As I was packing my bag for school on Monday, I deliberated if I should take it with me. I hadn't chanced bringing spell books with me, mostly because I could barely fit my own books in my bag. But the dueling book was only a few hundred pages, instead of seven hundred, so it fit neatly between my chemistry and math books.
"Lexie!"
I pulled my backpack on and walked down the stairs to meet Nicole at the landing. "What's up?"
"I'm taking you to school," Nicole said, her keys jangling in her hand.
"What about Marie?"
"She's…being a pill this morning," Nicole said with a tight expression. That was when I heard the raised voices coming from the kitchen. "Let's get out of here before they start throwing knives at each other."
All things considered, driving to school with Nicole was much more pleasant.
"Hey, so…can I magic myself home?" I asked as she parked in front of the school.
Nicole's eyes narrowed. "No magic at school, Lexie."
"Yeah, but—"
"And transport spells are complex—from what I hear. You shouldn't practice them without supervision."
"Can Jeanie show me?"
"How about this: when we go up to the compound, I'll make sure to get someone to show you how. If Gram says you can magically transport without help…then you can."
I stared at her. "Gram still doesn't want me to come up?"
"It's not that she doesn't want you to—"
"And meanwhile, I'm down here…" I was going to say on my own, but I really wasn't. I had Gavon, who, although for some reason thought it better to let me heal slowly, was pretty damned awesome.
"I know it's frustrating, but you just have to be patient. I'm sure it'll all get sorted eventually." She glanced behind me. "Get going and don't be late for class. And no magic!"
But Nicole's worries were unfounded, as my magic was still in no shape to be any trouble. I wondered how long it would take for me to be like Gavon, able to fire off attack spells like it was nothing. I was also secretly hoping the dueling book would give me some insight into how I could heal a little faster.
My first period was English, so I prepared myself to ignore whatever discussion we were having and dive into my book. I doubted I'd ever been so excited to read. I was careful to watch the reactions of my classmates as I pulled out the dueling primer, but not even Ms. Grace's attention drifted my way as she called the class to calm down for the morning announcements.
I chuckled to myself and opened my beautiful, big, magical, hidden book on dueling and dove in.
DUELING,
AN INTRODUCTION
Dueling is a time-honored tradition of the Warrior Magicals to settle disputes of land, honor, and leadership.
WHILE the specifics of the exchange of attack spells may vary from duel to duel, there are generally three types of engagements;
inter Dominus, a duel between Guild- or Clanmasters. These duels may end when one party relents or perishes. In the event of a death, the successor to the Clanmaster may choose to continue the duel. This can result in days or even weeks-long duels. In 1412, the masters of clans McDonald and Campbell entered into a duel lasting seven months and killing twenty-seven Clanmasters on each side.
inter Hominus, a duel between two Magicals to settle personal disputes, is less commonly used, as it is often outlawed amongst clans and guilds. However, many a determined Magical has found loopholes in lax laws. Therefore, a comprehensive list of laws that Clan and Guildmasters may utilize is located in Appendix D to prevent such subterfuge.
Praecursio and Inductio are duels associated with memberships of a Guild. While an Enchanter Magical or a Healer Magical will have an effort commensurate with their specialty, Warrior Magicals will almost always duel. Depending on the age of the Magical, a Praecursio duel may test the strength of an untrained Magical against a trained magical his own age. Once the strength has been established, the Young Magical will be given to a Master to continue their training.
Inductio matches are almost always between the inductee and an established member of the Guild. The Guildmaster will select the inductor, or, if allowed, the inductee may choose.
Duels begin with the agreement between duelers and the shaking of the hands to seal the magical pact between them. A spelled circle will be constructed by the Bound Magic to keep the Attack Spells from causing any ill effects to the surrounding village.
All duels may end in one of two ways—ad deditionem, to the surrender, or ad mortem, to the death. Once the end of a duel has been set, the magic of the duelers bound them to the outcome.
There was an ink drawing of two men standing in the center of a large shaded dome. The attack spells in their hands was drawn eerily similar to how my magic looked. A crowd of people stood just outside, excited looks on their faces.
But I didn't recall a dome when I'd sparred with Gavon, and we hadn't shaken hands or anything like that. Then again, we hadn't done much of anything before I'd fallen ill.
The bell rang and I glanced up. I hadn't paid one bit of attention to anything in the class. Quickly, I jotted down a few notes from what I saw on the board, but they were nothing but mismatched phrases that made little sense. Frustrated, I tossed my notebook into my bag and hurried off to chemistry.
Promising myself I'd do better in my worst subject, I put the dueling book away. And I was good. For a few minutes. But the longer class droned on, the more my mind began to drift back to the book. I knew I shouldn't take it out—chemistry was my weakest subject and it would be easier to learn it now than try to play catch up later.
Five minutes into class, I pulled the dueling book out and kept reading.
THE ART OF SPARRING
SPARRING should be required as part of any Warrior Magical's daily regiment. A sparring match should be conducted by the same rules as a duel, except for the outcome-bounding by magic.
Because an agreement is not enacted, sparring should only occur with a Master or a Magical of equal power.
I'd gotten another three chapters about strategies and theories around attack spells in when the bell rang. Yet again, another class had passed me by and I couldn't recall a single thing other than what I'd read in the dueling book. Shouldering my bag, I trudged to history, hoping it would be a quiet class, and promising myself that I'd at least pay attention there.
But when I opened the history classroom door, I stopped short. The chalkboards were clear. I glanced around the room, looking for a possible substitute, but Mills was at his desk.
An empty chalkboard with the teacher in attendance meant only one thing.
Essay test.
I had no idea what it was on, and I sure didn't prepare anything. In fact, I couldn't even remember what we'd been studying up until this point. Something about colonialism?
A growing feeling of dread swam in my stomach as I took my seat. The rest of the class seemed unconcerned, so this must've been a planned test I'd forgotten about. Mills began passing out the test and I grimaced when I saw the topic—Mercantilism.
I tapped my pencil on my desk and glanced up at the chalkboard. Even though my magic was low, I was desperate. I couldn't fail a test, that would be… I couldn't even think about the consequences of it.
But I wasn't completely lost, I still had my magic. Maybe if I released a little bit down into my bag…
The room swam in front of me and I gripped the edge of my desk to keep from toppling over.
Mills glanced over to me. "Everything all right, Lexie?"
I nodded as I righted myself and released a nervous breath. The blank piece of paper stared back at me, all empty and…well, empty. So with a small prayer, I gripped my pen and began to write.
I was pretty damned sure I'd failed my history test. Then, as predicted, Marie left me in the parking lot. Already frustrated and cranky, I spent the long walk arguing with myself for being so irresponsible and reckless. My homework was a non-starter, too, because I'd no context for the haphazard notes I'd ta
ken during the day.
Still, when seven rolled around, all I wanted to do was throw some spells around. Saying a quick goodbye to Jeanie and promising her I had my phone, I slipped out the back door and headed to the park.
Gavon was already waiting for me with the kindest smile I'd seen all day. "You look upset. What's wrong?"
"I just…can we spar again?" I asked, even though I really wasn't feeling up to it.
"That's not a good idea with your magic so low."
I slumped onto the picnic table and pressed my chin into my hand. "How can you…well, how can you tell?"
"Besides the fact that you look like a dead girl walking?" He joined me at the table. "I can sense your aura—all magical users can. Can you sense mine?"
I squinted at him for a moment. He looked the same as always. "What am I looking for exactly?"
"Can you feel my magic when I transport you to the beach?"
I nodded.
"You should be able to reach out with your magic, then," he said.
I closed my eyes and released my magic from the tight coil in the pit of my stomach. The world spun, and I retracted it quickly.
"See?" Gavon said, as if he could read my magic like a gas tank. "You're in no position to even use your magic, let alone spar with it."
I groaned loudly. "Is there nothing you can do to speed this process up? I'm just…I had a really crappy day and I want to blow some things up."
"What happened?"
"I think…I think I failed a history test," I said, picking at the wood.
"Failed?"
"Failed. Like, I don't even remember the topic," I said. "I couldn't even use my magic to help me. I was done."
"Alexis, I don't want this to interfere with your schoolwork. If you can't handle sparring at the same time, then we'll put it aside for a while—"
"No!" I wailed, taking him, and me, by surprise with the ferocity. But for some reason I couldn't quite explain, I needed to spar with him. "No, I just…there's just so much to learn, and I'm trying to learn it all at once. But…" I sighed loudly. "I know that I screwed up today, and I promise I'll do better."
He considered me for a long time, then nodded. "Then we'll continue. But not tonight." He held out his hand and his magic flashed. When my eyes readjusted to the light, there were two large ice cream sundaes in his hand.
"W-what's that for?" I asked, taking one.
"You said you had a bad day, and I've had a trying one myself," he said, dipping his spoon into his and taking a bite. "I figured we could both enjoy a little treat."
I grinned and dug into my own. "So why was your day crappy?"
"Difficulties in the political sphere," he said, staring off into the distance.
"So you're in politics?" I asked, mouth full of ice cream.
"Not in the traditional sense. But any grouping of individuals tends to result in some political strategy to get them to agree on anything."
"Can't you just hocus pocus them?" I asked, waving my spoon around like a wand.
"If it were only that easy," Gavon said with a wry smile. "No, magic is of little help in my case. As is true with most things in life. A shortcut is rarely the easiest way to get something done."
"Poetic." I bit down on my spoon in thought. "That's kind of what Jeanie told me when I got magic. She said nothing would change, or that nothing should change. But everything has, you know? I can make light shoot out of my fingers and move from place to place without needing a car." I considered Marie's beautiful red convertible. Marie had magic, but she still chose to drive that thing around. "Then again, I guess we still have to live with the nonmagicals, huh?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm just thinking about my sister. She can get to school every day using magic, but she chooses to drive that car, which I'm sure she used her magic to fix up," I said with a small scowl. "But it's like…even though we can do things, we still want to be seen by the nonmagicals as normal."
"Mm."
"So maybe outwardly, nothing's changed," I finished, realizing I'd eaten the last of my sundae. "I don't know. I'm still trying to make sense of everything."
"I think you're thinking too hard about it," Gavon said, placing his similarly empty bowl next to mine. They both disappeared in another flash of magic. "I've always considered magic to be simply another facet of my being."
"One you can't tell anyone about."
He smiled again. "Speaking of, I believe someone needs to get home and study their history so they don't fail another test."
I frowned; I'd almost forgotten about that. "How soon until we can spar again?"
"When your magic is back to full strength."
"And how long's that going to take?"
He smiled knowingly. "How long until you and Marie bury the hatchet?"
I glared at him. "Like that'll ever happen."
"I think you should give your sister a little more credit."
"I think you should meet her and then tell me I'm overreacting."
He shook his head. "One day, I think you two might be the best of friends. In the meantime, I think it's time you headed back home to study."
"Do you think I can hocus-pocus my teacher so I can retake the test?" I asked, a little hopefully.
"That, my dear, is called an Enchantment spell, and no, you won't be able to do them unless you have Enchanting magic," Gavon said as I opened my mouth to ask. "So you're going to have to figure your way back up to a passing grade the good old fashioned way."
Another night of rest, and I was feeling a little bit better. At least, I only pressed snooze four times on my alarm clock instead of seven. I left all my magical books at home and ignored the growing hum of magic under my skin, promising my magic that we would get all the sparring in at the end of the week. The bargaining worked, for the hum withdrew low enough for me to forget it was there.
There was still the giant problem of the failed history test, which weighed heavily on my shoulders when I walked into the history classroom. Mills caught my eye immediately and motioned for me to come see him. I swallowed and put my bag down, dreading what was coming.
"So about that test yesterday," he began quietly.
"Yeah," I said, unable to meet his eyes.
"Is everything all right with you?" he asked. "It's not like you to do so poorly."
"I just…" The truth was preferable, as best as I could tell it. "I have a lot going on at home right now, and it's been a little distracting."
"Anything I can help with?"
I shook my head. "I'm just…we got some news, and I'm trying to process it all. I'll do better on the next test, I promise."
"I don't normally do this, but I'm going to let you retake the test," Mills said with a look at the rest of the class. "It'll be different questions, but on the same topic."
A relieved sigh rumbled out of me. Some part of me wondered if Gavon had hocus-pocused him. But that would've been too good to be true. "Thank you."
The next day, I retook the test and, predictably, aced it. It was amazing what studying and paying attention could do.
13
By the end of the week, I was feeling like myself again. I could summon without even thinking about it, and my fingers sparked when I thought about sparring. On Thursday night, I even attempted a Transport spell from one end of my room to another, although I ended up banging my knee on the edge of my desk. For a brief moment, I'd thought I'd spliced myself open, so I decided against attempting any more solo trips until I was better at them.
I rushed through all of my assignments on Friday night, even completing a few that weren't due until later in the week. And based on how I felt after half a minute of sparring, it was a good thing I'd gotten ahead.
"This is ridiculous," I cried, lying face up in the sand.
Like last time, Gavon wasted no time in firing off attack spells at me, and, also like last time, after just a few seconds, I became incredibly lightheaded and couldn't continue.
Gav
on offered his hand to help me up. "Rome wasn't built in a day, Alexis. All things considered, you're doing very well for having magic for less than two weeks."
"Yeah but, seriously," I said, ignoring his hand in favor of laying on the ground. After all, the world was spinning, so the more of me that connected with the earth the better. "Three spells, and I'm done."
"And last week, you could only wield two," Gavon said, finally retracting his hand. He sat down next to me, facing the moon shining on the gulf waters. "Progress is progress. And you are releasing all your energy in those three blasts."
"I can't help it," I said, chancing my ability to sit up. "You said it's all instinct, and my instinct is to fire off…well…all of it. And to go one week between spells? That's just…I'll be ninety before we can really get a good sparring match in."
It might've been a trick of the night, but I thought I saw him smile. But he was merely pensive. "Going slowly is preferable when you're learning how to spar. As you can see, you're talking about a lot of power. Wielded incorrectly, you might cause significant damage."
I snorted. "The only one I'm damaging is myself. You swear there's no way to speed up this process?"
"I'll see you next Friday."
I was not going to wait all week just to throw three spells, especially if sparring made me feel like I'd run a marathon the next morning. Gavon probably had his reasons for wanting me to heal slowly, but by midday Saturday, I was pretty sure his reasons were stupid. I knew he had healing potions, and it irked me that he wasn't handing them over. Especially considering my only other options weren't helping me either. Nicole point-blank told me to stop asking her how to brew potions and the primer had nothing except a long list of ways to maintain a magical herb garden and the best schedule for planting.
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