Clash

“Are you joking?”

I did not agree with the position we were in either. In fact, it was one of the most disagreeable ones of my life. However, I was not going to lay down and lose my life to a poorly made circle of barely-formed mud beasts.

Kallan roared with fury. “How could you have been so foolish, Callisto? How did you not see this coming with your all-seeing dragon eye?”

Mockery dripped from his voice. Heat gathered in my throat, but I forced it down. Burning the son of the Water Kingdom to ash would yield more harm than good.

His toolbag scraped against my armor. We were back to back, moving every few steps in order to attempt to bring a single beast…to its knees.

Flames licked across my arms. I called upon the available energy within my system, pleading. It was willing to listen, and I felt the fire swirl around my fists and swell, growing brighter, more intense with each second. The scales around my fingers stood on end.

As I pushed the fireball towards the beast, I could only think of my regrets.

Today was the annual Fire and Water Kingdom battle tournament, and everything that could have gone wrong had unfortunately come to pass. What was to be a day of jovial sparring practice had turned into a situation more dire than I thought.

The Earth Kingdom knights had taken every single warrior away from the woods, which was where the tournament was going to start, for reasons unbeknownst to me.

I should have known something was wrong when I saw a neat array of holes dug in several places around each arena instead of thinking that they were the works of forest creatures.

I had watched in horror as vines sprung up from the ground, wrapping around the legs of my screaming comrades before they plunged into the gaping earth below.

To make things worse, I was stuck with the scorned royalty of the Water Kingdom, who was none other than Kallan Velmara himself. He mastered his powers at a very young age and was known as a prodigy to his people. Ever since we were small, we played together, trained together. Grew together.

Then power entered the picture, and that was when I knew he was lost. He was built for war and treated his studies like they were nothing. As a result, even though he was the eldest son, the title of prince went to his younger brother. A ruler that favored violence above anything else was not fit for power. Kallan was not to be trusted anywhere near the throne, so he thrust himself into all different forms of combat, becoming one of the best warriors the Water Kingdom had ever seen.

And above all, he resented me for being what he could not become.

“Why are the beasts here?” Kallan yelled as the monster erupted into a wall of flames.

I dodged a flying chunk of rock, gnashing my teeth when another beast emerged from the space where I eliminated its friend. “My guess is just as good as yours!"

There was an opening in the middle of two of the monsters. I did not have as much experience fighting foes from kingdoms other than Fire and Water, but I was thankful that I had spotted these before on hunts with my father.

I could hear his voice clearly in my mind. He said that mud beasts had two weaknesses, speed and aim. They became apparent when the circle started to close in at a snail’s pace. As long as there is Earth, they will rebuild themselves. That is their strength.

The only thing stopping me from using my powers to destroy the monsters from their insides was the physical toll that was to take over my body and, well, I would injure the only aid I had.

I took a deep breath. “OVER HERE!” I shouted, sprinting for the space where I could exit the circle of delayed doom. I could hear Kallan’s running footsteps behind me, dodging unnaturally-shaped holes and tree roots.

“Once I put a stop to this, just know that I will be shoving ice so far down your throat that you will never be able to breathe fire again!” Kallan tried shouting, but he was panting so furiously that the threat sounded more feeble than he intended.

I knew we could not run forever as we would eventually tire, and the Earth would swallow us up and take us to who knew where. However, I desperately needed a moment to think. Why an attack from the Earth Kingdom, and why now?

I leapt over a vine that burst from the earth, folding into a somersault and regaining my balance as I ran. My breath was getting thinner and thinner with each step.

I considered my dragon form as a last resort. I did not know if the warriors were dead or alive. If evidence called for the former, I would have no choice but to fight back against the Earth Kingdom. My parents would understand.

Right now, I needed to talk to Kallan. But I could not do so on the ground. Unless the sun was magically eclipsed and I needed a light source, or I needed to cook an impromptu meal, my powers proved to be useless in this situation.

Suddenly, an idea formed in my brain. It was entirely dependent on the sliver of kindness I knew that bastard still had.

I whipped around before Kallan crashed into me, sending us rolling fast towards a tree. I pushed him off before he could attempt to knock out one of my teeth. I rose to my feet, panting as I put my hands up in surrender.

“In order to save both of our kingdoms, I want us to get along for a bit.”

As I looked at my former best friend, it was striking how opposite we both were. Him with ice-blonde hair and I with reddish-brown, him with frost-blue eyes and me with citrine-yellow. Fire and water.

“Surrendering already? You really are a weakling.”

“This is not about the tournament anymore. You know that as well as I do.”

“Where’s your fighting spirit gone, Prince Lir? Oh that’s right, you never had one to start with!”

I resisted the urge to set a nearby chunk of tree bark aflame and lob it at his face. “Kallan, listen to me. I will fight you another time.”

He looked at me with such malice that I was taken aback for a moment. I forced myself to stay calm.

“But right now, there may not be another time if we do not locate our soldiers and get to safety.”

A vine came out of the ground next to Kallan’s foot. In the same second, spikes of ice tore through it from the inside, rendering it to slimy shreds. A half-smile inched its way across my face.

“If you want to help your kingdom, make something that will get us off the ground. If you want to fight me, I will make sure you do not live to see tomorrow.”

This time, I let flames wrap around my arms and legs, melting off the rest of my tournament armor until it sizzled on the dry earth.

All of a sudden, I felt myself being thrust into the air. An ice slab the size of a standard dinner table had materialized out of nothing under my feet, rising higher and higher until we were just above the treetops. Frost had crept up Kallan’s neck, and his hands shook as the structure stuttered to a stop.

I grinned at my reflection in the ice. I knew he still stuck to his honor code.

However, I could not celebrate yet. The real victory was to be found in getting through one conversation that did not consist of him threatening to end my life and saying how powerless I was.

I willed the flames to disperse, enjoying the forest view for a few seconds before turning to Kallan. “Your trash talk was somewhat enjoyable,” he grumbled, before turning away to face the other direction.

I ignored his flattery. “Why do you think the Earth Kingdom interfered with our tournament?”

“Because they do not like us.”

“Why wouldn’t they?”

“I don’t know.”

“Think. Did your mother, father, First Knights, royal advisors, servants, or maybe the soldiers that were fighting do anything towards them that was unjust in some way?”

I also needed to answer my own questions. In truth, I did not think there was ever a rift between the Fire and Earth Kingdoms. Every trade went according to plan, every disagreement resolved in one shake of a horse’s tail.

So why did they take the soldiers from both kingdoms? If there was no reason for the Fire Kingdom, I would assume it was because of spite.

“Oh! There was one thing that my mother did not get to yet.” Kallan exclaimed thoughtfully. “She said that she would fix a lot of Earth villages’ wells by yesterday.”

He scratched his brow. I buried my face in my hands. “Do you think she did?” I asked, moving one of my fingers so that I could see his expression.

Kallan shook his head no. “Hey Callisto. Why is that a reason to take other soldiers?”

“Because clean water is important.”

“Why?”

“Dirty water can make people sick.”

“Oh. I should talk to her about that.”

He is truly an imbecile.

“Hey Callisto.”

“What?”

“Is the ice sculpture moving, or is it just me?”

He was right. The ice slab was getting more unstable by the second. I stepped towards the edge of one of the corners and saw vines creeping up its base.

“You have to get to your parents and to safety as soon as possible,” I said. “I will do the same. We have to talk to the Earthlings first before anything else.”

Kallan’s eyes hardened as he nodded.

“Good luck,” I said.

Just when I was about to jump off the sculpture, an icicle emerged from my arm. I howled in pain, losing my balance and falling into the open air.

I couldn’t miss Kallan’s hatred-filled grin as my vision blurred.

I should have known better.