Description
Champions at Fire's End
by Charlotte
Jain
Release Date: November 28th 2015
Summary from Goodreads:
Seventeen-year-old best friends, April and Kyle, are thrown into the final battle of the Titan and Olympian war. Locked into an endless struggle, the Immortals have finally reached a solution - bestow mortal Champions with control over the elements to wage their final campaign.
Bestowed with control over fire and water, April and Kyle were raised by Immortals with a single purpose - win the war. After finally uncovering the remaining Champions' identities, April and Kyle must launch themselves into their final battle for survival. Winner takes all. But the Immortals are growing restless, and time is running out.
Release Date: November 28th 2015
Summary from Goodreads:
Seventeen-year-old best friends, April and Kyle, are thrown into the final battle of the Titan and Olympian war. Locked into an endless struggle, the Immortals have finally reached a solution - bestow mortal Champions with control over the elements to wage their final campaign.
Bestowed with control over fire and water, April and Kyle were raised by Immortals with a single purpose - win the war. After finally uncovering the remaining Champions' identities, April and Kyle must launch themselves into their final battle for survival. Winner takes all. But the Immortals are growing restless, and time is running out.
About the Author
Charlotte
Jain is an Arts graduate from Melbourne and the author of the Champions series.
When not scrawling exciting YA tales filled with magic and adventure, Charlotte
enjoys travelling the world and snuggling up on the couch watching movies.
Author Links:
Excerpt
We had planned for everything, except Kim. And everything had been
running according to plan, until the most peaceful moment under dazzling, warm
summer sun had been forever ruined by a single chance observation. Of a
hairpin. April was worried, I could see it in her eyes, the way she stared at
Kim with menace masked by a smile. She was biding her time, waiting for our
battle to become a fair fight. Then Kim, and whoever the fourth champion was,
wouldn’t stand a chance. I barely did. I gazed out across the sea of students, any
of whom could be my final opponent. I glanced to Kim as she trudged her way
back across the shadowed tree line towards waves of colour and chanting which
she had so effortlessly created only hours before. Each step fell, heavier than
the last, strain growing more evident across her face with every movement
towards the exit. She believed she was all alone, and she was running.
I sprung to my feet and dived
through crowds of bustling students, weaving in and out between waves of bright
blue, green, purple and red.
“Kim! Kim, hey, wait up!”
Her tiny body spun to face me as I
caught her arm and let go. Deep hazel eyes greeted me, holding an
uncharacteristic gloom over Kim’s usually rosy cheeks. Once perfectly
straightened, sleek locks of chocolate brown hair hung in a stringy mess of
tight curls, her features hunched and drawn. Kim’s air of strength and power
melted away as she caught my gaze, leaving the dazzling blue and white outfit
of half an hour ago seeming vacant and fragile.
“Kim, what’s wrong?” I asked,
drawing her in closer.
“Nothing. I’m fine.”
Stubbornness burned to life and she
twisted abruptly away to leave.
“Kim, please.”
My rough hands caught her hips
gently. Standing there together, an uneasy yet calming peace fell between us.
She just looked at me with those big brown eyes, their spark of hope dwindling
and on the verge of collapse. Wishing that I could be that hope when everything
around her crumbled. But knowing that I don’t think I could.
“Noah,” she stammered, “we’re not…”
Kim drew in a steadying breath to gather herself. A single tear fell, the only
tear I’d ever seen in Kim’s eyes. “Noah was the only thing I could count on, in
that whole school. But at the drop of a hat, his go-to reaction is to hang me
out to dry…” “You’re not alone, Kim.”
I held a hand out, finally realising she was talking about more than simply not
having a lunch date at school tomorrow. But I was taken aback by her rapid
breakdown, and hit with sharp awareness that a life of learning to fight
someone else’s war hadn’t left me with the social skills required to handle
this particular situation. All I had was the best I could manage, trusting instincts
that I’d tried to suppress. “Come with
me.”
Kim’s shaking hand met mine, her
gaze holding firm.
“Where?” she hesitated.
“Do you trust me?”
Her hand closed firmly on mine.
Then the swimming complex, with its joyous students and glittering colours,
melted away into dusty darkness.
Kim recoiled in surprise. Her eyes darted, taking in every corner of our
dingy new surroundings beneath the day’s fading light. Dark walls rose up
around us. With sure footsteps, I walked between two dark green armchairs to a
magnificent open fire in the wall furthest from us.
“Welcome to my lounge room,” I
said, hesitant and suddenly self-conscious. “This is where I live.”
“What?” Kim spun around slowly,
taking in the room, only to return her steely gaze to me after a moment.
“I thought I was alone, too,” I
lied. “Lost in a world that I had no chance of fitting into. Then there was
you…”
“But you can do things?” she asked. “Things that aren’t possible?”
I nodded. “Like getting us here,
instantly. Because it is possible.” I
held out a hand for Kim to see. Shards of glittering blue light emerged, piece
by piece, until a ball of shimmering, bright blue crystals danced within itself,
ice cold. “It can be scary, though. I know. But you don’t have to be afraid.”
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