by Riley Storm
Her footsteps slowed as she entered the massive dome-shaped room buried deep into the mountain. Others were already present, which did not bother her in itself; however, the sheer number of people in the room was a little uneasy.
Were there to be tryouts? Circe hadn’t mentioned anything about that. Christine had assumed that the Coven would contact those they figured were best suited to be on the team and tell them to get to the arena. She recognized several other upper-year Apprentices, two junior Masters, and even a solitary Initiate.
All in all, she counted eighteen witches including herself. Too many to form a cohesive team. Usually, witches operated in groups of six to thirteen. Any more than that, and control grew rocky as someone tried to manage the entire group. Keeping the numbers smaller—and the witches stronger—would ensure that they operated best as a team.
Her eyes scanned the group, eyebrows knitting together in a frown as she realized someone was missing.
“Where’s Altair?” she asked.
“Who?”
She turned at the voice, beaming as her brain focused on the face attached to it. “Jessie!” she exclaimed as her friend walked through the door to join the group. “What are you doing here?’
The blonde scoffed, giving Christine a somewhat incredulous look. “What’s that supposed to mean? You didn’t think I was talented enough to make this team?’
Christine rolled her eyes. “More like I didn’t think anyone would want to put up with you enough to invite you.”
“Thanks Christi, thanks so much. Right here, you got me,” Jessie laughed, clutching at her heart. “Ouch.”
“It’s good to see you.”
“Yeah, same.” The two stood side by side for a moment.
“You running this shiz yet?” Jessie wanted to know.
“Not yet,” Christine said, looking over her shoulder at the doors, hoping that they would open again to admit one more person. She had really been looking forward to integrating her magic with his skills. She had some wild ideas on how to make things far deadlier for Berith if the demon gave them the opportunity to fight.
“Why not?”
“Pinton is overseeing it, and Circe said a leader will be chosen from within. So, nobody is team leader yet.”
“You mean you might end up working for me?” Jessie joked, the two of them sharing a laugh.
Jessie was a strong witch, naturally inclined toward fire, but she had zero desire to lead others. She just wanted to be pointed in the direction of danger and unleashed to wreak havoc, that was all. It had slowed down her learning somewhat, and she was a year and a half older than Christine, though they were of the same rank, but that hadn’t mattered to their friendship one bit.
“Okay everyone, gather round,” Master Pinton said as the appointed time arrived.
The two shuffled forward, Christine glancing over her shoulder ever few steps, eyes locking on the door.
“What are you looking at?” Jessie asked in a hushed whisper.
“The doors,” she said. “Altair is supposed to be here. He said he would.”
“The dragon shifter?”
“Yeah. We were in the library and—”
“You were in the library with the dragon shifter? Alone?” Jessie asked, her voice carrying enough that several other witches looked over at them.
“Not like that!” Christine protested half-heartedly. Why wasn’t she being more adamant that it wasn’t more than just a study session? “We were just reading up on Lord Berith. That’s it.”
“You’re pretty defensive,” Jessie pointed out.
“Maybe I don’t want rumors going around that I have the hots for a dragon.”
“I never said you had the hots for him,” Jessie pointed out. “You just assumed that’s what I meant.”
“Well I don’t,” she said fiercely. Too fiercely. Jessie was right. Why was she so defensive? It’s not like Altair was anything special. He’d gotten under her skin from the start, trying to steal the books, arguing with her, even getting her in trouble! Why would she like him? He was a jerk, really. That was it.
“Whatever you say,” Jessie muttered under her breath.
Master Pinton looked at the two of them. “Are you ladies done yet? This is serious business. If you can’t handle it, then please leave.”
Shooting Jessie a quick glare, Christine straightened and looked straight ahead. This was not the start she wanted, and it was all Jessie’s fault. And Altair’s. Where was the dragon shifter?
“As you may have noticed,” Master Pinton was saying, drawing her thoughts back from Altair, pushing the image of him from her mind. “There are more of you here than we normally operate with as a team. None of you will be cut, unless you prove to be a detriment to the team with your attitude or unwillingness to follow orders. Thirteen of you will compose the team, with six alternates who will train on the regular and be ready to go if something happens to a primary member.”
Jessie was already tuning the Master out, her mind wandering back to Altair. Their meeting in the library had been nothing but random occurrence, and purely a research session. Hadn’t it?
Now she was going back, analyzing every word, every look he’d given her, trying to decipher if there had been more to his actions than she’d thought. Did he like her? She couldn’t come up with anything to say so, and she most definitely did not like him, regardless of how attractive she found him. Just because she admired his broad shoulders and thick arms did not mean she liked him. She was allowed to think he was good looking, that his oval face and perfect round mouth were nice features. That his laugh was a pleasant rumble that made her smile.
No, she definitely did not like him. But he was cute.
The door’s boomed open behind her.
Christine whirled, her face lighting up. It was Altair! He’d come after all. She was going to get a chance to see him again.
To work with him again, she corrected her mind very firmly. That was all. She was excited to try their powers together, nothing more. Just their powers, working to defeat bad guys, that was it.
“Sorry I’m late,” Altair said as he walked swiftly over to the group. “I couldn’t find the arena. The person I asked for directions sent me somewhere else entirely.”
Master Pinton’s mouth compressed into a thin line. “As you are not familiar with Winterspell’s layout to the extent the rest of us are, I will let this pass today, but today only. We are glad and eager to have a dragon working with us, but I won’t let your status distract us from our mission. If you continue to be late, you will not join us. Clear?”
“Clear,” Altair said, coming up to stand next to Christine, flashing her a little smile before focusing his attention entirely on Master Pinton.
Christine tried to do the same, but Jessie’s elbow dug into her side. She turned her head slightly to see her friend bounce her eyebrows several times.
No, she mouthed to her friend before staring straight ahead, ignoring any further reaction.
She did not like Altair.
He was cute.
Nothing more.
Chapter Eight
Altair
It wasn’t long after he arrived that they broke the group up to begin running simulations.
“What’s going on?” he asked as the first group of six witches stepped forward.
“It’s time to start learning to work as a team,” Christine explained. “It’s best to do that by going up against enemies and defeating them. The more we work together, the more we practice, the better we get as a team. Learning everyone’s strengths, weaknesses, and how to best compliment them.”
“Right. Okay. I get that,” he said, feeling stupid and uncomfortable. “But how are they going to do that? We’re deep in a mountain. Shouldn’t we be outside, trying to find some creatures to fight or something?”
“We go up against simulations of the enemies,” she said, as if that explained everything.
Suddenly, the room darkened. Altair watc
hed in astonishment as landscape grew up around them, appearing out of nowhere.
“What the—” he growled, taking a step backward as snowy mountains arose out of nowhere and the air grew colder.
“Relax,” Christine said, reaching out to put a reassuring hand on his arm. “It’s fine. It’s just fake. Made from magic.”
“I didn’t know you could do such things,” he said calmly. “Wow. Magic is cool.”
The witch giggled. “You know, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone look at magic with such wide-eyed wonder. It’s…really a nice reminder that yeah, it’s cool.”
The first group of witches disappeared into the scene that had arisen in front of them. Christine and her friend, along with Altair, were in the next group to go.
“So, the enemies are out there?” he asked as sounds of fighting came from somewhere in front of them. He could hear witches shouting, some sort of creature howled before the whistle of the wind robbed them of all sound from the fight.
“Yeah. Fake ones, magical constructs. That’s what this whole place is for,” Christine explained. “There are spells placed on it that make creating this easier to do, so that witches can run it again and again.”
“Very good.”
Master Pinton appeared. “Next group. You’re up.”
Altair moved forward with his group, though he wasn’t sure what to do. He kept glancing at Christine, watching her, trying to understand what was expected of him. There had been no instruction, no orders. Just ‘work as a team, defeat the enemy’.
He didn’t even know what they were up against.
At one point, Christine looked at him. Their eyes met and he fought back the urge to smile at her. She was quite pleasant to look at. He’d noticed that when she’d tracked him down in the hallway, but now that he knew her, knew more about her, he found himself drawn to her again.
Something roared to his left. His head whipped around just in time to see a three-headed dog the size of a dragon burst from a snowdrift and come charging at them.
The witches all leapt into action, while Altair stood there and did nothing, simply watching Christine as she barked orders at her group. He didn’t know what to do. Striking it with lightning would do nothing, it was just made of magic and—
One of the heads snatched at him, picked him up from the ground and flung him twenty feet through the air where he hit the cliff face and slid to the ground, landing in a snowbank that cushioned his fall.
Behind him, the witches shouted and magic lashed out at the creature. Chains of blue magic shot up and over the massive thing, driving deep into the ground on the far side, while the witches themselves anchored the other end.
The beast howled. Altair groaned, getting to his feet. For something magic, it hit hard. That spiked anger in him, and he lashed out with it, striking the creature with lightning.
One of the heads exploded where it struck.
“Stop it!” Christine shouted, while Altair stared in horror.
Where the one head had been, two more were quickly growing back. With a roar, the new heads jerked hard, and two of the witches were hauled from the ground, freeing the beast. It growled in freedom, pawing at the ground.
Altair ran forward, not wanting to cause more damage. “What can I do?” he shouted as Christine struggled to haul another line down over the beast. “What hurts it?”
Another witch stepped forward then, her spell finished. Altair reared back as heat bloomed and a giant ball of flame enveloped the creature. It roared and tried to shake free, but the witches held it in place as it burned.
Eventually, the struggles on the line slackened, and the witches were able to relax. It was dead.
“You have to burn it all at once,” Christine said as the team regrouped. “Otherwise, it just keeps regrowing faster than we can fight it.” She stomped over to help one of the other witches up. He followed.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
“Next time, just keep your eyes open and focus on our surroundings, okay? You were on the left flank. You should have seen it coming, given us another second or two warning. That’s your job, Altair.”
“I’m here to kill the demon lord,” he countered.
“Not today you aren’t. We wouldn’t stand a chance against him. We need to work as a team,” she said. “Now are you up for it or not?”
“I’ll do my part,” he said. “Just let me know what you need me to do as it happens.”
“I will.”
The team regrouped, and they continued out into the wintery maze, searching out the next bad guy.
It came from the left. Again. This time Altair was watching. He noted their surroundings.
“This would be a good place for an ambush,” he muttered just loud enough for the team to hear. “If I were them, I’d have something—”
Snow shivered and reformed itself on the left.
“Elementals!” Christine shouted, as if that was supposed to mean something.
Snow creatures were coming at them from three sides, while the team was hemmed in from the fourth by a sheer cliff face.
“What do I do?” he asked, looking at Christine, wanting to know what he should do.
The witches head swung his direction, and their eyes locked.
Altair inhaled sharply as he saw deep into her soul, past her defenses. She was unguarded then, her focus elsewhere, and what he saw was…wonderful.
Someone was talking, but for Altair, time was frozen.
She was beautiful. He’d never known just how gorgeous she was, but right then, right there, her hair swinging wildly, robes clinging just right, her eyes…dark and mysterious usually they had morphed into warm and inviting. He just wanted to reach up and touch her cheek.
They were buried under a pile of snow as the elementals hit them. The witches were paralyzed, waiting for Christine to snap orders, and when she didn’t, they lashed out on their own, disorganized. They lost.
The simulation ended, and Altair found himself back in the arena again.
“What was that?” Master Pinton snapped as she approached. “I thought you were the best of the best, and you let a bunch of snow elementals get the best of you? Next!” she turned away with disgust.
Altair bit his lip. “I’m sorry,” he said, feeling responsible for what had just happened.
“Stow it,” Christine snapped at him. “Next time just focus on your damn job. Stop screwing things up, okay? Just do it right next time!”
Altair nodded, refraining from speaking some more. Telling her that he hadn’t meant to screw up, that he wasn’t even sure what had come over him, that didn’t seem like it would help. She was upset, and he doubted it was entirely at him.
After all, she’d been staring at him too.
Biting his lip in irritation, Altair wandered off back to the start, determined that next time, he wouldn’t lose his concentration just before a battle.
Again, people had died because of him, even if it was just a practice. What if that happened in the real world? He needed to be in better control, just like Christine had said. Next time he was going to show her that he could do what was necessary, that he could focus and complete the mission. She would be proud of him.
He blinked at that thought.
Why do I care if she’s proud of me? I should be focused on the mission, nothing else.
Chapter Nine
Christine
The simulation disappeared as Master Pinton shut it down.
“That’s all for today. Next session is tomorrow at six. In the morning.” The Master’s eyes focused on Altair. “Don’t be late.”
Christine noted the flash of anger in his eyes. Good. After his performance today he should be angry. The damn dragon shifter had screwed up twice, all because he couldn’t stop looking to her for help and guidance.
Perhaps she couldn’t put the entire blame on him. After all, he didn’t know what any of the creatures were, or how to attack them. They couldn’t s
low down just to bring him up to speed on the myriad creatures of the Abyss; there were simply too many of them. He would have to adapt and learn on the fly.
And so far, he was doing a poor job of it.
Not that he’s the only one who’s done a poor job today.
“I expect more out of you,” Master Pinton said as she came by. “Don’t let distractions bring the team down, Apprentice Sinnclare. Deal with them. Rise above them. Be better than…this.”
Then she was gone, leaving Christine. It wasn’t all her fault. None of the teams had done overly well today, though hers had done the worst. It was not the start she’d hoped for.
Although she’d had many ideas on how to integrate dragon and witch powers together while studying with Altair, in the real world it was proving to be much harder to implement. She had to somehow work Altair into the mix, while also forging a team from the rest of the witches, few of whom had ever worked together in a situation such as this.
It wasn’t going to be easy. At one point, after the snow elementals had overwhelmed her team, she’d begun to have doubts, to wonder if she was cut out for the leadership of the team.
“You look like you’re being hard on yourself.”
She looked up from her self-ruminations as Altair shuffled over to stand near her. “What makes you say that?”
“Slumped shoulders, inward looking stare, clenching and unclenching your fist.” The dragon shrugged. “I’ve seen it before,” he explained, declining to say where.
Christine shrugged. “I expect more out of myself,” she told him. “I came in here with the goal of leading this team. I still want to do that, but I didn’t realize just how much work it was going to be.”
“Being in charge is always harder than it looks. Some people are cut out for it, some are not,” he said wistfully.
She almost asked him what that was all about but declined. Right now, she wasn’t sure that talking to Altair was going to cheer her up. Working with him was supposed to be easy. Yet it wasn’t. It had been the closest thing to a nightmare.
“Thanks for the pep talk,” she said a bit more bitterly than intended.
