Nessa made sure to latch onto Frederica’s kimono with her left hand, trying to stay in place, and triggered her barrier to stop the aether-covered hands from grabbing her.
Frederica began to panic— her lungs felt like overfilled bladders and were burning with pain. The aether on her hands went out, and she scrabbled at the barrier for what felt like minutes. As soon as it vanished, she grasped Nessa’s wrist, trying to rip her hand away.
Nessa grew worried. She thought Frederica would give up when she couldn’t breathe, but she hadn’t. She dug into Nessa’s arm with her nails as she tried to pull her hand away from her face. “Just tap! Tap and I’ll stop it!” she said through gritted teeth as she felt blood drip down her arm.
The pain in Frederica’s chest was climbing and she couldn’t exhale. Nessa’s words reached her brain and she slapped the ground over and over.
“Break!” Yunlo called. “Healers!”
Nessa let go of her aether and slumped to the ground as Frederica exhaled, sobbing. Klim reached Frederica first and checked her. Mindie was to Nessa a second later and healed the wounds on her arm.
“She’s fine now,” Mindie said, going over to help Klim.
“Nearly ruptured her lung,” Klim said. “We need to take her to the healer’s hall to let them check her more thoroughly.”
Yunlo announced the winner as Klim motioned for the stretcher to be brought out. Lowering the disk, he turned to Nessa. “You forced air into her?”
“It was my last resort,” Nessa said. “She couldn’t breathe with it pushing into her.”
Yunlo’s lips thinned. “How did you have enough aether for that?”
Nessa got to her feet slowly as the men with the stretcher arrived. She fished out her medallion, showing him the seven glowing rings. “I also had aether storage earrings. They’re empty now.”
“Take her to the healers and tell them that her lungs need to be carefully checked,” Klim told the men.
“Frederica, I’m sorry for doing that,” Nessa said.
“No...” Frederica wheezed. “We fight... to win.”
The men carted her away and Nessa bowed to her before bowing to Yunlo, then the academy boxes. She looked up to where her two friends were sitting and bowed to them. Walking away, she noticed Mindie was walking with her.
“That was dangerous...” Mindie said softly. “You could have ruptured her lung if you had done more.”
Nessa’s face flashed with guilt. “We do what we have to to win. I’d hoped she’d quit before it got that far.”
Mindie patted her shoulder as they neared the tunnel. “That’s fine. I can see you didn’t want to hurt her.”
Nessa looked up to see her older friends smiling down at her. She bowed her head, not feeling like she deserved their smiles. She knew she could have seriously injured or killed Frederica with what she did. “Some magi I am if I balk at hurting my opponent...”
“You’re better than I was. I refused to fight,” Mindie said. “If you had pushed all at once instead of the way you did, you would have crippled or killed her in an instant. Instead, you tried to get her to submit. While others might not understand, I do.”
Nessa stopped walking halfway down the tunnel and glanced at Mindie. “Thank you.”
“A healer helps as they can, and not every wound is physical,” Mindie said softly. “You did nothing wrong. You used what you had to win without killing your opponent. The guilt will pass, but if it bothers you that much, go see her. From what I’ve seen of her, she will not hold the fight against you.”
Nessa bowed her head. “Thank you. I will after my friends fight. I need to be here for them as they were for me.”
“Of course.”
~*~*~
Getting back to the box where her friends were, she exhaled before entering. “I won.”
“Yes,” Daciana grinned, “which means I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Victoria could see the lines around Nessa’s eyes. “Did you hurt her that badly?”
Nessa winced. “Maybe. I’m going to see her after your fight.”
“We’ll come with you if we can. We’re both going to fight to win, after all,” Victoria said.
Nessa nodded and looked up. “Yes, but no maiming or killing.”
“Never,” Daciana said. “You used all your barrier?”
“And my earrings,” Nessa added. “Don’t you two need to head down?”
“Yes, but we wanted to see you first,” Victoria said, giving her friend a hug. “I’ll see you after I beat this blockhead.”
“We’ll see you after I show her who’s the best of us,” Daciana said with a smirk.
“But you both just saw that,” Nessa said.
Victoria laughed, and Daciana blinked for a moment before joining in. Nessa felt her guilt fade and she hugged her friends. Pain and suffering will happen, but as long as these two are with me, I’ll be fine.
~*~*~
Victoria exited the tunnel and waved at the cheering crowd. She watched Daciana as she walked— her friend was being both cheered and booed, and that irked her. She’s a damned good person, you hypocritical bastards. Just because she has different ears and a tail doesn’t mean you should hate her. If not for her and Nessa, who knows what would have happened to me? Greg might not even have talked to me if not for them. Taking a deep breath, she pushed those thoughts aside— she had a fight to focus on.
“I’ll show you that I’m the alpha,” Daciana grinned, though there was an edge to her words.
“And I’ll show you that you’re not,” Victoria said with a
