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The crowd milled restlessly as the sun rose. The second day of the competition started cool and misty. Terrance strolled through the crowd, looking for the second spot in the stone competition. Finally, he found his place among the participants. He chatted amicably with the other participants for a few moments, but soon let the conversation drop. Knowing where to come back to, he started pacing around the arena grounds.
The sun rose over the mountains burning off the early morning mist. Terrance observed the crowd as he walked, the excitement radiating throughout the arena palpably.
He wished there was something he could do to prepare, limber up, but the challenges more spiritual than physical couldn’t be prepared for. The elements responded best according to the individual’s personality trait, those with a solid and steady disposition naturally did better in stone. Those with a caring and nurturing disposition did better in wood.
Terrance didn’t know what he was best at, most times he didn’t think he was good at anything. He needed to fake his way through every day because, as an oldest, so many people depended on him to do the right thing. It grew tiresome after a while.
He twisted the amulet in his hand as he waited, remembering how much effort it took to try to connect to the air amulet. He never used the stone element before, the only training amulet he purchased before was a fire amulet.
Concentrating on the stone amulet he searched for the magic. The magic pulsed faint and tentative. He reached in and grasped it and the magic rushing into him took his breath away.
His skin hardened into stone, his joints creaking as he moved. His strength amplified well, the magic flowing through him. Pulling a little deeper he floated a stone into his hand from a nearby pile and started playing with it, changing its shape first into a sphere, then into a box, and then into a pendant.
Realizing what he was doing he let go of the magic, the event would start soon and if he used too much magic none would be left for the competition. A profound sadness filled him as the magic receded, he felt less now than he had been. He didn’t know how his ancestors had let go of the magic, leaving the mountains and entering the plains.
Feeling restless he turned to examine the forest that surrounded the arena, a mix of conifers and evergreens. The woods waved at him invitingly, but the challenge would start soon, and he didn’t have the time. He didn’t often have the time, now that he thought about it, there was always something that needed to be done.
As he watched the forest he saw Melody walk out with her pants scorched to the knee, but her leg seemed fine. He wondered what happened to her. Signaling to his brother in the stands he called him over, “Run to Cousin Sylvia’s tent and get a pair of trousers. Bring them back quickly.”
As his brother ran off, Melody approached him. She wasn’t limping, so she must not be injured. Maybe she had an accident and the healers already finished healing her, though the level of burning to singe that much clothes would have taken the combined healing of all their healers. Better not to ask.
“Hey”, he called when she walked within earshot.
They made small talk as they examined the arena. After a while, she pulled some berries out of a pouch and handed some to him. His eyes lit up as he ate the berries, they were the best he had ever tasted. His energy level instantly rose. He caught himself almost bouncing with energy his aches and pains from the day before disappearing as well.
An odd oozing sensation ran down his leg, pulling up his pants leg he could see that the cuts he got scrambling through the rocks the day before were healing rapidly. After a few moments, the cut was gone. He couldn’t recall hearing of berries that had been infused with healing, he thought pendants were the only thing that contained the magic.
His brother arrived after a while and Melody scooted off to a changing area to change. Once she was back the announcer called for the next round of the competition to start.
Cadence 