Elementals

Chapter 7-The Blazing Trials: Part 1-The Warden of Fire

Chapter 7 

•Alex' P.O.V•

*THUD*

I let out a painful groan as my body made contact with the hard stone-tiled floor. I tried to get up onto my feet, before the realisation kicked in; there were about twenty or so elementals piled on top of me. The ones at the top slowly scrambled off the pile. I was the last one on my feet.

"Well, that was quite the way to transport you all here." Cirus spoke from behind us. He chuckled.

"Ow." I muttered, holding my head. I looked around, trying to get the slightest glimpse of where we were, before mentally hitting myself on the forehead. I couldnt see anything. It was pitch black.

"Alright, let's get a bit of light in here." Cirus said. His voice was followed by the snapping of fingers, and suddenly a row of torches caught a flame along the walls, revealing a corridor in their flickering light. I was able to see everything clearly now, including all of the other elementals that fell down here with me. I glanced at everyone, murmuring and groaning, but they all seemed fine.

"Now, let's get these trials started. I'm sure you're all excited to see what kind of challanges you'll face." Cirus smiled before walking down the corridor ahead. The rest of us followed. I hung back, walking next to a girl with dark red hair tipped with orange, or that's at least what it looked like in the orange torchlight. Her eyes glowed dimly, but she wore an anxious expression.

"Hey." I whispered to her. She turned her head to me.

"Nervous?"

"Uh, a little. Is it that obvious?" She whispered back.

"Yeah, kinda." I chuckled. A light blush crept onto her cheek.

"Hey, don't worry about the trials. Think of it as a PE lesson with magic."

"A what?"

"Uh, nevermind. Just don't think about the actual trials that much. Rather focus on having fun."

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, but the trials here at Arceus are never easy, especially the ones that us fire elementals face."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because, my family has been coming here for generations. My older sister and brother, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, just about everyone in my family has come here. And when it comes to the trials, they always tell me exactly the same story. They're never easy."

"Oh... Well just try to get your mind off of all that. Besides, you seem powerful. You'll do great."

I flashed her a smile, and she returned a small one, that same light blush creeping onto her cheeks again, a brighter pink than they were a second ago. That was when I realised, we weren't in a dark torch-lit corridor anymore. Instead, we were standing at the entrance of a giant arena, littered with rocks and boulders with glowing orange veins, pulsing with a magical energy like nothing I've ever felt before. There was a forest on the far side of the arena towards the left wall and towards the right was what looked like some sort of obstacle coarse. The sight was like nothing I've imagined. And I could tell that the other elementals were thinking the exact same thing.

"Alright elementals. This, is where your trials will take place." Spoke Cirus from the side, breaking the murmuring from the other elementals. We all turned to face him.

"Let's not wait any longer. It's now time for the Blazing Trials of Arceus to begin!"

He snapped his fingers and the symbol on my sleeve started to glow again, this time enveloping my whole body into it's bright red aura. With a sudden flash of red, I found myself in a forest, standing in a small clearing. I looked around getting my bearings, finding nothing but trees, flowers, bushes, a boulder, and even more trees. About a thousand and one questions started to swirl in my head all at once, and I felt my heart start to pound in my chest.