Aspect Of Winter

by Tom Early

  The fourth fight pitted Septimus and Jacob up against two entirely normal-looking boys, both wearing robes of gray. The fight ended almost immediately, as the gray-robed boys attempted to summon something enormous, powerful enough to cause the light in the Arena to warp and distort alarmingly. Seconds later, both of them fainted, and red light sprang out from their heads.

  “There’s always one every year,” Aria sighed. “The University warns you about summoning past your level, but clearly those two didn’t get the message. I wonder where they even got that spell in the first place.”

  At the end of that battle, the Speaker reappeared in the Arena, and declared the day’s events over, and that the Trial would resume at noon tomorrow. A scroll materialized in her hands, and she slowly read aloud the names of all of the applicants who had failed the Trial. She opened a portal behind her, and the file of failed students slowly shuffled through. I’d never seen such a thoroughly depressed group of individuals before in my life. Some of them were sobbing openly as they passed through the portal, having failed at their chance to make it in.

  I couldn’t imagine how I’d begin to feel if that was me making the walk. I wasn’t going to let that happen.

  Chapter Thirty

  The Trial continued on for three more days, beginning at noon each time, and never going past when the sky began to darken. Sam, Tyler and I fought against a new opponent every day.

  On the first day, we fought the musical twins, the bard girls. Their names were Allie and Lydia Swift, and they bombarded us with waves of deadly music that rippled through the air. I couldn’t say what the songs sounded like, though. I was too busy shoring up my Wards that were protecting all three of us from the harmful vibrations in the air. Sam tested out the air by throwing a Minor Orb at them, and the vibrations destroyed the ball of pressurized air instantly. I wasn’t sure how long we would’ve been able to hold out if not for Tyler. He told me something he remembered from his Physics class, that sound traveled faster when it was warm, and slower when it was cold. Something to do with the speed of the particles that the vibrations traveled through.

  Physics wasn’t my strong suit, but I got what he was saying well enough. As it turned out, once I had lowered the temperature of the air in the middle of the Arena to arctic temperatures, well below freezing, the sound came through slowly enough that it couldn’t do any real damage. After that, it became a game of endurance. I kept the temperature incredibly low, and the girls kept singing. One of us was going to give out first, and it ended up being the sisters. When they collapsed from exhaustion, Sam marched over and kicked each one sharply in the temple, sending up twin bursts of red light. I followed suit and collapsed myself a few seconds later, but we had won at that point. Not the most satisfying victory, but it wasn’t like I minded. Sam was a bit grouchy about it, but that was probably just because she didn’t get to have a real fight. I was pretty sure it took at least one life-threatening situation a day to keep her happy.

  Sam and I had discussed what to do if we ended up fighting the dryad girl and her werewolf companion, and that turned out to have been a good decision.

  The second fight began with Sam and Tyler advancing forward to fight the werewolf immediately, as the dryad and I both began to work our magic on the ground beneath us. Thankfully, it was quicker and easier to freeze the ground into a layer of permafrost than it was to force an entire forest to grow. The dryad ended up screeching at me in fury, and the really sharp teeth she showed dispelled the whole “innocent forest spirit” myth for me. Thankfully, Sam and Tyler had already knocked out the werewolf at this point, as I had tried out a new effect on Tyler’s sword and Sam’s daggers, specifically for use against the fast-healing lycanthropes. Whenever the blades cut into a creature’s flesh, it left a thick layer of ice behind, preventing the wounds from closing over, and slowing movement slightly. It was a nasty effect, but it looked like it was also extremely effective.

  Sam blasted five of her Minor Orbs one after another into the werewolf’s head, and that was enough for a red flare to shoot into the sky. The dryad, meanwhile, sent an ever-growing spear of vines straight at me, roots piling on top of each other until it was several feet thick and had a hell of a lot of force behind it. That was when Tyler threw his sword at her. His athletic ability was enough for it to be on target, but not enough to make the pointy part be the one that hit. Still, a hilt to the head was more than enough to stun her enough to make her vine spear fall apart. By the time she shook her head enough to think clearly again, Tyler was holding his other spatha at her throat.

  Naturally, she summoned a root that swept his feet out from under him, and a massive vine that threw him back towards me. I formed a hasty snowbank to catch him, and only a few blue flares sprang up.

  “Chivalry is dead,” Sam sighed, “because the pretty forest girl killed it.”

  The dryad turned to face Sam, and forced a wall of roots to spring out of the air itself to form a barrier. I stifled a few pangs of jealousy at the awesome magic, and watched as Sam’s Minor Orbs, which at this point she had spread out on all sides of the dryad with the minimal amount of air possible so as not to be easily seen, suddenly smashed into her. The dryad collapsed behind her barrier, and Sam lightly pushed the roots and leaves aside as the wall fell apart as well. Unlike Tyler, Sam had no issue with treating the dryad roughly, and her vicious kick to the dryad’s head sent up a red flare immediately.

  At the end of the third day of fighting, Speaker Sekhmene made an announcement.

  “At this point, those teams who have won at least two matches are considered to have passed the Trial of Competition. Congratulations to the victors, and it is my pleasure to welcome you into the University fold.”

  The Speaker’s face showed a barely visible motion for the first time since I’d arrived at the Retreat. There was the barest upturning of her lips, almost as if she were smiling.

  There was an incredible amount of noise as around thirty or so kids sprang to their feet and cheered and stamped their feet for all they were worth. The three of us were among them. Sam let out a terrifying pterodactyl screech and hugged me so hard I swear I felt a rib crack. I hugged her back fiercely and then fucking beamed at Tyler, who was grinning so hard at me that it had to hurt. I pulled him in for a celebratory kiss. It was nice, up until Sam almost made me bite my tongue off by slapping me on the back in the middle of it.

  Next to us, Aria did her own little freak-out dance that involved some complicated wing-twirling, and nearly gave me a face full of feathers. Next to her, though, Kaede just looked determined, and possibly a little hopeful. Aria stopped dancing a few seconds later, still grinning, and whispered to me and Sam.

  “I’m still staying in. If I want to make sure that Kaede makes it in, I need to keep winning for as long as possible. Plus, I want whatever the first place winner gets!”

  Sam matched her grin. “Oh, is that so? Well, it’s a real pity that it’s going to be Team Human,” she said, gesturing at herself, Tyler, and me, “that takes first place.”

  Tyler and I joined together in a joint-frown attack on Sam.

  “What?” she raised her hands defensively. “Take what you can get! Survival of the fittest! Aria doesn’t need to get first place to make sure Kaede gets in!”

  Aria smiled peacefully at the three of us. “She’s right, I just need to bring her through the semifinals. You three should definitely keep going, I want to be able to fight against you guys too! Besides,” she added, her easy smile transitioning smoothly into a smirk, “it’s not like I’m going to lose.”

  Sam lifted an eyebrow. “Challenge accepted.”

  The Speaker then called our attention back to her.

  “Those applicants who have failed the Trial of Competition, it is now my time to bid you farewell.” She nodded, and dozens of the pale, long-limbed homunculi sprang forth from seemingly nowhere. All around us, applicants were politely asked to stand up and follow the homunculi through the portals, and back
to their homes. Some of them stood stiffly, and began to follow, their faces showing as little emotion as they could manage. Others were sobbing quietly to themselves, and a white-gloved hand would reach out to help them up.

  “Worry not,” the Speaker added. “The homes of all applicants, successful or otherwise, are currently being monitored as a precaution against attack. You will be safe, and under guard until the threat has been identified and dealt with.”

  She made a cutting motion with her hand as she said this, and I was reminded of the brutal scimitar it had held on that night, and the quick and ruthless way she’d dealt with Sam complaining. I had a feeling that anyone stupid enough to cross her would only live long enough to regret it.

  Once the homunculi had finished escorting those who had failed from the Retreat and the rest of us had settled back down, the Speaker continued.

  “For those of you remaining, you have a choice now. You may either continue the Arena battles to have a chance at claiming one of the top three positions, or you may choose to observe the fighters that do. Please stand if you wish to continue.”

  I stood, glancing around me as I did. Aria and Kaede stood as well, and I saw Septimus and Jacob get up as well. Lastly, I saw the armored boy from before (sans helmet, revealing blonde hair and blue eyes and a killer jawline) and the smaller one with black hair and blue eyes, stand as well. No other teams rose.

  “Very well. These four teams shall face each other on the morrow in the same fashion as before. It shall be standard elimination, and the two winning teams shall then face each other. The losing teams shall face each other as well for the third place position.”

  With that, the Speaker disintegrated into silvery light once more, and the portals out of the Arena opened. Tyler and I headed back to our rooms, and Sam stayed back with Aria, conversing with her about something. Their heads were bowed towards each other, and I saw the barest hint of a blush on Sam’s cheeks. I had a pretty good guess as to what was going on there, and it was… really sweet.

  I mentioned what I’d seen to Tyler, and he chuckled.

  “Figures Sam would fall for someone she has to fight. I’m not sure she knows the difference between bloodlust and normal lust.”

  “That actually makes a scary amount of sense,” I said. “Still, I hope it goes well for them. She deserves it.”

  Tyler smiled at me, pulling me into his side as we entered our room. “You’re a really good friend, Fay. You know that, right?”

  “Yeah, well, she’s better,” I said softly. “And if anyone deserves romance, it’s her.” I paused and grinned wickedly. “If only so I can get payback for all the mocking she’s given us.”

  Tyler smirked. “I’m in.”

  I leaned against him fondly, and then fell down on the bed. Something was bothering me, something about Tyler that I’d managed to push to the back of my mind during the Trials.

  “Tyler…” I said slowly, “do you remember back when you confronted me and Sam about magic?”

  Tyler froze, surprise, guilt and worry written across his honest face.

  “Yeah, I do,” he said, not meeting my eyes. “Why?”

  “The other night, when I was telling you and Sam about how I got,” I gestured at my hair and eyes, “like this, you said that my parents might have not told me something because there are some things no parent wants to tell their child. And it sounded like you were speaking from experience.” I looked at him seriously. “Is there any chance those two events are connected?”

  Tyler sighed heavily and sat down next to me. “If it helps, it’s no longer a problem.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Tyler looked at his hands. “I didn’t want to tell you, Fay. First because I only knew you as the guy I had a crush on, and then because I didn’t want to make my problems yours.” His hands were starting to tremble. “I’m supposed to make you happy, not sad. Never sad.”

  I stared at him incredulously. “Tyler, the point of us dating isn’t so that I can just lean on you for comfort. You should be able to lean on me, too. Did you think it would make me happy to know that you decided it would be better just to deal with whatever this was on your own? I should be there for you. You have to let me do that.”

  Tyler said something too quietly for me to hear.

  “What was that?”

  “I said, I wanted to be able to protect you.” It was barely a whisper, and his voice sounded defeated. I couldn’t see any trace of the smiling face he was showing just a minute ago. It made my heart ache.

  “Protect me?”

  “Yeah, Fay, protect you.” His tone was resigned. “I can’t, I know. I’m the squishy human with no powers, I get it. I couldn’t protect you from the Dullahan, I could barely protect you from the hydra, and I’m next to useless in all these Trial fights. I can’t protect you from anything real, so I thought I could at least not make things worse.”

  I was stunned. It hadn’t occurred to me at all that Tyler might have felt useless. He didn’t show it at all. And he wasn’t. So I had to show him that.

  I let out a bitter laugh. “It figures, you know. The wisest person I know is also the biggest idiot.”

  “What?” Tyler asked.

  “You. How can you…” I had to grin, despite the tone of the situation. “I can’t believe what a pair of morons we are. We’re too busy trying to help each other to actually see that we already are.”

  Tyler frowned, his voice normal again. “I don’t get it.”

  “Don’t you get it? I’m too busy thinking about how I’m putting you in danger to realize that that’s where you want to be. You’re too busy trying not to feel useless to realize that I already need you more than anyone else.” I threaded my fingers in with his, pulling him in close. “Tyler, I’d be lost without you right now. I’d be a shivering mess, too scared and freaked out to do anything but scream. Your being here is the only thing keeping me in one piece. I’m surrounded by monsters and myths, and as awesome as it is to be with other people who have magic, it’s also crazy and terrifying and something I would never be able to deal with on my own.”

  “But you have Sam for that,” Tyler pointed out.

  I had to laugh at that. “In case you haven’t noticed, Sam isn’t very good at making things normal. She adds excitement to things, but she doesn’t make them bearable. You do. You’re always there for me, to talk to me, to hold me, to make me feel like a person who is wanted and cared for and… I’d love you for that alone. But you’re more than that. You’re the guy who proved to me that I matter, that I’m important. You’re the guy who lets me be weird and just smiles and pulls me closer. You’re the guy who’s risking his life just to keep me safe and sane. I have so many reasons to love you Tyler, and I do. I love you, and that means you have to let me help you too.”

  Tyler didn’t say anything, but his arms wrapping around me was answer enough. It occurred to me as an afterthought that I hadn’t said “I love you” before this. I didn’t regret it for a second.

  Eventually, the answer came. Tyler disentangled himself from me and resumed looking at his hands.

  “My parents split up,” Tyler said, his voice muffled and quiet. “They were fighting for a while, but I didn’t see how bad it was until only a little while ago. They didn’t know I was home when they had one of their fights, and when I came downstairs they pretended everything was normal between them, that nothing was wrong. I didn’t know what to do after that. For weeks they just pretended nothing had happened, and it was eating me up inside. Then the ercinee happened, and you wanted me to just pretend nothing was going on, just like they did, and I couldn’t take it.”

  He took a shaky breath, and I could feel the exhalation on my ear as I held him as tightly as I could. I didn’t know what else to do, but if hugging him helped as much as when he did it for me, then it would be enough.

  “My dad moved out a little after our first date. I was expecting it, but it still hurt to see him go. My mom’s home, but she
’s so busy being angry and talking to lawyers that she might as well be gone too. I just had to get used to being on my own even more than usual.”

  I was horrified, but I did my best not to show it. I couldn’t imagine my parents doing anything like that, not ever.

  “Really,” Tyler added, “I’m mostly fine now. It was rough for a little while, but I dealt with this for the most part before we started dating.”

  “Well, we’re dating now,” I said firmly, pulling him into a hug. “And you’re stuck with me, whether you like it or not. You can stay with me, and talk to me. You can rely on me like I rely on you.”

  And if his mouth hadn’t already been by my ear, I would never have heard the soft “okay” that passed his lips. But it was. And so I did. We lay there for a long while, holding each other, saying nothing, until eventually we began to fall asleep.

  It was just as my eyes were closing that I heard Tyler’s quiet whisper one last time in my ear.

  “And Fay… I love you too.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  The next day followed the same pattern as the previous one. When we had all gathered back at the Arena, the Speaker reappeared in the center once more, with the now-familiar sight of the pedestal at her side. She unfurled the scroll.

  “Would the team of Feayr Hanson and Samantha Gray step into the Arena, please.”

  Sam and I shared a determined glance, and Tyler’s hand clenched mine for a second.