by T J Kelly
Climbing a small mound above where Oberon stood with his brothers and sons, I dropped my invisibility spell.
“Ready?” I asked when they noticed me standing there. They called up more fireballs, but I shattered each one in their hands. I cloaked myself with invisibility again and ran to another spot on the field.
“Set,” I shouted as I reappeared. They turned to face me. I laughed when they created more fireballs, which I shattered again. I guess they were slow learners.
Cloaking myself once more, I sprinted to the mound where I first appeared. As I suspected, they didn’t think I would return to the same spot. They thought I would make a power circle. This caused them to turn the wrong way, exposing their backs to me. I laughed loudly, mocking them. They spun around to face me, and I grinned.
“Go!” I shouted.
◆◆◆
I smashed one of the crystals I had stuffed into my pocket onto the ground in front of me. The Flash-bang was a pretty basic spell, but it worked. The Taines were blinded long enough to lose track of me as I again slipped away from them.
Then I did begin to run a power circle around them, throwing fireballs with both hands, calling unbroken crystals to me from all of the damaged workstations around the perimeter of the arena. They were meant to be used to hold spells, but instead, I threw them like baseballs, smashing them into George’s head since he was the closest to me, knocking him out. He fell beside Harold’s unconscious body, leaving only six Taines in the fight.
The crowd was cheering and screaming so loudly that I wasn’t sure if I shouted my relief or not.
I continued cloaking and uncloaking, using my magic to double my speed, then altered my course from a circle into a figure-eight, spinning and twirling and making the remaining Taines dizzy as they threw their spells.
Titus and Keaton broke ranks to run in a straight line, one heading east and the other west, knowing that at some point their paths would have to cross mine. I shifted and ducked when they came near. Even though I was still cloaked, Keaton managed to grab my wrist and tug hard.
My invisibility spell dropped. “No!” I shouted. I couldn’t allow myself to fall. I wouldn’t be able to get back up again. “Not today, you monster.” I desperately wished I could send a jolt through my arm and zap him. As soon as the thought entered my mind, I leaned into my magic and made it happen.
Keaton dropped. Titus raced towards me. He was closer than anyone else. I threw another Wall-shield his way. Instead of a frontal blow like the one I threw from behind the Spinigers, I pictured the shield collapsing on top of Titus. It knocked him out.
I paused for just a moment to cast a sleep spell on all of the fallen Taines so they couldn’t get back up. Unfortunately, that allowed time for the rest of the team to catch up with me.
One of Chas’s brothers, Barrett, was smarter than he looked. He turned the muck at his feet white and threw it at me, trying to splatter me so they could find me if I cloaked myself again. I turned invisible to make it harder on him as I pulled out one of the small crystals from my vest and attached Dark to the spell inside. I threw it as hard as I could.
I had better aim than I realized. The crystal hit Barrett directly in the chest and sent him flying. Silver ropes surrounded him, then tightened, immobilizing him.
The Dark I infused into the crystal worked just like Chas said it would. The remaining Taines were unable to cut the ropes. They couldn’t figure out why their magic wasn’t working and soon gave up, turning to find me. Easily.
Too easily.
I looked down and saw that Barrett’s last throw covered me in white mud. He rendered my cloaking spell useless after all. The protection it gave me was gone for good, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it. Furious, I flicked my wrist, throwing a spell that rendered Barrett unconscious inside the silver rope spell.
Grateful there were only three Taines left standing, I dropped the useless cloak spell to free up more of my power, pulling the magic I used to generate the cloak back into myself. Alastair, Adler, and Oberon. The men who remained were the most dangerous.
I reached for my pouch to grab the rest of my crystals only to realize they weren’t there. I left the pouch buried under the boulder when I dropped my cloak spell to help the Robus clan. The only chance I had was to get to them before I was taken out.
Adler generated a fireball when I started running. He knew by then that I could shatter them, but it was his strongest spell. He knew I might not be able to stop a fireball while I tried to evade the shiny silver throwing knives that Alastair and Oberon held ready.
I jumped onto a small stack of bricks and threw myself towards a crumbled wall to take cover.
Alastair let one of the knives fly. It was aimed lower than I expected and I didn’t jump correctly. It landed solidly, with a sickening thump, in my left thigh.
My body crashed to the ground. As I groaned in pain, I generated a shield between me and the dirt below me, using Earth as a wedge to shove myself upright. Landing on my feet, I yanked the knife out, involuntarily screaming in pain. I wiped a bandage spell over the top of the wound, stopping the bleeding and dulling the pain just enough to allow me to keep moving. Even so, it still hurt so badly that I couldn’t stop sobbing. I forced myself to keep going, though, knowing I would lose if I stopped.
Knowing I would die if I didn’t get away.
And I did run, as fast as I was able, then faster yet with a boost of magic. The last plan I made with Mort, the one he said to use when all my tricks had failed me, flitted through my mind.
Find a place to go to ground. Cover my back. Make sure there’s an escape route.
I ran for the boulder. I had to get to the pouch of crystals, and it was good cover in spite of the fact there was only one way in or out. I dove for it, rolling into the shallow depression below the boulder until my back pressed against the back wall of dirt. I embraced the Earth, panting and trembling, throwing all my strength into the shield I set in front of the exposed side of my hiding place.
I only had one chance.
Clawing at the dirt, I uncovered the pouch and poured the crystals into my mud-caked hands. I tried to find my center and failed. I needed to calm my racing thoughts first. I closed my eyes even though my enemy was before me. They were already closer than I wanted. It terrified me to take my eyes off of them, but I did it anyway. This allowed me to place another spell on the crystals, filling them with my magic and making them responsive only to me.
I hoped it worked.
It was over for me. Acknowledging that freed me. The fear that I would lose vanished. All that remained was how afraid I was to die. The reality of the ring, how quickly everything moved, the pace of the fight all told me that my uncle wouldn’t have time to save me, no matter how powerful he was. The only person that could stop my death was me, and I wasn’t strong enough. That thought nearly overwhelmed me, then my panic ebbed. A new feeling arose inside of me. Acceptance.
If I died, so be it. But I’d go down swinging. No one would be able to say that I left this world in terror. My last stand would be made with strength. And confidence.
My hands were going numb, my fingers stiff and swollen. I was worried I would drop the crystals. Darkness tinged the outside edges of my vision. I needed to control the magic, and there was only one way I knew how. I left the crystals connected to me instead of separating them out like I would do with a fireball. I couldn’t lose them if I didn’t disconnect.
My teeth chattered, making it hard to draw in another breath. I was about to take on three powerful men - men who hated me - all at once. I clenched my jaw and pushed myself out of the embrace of the soil to stand on top of a hill, so I was elevated above my enemies. High ground was good.
Oberon laughed that stupid mocking laugh of his. They were maybe fifteen feet away. He raised his arm, the only one of the three still armed with physical weapons.
“I’m going to stick this knife in your other leg, little girl, and pin you to the
ground. Then I’m going to suck you dry, steal your magic, vanquish you in the dirt. It won’t matter if you live because I’m going to take away your life.”
Oberon’s arm drew back, but I ignored it. Turning my body sideways in hopes of becoming a smaller target, I said, “You can try, old man.”
I did it. I sounded confident. Glib. And just as mocking as he did.
With a roar, Oberon threw the knife. At the same time, I threw my crystals. I used magic to guide them, tiny darts surrounded by Dark, piercing the Taine family’s defensive magic as if it didn’t exist. There was nothing the Taines could do to stop me. My use of Dark caught them completely off guard.
Oberon was right. His knife did find its target. It did knock me over. It did pin me to the ground. And it hurt. I was in agony. I couldn’t move, frozen with pain.
But that didn’t matter anymore. Because my spells worked. The Taines really couldn’t stand against the Dark, just like Chas said. Good thing, too, because I hurt so bad the only spell I could think to put in the Dark crystals was a basic sleep spell.
Three bodies hit the ground with a thud, and they didn’t get back up.
The bells rang out over the shouts of the crowd, declaring me the winner.
THIRTY
Surreal
I had to use magic to pull the knife out of my thigh. It was much longer than a standard throwing knife. If I ever had to tell the story about winning the trials someday around a campfire, I would say that Oberon Taine threw a spear at me. It was that big, and that deep.
It hurt, too. I knew I was supposed to leave that thing in my leg until help arrived to keep me from bleeding out, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to enter into my new life as the owner of Rector Enterprises pinned down in the muck. I wanted to meet my future standing tall.
I managed to climb to my feet, but it was hard going. I allowed my fresh wound to bleed to clean away any dirt, then staunched the flow with Peony’s spell. The pain dulled enough for me to remain upright which was all that I wanted at that moment.
The commentator was going crazy. I strained to hear what he said, but I only caught snatches of comments. He had shifted into reading the promo packet about the history of Rector Enterprises. I tuned him out and looked at the crowd.
The faces of the people close enough to see were happy. Exultant, even. I think they had forgiven me for what had looked like cowardice, or worse, for boring them.
My eyes kept roaming until they reached my private suite and I could see Mort and Peter pounding each other on the back. Peony was hugging Armageddon, hard, the both of them looking like they had just won the lottery. I think Peony was crying.
I grinned. I won. Rector Enterprises was saved, and I had my magic, amazing magic, crazy good magic. Magic that defeated a man nobody else could. Not even my own father.
Oberon was smart. He would probably figure out what I had done with the Dark and guess that I knew about his weakness. He would blame Chas for it because how else would I have figured it out? My blood ran cold. The Taines executed blood traitors.
A plan formed in the back of my mind. When I wrote my report for the judges listing all the spells I used, I would tell them I had some that contained Dark to fight the Robus family. Then out of desperation, I used all of my crystals on the Taines at once. I would say that I threw the Dark crystals and the ones I snatched from the damaged workstations. Maybe Oberon would look at that and think I just got lucky. The world, in general, would believe that it was the Light in my crystals that got through their defenses and nobody would know that I deliberately used the Dark.
As long as Oberon thought his secret was safe, there was a chance Chas would be safe. Once I finished formulating the plan, I pushed all thoughts of Chas out of my mind. I would never make it through the night if I continued to obsess over him.
Considering how many prominent Council members were in attendance, I was almost surprised to see the Mayor of San Francisco striding across the mess in the stadium. Vir Fortis looked excited as he held out his hand. I reached over and shook it.
“Congratulations, Ms. Rector!” he said. I tried not to roll my eyes. Vir Fortis spoke with that overly effusive voice he used whenever cameras were in the vicinity. “It’s my honor to declare you the winner of the trials. You’re now the proud owner of Rector Enterprises. How do you feel, my dear?”
Thank goodness Peony and I composed a little speech for use on the arena floor or else I might have looked like an idiot. How did they think I would feel after hours of terror and hard work? Not great. I was lightheaded. My thoughts were skipping to the past and back, then on into the future. None of this I could say, though.
“I’m truly grateful to my advisers and supporters without whom I never would have prevailed. It was only with their dedication and good wishes that I realized I was capable of achieving anything if I truly wanted it. I’ll never forget their contribution to my success. And sir, I think the people here today, cheering me on, made all the difference in the world. They inspired me and gave me the strength I needed to win.”
The crowd screamed and cheered. Vir Fortis patiently waited for them to calm down. “I know I speak for everyone when I say you did a fabulous job. How did it feel to face your rivals?”
Terrible. Horrifying. Exhausting. Surreal. “They were the most powerful magicians I have ever competed against. I feel honored to have shared the ring with them, and my victory against such talented magicians means a great deal to me.” I wanted to laugh. My rivals were the only magicians I had ever competed against, outside of practice with the Irregulars and Armageddon’s household staff. I was pretty sure the Irregulars were far and away stronger than my rivals. But there was no need to rub that in.
“It looks like the healer has arrived, my dear, and will soon whisk you off. Before you go, I want to congratulate you again. I look forward to seeing you at the acceptance ceremony.”
“Thank you, Mayor. You’ve always been so kind and encouraging to me. I look forward to seeing you soon.”
Peony and I discussed the possibility of the mayor coming out onto the field. The Mayor of San Francisco was second only to the Chairman of the Council in the magical power structure along the West Coast. Since the trials were held in the Bay Area, the likelihood that I would see him was high.
My aunt said that it would do my business good if I made it clear that I had a personal relationship with Vir Fortis. The mayor would gain some popularity points by being associated with the winner of the trials. Eventually, that kind of political capital should help me. If that meant I was going to sound like one of those cheesy plastic people I saw on television all the time then so be it. I had my company to think about.
Vir Fortis gave me a fatherly pat on my shoulder. Apparently, the crowd liked that because they started cheering and screaming again, which was getting old. The mayor waved to them and headed off with most of his entourage. One or two cameras stayed behind to record the healer who had approached me.
He quietly asked me to step into the medic tent they had erected and I complied, happy to be out of the public eye for a few minutes.
“You’re lucky the weapons didn’t have any magic in them. I treated a competitor a few years ago who almost didn’t make it out of the arena even though he won.”
I remembered the story. “The Harbingers poisoned their crystals, right?”
The medic nodded. He was a good-looking man of about thirty with intelligent gray-brown eyes. Medics were powerful magicians, and by the sound of his accent, he was from Madagascar where they specialized in healing magic. I relaxed. If the Taines had played any poisonous tricks, he would be the one to discover it.
“Yes, it made for some nasty wounds. We almost lost our patient, but finally managed to pull it off in the end. You look pretty good, though. Just one more minute and you’ll never know you were ever injured at all.”
The medic smiled and then ran his hand near my cheek, knitting together the cuts and slices that were on my face.
I hadn’t even noticed them because of the pain in my legs, but once he started working on them, my face and arms began to prickle and throb.
He was right, though. About a minute later, I was as good as new. So much for avoiding magical healing.
“Thank you for your help,” I said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name before.”
The medic smiled. “They never introduced us, so no apologies are necessary. My name is Poltens Sanator. I’m the chief healer.”
I shook his hand firmly. “It’s an honor to meet you, sir. Thank you so much for coming down here to check on me. I’m sure you have a busy schedule.”
Poltens laughed. “That’s true, my dear, but the honor is all mine. You did great in the ring today, and I think your company is fortunate to have an owner willing to fight for them the way you did.”
I blushed. I was used to effusive praise, lip service from anyone who thought they could flatter me into giving them what they wanted. But I could tell Poltens meant what he said, and it touched me.
“You did a fabulous job. I feel as good as new,” I said truthfully. “No wonder you’re the chief healer. I don’t think I’ve had anyone finish this quickly.”
“That is indeed a compliment, coming from one who has had the benefit of the services of Potentia Laurus.”
“You know my aunt?”
“I’ve had the honor of meeting her. Her skill is a level to which we all aspire in the medical ranks.”
“Me, too. I hope to learn many things from her. I’ll relay your compliments.”
“Excellent. Come now, I’ve kept you too long already. I’m sure the media and your fans are chomping at the bit to get a hold of their heroine.”
“Thank you, again, Poltens Sanator.”
“It was my honor, Praelia Nox.” He ushered me out with a little bow, back into the center of the arena. Half the audience had lingered, hoping for another look at me.
I waved to the cheering crowd as I made my way to the far side of the arena where the judges and Council waited. I climbed the stairs, and when I walked through the door, my ears felt like they went numb because of the sudden shift from screaming fans to empty cinder-block hallway. I followed the corridor until I reached a vast room filled with people and cameras.
