Mage War

Chapter Three: The Warrior

Yue was a Warrior.

She was the youngest person ever to join Magefell's personal army, the Vanguard.

She was proud of it.

She was nineteen now, and it was three years since she first joined the Vanguard. There had been no battle or war since she joined. A few skirmishes here and there, sure, and once a declaration of war was almost signed, but no actual battle had taken place. Her commanding officers always told her to be ready, though. Eventually, it would come.

For now, it was a little dull only having to do a few chores, and cleaning up some messes in Magefell, but Yue liked it that way. She was still getting paid, even if she did nothing. She did often have the itch for a battle, but she ignored it. It would come when it came, if it ever came.

Currently, she was lost in thought. It was early in the morning, maybe five o’clock, and she had just woken up. She was in the barracks she shared with eleven other women. She only had half an hour to get ready, but she was tired. Was she lazy? Yes. She didn’t mind, though. She was sure that everything important happened after lunch. That was just the way of the world.

She forced herself to sit up. If she didn’t get ready soon, her captain would be livid. He was generally a calm and collected man, but when it came to matters of schedule, he was extremely strict. Everyone in the Vanguard loved him, though, because of his protectiveness to everyone in the squad. He would prefer to die himself than kill off any of his soldiers. He would fight to the death to protect the ones he loved, and he was fierce. Thus, he earned the moniker Wolf. Most people just called him Captain Wolf. Some people didn’t even know his real name.

Yue grabbed her shirt and put it on. Ugh, she thought, it’s too early. The sun’s barely out. Slowly, she stood up and grabbed her pants. As she donned them, she hopped over to the bathroom. Yup, there were bags in her eyes. She grabbed the bucket her and her roommates shared for drinking. She would have to fill it up later, it was almost empty. She splashed the last of the water on her face. It was ice-cold due to the enchantment it had. It woke her up a little, enough to think clearly.

She looked at the mirror they had attached to the bathroom and scowled. Her hair was a mess. The black locks were all over the place. She forced the stubborn hair down, and grabbed her fur cap. She put it on her head so her hair would stay down, and groggily walked to the door of her barracks, opened it, and remembered something. She shuffled back to her bed and grabbed her sword from where she'd left it. Then she left the room.

She squinted her eyes. It was still dark. There was no point in waking up this early.

“Hey, Yue!”

Yue looked to her side. Neena was sitting on the chair, perfectly ready and alert.

“Hhrmrhmh,” replied Yue in the least offensive way possible.

“You look tired,” Neena said happily, big eyes staring at her.

That girl has all the energy in the world. She steals it from the rest of us. Yue really did not want to talk. Not until she had completely woken up. She ignored Neena and picked up her shoes. She sat down on one of the stairs on the porch outside her barrack, and set to pulling them on. Meanwhile, Neena was looking at her attentively. Yue started counting in her head to see how long it took for Neena to talk.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five—

“Did you sleep well, Yue?”

Six. Seven. E— Oh, wait. She talked.

"I barely even slept, Neena!” Yue forced herself to respond. Her mouth barely worked that early in the morning. The petite eighteen year old responded immediately.

“I know, right? I’m so tired.”

Yue cocked my head, and raised one eyebrow.

“You? Tired? Really? I didn’t notice.”

“Is that sarcasm, Yue?”

“No, I’m deadly serious. You have a gift, I think.”

“Really? You think so?”

“Yup.” Yue finished tying her leather shoes. She walked out to find Wolf, and, of course, Neena followed, and Yue let her do the talking.

— — —

Yue was a little more awake now. She had passed by the Vanguard refectory and grabbed some bacon. She was chewing it now, as she waited for the rest of the Vanguard to arrive. Neena, for once, wasn’t speaking either, as she was eating too, so Yue had a moment of peace.

She noticed some of the soldiers coming. The Vanguard was a pretty exclusive army, only two hundred soldiers were currently in the Vanguard. Still, she didn’t know most of them. She might recognize the names and faces, but she had never talked to most of the people. She would only consider about a dozen of them her friends, anyway. The others she didn’t trust. They were probably loyal, but only to the Vanguard.

There were more than one hundred soldiers here in the green now, with more coming every minute. In five minutes, everyone would be here. If they weren’t, they would be disciplined. The Wolf was like that. She was surprised that some soldiers were arriving now. They were risking being late.

She’d been late once. Never again. She’d been suspended for a month, and even after she was allowed back in, she was on latrine duty for months. She shuddered.

The Wolf arrived. He always arrived right on time. The muscled man with a scraggly beard looked surprisingly cheerful that day. Not that he was never happy, he just didn’t show it normally. He looked around the green, smiling. Was anyone late? It wasn’t time yet, maybe they would all come.

The Wolf turned around and pointedly looked at his assistant. She nodded. Yue breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone was here. The Wolf cleared his throat loudly. Everyone shut up immediately. He glared around for a minute daring anyone to talk. No one did. So he started to speak. His voice was booming, and he sounded joyful.

“Alright, everybody. I have good news today. This morning there are no practice or chores.”

Before he could continue, a resounding cheer came from the crowd. Yue didn’t join in. She was happy about it, but she was still waking up.

“Quiet down. QUIET DOWN!” The Wolf looked annoyed now. “Please calm down. I’m not done. As you know, Magefell is the most diverse and populated city in the world. It has no country, because it is its own country. As such, we also get the most immigrants and foreigners coming here to Magefell than anywhere else. With our population so large, along with the number of mages Magefell possesses, some countries feel the need to attack us.

“So,the Parliament and I have devised a way to terrify anyone wishing to attack us. We thought about a lot of options. We thought of comforting them. We also thought about attacking one of the countries. Instead, we hatched a plan. First, we decided we had to welcome them in somehow to prove we don't bear ill will. Second, we decided to scare them as well.

"The hard part was finding something that completed both goals. We decided to host a tournament here. Anyone from any nation is allowed to join if they so wish. Every nation will probably have dozens of soldiers coming for it. This week, we will focus on training for it. Then, we will win the tournament.

“This tournament will welcome people from all over, but if we win, it will scare them into not attacking us, We extend peace while at the same time frightening them with the idea of war against us. So, you better win. This week, we will conduct a mini tournament. You will compete with each other. Fifty of you will compete in the real tournament. So if you want to participate, fight well this week, and you will have your chance. Meet me here after lunch. That is all. Thank you.”

Immediately, hushed voices ran all around the soldiers. Neena looked at Yue.

“What do you think about this?” She asked.

“Sounds like fun,” Yue replied. “I think I’m going to like this.”

Neena sounded somewhat less excited than normal, but still bubbly. “I don’t know, Yue. I think that this could end up being more hurtful than helpful. What if another nation wins? That could escalate into a thousand horrible possibilities.”

“That won’t happen.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Because I’m going to win.”

A voice spoke from behind Yue:

“Not if I do it first.” Yue smiled and turned around to find Alyx standing there. The highly competitive girl was known to do anything to win. Yue had only known her for a year, when Alyx joined the Vanguard at twenty years old, but they had quickly bonded.

“You think you’ll win, Al?” exclaimed Yue. “You haven’t won a sparring match against me in months.”

“But I have before,” replied Alyx, “Haven't I?

“That was a long time ago.”

“What happened once can happen again.”

Neena butted in. “Hey, girls, girls, quiet down. We all know that I’m going to win anyway.”

Alyx narrowed her eyes, smirking in a friendly way somehow. “Is that a challenge, young one?”

“Yes, it is.”

Alyx smiled softly. “Alright then. Don’t cry too much when you lose though.”

“We’ll see.”

— — —

It was lunch time. Yue had spent her morning sleeping. She always told her friends she wished there were more hours in the day so she could sleep more, and it was true. Sleeping was the best part of the day. It was just the way of the world.

She was very awake now though. She was with Alyx, Neena, and Diamond, sitting down on a table in the park by their barracks. Pretty much everyone would be eating here. Their table was still half empty, and so it was only expected that some soldiers would try to join their table. They would only let certain people in. Diamond was Alyx’s sister, three years older, but less skilled with the sword. She preferred the bow.

Diamond had brought steak from the market, so they would all indulge themselves, as soon as the table was full.

Eventually, a group of two girls and two guys hurried up to them. Yue knew them all, but she was only friends with three of them. Xander was a recent addition to the Vanguard, so she wasn’t ready to trust him yet. He was a brown haired kid, and the oldest of all of them, just a month older than Diamond.

Aster was Yue’s oldest friend here. They’d known each other since they were ten. They were never particularly close, but they were friends, and they trusted each other. The dark-skinned girl was in a black top and black jeans. She had a wary look about her. She was suspicious of most people, which was why her trust was so valuable. Yue respected her a lot.

Poli was the strangest of all of them. She joined the Vanguard two years before, and refused to tell them anything about her past. She was haunted, though. She found refuge in all of her friends, especially her boyfriend, who was holding her hand as he came over to them.

Artemis, her boyfriend, was very protective of Poli. That’s all Yue knew. She almost never talked to him. He was wearing a leather shirt and pants. He really did not care about fashion.

They sat down, and Diamond cut up the beef. She passed the portions around the table. Immediately, Neena dug in, ripping through her cut of the meat with vigor. She stuck a piece in her mouth and her eyes widened.

“Mmm. This is good. Thanks, Diamond.” Diamond nodded.

Soon, everyone started eating, except for Poli. She wasn’t touching her food.

“Are you okay, Poli?” Artemis asked, food still in his mouth.

“I don’t like this tournament. I would prefer it just didn’t happen.” Poli sounded scared.

“Why not?” Alyx asked. “It sounds like a lot of fun.”

“No, the mages are going to ruin it.”

Yue was interested now. “What do the mages have to do with this?”

“Have you heard of the two factions of Mages?” Most people shook their heads, so Poli explained. “Most mages fall into one category. They’re the normal everyday mages. They can be evil. They can be good. But they believe in the system we have here in Magefell. They uphold it and follow the law. No problem there. It’s the other faction I’m worried about.”

“What’s the other faction?” Aster asked carefully.

Poli shuddered. “They don’t agree with the political state here. They used to be a small percentage of mages but they’re growing. They think that Mages are divine beings. They revere Dautha.”

“Dautha?”

“Their supposed God of Death. They want to bring about the day of judgment, where Dautha comes down and blesses Mages with eternal power. It was never a concern until recently. The problem is that they don’t seem like bad people. I have a friend who worships Dautha, and he’s a good friend, but his ideals are wrong, and if I got in his way, he would probably kill me.”

“What does this have to do with the tournament?” Now everyone felt chilled. Magic was an unknown to all of them. Something completely out of their control.

“My friend, Axl, told me a rumor they’re planning something for the tournament. Whatever it is, it won’t be good. It might be a show of superiority from the mages. Or it might be the day of Judgment they’re trying to bring. Either way, something’s coming, and it’s bad. If Axl confirms the rumor for me, I’m leaving. For good. I can’t stay to see what will happen.”

“And I’m going with her.” Artemis was glaring at everyone, daring them to disagree. Neena did.

“Poli, you can’t! Can we talk about it?”

“What is there to talk about? I’m not staying here to witness the apocalypse.”

“Maybe we can do something about it,” ventured Diamond.

“No, they’re more powerful than you can imagine.”

“Then we bring them down.”

“Diamond, do you know what you’re talking about?”

“I agree with Poli,” Alyx said calmly. Neena looked horrified. “I don’t like this at all.”

Diamond smiled grimly. “How close is Axl to the leaders of this mage cult?”

Poli shrugged. “No one knows who the leaders are. Axl for sure doesn’t know.”

“Does he know anyone in the cult?”

“A couple people, not many.”

“Then we start a rumor.”

“What do you mean, Diamond,” Yue asked. She was judging the reaction of everybody. Xander was strangely silent, and Neena looked ready to cry.

“I mean, Poli tells Axl something that scares the cult. Something false. We could say the Wolf told us that the Parliament is onto them. Something that will make them pause.”

“It won’t work. They have members in the parliament.”

“Then we infiltrate them,” Diamond looked desperate. “One of them joins them.”

“How?” Yue asked. “Only mages are allowed, right?”

“No,” Xander spoke for the first time. “My parents are members.”

“You know about this?” Poli asked.

“Yes. And I’ll do it. I’ll join the club. My parents always tried to convert me. I’ll just say they convinced me. I’ll find out what they’re doing. I already know a lot about them anyway. I can always protect myself if worst comes to worst.”

Aster butted in. “No, you can’t. If what Poli says is true…”

“It is,” Poli retorted.

“I never said it wasn’t . If it is true, then you joining them puts you in danger. They would kill you if they found you out.”

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take, if it saves us from Judgment Day.”

“We should vote on it,” Axl said.

“Good idea,” Diamond replied. “First, everyone agrees to keep this a secret.”

It was unanimous. No one would talk about this outside of the group, so Diamond continued.

“Xander, if we vote against you going, will you refrain from joining the cult?”

“I don’t know…”

“Swear it.”

“I can’t.”

“Then you’re not going. We can stop you.”

“Fine. I swear that I will not go if you decide that I shouldn’t.”

“Alright, then we’ll start the voting. Xander obviously votes that he should go. I vote against it.” Diamond looked at Poli. “What about you?”

“It sounds like unnecessary danger to me. I vote against it.”

“Artemis?”

Artemis crossed his arms. “I’m with Poli.”

“How about you, Alyx?”

“I vote for it.” Xander smiled. Diamond looked betrayed.

“Neena?”

“I don’t know. I guess I trust Xander, so I vote for it.”

“Me too,” Aster responded quickly.

“It comes down to you, Yue. What do you think?” Xander asked pointedly.

Yue was thinking. On the one hand, it sounded too dangerous. If word got out, the cult would come after them. Possibly, they would delay Judgment Day, but the cult would definitely try again. If she voted for it, Xander was going to try to outmaneuver an opponent much smarter than him.

On the other hand, it was a cult. They were trying to belittle non-mages, and that was downright wrong. If Xander had a chance to undermine them, shouldn’t he take it?

It was a difficult choice, one Yue wasn’t prepared to make. She’d never been involved in something as crazy and dangerous as this, and it could jeopardize everyone she knew. Was it a risk she was willing to take?

“Yue?”

She looked up at all of them. Xander, looking grim and determined. Neena, looking scared and unsure. Alyx, smiling with the thought of this challenge. Poli and Artemis, eyes darting around like they were running away any minute. Aster, looking straight at Yue, unblinking, silently asking her to agree. And Diamond, looking angrily at everyone.

Yue opened her mouth and spoke. Only three words, but they would change everything:

“I’m with Xander.”

Alyx and Aster nodded in approval. Neena didn’t move or speak. Xander laughed happily, and sighed in relief. Poli and Artemis grumbled, but Yue knew they would go along loyally, and trust Xander.

Diamond stood up, fists banging on the table.

“You don’t know what you’re doing,” she screamed. “You’ll get us all killed. How could you do this, Yue? Look what you’ve done!”

She stormed off, leaving them looking at each other somberly.

— — —

Everyone was in the green now. Diamond was keeping her distance from the rest of them, clearly still mad. Poli and Artemis only talked amongst themselves now, but otherwise everything was back to normal. Almost as if everyone forgot what happened.

The Wolf was there already. He and a team of workers had set up a ring for the Vanguard Tournament.

“I heard that the Wolf has a list of the first match-ups already,” Neena whispered to Yue and Alyx. “You wanna go see who we’re going up against.”

“Sure.” They walked over to the captain, with Aster following behind. The Wolf looked them up and down.

“I expect you want to know who you’re fighting first, eh?”

“Yes, sir,” replied Alyx, confident as ever.

“Alright then. Neena Spangler,” Neena sprung to attention and saluted. “No need for that. You will be facing Jordan Hill.” Neena sighed in relief. Sparring any soldier in the Vanguard would be tough, but Jordan was one of the most inexperienced.

“Alyx Holt, you will be facing Celena Kollier.” Alyx nodded in approval.

“A worthy foe,” she intoned.

The Wolf cocked his eyebrow a little but kept reading. “Aster Yarrow, you will go up against Maia Hirnandez.”

“And finally, Yue Zhang, you will be sparring Kol Guyhian.”

Yue cursed. He was one of the most elite in the Vanguard, and one of the oldest in the squad, having thirty-five summers already. Tough match.

“Ooh, Yue, I think you’re going to lose your first match,” Alyx said, smirking.

“Oh, and you think you’ll beat Celena, huh?”

“Eh, she’s an easy opponent.”

“For me, maybe. We’ll see how you do.”

The Wolf cut in.

“Ladies, shut up, and go back to where you came from. I am about to officially start the tournament, and I don’t want to hear your incessant bickering while I’m trying to speak!”

Yue and the rest walked back to the group.

“Who do you got?” Xander asked Yue, half-whisperingly.

“Kol.”

“Oof.” Xander said pityingly. “Good luck. I got Seb.”

“Nice. You got this.”

“I hope so. But I don’t want to make it in the tournament, so I think I’m going to lose on purpose.”

“Why?”

“The longer I stay here, the less time I’m with the cult.”

“Fair. Just be careful there.”

“I will. I promise.”

The Wolf started talking then, so they shut up.

“Welcome, everyone, to the first Vanguard Tournament.” Cheers erupted from the green, Yue joining in. She was excited to start.

“As you already know, fifty of you will pass on to the real tournament, only the best. We have here a ring where half of the matches will take place. The other half are on the left ring, over on the other side of the green.” Yue craned her neck, and could see the other ring. It was a little far away, but close enough that if she had friends fighting on both rings, she would be able to watch both. She noticed that the Wolf was still speaking, so she focused on him again.

“For the real tournament, we will be using real armor and weapons. But, because we do not want to injure you in any way beforehand, you will be using weighted wooden swords and no armor. I have the weapons over here. You may only touch them when your match is starting. In the real tournament, the match ends with first blood. This one ends when you hit a critical spot. Good luck everyone. The first two matches start in fifteen minutes. I have already told the first competitors to prepare themselves. Please come forward. The rest can start to train for your matchup, watch these first two matchups, or just wait for your matchup. Either way, no one is allowed to leave the green until today’s part of the tournament is done. That is all. Thank you.”

— — —

The next hour caused a mix of emotions in Jade. For a while, she was just talking to her friends, no problem there. Then, Neena had her matchup, so Yue, as a good friend, felt nervous for her. Neena crushed it though. Poli and Artemis both lost, sadly, causing a little anxiety in Yue.

Then she had felt the mounting nervousness of her match with Kol. He looked at her once, and smiled knowingly. She thought she was going to win. The problem was he seemed to know he was going to win. She had tried to breathe easy, but she knew that the first match would be one of the most important. She had to win.

Then Aster’s matchup came, and what a match that was! It was the longest game so far, lasting a full seven minutes. Aster and Celena gave it all they got, and both were sweating hard by the end. Aster just barely won, and had needed five minutes before she even talked to them. Even now, she seemed to be catching her breath.

Now Yue was trying to not let her anxiety show. Her matchup was coming. When the Wolf called her, she would go, and spar with Kol. She was as ready as she could be, but was that enough?

She noticed the Wolf walking towards her.

“It’s time?”

“Come with me.”

When they got to the ring, Kol was already there. He nodded to her, and she nodded back stiffly.

“Alright, soldiers,” The Wolf told them. “I want a nice clean fight. Injuring the other soldier is illegal. No hand-to-hand combat. If the other person surrenders, the match is done. You have five minutes to prepare”

Yue walked over to her friends. She noticed that there were more people watching this match than any other. Of course. It was Kol and Yue, two of the best soldiers in the Vanguard, if not the best. Everyone wanted to see this.

Neena saw her and waved to her. Yue nodded at her.

“You got this, Yue,” Aster told her. “You’re ready.”

“Yeah, Yue, you got this.”

I’m ready.

All her friends started giving her encouragement, even Diamond, who still looked a little pissed.

“Good luck, Yue!”

“We’re rooting for you, Yue!”

“I know you’ll beat him, Yue!”

I’m ready.

Yue looked at all of them. “Thanks.”

Her five minutes were up too soon. She walked over to the Wolf and Kol, who were waiting for her.

The Wolf looked at her. “You ready?”

I’m ready.

She nodded once again.

“Alright,” the Wolf exclaimed. “Let’s start.”

Yue looked down and took a deep breath.

I’m ready.

I’m ready.

I’m Ready.

Yue looked up, glaring at Kol.

I’M READY!