Forging Alliances: Wizards of White Haven

by Frances Howitt

  ‘Keep to a steady pace,’ Jason called to his team, aware some were virtually sprinting. There was no way they’d be able to keep that pace up all the way around. He took the lead to set the pace and glanced at Natalya as she came alongside. As the only woman in their class, some might consider picking her to be foolish, for a physically strenuous competition. Whilst there was no question the men were generally stronger, Jason knew she had other skills, and formidable abilities, that more than made up for that in his eyes. She also had the courage to do what was necessary, rarely balking at anything, unless it might harm her baby of course. He was definitely with her on that and having her on his team meant he could be sure she wasn’t being asked to do anything dangerous. None regarded her as a weak link, exactly. You didn’t mess with a woman who could turn into a tiger! She was a good runner, thanks to her wolf side, so he set a pace that he knew she could handle. This pace was swift enough to test everyone, but the team would chafe if he went too slowly. He had to find a good balance. Whilst he didn’t want to catch up, and perhaps be held up by the yellow team in front, equally they also had to consider the teams following, who they’d need to keep ahead of.

  After a few minutes jogging, they came to the first obstacle; a wall of netting.

  ‘We’d not have managed this so easily with paws,’ Jason remarked as he clambered up the annoyingly loose net. It swayed under him as others joined him on it, making grabbing handholds and footholds a little precarious as where he was aiming for moved out from under his reach unpredictably. Flipping over the top rail, on his stomach, he made the descent the other side and could now see his team following. Natalya had almost kept pace with him and now grinned for a moment as she noticed his regard.

  Back on the ground they ran on and next had to clamber over one of the horse jumps. Spotting the next white flag he ran on up a steep hill, glancing back to be sure the team were with him before concentrating ahead. In the distance he saw the yellow team in front had stopped. Ah, was this the first of the challenges, or more warmup obstacles?

  A closed door, positioned between some large boulders, was marked with the white flags. Beside it was a rack with a long bow and quiver of arrows.

  ‘Guess this is your turn, Jason,’ Natalya remarked noticing the bow and looked around her. ‘Oh, that must be your target.’

  Jason noticed the small brightly purple coloured target high in the branches of the tree adjacent to where they stood. Targets belonging to the other teams were lined up alongside, although fortunately they did have a little space between each. Not every archer was accurate after all and no one wanted to fail because another team had dislodged the wrong target.

  Attached to that target was a ribbon with a key. Taking aim carefully, he considered the angle necessary. He had to not only hit the target but ensure his arrow would push the target, and thus their key, out of the tree. The challenge was to avoid the branches all around which could easily snag the ribbon. Letting fly he smiled in satisfaction and heard the whoops from his team as they rushed to grab the key and use it to open the door. Replacing the bow swiftly, Jason followed his team through. He heard a thud and glanced back; the door had closed right behind him and he tasted magic in the air.

  Running after his team he passed through huge boulders on a narrow path. He’d never been up here before, since it was a completely out of the way corner of the grounds, up a steep hillock that went nowhere. What were they approaching?

  ‘Have we reached the next challenge?’ Jason asked getting to the front. He frowned noticing the yellow team was still here.

  ‘Yes,’ Natalya told him as he reached her side. ‘It’s a wizard one,’ she added and he understood her sudden apprehension. It was her turn to complete whatever the challenge was and none of them were wizards to help her with it.

  ‘What’s the holdup?’ Jason called to the other team. He could see the wizard on the yellow team was rather red faced and he was being rudely berated by others on his team. They all looked round.

  ‘We’re stuck; we’ve got a duff wizard,’ the team leader announced, making the shamed wizard grow redder still.

  Natalya noticed the wizard look at her hopefully, but silently, knowing he’d be further ridiculed if he asked for help. She probably wasn’t allowed to help directly either. Scanning his mind, because he was too upset to be shielding, she heard what spell he’d attempted. It should have worked, but clearly he wasn’t strong enough for such an ambitious spell.

  ‘Use your teammates’ strength. They have the magic you need if you merge with them,’ she called to him. The young man immediately brightened and turned to his team, who’d heard her words just as clearly as he had, since she’d spoken aloud.

  ‘You know what to do?’ Jason asked her quietly. She simply nodded and since she wasn’t close enough to have seen what the other team stood in front of, he guessed she’d either had words privately with their wizard or heard what he planned. ‘Can we go ahead while you sort yourselves out?’

  The yellows scowled but reluctantly parted. Natalya took the lead and passing through the crowd came to the edge of a sharp ravine. Since it was probably a good thirty feet down and with sheer sides, it was a serious barrier. There was a slat bridge, or the remains of one, dangling on the far side. A pair of cables, with a few slats remaining attached, hung from posts. The rest of the slats lay at the bottom of the ravine and well out of reach.

  ‘Back up, give her space,’ Jason ordered noticing her finish her assessment. He knew just how quickly things could happen around her when she was wielding magic and today she was without any strong or experienced wizards to call on if things went awry.

  Concentrating, she magically pulled the cables up and towards her. Whilst it would have been far easier to do them individually that wasn’t possible because of the few slats attached. They had to come together, which meant splitting her attention and keeping strict control.

  The cables whipped up fast, like striking snakes. They sounded like cracking whips and everyone instinctively backed up nervously. She gritted her teeth, realising the problems the other wizard had found had made her think it was more difficult than it actually was. Hastily she directed the lashing cables to affix themselves to the waiting posts this end. Only then could she release that part of the spell. She was aware of awed mutters from behind her.

  Not bothering to wait for the cables to calm down, as her magic left them, she summoned the planks. She’d watched Jim laying roof shingles. Settling the planks in a row, balanced on the twin cables, was a similar thing. It was far more difficult in practice than he’d made it look though. It required exacting precision in her spell casting and quick adjustments to take into account the order that each plank was to position itself, being offset to the one before it. She didn’t think anyone would be impressed to see all the planks stacked one on top of the other instead. That would not make them a crossing. Keeping her concentration, she positioned each carefully so they would be evenly spaced without dangerous gaps.

  Yay! She’d done it. Looking at the structure as a whole she frowned. Whilst there was now a way across, those planks were exceedingly precariously balanced. Simply walking across could dislodge some of those planks and they’d fall all too easily, perhaps taking someone down with it. There was no hand rail cable either, to provide backup. Searching the grasses on the far side, with her senses, she found a cable. Just one? How should she use it? Should she make a single hand rail, or use it to secure the planks? Deciding stable footing was more important, she magically secured the cable at the far end and it shot across towards her, narrowly missing impaling one of the yellow team who’d come closer to watch. She hoped he wasn’t considering darting across and using her bridge for his team.

  Securing it this end, so it ran on top of the planks down the centre of the bridge, she knew that would keep them from moving. She nodded in satisfaction and ran across. Jason and the team immediately followed, guessing that to delay might strand them on the wrong side of
the ravine. Indeed, they felt a strong buzz of magic immediately after they finished crossing. The cables unravelled from the posts, all by themselves, and rapidly slithered into the ravine, accompanied by the clatter of falling planks. They were mesmerized as the bridge just disintegrated, returning to the exact broken state it had been on their arrival.

  Glancing up to the source of the burst of strong magic, she noticed Jim was up in the branches of a big tree watching them. He nodded to her, meeting her gaze for a moment, before turning his attention to the yellow team now back to square one.

  ‘Well done,’ Jason called to her even as he jogged past where she’d stopped. He followed her gaze to Jim and abruptly felt considerable relief to see the powerful wizard. She’d have had help if she’d done something wrong and was about to come to grief. ‘Hopefully all our other challenges will be easier.’

  ‘I don’t think they’d be classed as a challenge if they were easy,’ she responded. ‘I’m glad mine’s out of the way though.’

  ‘You’re assuming they’re only doing one test for a wizard; why?’ Marko commented. ‘Wizards can do a whole bunch of different types of things, especially in a battlefield situation. He never said each of us had to take a turn either, only that one is to be chosen by the team to perform each challenge.’

  ‘Thanks for that,’ she said sourly, knowing he was probably right. She shouldn’t be relaxing just yet or getting complacent. Not all of their team members were high up in their respective skills. No one was equally skilled and each team leader had tried to get the highest person on the scoreboard. But since each team was only allowed to choose one person at a time, in order, inevitably that meant they wouldn’t get everyone they would have preferred.

  They jogged on, well aware the yellow team could very well be getting across the ravine soon and that they’d definitely be trying their hardest to make up the time they’d lost.

  ‘What’s this?’ Jason asked staring up at a cable that had been attached to a tree and seemed to be strung between it and the next, just where there was some vivid green ground. ‘Don’t walk into that; it looks like a bog. Smells like one too,’ he added wrinkling his nose.

  ‘Looks like a zip line, or rope slide,’ Natalya ventured. ‘I saw one being used by children once. They’re fun. Boost me onto the platform.’

  ‘That’s a platform?’ Jason asked doubtfully eyeing the single plank wedged between some branches. She just looked at him, so, with an uneasy frown, he bent and cupped his hands together for her to put her foot.

  Natalya stepped up into the tree and moved to the side where the cable was and saw the T-bar handles attached to the cable. ‘You just grab hold and slide down,’ she said to the guys, a couple of whom had climbed up behind her so they could see. ‘Obviously the hanger will be in the wrong place once someone goes down, so you need to pull it back with this lighter rope that is attached. Don’t touch it while someone’s on it or you’ll get rope burn. Is that clear? Watch.’

  ‘Natalya, surely one of us should go first?’ Jason exclaimed in dismay. This didn’t look terribly safe and he had no clue how it truly worked. Freddie would have his head if anything happened to her under his watch. Her glee wasn’t remotely reassuring.

  ‘Don’t fret. Remember to pull it back once I’m down.’ She grabbed the bar and hung from it then stepped off the platform with a push. Her kick pushed her away from the tree and she was quickly building up considerable speed as she zipped down the hill, crossing what was actually a tiny bit of marsh near a small lake. This was much better fun than tamely walking down a hill.

  She whooped at the thrill of the speed she was travelling at. This was every bit as much fun as she’d thought from watching teens on one. The end of the line rapidly approached however and she turned her attention to landing. Not knowing how it ended was unnerving. As she blasted down the line she found she was no longer in the treetops but was dropping so her feet would soon skim the ground. Ah, so this was designed so their feet would drag for a few paces, so they could slow themselves. A strategically placed mattress was tied against the end of the line tree. Yeah, smashing into the tree full force wouldn’t be fun. She saw all of this, moments before her feet touched the ground, and she was dragged along. She resisted the instinct to tuck her feet up, knowing this dragging might be jarring but was part of the braking process. Turning sideways to protect the baby, her speed bounced her off the mattress, despite her dragging her feet. She fell in a giggling heap on a second usefully placed mattress.

  Hearing Jason yelling, demanding to know if she was ok, she put her thumbs up to where she could just see him way up the hill. Getting up hastily, she connected with his mind to reassure him, since she sensed he wasn’t convinced she hadn’t collapsed because she’d been hurt.

  She was surprised at the depth of worry suffusing him. He was her best friend and had been since her first day joining classes here at White Haven. She’d been his friend when his father was murdered and he’d been by her side to support her when she’d gone to the rescue of Freddie and the other wolves. He’d been there when she was stabbed by wizard Nathaniel and nearly died. He’d seen her at her most vulnerable and it had made him protective. They had been through a lot together. Whilst there was nothing romantic in their feelings, their friendship was sound. So she made a point of not brushing off his concern, but properly reassured him. She also sent her appreciation that he cared about her wellbeing. She felt him straighten under her sentiment, his worries clearing. Even though it was but a momentary contact, it was enough. Sometimes, being a wizard and able to discern the root of why someone said or acted as they did, was very handy indeed.

  The zip line bar was already being pulled back and only a couple of minutes later, she watched one of the men coming down it. His startled yell made her laugh. ‘Put your feet down to slow up!’

  She giggled as he bounced off the mattress and fell in a shocked, exhilarated heap of laughter. Damn that was funny. She laughed until her sides hurt as each followed, with the same reaction.

  As soon as the whole team arrived, all of them wide-eyed at the zip line experience and most wishing they could have another go, they hurried on. There was many a backward look until they lost sight of it in the trees. Running amongst and dodging trees for several minutes, because there wasn’t a cleared path, was calming and helped them refocus on what might be ahead. Just as well it had too, for they quickly came out of the trees and slowed, taking in what awaited them.

  The first things to catch the eye were the horses tethered ahead of them. Noticing there were six groups of four horses, defined by team coloured ribbons in their manes, it was clear they were part of the next challenge.

  ‘There’s four horses and five of us. I suppose that means one of us doesn’t have to do it,’ Jason remarked and glanced across at their arms teacher Bruno, who merely nodded.

  ‘Some of the teams only have four. I’m quite happy to sit this one out,’ Natalya offered swiftly before anyone else could. She was tired; that bridge construction had taken quite a chunk of her energy. Since there wasn’t a horse for her and it appeared they weren’t doing a circle, she went to the arch and rested while they fetched their horses.

  The purple team mounted up and headed for the start, marked by the white flags and additionally a timber arch. At the foot of the arch was a rack where several coloured lances waited. There was only one purple one so it was clear only one was to take a lance. They volunteered their highest ranked team member, from his ratings on the leader board, to take the lead and undertake the challenge.

  He set off, lance in hand, down the lane marked out with white string. The other three followed behind giving him space and trying to keep out of his way. The target was a straw scarecrow. Throwing any weapon from a moving horse took skill, not least of which was the controlling of your horse while you were aiming. His lance went a bit wide of centre, but was a solid hit nevertheless.

  The foursome charged on to the next arch. There, an axe was t
he weapon on offer. A set of swinging sandbags were far more difficult moving targets. It necessitated closing in on them to cut them open, before the bag you were aiming at, or indeed the next in line, slammed into you and knocked you flying. Needless to say, the other three stood clear while the route forward was made dangerous by the three swinging bags, until they were dealt with. With the axe embedded into the waiting purple stripe painted on a log, as the dropping off point, they hurried on to the arch indicating the start of the next challenge.

  The sword challenge also required fighting through swinging bags. These were smaller and lighter but there were more of them requiring nimbleness. Tackling these was quite different to just wild slashes with an axe, but the sword was Marko’s forte. The sword required precision handling and swift dodging to avoid being knocked off. Slicing through each bag made them begin to pour the grains out so each member could pass it by.

  In contrast, the crossbow target was a single small disk hanging from a tree branch. It was enough of a distance away to be quite a challenge, but Jason took his time and proved why archery was his favourite skill.

  Passing through the last arch there wasn’t anywhere to leave the horses, so they remained in the saddle. Natalya had been keeping pace with the men since this seemed to be a long set of challenges which didn’t loop back. She’d been able to catch up when they stopped to let their team member tackle a challenge or collect the next weapon. Now in the clear, Jason paused. Offering her his stirrup and a hand, she mounted up behind him. Now all were mounted they could really make some time, although they did have to keep a careful eye on where the flags were to avoid going wrong.

  Natalya clung to Jason as they charged down the hill. ‘Steady on, I seem to remember this is the horse course now.’