by Megan Linski
Jonah straightened up. He swallowed nervously before nodding. He crunched into a sneaking position. His crouch was still about the height of an average person.
I had the immediate thought that Jonah should take off his gigantic boots, but Jonah was dumb, and I couldn’t help him. Every step he took across the platform sounded like it was coming from a giant.
Squeaks didn’t help. Her hooves tip-toeing across the wooden platform resembled a tap dance. Before they reached the end, she tripped, and she sprawled into Jonah head over hooves. The two of them made a crashing sound as they rolled off the platform and into the water.
Baine seethed as Squeaks and Jonah pulled themselves out of the ocean. He was getting agitated. “Very well.”
He turned around and looked at me. “Liam, we already know your weakness is going to be endurance. But there’s no way to test that with the amount of time we have, and there will be little rest during the tournament, so you’re going to have to find a way,” Baine said simply.
“Gee, thanks,” I grumbled, and I crossed my arms. He didn’t need to remind me that I’d already be slowing the team down out there. But coming in last place was better than not making it there at all.
“Sophia!” Baine said abruptly, and she started. “I want you to create fire-rain and shelter the rest of us from it.”
“Like… right now?” she asked meekly.
“You have to be able to control and sustain fire at a moment’s notice, without thinking about it. By now it should be second nature to you,” Baine said. “There’s no telling what kind of firepower you’ll have to fight against during the tournament. You need to learn to expect what’s coming.”
Baine looked at her expectantly, and so did everyone else. I glanced away to try and take the pressure off her, but I think she took it as a sign I didn’t believe in her, because her face became more panicked.
She raised her hands, palms facing the open sky. Her arms shook as she tried to make fireballs rain down from the heavens, but all she managed to do was make a few embers trickle down through the air.
I didn’t like fire, obviously. Hated it, in fact. But I still felt bad for Sophia for being unable to control her element. This was advanced Koigni stuff— things that older students would know, not freshmen.
But it didn’t matter. There were people of all ages in the Elemental Cup. She had to be just as good as the others if we were going to make it through this.
“Come on, Sophia,” Baine growled. He pushed her, bunching his hand into a fist to shake it at her encouragingly. “You can do this! You have the potential!”
“I’m sorry!” she yelled. Her face scrunched intensely. “Just… give me a few moments to get angry!”
Sophia, you haven’t learned anything. She thought firepower was about being pissed off all the time, and that wasn’t it at all.
Course, that was probably my fault. I’d been the one how to teach her to access her element, after all.
Sophia gave a gasp and doubled over. A few fireballs came down from the sky, but they were small and sizzled out quickly in the ocean. All that was left was a few lingering flames flickering around her fingers.
When she looked at me again, the fire in her hands blazed out of control. Baine had to bring up water out of the ocean to put it out.
“Boo!” Jonah shouted, giving a thumbs down. Squeaks copied him and gave a hiss. Sophia blushed and quickly put her Fire away.
I felt so bad for her. She’d just been introduced to this world, and already, she was trying to do magic that I wouldn’t expect seniors to be able to do on a whim.
“This isn’t getting anywhere.” Baine sighed and rubbed his eyebrows. “All right. I’ve had enough. I’m just going to throw you into it.”
Baine walked toward the edge of the platform. He knelt down by the water and whispered something to it before he stood. He was watching the waves closely, eyes narrowed.
I could feel her beneath us, moving through the water. The ripples she created washed over my skin, even though I was standing here dry on the platform. She wasn’t but a few feet below us. A long shadow loomed underneath the platform, and the water trembled as a low croon emitted from the ocean.
“What’s that?” Sophia said in fear. She backed up a few steps, looking around. Esis was doing the same, glancing this way and that from Squeaks’ back. Sassy danced nervously, waiting.
I smiled. “Thalassa’s coming.”
“Who?”
It soon grew too loud to answer. The swelling of waves crashed upon the sea, and the clouds parted as the shadow grew closer to the surface, the sun blazing down on a magnificent creature that crashed out of the water.
She was bigger than any Familiar I’d ever seen— even bigger than Alric’s Familiar, Valda, or Costas’ Familiar, Hera. Her scales were a dark cerulean blue, and they shone as she broke through the water and leapt over the platform, performing an elaborate jump. Sophia’s jaw dropped as she watched Thalassa soar over us and dive back down on the other side, causing a huge wave to rise up and come crashing back down. Thalassa broke the surface again, splashing her beautifully fanned tail behind her.
The sea serpent had kind eyes that glimmered like sapphires, long lashes in the designs of coral donning her eyelids. She held her massive webbed paws in front of her body and looked down at us from high above. Thalassa was so big, she nearly blocked out the sun. What little light that did burst through hit her blue scales and bounced off in a million different directions, creating rainbows. There were wings on her back, enabling her to glide if needed, but they functioned more as fins than for flight. Thin spines lined along her back, and two pointed horns accented the top of her head, thin whiskers drooping down from her lips. She smiled slightly, revealing sharp and pointed teeth.
Baine’s face brightened in joy, and he laughed, spreading his arms out wide. Thalassa lowered her head so that it was at Baine’s level, and he wrapped his arms around it (what he could, anyway). Her skull was larger than Baine’s entire body. Her eyes closed in happiness, and she let out a contented note that was high-pitched and shook the platform.
“That’s Baine’s Familiar?” Sophia squeaked.
“Not what you were expecting, is she?” I asked smugly.
“She’s so beautiful,” Imogen whispered in awe, and she held tighter onto Sassy.
Baine let go of Thalassa and motioned her downward. She lay her head on the platform. He climbed on and sat in the nook where her head ended and her neck began. He held on to her horns as he rose back up.
“Your task for the day will be to subdue Thalassa and me,” Baine called from above. “If you can get us to submit, you’ll have passed the final session and be ready for the tournament.”
“But… she’s a Water creature. What about my Fire?” Sophia asked reluctantly.
“You won’t hurt her. Trust me,” Baine said. “Not even your Fire will be enough to damage her— not at Year One level. What I’m asking is for you to get her to surrender.”
“Believe me, Sophia. All your Fire could do to her is tickle,” I told her.
“I’ll give you five minutes to strategize before I make my attack.” Baine hung on as Thalassa dove downward and swam away.
I turned to the group and tried to think. This was going to be a challenge. Thalassa was practically a mile long, and she was a goddess of the water. Pinning her down was going to be near impossible.
“First things first,” I told the group. “We need to get changed.”
“I’m always down to strip,” Jonah said. Thankfully, everybody was wearing their wetsuits underneath their clothes, so I wasn’t subjected to that. I paced by the waterway and tried to come up with a solution.
“Well?” Jonah asked me. “What’s the plan, big guy? We’ve got like, two minutes left.”
“Give me a minute,” I muttered. I had to play to Thalassa’s weaknesses, but as far as I knew, she didn’t have any.
“Sophia, Imogen, get onto Squeaks,” Jonah t
old them. “She’s not big enough to carry me, but she can handle you two.”
Imogen and Sophia did just that, and Esis joined Sassy on the platform. Who was leader, here? “Jonah will be able to fly around. I’ll handle being on the water,” I told them. “We’ll take Thalassa and Baine on from all sides.”
“What’s our strategy?” Imogen asked me.
I didn’t know. Taking on Baine alone during the first training session had been hard enough. I didn’t know how we were going to beat him and Thalassa.
“I might be able to pin her down in the ocean. Make the currents strong enough so she can’t move. If you guys distract her, I’ll make it so she won’t know what’s coming.”
“Will it work?” Imogen asked.
I shrugged. “It’s a long shot.”
Jonah looked up, and his face paled. “Well, it’s what we got, because she’s coming this way!”
Thalassa was sailing toward us full speed, carrying Baine, who had summoned a large wave behind him. Squeaks took off with Sophia and Imogen, and I leapt into the water. It swelled around my middle and carried me throughout the ocean, safely out of the way. Jonah jumped off the platform. The air carried him upward so that he was floating far above Thalassa. Esis and Sassy stayed on the platform and ducked, getting soaked by Baine’s wave.
“Now, guys!” I shouted. I summoned deep waters from below and surged them over Thalassa’s body, trying to make her stay still, but controlling her fins was like holding back a propeller on the Hozho. She was strong.
Our attack was disorganized. Instead of working together as a unit, we all seemed to be doing our own thing. Jonah, Sophia and Imogen all focused on a different place on her body to attack instead of one spot, shooting their elements at her with everything they had. Thalassa shook as if brushing off flies and yawned.
Sassy and Esis were still on the platform. They ran back and forth, throwing little pebbles and coral that had washed up on the wood at Thalassa to get her attention. Obviously, she gave them none.
Esis got tired of being ignored. He jumped off the platform and onto Thalassa’s tail, running up her back and avoiding the little spines. He wove this way and that, avoiding Baine as he reached her head and beat his tiny little fists into Thalassa’s temple.
“Esis!” Sophia shouted. “Get back here!”
He didn’t listen to her and kept ramming her on the forehead. Thalassa’s eyes crossed to look at him, as if he was an annoyance.
The brave little fucker. I was honestly impressed. “Sophia, get Esis back to you!” I shouted. “This is it!”
Squeaks flew close to Thalassa, and Esis leapt from Thalassa’s head and into Sophia’s arms. They soared out of the way just as Thalassa clamped her jaws over the air they’d been soaring through a moment before.
There was no coddling at Orenda Academy, obviously. Baine didn’t mind breaking our bodies if it meant we’d be prepared for the competition.
Esis had given me an idea, though I wasn’t quite sure what it was yet. I broke my concentration and scanned over my teammates. Despite Sophia shooting out fireballs, Imogen tossing large sections of sand over Thalassa’s back to weigh her down, and Jonah doing his best to create a windstorm that kept her in place, Thalassa acted like she was out for a morning swim. She paddled around, almost bored and opened her mouth to roar at us. It sent Squeaks into a spiral she only recovered from last minute.
Baine wasn’t bothered, either. He was easily holding on to Thalassa with one hand and keeping my magic at bay with the other. I was at war with Baine, and though I found I could keep up with him, which was encouraging, I couldn’t surpass him.
The plan wasn’t working. Thalassa was too big to control, and Baine had too much power over the water. We couldn’t beat them in a show of brute strength. We were going to have to improvise.
My mind worked furiously. This session was all about weaknesses, but it seemed like neither one of them had any.
One of Sophia’s fireballs went rogue and went ricocheting toward Baine. It was already fizzling out, but Thalassa turned quickly and brought her tail fin up to block Baine from the hailing embers.
I was confused. The fireball wouldn’t have even hurt Baine if it did hit him, but Thalassa protected him anyway.
Then it clicked. Thalassa did have a weakness. It was Baine.
“Guys!” I shouted. “Get in front of Thalassa! Keep her eyes ahead!”
“Are you crazy?” Jonah screeched. “That’s right in the line of fire!”
“It’s only for a few moments!” My tone seemed to convince them, because Sophia steered Squeaks in front of Thalassa and started shooting. Her fireballs smacked at Thalassa’s snout, while Imogen’s mud-pies splattered in the serpent’s eyes. Jonah blasted an assault of wind at Thalassa, causing her to be unable to go forward. Sassy stood on the platform, yipping as loud as she could.
Thalassa shook her head and closed her eyes, trying to stop the assault so she could see again. Baine was forced to grab on with both hands in order to keep himself balanced, and his magic instantly halted.
“There’s the opening,” I whispered. But instead of trying to subdue Thalassa, I went for Baine. I lashed out a hand and a stream of water raced upward and wrapped itself around Baine’s torso, pinning his arms so he couldn’t use his element. I yanked it downward, and Baine was dragged underneath the ocean on a trip to the bottom.
Thalassa screeched. She splashed around, kicking her large flippers in search of Baine, and causing a tidal wave.
When she didn’t find him, she twirled around and looked at me.
“Give up, Thalassa,” I told her calmly. “It’s over.”
Thalassa lowered her head calmly and bowed to me. Only then did I bring Baine splashing to the surface. The four of us returned to the platform. Thalassa brought Baine back up to us with her tail, placing him gently beside us.
“Well done!” Baine coughed and wiped water away from his eyes. “Well done, children!”
“Did we pass?” Imogen asked, squeezing Sassy.
“With flying colors. I daresay you’re ready for the Elemental Cup to begin.” Baine swept his hair out of his eyes.
What a relief. I felt a little better, before I realized that this was it— there were no more training sessions. Next time, it’d be the real deal.
“I applaud your innovation, Liam,” Baine congratulated me. “Sometimes you’ve got to outsmart what’s in front of you instead of beating it down.”
I nodded. I felt a little bad we’d won by manipulation, but hey, this was life or death. “Thanks, Professor.”
“I suggest all of you rest up as much as you can before the tournament, and train sparingly, as to not reach your peak before its time,” Baine said. “You’ll do well. All of you.”
His opinion of us had drastically changed in a short time. Taking that as a dismissal, I headed toward my bike, which was now waterlogged, by the way. I motioned for Sophia. She slid off of Squeaks and joined me.
I successfully drained all the water out of my bike and was able to get it started again, but it ran like shit. Like, shittier than before. Despite being Toaqua-proof, this thing was seeing the end of its days. I got back on and Sophia slid behind me. Esis scurried across the platform and jumped into the saddlebag. We took off before Baine could hold us back.
I drove slow on the way back to Orenda. I hid the bike back in the bushes before I leaned against the stone wall, looking at Sophia. She seemed like she… disapproved of something. Esis sat at her feet, looking up at her.
“Shouldn’t we have stuck around to talk more about the tournament?” she asked.
My stomach clenched nervously. “I didn’t want to stand around and talk about the inevitable,” I told her. “I hate discussing variables and what-ifs. I’ll just take life as it happens.”
“It’s not just about you,” she said. “Jonah and Imogen are nervous, too. Especially Imogen.” Sophia sighed. “She’s worried she’s going to end up like… well.”
Yeah, I’d heard what had happened to Imogen’s brother last year. It’d been brutal.
“It’s just going to make us more anxious,” I said. “We need to focus on the now.”
“You mean enjoying the time we have left.”
Her tone was so direct. I put my hands in my pockets. “Yes.”
Her expression didn’t change. I knew what she was thinking. She thought I was running— like I wanted to run from my sickness, from a possible diagnosis, from everything.
So what if I was? I wanted to keep running. Just a little while longer.
“Why would you do that to Professor Baine, drag him under like that?” Sophia asked. “He could’ve died.”
“It’s pretty hard to drown a Toaqua,” I told her. “We can hold our breath longer than others. Baine was never in any danger.”
She pushed her hair away from her eyes. “It seemed cruel.”
“We did what we had to do. Like we’ll have to do out there,” I insisted. “We don’t have a choice.”
“What if we do?”
“Sophia, we’ve been over this,” I said firmly. “Elementai society doesn’t work that way.”
She huffed before she changed the subject. “I can see why Baine keeps Thalassa in the ocean instead of with him,” Sophia said. Her tone was lighter, and she was trying to smile.
“Right. Can you imagine fitting her in the castle? Insane.” I gave her a weak grimace back. Fuck, I was tired. I didn’t realize it until now, but my entire body was aching. Fighting Baine today had wreaked havoc on me, and he wasn’t even the worst we’d face out there. To make things worse, I could feel a cold coming on. My chest was congested and my head throbbing. It’d come out of nowhere, no warning.
We were in trouble. I had to get better before the tournament, otherwise, Imogen would be dragging me around instead of Jonah. Right now, all I wanted to do was crawl back to my dorm, take a long bath, and go to sleep.
“Hey, Sophia,” I said, and I pushed off the wall. “I don’t really feel well. Talk to you later?”
