glass sword with a hint of fear—she had never seen anything like it before.

The weapon consumed her with distraction. How could she possibly defend herself from something like that? Well perhaps there was an easy answer to that: Golden Magic. But should she use her secret ability now? The outcome would be risky—the power was so unpredictable after all. Then again, they had their secret out now. She should have hers out too. Even still, how could she use Golden Magic against a sword? Fighting it with her Gift would be impossible. The weapon would just detract all of her moves. Golden Magic would not be affected by it, but what attack did she know that would destroy it?

Suddenly an explosion of pain rippled up and down her spine until it dispersed through her limbs. Her fingers and toes were throbbing as the feeling of numbness and immense agony overwhelmed her. She fell on her hands and knees gasping for breath. It felt like someone had kicked her in the stomach.

Except this was much worse.

When thought began to register again, she realized that the mages had taken advantage of her stalling. They had attacked her with Dark Magic, and a large dose. She began to tremble weakly, her arms barely holding up her weight as she closed her eyes and focused on her breathing.

They hit her again with another wave of Dark Magic.

She didn't even have time to defend herself. Her muscles contracted as she felt the magic pass through her. She felt like a great shadow had settled over her, clouding her vision, her judgment, and her outlook. Hopelessness overwhelmed her and her arms and legs gave in, leaving her on her side with shallow breaths.

Perhaps giving up wont be so bad after all, she thought as she shivered. She tried once to get up by lifting up her arm and propping it on the ground to steady her rise, but it shook too much and she could not hold it up for more than a few seconds. She let it fall, defeated.

The sound of crunching ground neared until a pair of black boots stood over it. It was the head mage, and he looked down on her with a victorious smile.

"Give up little one?" he asked of her with a thick Scanran accent.

"No." She told him quivering. She stared at him with the little menace that she had left, but the Dark Magic that had hit her made her feel like she was decaying.

He clenched his fist as if with regret before hitting her again with another dose.

Well. Sorry this took so long. I was kinda stuck because I realized I had not written a legit actions scene in many chapters.

Hopefully this is up to par.

Ah yes. And we near closer and closer to the end my friends. :)

Replies:

Grace: Review 2: . erm...yea. haha. well...it's nearing the end of the year! And I had projects to finish...and figuring out where I got to college! ...and...and... (walks away defeated to go update more)

Grace: Review 1: It was indeed an evil ending mwa ha hahahahahahahahmwa hahahahaha!!!!ha! We are indeed going to figure out what Romeli was up to those past couple of days. But I'm not exactly sure when, and I'm not exactly sure how. I have a faint idea of what I'm going to do, but we'll see how it turns out. No, no one knew she was alive (Except perhaps her Guardians). Oh yea! And you wanted a picture of Romeli at the end with the wings and the cuts, etc. I was working on drawing one. Maybe I'll finish and load it by next chapter.

RandomTamTamlover: Of course it was cheap. haha. But then again, causing pain by way of suspense is one of the best ways to inflict pain. It's much better than...well probably every other way. Especially paper cuts. ick.

dares to dream: Speaking of the trip, how was it? Gone for eight days (Whistle). It doesn't seem that long, but then again it is. hmm. You know, I attempted to read Bloodhound, but I never really got into it. Maybe I'll attempt it again this summer when I actually have time to do things. Hmmm...maybe you laughing was kind of a nervous laughter. Or maybe it was just funny—I can see how it would be funny. In fact, when I went back to read what part you were talking about in context, I laughed myself. I have to say, that the beginning of this chapter was immensely fun to write. mwa ha ha. The ending was a bit more of a challenge though...

natsumi456: ahh! sorry! omg. Hopefully you didn't die. Because I didn't update in like a month, and that's never good.... but don't worry! I should be updating more frequently. Everything will be okay!