by David Meyer
I focused in on the bust. It was so old, so dirty. For whatever reason, this piqued my frustration.
My wand began to move. My lips pursed, ready to speak. And then Instinctia roared through me. It grabbed hold of my emotions, my wand, and my lips.
“Grundel Saiurf,” I said.
A spell flew out of my wand and wrapped itself around the bust. The old object began to emit smoke.
Instinctia faded quickly, leaving me with a cold, empty feeling. Frowning, I snapped my wand back. The spell broke and the smoke dissipated in the air.
Tad glanced at me, his eyebrow arched high on his forehead. “So, what happened?”
“Grundel Saiurf is from the Capsudra,” I replied. “It’s a heating spell.”
“But did you feel your emotions? Your real ones?”
I nodded. “But Instinctia still hijacked me.”
“Let’s try again.”
“Can I just fabricate the emotional component for now?” I exhaled. “This is hard enough without having to worry about my feelings.”
He frowned.
“They might be fake, but at least they won’t come from Xavier Capsudra,” I argued. “They’ll be my emotions.”
“Fine.” He sighed. “But I’m not letting this go. Sooner or later, you’ll have to depend on real emotions.”
I cast spells long into the night without ever once breaking Instinctia. When the enchanted clock finally struck one in the morning, I knew it was time to call it quits.
“Okay,” I said. “That’s enough for tonight.”
“You’re doing good. Real good, Randy.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Holstering my wand, I started for the hatch. “See you tomorrow.”
“Say, can you do me a favor?”
I felt a rising sense of irritation, which I quickly smothered. “Sure.”
“Could you bring a couple of books next time? Or better yet, a memory mirror? It gets lonely during the daytime.”
“I’ll try.”
He cocked his head. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Emotional honesty, remember?”
I exhaled, then met his gaze. “You want the truth? Well, here it is. I feel like a traitor.”
“To the school? Or to Boltstar?”
“Both, I guess.”
He nodded. “Anything else?”
“Yeah.” I looked away. “I don’t trust you.”
He was quiet for a moment. “I see.”
“If I’m being honest, I’ve never trusted you. Not really.”
I expected him to look shocked or at the very least, hurt. But instead, he peered at me with no malice, no disappointment. Rather, his face was lit up like a jack o’lantern.
“I get it now,” he said, his voice brimming with excitement. “I know what the problem is.”
“What problem? What are you talking about?”
“I know what’s keeping you from denying Instinctia, from doing Chaotic magic.”
I blinked. “You do?”
“Last week, you asked me why I’d waited so long to open the conveyance station. I mentioned a secret. A secret that was at the center of everything.”
“I remember. You said it was something that I wouldn’t—or couldn’t—believe.”
He nodded. “That secret is Womigia.”
I shrugged, unimpressed. “Never heard of it.”
“I’d be surprised if you had. Few people know it exists, let alone that it’s stored here.”
“What is it? And how’s it keeping me from doing Chaotic magic?”
“To answer those questions, you’ll have to see it for yourself.”
“But I don’t even know what it is.”
“You will. Now, Womigia is stored in Madkey Archive. To get there, go to the end of Right Foot. In the big toe, you’ll find a plaque. A conveyance portal lies behind it.” He gave me a firm look. “When you find Womigia, you’ll need to remember a date … February 1, 1930.”
I frowned. “But that’s Victory Day.”
“Yes.”
I shook my head. “Why can’t you just tell me what this is all about?”
“Because seeing is believing. But fair warning … once you see Womigia, you won’t be able to unsee it.”
I didn’t care much for all of the secrecy. Still, I was mildly intrigued. “I’ll check it out tomorrow. Right now, I need sleep.”
Reaching down, I grabbed hold of the handle. With a yank, I opened the hatch wide, revealing the ladder and stone tunnel beneath me.
“One more thing,” he said.
I exhaled. “What?”
“Madkey Archive is protected by a rotating trap.”
“A what?”
“A rotating trap. It was installed centuries ago, long before any of us were born. It changes whenever someone tries to enter it, adjusting itself to the current period.”
“Well, how do I get past it?”
“Since the trap is always different, it’s impossible to say with any certainty. Regardless, it won’t be easy. Heck, I was lucky to get through in one piece.” He scratched his shoulder. “In other words, you’re going to need help.”
Chapter 29
“Hey, stranger.” Piper took the seat next to mine. Ten minutes remained until the start of class and the bleachers were just beginning to fill up. “You weren’t at lunch.”
“I wanted to get in a little extra practice.” That, of course, was a lie. In-between shifts, I’d hustled down to Right Foot and got the lay of the land. Since it allowed access to the outside picnic area, it saw some decent lunch traffic. But that was it. Not a single soul had ventured all the way down to the toes.
“Did you do the reading assignment?”
“I, uh, well …” I stammered.
“Relax.” With a little grin, she nodded at the copy of Havoc Magic: A Bare-Bones Treatise, which rested in my lap. The spine was perfect, utterly uncracked. “I’m just giving you a hard time.”
I chuckled.
“You look famished. Did you eat?”
My stomach growled and I shook my head. Oh, I’d grabbed breakfast, alright. Some fruit and pastries, to be specific. But I’d skipped lunch altogether.
She frowned. “You really shouldn’t skip meals, Randy.”
“I’ll make up for it at dinner.”
Reaching into her bag, she brought out a sandwich, wrapped in wax paper. Her smile turned dazzling. “Why wait?”
My eyes opened wide. I took the package from her and unwrapped a corner. It was a bagel sandwich, dripping with mayonnaise and mustard and piled high with turkey, bacon, cheddar cheese, lettuce, and fresh tomatoes. It smelled so good I thought I’d faint right there on the spot.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, shoving the food into my mouth.
“No problem. And sorry it’s not fresh. I didn’t feel like bringing a tray with me.”
“Hey, guys.” Leandra took the seat directly behind Piper. Digging into her bag, she took out her simulator mirror. “What’s new?”
“I’ve been reading. Randy’s been sneaking away to practice.” Piper shrugged. “So, it’s the same old, same old.”
“Yeah? Are you two going to crush the HMQ today?”
I took a giant bite of sandwich and paused, enjoying the food. “I’ll be happy if I get a couple of spells off.”
Leandra gave the locker room area a furtive look. “So, what’s on the agenda for today? Another skinning?”
Piper made a face. “I don’t think I can stomach another one.”
“I could watch them all day.” Hiking up the steps, Nico joined our little group. “There’s nothing better than seeing a Chaotic squirm.”
I’d been gearing up to ask Leandra and Piper for their help with entering the archive. But Nico’s presence now made that impossible.
“Have any of you guys seen Hannah?” he asked. “I was supposed to walk her to class, only she never showed.”
Piper shrugged. “Not me.”
“Me eit
her,” I said.
He sighed. “Okay. Thanks anyway.”
“You were going to walk her to class?” Leandra frowned. “Why? You don’t like her, do you?”
“No. Well, maybe.” He sighed again. “I’d like to get to know her, I guess. She’s a real nice person.”
“And a real looker, too, right?”
He blushed.
“Trust me, you’re better off without her.” Leandra went back to her simulator mirror. “Hannah’s the worst.”
“She’s not that bad,” Piper protested.
“No, it’s okay. It’s actually kind of true. She treated me like a servant from the moment I met her. Now, she barely talks to me.” He shrugged. “Life of a staffer, right?”
We nodded in unison. We’d been there so we knew what he was talking about. Students and staffers just didn’t mix. Oh, I’d tried to keep up my friendships after dropping out of school. But my old friends just blew me off. It was like they didn’t want to be tainted by my failure.
Piper nodded at the field. “Speaking of Hannah …”
She appeared, gliding across the grass with undeniable grace. Kell, dressed in an old chupacabra shirt, was right beside her, a sly smile on his visage. Yup, Kell Masters, ramball star, seemed to have the hots for Hannah. And she flirted right back with him.
“Kell?” Nico made a cross face. “What’s he got that I don’t have?”
“Awful breath for one thing,” Leandra remarked, her nose buried in her simulator mirror. “He tried to talk to me once and all I wanted was for him to shut his mouth.”
That cheered Nico right up. “I’m going to say ‘Hi,’” he said. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
Rising to his feet, he proceeded to gallop down the stairs. He ran out to greet Hannah. She didn’t seem to mind the attention. In fact, she openly flirted with him, which drew a sour look from Kell.
“He’s fooling himself,” Leandra said without looking up. “She’ll never date a staffer.”
I devoured the rest of the sandwich, then stuffed the wax paper into my pocket. A few minutes later, Headmaster Boltstar walked out of the locker room area.
With perfect posture and the kind of confidence money can’t buy, he hiked across the field. Climbing onto the wall, he waited for everyone to take their seats.
Half-heartedly, I listened to his lecture, doodling all the while so that it looked like I was paying attention. Afterward, we discussed the reading assignment and split off into pairs for practice duels.
We still only knew the two spells we’d learned on the first day of class. A couple of students had begged Boltstar for more magic. However, he preferred we master the old spells first.
The dueling progressed without incident for about twenty minutes. Finally, Boltstar cleared his throat. “It’s time to put your skills to the test. Everyone, please head to the HMQ.”
Leandra, who’d been dueling nearby, joined up with me. Adopting a slow pace, we hiked across the field.
“Come on, guys.” Piper clapped us on the back. “What do you say we go show everyone how we do havoc magic?”
“You mean poorly?” I asked.
“Ouch.” Leandra winced at Piper’s touch. “Felicia nailed my back two days ago and it still stings.”
Piper frowned. “Come on, guys. Get excited.”
“For what?” I wondered. “Another thrashing?”
“This could be our day, you know.”
“Yeah,” Leandra quipped. “Our day to get crushed.”
“Again,” I added.
Laughing, we entered the HMQ. It felt good to laugh, even if only for a short while. It reminded me of how much they meant to me. I knew there was no one else I’d want by my side when I faced the archive’s rotating trap.
“Today, we’re going to start with a basic Havoc Royal match,” Boltstar announced once everyone had entered the HMQ. “The rules are the same as always. Attack anyone and everyone and make sure to defend yourself at all times. The last person standing wins the game.”
Wordlessly, the staffers gathered on one end of the HMQ. Meanwhile, the students split up by grade and went to other parts of the quadrant.
Thus far, our HMQ training had consisted entirely of Havoc Royals. And those Havoc Royals had begun to develop a pattern. Us staffers huddled together while the students separated off by grade. Once the game started, the students turned our way. They rained spells down upon us, picking us off with brute force. When our numbers began to dwindle, they’d turn on each other. Then it was all-out war.
I saw the value in HMQ training. It was intense. And even though I wasn’t much of a havoc magician, I knew I was getting faster and stronger.
“Ready?” Boltstar called out. “Go!”
Right away, Jenny took a gunmetal gray spell to the face. With a soft groan, she melted to the ground. Meanwhile, the rest of us hunkered down behind a string of enchanted barriers.
“Cripes,” Jax shouted. “That was way too fast.”
“Yeah,” Nico said sullenly. “It’s almost as if they don’t like us or something.”
“Off the field, Ms. Lynch,” Boltstar called out. “And staffers, please get your heads into the game. You look like a bunch of fools out there.”
“I hate that man,” Leandra said. “So much.”
“You and me both.” Steeling his jaw, Nico slid to the end of a barrier. He started lobbing Elertfa spells out into the open, forcing the Sophomores to take cover. The rest of us spread out and followed his lead. This was our normal strategy. We couldn’t defeat all four grades by ourselves. So, we sought to repel the attackers long enough for them to turn on each other. It was a decent strategy considering the rules of the game. But I had my doubts about its real-life practicality.
Elertfa spells kept coming. We stayed low and didn’t bother with deflections. Pobyl Caxtor was a good spell, but it wasn’t much use against a barrage. So, instead we stuck to our game plan, throwing off just enough Elertfa spells of our own to keep the students from overrunning us.
Swishing clothes and pounding footsteps caught my attention. Peeking over the barrier, I saw Sya fall to the ground, then slide across the grass on her back. Her attacker, Calvin Hayes, raced behind a stack of lashed-down floating trays before the other freshmen could respond.
“A strong effort, Ms. Moren,” Boltstar called out. “But unfortunately, you’re out.”
“Sorry, Ms. Moren,” Leandra muttered, mimicking Boltstar. “It’s sooo terrible that you’re out. I just adore you and the other students.”
Leandra, Piper, and I snickered. I still admired the heck out of Boltstar. But it wasn’t like the students needed his encouragement. They were already outperforming us in every conceivable way.
“That was Hayes,” Porter snapped. “Focus your spells on the Sophomores until he’s gone.”
Radiant streaks filled the air as the two grades duked it out. Gordon took a mauve spell to the gut, but managed to stay on his feet. Stumbling away, he shot a spell over his shoulder. It struck Liza Raico’s belly, scorching her t-shirt and causing her to drop to all fours.
Spells started to fly between the Juniors and the Seniors. Alliances quickly broke down and the four grades, along with us staffers, began fighting in all directions at once.
I’d made it this far. But to make it much farther would require a miracle. Keeping low, I manipulated my emotions into place. Pursing my lips, I began to move my wand. I felt Instinctia take control and my body threw out a pair of spells. Twin auburn jets raced across the field. One streak sent Charlie Ridges to his knees. The other one narrowly missed his classmate, Posey Unydo.
I blinked, shocked by my success. It normally took me at least a dozen tries to correctly fire an Elertfa spell. Even better, Charlie was my very first elimination.
“Tough break, Mr. Ridges,” Boltstar shouted from the bleachers. “Don’t take it too hard … it was a lucky shot. Oh, and excellent footwork, Ms. Unydo. You’re doing great out there.”
Sh
eesh. I couldn’t even eliminate someone without a dose of veiled criticism.
Piper, red-faced, rose up from behind our barrier. Angrily, she unleashed a couple of spells. Right away, I knew she wasn’t thinking straight.
She was kind of a mixed-bag when it came to HMQ sessions. On one hand, she was a good strategist and knew how to take advantage of the terrain. On the other hand, she lacked aggression. More than once, I’d seen her shy away from making a big hit, only to get knocked out in return. Mercy might’ve had its advantages, but not in the HMQ.
I grabbed for her leg, intending to pull her out of harm’s way. But a spell caught her in the shoulder first. The impact sent her airborne and she did a half-twist in mid-air. It actually looked kind of graceful.
Until she landed on her face.
“That was awful, Ms. Shaw,” Boltstar bellowed. “Please leave the field before you embarrass yourself any further. And Mr. Wolf, where were you on that one? Why didn’t you back her up?”
Leandra got off two quick spells, then ducked down next to me. “Where were you, Mr. Wolf?” she quipped, mimicking the headmaster’s voice. “Why are you so terrible at everything, Mr. Wolf?”
I grinned. “Why can’t you save everyone and stop everyone, too, Mr. Wolf?”
She howled with laughter.
“Get it together, Ms. Chen,” Boltstar hollered. “The only thing worth laughing at around here is your performance.”
More people fell victim to Elertfa spells. With few easy targets left, the grades began to turn on their own.
Checking on Piper, I saw she’d made it to the sidelines. Then I shared a look with Leandra. We rarely made it this far and thus, had no real plan to keep going. She flashed me a hand signal, then hopped the barrier. Swiftly, she headed toward a partially-overturned table. I went in the opposite direction, taking cover behind a pair of lockers.
I snuck a glimpse at the field. I saw plenty of kids locked in individual duels. No one seemed to be looking my way so I slid out from behind the lockers. A bolt of iris caught my attention. My emotions shifted all at once. My wand twirled. My mouth opened wide.
