“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize—”
“No, I’m sure you didn’t. The rest of us did, though. Right, Tenika?”
The blonde girl turned to her copy, who nodded dutifully. “Right, Janessa.”
“Well, I said I was sorry.” Volinette made to turn away, and Janessa caught her by the arm. That same strange feeling flashed through her arm. A tingle, almost a shock. It was the same as she’d felt when Master Casto had taken hold of her elbow.
“You might not be serious about making it through the Trial, but we are. My sister and I are going to be the youngest Masters to graduate from the School of Sorcery, aren’t we, Tenika?”
This time the younger girl’s nod was accompanied by a grin and a show of her skill. Tenika held out her hand, summoning a ball of flame that hissed and spat. The fireball rocked in the palm of her upturned hand before she tossed it toward Janessa, who caught it with both hands. She turned to Volinette, opening her hands and displaying a perfect sphere of ice.
“We’ve been doing this since we were born. How about you?”
Volinette suddenly felt as if she wasn’t ready to be here. She’d only been practicing her command of the Quintessential Sphere for a few years, and even then, only when she could steal away from her other duties to hide some place she wouldn’t be discovered. These girls not only had skill, but they obviously had come from a family that knew about and embraced their magic. That was an advantage that Volinette couldn’t hope to compete with.
She muttered something under her breath, hoping that the less than forthcoming answer would convince Janessa and her sister to go elsewhere. She was to have no such luck.
“What? Speak up! You’d think someone who can hum so loud would be able to speak properly.”
Janessa turned to Tenika and they laughed. They laughed far too long and too loud for a joke that wasn’t even funny, and Volinette was very aware of others turning to look in their direction. Her cheeks burned with the flush of blood that had crept up her neck and prickled at the back of her eyes.
Volinette clamped down on that urge right away. They might embarrass her as much as they could, but she was not going to allow them to see her cry. Fleeing, however, wasn’t out of the question. She turned on her heel, preparing to put as much distance between herself and her tormentors as possible, and nearly ran over Baris.
“Hey! Careful now!”
Baris’s startled exclamation brought a renewed round of howls from Janessa and her sister, who were now slapping their thighs and pointing at Volinette as if she were the funniest thing they’d ever seen.
Recovering quickly from the surprise, Baris cocked his head at Volinette and cast a critical eye upon her.
“Everything alright, Volinette?”
“Fine,” she managed through gritted teeth. “I was just going to find somewhere else to ready for the Trial.”
“Because of them?” Baris peered over her shoulder at the sisters, who were now huddled together, conversing in conspiratorial whispers.
“Yes, please, just let me go.”
“No place to run in the Trial,” Baris said in a firm, but not unkind voice. “Can’t let others push you to the outside. What got them started?”
“I was humming to myself. They said I was disturbing them.”
“A little humming got them riled up, did it?” Baris asked, his eyes sparkling. “Wonder how a proper duet would do them.”
“Baris!”
“Volinette! You remember The Power and the Blood, don’t you?”
“Of course.”
Leave it to Baris to choose the ballad that her father had forced her to sing at festival every year. The story of a young girl torn between duty and love had always been a favorite of Volinette’s. It was one of the only things that made performing at her father’s demand even marginally tolerable.
Without missing a beat, Baris launched into the male part of the duet. His voice was throaty and rough, better suited to singing work songs in the field or tavern tunes than a delicate duet usually reserved for the finest minstrels and bards.
Still, when the moment came, Volinette found herself responding to the prompt of the song, picking up the fragile descant, raising her voice and singing from deep in her belly, as she was taught to do so long ago. She lost herself in the story of the song, feeling it burst from within her soul as if it had been imprisoned there. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as they sang together, their verses chasing each other until they finally reached the final note, which echoed away across the courtyard.
An explosion of cheers and applause erupted around them, making Volinette jump and clutch at Baris until she realized that it was the other candidates and the crowd beyond showing their appreciation for the impromptu song. A flush crept across Volinette’s face and she grinned, offering a self-conscious wave for those who were still clapping or pointing at the pair.
Volinette glanced behind her and saw Janessa and her sister, their faces twisted in matching grimaces. She and Baris might have entertained the rest of their contemporaries, but Volinette realized now that there would be no appeasing those two. It would be in her best interests just to avoid them altogether.
“Just ignore them,” Baris said when he saw the direction of her gaze. “There’s no pleasing folk like that.”
“I was just thinking the same thing.” Volinette smiled. “Thank you for that, Baris. I’m feeling much better now.”
“My pleasure, Volinette. Any time.” He winked at her, then scowled. “Just remember to keep an eye on them. The Tower is a big place, but not so big you’ll be able to get around them forever.”
“Mother always says you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.”
Baris shrugged.
“Maybe, but some flies bite. Best not to catch those at all.”
Chapter Three
The crowd that assembled at the edges of the stone wall to witness the Trial were no less boisterous and excited than those who had come to the music festivals Volinette had attended all her life. They shouted good-natured advice and encouragement from the sidelines, though most of what they said was torn away by the distance and the low drone of the candidates murmuring to each other.
A sudden hush fell over both crowds as a figure emerged from the depths of the Great Tower. The Head Master had returned to oversee the administration of the Trial. Her black cloak, emblazoned with arcane symbols and runes in silver, seemed to drink in the light of the sun, making her appear larger than she really was. Maera was a titan who was only a bit shorter than Volinette herself. Her dark skin was a stark contrast to the whiteness of her teeth, which shone in a wide smile as she waved and acknowledged both the apprentices-to-be and the spectators who were in attendance.
Maera’s amber eyes, unlike any Volinette had ever seen, danced with uncontained excitement as she swept into the center of the courtyard. She raised her hands for silence, an unnecessary gesture, as the hush that had begun at her entrance continued unbroken. She dropped her hands, spreading her arms out in front of her, encompassing everyone standing in the courtyard. A shiver went up Volinette’s spine as she realized the gesture included her. This was it. This was the moment that could change the rest of her life forever. Either she’d succeed and leave the field today as an apprentice to one of the Great Orders of Quintessentialists, or…she wouldn’t.
Volinette cut off that line of thought. This wasn’t any time to doubt why she’d come so far, or what she was fighting for. Still, there was a voice in the back of her head that wouldn’t shut up. Only a musician, it said, and a half rate one at that. Never as good as your brother. Never better than your sister. Never quite good enough.
She gave her head a violent shake, trying to rid herself of the voice that was both nagging her and preventing her from giving her full measure of attention to the speech Maera had begun. Janessa must have noticed the motion, because out of the corner of her eye, Volinette could see her smirking. If nothing else, Volinette
didn’t want to give the girl the satisfaction of her discomfort. She schooled her features, forced her mind to order, and focused on the magically amplified words of the Head Master booming out across the Trial Field.
“Candidates, the time has come to put all your practice into action. Those who have opted to sit out this year and return later have been removed from your ranks. Those you see around you are those who you fight against for your entry into the School of Sorcery.”
The Head Master raised a warning hand and swept her disconcerting gaze around the field. Volinette felt it slide over her, as if she’d been doused in cold water, and wondered what magic could imbue a simple look to make it feel so foreboding.
“That said, I offer you the following warning: though the Trial of Admission is intense, you are not to turn on each other. Any candidate found using their magic against their fellow mages will be immediately expelled from any consideration within the Academy and will face censure as punishment for their dishonor. Though you compete against each other, you must always remember that you fight for the greater good of the Order to which you eventually swear your loyalty and to the entirety of the Imperium.”
Maera glanced around the crowd a second time, her gaze seeming to linger longest on the few people who seemed to be bored or disinterested in the entire process. There was a boy and his friend who had been talking in hushed tones throughout the entire delivery, and Volinette wondered how arrogant one had to be to speak at the same time as one of the most powerful mages in the Imperium was speaking.
Sudden doubt flooded through her, a torrential downpour of uncertainty. What had she been thinking? At least up on the stage, her brother and sister were there to take the worst of the criticism. Now she was on her own, standing in a field full of strangers who wanted the same thing she did. What if they wanted it more? What if they were better? What if they were stronger, or faster, or, or, or! When the Head Master spoke again, it was with a grave finality that made a shiver run up Volinette’s spine.
“Once the test begins, the arena will be sealed. You have only your magic to protect you, so use it wisely. There is room for eight of you to enter the School of Sorcery. The last eight of you to remain standing on the field of battle will enter the Academy this year with the remaining candidates from other Trials. Do you understand?”
Volinette and the other candidates nodded, indicating their acceptance of the test that was about to begin. The courtyard was quiet as a grave as the last echoes of Maera’s instructions died away.
“Good. Let the Trial of Admittance begin.”
The silence was shattered by a crack and rumble, like nearby thunder. Maera had disappeared from the courtyard and only the candidates remained.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and Volinette looked skyward, sensing the presence of the magical dome that had been erected to contain the Trial of Admittance. It was like a smudge in the sky, a blurring of the air that made the spectators at the edge of the field appear as if through eyes just emerging from a deep sleep and not yet wiped of the night sand that sometimes accumulated there.
A terrified scream snapped Volinette's attention back to the task at hand. Tenika stood a short distance away, one hand covering her mouth as if she could reverse her scream. The other arm was locked in a rigid line. Volinette followed the direction the girl was pointing and saw a skeleton clawing its way out of the earth, its empty eye sockets alight with a sinister orange glow. A quick glance around her, and she saw other skeletons popping up like spring blooms of terror, shuffling toward the candidates who seemed frozen, lost, uncertain of what to do.
Volinette forced her feet to move, separating herself from the hesitant mass of her colleagues. Across the dome, she could see Baris hurling miniature bolts of light at the desiccated corpses, detonating them in bursts of bone fragments and dust.
One by one, the others were catching on, each fighting according to their own talents. Janessa arched her fingers above her head, drawing a ball of magical flame from the air and sending it slamming into her foe. She crowed in triumph. Her practice must be paying off now, Volinette thought with no small amount of bitterness.
She felt icy fingers clutching at her flesh and whirled to find herself staring into the face of death. Dropping to her knees, she rolled away from the creature’s grasp. She vaulted backward, a dance movement that often thrilled the crowds, and ended up standing behind her attacker. Volinette wove an intricate pattern in the air with her fingers while speaking words of power. She called on a very powerful memory of a beautiful spider she’d once seen spinning a web in the crevice of a barn door. She felt the power of the Quintessential Sphere flow through her, an icy river burning within her veins. Strands of tacky webbing flew from her fingers, cocooning the skeleton. Enshrouded in strong silk, it teetered and fell to the ground, unable to move.
Volinette stared at the spot where the shrouded form lay. It seemed almost impossible that she’d done that. Still, it had happened and she’d managed to save herself from the attack. A scream nearby told her that there was no time to rest.
Looking over her shoulder, she saw a pair of menacing undead fall on a boy younger than Volinette. The boy panicked, shrieking and trying to run from the creatures clawing at him. There was a burst of light and Volinette had to look away. When she glanced back, both the boy and the skeletons were gone.
As the candidates managed to destroy the skeletons, more horrific creatures appeared. Noxious trolls materialized from out of thin air and entered the fray, their battle-axes swinging in wide arcs of death. Volinette watched in horror as a boy no older than twelve was cleaved in half at the waist, the wicked blade spilling his entrails onto the cobblestones. Volinette felt sick. Not even the finest cleric could heal a wound of that magnitude. The boy and his attacker vanished in another burst of light.
The candidates split into pairs, trying to deal with the new threat in teams. Volinette cast a web around one of the trolls, but it broke free without any effort. The trolls were much stronger than the skeletons had been. Volinette concentrated on the cold snows of winter, calling a cone of razor-sharp ice from the Quintessential Sphere and directing it at her target. The troll roared as shards of frozen water tore into its flesh. Gouts of thick gray blood spurted from the wounds, making the sandstone courtyard dangerously slick.
Volinette felt something hit her foot and looked down to see the head of a troll that had rolled across the courtyard. She jumped back involuntarily, not knowing she was stepping into the path of a swinging ax blade. Baris tackled her, dropping them to the ground just as the blade swung overhead. Janessa stepped over them, flames from her hands reducing their attacker to a pile of cinders.
“Awful time to fall for me,” Baris quipped.
Volinette flashed him an apologetic glance and then rolled from under him. He sprinted away as she got to her feet, ready to fight. Almost all of the trolls had been destroyed, and she waited to see what new horror the test had in store for them. The butterflies in her stomach were almost too much to bear.
Nothing happened. Volinette and the others looked around, surprised not to be the target of a new onslaught. It seemed, at least for the moment, that they were out of immediate danger. That was almost worse on her frayed nerves than the steady pulse of the expected attack had been.
Baris was crouched nearby, waiting. Janessa, her sister, and some other girls were crouched by the edge of the dome, waiting like animals penned for slaughter. Deciding there might be safety in numbers, and not liking her chances with the girls, Volinette turned toward Baris.
As she approached him, her feet sank into the stone, throwing her off balance. That wasn’t right. She struggled with the thought. How could she sink into stone?
A magical spring had welled up in the center of the courtyard, seeping through the pavers. The apprentices watched, waiting for a water demon or sea monster to leap out at them. Nothing emerged from the water, but the spring did not stop flowing. In fact, the flow increa
sed, reaching the edge of the magical barrier and lapping against it. A sudden geyser of water erupted, spreading outward like a raging river. Panicked though she was, Volinette made herself focus on creating a bubble of breathable air in the midst of the swirling tempest.
Tenika was nearby, tears streaming down her face as she tried again and again to pronounce the words of power that would save her from the new threat. Her eyes were wide with panic and her voice had taken on a jabbering quality, as if she were trying to cast any spell that came to mind. Volinette wanted to help her, but the flow of water had increased yet again, waves crashing against the edges of the dome and racing back toward them. There wasn’t enough time to save everyone. Volinette finished her spell just as the water reached the top of the barrier.
Candidates that hadn’t protected themselves quickly enough thrashed about in the water, their eyes wide with terror. Then they were still. Their bodies bobbed in the water around her, and she couldn’t understand why they hadn’t vanished like the others who had been struck down during the trial. Volinette's stomach turned as Tenika’s body floated past her bubble, drifting in an unseen current, her eyes wide and staring. The girl’s fingers were curled into claws, as if she’d been in the midst of a spell when the water had overtaken her.
As quickly as it had appeared, the water began to evaporate, like a puddle in summer sunshine. Volinette allowed herself to be carried to the ground, releasing her control over the bubble and allowing it to dissipate. She was cold, wet, and tired, but she knew she couldn’t give up. There weren’t many of them left, which meant that the test was almost complete.
Many of the remaining candidates scurried to and fro aimlessly, trying to cope with the horror that had been inflicted on them. The ground began to tremble with the force of an earthquake. Huge rocks thrust up from the earth, moving under the accord of some supernatural power. Volinette stood rooted in place by fear as a huge stone elemental pulled itself out of the earth.
Volinette's Song Page 3