‘I knew you should have picked a second wizard to be in your team,’ she added, having told him what she had to juggle.
‘No. You’re far more able than any other wizard student in the entire school. You just need to believe in yourself the way that we do. Right, do you really need to have a shield wall against the door? Surely that could become part of the wall? And don’t worry about that spider; we’re keeping watch on it.’
‘Ok,’ she murmured, feeling her equilibrium steady with his calm tone. Adjusting her shield as he suggested, so it sealed to the wall either side of the door made sense. She also discarded the part that was under their feet. Now with fewer walls to maintain, it was less of a drain on her strength. She probably didn’t need the very strong shield she’d instinctively put in place, but with her team’s strength she could maintain it for a while longer, even after all the other spells she’d been doing this afternoon.
Now she felt freer to place her hand on the door and send her senses into the lock. With a clear mind she realised it was actually quite straightforward to activate the mechanism. It was the fear of the spider, hers and the teams’ combined, which bombarded her senses. That, together with keeping active the spells necessary to keep the dark room lit and their bodies shielded, had made creating the further spell difficult.
The lock clicked and the door swung open. She and the whole team rushed out the door and stood blinking in the sudden normality of the afternoon’s sunshine. The door swung shut behind them and they jumped nervously. Only now did she cancel her glowing shield spell.
Only a few strides ahead they spotted the finish line and hurried across with a huge sense of relief.
***
‘Well done,’ Wizard Derek said warmly as he stopped their timer and then turned to look them over as they flopped in the grass. ‘Did you enjoy that?’
‘It was certainly challenging,’ Natalya admitted. ‘The zip line was a whole lot of fun,’ she added and smiled as the team added their agreement. ‘Do you know if the yellow team made it across the gorge?’
‘Eventually, I’m told. That’s where you caught up and passed them, correct?’
‘Yes.’
‘I’m not surprised. That particular test needed strength as well as precision. The headmaster believes you gave the team some advice?’
‘I only reminded him to use the strength of his team. He couldn’t do it alone and his team were making it doubly hard by being mean about it.’
‘I see,’ Derek said with a frown. ‘There are some refreshments over there,’ he added with a gesture towards a laden trestle table.
Jason got up and tugged Natalya to her feet, knowing a dismissal when he heard one and indeed the suggestion of food was enough to have them all hurrying to the table. After their exertions food was just what they needed to replenish their strength. Whilst none of the men had shifted, Natalya had used their magic in the last challenge, and they felt the effects of that, in addition to the normal physical exertions. Of course she had used plenty of magic throughout the tests, including shifting, so he’d make sure she had first pick. At the table he snorted in amusement. ‘Even our food is segregated and colour coded.’
‘I suppose it’s so we don’t scoff the lot before the other teams get in,’ she responded with a wry shrug and grabbed a chicken drumstick. She’d seen these animus lads eat and they could pack it away and fast too. Today she wouldn’t be left behind in that regard. She too was hungry and made short work of her share of the snacks.
It was quite a few minutes later that the yellow team finally galloped into view, over the rise and took their horses into the corral. She slowly moved over to Derek where he stood watching out for them to arrive. ‘What happens if they can’t get through something?’
‘Then they have to accept a forfeit. Speaking of which, I’d better keep a closer eye on this lot,’ he murmured, heading up towards one of the innocent looking hedges as they yellow team came into view at the beginning of the final test.
‘Damn, they didn’t even stop to look,’ Natalya muttered with a wince. They could hear terrified cries as the yellows ran straight through the arch, deep into the next challenge and immediately became surrounded by flame. ‘It’s far more difficult to see the path once the flames are lit.’
‘They haven’t given their wizard a chance to catch up, let alone take the lead,’ Jason remarked with a frown, noticing said wizard was last through the arch. He stopped to take a good look around him, but with his team immediately surrounding him and demanding he stop the fire, he wasn’t given much of a chance to check everything out fully. She watched his searching gaze still and hoped he’d spotted the path. The young wizard stepped around the men in his way and walked quickly for the wall of flame and whilst she and her team could see the whole fire area, it was clear by the sudden howls that he’d passed through the middle wall and vanished. One man immediately followed, daring to step where the wizard had boldly gone. Others of the team tried to get through wide of the path point and thus became singed, yelping at the heat. Where Natalya had struggled, not knowing the globe spell, this wizard had immediately activated one on entering the dark section. He didn’t bother waiting for his team to catch up though and it was clear they hadn’t really expected him to. He strode across the cluttered room to the door.
‘Shit, there’s the spider making its move,’ Jason murmured anxiously. The massive arachnid scuttled around the room, keeping outside of the circle of light able to do so because the wizard hadn’t illuminated the entire room, only the half he happened to be in. The laggards just entering the room, and who had stopped to take stock of the weirdness, were now its targets. Oblivious to the danger stalking the rest of his team, the wizard was concentrating on figuring out how to deactivate the lock.
One of the laggards spun round, clearly hearing or sensing something in the shadows, but whilst his teammates were able to run, he was too late. Undefended, he screamed as the spider pounced and moments later he collapsed, stung by the paralysing venom.
‘Shit. That could have been one of us,’ Marko exclaimed, yet again very glad they’d had Natalya on their team. They watched the wizard abruptly make his light far brighter, which drove the spider off. Quickly the other men grabbed their fallen teammate and carried him to the door.
‘Come on! Get us out of here!’ the team was shouting, wildly looking from the door trapping them to where the spider sat, still partially visible. It took several minutes for the scared and constantly berated wizard to get the door open and then he was almost mown over by his team shoving through the door to escape the room.
Natalya watched the yellow team wizard pass through the finish and flop in the grass as she had done. Collecting several items off the table in the yellow section, she went over to him.
‘Here, you look like you need it,’ she said quietly, noticing how pale he was. He was also alone, the rest of the team having gathered around the man who’d been stung. Clearly the team blamed their wizard for their friend’s misfortune.
‘Thanks,’ he responded and gratefully ate what she’d brought over, knowing he was too depleted to move.
‘They were very wrong to treat you the way they did.’
‘You saw?’
‘Well, they were being very obnoxious at the gorge. I don’t know how they expected you to be able to concentrate when they were in your face all the time. They did the same thing here. I’d have smacked them.’
‘I was tempted, but they’d easily beat me to a pulp.’
‘Not if you got in first and proved you weren’t going to stand for it. You have to be quick to put up a shield though,’ she added with a shrug. ‘Did you get across the gorge?’
‘Yes. I watched what you did. I used their strength, which majorly pissed them off, but it was the only way we were getting across.’ He also knew that the single reason his team had acceded to the request to merge, was the fact she’d said it was what they’d have to do. He doubted he’d have been able to p
ersuade them otherwise. They simply didn’t want to hear anything he said. As the only wizard in the team and the last chosen, he had no backup from another wizard and knew he’d only been included on sufferance.
‘Poor bastard,’ he murmured, as they heard Derek declare the spider stung one would remain out for a while until the venom wore off.
Derek pinned the vocal members of the yellow team with steely eyes and they quickly shut up. He was not impressed with their attitude and it showed. She wondered if those men had any clue how close they were to a real slap down. Considering how they’d treated their wizard, she suspected Derek would find some creative way of punishing them for it. Probably publicly, since he hadn’t yet done so. She doubted he was going to let it go, when he’d seen and heard their bullying for himself.
‘I wonder if all the other teams made it,’ she remarked. ‘Wizard Derek spoke of forfeits for failed challenges, so I imagine some haven’t done everything. At least they’re giving the teams a chance to bypass where they were stuck and carry on with the rest of the course. That zip line was fun.’
‘Yes,’ he agreed, a smile finally lightening his despondency. ‘I wonder if we’ll be allowed to install one somewhere.’
‘Everyone would be fighting for a chance to play on it,’ she chuckled and her team, who’d gathered with them, agreed and chatted enthusiastically about it.
‘Oh, here come the green team,’ Jason commented, having kept an eye on the field above. ‘Wonder how they’ll get on, or if they’ll muck it up.’
They all fell silent to watch, curious to be able to watch how they tackled each part. The green team couldn’t see them, where they sat outside of the hedge walls. Evidently sound was blocked too since when one of the yellow team yelled a warning, the green team didn’t respond to it.
The remaining teams tackled the challenges with differing approaches and varying success. Some teams worked as teams and some did not, so the yellows were not alone in that. It was clear that some of the wariness and prejudice between animus and wizards was still prevalent even when they should have known better. Unfortunately, not all were open minded enough to follow White Haven’s teachings, when they ran counter to what they’d learned from their earliest childhood. Changing a generation’s perceptions was also difficult when the Inquisitor squads were still out there, made up of wizard bigots who abused their power and focused it on their hatred for animus people. Clearly the re-education was going to take time and wouldn’t be accepted by all.
The teachers returned on the heels of the last team. When all competitors had safely passed over the finish line, although some had to be carried, courtesy of the spider, the teachers went into a huddle by the timers and began jotting down scores. They had some lengthy discussions too as a large scoreboard was slowly filled in.
‘Wonder why they’re discussing so much,’ Jason murmured to her. ‘Surely we were just being marked on each challenge?’
‘I can’t see the detail but that looks like more columns than challenges,’ she responded thoughtfully, able to see blobs of colour down the margin but not clearly enough to determine any scores.
‘You’re right. Maybe they were testing us for other things too? They did mention speed taken, for a start.’
‘I’m glad Jim’s helping those stung ones,’ she said watching him doing something that drew the poison out of them. Each student quickly revived after that procedure, although appeared woozy to start with. At least they’d then be awake to see the results as they were posted. That was probably Jim’s reason for helping hasten their recovery, when Derek had said they’d recover anyway without help. At least they wouldn’t need to carry anyone back!
‘They’re bringing the board out. Oh, they’ve another covering it,’ she amended.
‘Gather round, so you can all see,’ Derek ordered. ‘As you know, the point of today was a team challenge. Competitions are good to see how far you’ve all come and how well you can work together. No-one is perfect and no-one is ever going to be equally good at all things, but this kind of testing helps to show areas where each of you is uncomfortable and could use additional tuition. An effective warrior capitalises on his strengths, whilst understanding how to minimise his weaknesses, to better do his job. So, in addition to the set challenges, points have been awarded for other things. Each team leader will also be judged for leadership. Right, first challenge,’ he declared and moved the cover aside enough to reveal the column marking each team for that challenge.
Some had not shot their key out of the tree cleanly, such that it’d become snagged in the branches and thus they had time penalties for how long it took one of them to get it. One team missed the target altogether and had to climb the tree and fetch their key. Needless to say that had been penalised.
Natalya was surprised to note only three teams had successfully crossed the gorge. The yellows and greens had also done so in addition to her team.
‘The gorge bridge was meant to be difficult if a single wizard attempted it alone. Generally it required the team to aid their nominated wizard with a merge. Unwillingness to do so is why only three teams made it across.’
Natalya noticed his gaze land on her for a moment. She’d been successful, but had done it alone. There was a time taken listed and she’d been quickest about it too. She noticed a few sour glances her way; but it wasn’t her fault she was strong enough to do something they could not. She was not going to feel guilty for it either.
As the scores were revealed, they turned out to be a real mixed bag. No team scored the same on every test, or were equally good across the board. Each team did badly in places and well in others. The green team’s wizard was the top of the leader board in the spellcasting discipline, so unsurprisingly therefore he hadn’t failed at any of the wizard tasks. His team’s score was however let down by some of his team fluffing their challenges. He’d also taken on several challenges that another team member could and probably should have done, especially as he hadn’t done some of them particularly well. His leadership skills weren’t rated particularly well either, since he didn’t interact with his team in any positive or encouraging manner.
Natalya realised her team were one of the few teams, it would appear, who’d used all five team members in the challenges. That simple fact added a couple of bonus points.
Jason won the leadership prize, much to his satisfaction and the team’s too. His leadership style and effectiveness had been applauded and she was glad to see him get that recognition, he really did deserve it. Watching some of the other teams screaming in the fire room, dashing around in a panic seeking a way out, made them appreciate just how calm he’d managed to keep everyone. He’d also asked sensible questions, offering help, rather than simply demanding results. Once answered, he had been happy to step back and let her get on with figuring out the challenge without distraction. He’d also kept the rest of the team from disturbing her concentration. He’d helped her achieve the task in the quickest time possible, even when she hadn’t been sure what to do.
So, whilst their general scores were average, they had no penalty points deducted for failed challenges. Up to that point they’d been neck and neck with the greens. However, when the overall time taken was revealed, Jason’s team whooped.
‘The winners are the purple team!’ Derek announced with a broad smile and beckoned them forward. He handed each of them a fist sized cream cake as their tangible reward. ‘Each of you will have this win listed on your record for its merit. Well done.’
Jason thanked Derek and promptly led the team out of the way, after the congratulations, and bit into his cake. His appreciative grin had them all following suit. The sweet treat was particularly welcome after their exertions and they could see their cakes were being enviously eyed, even though they were small.
‘The runners up are the green team,’ Derek said next and handed each of them cakes too, but plain muffins. ‘Well done to all of you. Tomorrow we’ll examine where some of you went wrong and also
where some excelled, so you can compare and learn from this experience. I’ll also be showing you some of the things you also could have done, that no one seems to have thought of. Ok, off you go. Class dismissed.’
21. Shields
‘The sun’s barely even up yet,’ Cassy grumbled as Drako threw open the bedroom’s shutters and then came to gently tug away the covers she’d immediately thrown over her head. It was a Saturday and the one day of the week she could usually sleep late, yet she was being woken even earlier than usual.
‘We’ve got work to do today, remember,’ Drako said and leaned over to kiss her brow, amused only the top of her head was visible. ‘Are you awake?’
‘No, I’m not awake,’ she muttered and then glanced over him. ‘You’re already dressed! Spoilsport,’ she added and his smile deepened. He knew perfectly well how easily she could tempt him back into bed. ‘Freddie will be here soon and I’d rather you had time to eat properly first. I’ve eggs and bacon on the stove. Don’t be long.’
‘You’re cooking eggs and bacon? Well, why didn’t you say that straight off?’ she asked and he laughed. She swung her legs out of bed and he headed back downstairs with that confirmation she was actually moving. He’d left the door open and she could now smell the appetising aromas and the sizzle of an unattended pan. She hastened to dress and follow. She knew very well that the work they planned to do today, involving use of her magic would take a toll on her physically. A good hearty breakfast would go a long way to providing her with the energy she would need. She would be working with Natalya today and keeping up with the warrior wizard was never easy.
She smiled watching Drako at the stove. Her husband was such a big powerful man, and juggled many heavy responsibilities, that it always seemed slightly incongruous to see him happily cooking. He was always doing things to look after her and make her happy. Cooking her favourite meals at the weekend was one of them. His black bear was massive, far bigger than an animal version and something most people were wary to be around, but with her he was soft, cuddly and affectionate. His bear recognised her as his mate, even though she was not a bear, and when he went off in that form he invariably brought her little gifts, like pretty flowers or odd things he’d found. She suspected this big macho bear wouldn’t appreciate being thought of as adorably sweet, so she kept that feeling out of his sight. He turned with a smile and collected a kiss before filling their two plates.
Forging Alliances: Wizards of White Haven Page 31