Adrian

Fear started to kick in as he realized his underestimation. He had never fought a girl before, let alone seen them fight. The only time he had seen one of the girls fight was earlier after he was done training with Eclaven. The females had a separate class from the males, he knew he had underestimated his enemy. Now he had the need to practice.

I should have listened to Eclaven! Adrian thought as he parried Nanisha's first blow.

Adrian's fear got worse as his determination grew, everything he tried was being blocked, Nanisha was still on the offense.

Adrian's adrenaline kicked in and his fear started to disappear. His determination came back in full force and Adrian was back in control.

He held his sword with one hand as he countered every attack Nanisha made. He was gaining the offense.

Nanisha disappeared in a flash and so did Adrian.

Adrian kept up with her as she practically flew across the arena in the blink of an eye. She turned around and ran backwards, losing no momentum, and started slashing at Adrian as she ran.

Adrian saw it comming and blocked each swing with a flash of his sword.

Nanisha picked up pace and started to run a bit faster than Adrian. Once she was a good distance away, she sheathed her sword and put both her arms into the air.

Her arm came down as if to parry Adrian's sword.

There was a metal to metal cling as her arm connected with the edge of Adrian's sword.

Nanisha had turned both her arms into swords!

Nanisha took Adrian's confusion to her advantage and used both of her sword arms to dig underneath the rocky ground. Things were happening too fast!

Adrian used his instincts to determine where she was underneath the ground. two of Nanisha's sword arms flashed in a circle around Adrian as if to mock him.

Adrian concentrated hard and brought fourth his hands. He circled his finger in the wind and closed his eyes to stop time once again.

He felt a sting as one of the blades came up and nicked the back of his leg. His concentration was ruined, he could not find the time to gather up anymore.

Adrian thought of a quick spell and snapped his fingers with the words of power in his mind.

The ground started to rise all around him like an elevator and he soon found Nanisha rising from the ground. He caught her by surprise and snapped his fingers once more.

The rocky ground formed into blades and came up to fight against her. Adrian simply watched as the blades overwhelmed her with their numbers.

There had to be at least one hundred of them as they backed away from her, then sped towards her body in a circle, she jumped but they only redirected at her and caught her at more of a surprise.

Adrian snapped his fingers right before they hit and they stopped right at her neck.

One more move and she would die, Adrian had the power over her.

Nanisha was the one sweating now as the blades at her neck prevented her from moving even an inch.

"I win." Adrian stated.

The crowd went wild with excitement as Adrian walked closer to her.

Nanisha closed her eyes and twirled her finger in the wind.

Adrian saw the motions and did the same thing.

Both of them had stopped time at the same time.

Adrian snapped his fingers to make the swords crush her, but the time was stopped and it was useless.

Nanisha brought her blades up and freed herself from the trap.

"You should have not stopped them." Nanisha said as she brought her blades up to face Adrian.

Adrian brought up his sword, ready for Nanisha's next move.

Nanisha stood there, motionless. He could tell she was in shock from her near death experience. This is not the way things should be. Two students should not be fighting each other to the death.

Nanisha's blades disappeared, her arms turned back to normal. She kneeled on the ground as if some power was forcing her down.

"Finish me off." Nanisha said. "You win."

Adrian did not move, confusion went through him and nothing seemed to make sense anymore.

"I can not kill you." Adrian stated. "This is not right."

Nanisha looked up at Adrian.

"Is this any different from killing a man once you are part of the king's army?" Nanisha said. "Are you not going to have to kill another elf someday to save yourself? This is no different from that day, only the strongest in the world survive. Enemies don't hesitate."

Adrian looked down at her and offered her a hand.

"This is different from that day. We are both students, we should not be fighting each other we should be fighting with each other." Adrian said as it all came clear to him. "People can not make us fight each other for we hold no grudge against each other, I hardly even know you."

Nanisha stared at him for a long moment, sorting it out in her head.

"You're right." she said taking his hand. "Let's end this conflict, we need to tell the judges."

Adrian helped Nanisha up and they resumed time again. The crowd went wild with excitement when they saw Nanisha free and alive.

Adrian sheathed his sword and the crowd went silent.

"We will not fight each other to the death." Adrian yelled to the judge as well as to the crowd. "It is wrong for we hold no grudge against each other, we are both merely students and should not kill one another just to prove who is better to enter the Academy."

Everything was silent for a moment, then the crowd started to whisper among themselves. The judges whispered among themselves and then Eclaven whispered something to the announcer.

"By the power of the king himself, as it is stated in his own will, you shall be locked away. You may either continue this battle or be imprisoned and sentenced to death." the announcer said.

"There are no rules against it, you told us there were no rules!" Nanisha said.

The judges whispered again and the announcer turned to them once again.

"It was clearly stated that this fight would be a fight to the death, all who oppose the main point of this test shall be put to death." the announcer stated clearly.

Adrian looks to Nanisha and she nods in approval.

"We choose death." Adrian said.

Adrian and Nanisha twirl their fingers in the wind and close their eyes. Both of them flash to the exit of the arena and head toward the forest.

Adrian looked back to see two people following slowly behind them.

"They must be the time guards." Nanisha said. "They only go after you once you stop time if you've broken the law."

Adrian and Nanisha used a spell of invisibility then entered the forest.

"We got away." Nanisha said with confidence. "Now we're enemies of the king, great."

Adrian looked in the direction of her voice.

"Well it was better than one of us dieing in that arena, the king has no heart to do something like that." Adrian said.

Their invisibility spell wore off and time resumed as they moved deeper into the forest.

This adventure will be an exciting one, Adrian thought.

Nanisha picked up pace.