Spark (Legends of the Shifters)

by J. B. North

  “Not really,” I said with a sigh.

  “Kurt has never lost a match. Never. The headmaster knew that he was special when he picked him up off the streets. The headmaster started training him immediately. He placed him in the school after his trial. I think the headmaster knew that his own son would never measure up. Niko is only a snake.”

  My throat went dry. “And what is Kurt’s second form?” I asked, something I probably should’ve considered before I’d made the offer to Niko.

  “A griffin. Half lion, half eagle. Imagine six hundred pounds dropping on you from above.”

  I shuddered.

  “What should I do? Is Kurt a wizard also?”

  “No,” Roland replied. “You got lucky there. I know how to block out one wizard, but two could probably overtake you.”

  “Do you know what Kurt’s strength is?” I asked.

  “Besides his second form? I think he’s just a well-rounded guy, but I heard that he was really good at the slingshot even when he first started.”

  I would have to go with my gut. And if I lost, I guess I’d be staying a few extra months in captivity.

  Snow started to fall.

  I looked up in surprise. The first snowfall. I wasn’t expecting it today. The sky had been clear this morning, but now when I looked up, there was a light dusting of clouds. On the horizon, thicker clouds announced harsher weather on the way.

  I glanced over as Natalia came running up, breathing hard. “Okay, what’s next?” she asked Roland.

  I took that as a signal to leave. I muttered a good-bye and walked away from them. I had no idea where I was going until I was there. I grabbed a few knives from the knife station, and turned them over in my hand. I walked thirty paces away from a target and aimed.

  The first one missed the bulls-eye slightly, but the second one hit, and so did the third.

  I practiced a few more times, and then moved on to the next stand, which was the spear. I worked my way down the stands of weapons until break time.

  I couldn’t eat anything, so I just sat at the table, trying to bridle in my nerves. They were bucking around in my stomach like a wild horse. Liana sat with me, but didn’t say anything until the end. “Do you have another challenger?” she asked me.

  I glanced at her. “Actually, I challenged them,” I replied, grimacing.

  “Who is it?” she pushed.

  “Niko and Kurt,” I answered.

  Her jaw went slack, making her mouth hang open. “I don’t understand,” she said. “You don’t really mean that you…” she trailed off.

  “Yes, I do,” I said.

  “But why—“ she started.

  I cut her off. “Because I've wanted to get out of here ever since I came.”

  “I know that,” she said. She looked down at her hands, and then back at me. “The best of luck to you, I suppose. I don't know how you'll accomplish this, but I'm rooting for you anyway.”

  “Thanks,” I said, although I knew that luck had nothing to do with beating them. It would require skill.

  Break time ended, and everyone else seemed to be wandering, milling about with no purpose. I remembered when I was like that, but today, I was far from it. I had to be if I wanted to win.

  I strolled into the arena, straight toward the tall fence where Niko and Kurt were bound to show up at any moment. Kurt showed up first.

  “I don’t know what you’re thinking, Ivy,” Kurt said. “Together, we can easily beat you.”

  “I just want to try,” I replied. “I’ll do anything to get out.”

  He lifted his eyebrows. “I don't think your eagerness is going to turn out well for you. Don’t lose your head.”

  I wasn't wanting to listen to him now that I'd already made the challenge. I turned away slightly. Niko showed up a minute later.

  He had put on the leather padding that the guards stationed around the campus wore. He took in my choice of attire, which was just the usual. “Not one for protecting yourself, are you?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “I didn’t know it was allowed.”

  He smiled crookedly, “It is. It’s just that not many people have access to it.”

  I looked back at Kurt. He was a guard himself, and yet he hadn’t bothered to wear padding.

  Mrs. Scarls came forward, her sharp eyes taking us in. “You three are going to come after this first challenge,” she said with her commanding voice. “I’ll call you up when it’s time.”

  I consented like Kurt and Niko, although I dreaded the prospect of waiting longer. It just set my teeth further on edge. The fight was between two boys that I didn’t know. One was tall and one was broad. The first one to get cut was the broad one. He took it well, I think, barely even acknowledging that it was there. Then, he took a chunk out of the tall one with his knife. I winced as he then punched the guy in the nose and pushed him to the ground, pressing the knife into the guy’s forehead until it drew blood.

  Mrs. Scarls called the fight to an end.

  The tall boy was as stunned as the crowd.

  The wound that had been inflicted upon him first was gushing blood. It made my stomach hurt to see it, and I worried about what injuries I would be given. Is it possible that I'd die today?

  The two boys stepped out of the cage, and I noticed that the tall boy was stumbling to the infirmary, as if his consciousness was fading already.

  Mrs. Scarls called us then, and I shuddered. Niko smiled smugly at my nervous twitching.

  We walked to the center circle. Mrs. Scarls placed me so that my back was to the weapon table. I think she did it on purpose because she felt certain that I wouldn’t win anyway. It put me at an obvious advantage. The first thing I wanted to grab was double swords. Two people, two swords to defeat them with. It might even things out a little.

  I knew it was important to keep the memory of my parents in my head for the entire time. I didn’t want Niko to mess with my mind.

  I was already picturing her green eyes, and her curling dark hair, her kind smile. My father with his red hair and brown eyes, and my brother, who had dark hair. I was caught off guard by not remembering what color my brother’s eyes were.

  “Go!” Mrs. Scarls yelled.

  I snapped out of my thoughts. Niko and Kurt were fast, sprinting forward to collect their weapons. I turned and sprinted to the table, grabbing the swords and retreating to the side. Kurt chose a staff and Niko picked up two knives. I was struggling to keep thinking of my family and not my fighting.

  My senses were stronger in half-form. I had learned that in the caves. It would mean focusing my mind on yet another thing, but it would be essential for concentrating on two things at once for the entire challenge. I changed, causing a few gasps to sound around the arena, but then, something horrible happened. In the short amount of time that my mind was focused on something else, Niko had frozen me in place. He lunged forward and sliced my arm open with his knife, causing blood to sizzle out of my wound, glowing at first, but then seeping into the normal, deep red color. I couldn’t move. I struggled to think about my family now that I was hurt, and Niko moved in for another cut.

  I was utterly surprised when Kurt smacked Niko to the ground with his staff. I got a hold of my memory in the distraction, and was able to move around once again.

  Kurt jumped back. They eyed each other. I noticed that Niko had a wound where Kurt had stricken him, and watched as Kurt inflicted another wound by deflecting Niko's knife and smacking his other hand away. The splinters at the end of the staff must have penetrated his skin, because my half-form eyes focused on blood. One more hit and Niko would be done for. I used that to my advantage. I crept behind him, the double swords gripped tightly in my hands. Just as I was about to reach them, the ground in front of me seemed to swallow my foot with its mud. I struggled to wrench my foot out of the mire, but it held tight as my opportunity to wound Niko evaporated.

  It was magic, but I knew it couldn't have been Niko. His back was still turned to me as he got far
ther away with each strike. I looked at the sidelines to see January smiling.

  Mrs. Scarls followed my gaze. She snapped something at the guards, and January was hauled away. I was finally able to get my foot out of the mud pit she had created, but unfortunately, the distraction had given Niko enough time to turn his attention to me once again. All three of us eyed each other warily.

  I hated January right then. Niko could have been out of the picture right now.

  He was the first to attack again, but the attack wasn’t for me. Sheer dark hatred gleamed in Niko's eyes as he threw one of his knives, aimed at Kurt’s chest. Kurt dodged, but the knife still nicked his arm.

  I took that time to finally do away with Niko. I slammed my sword into his other knife, disarming him before he could throw the other knife at Kurt. With my other sword, I grazed the back of Niko's knee, where the armor failed to protect him.

  He gasped in surprise, and fell to the ground.

  “Pause!” Mrs. Scarls called from the sidelines. Kurt and I stayed put as she came in and shepherded a seething—and limping—Niko out of the fenced area. His eyes spoke murder.

  It was down to Kurt and me. I knew he had been on my side when Niko was still present, but I also knew that he wouldn’t just allow me to win, either. He would want me to earn it.

  “Go!” yelled Mrs. Scarls.

  Kurt held his staff horizontally in his hands before coming at me. I dodged just before he struck me, and countered the attack, whittling away a sliver of the wood in the process. Quick as lightning, he delivered a series of blows, each one pushing me further and further back. I remembered what he had said about not getting cornered against the fence. It was exactly what he was trying to do to me, and the way he was fighting didn’t give me much choice. Even when I was in half-form, Kurt was a tough opponent.

  Not seeing any way around it, I retreated and began to change fully. Before I lost my human arms and legs, I climbed partway up the fence and launched myself in the air, catching myself on a cushion of wind with my wings.

  Kurt shook his head and chuckled to himself, throwing the staff to the side. Then, he began to shift form. His feet and hands shaped into lion claws. His nose and mouth formed into a hooked beak. Lean muscles lined his golden lion body, and large, powerful wings outstretched to take flight. Wings that were three times my wingspan.

  One downward push and he was at my height. I twisted away before he had the chance to slash me with his claws. He was big, and fast, but I was faster. I dove in and tore his shoulder with my talons before shooting into the sky.

  I thought I had gotten away, but Kurt acted quickly. He reached out and batted at my wing, snagging it. My vision became blurry as he threw me to the ground. I tried to regain my flight, but his force was so strong that I landed heavily on the ground in a heap.

  It felt like my wing snapped. I cried out in pain. I was useless like this, I knew it, so I changed back into half-form. I clutched my hurt arm and dove for the nearest discarded sword. Kurt landed in front of me, folding his wings tight against his back.

  His green slitted eyes looked cat-like, but somehow still noble. I watched them as he changed back into first form, and suddenly I was reminded of my mother.

  The grim expression on my face turned into one of bewilderment when I remembered all the information I had gathered about Kurt. Kurt had been an orphan, picked up off the streets by the headmaster when he was nine. His hair was dark brown, like my mother, and like my brother in my memory.

  “Kurt,” the name sounded bitter on my tongue. “Kuris.”

  I focused on him. His face was screwed into a scowl. “Don’t say that name,” he said.

  “You’re Kuris!” I whispered.

  He clenched his jaw, his eyes blinking wildly. Before I knew it, he had me on the ground with a shallow scratch dug into my arm, made by his fingernail.

  I had lost. I had lost because my brother had beaten me. He had cost me my freedom.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  I glared at him as I got to my feet, making sure not to help myself up with my hurt arm. Kurt—Kuris—was already walking away, toward the gate, his mood dark.

  Confusion and anger welled up in my heart. How could he do something like that? He was my brother!

  I fumed silently. As soon as I was out the gate, Mrs. Scarls was there, and so was Liana.

  “Go to the hospital tent,” Mrs. Scarls instructed. “Your arm is probably broken.”

  Liana put her arm around my shoulders, knowing that I was struggling with my emotions. She guided me to the right tent and led me to a cot.

  “It really would’ve been something if you had been able to beat them both,” she said, giving me a comforting smile. “I say that because you have, after all, only been here for a little more than four months. It is amazing that you did what you did. You took down Niko and had two strikes on Kurt.”

  I shook my head. “I only got them both once, each. I could’ve done so much better if I hadn’t been distracted.”

  “You did what you could, and it was astounding. You have earned my respect as a fellow student…and a friend.”

  I smiled at her grimly. “Yes, but you don’t know the worst of what happened in the fight.”

  She wrinkled her forehead. “And what is that?”

  I wondered if I should tell her, but I had already said too much to go back now, and someone might as well know.

  “I had a sudden memory of my childhood. I grew up an orphan, but this was before that. And somehow, I figured out that Kurt is actually my...my brother.” I stumbled on the sentence, unused to the way the words felt in my mouth.

  Liana was silent for a few moments. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” she asked, peeking down at me.

  “Considering the fact that he used it as a distraction to beat me, a bad thing.”

  She frowned deeply. “You know, I’ve never thought that Kurt fit in with the headmaster’s family. I mean, I knew he was adopted, but usually when someone joins a family, they have at least a few similarities—”

  She was interrupted by the nurse. “Ivy Oliver,” the nurse said with a smile. “I’ve heard a lot about you, you know. And especially about the events of today. What a brave thing to do!”

  I forced a smile. “I try.”

  She looked down at the arm that I was holding and said, “I’m going to examine your arm to see if it’s broken. You might feel a little pain.”

  The nurse sat me down on a cot, and put her ice-cold fingers on my arm, feeling around my elbow where it hurt. I jerked it back and gasped through clenched teeth. She gave me a pitying look. “I’m afraid that it is, in fact, broken. The only thing I can do for you is set it and put it in a splint.”

  “Set it?” I asked.

  “Yes,” she answered. “Your bones were snapped out of place, so to grow back together correctly, I'll have to force them into the right position.”

  The very thought of it made my stomach churn.

  The nurse fumbled around in a nearby drawer before coming up with something that looked like a stick. She held it up to my mouth. “Open,” she ordered.

  My eyes widened in fear. “Right now?” I asked.

  “The sooner, the better,” she answered.

  I did as she said, and bit down on the stick. Liana held my other hand. I shut my eyes tightly as the nurse took a hold of my arm.

  For a moment, everything was still. Then, she jerked my arm just below the elbow. Unbearable pain shot up my arm and my vision was clouded with black dots. The entire tent went silent when I bit down on the wood and screamed.

  The pain began to ebb, but I still felt nausea boil up in my stomach. Everything around me felt like a trance, fading in and out of sight. The nurse laid me down on the cot and set a cool cloth on my forehead.

  “There, there,” she said. “The hard part is over.”

  She took the stick from my mouth and tossed it to the ground. Liana tugged her hand out of my grip. I realized in my confusion that
I must have squeezed her hand too tightly.

  Gradually, the nausea faded away, and my head stopped swimming.

  The nurse measured my arm, and then went off to get the materials for my splint. I focused my attention back on Liana. “Shouldn’t you be training right now?” I asked wearily.

  She shrugged, and took my hand once again. “I don’t know. My trainer hasn’t come to collect me yet.”

  I glowered. “I don’t know why you’re here. You could be off doing something more enjoyable than this.”

  “I know,” she replied. “But you were there for me when I was sick, or at least you would have been if Natalia hadn't pushed you away. This is just what friends do for each other.”

  I managed to smile at her, although it was quickly replaced by a frown when I saw the nurse again.

  Liana stayed with me until her trainer showed up, angry because he hadn’t been able to find her. She apologized for having to leave as he dragged her out.

  The nurse wrapped a bandage around the splint in a thick layer, and then let me go when I was able to stand without feeling woozy. I made my way to my dorm with a stiff and hurting arm, and a headache from the worries of the day.

  *****

  I jerked awake. I hadn’t been aware that I was sleeping. My mind had to make an effort to remember where I was and what was happening. Only then did I realize that someone was banging on the door, like people do when it’s morning. Strange how there were no trumpets or blinding lights. I looked around the room, but it was empty except for me. I swung my feet over the edge of the bed, grateful that I'd kept the same bunk even after Roselle had left.

  I tried to stand up, but I nearly collapsed. I caught myself with my good arm and stumbled for the door, cracking it open to see the old clerk that managed Headmaster Drake’s affairs.

  “Took you long enough,” he grumbled. “The headmaster would like to see you.”

  “What for?” I asked.

  “I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that he’s waiting in his office for you, and he’s not very good at being patient.”