by Bob Dattolo
“You’re cute, cupcake. I’ve never heard anyone say that here. As for me and my thinking? How you view it is, again, immaterial to me.”
He hit the table and stood, “I’ll make it material to you!”
This time I did smile. “Class? Everyone here? For all of you that hate me? I am making an open challenge to anyone and everyone in our class. You think you’re so big and bad and that I need to die for something my parents did to me and for some bullshit rumors? Come and challenge me if you dare.”
Marc spit on the floor, “Fuck off, psycho. You’ll get taken down tomorrow. You can’t protect yourself from all of us.”
“Talka talka talka, Marc.” I jabbered with my hand, “Ooh, I hate you and I want you to die, but I won’t do it myself. I have to get a group with me so that they do it and I take the power someone else earned for me. Have fun with that. If you can get it to work? Then good, I’ll be laughing in hell as someone caves in your skull before you can get to my power.”
Another girl I haven’t really spoken with, Raquel, broke in from another table. She’s a metal mage from the islands and is slightly lighter than Cleo is, “How can one tiny girl be so hated by so many people?”
“I’d say it’s a calling, it’s a gift, but the reality is that the assholes that hate me blame me for something my parents did to me. Then they go further and believe the bullshit rumors about me.”
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”
“Or maybe you losers are too blind to see the obvious thing right in front of you. How you can believe two completely contradictory things about me at the same time and then do it again and again for different rumors is beyond me. It really is. I’ve spoken with most of you so few times that I don’t even know most of your names. Yet you guys believe everything about me. None, literally none of you, have ever been threatened by me by name until this bullshit started. I’ve never spoken to any of you and told you my deep, dark plans for killing people or whatever is out there about me. None of you can point to any situation where you witnessed me doing or saying the things the rumors are about. None of you. Yet you somehow believe it. Oh, my sister’s best friend from college said his cousin’s neighbor’s aunt said that I was gonna kill everyone eating ice cream on a Tuesday.” I smiled at the look on her face, “Yeah, I heard that one. Just like I heard I was gonna kill everyone that wasn’t eating ice cream that day. Want to know why that one got started?” I didn’t wait for an answer, “I purposefully went to three different people and told them that I really, really want ice cream the next day. Tuesday. They knew to mention that to others. I told them at 4 on Monday. By 9, the rumors came back to me. yet literally zero of you heard me say shit about killing anyone related to ice cream. Except you’ll all swear that I did because you heard it from this person who heard it somewhere else.”
I started eating again, “So take your hatred of me and cram it up your asses. Here’s my threat to each and every one of you. I already gave everyone an open challenge. Come at me and we’ll see who makes it to the trial tomorrow. Beyond that? If you come for me, I will kill you or die trying. If you hit my stuff with magic or laughed at me? Don’t even think about asking me for help. I helped people all over the place last year, up to and including giving people a spell to make it through one of the tests. Anyone that wasn’t involved and didn’t laugh at me? Ask me for help, and I’ll help. Turn on me, and I’ll eat your fucking eyes right from their sockets. For the rest of you? Don’t ask me to pass the salt in there. Don’t ask me to help tie your shoes. Don’t ask for the time, because I’ll use that as an excuse to kill you. You attacked me first. Remember that. I didn’t do shit to your stuff. You all did it to me. If we make it out of this shit, maybe I forgive and forget by next year and we go on. It’s just stuff. But that’s on the back of me losing everything last year, too. Then again, if one of you here are the person fucking me with rumors? I can’t wait to find who you are. I will do things to you that will make the most grizzled soldiers throw up in terror to even read about.”
Shocked silence around me.
Marc laughed, breaking the silence. No one else joined him, “Like I said, you’re a fucking psycho that thinks she’s better than everyone else.”
“I never once said I was better than anyone. What I’ve said is that I deserve to live and be here. Not treated like shit and an animal because my parents were assholes.”
“Whatever, freak. We got your number. Tomorrow you’re ours and we clear the shit out of the class. I hope you have a fun night waiting to die.”
“Marc? You make it sound like I’m gonna have issues sleeping tonight. I’ve had issues for more than nine years. Tonight’s no more special to me than any other night. You think you’re making fun of me by calling me psycho and psychotic, when the reality is that I’m pretty sure you’re hitting the nail on the head. I just force myself to be something else most of the time. Come for me and meet the real me. I dare you.”
“Oh, we’ll be coming for you.”
“Talking a big game. Won’t go for a challenge but will let others die in your place? Such a leader. Screw leading from the front. Lead from the back and let the cannon fodder take the damage while you act like the victory was yours. If you manage to get people to kill me, you won’t live long enough to get my power. I can pretty much guarantee that.”
Silence again from the group as I finished eating and stood, “You all enjoy your night. Don’t you just love falling asleep, being all unaware and unprotected like that?”
That got some fantastic responses, and I hid my laughter under a wash of rage that the dragons picked up on. Makes me wonder just how many of them are going to get any decent sleep tonight. I’m thinking fewer than were going to before.
Chapter 42
Eva slept in with Tiffany, while I slept in my closet with the door closed. I managed to get another blanket and just left it at that. It’s not worth going for more at the moment. Instead of waking at 5 like normal, I was up at 3. I pushed myself to make it that far. As much as I’m probably the most used to dealing with this kind of mental shit, it’s still a boatload of it on top of everything else going on.
At least I got to read through my grimoires again last night and again this morning. Then I flew them to Alicia’s place and left them with her. I asked her to let some folks pick through them if I die, with her getting to keep the rest.
She agreed, which I was happy to see, then I flew back. I had planned on taking multiple trips to get everything to her, then just stuck it all into the blanket and carried it that way. What can I say? I like efficiency, plus I’m not gonna need the blanket any time soon today.
It still got me back to the school by 5:15, at which point I went in and picked out breakfast. Last year I mostly missed it and ended up eating raw eggs and bacon. This morning, I wanted something good.
I even got a good corner table and watched everyone come in. Some came in on their own. Some came in groups. Even Kaylee was there. She didn’t seem to see me and sat a few tables over. She’s by herself and I can smell her nerves as she jerks and constantly looks around like she’s going to be attacked.
No one even looks twice at her.
What the hell, man. That’s a girl that needs a massage, to get laid, and like a pound of pot or something to calm down. Makes me wonder if she’s going to bypass the trial or not.
I know some of us are. There are always some.
The third-year students are the strongest, hungriest, and typically the most blood-thirsty. The trial this year is the last time they can easily go after people outside of a challenge. That means we’re potentially walking into a threshing machine. I looked up some stats for recent years, and it’s not uncommon to have a 40 percent reduction in numbers between second and third year. Hell, we lost 10 percent last year before losing another 50 percent in the trial itself. Now we have…hmm, 117 people? I’ll be pretty impressed if we aren’t at like 100 before walking through those doors. Possibly less depending
how aggressive folks are and if they think they can drain people to make it through.
Not as many angry looks my way this morning. The air’s filled with the smell of worry. Concern. Fear. Regret. Longing. More fear. Terror, which smells different from fear. Overall anxiety. At least two people have pissed themselves since coming in, although they didn’t really react when it happened. They’re so lost in their worry that it didn’t really register much. Although one’s a dragon, so they wouldn’t care nearly as much as a mage would.
My allies arrived in different batches and all sat at different tables after giving me our hidden sign.
That made me feel really good.
They also smell like worry and all of that. So far, I think I’m the only person controlling things well enough to not smell like most of those.
One of the doors popped open and Levi came in, smiling wide at everyone. “Hey, there you all are!” He laughed and pointed around at everyone, “Thank you all for coming today. We’ve got a great show for you!” He kept smiling wide as he carved through the tables towards food. Most tables barely have any food at them, a testament to the worry eating them. They have a buffet thing set up if we want it, and he managed to fill a plate before heading for a table.
No, heading for my table.
He slid his tray down as people stared at him, then sat and looked back across everyone, “C’mon, people, you didn’t think I was gonna let her face the assholes in the group that want to kill her for wrecking everyone’s stuff? When the smart people here know she didn’t have anything to do with it? Yeah, nah, that ain’t gonna happen. If anyone kills her, it’ll be me. So make your plans, but maybe think about accounting for me? Because where she goes, I go. She went out of her way to save my life last year, and you guys decided to shit on her yesterday.” He nodded towards Ryan, his former ally, “Hell, she saved Ryan, and he was part of the same group with me. She gave him power from one of us that she was killing. She didn’t have to. She threw him across the finish line too. Saved his ass. Saved mine. She didn’t have to. She coulda finished us and taken our power without a problem, yet she didn’t.” He took a bite of food, “Now, go back to fretting and making your plans. We’ll deal with you soon enough.”
Holy fuck?!?
My allies gave me looks that I returned. Obviously filled with confusion.
A silence spell went up around us that basically muffled and muddied voices. It wasn’t designed to block them entirely, which folks are kinda looking for. I’m hoping that since my hair didn’t light up, people will think we’re just whispering.
“Levi? What the fuck?”
He continued to eat. Out of everyone I’ve smelled so far, at least clearly, he’s maybe a quarter as upset and afraid. He barely paused, which got me to start eating again. “I’m not letting you face them alone, Maddie.”
“You want to kill me yourself?”
He smirked at me, “I’m still not over losing my revenge, but I’m beyond the hate that I had last year. You know that, right?”
Okay, I have to give that to him, “I thought you were, yeah.”
“I am.” He smelled completely honest, “I’ll be there with you.”
“Why, though? You could make it through without taking that risk!”
He shrugged, “Maybe I could, but I doubt it. I don’t have any real allies. Everyone I spoke to? Everyone I tried to join up with? They dropped me for various reasons. Uncertainty. Rumors about you that included me. Things like that. So I’m on my own.”
“But you’re not doing it to save your own ass.”
“I’m not.” Good, he took my comment the way I meant it, “You deserve to have people with you. I get that you have allies already, but now you have a visible one.”
Noise to the side got us looking over, finding a terrified Kaylee practically vibrating with fear as she looked at us.
“I don’t get what her thing is with you this year. I’ve been watching her all year. Listening for rumors. All of that. She’s been beaten to hell any number of times, yet I’ve never found anyone gloating about it. Talking about it other than generally. Nothing.”
“Yeah, I don’t get it. I’m not sure why people would continue to go after her for being connected with me.”
“Maybe it’s not that? Maybe it’s because she’s so timid? I was shocked as shit that she made it through last year. I thought for sure she was gonna be killed any number of times. By others. By us. Yet she made it. She made it through this year, too.”
“Yeah. I wanted to look out for her, but she’s made it clear that she doesn’t want any part of that.”
“Well, whatever. I don’t see her accepting the trial, so this’ll probably be the last day we see her.”
“Or possibly anyone.”
He laughed at my response, “Maybe. Maybe that’s the case. We’ll know for sure soon enough, right? For now? Finish your food. Do you want to talk strategy at all? Have you set anything up with the others?”
More food went down before I responded, “We haven’t talked specifics much. We wanted to get a lay of the land and see what we’re facing. We’re still staying mostly apart so that it’s not obvious that we’re together. About the only thing we’ve agreed on is that I’ll try to be close to the front of the group down the steps and either head left or right and head towards the wall. They’ll take up spots in the general area but let others get closer. If anyone goes for me, then they’ll be at their backs. Beyond that? I’m not sure what to do when the doors open. Part of me wants to take one and rush in and race to the finish. Another part wants to wait and see where people go, then head in. That way I don’t get caught between a test and someone coming up behind me.”
He nodded as I talked, “Okay, no comment on the left or right thing. That sounds as good as anything. Don’t forget that you can shift quickly and get up onto one of the perches. You may want to do that depending on what happens.”
“We’ll see. If you’re really staying near me, I doubt I’ll want to risk you.”
He smiled, “See now, that’s funny. You could actually lift me up onto a higher perch and then guard me while I shift. Then we’ll both be in dragon form. I’d like to see anyone really go for us then, especially if we make it obvious we’re not gonna attack them.”
That…that has promise, “I’m not sure. I’d want to talk to the others about that. We’re in the same boat we were last year. Once someone is in dragon form, most of us don’t really have a ton of ways to hurt us. It’s possible and more likely this year, but still risky. The others may not want to chance it.”
“True. I can see that. Then again, get all of the dragons to shift. Mages stay together in the middle. Assuming the mages can trust us not to attack. Personally, I’m not sure I’d risk it, but it’s a possibility.”
Huh, “Yeah, I’m not sure I’d see them agreeing to that. Maybe, but unlikely. What about going through the doors?”
He didn’t respond at first, “That’s a harder one. It really is. Some of the us that ran through quickly made it to the other side of the last test pretty easily from what I understand. Then again, you’d have to be confident that you can figure out the puzzles or get the spells working to pass the tests, so it’s a risk. If we can do it, though, and can trust the others, then we could go as a group and simply race ahead. Figure out the challenges together, then pass through and wait on the other side. Move as a group, stay together. The only risk there would be if a mass of people came up against the test. From that perspective, it may be better to wait so that it’s less likely. Most people won’t come back to a test once they pass it, so we’d be less likely to have someone approach from the other side.”
So many possibilities. “I guess…I guess we wait and see. Watch what other people do. Hell, I could get killed in the room to begin with, at which point picking a door won’t matter all that much.”
“Yeah…yeah, you got me there.”
We fell into a companionable silence as we finished eating an
d I let the spell disappear. I’m not sure we needed it since we were talking low enough that it might be missed by most people. No one had a listening spell up, so that’s a decent possibility.
“This place, man, this is crazy.” Levi pushed his empty tray away at my comment, “Look at everyone. We’re a fucking load of zombies, which shouldn’t be the case. We should be off at college. Getting ready for, I don’t know, history of the world or calculus or some crap like that. Instead, we’re getting ready to head for the trial, where we can be pretty sure someone’s gonna die. Possibly more than just one.”
He took my empty tray from me and added it to his, “We should. Then again, we could always go to college after this?” Some of the neighboring tables laughed at his comment. “What, it could happen!” More laughter.
“Riiight, how many people have heard of one of us doing that? I’m sure some do, but realistically? I know my memory’s fucked and all, but I don’t think I’ve ever met a mage or dragon that actually goes to college. Sure as hell not anywhere close to graduating from this place.”
Samantha spoke up, “Some, but it’s few and far between. Usually those of us that drop out try it. The ones that make it all three years and then through the ascendent trial? Either we’re powerful enough to make more money than we know what to do with without a degree, or we’re so fucked up in the head that going to a normal college would mean someone debating us in a class gets killed out of hand. This place tends to beat into your head that everyone is out for you, so being back in a school setting? It’s a recipe for people dying.”
“Yeah, yeah, I can see that.” I really can. This is the type of place where flashbacks more than likely result in people getting taken down without delay.
Marc threw a piece of toast my way that missed by a country mile, “You don’t have to worry about that, stricken. I’m pretty sure more than one of us is gonna be wearing your blood by 8:30 today.”
“You wish, Marc. For once in your life, you want to look beautiful, and you know that’s one way of doing it. Eu de Maddie, tribal makeup for the pathetic soul that wants to reach beyond themselves and prove to the world that they’re worth something. If I think I’m going down? I’ll make sure it’s not you getting a piece of me purely out of spite.”
