by W. M. Martin
Maggie was grateful that there were to be no armor envelopments in the sparring class because she had still not managed to conjure so much as a speck of mystical metal, and she felt self-conscious about it. Alice, although a natural at creating and sustaining particularly impressive omniports, had still failed to transfigure into her own set of armor also. Maggie did not feel particularly happy about Alice failing to envelop herself yet, but she did find her own shortcomings more bearable while being shared with her best friend.
Mr. Carver called out to the class a little louder than was probably necessary, “Mr. Baker, please step forward.”
Both Lester and Thomas approached their instructor at the same time.
“I just need one of you, please,” Mr. Carver said.
Thomas and Lester both made fists and played a round of rock-paper-scissors. Thomas was the victor.
“Mr. Baker, please choose someone from the group to spar with,” instructed Mr. Carver.
Thomas looked over towards Klaus and winked. Klaus knew what Thomas was about to do, and he had already warned his foolhardy peer against it. Klaus’ warning was to go unheeded.
Thomas said coolly, “I choose Lucy, Mr. Carver.”
Mr. Carver cocked an eyebrow and asked with a hint of laughter hidden behind a faux-concerned countenance, “Are you sure?”
Thomas replied, “Definitely, she’ll never know what hit her!”
Mr. Carver shook his head and mumbled under his breath, “It’s your funeral.”
Lucy came to the front to stand beside Thomas. She never even looked him in the eyes. Mr. Carver ushered the duo over to a large mat cordoned off by a strange netting with a soft yellow glow emanating from it and then paused before giving them his instructions.
Mr. Carver looked at Thomas and shook his head in disbelief one last time and said, “You are both to brace any variations of weaponry which you believe will give you the upper hand against your opponent. You may decide to stick with your preferred weapons of choice. That is fine, seeing as how, over this past year, most of you have apparently found the one which works best for you. You're all gonna end up with some nice bruises today. That's okay too. You have to be proficient at combat outside of your armor as well as inside. You are each going to have to give it your all. There will be no holding back. There. Will. Be. No. Whiner. Babies. You will take your lumps and carry on. As always, in this training arena, you will be protected from any real harm which your opponent’s weapons would most certainly do outside of the ring. This area has been entirely warded by Mr. Akiyama himself. Also, you don't have to worry about losing control and causing your weapons to revert to their original forms of lethality during these training exercises, because you have no control over that in this ring. Aisha is also buzzing around directly overhead and will make sure that Mr. Akiyama’s wards hold. So, between wards and a totem directly above us, you will not only survive these matches, but you will all be relatively unscathed as well. Again, I repeat, with some really nice bruises.”
The class was eagerly awaiting Lucy and Thomas’ match. All year long Thomas had been talking about how he was going to go toe-to-toe with Lucy. He did not believe that Lucy being a Legacy would have any bearing on her battle prowess. He was moments away from a rude awakening.
“Are you both ready?” inquired Mr. Carver.
“Oh yeah!” replied Thomas.
Thomas’ hands began to glow like embers crackling from a fire in the night as did Lucy’s. He had braced his favorite morning star which was covered with jagged spikes, and Lucy held her radiant, sapphire katana, which was rippling with power, out in front of herself and pointed it at Thomas’s face. Thomas spread his arms out wide and gave an exaggerated bow to Lucy, and she slowly nodded her head once in reply.
Mr. Carver barked, “Begin!”
Before Thomas knew what had happened, he was picking himself up off of the floor and watching Lucy get back into formation with their giggling classmates. Klaus simply shook his head in shame. Thomas stepped back in line and was vigorously rubbing the back of his skull. He was not sure if the knot that was steadily rising was from his head making contact with the floor or from Lucy’s katana. At any rate, whether by sudden impact rushed along by gravity or by a mystical sword, Thomas had reaped the whirlwind, and its name was Lucy Min.
Mr. Carver called Stephanie up to the mat.
“I'd like to take a crack at Jax, Sir,” Stephanie stated, not bothering to hide her anticipation.
Jax moved with confidence out from the center of the gathered students and tied his long hair back so as to keep it from obstructing his field of view. His hands, which were at his sides, began to pulse with a soft flickering light that melded into two forms akin to tomahawks.
Jax braced two unique variations of his bearded axes. His favorite axe was always braced with serrated teeth and a new one of his own imagination had an over-extended bit that was split in the center and held jagged, beveled, emerald hooks on either side of the head. It was a truly imposing weapon. He twirled them in his hands with stylistic flair before settling in to a striking position. Stephanie’s hand sparked to life with a torrent of blood-red light which formed her long jumonji yari, now with a razor-sharp ruby blade that mimicked the properties of a butterfly’s wing.
The two friends bowed to one another and squared off. They paced around each other cautiously, betraying no signs of where either’s attack would originate. Stephanie would test the proverbial waters after every few steps to tease out Jax’s probable method of attack. Stephanie thought that she had found an opening in Jax’s defenses; she was wrong.
She started with a feint and followed up, with surprising speed and ferocity, with a series of quick swings under Jax’s left guard and then over to his right. He protected his flanks very well from Stephanie’s graceful bombardment. She only managed to strike him once, in the knee, but she knew that if they were not safe inside of the protective barriers of the ring, then she would have just crippled her friend. Maggie felt as though she were watching a dangerous ballet as Jax dodged a swift blow with a surprisingly agile pirouette.
He countered with a quick advance and deflected her polearm’s incoming ruby-red and razor-sharp blade with a shift in his guard to a long point with one of his axes. Stephanie spun her jumanji yari’s haft around her neck to gain momentum and then she swung it toward Jax’s face like a giant club. He utilized an empty fade and then he swiftly spun on his heel to pass back and catch Stephanie behind her leg. She had anticipated his move and raised her leg out of the way of Jax’s attack.
Stephanie pressed her furiously elegant assault on Jax’s sturdy defenses with a flurry of hits that made her weapon look like a windmill in a tornado. Jax could only block so many and after a few near misses, he had to dodge. Stephanie’s third series of strikes were a brilliant salvo of near hits. She swung her yari low so as to block a savage strike which would have severely racked her left thigh. Jax’s own defenses were now abandoned and he pressed his attack hard. His offensive fighting style was brutal.
He was overwhelming Stephanie and his attempts to take her legs out from under her would not be denied. Jax riposted an incoming lunge and quickly disarmed her by catching her yari between his axe blades and twisting them in just such a way as to disarm Stephanie. He then spun into a crouched position and caught her behind her calf, just above her ankle and lifted up hard. Stephanie’s feet left the ground and as she was tumbling backward, she summoned her totem, Max, and utilized her powers which were linked to him and floated further back and then upright into a defensive position. The class erupted with cheers and applause at Stephanie’s quick thinking. Jax charged headlong at Stephanie, but she was already two moves ahead of him. As Jax got close enough to make contact, Stephanie ducked under his strike and rolled past him to collect her weapon. The moment that her jumonji yari was back in her possession, she spun smoothly and struck out hard, catching Jax behind the leg, causing him to stumble. Stephanie stood victorious and bow
ed to Jax who was still on the ground, laughing at himself for underestimating his friend and her fighting prowess.
Maggie had been confident that Jax would come out on top as the victor. She had been so confident, in fact, that she had accepted a small wager from the student body’s version of a bookie, Callum Young. He had bet Maggie that if Stephanie had lost the match then he would have done Maggie’s Armor Envelopment papers for a week. On the other side of that wager, if Jax lost the round, then Maggie would have to do his afterclass papers in Summons for a week. Maggie knew that betting anything against Callum was a bad idea because he never lost a wager. Not ever. Maggie also knew that she had better get her ink and her quills ready because she was going to have a lot of extra work to do that week.
Mr. Carver spoke up, “Very nice, Ms. Viridi. Mr. Cooper, your swings are fast and your strikes are solid. You have to work on your defenses, though. It's not always about attacking. Great effort. Next! Ms. Pennington! Who do you choose?”
Alice walked up to the makeshift arena and said softly, “I choose Sara, sir.”
Mr. Carver, with his voice like a low humming bass, called out, “Ms. Carlson, let's go! Move it! Move it! Move it!”
Sara met Alice on the mat in the ring. They both smiled at each other and bowed. As they stood prepared to fight one another, both girls’ hands lit-up, and Sara faced her opponent with a pair of dazzling nunchucks, and Alice faced hers with a pair of jagged twin daggers. Sara flew at Alice with her spinning instruments of destruction, but Alice was ready for her. She crossed her jagged daggers in front of herself so as to shield herself from Sara’s assault. Sara’s first blow was blocked with ease and her nunchaku wrapped itself around Alice’s blades. Sara, seizing the opening, swiped Alice in her ribcage and knocked the wind out of her. Alice fell to one knee and grabbed her side.
“Great Job, Ms. Carlson. You were swift and decisive. You did well also Ms. Pennington, but you have to protect your flanks. Never give your opponent an opening to exploit. Who’s next?” asked Mr. Carver.
“I wanna try, sir,” said Kylie.
“Ah, Ms. Hanson. Very well, step up and choose your opponent,” ordered Mr. Carver.
Kylie pointed out to the students gathered by the enchanted training arena and said, “Come on, Maggie. I got your number.”
Maggie and Kylie had become good friends over the past year and there had never been a cross word between them. Kylie knew how heartfelt and generous Maggie could be, but if she thought that Maggie Bennett was going to be a pushover, she was sorely mistaken. She had mistook Maggie’s kindness for weakness and that was going to cause her some serious discomfort in the coming moments. Maggie stood across from Kylie and braced her sapphire bow, which she had become rather proficient with under Mr. Carver’s tutelage. Kylie, in turn, braced a lithe rapier with a sapphire guard. The blade had sapphire stippling and was deceptively fast when being handled by Kylie.
Maggie had been watching her practicing for weeks with Mr. Carver, and she was leery about letting Kylie get too close with her agile sword. Mr. Carver gave the go ahead and both girls bowed to one another. Before Maggie could even get her bowstring drawn back, Kylie had jumped forward and thrust her brand toward Maggie’s chest. Maggie, startled by Kylie’s speed, barely had time to shift her feet and dodge the incoming stab.
Maggie swung her bow at Kylie in the hopes of landing a critical hit or at the very least tripping her up. It was of no use. Kylie moved like a bolt of lightning and as good as Maggie had become, Kylie was simply better. She was better at close range combat, but not at long ranged tactics. That was where Maggie flourished.
Maggie knew that if she could buy herself enough time to put a little bit of distance between herself and Kylie, then she might stand a chance against her scholastically brilliant and surprisingly nimble friend. Kylie pressed her attack and quickly used her momentum to push Maggie back. Maggie barely missed a swipe aimed for her cheek by rolling away and to the side. Kylie was not expecting the move and lost a step in her own movements.
Maggie took advantage of Kylie’s focus having been shaken, and she braced a single arrow in her hand. She hurled it at Kylie’s feet and as soon as it had made contact with the ground, the arrowhead shattered into thousands of sapphire specks inside of a cloud of smoke. Kylie, completely disoriented by the surprising effects of Maggie’s exploding projectile, stopped dead in her tracks and tried, without any luck, to wave the dust from her field of vision. The mystical dart had achieved its objective, and Maggie now had ample time to think and aim.
Maggie would not allow this advantage to pass her by. As Kylie continued to billow the cloud away, Maggie raised her bow, drew back on her shimmering bowstring and braced another arrow. The moment that Kylie stepped out from the bespeckled mantle, her eyes widened in shock. There was no time for her to dodge the arrow by lunging out of the way or time for her to attempt to block the azure missile cruising unabated toward her center of mass. Maggie’s projectile struck true and at the moment of impact, Kylie was knocked backward and a sapphire net sprung out from the arrowhead and restrained Kylie in midair.
Kylie landed so hard on her back that it knocked the breath out of her. Aisha, Mr. Carver’s totem, buzzed down over Kylie and immediately eased her discomfort. Kylie was okay, and she was grateful for the scary looking, ethereal tarantula-hawk. Mr. Carver walked into the ring with Maggie and Kylie, put his dark hands on his hips and looked around at the gathered students before returning his attention to the two combatants.
“Great job, girls. Ms. Hanson, never, ever let your guard down. I keep having to tell everyone the same thing, it’s essential that you be prepared for anything! You are all Kindred which means that each and everybody in this academy is genetically superior to humans. We are faster, stronger and for the most part, smarter. Everyone here is capable of learning anything, especially combat techniques, at a rate of approximately four times faster than even the most gifted human warriors and scholars. Most of you will choose some day to live in and guard Havens, some of you may join the Praetorians. Others, may decide to live as humans and report on any suspicious activity that may involve the Fallen, a few of you may simply want to travel the world. At any rate, these skills that must be learned here can for certain and may one day be required to save your lives. Ms. Bennett, that was an intelligent use of the time that your distraction gave you. You, like Ms. Hanson and everyone else in here, yes even you Mr. Cooper, need to endeavor to solidify your defenses. Okay now, let me see who’s next? Ah, Mr. Stapler, come on up,” said Mr. Carver.
After Mr. Carver’s class, almost everyone was sore, but not too badly thanks in part to Mr. Carver’s totem, Aisha and to Mr. Akiyama’s wards. Klaus was steadily rubbing his bruised and battered shoulder which Nigel had cracked his whip against and Thomas was convinced that Lucy had given him a concussion. Stephanie and Alice were laughing at Thomas’ exaggerated misery. Maggie only sparred once so she was not tender in the least. In fact, Maggie felt great, and she was extremely excited to be leaving the academy to visit a Haven in Europe that afternoon.
Maggie had decided that since today was the day in which every First Year would get the chance to visit the Haven of Plimpkins, where Alice was from, near North Yorkshire, England, she would ask and see if Nancy and Edgar would like to join her. Maggie found Nancy, pouring over a series of scrolls, in the Great Library.
Maggie walked up to her and playfully asked, “Whatcha doing, Ms. Decker?”
Nancy looked up from her work, took off her glasses and sighed, “I’m just trying to get some of Mrs. Bonifassi’s papers graded before we head out to Plimpkins. It’s just on our side of the Veil in Yorkshire, you know?”
Maggie’s face brightened and she responded, “Yeah, Ms. Holiday had told us all about it yesterday. That's actually where Alice is from, but I'm sure you already knew that. Anyway, that’s actually why I’m here. I was hoping that maybe you and Edgar would like to go with us.”
Nancy smiled and said, �
��Well, that’s very thoughtful, but I doubt Edgar would be able to make it. I’ll be going as a chaperone though.”
Maggie cast a pleading glance toward Nancy and prodded her with a juvenile whine.
“Can you at least ask if he’d like to go? I haven’t seen him since he was here at the academy to drop off some old scroll to Mr. Evans and that was like two whole months ago. Speaking of which, did Edgar ever figure out who tossed that stink bomb into his omniport behind him when he was leaving?” asked Maggie.
Maggie had a sneaking suspicion that it was most likely Thomas Baker, but she could not be certain, and he had not admitted anything to her. Nancy scrunched up her nose in disgust, recalling in vivid detail, the odious cloud which had blown through in Edgar’s omniport with such force that it almost seemed to take on a noxious life of its own.
Nancy answered, “No, he doesn’t know who did it, but if I ever find out the name or names of the parties responsible, they’ll serve the next month in detention with Mr. Akiyama. Poor Edgar almost never got that foul stench off of himself. It still stinks in the diner’s kitchen.”
Maggie laughed at the mental image of Edgar stinking up the diner and Nancy, more than likely, giving him a hard time about it.
Maggie persevered with her request, “Will you at least ask him if he’d like to go? Please? For me?”
Nancy pretended to be annoyed and said, “Yes, fine. I’ll ask him, but don’t expect me to cave in like this too often.”
Maggie said gleefully, “Thank you, Ms. Decker!” before continuing on to her dorm room to prepare for the day’s field trip.