by Megan Linski
Sophia raised her hand to shoot a jet of fire at the ice so it would melt and set Jonah free. But as she was doing so, I saw several small streams of water right from behind her. They formed into snow, then changed into daggers of ice, spinning in the air and shooting directly for Sophia's back.
“Look out!” I shouted, and I ran toward her. I was too far away, so I would never get to her before the knives did. But Sophia had good instincts, and she was able to spin around and duck before the daggers implanted themselves in her form.
I was already on my way, so I ended up tripping and knocking her down before she could free Jonah. Esis flew from her arm, landing a few feet away.
"Liam!" Sophia shouted in frustration. "I had it handled!"
"I just wanted to make sure you were safe," I shot back, but this was no time for arguing. Before our horrified gazes, Jonah and Squeaks were slowly being taken over by the ice. We rushed over. Sophia used her power to try and melt the ice, while I did my best to try and break it apart. Esis scratched at Squeaks with his little nails, but it was no use. Sophia’s Fire wasn't powerful enough now. The ice had spread too far, had been given too much time.
I tapped on the ice with my knuckles. I could see Jonah inside, but he didn't move.
Oh, shit. He was dead.
I had helped to kill my best friend, now I knew. I was definitely cursed. Everyone who came around me met an untimely end. Maybe Haley was right and I was a burden to the tribe…
Suddenly, the ice turned to water and Jonah broke free, gasping for air. Squeaks crashed out of her icy prison and tumbled onto the ground. Esis made chattering sounds, looking her over and making sure she was all right.
“Jonah! Are you okay?” Sophia worried. He was coughing and gasping for breath.
“I used the pockets of air within the ice to survive, but there wasn’t much in there,” Jonah said. His skin was blue. Sophia lit a fire in her palms to warm him up, and he huddled close to it, shivering. Squeaks came up behind him and wrapped herself around his form, using her wings as a blanket.
“Well, I can hardly say I’m impressed,” a voice behind us said. Baine was standing there, looking thoroughly disappointed and even more glum than usual.
“You did this?” I asked furiously. This was total bullshit.
“Yes, I did, Liam. And it’s far from the worst you’re going to experience out there during the tournament,” Baine quipped back immediately. “If that was your best effort, none of you will make it past the first task.”
“It wasn’t our best,” Sophia protested. “We were just unprepared.”
“Do you think you’re going to be prepared for what’s coming?” Baine raised an eyebrow. “No one is going to hand you a list of what you’re going to be put through, Sophia.”
“Can’t you just tell us what the tasks are?” Jonah whined, shivering under Squeaks’ wings.
“Even if I would, I couldn’t. The tasks change every year. This makes it so no one has an unfair advantage,” Baine said.
Jonah groaned. Baine turned toward me with his hands in his pockets. “I’m surprised, Liam. I thought you trusted Sophia, but the way you acted made it seem like you don’t think she has the ability to back you up.”
“That’s not true!” I snapped. “She’s strong enough. Her magic’s nothing to downplay.”
Sophia’s face was red. “No. You were too busy trying to protect me. If this had been real, Jonah would’ve died!” Sophia shouted.
I cringed. Yeah, that had been my fault. My first instinct had been to protect Sophia before anyone else. I told Jonah to get her out of the way of the wave before we made a cohesive plan to combat it together, and I messed her up when she was trying to save our friend. She saw the knives coming.
So why did I feel the need to interfere?
“The tribe as a unit is more important than any one person. You have to learn this, Liam,” Baine said sharply. “There are no heroes or martyrs in the Elemental Cup. Only survivors and casualties.”
My cheeks burned. Our first test as a group, and we’d horribly failed.
“Did you really have to put us through all that?” Jonah asked. He’d stopped shivering now and looked pissed.
“That’s why I sprang on you. You need to learn to expect the unexpected,” Baine said. “The tournament only gets harder each year. I will put you three through whatever I have to in order to make sure you survive.”
You three? Baine didn’t even notice one of our teammates was missing. I was going to start hitting my head against a tree in about two seconds.
“Get up,” Baine told all of us roughly. “We’ve already wasted precious time.”
Who’s fault is that, since they showed up late? I thought bitterly. This guy was too much.
Jonah stumbled to his feet with the help of Squeaks. The rest of the morning was spent with Baine drilling us on our powers, doing so many summoning reps that it made my arms hurt. I sparred with Jonah and Sophia both, but none of us managed to get a hit on the other. I could’ve, seeing as how I was a Third Year and had sparring experience, but I already felt bad enough I’d hurt Jonah, so I left him alone, and Sophia…
I couldn’t fight her, not even for practice. It just wasn’t in me. She noticed, because her Fire kept getting more and more intense with every fireball she tossed at me. Fury burned in her eyes, but the angrier she got, the gentler I became. I just fizzled her fireballs out with my Water and tried not to look her in the eye. Esis watched us closely, his eyes darting back and forth with every bit of magic we flung at each other.
When it was time to break for lunch, Baine appeared even more disappointed than he was before. We headed back to the castle without him. Jonah mumbled that he had a headache and was going to lie down.
When we could no longer hear Squeaks tripping over things, I knew they were gone. I was going to head back to the Toaqua dorms, but I followed Sophia to the Koigni hall instead.
Before we got to the doors, she rounded on me. “You think I’m so weak I need to be escorted?”
“No. I just…” I hesitated. “I just wanted to hang out with you.”
Her face softened a little, but my response wasn’t enough to calm her down. “I already know that I’m the outcast here. But I thought you were the one person who believed I was capable of being your teammate. Now I know you just think I’m weak.”
Damn Baine for putting words in my mouth. “It’s not about being weak,” I told her. My voice was calm and steady. “I just reacted today. That’s all.”
“If you react and don’t think, we’re all dead out there,” she said harshly. Esis was at her feet, looking between us with droopy ears. He didn’t like it when we fought.
“I just wanted to protect you.” I leaned against the wall. “Is that so wrong?”
Sophia chewed her lip. “No. But you know how things go in the Elementai world. You have to be the strongest. Otherwise, people won’t respect you. I may be new here, but I’ve learned that much. You can’t protect me everywhere, Liam.”
I was regretting so much of everything I’d told her when she got here. I wanted to take it all back and convince her things were different, but that would be a lie, because they weren’t. “I think you’re strong,” I told her. “This was just the first training session. It’s okay we made mistakes. We still have two more chances.”
Sophia nodded. “I guess you’re right.” She put her hand on the Koigni door. “I would love to hang out, but I have to practice. See you later, Liam.”
When she shut the door in my face, the sound of the door clicking was like a gunshot to my heart. I backed away from the door slowly, unsure of what I would do with myself. I’d been secretly hoping Sophia would come with me to town. Get some food, see stuff.
Not like a date, you know. Just friends.
I realized I really didn’t want to spend another weekend hiding in my dorm like I had been. I decided to go look for Ez. Maybe he had nothing going on. I thought about hitting up Jonah, but
he was in a rough way. He probably wouldn’t get out of bed now until Monday.
I wracked my brain for other people to hit up, but I hadn’t talked to most of them in… months.
Had I really pushed everyone in my life so far away?
As I walked back to the Toaqua dorms, Baine’s words resonated in my head. I had to trust that Sophia was strong enough to stand on her own. It’s not that I didn’t believe in her or her powers.
I just didn’t trust whatever the Elders had created to take us down.
I’d already lost Nashoma. I didn’t want to lose her, too.
Exhaustion settled into my bones on Saturday morning. I lay in bed staring up at the ornate carvings in the shape of flames on the ceiling, thinking about yesterday. Baine’s training session should’ve motivated me to train harder, but I couldn’t seem to summon the energy to get out of bed. I just kept playing scenarios in my head of what obstacles we might face in the tournament and all the possible ways Liam would manage to screw it up— or save me. One of the two.
Thinking about Liam was always dangerous. Every time he crossed my mind, I thought about the pain he was in without Nashoma. I contemplated telling him about Esis so that Esis could heal him, but I also didn’t want anyone knowing about Esis’ power. It was the only way to protect him. And if I had to choose between a guy I might possibly be falling for and my Familiar— my literal soul— my Familiar would win out. Every. Single. Time.
I only wished I could find a way to protect them both.
Esis stretched from where he slept beside my head on the pillow. His weight shifted, and suddenly his big blue eyes were hovering over me. He placed a small palm on my cheek and made a chipper sound like a songbird.
I sighed. “I know it’s time to get up, buddy, but I’m just not feeling it today.”
I’d spent every weekend since I’d been summoned training with my magic so I wouldn’t die in this stupid tournament, but all I really wanted was a break. And I didn’t mean another study session in the library, either. Reading over the stats of previous years’ tournaments was just depressing. There’d been more deaths in the tournament in the past few years than in the last century, and sometimes they didn’t even find the bodies. The Elders were seriously stepping up their game so our generation had to work harder than any before to prove our place. I’d hoped the records would teach me something about what was to come, but I was starting to think that it didn’t matter how much I trained or how much studying I did... I’d never be ready for this.
The only thing that would keep me alive was making sure my team was willing to work together. But I still hadn’t heard from Imogen, and I wasn’t sure Liam wanted to talk to me after the way I blew him off last night.
Which totally sucked because for some reason, all I wanted to do was hang out with him.
Esis patted my face again. When I turned my eyes to him, he stuck a thumb in his mouth and started sucking on it.
I couldn’t help but smile. “Are you hungry, buddy?”
He nodded.
I forced myself to get up and stroked my hand through his fur. “Fine. We’ll go grab breakfast after I take a quick shower.”
Esis immediately jumped down from the bed and scurried across the room. My dorm was bigger than my room back home, with fancy decor that went beyond anything I could ever imagine. Deep red velvety sheets hung over the sides of my queen-sized bed. The bed frame was made from metal rods painted in gold, with a bed knob in the shape of a flame at the end of each post. The bed sat upon a large, ornate area rug, but the rest of the room had hardwood flooring. The walls were red to match my sheets. The long curtains in front of my window had various shades intertwining to create complicated patterns. Across the room stood a small brick fireplace with a plush red chair in front of it like the ones in the common room. Various other pieces of furniture were scattered around the room, including a vanity by the bathroom, a dresser near the walk-in closet, and a nightstand next to the bed. A candelabra chandelier hung from the high ceiling. The room was beautiful— I couldn’t argue with that. But it seemed more like a place you’d spend the weekend than a place you’d call home.
Esis hurried into the open bathroom door. He jumped toward the towel rack, his tiny little fingers stretching high into the air. He chirped in victory when the towel came sliding down. It draped over top of him, but he burrowed his way out and dragged the towel into the bedroom behind him.
I stood, laughing. “Thank you, Esis. You’re so helpful.” I bent to pick up the towel and gave him a pat on the head.
He cooed in response.
Esis sat outside the bathroom while I showered and changed. At my dresser, he handed me my hairbrush and hair tie. He made sure to choose a green hair tie to match my shirt since he knew I didn’t like to mix colors.
Esis perched atop my shoulder as we made our way to the dining hall for breakfast. The bright morning sunlight shone through the tall windows, casting rays across the red carpet in the Koigni hall. Like most Saturday mornings, the castle was quiet. When we reached the cafeteria it buzzed lightly with conversation, but most of the tables remained empty.
I grabbed two breakfast sandwiches from the takeout line and turned back to the main doors to head outside when I heard the sound of someone calling my name. I spun around and my eyes scanned the cafeteria. They landed upon Imogen in the corner, who was waving me over.
Relief flooded through me to see a familiar face, but it was quickly replaced with sickening doubt when I reminded myself what had recently happened between us. Then again, no Nivita Elders had shown up at my door to drag Esis away, so maybe there was still hope that Imogen hadn’t abandoned me after what she saw.
I sighed and approached her, knowing I was going to have to face her sooner or later. Today she wore brightly-colored rainbow leggings with a rhinestone t-shirt. Her strawberry blonde hair was tied into a high ponytail with multi-colored strings mixed into the strands. Sassy’s fluffy red tail poked out from beneath the table.
“I was starting to think I’d never see you again,” I said lightheartedly as I slid into the seat across from Imogen. My heart felt anything but light.
She furrowed her brow. “Why wouldn’t you see me again? I was sick, not dead.”
I unwrapped the foil from one of the breakfast sandwiches and handed it to Esis. Suddenly, I didn’t feel like eating. “Why’d you run away from us the other day? You weren’t sick then, were you?”
“No... oh, my ancestors!” Imogen smacked her palm to her forehead. “You must’ve thought the worst of me! I’m so sorry. I should’ve got in touch with you sooner. It was just that inspiration struck, and I had to get home. Then my little brother got me sick, and it was just this whole thing.” She waved her hands like it didn’t really matter.
“So, we’re still friends?” I asked cautiously.
“By the ancestors, of course we are!” Imogen placed a hand over her heart as if she was having a heart attack. “What did you think happened?”
I glanced around the cafeteria, but no one was close enough to hear us. I lowered my voice anyway. “I thought after what you saw, you might turn me and Esis in to the Nivita Elders.” I dropped my gaze and bit my lower lip.
“What?” Imogen asked in disbelief. “I would never do that to you, Sophia.”
I pulled Esis down from my shoulder and cradled him in my arms. “I’m just scared that if anyone knew what he could do, they might try to take him away from me. This kind of power isn’t normal, right?”
Imogen took a bite of pancake and shook her head. “No, it’s not. And it’s probably best if you don’t tell anyone else about it.”
I gazed up at her, hopeful. “So, you’ll keep our secret?”
“Girl, I’ll take it to the grave.” A moment later Imogen’s eyes lit up, and she leaned forward to rest her elbows on the table. “Do you want to know what I’ve been doing the past few days?”
“Yes,” I said, intrigued.
A smile spread across
her face. “I’ve been researching Esis’ origin. Do you want to come over to my house and see what I found?”
I couldn’t contain my eagerness. “Absolutely!”
After we finished breakfast, Imogen led me outside and through the gardens.
“My neighborhood is pretty far from the school,” Imogen explained, “so we’ll have to borrow a ride.”
“Ooh,” I said in excitement. My mood had drastically improved now that I knew Imogen and I were cool. “What kind of ride are we talking about? A peryton? A pegasus? A dragon?”
“No, no,” she said, shaking her head. The strings in her hair swung from side to side. “I prefer to keep my feet on the ground. You know how to ride horseback, don’t you?”
“Um… is it complicated?” My only experience riding a horse was at a petting zoo when I was six, but I wasn’t sure that counted, considering the trainer held on to the reins the whole time and I only rode the horse for maybe five minutes.
Imogen shrugged, sending Sassy bouncing in her tote bag. “That’s okay, the unicorns are very well trained and do most of the work anyway.”
“I get to ride a unicorn?!” I exclaimed in excitement.
“Yeah,” Imogen said, like it was no big deal. “Come on. We’re almost there.”
The trees opened to a large clearing with two huge red stables sitting side-by-side. Each of them had large sliding doors. I peered inside the first building to see a row of stalls on either side of the barn. I caught sight of several different creatures, including two perytons and a pegasus. Several guys milled around, tending to the animals.
“This way,” Imogen said, gesturing me over to the second building.
A cool breeze rushed through the stables when we stepped inside. I didn’t know why I was expecting to inhale a floral scent, as if the unicorns farted rainbows and pooped butterflies, but all that hit my nose was the scent of a barn— hay, wood shavings, leather and dust.
