Original Souls (A World Apart #1) (44 page)

Without question they walked up the ramp, stepped outside, and into a roaring cheer. This was the final and most exciting leg of the event. The crowd knew that and showed their appreciation for the climax.

The ramp closed and the other team instantly started running for the rod that lay at the center of the field. This was the only other way to win a rod. It was there for the taking, but also marked the spot where the Lightning Arc was to be erected.

"Amateurs!" Von said with a smirk. "Going for the silver when the gold is right under their noses." Anvard wasn't sure where he was going with that, but he made sure he had his gauntlet clutched tight. "I'll deal with them," he said defiantly from Andy's side. His llave went into rotation quickly. "Stunner!" he shouted, but not at the expected targets. He redirected his aim at the last second, turning to his partner, mimicking the nature of the treacherous looking serpent on his Levantarse jersey.

Anvard didn't just block it, he knocked it back toward its originator. Von was just as quick as Anvard though. He just barely rolled out of the way to his left. He got up on his feet and ran away from Andy, moving toward the back wall. He backed up against the resealed wall they just entered the field from.

"I thought we were working together, man!" Anvard said in a loud but controlled tone as he paced toward Von near the wall.

"I don't need you anymore, so what's the point in that."

Anvard wasn't shocked, but neither did he know what to do. He didn't want the others to get the rod at the center of the field, then they'd have two, and he had only one. Unless, of course, he took the one Von won in the first phase. He flipped his llave into the air like coin. "Nodus!"

"No!!!" Von shouted in dismay. He had no idea what the spell meant, but it was
n’
t in English, so it had to be bad. He wasn't used to dealing with people who knew so many spells in Maledictus. He couldn't block or break out of what came next. A series of wires poured out of the metal encasing that locked in the open field. They spiraled down from just above Vo
n’
s head, backed up against the wall. They knotted up around his body so tight that he could just barely twitch an eye, let alone move a limb. They pulled him in tighter, strapping him down, arms spread against the wall. Bundled up inside the series of wires now, Von wanted to jump out of his skin. Anvard walked over to him with ease,  and then snatched the rod from between his tied up fingers. "Hey dude you can't leave me like this!" His green eyes had every sign of panic flashing throughout them.

"An
d
… why not?" Anvard asked without attachment to his words.

"I'm claustrophobic. I'll go crazy, please. Please, let me out!" He closed his eyes tight and hot tears poured out of them.

Anvard moved in close and waited for Von to open them back up. As he did, the man-boy in charge starting speaking with outright control. Staring, no, daring those green eyes back down to a closed position, as he dominated the betrayer. "Maybe you should have thought about that before you turned on me?" he said, and then walked away like he was taking a Sunday afternoon stroll through the neighborhood. Carefree and effortless, while Vonczec
h’
s eyes closed tight again screaming.

"No! You bastard! I'm going to peck your eyes out in your sleep. Don't close them tonight or you'll lose t
h—
"

Anvard willed another wire to cover that dense trapped of his. He struggled and even cried some more, but silently this time around. Andy didn't bother to look back. He knew what it felt like to have claustrophobia, but this wasn't a game won by mercy. He had two treasured rods. Now he was on a mission to retrieve the third and fourth. He had every intention to win this competition.

He drove his gauntlet into the ground, creating tremors all around the field. He wanted to intimidate the boy and girl team that continued to stick together. They simply removed the second prize rod from its spot in the ground. It was mounted inside, just like the one they started the race with. They had to pull hard to remove it. Melanie pushed her teammate, Esteban, aside and did it herself.

Anvard continued to close in on them while they argued about what to do next. Should they run or hold their ground near the Arc Depositor? They would need to be close by anyway, so Esteban voted that they stay. But Melanie thought that they should get far away so that they could make the jump once they got Anvard's two rods. Still, Esteban was certain it'd be a lot easier to simply climb the Lighting Arc and not try to complete the dreaded jump.

"How can we get the rods from him if we're so far away?" Esteban questioned.

"There's two of us and one of him. We can out maneuver him if we split up. We don't have to guard the depositor. He can't use it with two rods anymore than we can," she informed him with her know-it-all tone.

"How, Mel. How!!!" He was freaking out. Getting worked up because Anvard slammed his gauntlet against the ground again, hard. The vibration knocked them on their tailbones. Esteban reached around his backside to give it a much-needed tender rub. Melanie looked at him and frowned in disgust.

“
What? It hurts!
I’
m sure you want to rub too, Mrs. Tight-tush
.
” He played defense of his actions, while she was steadily thinking of their offensive plan.

"You take him head on, and I'll slip in from behind and snatch both of his rods while h
e’
s distracted."

Esteban would have thought that was a great idea. If only two people could win the competition. But the reality was that they were both solo once phase three began. They chose to work together, but it couldn't last.

"So you want me to sacrifice myself while you run off with all the rods and form the Lightning Arc!" he screamed at first, then calmed himself quickly. "Not going to happen, snuggle bear." He edged closer to her with a smirk.

She hated when he called her that. "Look, you take one of our rods and I'll take the other. So we're on equal ground, all right?" Esteban felt better, but not satisfied. He still thought she had a better chance of getting the four rods necessary to form the Arc. "But we'll change another part of the plan too. Instead of me running off with his rods. We'll just take this dude down first. Then there will be four rods on the field, and whatever happen
s
… happens!" She leaned in close, because she was still trying to get her footing. Anvard was relentless with those gauntlet strikes to the field.

Esteba
n’
s eyes darted around, surveying the field. "Whatever you say, babe." He quickly kissed her on the lips, and ran off toward the big man targeting him and his girlfriend. He hoped that Melanie hadn't lied to him. Otherwise, he'd be stranded with one rod and nowhere to go, but down.

The boy from Arco was on a half-witted mission to take out the well-known former Lirian champion at Imperativo school. His jersey blew in the wind as he charged forward. Desperately trying not to fall from the wave of tremors Anvard continued to create with every step and fist pound to the ground. While he clumsily ran across midfield, the brown bear on his jersey looked more intimidating than him with his bumpy motion.

He was toned for sure, but not muscular. He was tall for his age, but not a giant. His brown eyes and dark brown, semi-long, curly hair shined, but not so bright that he stood out in a crowd. His rounded, milky skin face was cute, but he was no model. His most endearing features were his three dimples. Two on the cheeks, and one on the chin. The trio looked a little like overkill, but nature is what nature does. He looked too cute to most girls, almost girly. But not to Melanie. She knew the budding man that grew beneath the skin of the geeky athlete. And she was a bit of a tomboy herself, so they balanced each other out nicely.

Her brown skin and yellow eyes gleamed in the sunlight of high noon. Her red hair made her stand out in every crowd. Most people didn't have red hair. And when you saw one on occasion, they were almost always Esteban's complexion. She liked being a standout. It suited her character well. She always had dreams of rising like the yellow phoenix on her jersey. In these dreams, she'd be the first girl to soar through the sky, climbing the Lightning Arc with expertise. She'd smash her gauntlet against the Aura-field, and achieve Thunder. Nothing excited her more than the possibility of that dream coming to life. She wasn't going to let that go. Not even for her beloved, Esteban.

Anvard finally met one of his opponents at the center of the field. "You looked real macho running over here. I bet your girlfriend is real proud." Anvard didn't like the business of insults, but he did like the benefits of them. He didn't judge books by their covers. He didn't want to open this guy up and find a completely different plot line than he anticipated. To him, despite the boys demeanor, Esteban was a threat until eliminated from the competition.

"Real funny,
I’
m cracking up!" Esteban shouted. "And now .... you are too!"

BAM!!!
He caught Andy off guard for sure. Esteban was as nimble as he was courageous to take bigheaded Andy head on. He had no regard for safety when he front flipped forward and brought his gauntlet down on the ground. The force from his flip generated a completely new level of destructive power in the gauntlets that Anvard had never witnessed before. Not even the pros seemed to play that hard. The stadium shook with the shockwave that shattered the open fields. As Esteban came thundering down on the ground, Anvard's body shot up into the air, nearly ten feet off the ground.

"Yay!!! Yay!!!"
The crowd erupted into cheers for no# 2. Esteban's jersey number. He was the second ranked member from Arco at the school.

The field was badly damaged when Melanie jumped on Anvard's chest with both feet planted firmly in the center. She was shocked that Esteban needed no assistance from her in grounding this supposed tough guy.

"Ha-ha! You should have known better Sen. Fielder. We know you all too well. Most people who play this sport do." She looked down at him triumphantly.

Esteban carefully walked over to join her in victory over the number eight ranked competitor from Lirio. Though he was the best player in the game, and most prissy Lirians didn't involve themselves in the sport, his ranking went haywire when he was abruptly discharged from his last school in Imperativo.

They thought the worst was over, but they didn't realize that Anvard let down the spells that held Vonczech at bay. The other big boy on the field had been quietly charging over while they gloated.

"Stunner!" Esteban went flying backward toward the depositor like a feather in the wind, dropping the rod he held in the process. Melanie turned to her boyfriend in horror. That's when Anvard took his revenge. He grabbed her leg with both hands and twisted her ankle.

"Ahh!!!" a piercing scream came from her gut, as he flipped her on her back.

He then got to his feet, and shouted with his llave pointed down-at her. "Incredulous!" he was
n’
t just a Worl
d’
s class athlete, he was also a smart wielder. He used her gloating against her. A charge of Incredulous can render people guilty of betraying their own conscience. She would seek nothing more than to help Anvard in his quest to achieve Thunder.

While Mel lay on the ground with her mind racing around from Anvar
d’
s spell, Andy blocked yet another stun from Von. This time it went up into the Aura-field and dissipated into nothing.

"Do you not know any other spells
?
” Andy accused his roommate.

Von looked at him wide-eyed, standing not far apart. He wasn't expecting to be questioned. He wanted to fight. He had no idea what to say.

"I can teach you some, you know?" Andy kept on.

Von looked down to the ground perplexed. While they questioned the limitations of Vonczech's magik, Esteban was starting to come to. Stuns in English were only momentary petrifies. Nothing a guy like him couldn't handle.

"Well, maybe I could stand to learn a bit more. I don't study, ever," Von admitted while standing on the destroyed field. He could barely see Anvard, for all the splintered earth chunks that rose with Esteba
n’
s force slam to the ground.