Ascension: Quest For Revenge

Axel sat on a bench, gazing at the clouds that were lit brightly by the vertical Sun. He thought of his past high up in those clouds; the floating city suspended in the sky that he fell from five years ago. His parents, the war, the battles, the sacrifices, the deaths... Their deaths... Ender... Soon, he thought to himself, filled with pain. Soon I’ll be there too. His gaze now fell on his surroundings. Small buildings covered the district, with dwarves, elves, humans, Reepers (sentient creatures resembling reptiles) and all other manner of races populating the streets. Small beasts roamed around the sides of the road. The large noise from the nearby bazaar drowned out all sounds of animals and people talking around the place. His own house, sitting in a large crater that he had created, was made from rubble five years ago, after the Great War. Home. He continued to wait for his friend, Belle, to bring the transport to reach the trials. He was wearing his mage clothes and small chunks of armour that he had had to steal. His golden hair was covered by the hood of his robes. He had black eyes and a stubble beard. His magical staff was ready to be summoned at his will. Belle Roma. He had only befriended her a few months ago, shortly after the last Ascension Trials six months ago. Her determination for getting revenge on King Ender, same as his, along with her incredible skills in combat and magic, is why he partnered up with her to participate in the trials. They had been training together since. These trials are our only way to get to Bluegate, he thought to himself. Here’s hoping all that training pays off. He spotted Belle coming towards him, covered in metal armour, her sword sheathed on her waist. She had long red hair and brown eyes, and her hands were still faintly glowing red from practicing fire magic few hours ago. Beside her were two Volequi; bright, blue horse-like creatures that are incredibly noise sensitive and could fly, albeit only a few inches from the ground, at incredible speeds; hence, scarce. Axel got up and walked up to her. “Volequi?” He said with surprise, petting its mane. “How did you even tame one of these?” “Animals love me,” she said. Both of them climbed up and readied the animals. “Well, good choice. We’re already running late.” “Relax. Everyone in this city is lazy. I reckon it would be another hour before the trials actually begin.” She softly patted her Volequi, and it started flying towards the destination. Axel followed her.   It took ten minutes for them to fly past the slums, markets, blacksmiths, tailors and stables to reach the wealthy part of the city, where the trials were being conducted. Belle was right; it didn’t look like the trials were starting anytime soon. They stopped next to the entrance and got off the Volequi. Belle fed some food to them and then they continued towards the enormous line of people who were eager to see the trials. As they waited, Axel gazed at the huge building where the first two trials were to be conducted. There was an arena to the other side of the building for the third and final trial. “A surprising amount of people are eager to see warriors tear each other apart,” Axel commented. Belle smiled. “Yeah, well, it is certainly a thrilling break from their monotonous lives peddling for goods and scraping by to survive.” After a brief pause, Belle asked, “Were you part of the Great War?” Axel was a bit taken aback. The question came out of nowhere. “Why do you ask?” “Well, you appeared five years ago, near the end of the War; and you made a giant permanent crater when you did. And you have a strong hatred for King Ender, who was also part of the war.” “You have a strong hatred for Ender too, and you told me you’ve always lived here in Rayfort, away from war.” “That’s because he got my mother and father killed for speaking against him.” “Oh. I’m sorry.” Axel felt ashamed for having brought that up. He knew how it feels to lose one’s parents. “It’s OK.” She took a deep breath. “Anyway, it’s fair to assume you were up there in Bluegate, the ‘cloud city’, before you crashed down here.” “Yes,” Axel said, giving up. “You’re right. I was a part of the Great War. But I’d rather not get into that right now.” “Why?” She asked. “Too many eyes and ears around. I don’t wanna stir things up before the trials even begin.” He looked up towards the clouds again. “I’ll tell you everything once we’re on our way to Bluegate.” “What makes you so sure we’ll win the trials and reach the city?” “Oh, we will. You and I have both been through much more than most of the other contestants. We can handle this.” Belle crossed her arms and looked towards the arena. “Well, I wish I had your confidence.” After waiting in the line for the next ten minutes, they finally showed their ‘contestant cards’ to the guards. They inspected the cards, then nodded and pointed towards a large red tent near the trial buildings. While on the way, Belle asked, “You’ve wanted to take part in the trials for quite some time, right?” “Ever since they started four years ago,” Axel replied. “Well, what stopped you?” “These twins contacted me from Bluegate,” Axel told her. “They were the ones who won the first Ascension Trials. They told me that they were immediately attacked by sentries, and barely managed to survive. They can go invisible, which helped them sneak past Ender’s guards and establish a secret base in the city. They told me once the guard presence is low and the time is right, they’ll contact me again; and they did after the last trials.” “Interesting,” Belle replied. “That’s when you asked me to be in the team.” “Yep.” Axel sighed. “I hope they were right.” As they entered the tent, they saw that the rest of the thirteen contestants were present. They all looked fierce; a lot of them were warriors, while some were also mages. They had all kinds of weapons with them; from swords and axes to bombs and enchanted armour. Some were even revising spell tomes to strengthen their magic. The trials allowed up to three contestants to form teams, out of fifteen in total. There were three teams of three, two teams of two (including Axel and Belle) and two individual warriors. “Well, this certainly isn’t going to be easy,” Belle muttered to Axel. “Assassinating a king was never going to be easy,” Axel muttered back. They took their seats and waited for the trials to begin.     After a few more minutes of waiting, the contestants were finally asked to get out of the tent and proceed towards the main stage. “Here we go,” Belle said. “You nervous?” “Never,” Axel replied; when in truth, he was more nervous than he had ever been. This was the closest he had ever been to returning back to Bluegate and exacting his revenge. He wondered what it must be like there five years after the war, under Ender Greyson’s rule. He began thinking about his parents; how life would’ve been if they were still alive. If Ender hadn’t betrayed them. His thoughts were interrupted by the incredibly loud noise of the crowds as he entered the stage. The announcer, a short man with a pair of glasses, a hat and a long beard, entered the stage. He yelled the same word multiple times at the top of his lungs: “Silence!” It took too long for the chatter of the audience to finally die down. Once everything was completely silent, the announcer yelled: “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! We’ve all arrived here for the tenth Ascension Trials, hosted by order of our very gracious king, His Highness, Ender Greyson!” Normally people would’ve rioted after hearing so much praise for the king; but with all the guards patrolling around, they kept quiet. “We have fifteen brave contestants who are willing to participate in these dangerous trials! Their names...” And he continued to read out the names of the fifteen participants from a list. Every time he read the name of a human, such as Axel and Belle, the audience got a bit unsettled. The Great War resulted in more equality between humans and nonhumans in all nations, but tensions between them were still high down in Rayfort. The announcer further went on to explain how the trials will work. “There will be three trials to find out who is worthy enough to enter the heavenly city of Bluegate!” “‘Heavenly city of Bluegate,’” Axel scoffed. “Nothing heavenly about it.”  For the first trial, the contestants will have to work together to make their way through a deadly labyrinth! For the second trial, the contestants will have to escape a death room! And for the third and final trial, an all-out battle royale between the contestants! Winner is granted entrance into the city of Bluegate!” Most of the audience were really only here for the final trial. Warriors working together only to turn against each other in the end seemed to be their idea of entertainment. Axel took quick breaths and mentally prepared himself for the mayhem that was about to follow. “You ready for this?” He asked. “As I’ll ever be,” Belle replied. The announcer turned to the contestants. “Shall we begin?”