Wamillust

  Isran gnced into the crowd one more time. She still hadn’t found the three women she was looking for and it was stressing her out.

  They had to have been in there somewhere.

  “Hey.. are you okay?”

  Isran blinked down at Elowin. The elf had a worried smile on his face as he held her bicep.

  Isran gnced into the crowd one more time.

  “Yeah…”

  “Oh, how splendid was that first fight?!”

  The crowd cheered at the words of the announcer and Isran turned back to face him. She gnced at Elowin who was still looking at her and forced a reassuring smile.

  “I’m okay. I promise.”

  They had been brought into the arena shortly after the first match was over. Isran was happy to hear those hurt had been sufficiently protected by the spells cast on them and would be healed as soon as possible.

  She zoned out, not really hearing the words the announcer said as the crows kept on cheering.

  Elowin tapped her gently. “It’s almost time.”

  Blinking a few times, Isran nodded and whispered under her breath for the tenth time. “I am amazing.”

  “Now! Get into positions!”

  They did as told and Isran gnced at the shield bearer to see he was holding the loot they were to protect. She felt her hand shake slightly and looked up into the crowd one more time.

  And to her immediate relief, she spotted Red. The cape had flown high into the sky and as soon as Isran spotted it, the red fabric floated down into Elysi’s hands.

  The sheep girl smiled and mouthed. “You are amazing.”

  Isran looked at Calliope and Phaedra to see them smiling down at her, and Leopold jumping up and down on Calliope’s shoulder.

  “Two!”

  “One!”

  “I am amazing.” Isran nodded, her grip stable and her stance as perfect as it had ever been. She would win, because she was amazing.

  Just as they had pnned Isran and the shield bearer moved together. He was fast--as fast as Isran—and she appreciated that. Their protection mage, Dawn was with Elowin, and Ara was as close to Isran and the rge orc as she could, behind their rger bodies. She needed some range to fire off her spells.

  They cshed with an axe wielder first an orc. He stood no chance against the running boulder that was their shield. A man holding a short sword and buckler shield rushed in to attack Isran. She sidestepped him and released one hand off her sword--transitioning to a one-hand grip-- before grabbing his colr and pulling him back and away from Ara. He stumbled as she continued forward.

  Light fshed behind her as the man fell to the floor, and with a firm stomp of her foot on his face he was knocked out. The face of the orc bandit from the dungeons fshed before her eyes briefly, but Isran turned away and mumbled, “I am amazing” as she ran to the shield bearer.

  Ara had attacked Isabelle, who was lying motionless on the floor with her team’s loot, her clothes a bit singed.

  “You're left!” A gruff voice yelled and Isran dove out of the way, narrowly avoiding a force bst.

  The dive brought her right in front of Isabelle’s body and as soon as she grabbed the loot a wall of stone appeared around her.

  A mage.

  Determined not to be put out of the fight, Isran sheathed her sword and jumped, almost missing the edge of the stone formation.

  The stone was smooth, so scaling it was a chore, but she propelled herself up with Isabelle’s head and looked around the battlefield.

  Their entire team was still standing. However, the rock projectiles the mage was throwing at Elowin and Dawn was making it impossible for them to move.

  The mage that had sent a force bst her way was evading Ara’s lightning while hopping around, trying to hit her. The orc was a very good defender. He never wavered as he pivoted several times with his heavy shield, protecting Ara while also giving her space to cast her spells. His pivots were not the fastest but they were definitely not slow either.

  With no one’s attention on her, Isran muttered her protector’s oath under her breath. She had come up with it during the first match and was more than excited to use it.

  “May those whose lives I keep be protected by my charge.” It was a bit corny but she liked it.

  She had chosen to protect Elowin and Dawn and multiplied her speed, strength, and endurance stats.

  Without wasting more time checking her stat sheet she jumped off the wall and ran towards the earth mage.

  The speed with which she moved disoriented her briefly, but she didn’t stop.

  When the mage realized she was barrelling towards him it was too te. She had opted not to unsheathe her sword, and dove into him. She momentarily thought about how bad of a decision he had made not building a protective wall around himself.

  As soon as they hit the ground he tried to shove her off, but with her boosts not only was she stronger than him, she could also endure more attacks.

  She grunted, grabbing his hand and pulling them out of her face before punching him in the cheek. His head snapped to the side but he wasn’t out, he kept fighting. Kicking and growling underneath her. Isran let go of his hands and rained punches down on his face.

  When the first speck of blood appeared she faltered, her hand frozen, but the man had already stopped moving. When had he stopped moving?

  “Fuck.” Isran mumbled, pushing herself off the unconscious man and blinking nervously. She gnced at her other teammates and the quiet crowd. How long had she been attacking an already unconscious man?

  When her eyes met Phaedra’s the woman looked concerned, all three women looked concerned.

  “Hey!” Isran’s head snapped to a crowd member. He was looking at her, a smile on his face.

  “What’s your name?”

  Isran couldn’t find her voice. But she didn’t have to.

  Alden shouted from behind her--in the stands--in the cadence of a chant. “Isran!”

  The crowd wasted barely any time.

  “Isran!”

  “Isran!”

  “Isran!”

  Isran didn’t like the attention. She didn’t like what she had just done. Her hands shook as she looked back at the earth mage she had so violently beat.

  He was fine. He would be fine. He had to be fine.

  The longer she stared the more crooked his nose seemed.

  “Well, aren’t you a star Isran!” Isran looked up at the elf announcer.

  Elowin and the shield bearer had walked up to her, both helped her to her feet.

  “Hey.”

  Isran looked down at Elowin.

  “You’re okay.. remember? You told me before the fight that you were okay.”

  Isran swallowed and nodded. The sound of the crowd drowning out. “I’m okay.”