Page 14 of Bound By Honey

"Any mage guild wanting to take on official quests must participate in the battles yearly. The higher you rank, the more difficult and better-paying jobs you can take. They are brutal, entertaining, and often deadly. This," Freddy gestured to the arena, "is where the guilds that don't qualify to join the main battles compete. Some tamper in darker magic, while others refuse to work for the kingdom. Tonight is different, though."

Sage kept a close eye on the empty arena while Freddy talked, afraid she would miss the start of whatever was happening tonight. "How is this different?"

"One of the dark guilds challenged the top guild in the kingdom. Usually, they wouldn't accept the challenge, and no one knows why they did. Which is why tonight has such a good turnout."

"Wait, the Charming Four will fight down there against a dark guild?"

Freddy burst out laughing. "I didn't have you pegged for one of those girls. Please, tell me you call them that to their faces."

"Of course not! At this point, everyone calls them that."

The look in his eye made Sage squirm. Freddy chuckled. "I suppose it's their fault for not choosing a name when they formed their guild. I feel the name has served them well, don't you?"

Sage could feel her cheeks burning as she avoided Freddy's smiling face.

"So they are here to fight a dark guild. Shouldn't that mean they are at an advantage, being the top guild in the kingdom?"

"Not necessarily. They are only the top out of the official guilds. Even in an unofficial match they still have to follow rules or it could hurt their reputation. A dark mage could do anything."

Sage looked out at the crowd again. Apprehension began to fill her about the night to come.

“Don’t worry.” Freddy pointed to several etchings on the railing. “We won’t be hurt. They’ve put in a barrier so physical attacks can’t get to the crowd. Of course, there are a few things that can’t stop, but there’s never been an injury to the crowd at one of these events.”

The crowd's voices' low murmur reverberated off the coliseum's marble walls. A thick fog rolled over the arena, swallowing the stone benches where the crowd sat. It swept over them, leaving them invisible, and then dissipated as quickly as it came.

Four figures walked out into the arena's center, causing the crowd to erupt in cheers. The Charming Four had arrived.

Sage's heart beat faster as they strode around the arena floor. They were easily over six feet tall, and their physiques were impressive like they had been sculpted by a master artist. Their movements were graceful and confident, and Sage could feel the excitement building in the crowd as all eyes remained on them.

The Charming Four walked with purpose, clearly ready for battle.

Sage noticed, too, that the Charming Four equally enthralled the crowd. There was something special about them, something that drew people in and made them worship at their feet.

And then she saw the dark mages.

The dark mages were a group of five, three men and two women. They walked with an air of confidence as intoxicating as the Charming Four's. They wore all black, their clothes clinging to their bodies like oil on water. Sage could feel the power emanating from their piercing eyes from where she sat.

The two groups faced off against each other, the tension in the air thickening. It was electric like a storm was brewing. Her heart raced, and she leaned forward in her seat, eager to see what would happen next.

Without any announcement, the dark mages attacked. They moved with such speed and agility that Sage could barely follow what was happening.

The Charming Four circled up, each man facing out. Ice slowly crept across the arena floor as a mound rose around the four, blocking them from the dark mages' view. The mound was covered in such a thick layer of ice that it would be impossible to climb it to attack.

The dark mages threw spell after spell at the Charming Four, and Sage could see the looks of concentration on their faces as they deflected the attacks. Ice and soil refilled the affected areas almost immediately.

The crowd was on their feet now, cheering and jeering for both sides. The excitement coursed through her veins, and she found herself rooting for the Charming Four even though she didn't know them.

The Charming Four seemed to be waiting for something, and then Sage saw Colby raise his hands and a thick thorny vine of ice rose from the ground beside him. Sage noticed a tiny change in the ice below Sawyer moving to their right. The soil in a section of the mound dropped, the ice left behind creating a crystal clear window, and the vine shattered the ice, sending itself surrounded by shards at one of the men of the dark guild.

Sage wondered how the Charming Four were coordinating their attacks. While the dark guild couldn’t see into the protected barrier to attack, she assumed the Charming Four couldn’t see out of it either while the mound was both dirt and ice.

The man could dodge most of it, but a few slivers caught his arm, causing him to drop to his knees. He summoned a shield made of darkness just in time to block a fireball from Prince Finn.

Some of the other dark mages took this opportunity to charge while the wall was down.

The vine arched up and quickly swung like a whip at the two women. Screams echoed in the arena from the women and the dark guild’s fans as it hit the women in the chest.

With a roar, the tallest dark mage, his eyes almost black, charged the mound’s opening. Electricity gathered around him.

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