The Azra-El Series Ch. 05

The price of the spear climbed up quickly to twelve fifty aur.

"Fifteen hundred!" shouted an angel with a raspy, but enticing voice.

The sudden increase in price brought everyone's attention to an angel sitting by herself at one of the middle rows.

"Brija!" Elyssa exclaimed.

"Who is she?" Blaze asked looking towards the source of the voice. He immediately noticed her. Her short scruffy white hair and light caramel colored skin were striking among the rest of the angels. Her light brown full lips and piercing green eyes gave her a natural air of strength.

"She is the strongest angel under a hundred in Aranya. She placed fifth in the previous Comprehensive Young Angel Martial Tournament" Astrid answered him.

"1550!" Elyssa shouted her first bid, garnering attention. Brija looked at them curiously but did not seem to recognize Elyssa.

"Isn't she the strongest?" Blaze asked Astrid, pointing at Elyssa.

"She has the potential to be the strongest young angel on the continent. She hasn't participated in the tournament though. Brija will be her toughest opponent in Aranya"

"I am the strongest" Elyssa replied willfully, surprising Blaze. Maybe it had something to do with both being spear users.

"1600!" Brija responded nonchalantly.

"1650!" Elyssa raised it up a notch, trying to scare her off.

"1700!"

"Damn it! I can only afford two thousand five hundred" Elyssa told them, a little frustrated. It did not seem like Brija would let it go easily.

"Just get more from your mum. I can give you my two hundred if you need it now" Blaze replied.

"I don't want to. Brija comes from a poor background. I don't want to use more than my allowance" Elyssa replied.

"That's silly, Ely. It's a freaking auction" Blaze replied, knowing full well how stupidly righteous she got at times.

"I know" she replied curtly. "1750!"

"Sigh. Why don't you challenge her then?"

"Not until the tournament. I want to beat her at her best condition"

"What about a wager?" Blaze replied slyly. Something about Brija's silent strength attracted him deeply.

"What are you planning Blaze? She won't be stupid enough to accept it. Besides, I don't to want cheat her out of the spear"

"Don't be stupid, Ely. She doesn't have to accept the bet if she doesn't want to. And, I am no cheater!" Blaze replied, removing a piece of paper and pen from his storage ring.

He quickly jotted down a few lines.

"Here, sign this" he said, handing the paper to Elyssa.

"Blaze! Why are you challenging her?"

"1800, going twice"

"1850!"

"Why shouldn't I?"

Elyssa opened her mouth to argue back, but she quickly turned silent. She knew she wasn't going to win the argument. Blaze was an expert at finding loopholes in her judgement. Besides, the terms of the wager seemed quite reasonable. Even she wasn't sure who was going to win.

"1900!"

She sighed and quickly signed it. Blaze grabbed the paper and started walking towards Brija. The auctioneer thought of stopping him, but decided against it after glancing at Elyssa. She had already received information about the duchess's daughter attending the auction.

Brija looked at Blaze curiously as he walked up to her and handed her the piece of parchment. She carefully read it as Blaze admired her sinewy form. She seemed to be taller than Rebecca. Her legs were smooth and long, and she had them crossed over on another.

Her attire was simple but on her it was quite sexy. She wore skin tight black boy shorts, a simple bikini top and a sleeveless half jacket. A black harness crisscrossed around her upper body and thighs. The couple of buttons at the front of her boy shorts were open, revealing deep into her groin.

"She is Elyssa Marigold?" Brija asked him, bringing him out of his trance.

Blaze nodded.

"Why should I agree to this wager?" Brija replied after giving Elyssa a deep, but appraising look.

The terms of the wager were simple. If agreed upon, they would stop the bidding and buy the spear at the current price, each paying half the amount. Brija would then face Blaze in a bare-handed fight in which they could not use any complex energy techniques. If she could grapple him to the ground within five minutes, she would win the spear. If not, Elyssa would get the spear. Blaze also added that since he was less then twenty years old, Brija would also have to spend the night with him. She did not have to do anything she didn't want to.

Brija did not really understand what spending a night with Blaze meant, but she assumed that Blaze would probably ask her about her spear techniques. Little did she know that he intended to show her his own spear technique.

"Ely is a little silly and thinks that using her mum's money to win the spear is not righteous. I thought up this wager to make it fair for both of you. If you don't agree, I could try convincing her to use her mother's money instead" Blaze replied nonchalantly.

"You really think you can win?" Brija asked seriously. She did not believe that Elyssa Marigold would cheat her over a lower grade spear.

"I probably will"

"Are you really only twenty years old?

"Not yet"

"Are you a pixie or a fairy?"

"umm... No... I don't think so"

Pixies and fairies were a subset of angels. Both started out with two pairs of wings instead of one. Pixies were smaller than angels and excelled in agility. Fairies excelled in speed. Fairies were endemic to the north-eastern regions of the Heavenly union, where woodlands and pine forests were common. The pixies were common in the southern rainforest regions.

Both fairies and pixies were quick learners of Flying and Brija wanted to know her opponent before accepting the bet.

"You do realize that if you beat me, you'd probably replace Elyssa as the angel with the most potential, right?" Brija asked. She would've thought Blaze was playing a prank on her, if not for the fact that the auction halls inaction seemed to indicate that the blonde angel was in fact Elyssa Marigold.

"Yep. That's why we need to do this privately"

"Alright. I will accept the wager. But, I am going to buy the weapon first. We can split the price after we finalize the terms" Brija replied.

"I didn't expect this to be so easy" Blaze said surprised.

"I do not care much about Elyssa defeating me in the tournament. She is bound to surpass me at some point. However, I am curious to know what it is that gives a mere child the confidence to face me in a one on one combat" Brija replied with tough smile.

"You'll find out soon enough" Blaze replied and turned back. He liked her. He liked her a lot.

"2000!" Brija bid again, but Blaze gave Elyssa a thumbs up to stop her from bidding further.

"She agreed?" Elyssa asked him when he reached her. Noticing that Elyssa wasn't going to bid further, the auctioneer sped up the process and Brija won the spear.

"Of course, she did" Blaze replied.

"Oh Blaze, I still feel so wrong about doing this"

"Ely... She didn't have to agree to it"

"But you're the one who is fighting!"

"And?" "Ely. I consider you my best friend on this planet. And, as your best friend, your fight is mine and my fight better be yours" Blaze said firmly. He had always been protective of his friends. He had waged a minor war on his high school's entire football team when a couple of them bullied his best friend. But that was a story for another day.

Elyssa was strapped for words.

The auction lasted for another hour. Astrid had bought a medieval gold brocade, but Blaze hadn't found anything interesting to spend his money on.

"Where shall we do this?" Brija asked them as they walked up to her after the auction. She did not seem to be the type for small talk.

"We should go to our manor. There is plenty of room and is away from prying eyes"

They all climbed into the carriage waiting for them and headed back to the manor.

"You were one of the reasons, I picked up the spear" Elyssa muttered as the carriage took off.

"Oh? I am honored. I expected you to be an archer like your mother or a sword user like general Sturm" Brija replied.

"I was until I watched you fight in the previous martial tournament. The way the spear moved in your hands fascinated me"

"I look forward to face you in the tournament"

"Me too"

***

The group ran into the duchess in the receiving chamber of the chateau.

"Oh my! My little girl is making more friends. Oh, hello Astrid"

"Hello, Mon Marigold" Astrid curtsied.

There were two common forms of address -- Min and Mon. Min was intended for angels who were a generation older. Mon was intended for angels who were more than two generations older. A generation in Azra-El was a hundred years. Astrid referring to the duchess as Mon meant that she was at least a couple of hundred years older than her.

"Sigh. Mum, this is Brija. We are having a friendly competition between Blaze and her"

"The Brija? I must see this. Siv!"

So, they got two more audience members as they proceeded to the back gardens of the manor.

"The rules are simple" Blaze explained once they found a wide, open area.

"If you manage me to grapple me into submission within five minutes you win. We can't use any energy manipulation skills besides the basic ones like body reinforcement. We must remain within two hundred feet from where we start. Stepping out of bounds implies a loss. You can't use any weapons" Blaze continued.

Brija nodded. Although it seemed like the rules were unbiased, she had an inkling that they were greatly skewed in Blaze's favor. But, she wasn't going to argue with a twenty-year-old angel. In human terms, it was essentially a twenty-five-year-old fighting with a twenty-year-old.

"Mon Siv, can you mark a two hundred feet area for us? And can you be the referee. You need to keep the time and make sure no one steps out of bounds. You can also put a stop to the fight if you must"

Siv procured some flour out of nowhere and marked a circular area. The rest of them seated themselves at a shaded patio outside the makeshift arena.

"Ready when you are" Blaze said after putting some distance between himself and Brija.

Brija simply looked towards Siv, who pulled out a silver fob watch out of her pocket.

"Begin!" Siv shouted, taking both Blaze and Brija unaware. They had expected her to give some sort of forewarning.

Blaze immediately manifested his wings and took to the air, putting more distance between him and Brija. He heard a couple of gasps. Brija looked at him amazed, but she quickly recovered.

"You never intended to fight me, did you? Can you keep it up though?" Brija asked, noticing his furiously flapping wings.

He couldn't but she didn't need to know that.

"Why don't you try me?" Blaze taunted.

Brija immediately manifested her wings. At seven feet tall Brija was already a daunting figure, and when her pale ash grey wings unfurled she seemed even more imposing.

Her wings were long and narrow; each wing around nine feet long and three feet at the widest. They seemed to be built for sustained speed. It wasn't ideal for Blaze, but it wasn't the worst. He just needed her burst speed to be lower than his.

Intending to quickly end the match, Brija leapt towards Blaze covering the distance between them in a moment.

Blaze folded his wings and dived. Brija followed him as he sped towards the ground. Elyssa screamed thinking he was going to crash, but when he was less then four feet away from the ground he unfurled his wings and glided away, almost scraping the grass with his feet.

Brija landed with a thud at the place where Blaze was supposed to have crashed. Blaze landed about fifty feet away from her.

"This is your lil' trick?" she asked him with narrowed eyes.

Blaze nodded with a grin. Since his encounter with the carnivorous rabbit, Blaze had perfected the art of gliding dangerously close to the ground. In fact, it was the only way he could gain both speed and distance with his short wings.

He was banking on the fact that Brija wouldn't easily be able to emulate the move. It wasn't because he thought that he was exceptionally talented at flying or that Brija would be a poor flyer, but because there was no need for anyone to practice such a pointlessly dangerous move.

Brija grit her teeth. It made sense why Blaze had chosen to limit the fighting space. If she had enough room to gain momentum, it would be much easier to catch him.

Without wasting time, she rushed at him again. Blaze leapt to the sky and just when she was about to reach him he dived. He repeated the maneuver but realized Birja wasn't following him. After putting some distance between them, he landed and looked back. He made sure he had enough room between himself and the edge of the makeshift arena.

Brija had chosen to observe him instead of blindly racing after him.

"You are quite clever, but you are also immature. You understand that you can't get close to the border or you will corner yourself, but if you had more experience you'd have known that it is foolish of you to expect me to not realize the same"

Blaze cursed inwardly. He had hoped that his maneuver would be good for at least a few minutes. He opened his mouth to prolong the conversation, but Brija didn't give him the chance.

"Hela's Butt!" he cursed out loud and took to the air as Brija zoomed towards him.

He repeated the only move in his flying arsenal, but soon realized that once again Brija had not followed him. He found her hovering a little to the left of where he had been. He had dived to the right.

Shit. Brija had chosen to randomly pick a direction instead of following him on his dive. If he wouldn't fly towards the border, there were only two sides to pick from. Probability was not in his favor.

Brija smiled at his darkening face and raced towards him. It was too early, but he couldn't risk not using the other trick up his sleeve.

He leapt to the air and dive glided towards the border. Brija had chosen left again. She came to a stop in mid air and looked at Blaze with a puzzled expression. Had she missed something? Why would she corner herself?

She pondered for a moment, trying to figure out what Blaze could do next. She could catch up with him in any direction he dived. He didn't have enough room.

"3 minutes up!" Siv shouted.

Brija lurched towards him. She couldn't waste too much time thinking.

Blaze felt the wind against his face as he prepared himself. He bent his knees low and jumped with as much force as he could. He spread his wings wide and caught as much wind as possible to gain more elevation.

When he reached a height of around sixty feet, he looked at the speeding Brija and kamikazed towards her.

Brija was startled for a moment before a knowing smile sprouted on her face. She sped towards Blaze without slowing down.

And just as everyone thought that they would collide, Blaze swerved to the right. Anticipating his movement, Brija stretched out her hand to grab him. However, contrary to her expectation, Blaze grabbed her arm with both his hands.

Angling his wings to catch the wind, he used their combined momentum to swing Brija around and threw her towards the border as hard as he could. Surprised by both his move and his inordinate strength, Brija tried hard to control her movement. Blaze's wings collapsed under his speed and he hurtled dangerously towards the ground.

Anastasia was quick to react. She leapt towards Blaze with her magnificent blonde wings and caught him in her arms.

Blaze didn't even notice how tightly he held on to her as she slowly descended to the ground. He had not expected to go so out of control.

He muttered a quick thank you to the duchess and looked towards Brija. She seemed to have made a safe landing.

Brija looked at the ground in front of her. There was no white line in front of her. She sighed and headed back towards the rest of the angels gathering around Blaze.

"You're a sly one, lil' Blaze" she said with a wry smile.

"And a reckless one too" Elyssa added.

"You'd have won if I wasn't lucky. I didn't have any more moves" Blaze replied, still clinging on to the duchess. Brija had landed less than a foot outside their makeshift border.

"Here's your spear" Brija replied, bringing it out of her space ring. She wasn't going to argue over the duchess' involvement. She was only preventing a meaningless injury.

Blaze took the spear and Elyssa handed Brija a bag of aur. It was her half of the price.

"What's this about?" Anastasia asked them curiously, still holding on to Blaze. Neither of them seemed to be inclined to let go. Blaze's nerves were still a wreck and the soft comfort seemed to calm them down.

Elyssa explained their wager as they walked back inside.

"And you agreed to this suspicious wager?" Anastasia asked Brija as they sat around her in the receiving chamber.

"My curiosity got the better of me. I can't say I'm disappointed though. I was expecting a more blatant trick. Blaze fought with bravery and guile. A fight is not always a contest of pure strength. It was truly my loss" Brija answered.

In truth, Blaze had made it seem like Elyssa would've have just used her higher monetary power to buy the spear if she had not agreed to the wager. Now she was sure that Elyssa had no such intention. However, she meant every word she said.

"Well said!" Anastasia clapped her hands and then took out a piece of paper. She scribbled something on it and handed it to Brija.

"Take this to Valinna Storm. She promised me to make a personalized spear for Elyssa. You should get it instead"

"Duchess! I can't!" Brija exclaimed.

"Don't think of it as a gift. You've won it from me by showing the strength of your heart. I will be quite disappointed if you refuse"

Brija accepted the piece of paper gracefully.

"Why don't you stay for dinner, Brija? Siv has prepared a delightful feast for Blaze and his aunts tonight, and I'd love to have your company" Anastasia added.

Brija agreed and they spent some time chatting until Jie Er and Rebecca came back from the play they'd gone to watch. They all had a scrumptious feast before they split up.

The duchess invited Jie Er and Rebecca to have a chat with her, while Elyssa took the rest upstairs to play a game of Catopoly. It was a game like monopoly but was much more complex. To Blaze's surprise, Astrid ended up winning the game and it wasn't due to luck.

"So, what now?" Brija asked Blaze after the game ended. The game had lasted late into the night.

"Would you mind sleeping with me in my room?" Blaze asked her, trying to not to sound too eager.

"Not really. My house only has two rooms and we share beds whenever we have guests over" Brija replied.

"What are you planning, Blaze?" Elyssa asked him.

"Nothing. I will tell you later. What's the plan for tomorrow?" Blaze replied, diverting the topic.

"Mum's procured a couple of prime seat tickets for the Flyball game. It's Aranya vs Thule. Should be quite interesting. And oh, mum told me to apologize to you two on her behalf. She'd have gotten more tickets if she had known you two would be here" Elyssa said, stifling a yawn.

"She shouldn't be" Brija replied.

"Can I sleep with you, 'Lyssa?" Astrid asked her, enthusiastically.

"No" Elyssa replied bluntly. "The room on the left is free"

"Awww"

***

"So, what did you want with me?" Brija asked Blaze, removing her half jacket and throwing it on a chair.

Blaze closed the door to the room behind them and stared at her almost nude back as she stretched her arms up. Her scapula protruded, and the valley of her spine deepened as she stood tip toe.

Her wide shoulders contrasted with her narrow waist and her tight boyshorts accentuated her butt.

"Do you want to take a bath?" he asked her, looking at the little indoor pool.