The Other Side/Rise Of The Crow

For all of day two we rested and started formulating strategies to make it to the next round! With only 50 people left we came to the conclusion that 10 teams remained from each school. After thinking long and hard about what this round was actually for, we also figured out that this whole round was to weed out all of the competitors that didn't stand a chance in the next two rounds. The Frodian Games are ruthless and we're all just pawns for The King's entertainment. I really hope some of the other teams survived…

It is now day three and we're basically in a race against time now! Teams are setting up traps, bases, and ambushes all around the forest. In fact, since yesterday all we've been hearing is fighting across the forest and Alida confirmed that we'll be fighting really hard to get out flags. Layla, Urmac, and I are all hiding in some bushes near the middle of the forest preparing for our attack.​​

"Do you think our plan will actually work?" I whisper as I clean my dagger.

"We have no choice but to make it work. If we don't then we'll be heading back home with a long lecture from Kira." Layla responds her eyes full of focus.

"You know you guys won't make it that far in the games if you keep doubting yourselves. The King is hoping you fail Crow so he can make a fool out of you!" Urmac points out.

"I don't care what he thinks." I reply as Urmac rolls his eyes.

"Listen! You were bold enough to challenge him in front of the whole country, you better back those words up! All across the land and in the papers they are talking about how one of the Chosen Children stood up to The King! With as much as turmoil as you've caused you better not let the people down Crow." Urmac advises me.

Suddenly, two green flares are shot into the air.

"That's Sachi and Alida's signal! It's go time!" I command as we ready our weapons.

"We only get one chance at this!" Layla reminds us.

"Let's show them why Adora Academy is number one!" Urmac shouts as we all sprint towards the middle of the forest.

We all unleash our Taqa and bullet across the forest at blinding speeds. All around us I can hear Colossi waking up and stomping.

"Watch it! Colossi!" Layla warns us as a stampede of purple wolves starts heading towards us.

"Let's bring'em down!" I yell as I start slashing them with my dagger.

We enter into an all out fight against the ravenous group of wolves using our speed to overwhelm them. Layla slashes down five of the wolves with her short sword. Urmac uses his shadow teleportation technique to slash down at least 10 of them. I speed past all of them and strike them in their backs so they can no longer run at me.

"That should be all of them!" Urmac says as we all continue to sprint towards the middle.

Out of the corner of my eye I see something rolling towards us from the left of us. As I take an even closer look I notice a giant flaming log heading right to us!

"Everyone jump! It's a trap!" I call out as we all use our Taqa to launch us 20 feet into the air.

"They must've spent yesterday setting traps!" Layla yells as we all land back on the ground.

"That isn't all! Above us!" Urmac points as we see a bunch of griffins flying towards us.

"You two keep going I'll handle them! Scavian Art: Flight of The Crow!" I shout as I summon my wings and head straight towards the large group of griffins.

"You better catch up!" Layla yells.

"You're integral to our plan! Don't you dare lose here!" Urmac reminds me as he and Layla run ahead of me.

"Don't worry, I'll join you guys in no time! Now let me show you ugly things how it's really done! Scavian Art: Avian Boost!" I yell as I dart towards griffin with my dagger covered in black Taqa.

Three of the griffins attempt to shoot me down with red and blue magic beams. I dodge all of their attacks as slash their wings off. Another four attempt to slash at me as I fly around them and do a Kira-like spin blade dash cutting their heads clean off. There are 10 griffins left and all of them are surrounding me in a circle so I'm cornered.

"Not bad, you all got a little stuck! But too bad for you that this strategy won't work on me! Scavian Art: Dark Blade Slash!" I taunt as I shoot a circular dark slash around me that cuts all of them down.

All of their bodies fall to the ground as I make sure there aren't any other stragglers.

"Whew, that's that! Huh?" I say as I can hear a bunch of fighting happening ahead of me. "Crap I better hurry up!"

I fly with everything I've got as I finally catch up to Layla and Urmac. As I enter the scene I see a group of three Cyclops standing in front of where we need to go.

"Ugh, I hate these things!" Urmac complains as he dodges the Cyclops' attacks.

"I'm with you there! They always get their nasty blood all over my clothes!" Layla agrees as dodges and flips around the other two Cyclops' attacks.

"They won't be around for too much longer! Scavian Art: Dark Dagger Strike!" I yell as I cut down one of the Cyclops.

"That was such a precise swing that even Kira would be impressed! Guess I gotta keep up! Scavian Art: Dark Demon Slash!" Layla shouts as she runs up the Cyclop's shoulder and cuts his head off.

"They're shadows are so large that this makes it easy for me! Take this!" Urmac yells as he pops behind the Cylcops using his shadow teleport spell and cuts it down.

"Ugh, still got blood on my clothes." Layla complains her face full of disgust.

"Complain about it later, we're pretty close to our target now!" I tell Layla as I pat her shoulder.

"Come on, this battle isn't over yet!" Urmac commands as we keep sprinting towards the middle of the forest.

After two more minutes of running, we finally get to the largest opening of the forest. All of the trees in this opening make an almost perfect circle as we can see the sun right above us. Right ahead of us, there is a pile of flags presumably from other teams.

"Well this is obviously a trap." Layla points out as we keep our distance away from the flag.

"Whoever they are, they really want us to be eliminated badly!" I point out as we ready our weapons.

"What amateurs, they really thought we would take the bait!" Urmac laughs.

All of a sudden ten figures pop out of the forest and slowly walk to where the pile of flags are. It's mine and her team as well as some other team that I haven't seen before.

"We sure did!" Mine replies as she smirks at all of us.

"I should've figured you would have something to do with this! Who are these new friends of yours?" I ask as I smirk back at her.

"Oh, Barak and his team are from Jolagh Academy! We decided it would be best to form a partnership so we could have the best chance of winning the games! We're tired of Adora Academy getting all of the glory so it's a win-win for us! Isn't that right Barak?" Mine asks as Bracadier boy nods his head.

"The King only cares about Adora Academy because he attended it! But he'll have no choice but to acknowledge us after we defeat all of you!" Barak responds as he wields two long swords with ease.

"Remember guys, stick to the plan and we win!" Urmac reminds Layla and me as we all nod our heads.

"Well enough of the chit-chat! It's about time we send you guys back home!" Mine shouts as all ten of our enemies lunge at us.

We enter an all-out fight as Layla, Urmac, and I defend ourselves from the onslaught of attacks from our enemies. I fight off Mine, Marco, and two other Frodians from Barak's team. Layla fights off Scarla and another Frodian from Barak's party. While Urmac is fighting Ikbar, Nero, Barak, and one of Barak's comrades.

The battle grows more and more intense as Mine and Marco's archery proves to be incredibly difficult to dodge. I use all of Kira's training to try to stay fast on my feet but I can already tell that I can't keep up my defense for too long.

"Ugh, how are you guys doing over there?" I ask as I keep dodging and blocking the seemingly endless attacks.

"Not doing too hot, to be honest! YAH!" Layla replies as she spin kicks her attackers away.

"Just keep it up for a little longer! You guys know what to do!" Urmac reminds us as I steel my mind for this hellish battle.

For the next 10 minutes, we barely fend off this large team using only our instincts and fundamentals to survive. Out of nowhere, the other team stops fighting us as it seems even they are starting to get tired.

"Hold up a second everyone!" Barak commands as they all try to catch their breaths.

"Yeah, something really isn't right here! Strategically this battle doesn't make any sense! Especially if they formed an alliance!" Mine calls out her voice full of frustration.

"I get it now, these little sneaky brats have been tiring us down since they're faster than all of us!" Marco shouts as I can't help but smile.

"Hehe, you found us out! But now none of that matters! NOW EVERYONE!" I yell as the final part of the plan begins.

"Let's smash'em to hell! Bracadier Art: Earthquake Smash!" Jack yells as he and Torak drop from a tree.

"Bracadier Art: AfterShock Slam!" Torak yells as the both of them hit the ground causing it to become fractured and hitting our opponents.

"What the hell! The rest of them were hiding this whole time!" Barak yells his face full of confusion.

"Crow, Urmac, Layla! Do it now!" Jack commands as he fends off the enemy while we run straight to the flags.

"Oh no you don't!" Mine yells as she aims her bow at us.

"Try again!" Sachi yells as she shoots Mine's bow out of her hand.

"We got them!" Layla yells as all of us grab the flags.

"Alright let's get out of here! Bring us in girls!" Urmac commands.

"Mardian Art: Blaze of Grace!" Verrona shouts as she shoots a huge magic blast at the enemy.

"Windian Art: Blinding Flare!" Mari yells as she shoots a huge magic blast that blinds the enemy while we cover our eyes.

"Go, go, go!" I command as we all escape while our enemies are stunned.

We run for a very long time until we finally reach the cave again.

"I can't believe it… We actually pulled it off!" I celebrate as all of us are trying to catch our breath.

"And the round should be ending in about an hour, there's no way they'd go after us with their Taqa that low." Urmac replies as Verrona starts healing him.

"It was a pretty clever idea to send our fastest warriors to wear their stamina down! You really got a brain for this stuff Sachi!" Alida compliments as Sachi blushes.

"It didn't go entirely like I wanted to but we all adjusted." Sachi responds as she smiles lightly.

"Well, let's just wait all of this out until they stop this round. I'm so tired… " Jack complains as he lays on the hard ground.

What will the next round bring for us?