I need to get out of this. I wish there was a way for that to happen, but I don't think that there is. All I can do is stay with him and hope that I can stop anyone from getting hurt.

Today I'm not suspended from the dueling team anymore. This is going to be the competition where we get to have the battle royale. This is going to be fun. At least I get some time away from the master and training. And kind of, Vincent.

Don't get me wrong. I like him. I know that a lot of the things I don't like about him aren't his fault. Most of them are things that his master has taught him to think or do. It's just that every time I'm around him when his master isn't around, I feel like he's spying on me. He's just a little too loyal to his master. He's just a little too excited about the mission and what's going to happen because of it.

He seems this way, but I don't think he knows much more about it than we do. He at least has a better idea of the mission, but I think most of his reason for going along with this is just blind loyalty.

He's still here at the tournament. I kind of wish he hadn't come, but I think it would have looked suspicious to his master if I told him not to come. Also last time he came to one of these I accidentally shot him with a ball of fire. I really hope that doesn't happen again. I still wish I knew where that came from. This time I'm just going to pretend he isn't there. I'm not going to wave or even look at him like I did last time. I'm just going to focus on winning.

"Good to have you back," Astrid says, walking up next to me.

"Yeah," I say, "I just hope it's not like last time."

"Yeah, that would be bad. Did you ever find out what that was?"

"No, I still don't know what happened, but it hasn't happened again. I just hope it doesn't happen again."

"You really should find out what it was. If you do, it will probably be easier to stop it from happening."

"I know. I just wish I knew what I did. Then I might even be able to use it. If I could do that, it might make a pretty good attack."

"Maybe," she says.

We walk into the center ring and go our separate ways. Having two people on the same team stand together can be good because of strength in numbers, but we've chosen a different strategy. Our team has decided to spread everyone out evenly in the circle. The idea is that if one of us gets knocked out of the circle, then no one else will be at risk. One of the main problems with the "strength in numbers" strategy is that it's possible for two people to get out at once under the right circumstances.

I find myself next to the same boy from the last competition, who looks like he would rather be standing anywhere else besides next to me. He keeps looking at me with wide eyes, like he expects me to explode into flames at any moment. I can't say I blame him. That is exactly what happened at the last tournament I fought him in. I want to apologize to him for it, but I've also been told that I can't talk to anyone from another school during the tournament. Maybe I'll find him later.

I look at the other person standing next to me. It's another boy. He's a lot smaller than the first one. He's almost my size. He has light brown hair and dark blue eyes. He's carrying a bow and arrows on his back. He's also wearing a vest with bulging pockets. They seem like there's something moving in them. I wonder what it is.

"Welcome," the announcer says, "This will be our championship for high school dueling! You all know the rules better than I do by now, but the law says I have to say them again so here we go! Every member of each team that was lucky enough to make it here is standing in the center circle. In a few minutes I will set off a siren. When I do that the teams will all fight each other and try to force one another out of the circle. If one of them wants to surrender, they simply have to leave. The last team with at least one member still in the circle will be the winner. If any players try to keep someone in the circle to attack them when they can't fight back, their whole team will be disqualified. No exceptions. Now without further ado, let the game begin!"

The crowd cheers as the siren sounds.

I feel wind at my side and look at the smaller boy. I end up seeing what looked like a miniature hurricane forming around him. I paused for a moment and felt a jolt of electricity hit my shoulder and knocked me off balance. I quickly regained it and called up my fire. I sent it straight at him. The armor stops it from burning him too badly, but it's just strong enough for him to lose his focus. Without stopping, I charge at him with my sword.

As soon as he regains his focus, several rats explode out of every pocket in his vest. They charge toward me and attach themselves to every part of my body. I feel a blunt arrow hit me in the side. I'm already off balance from the rats and the arrow knocks me to the ground. I manage to regain some of my senses and call up just enough fire to make the rats leave. I quickly get back up and realize that I'm barely still inside the circle.

The boy launches a few more arrows at me, but I dodge them. I look around us and see several people from each team standing outside the circle. I check and see that Hendrix, Rivka, and Astrid are also still in the circle. That's good, I'm not the only one. I swing at the boy with my sword and he barely dodges. I shoot fire at him that's strong enough to send him completely out of the circle.

I turn around and see the other boy that had been next to me. Most of the players have left the game by now. It's just me, him, and Rivka. I charge at him with my sword and hit his back with it as hard as I can just as he finally forces Rivka out of the circle.

He turns to face me and a look of fear crosses his face replaced almost immediately by one of determination. He charges at me with his sword and vines reach out for my wrists just like last time. I swing at the vines with my sword to cut them back. Instead, they wrap themselves around my sword and try to force it away from me. I call up my fire to burn them away and feel something a lot like I did last time.

I feel like I'm not controlling my body anymore. It wants to move in a certain way, but I don't want it to. I feel the same burning in my chest and the rush of power that signals that I'm about to lose control. I try to hold back the fire so we won't get disqualified again. It gets more intense. I still feel something trying to force me to move a certain way. I still try to stop everything from happening.

The fire's getting worse! So is whatever's trying to control me! Finally, I know I can't stop it anymore. I let go of it. I stop fighting the thing controlling me. I stop fighting to hold down the fire building. I simply let go.

The fire surrounds me and I feel myself being lifted a few feet in the air. I'm almost in a trance and I'm barely aware of my surroundings anymore. A ring of fire appears around me. The vines around my sword burn away and I pull it out of the ashes.

The boy is staring at me now with wide eyes. His jaw is hanging open in sheer terror. He's uncertainly holding up his sword, but he doesn't seem to know what to do with it. His vines aren't growing anymore. The edge of the circle around us is covered in ash where there were plants only moments ago.

I still feel the rush of power, but this time it's more intense than I've ever felt it. This time I feel it flooding my veins, my eyes, my hands, my head. I feel burning around my eyes and in my chest. Only now it feels almost good. It feels empowering. It feels like it isn't as dangerous as before.

This time it's controlled. It's no longer a powerful chaotic force. Now it's a weapon. It's stronger than ever. It's refined and controlled. It has a purpose. It can be used for whatever it needs to be.

The only problem is that I'm not controlling it. The power is mine, but it's still working on its own. It's inside me and being used as a weapon. It's become a controlled and refined. It's stronger than ever, but I can't use it. It's acting completely on its own. The only difference is that this time it seems to have a purpose.

My right hand lifts and points straight at the poor boy in front of me. It's engulfed in flames, but this time fire doesn't come out of it. My hand turns to pure red and a large stream of lava erupts out of it. I watch as the edges of it slowly harden and turn to rock.

The boy lifts his hands and his sword in a vain attempt to try to block this thing that I just shot at him. It plows through his arms and hits his chest. He's knocked ten feet outside of the circle. He's flat on his back as it hardens into pure stone.

The force that was making this happen disappears and I fall to the ground in a heap. I'm breathing heavily and trying to catch my breath. I push myself into a sitting position. I feel a sudden wave of dizziness. I close my eyes to try to stop it. When I open them, I still feel lightheaded.

I look at the boy I guess I just shot with lava. A few people have gone over to him and are trying to push the lump of stone off of his chest. I consider getting up to help, but I'm not sure if I can even stand up, much less walk over there and help them push a small boulder.

They manage to push it off him. The second it hits the floor it disintegrates into the same ash that's still outlining the circle I'm sitting in. He sits up and stares at me wide eyed with his mouth hanging open.

Hendrix and Rivka come over and help me get to my feet.

"Are you okay?" Hendrix asks.

"I-I think I'm fine," I say, "I'm just a little shaken."

"What was that?!" Rivka asks.

"I'm not exactly sure," I say.

Did he just control me? Why would he do that? Was it just for practice? Is he trying to learn how to control a soldier to make them fight? If he was controlling me then what was that thing that happened? Where did that rush of power come from? What the heck just happened?!

The referee walks up to me and lifts my hand in the air.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!" the announcer calls, "And I can tell from the red hair and those beautiful eyes that our champion is Lillyana Hebert from Noxon High School!"

The crowd roars with applause. I look through their smiling faces for Vincent. I can't see him anywhere. I thought for sure he had come to this. Where is he? If he's not here, then who or what was controlling me a minute ago?

A medal is placed around my neck. I leave with my team and we celebrate with dinner and ice cream. I let myself have fun with them, but I still wonder what happened. Vincent wouldn't have teleported away with that many people there. Would he? No, they're not supposed to know how he does that. So what happened back there? And where did that power come from? It felt good. I want to have it back. I want to know what it was. Did it have something to do with my eyes? Or was it just part of my hair?

I really wish there was someone else around who had these powers. I wish there was someone who knew how this worked. I wish I didn't have to figure all of this out on my own. At least I won though.