The Queen of Moths

Chapter Fifteen- Runa

Chapter Fifteen

Runa

I leave the palace for a bit to go and grab my wand and other items. I go to my apartment, which is luckily close, and walk inside. It's a large apartment with three beds and two bath. I have no one to share it with though.

I walk into one of the bedrooms, which I made into my own potion and magic room, and grab out my best wand. I also fill up a satchel with bottles of potions. I hold my wings in tight as I move past all my items and supplies, trying not to knock anything over.

I look down at my gold watch. I have ten minutes left. I quickly rush out of my apartment, shutting and locking the door behind me.

I get back to the palace and back to the training dome with five minutes to spare. The others start to show up too. My wings flutter a bit up in the air. I fidget with one of my feathers. Everyone lines up beside me as we wait. Queen Lakenna comes back. She smiles as she looks over all of us. "Great, now, it's time. We will have two people go in there each. Kill as many as you can. You have thirty minutes to do so. Damanion and James first." She says. The human and the troll walk over to the training dome doors. We watch them as they both walk into the large glass enclosure.

The timer starts. They start going to town. James, the troll uses mostly his physical strength and a spiked flail. He swings the weapon and bashes the mannequins' heads in.

Damanion uses his guns. Flintlock pistols to be exact. He blows the heads off each mannequin. There is a timer and a counter. They have about 15 minutes left. Damanion has killed 13 and James has killed 11. If the mannequins weren't putting up a fight too there would be a higher count. Some of the mannequins have swords and some of them even have war hammers.

We all watch, curiously to see who will kill the most. The time comes to a stop. Damanion has 29 killed and James has 25. They walk from the dome as the mannequins quickly fix themselves up with the help of witch magic.

"Next, Runa and Avaylin. Step into the training dome." I hold onto my satchel full of potions and my wand tightly. I walk through the doors and close them behind me. Me and Avaylin stand in front of the eighty mannequins. Avaylin wields her sword. I get ready as I pull my wand out. Not all witches are able to use wands. A lot of them can only make and use potions. However, anyone can use potions. Just not make them.

A huge bell rings and the timer starts going down. I launch into action. I cast a spell of fire. Avaylin is on the other side of the dome, swinging her sword through the limbs of the mannequins. The ring of light shines around me. Mannequins come running towards me, holding up their war hammers and knives. However, as some of them step into the ring they light of fire.

The mannequins flail around, limbs on fire. The ring fades, for it can only last so long. The number on my side goes up to 10. I smirk and grab a potion from my bag with my other hand. I launch up into the sky, about 20 feet up. I pop open the potion bottle. I fly around in circles, pouring the potion onto the mannequins. The vines take effect. They sprout out of the ground, wrapping around the limbs of the dummies. They swing their swords and hit the vines, but the vines stay strong.

I still stay on only half of the dome, so I don't affect Avaylin. 23 of the mannequins lift up into the air from the vines. I throw the empty glass bottle to the ground, as I fly up higher. I'm going to destroy these mannequins. I create another fire spell. Arrows of flames. I swing the wand in the air and close my eyes. I take a deep breath. A star of light forms around me up in the air. I look down beneath me. "Shoot." I say. Hundreds of arrows of fire go down, piercing the mannequins and the vines, "killing" them.

My number goes up to 33. I have 15 minutes left. Avaylin's number is 22. I land back on the floor, the mannequins still up in the air. I round all the arrows back that lay scattered across the dome floor and get rid of them.

I turn to some more of the still alive dummies. They stand there, supposedly staring at me. I put my wand away. I plan to use mostly potions for the rest of this. 15 of them stand there, waiting for me to attack. I pull out a potion of ice. I take a deep breath and begin running towards them.

They rush towards me, wielding their weapons. I look to the ground. When we are about 10 feet away I stop. I throw the potion against the floor, breaking the glass of the bottle. The potion sinks into the ground for a second and then it finally reacts.

Huge spikes of ice erupt from the ground, impaling the dummies. Some of them are frozen in ice, and some of them hang with spikes through their limbs and heart. My number goes up again. I am now at 48, Avaylin at 32 The timer goes out and bells ring again. I groan and push my hair back away from my face. I did really well.

Those potions were worth it. They took so long to make and took a lot of expensive supplies, but if it gets me to be a private red guard then I will happily use them.

Me and Avaylin walk out of the dome together. Lakenna has a huge smile on her face as I walk past her. I bow my head a bit and walk back into the line of others. People watch me and Avaylin, surprised with how many we killed.

The trials go on. There are a lot of high scores. However, mine stays on top. After an hour the tests end. We stand in a straight line as Lakenna watches over us. My palms are sweaty. She stares at us all with that sharp glaze she always has. She's choosing who joins. There are two spots and I really hope I get picked. I cross my fingers and hold my breath.

"I decided that we will be choosing five. We have four spots. However, I will also pick a leader." Lakenna announces. I let out a breath. I definitely have a chance of being a guard now. Maybe even the leader.

"I have decided. Runa, Damanion, James, Avaylin. Congratulations. You are all red guards." I take in a deep breath and smile. Sure, I feel bad for the others. But, this is what I have been training for for the past 10 years since I was 15.

I am a red guard. Those years payed off well.