Elucard folded his arms. “I still don’t like this. Is there any way I can be at your side?”

  Koda placed a reassuring hand on his bodyguard’s shoulder. “The rules have been made quite clear to me, my friend. To avoid sabotage or assassination from feuding mage schools or angry rivals, elemental shrouds are not allowed to enter the tournament grounds.”

  Koda hefted his rucksack onto his back and straightened his collar as the straps pulled against his robes. Arrelion leaned against the wall as the portal to the special tournament location whirled and churned with planeswalking magic. Koda had very little experience with planeswalking. When escaping from his New Estinian prison, Calsoon had used a shadowy version of it, but other than that incident, he had never planeswalked before. The theory for portals was that they were connected to the Astralverse, a cosmic universal highway that all ethereal travel passed through in a fraction of a second to get to its destination.

  Koda mused over millions of intertwining, snaking tubes criss-crossing every which way across a vast void of starfields and pink miasmas. The image seemed unfathomable to behold and could only be constructed by the eldest of gods. Perhaps even predating Father and his angel flight.

  “Don’t worry,” Cade said. “I will see to it that we make the best use of our time while away from you and Master Stryneth.” He turned to Elucard. “We have been formulating a plan to take out Raze once and for all.”

  Elucard smirked. “According to underground intel gathered by my old Black Rabbit connections, Raze has a central headquarters here in the city. If we can find it, we can assassinate him.”

  Koda bit his lip. “Just be careful, Elucard. This Raze… he is no fool. He’s powerful too. Just—just don’t get yourselves killed.”

  Elucard nudged Koda’s chest with a fist. “Concentrate on your competition. If you worry about us then you’ll falter when you need to succeed.”

  Arrelion lifted his scabbard onto his shoulder. “Koda, Wildeye, it is time to go.”

  Koda waved farewell and followed his familiar and mentor through the portal.

  Calsoon’s shadow portals required to walk through a wondrous tunnel and shadows and Magi, but this new portal functioned differently. No sooner did he step through the portal, he found himself already within the tournament grounds. Where he was, that was unclear.

  Koda scanned the area. Crowds of mages and headmasters gathered by collection of tents of all sizes. Tents for resting, medical tents, tents for food all encircled tiny markets of stalls and rugs where vendors sold wares not readily found in most bazaars. Rare reagents, weapons, art pieces, and clothing. Even through his travels around Draak’Terra, he had not seen any of this merchandise.

  Along the outside of the tents spanned a small quad and within the center stood a large, square, stone platform that served as the dueling field.

  “Koda!” a familiar voice rang over the bustling commotion of the marketplace. Koda swung around and smiled. Raine, followed by Master Michael, and Master Stryneth strolled up to him.

  “Have you seen this place?” Koda said. “Look at all of thi—”

  Koda stopped mid sentence. Above him glistened translucent runes the size of tower shields, Interlocked and encasing the grounds in a massive dome. Mounds of tall sand dunes for miles surrounded the barrier.

  “Where are we?” Koda said, almost in a trance-like state, captivated by the immense warding spell cast on the tournament grounds. “These wards… they are nearly as impressive as a Celestial Seal…”

  “A celestial what-now?” asked Raine.

  Koda shook his head. “Nevermind.”

  Raine wrapped her arm around his shoulder. “Welcome to the Sands of Power.”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Sands of what-now?” Koda said, taking his turn to be confused.

  “I asked my master the same question as you did my first time here. The Sands of Power is its own realm. Like Cypress or Abyss, but it exists on a planet other than Draak’Terra. It is said that the Sands of Power was the aftermath of a cataclysmic event and that this was the ancestral home of our dwarves and giants,” Raine explained.

  Koda was dead sure that he heard the faint echo of a roaring creature from beyond the dunes. “W-what lives here now?”

  Raine smiled. “Titans.”

  “Titans!?”

  “Creatures the size of mountains. Hides as hard as the strongest steel that can only be imagined. It is said that their power is so immense, that they only feed off wayward angels.”

  Koda gulped in fear. “Are we safe here?”

  “The wizard ward fends off any roaming titan. This is the safest place in all the desert.”

  Koda gave Raine a weak smile. “That’s a relief, but wizards? What are they?”

  “They were the original wielders of tamed Magi,” responded Raine. “The Mages mostly wiped them out during the Arcana war and erased them from the history books. I only know of them because Master Nova taught me about the lesser known details of the Arcana War.”

  Koda scratched his head, why didn’t his grandfather or Megan teach him about wizards, and if they were capable of such feats such as the dome in the Sands of Power, were they responsible for the Celestial Seals themselves?

  “Round one should be starting soon,” said Raine. She spun Koda around to the direction of a larger tent marked by seven mage colored pennants. “Go make sure you're checked in and set up with an opponent.”

  “Raine Skyteller. Calico Tailsheen. Head to the ring for your match.”

  Raine looked over to a large stone platform that served as the battlefield. “That was quicker than I anticipated.” She turned back to Koda, eyes hard like steel, but her hands quivered. “Wish me luck.”

  ***

  Raine stood on the opposite end of the platform of a young spotted yikahti draped in red robes. She listened to the roar of the crowd and smiled. She missed this, the rush of competition. The adrenaline to prove how good she was to her masters and to herself. She hadn’t made it far last tournament, but back then she only had her base color. Now she possessed all the elements necessary for the Tempest style. Two more years for experience. Two more years for training. Two years. That was more than enough time to prepare herself for a victory in this tournament.

  The referee raised a red and purple flag. “Challengers ready?”

  Raine rolled up her sleeve and a cocky grin swept across her face. Definitely!

  “BEGIN!”

  Raine wasted no time to react or wait to see what her opponent had planned for her. She had her own strategy mapped out in her head, and she waited all day to execute it.

  She threw out her arm in a sweeping motion, freezing the ground in a slick sheet of ice. Calico wobbled on her feet, but Raine wasn’t done yet! Next she thrust a jolt of lightning that shocked and stunned the yikahti. Finally Raine ended her combination with a strong gust of wind.

  Calico struggled to curl her toe claws into the ice, but her body didn’t budge. She howled in frustration, “What did you do to me!?”

  Raine only smirked as she let the wind slide Calico across the ice and out of the ring.

  “Calico Tailsheen has been knocked out of bounds! Raine Skyteller is victorious!”

  Raine leaped into the air and pumped her fists in excitement. She let out a cheerful “Woohoo!”

  Raine stepped off the platform and into the arms of Koda.

  “You were magnificent!” said the king.

  “I’ve been planning to do a combination like that since I got my blue color. I didn’t actually think it would work!” Raine admitted.

  “It most certainly von’t vork again,” muttered a new voice.

  Raine and Koda looked over to find Trent standing in front of them. He placed his hands behind the small of his back and paced around the two elves. “You proved yourself a vorthy mage vhen you defeated me six months ago, Raine.”

  Raine’s gaze followed Trent. Koda’s breathing grew more erratic and quicker. “Relax, Koda,” she whispered to her friend.

  “Vith any luck, your skill has rubbed off onto Koda.”

  Koda growled under short breaths. “I haven’t been a slouch, Trent. I earned five colors in the last six months.”

  Trent stopped in front of Koda and inspected him up and down. His eyes rested at the saber strapped to Koda’s back. “You have a sword now. I suspect you have learned the vays of the Silver Mage, yes?”

  Raine chuckled. “Trained by Arrelion, himself!”

  “Vell—” Trent scoffed but struggled to find any other words.

  “I’ll see you in the ring,” Koda sneered.

  “I vould like to see what you have learned, if anything, Koda,” finished Trent.

  “Koda Dawnedge. Silvis Icespike. Report to the ring!”