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Skye had cleared the fairgrounds of muck, but the competitor’s grounds were meant to be muddy on the first day. The final competitions unofficially required it. It always rained the day or days leading up to the Summer Games every year. In hundreds of years, it had never been completely dry on the traditional first day of the Summer Games, and Skye was not about to break it.

As the trumpets finished, silent anticipation pulsed through the air as the King of Alcon began to speak:

“I welcome you to the Annual Summer Games of our fair Alcon! Here, you will see men and women from every stretch of our kingdom competing for glory’s reward!”

Magnus held up a large, dark-brow pouch with a grunt; “Each first place winner will receive this pouch, a horse from my own stables, and a seat at my birthday dinner on the final night of the games!”

Setting down the heavy pouch, the king picked up a smaller, tan-colored bag before speaking again; “The second place winners will receive this smaller pouch and a horse of their choosing. The third place winners will receive the same pouch, but no horse. All competitors that did not place will still receive vouchers for the fairgrounds! What say you, people of Alcon?! Is your king a fair man?!”

The people stood to their feet as they cheered for their beloved king. Magnus kissed his fingertips, and threw his arms into the air towards his people; gaining an even louder response. As his people screamed their love for their king, he looked over to the section of diplomats with a large grin.

Their heads were whipping back and forth with astonishment. They’d been surprised to see the entire fairgrounds erupt over such a small prize. Some thought it was too small until they realized that the hundreds of people gathered on the muddy field were all competitors. Knowing that, they realized just how much money the king was spending.

Lowering one hand while straightening the other, Magnus signaled his people to quite down. After a minute or so, the crowds hushed. Waiting impatiently for their king to continue.

.....

“Today we will have the Caber Toss, the Hammer Throw, the Grappling Matches, and finish with the traditional Tug of War! Tomorrow will be the Archery and Sword Competitions, followed by the Obstacle Run, the Sheaf Toss, and finish with the Shot Put!”

“The final day will open with everyone’s favorite King of the Hill Competition, followed by the Jousting Tournament, then the Dance Competition right before the Feast! Any of our foreign friends are welcome to join in any of the festivities, but if you are a mage, you Must be willing to wear the Sealing Stone to compete! Those are the rules to guarantee fairness! Magic is not allowed during the Summer Games!”

The people cheered and applauded. Alcon had always had magic restrictions during their Summer Games. If one wanted to show off their magical abilities, they saved it for the Mage Trials. The games were mostly for fun, but it was also the general military’s chance to show off their skills.

The Royal Mage Corp only made up about thirty percent of Alcon’s military might. The rest ranged from infantry, to special forces. The RMC technically fell into the special forces category, even though they operated outside of the normal military rules and roles often.

There were laws in place that kept the RMC separate from the rest of the branches, even though their personnel were swapped or assigned to other branches frequently. The RMC was akin to a power check for the rest of the military, and vice versa. This way, complete power couldn’t be had by any single person, even the king.

Without the support of two of the three Pillars, the RMC couldn’t involve themselves in wars; foreign or domestic. Their power equaled all of the other branches combined. The Pillars were more than just rank titles, they were also the greatest responsibility for a non-Royal of the kingdom to have. Making those within the position on par with the princes.

Before the crowds could turn ugly, the first event was set up and started. The Caber Toss was a tradition that the MacArthur men loved. A large tapered pole usually about sixteen to twenty feet tall, and weighing between ninety, to one-hundred and fifty pounds was tossed as far as the competitors could throw them. Once it landed, the distance was measured, and a winner determined by the distance.

Skye and Tidas watched as Klaus came in second. He wasn’t particularly happy to come in second, but the man who had come in first had been the champion for four years straight now. Gunner McDonald currently held the title of General in the Army’s Infantry. He was one of the tallest people Skye had ever seen, and stuck out like a sore thumb with a bright red and white hair fluffing out in every direction.

The next event was the Hammer Throw. The name had always confused Skye because the object looked Nothing like a hammer. A large metal ball that was attached to steel wire looked nothing like a hammer.

It was thrown as far as it could by the competitors. The winner usually changed yearly, but the same winner from last year won this year as well.

Tidas and Skye cheered as Lieutenant Tanner chucked the ball as hard as he could. It went a good twenty feet passed the other competitors, frustrating Klaus further. Again, he took second. His mood improved when Arthur told him that he wouldn’t be competing next year, and agreed to teach him his secret technique for getting as much air as possible.

The Wrestling Matches were next. Zas was in charge of making sure everyone played fair. Only one competitor had gotten a penalty throughout the entire competition. Klaus didn’t enter that one, but Skye was shocked to see that Ronnie had.

Tidas was sure he’d get knocked out in the first round, but he’d actually placed third. He jumped for joy like a little kid after the king handed him his reward. He thrust his hand up in the air, flashing a peace sign to the spectators, which sent them into a clamor.

The final event was Tug of War. Everyone was happily surprised to see both Lawrence and Tidas joining in on the event. The Tug of War didn’t require signing up beforehand because it wasn’t like the other competitions. There was no single reward, just glory for the competitors involved.

The brothers hadn’t planned on participating, but after Skye and Shasta had left to fix the fairgrounds earlier, the subject had come up. The twins had insisted on seeing how strong their father and uncle were, so they sloshed onto the field, and took the same side.

Tidas, Lawrence, Klaus, Ronnie, Arthur, and a three more people from the RMC went head to head against a dozen of the infantry soldiers. A silent rivalry between the regular military and the special forces had always been present, but was made obvious during the Summer Games each year.

While everyone respected each other, it was common knowledge that the RMC members got a bit more special treatment from everyone; comparatively speaking. Magic was rare and often mysterious to those not around it enough. A simple display of their natural talent earned them discounts, or even free things. No one wanted to give the regular soldiers things for flexing their muscles, or flashing their swords.. Unless done in a threatening manner.

The Summer Games were a way for the two groups to safely get their frustrations out without causing strife amongst the branches of the military. Such things affected cooperation, coordination, and execution of strategies on the battlefield. The games allowed any festering resentments an outlet.. Yet another reason why the Summer Games were so important to Alcon.

The trumpets echoed, signaling the start of the Tug of War. The military side started strong, but the longer the competition dragged on, the less resistance Tidas’ side felt. Stamina training was basic in all RMC training to help build one’s magical capacity. The regular military didn’t focus as much on it as the RMC did, and the basic physical benefits of it were quickly becoming obvious.

After about twelve minutes, the front of the military side started to slip. Seeing the clear opportunity, Tidas called out to his teammates; “Now! Yank with all you’ve got lads!”

The two teams were abruptly thrown into a sudden death match with each other. The Sealing Stone bracelets around everyone’s wrists glowed slightly as their magical instincts kicked in. The bracelets were made from an extremely rare stone that absorbed and nullified magic. The only place in the world it had ever been found was in the Fire Nation, and was one of the only things that they exported.

As the teams yanked and talked smack to each other, Tidas looked over at Skye. A smile was on her face, but her hands were clenched together. She looked adorable to him as she stood near Magnus, waiting for him to come back. A touch of anger edged his happy mood as his attention shot over to his oldest brother.

Marco was blatantly staring at Skye, and pissing off his wife by doing it. It was obvious to everyone but her before then that her own husband had a thing for his brother’s wife. Skye hadn’t done anything to encourage it, but that didn’t matter to Karena. Instead of holding her scandalous husband responsible for his own actions, she stared daggers at Skye.

A surge of fury gave Tidas the final ‘umph’ he needed to yank the other competitors into the mud. Lawrence started chuckling hard when the first three men landed on top of each other. His laugh then turned hysterical when they got pressed down further into the mud by the weight of the other nine competitors toppling over onto them.

The crowds cheered and clapped like their lives depended on it as the first day of the Summer Games began to wind down. Most of the nobles in the front rows had as least a little mud splattered on them, but it was like a badge of honor to them. It was proof of not only their social standings, but a reflection on how close to the action they were.

The Mage Trials was the only event that didn’t apply a status-based seating arrangement. Due to Skye’s cleanup of the fairgrounds, the only people who had mud on them were nobles, diplomats, or dignitaries. As everyone began to funnel out of the competition area, some of the commoners made comments about how the Summer Games seating should be like the Mage Trials: first come, first served.

Several nobles began to make derogative and condescending comments back, sparking tension as the two groups converged to leave. As the angry voices started to turn threatening, Magnus attempted to talk over the crowds, but things had developed too far, too fast.

Right as fights started to break out; an ear-ringing, bone-chilling roar resounded over the mobs. A large shadow case over the crowds in the dimming sunlight. As everyone looked up, the groups of people froze; some out of awe, some fear.

As the shadow circled about, Skye ran out into the muddy field with a giant smile on her face as she screamed at the top of her lungs; “ZAZZY! YER FLYING!!!”