ULTRAMagic Eon 1 - Chapter 29
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Despite all of the chaos that the Tyrant War had caused for The Iron City, The Future Squad was pleased to discover that The Iron Colosseum was no different in the past. Its great columns and arches of metal had withstood the test of time, standing as a tall and proud monument to the fighting spirit of the Descendants. After parting ways with Blood-Wraith and Valerie, Tiberius led the group to the stands. The guild now had their own section next to where the royal court sat. Will was growing increasingly excited, looking down to the dusty arena below, glancing across the rest of the stands to see the eagerly awaiting audience, and finally resting his gaze on the royal court. He recognized everyone there save for four, disciplined, older men.
Given that he was sitting right next to Ultimatum, Will tapped his arm. “Hey, Schwarzes? Who are those four men sitting with the king and the others?”
He quickly looked over and smiled. “Ah, them-they are the four great sword masters of The Iron City…”
“Vilho the Earthen, Sander the Inferno, Torsten the Torrent, and Tallak the Cyclone,” Ludwig added as he finally sat down on Will’s other side.
“Wow, they must be quite the masters,” Yale remarked. “To be that prestigious.”
“Oh absolutely,” Aureolus replied, a row above them. “Master Vilho was Rose’s teacher. I’m surprised you don’t know them, Will, as they’ve resolved to be more active as of late.”
“Oh no, I’ve heard of them,” he replied. “It’s just that I haven’t seen them in person.”
“I’d imagine they’re still being selective in the future,” Zal-Rint, sitting on Ultimatum’s other side, pointed out.
Aureolus nodded as that made sense. “Yeah, no surprise there. Old habits die hard.”
Rostislav chuckled as he remembered a fact he had been told. “Apparently, Will, Milosh would’ve gotten his butt kicked back in the day if he tried to invade the city, ha…”
“Eyes forward, mateys!” Jonathan interrupted, sitting next to Aureolus. “It’s starting…” he stated as Radovan walked to the center of the arena.
As the duke tested his microphone and looked around, he smiled upon taking in the anticipation. “Ladies and Gentlemen of The Iron City! Your attention, please? Today is a grand day where we shall see who earns the right to defend The Unlight!” There was a round of applause as Radovan paused. “The ULTRAMagic Guild has returned and stepped up to the plate! Alas, their authority has not gone uncontested. Put your hands together for our challenger-one of our own returning to the fold-Valerie Ter Avest!”
Valerie strode out into the arena, took her hat off, and gave a bow as she received a pleasantly surprising amount of applause. Many were glad she was there, but some also found her very attractive. After blowing a few kisses to the audience, she walked up and accepted the microphone from Radovan. “Greetings, everyone! It is an honor to be home again and you all have my sincerest apologies for my assistance of that godawful Milosh. If it’s any consolation; that worm didn’t pay me, I knew The Lich was going to blow it-not as spectacularly as he did, but hey-and I figured good old Dunja would come to her senses eventually. Let’s be real: She knew I was right and Milosh and The Lich couldn’t even lead a parade if they tried.” There was a mix of clapping and sympathetic laughter. Dunja was lightheartedly face palming and laughing to herself as Valerie had earned her ‘I told you so’ moment.
“And I’d dare say it all turned out well in the end,” Radovan stated after being handed the microphone back. “And now, the one who accepted Valerie’s challenge! A founder of the modern ULTRAMagic Guild, a hero of The Iron City and the Cosmos itself, my son-Sir Blood-Wraith Andrew Raynot!”
Blood-Wraith came running out to a massive applause and spun around to take it all in. While the turnout was not as big as his previous duel, he was still happy to see those in attendance. The audience could tell he was brimming with confidence and they could not wait to see what he had in store. After giving a proper bow to Valerie, he accepted the microphone from his father. “Alright, I’ll be honest: we wouldn’t be here if I had just behaved myself a month ago-but hey, who doesn’t love a good magic duel, am I right!?” The audience cheered for this.
“Right you are, Blood-Wraith,” Radovan agreed once he had the microphone back. “In this duel you two shall cast spells in response to each other until one of you has no other moves. Focus on outwitting your opponent rather than attacking each other.”
“Loud and clear, father,” Blood-Wraith replied.
“My wit is as sharp as my sword, your grace,” Valerie promised.
Radovan nodded and cleared his throat as he had something important to say. “Before we start this duel, however, a new rule has been put in place in response to Blood-Wraith’s previous duel: No hand-to-hand combat whatsoever.” There was a wave of accepting disappointment from some of the audience. “I understand how you all feel as someone who enjoys a good bout of brawn, but a wrestling match goes against the spirit of a magic duel. Now, Sir Raynot, Valerie, decide who goes first and we shall begin.”
“Ladies first?” Blood-Wraith asked.
“Actually I’d love to see what you have in store first, Blood,” Valerie replied with a giggle and a wink.
“Alright then,” Radovan said as they shook hands. “Head to your corners and cast the first spell when you’re ready, Blood-Wraith.”
Blood-Wraith quietly exhaled as he walked over to his position with the audience cheering for the start of the duel. “Great, she probably has an ace up her sleeves…” he muttered to himself.
Once things were quiet, Blood-Wraith quickly mulled over his options for an opening move. Valerie was a smart mage, so he had to make his choice count. Once he had it, Blood-Wraith assumed a ready stance and an orange field of pulsing energy flared up around him. Ochre Serpent, or at least a magical illusion of the great aquatic beast of black metal and orange fire, swam around him and roared. Rising up into the air, it shot multiple bursts of water into the sky, with magical bolts of energy erupting from Blood-Wraith’s hands, freezing them solid and causing them to plummet back down to the arena.
Valerie was impressed as Blood-Wraith was clearly learning how to use his abilities remotely. Seeing the ice boulders get closer and closer, Valerie placed a hand on her hip and snapped her fingers. Fireballs shaped like beautiful wildflowers hit the spell head on and shattered the ice into a gorgeous, sparkling snow fall, awing the audience. Blood-Wraith’s technique was good, but his form was lacking and Valerie was more than happy to tutor him. She spun around like she was dancing, summoning two serpentine dragons made of twirling frosting. They flew around each other in the air before charging straight for Blood-Wraith.
The audience was in suspense as Blood-Wraith fidgeted around in a panic, as Valerie’s spell was quite the spectacle. On instinct, Blood-Wraith held his hands out and something ensnared the dragons. Upon the light hitting the scene just right it was revealed that the dragons were caught in spider silk, with Blood-Wraith calling upon the power of Azure Spider. Pulling the strings tight, the frosting dragons were sliced into fine pieces, shocking the audience. Valerie reacted quickly, snapping her fingers again and saying a quick spell. The slices of frosting turned into flocks of gorgeous, candy birds, like what one would find on a decorative cake. They fluttered into formation and darted towards Blood-Wraith. In response he summoned a spinning vortex of lilac flame around himself that protected him and destroyed the birds as they got close.
“Tut tut, sweetie!” Valerie playfully chided. “Embrace the art of your magic and have fun, Blood! Don’t just react, feel your spells come to life!” Valerie kicked her slender leg into the air, calling forth a rain of glittering rose petals. She then brought her limb in for a pirouette that caused the petals to form into a giant set of hands.
The hands were grooving to a silent beat, rhythmically sending streams of petals towards Blood-Wraith. As he hobbled around like an awkward first date trying to dodge them, he began to think. Valerie was running circles around him already and she had a point. Was he just going to keep reacting? Casting predictable spells like a good little neophyte trying to pass a mid-semester test at an academy? And then something happened… Blood-Wraith felt a strange rhythm take over as he began stepdancing while dodging the rush of petals coming at him again and again. Valerie immediately picked up on the change in Blood-Wraith’s tempo and laughed triumphantly.
“There you go, Blood!” she congratulated as she started to dance along, the petal hands mimicking her moves as she also summoned streams of glittering, rushing water. “Let your feet sing!”
“Why just my feet when…” Blood-Wraith took a breath in preparation and readied one of his greatest spells ever. “Flzo-Zoxo-Mzoo-Uuk-Aru-Usto!!” His voice echoed with eldritch power from beyond the stars and in the orchestra pit appeared a spectral band who began playing symphonic, celtic folk music.
Everyone was stunned when Blood-Wraith’s spells began being cast through his dancing. First came the illusions of six, green versions of himself that danced along in perfect unison, casting elegant flurries of verdant fire that engulfed the streams of water and turned them into steam. Now it was Blood-Wraith’s turn to twirl, causing the steam to rise and become great thunderclouds. Pounding rain hit the arena, but strangely it did not make the ground wet.
Valerie felt her blood race through her veins as the ghostly orchestra synchronized with the thunder and rain of the magical storm. Her heart and feet moved to the beat of the drums and the flutes and fiddles made her adrenaline surge as she let the instruments take the lead. She was dancing just like Blood-Wraith and his phantasms, with traces of her own ballet style, seemingly oblivious to the wicked lighting striking all around her. The audience was naturally terrified out of their minds as Valerie was narrowly avoiding bolt after bolt. The guild on the other hand was utterly amazed, cheering as loud as they could and clapping along to the festive, eldritch beat.
“HOLY CRAP!” Will exclaimed as he leaned against the railing. “AUROELUS, that’s void magic!!”
“And he said he wasn’t a void caller!” he replied.
“I know, right!?” Brenna added with excitement in her voice. “Look at those moves!”
“Hey, sister!” Dragoslava called out to the royal court section as she stood up. “You’ve been teaching Blood how to dance?!”
“I’ve taught him some moves as he attended a meet up with my old dance troupe not too long ago!” Kresimira called back. “But those other moves are coming from his magic!”
“Well well, if the guild doesn’t pan out he could always take up professional stepdancing at this rate!” Tiberius said with a laugh as he clapped along.
Valerie was having so much fun dancing, but she realized that she was becoming reactive like she had criticized Blood-Wraith of doing. With the instruments rising towards a crescendo, she began casting twirling, surging ribbons of floral and culinary, whimsical-yet-passionate energy that followed along with her moves. Noticing this upheaval, Blood-Wraith stepped up his dancing by changing out his doppelgangers for an entire troupe of phantoms joining him in the same perfect unison as before. They warded off the energy ribbons as the orchestra intensified their music in response to Valerie’s ever fervent tempo. The two duelists locked eyes for the briefest of moments, knowing that a winner was about to be decided. What Valerie did not realize was that Blood-Wraith had an ace up his sleeve…
In a monumental barrage of magic and instrumentals, a great explosion of unrestrained energy and flowers filled the colosseum with a loud boom, raining down petals like a deluge of celebratory confetti on the arena. Valerie was standing there, seeming like she was waiting for an ovation, out of breath while petals swirled around her. The band had paused their music and Blood-Wraith laid on the ground, seemingly knocked out. Everyone gasped and even Valerie was caught off guard by this turn of events. As for the guild, they were speechless save for one.
“DID BLOOD JUST LOSE!?!” Will cried as he leaned over the railing to get a better look, with Ludwig having to pull him back in before he fell.
Ultimatum focused on the scene, then smiled. “Hold up, dad. It ain’t over until it’s over…”
Ludwig also inspected the situation and laughed. “Oh boy, here it comes. Pay attention, Will, Yale, Rostislav…” he said as he pointed to a faint glowing on the ground that Valerie was completely unaware of.
Valerie was in disbelief as she approached Blood-Wraith, accompanied by Radovan. “Your grace, is he…?”
“No, that can’t be all…” Radovan reasoned. He knew Blood-Wraith all too well for him to just give up like that… “Blood, lad; if you don’t get up, you’ll forfeit the duel…”
Then Valerie saw it… a smile and a snap of his fingers that made her smile with a child-like glee. “You sneaky little rascal-WHOA!”
Valerie was shot into the air by a magic seal under her feet and began bouncing around on a series of giant, colorful gelatin mould desserts. Radovan stepped back as Blood-Wraith got up, put a rose in his mouth, and strutted forward with utmost pride as the phantasmal troupe joined him for one last dance as the remainder of the petals rained down on them. The audience cheered, roared, whistled, and clapped along to the final symphony, a triumphant and epic tune that would make anyone’s heart race with excitement and signified that the winner had been decided. All of it was a victory lap for Blood-Wraith as he felt a great weight lifted from his shoulders. It felt like he could do anything now, and pursuing stepdancing was certainly being added to his list of things to do.
As the music finished and Blood-Wraith’s troupe held a bow, Radovan went back to check on the bouncing around Valerie. “Uh, ha, any response, Valerie?” he called out
“I… CON… CEDE! SOMEONE… GET… ME… DOWN… HAHA!!” Despite the disorienting nature of her predicament, Valerie was enjoying herself.
Rising with the rose between his fingers, Blood-Wraith declared “Ballo finito!” as the orchestra played one last, loud barrage of instruments to signify the end. The applause that followed was truly thunderous, with the audience yearning for more. Blood-Wraith’s troupe then scrambled to summon a safety net and caught Valerie as the gelatin moulds vanished.
Next: Chapter 30
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Master Post - Patreon
Despite all of the chaos that the Tyrant War had caused for The Iron City, The Future Squad was pleased to discover that The Iron Colosseum was no different in the past. Its great columns and arches of metal had withstood the test of time, standing as a tall and proud monument to the fighting spirit of the Descendants. After parting ways with Blood-Wraith and Valerie, Tiberius led the group to the stands. The guild now had their own section next to where the royal court sat. Will was growing increasingly excited, looking down to the dusty arena below, glancing across the rest of the stands to see the eagerly awaiting audience, and finally resting his gaze on the royal court. He recognized everyone there save for four, disciplined, older men.
Given that he was sitting right next to Ultimatum, Will tapped his arm. “Hey, Schwarzes? Who are those four men sitting with the king and the others?”
He quickly looked over and smiled. “Ah, them-they are the four great sword masters of The Iron City…”
“Vilho the Earthen, Sander the Inferno, Torsten the Torrent, and Tallak the Cyclone,” Ludwig added as he finally sat down on Will’s other side.
“Wow, they must be quite the masters,” Yale remarked. “To be that prestigious.”
“Oh absolutely,” Aureolus replied, a row above them. “Master Vilho was Rose’s teacher. I’m surprised you don’t know them, Will, as they’ve resolved to be more active as of late.”
“Oh no, I’ve heard of them,” he replied. “It’s just that I haven’t seen them in person.”
“I’d imagine they’re still being selective in the future,” Zal-Rint, sitting on Ultimatum’s other side, pointed out.
Aureolus nodded as that made sense. “Yeah, no surprise there. Old habits die hard.”
Rostislav chuckled as he remembered a fact he had been told. “Apparently, Will, Milosh would’ve gotten his butt kicked back in the day if he tried to invade the city, ha…”
“Eyes forward, mateys!” Jonathan interrupted, sitting next to Aureolus. “It’s starting…” he stated as Radovan walked to the center of the arena.
As the duke tested his microphone and looked around, he smiled upon taking in the anticipation. “Ladies and Gentlemen of The Iron City! Your attention, please? Today is a grand day where we shall see who earns the right to defend The Unlight!” There was a round of applause as Radovan paused. “The ULTRAMagic Guild has returned and stepped up to the plate! Alas, their authority has not gone uncontested. Put your hands together for our challenger-one of our own returning to the fold-Valerie Ter Avest!”
Valerie strode out into the arena, took her hat off, and gave a bow as she received a pleasantly surprising amount of applause. Many were glad she was there, but some also found her very attractive. After blowing a few kisses to the audience, she walked up and accepted the microphone from Radovan. “Greetings, everyone! It is an honor to be home again and you all have my sincerest apologies for my assistance of that godawful Milosh. If it’s any consolation; that worm didn’t pay me, I knew The Lich was going to blow it-not as spectacularly as he did, but hey-and I figured good old Dunja would come to her senses eventually. Let’s be real: She knew I was right and Milosh and The Lich couldn’t even lead a parade if they tried.” There was a mix of clapping and sympathetic laughter. Dunja was lightheartedly face palming and laughing to herself as Valerie had earned her ‘I told you so’ moment.
“And I’d dare say it all turned out well in the end,” Radovan stated after being handed the microphone back. “And now, the one who accepted Valerie’s challenge! A founder of the modern ULTRAMagic Guild, a hero of The Iron City and the Cosmos itself, my son-Sir Blood-Wraith Andrew Raynot!”
Blood-Wraith came running out to a massive applause and spun around to take it all in. While the turnout was not as big as his previous duel, he was still happy to see those in attendance. The audience could tell he was brimming with confidence and they could not wait to see what he had in store. After giving a proper bow to Valerie, he accepted the microphone from his father. “Alright, I’ll be honest: we wouldn’t be here if I had just behaved myself a month ago-but hey, who doesn’t love a good magic duel, am I right!?” The audience cheered for this.
“Right you are, Blood-Wraith,” Radovan agreed once he had the microphone back. “In this duel you two shall cast spells in response to each other until one of you has no other moves. Focus on outwitting your opponent rather than attacking each other.”
“Loud and clear, father,” Blood-Wraith replied.
“My wit is as sharp as my sword, your grace,” Valerie promised.
Radovan nodded and cleared his throat as he had something important to say. “Before we start this duel, however, a new rule has been put in place in response to Blood-Wraith’s previous duel: No hand-to-hand combat whatsoever.” There was a wave of accepting disappointment from some of the audience. “I understand how you all feel as someone who enjoys a good bout of brawn, but a wrestling match goes against the spirit of a magic duel. Now, Sir Raynot, Valerie, decide who goes first and we shall begin.”
“Ladies first?” Blood-Wraith asked.
“Actually I’d love to see what you have in store first, Blood,” Valerie replied with a giggle and a wink.
“Alright then,” Radovan said as they shook hands. “Head to your corners and cast the first spell when you’re ready, Blood-Wraith.”
Blood-Wraith quietly exhaled as he walked over to his position with the audience cheering for the start of the duel. “Great, she probably has an ace up her sleeves…” he muttered to himself.
Once things were quiet, Blood-Wraith quickly mulled over his options for an opening move. Valerie was a smart mage, so he had to make his choice count. Once he had it, Blood-Wraith assumed a ready stance and an orange field of pulsing energy flared up around him. Ochre Serpent, or at least a magical illusion of the great aquatic beast of black metal and orange fire, swam around him and roared. Rising up into the air, it shot multiple bursts of water into the sky, with magical bolts of energy erupting from Blood-Wraith’s hands, freezing them solid and causing them to plummet back down to the arena.
Valerie was impressed as Blood-Wraith was clearly learning how to use his abilities remotely. Seeing the ice boulders get closer and closer, Valerie placed a hand on her hip and snapped her fingers. Fireballs shaped like beautiful wildflowers hit the spell head on and shattered the ice into a gorgeous, sparkling snow fall, awing the audience. Blood-Wraith’s technique was good, but his form was lacking and Valerie was more than happy to tutor him. She spun around like she was dancing, summoning two serpentine dragons made of twirling frosting. They flew around each other in the air before charging straight for Blood-Wraith.
The audience was in suspense as Blood-Wraith fidgeted around in a panic, as Valerie’s spell was quite the spectacle. On instinct, Blood-Wraith held his hands out and something ensnared the dragons. Upon the light hitting the scene just right it was revealed that the dragons were caught in spider silk, with Blood-Wraith calling upon the power of Azure Spider. Pulling the strings tight, the frosting dragons were sliced into fine pieces, shocking the audience. Valerie reacted quickly, snapping her fingers again and saying a quick spell. The slices of frosting turned into flocks of gorgeous, candy birds, like what one would find on a decorative cake. They fluttered into formation and darted towards Blood-Wraith. In response he summoned a spinning vortex of lilac flame around himself that protected him and destroyed the birds as they got close.
“Tut tut, sweetie!” Valerie playfully chided. “Embrace the art of your magic and have fun, Blood! Don’t just react, feel your spells come to life!” Valerie kicked her slender leg into the air, calling forth a rain of glittering rose petals. She then brought her limb in for a pirouette that caused the petals to form into a giant set of hands.
The hands were grooving to a silent beat, rhythmically sending streams of petals towards Blood-Wraith. As he hobbled around like an awkward first date trying to dodge them, he began to think. Valerie was running circles around him already and she had a point. Was he just going to keep reacting? Casting predictable spells like a good little neophyte trying to pass a mid-semester test at an academy? And then something happened… Blood-Wraith felt a strange rhythm take over as he began stepdancing while dodging the rush of petals coming at him again and again. Valerie immediately picked up on the change in Blood-Wraith’s tempo and laughed triumphantly.
“There you go, Blood!” she congratulated as she started to dance along, the petal hands mimicking her moves as she also summoned streams of glittering, rushing water. “Let your feet sing!”
“Why just my feet when…” Blood-Wraith took a breath in preparation and readied one of his greatest spells ever. “Flzo-Zoxo-Mzoo-Uuk-Aru-Usto!!” His voice echoed with eldritch power from beyond the stars and in the orchestra pit appeared a spectral band who began playing symphonic, celtic folk music.
Everyone was stunned when Blood-Wraith’s spells began being cast through his dancing. First came the illusions of six, green versions of himself that danced along in perfect unison, casting elegant flurries of verdant fire that engulfed the streams of water and turned them into steam. Now it was Blood-Wraith’s turn to twirl, causing the steam to rise and become great thunderclouds. Pounding rain hit the arena, but strangely it did not make the ground wet.
Valerie felt her blood race through her veins as the ghostly orchestra synchronized with the thunder and rain of the magical storm. Her heart and feet moved to the beat of the drums and the flutes and fiddles made her adrenaline surge as she let the instruments take the lead. She was dancing just like Blood-Wraith and his phantasms, with traces of her own ballet style, seemingly oblivious to the wicked lighting striking all around her. The audience was naturally terrified out of their minds as Valerie was narrowly avoiding bolt after bolt. The guild on the other hand was utterly amazed, cheering as loud as they could and clapping along to the festive, eldritch beat.
“HOLY CRAP!” Will exclaimed as he leaned against the railing. “AUROELUS, that’s void magic!!”
“And he said he wasn’t a void caller!” he replied.
“I know, right!?” Brenna added with excitement in her voice. “Look at those moves!”
“Hey, sister!” Dragoslava called out to the royal court section as she stood up. “You’ve been teaching Blood how to dance?!”
“I’ve taught him some moves as he attended a meet up with my old dance troupe not too long ago!” Kresimira called back. “But those other moves are coming from his magic!”
“Well well, if the guild doesn’t pan out he could always take up professional stepdancing at this rate!” Tiberius said with a laugh as he clapped along.
Valerie was having so much fun dancing, but she realized that she was becoming reactive like she had criticized Blood-Wraith of doing. With the instruments rising towards a crescendo, she began casting twirling, surging ribbons of floral and culinary, whimsical-yet-passionate energy that followed along with her moves. Noticing this upheaval, Blood-Wraith stepped up his dancing by changing out his doppelgangers for an entire troupe of phantoms joining him in the same perfect unison as before. They warded off the energy ribbons as the orchestra intensified their music in response to Valerie’s ever fervent tempo. The two duelists locked eyes for the briefest of moments, knowing that a winner was about to be decided. What Valerie did not realize was that Blood-Wraith had an ace up his sleeve…
In a monumental barrage of magic and instrumentals, a great explosion of unrestrained energy and flowers filled the colosseum with a loud boom, raining down petals like a deluge of celebratory confetti on the arena. Valerie was standing there, seeming like she was waiting for an ovation, out of breath while petals swirled around her. The band had paused their music and Blood-Wraith laid on the ground, seemingly knocked out. Everyone gasped and even Valerie was caught off guard by this turn of events. As for the guild, they were speechless save for one.
“DID BLOOD JUST LOSE!?!” Will cried as he leaned over the railing to get a better look, with Ludwig having to pull him back in before he fell.
Ultimatum focused on the scene, then smiled. “Hold up, dad. It ain’t over until it’s over…”
Ludwig also inspected the situation and laughed. “Oh boy, here it comes. Pay attention, Will, Yale, Rostislav…” he said as he pointed to a faint glowing on the ground that Valerie was completely unaware of.
Valerie was in disbelief as she approached Blood-Wraith, accompanied by Radovan. “Your grace, is he…?”
“No, that can’t be all…” Radovan reasoned. He knew Blood-Wraith all too well for him to just give up like that… “Blood, lad; if you don’t get up, you’ll forfeit the duel…”
Then Valerie saw it… a smile and a snap of his fingers that made her smile with a child-like glee. “You sneaky little rascal-WHOA!”
Valerie was shot into the air by a magic seal under her feet and began bouncing around on a series of giant, colorful gelatin mould desserts. Radovan stepped back as Blood-Wraith got up, put a rose in his mouth, and strutted forward with utmost pride as the phantasmal troupe joined him for one last dance as the remainder of the petals rained down on them. The audience cheered, roared, whistled, and clapped along to the final symphony, a triumphant and epic tune that would make anyone’s heart race with excitement and signified that the winner had been decided. All of it was a victory lap for Blood-Wraith as he felt a great weight lifted from his shoulders. It felt like he could do anything now, and pursuing stepdancing was certainly being added to his list of things to do.
As the music finished and Blood-Wraith’s troupe held a bow, Radovan went back to check on the bouncing around Valerie. “Uh, ha, any response, Valerie?” he called out
“I… CON… CEDE! SOMEONE… GET… ME… DOWN… HAHA!!” Despite the disorienting nature of her predicament, Valerie was enjoying herself.
Rising with the rose between his fingers, Blood-Wraith declared “Ballo finito!” as the orchestra played one last, loud barrage of instruments to signify the end. The applause that followed was truly thunderous, with the audience yearning for more. Blood-Wraith’s troupe then scrambled to summon a safety net and caught Valerie as the gelatin moulds vanished.
Next: Chapter 30
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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