Vyns led me onto the grass and around the bleachers to watch a practice session in progress as he explained the game.
“The pitch is made of sand and earth, but there is a line made of stone slabs at either end.” Vyns pointed. The entire area was massive, hundreds of feet across and even longer end to end. The border was marked by a low fence. Inside I could make out the two lines of stone slabs at each end with still more of the sandy playing surface beyond it. In the center area were four evenly placed fountains of water and right in the middle was a stand with a fire burning atop it.
Two teams of four were throwing elements at each other, heedless of injury. I shook my head at the rather senseless bloodshed.
“The point of the game is simple,” Vyns went on. “You need to push all members of the opposing team behind the stone line. First team to do that wins. But just because you’re behind the line doesn’t mean you’re out. You can’t pass back over it, but you can still summon your element and try to push others out. If you get pushed out of the pitch entirely… you’re out for good and can’t help.”
“And the school is okay with people getting hurt for sport?” I asked, knowing the answer.
He shrugged. “There are healers nearby.”
“So that’s a yes.” Also… healers… Like I’d done with Myel last night. I still couldn’t believe I’d done that. It seemed so… unreal.
Vyns shrugged. “Compared to the very real wars some of these folks could be fighting, this is relatively harmless.”
Wow. Just… wow.
“You play?”
Vyns shook his head. “I wouldn’t be much good. My element is light, a sub-domain of fire, but… it has no force to push with. I’d just blast holes in people without moving them much.” And the fact that he said that straight-faced made me tremble.
Why was everyone here so… callous, so inured to violence?
Given the wars and the stringent regime of the elves, perhaps that’s just the sort of people this place produced.
Though, Myel wasn’t like that… was he? The fact that I couldn’t answer with certainty only highlighted how much I didn’t know him yet.
And I saw Vyns in a new light now. He may be gorgeous and seemingly kind — to me — but he had a hardness to him. He’d seen war. Then he’d been Saldrea’s bully for however long. I had to imagine that did things to a man.
I took Vyns’ hand, and he smiled surprised, but I didn’t think he’d like what I had in mind. I pulled him behind the bleachers, away from those on the field and far from prying eyes and ears.
“Look me in the eye and tell me the truth, are you really willing to betray Saldrea for me? I can’t imagine she’ll let that slide. What do you get out of this?”
VYNSIEL
The smileon my lips faltered and faded. I’d hoped Izzy had pulled me back here for a surprise make-out session. I’d gone willingly, my spirit drawn to hers. I needed to know her, be close to her.
With my heart as befouled as it was, I couldn’t give her the love she deserved, but a little play couldn’t hurt. Perhaps a little love from her could somehow heal the stain on my soul?
But that hadn’t been what she’d intended. Instead, she hit me with a loaded question I hadn’t been ready for.
Yet the answer to her question was simple. I looked her in the eyes and spoke from my tainted heart.
“Yes, I am willing to betray Saldrea for you, andonly you. Because you’re the first person ever… who’s given mehope.”
My chest constricted. Hope was a dangerous thing in this world. Most of the time, hope of any sort was crushed without mercy. Unless it was hope for wealth or power or prestige. The elves had the rest of us running around, trying to get one up on each other, but it was all a futile game.
“Hope?” Izzy repeated softly. “Because… I can change things?” She must have recalled our last conversation.
“Yes, but more than that. It isn’t just hope for a better future, it’s you, yourself.You. Give. Me. Hope.”
She blinked, clearly taken aback by that.
How could I tell her she was the only bright and beautiful thing in a world of false joys and fake charms? How do you tell someone that they are a beacon of light in the darkness, a promise of something better. Even if the world never changed, as long as Izzy remained her glorious, shining self people would be drawn to her, like I was.
Her spirit shone with life and vibrancy. Her determination hadn’t yet been squashed. She was untainted by the filth of this world.
She was light.
