Shrouded in Death

rst chain and for a breath stopping moment, it looks like she will fall short and come crashing to the hard unforgiving floo

that they had been holding and wide grins split the a

with her, gently at first and then wider and wider as she increases her speed. She spins round and round in great circles and when her eyes come back to the audience, the smirk on her lips tells them that she is entirely in control as she

s the motion, her kick-outs growing farther and farther apart, so that when she swings forward again, she covers a greater distance than she did in her previous swing. She repeats this motion three more times

more chains and in front of her is the small hoop hanging from the end of a thin, delicate chain

the pain. While they have been forged through pain itself, coming out from their personal journey tougher than nails and able to conquer the world, it still does not mean that they do not feel pain. If the Panther miscalculates, it is going to be a very

t." Steylla whisper

r to doubt their abilities herself but she wants every other person's trust in their abilities to be complete

y rotates on its axis in a motion so fast, it looks like she is actually still. She aims unerringly for the hoop and they all watch wide-eyed and she shoots through it, still spinning fast. When she clears it, she arcs sharply down and stops spinning, turning her downward motion into a some

and Maria is one of the people that jump up f

rds a door at one end of the back of the pit. The Panther that had started the fire lowers her hands and the fire slowly goes down with it until it disappears fully and she also makes her wa

" Dupwa's voice rings out, si

il her eyes settles on one of them at the front. Her hands are fisted beside her and her eyes are pinned, not on Dupwa where she makes her little speech, but on the columns still rising into the sky. She supposes tha

ery year but each time she witnesses

ain control over their magic. Males with magic are rare, due to their body being unable to accommodate alien objects or energy. Alot of them do not survive from infantry and most of the ones that do e

s and generally unimpressive feats of magic such as lighting up a kitchen fire or creating water bubb

no matter how steep the challenges are, you can

e sense at first until a new Panther steps forward and positions herself in be

nd act begin.

ll fours on the first column and within the span of a second, she twists like a cat and leaps again, throwing herself forcefully through the air in a somersault. She clears the distance between the the first c

again. It cuts off abruptly as she simply steps off the top of column as if she were stepping down from the stairs and many people scream as they think she wil

ips might split open and pride fills her c

ittle less wide and she collapses back onto her seat. "You okay?" Steylla mouths, her fingers slipping through hers. She takes a deep breath and

back and focuses on t

he columns, hanging suspended from only one foot and places it higher. Maria's eyes bug out of her head as she tries to figure out if that should be possible at all. The Panther moves the other foot in a similar manner and steadies herself before continuing her upward climb to the top of the

rd time. At the top of the last column, she turns to salute the king and the rest of the audience once again before she drop

ause shatters th

to Steylla. She has the same reverent expression

e." Steylla agrees, eyes on the latest Pan

uzz around him seeing to his comfort, and to the man beh

human. His neck turns minutely, as if he feels her stare and Maria recoils. She has the strangest

ling is