The only bright note during the entire day was when Tess caught up to him after Healing class and thanked him for trying to carry her to safety the night before.
“You don’t have to thank me,” Hayden felt hot around the ears. “Besides, it didn’t even matter because you still died.”
Tess shook her head and said, “It mattered to me.” Then she gave him an awkward smile, blushed, and ran off before Hayden could think of how to respond.
“Women,” he muttered under his breath, continuing on to Wands.
***
Thankfully things calmed down for a while after that. Hayden made it through the next six weeks without getting into a single fight or serving any more detentions, and he was keeping up with his classwork as well as possible, given that he was terrible at Elixirs, which was a shame because he liked working with Master Kilgore.
Family day came and went at the first of the month, and Hayden spent most of his time with two of Zane’s sisters, Florette and Sera, who had come to visit their brother for the day. Bonk was conspicuously absent throughout the duration of their visit, possibly remembering the last time they got their hands on him and wouldn’t release him for weeks.
The upshot of it all was that when Hayden encountered Tess’s father again (their first meeting last year hadn’t gone well at all), the man’s eye twitched spasmodically, but he managed to choke out a civil greeting and suggest that there was a vague possibility that Hayden deserved better than to be eaten by a pack of rabid hyenas, which was about the best Hayden could hope for at this point.
His nerves began to mount again when he saw the Resonance Crystal arrive at Mizzenwald, a team of mastery-level students carting it off to stand in the dining hall until the second trial was complete. Every time he looked at it his stomach lurched unpleasantly, because he was going to have to face Davis once again, this time in front of everyone he knew.
On the morning of the second trial Hayden was awoken by Cinder, who had somehow found a way into the room. Cinder grabbed a sleeping Bonk by the neck and threw him off of the bed so that he hit the floor with a loud thunk. Everyone in the room snapped awake at the noise and Bonk squawked indignantly and glared at his counterpart, who was now perched in front of Hayden with a note clamped in his teeth.
“Who’s writing to you at this hour?” Zane yawned sleepily and rubbed his eyes.
“It says ‘get down here and try to look respectable or I’ll send Sark to wake you.’” Hayden grimaced at Master Asher’s signature and then glanced at his chrono. “I’m late!” He leapt out of bed and began fumbling around for decent clothing to wear under his robes, which had been remade since his last set was ruined by orbs of pigment.
“Good luck!” Conner called out as Hayden grabbed Bonk around the middle and sprinted for the door. “We’ll be rooting for you!”
He took the stairs in threes, nearly tripping on the second landing. Bonk flapped his wings a few times to wake up and then settled on top of Hayden’s head, clutching tiny fistfuls of hair between his claws.
By the time he got to the dining hall he was out of breath and realized he was only wearing one sock. Panting with exertion, Hayden opened the double-doors and stepped into the room.
For a moment he thought he was in the wrong place, because the dining hall was transformed. Instead of the usual spread of tables and benches, there were rows and rows of plush, velvet-padded chairs; the floor sloped gradually upwards towards the back so that everyone would be able to see. The room also seemed much larger than usual, with the red and green banners of Mizzenwald draped across the ceiling and a cluster of couches that were shaped like ‘C’s up a short set of stairs on a raised dais. Since there were five of these, Hayden assumed that this was where the teams from each school were supposed to sit, and jogged up the stairs towards them.
The Masters of the major and minor arcana were moving about in their best robes, and Hayden could tell that they’d made some effort to look as professional and imposing as possible, since Asher had clearly brushed his hair for once and Kilgore had trimmed his beard.
“About time,” the former greeted him, giving his appearance a quick once-over and suppressing a laugh. “I was beginning to think you weren’t coming.”
“Sorry, I overslept.”
“Well hurry up and get back to the holding room with the rest of your team,” Master Reede frowned at him. “And why are you only wearing one sock?”
Hayden grimaced and ignored the question, looking around the newly-expanded room.
“What happened to the dining hall and where is the holding room?”
Master Reede rolled his eyes in dry amusement. “You didn’t think we’d have our guests sitting on wooden benches, did you?” He didn’t wait for a response. “The holding room is through that door,” he pointed to the left at a door Hayden was positive hadn’t existed until this morning. “I suggest you attempt to smarten yourself up before our guests arrive, which could be at any moment.”
Hayden hurried off to the holding room and shut the door behind him. The remaining three members of Team Mizzenwald were sitting around small circular tables, sipping iced drinks and nibbling on breakfast biscuits and cookies.
“Glad you could make it,” Oliver greeted him with a flat stare, which Hayden pointedly ignored. He took a seat and tried to coax Bonk off of his head with little success, eventually giving up and eating a few biscuits until the first visitors arrived.
The team from Creston came through a different door to the room that connected directly to the grounds, led by a mastery-level student who looked haughty and authoritative at being trusted with the task. They looked around with a mixture of interest and mild discomfort at the unfamiliar surroundings, eventually breaking up and sitting down around the circular tables. The Wand major surprised Hayden by asking if she could join him at his table.
“Thanks, I prefer sitting in the corner where I can see everyone else,” she gave him a friendly smile. “My name is Farrah, by the way, Wand of Creston.”
“I’m Hayden, Prism of Mizzenwald,” he introduced himself for good measure, and she nodded. She was tall for a girl, almost six feet, with rumpled brown hair that she halfway tamed into a high-ponytail, and carved features that made her look like a Valkyrie. She had a wand of ash tucked behind one ear, the rest of them lined up along the many slots in her belt.
“Looking forward to the next trial?” she asked casually.
“I’m mostly looking forward to the part where it’s over and hopefully I’m still in the competition,” he admitted, and to his surprise she laughed at the joke, drawing Oliver’s attention. He looked jealous.
“I know the feeling,” she answered. “If I have to hear one more pep talk from the Master of Wands at Creston about doing my duty and not shaming the school I think I’m going to rip my hair out.”
Hayden was suddenly thankful that Asher hadn’t been berating him with such speeches, or he would be even more nervous than he already was.
“What’s Creston like?” he asked, since he had the rare opportunity to talk to someone from another school who actually wanted to speak to him too.
“Probably a lot like this, only in Hazenvale,” she shrugged. “We have a different spire for each major and minor instead of a castle like this, so we’re pretty segregated once we declare a major. Of course, right now we’ve got the Forest of Illusions nearby, which has been awesome, as a Wand major.”
“What do you mean you’ve got the Forest of Illusions right now?” Hayden interrupted, confused.
Farrah gave him a funny look and said, “Well it moves, doesn’t it?” When he didn’t respond she continued, “Every five or ten years it just up pops up in a new place, didn’t you know? There’s so much magic in there it’s supposed to be a bit unstable, which is probably why it can’t settle on a home for very long. Right now it’s on the border of Wynir and Hazenvale, right at the northern coast, so we’ve got prime access to it.”
Hayden must have still
had a dumb look on his face because she added, “It was in Junir about fifteen years ago, not too far from here I think. Anyway,” she changed the subject, “can I ask you a personal question?”
Surprised, Hayden said, “Sure…” without knowing where this was headed.
“Why is there a dragon sitting on your head?”
Hayden was so caught off-guard by the question that he laughed, and Farrah smiled and began laughing as well.
“This is Bonk, my familiar, and he perches on my head whenever there are people I need to impress because he knows it makes me look like an idiot. For some reason he enjoys annoying me in front of other people.”
Farrah let out a girlish giggle and held out her hand.
“Can I pat him?”
Hayden was about to tell her ‘yes’ when Bonk hissed loudly and snapped his teeth, and Farrah pulled her hand back in surprise.
“Whoa, sorry…I forgot that dragons are pretty anti-social,” she apologized, cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
Hayden, who was about to point out that Bonk was the most sociable dragon on the continent, changed tracks immediately and said, “Yeah, sorry about that…”
The door to the grounds opened once more and this time it was the team from Isenfall, led by Davis, Hayden’s new nemesis. His opponent somehow looked even older and stronger since he’d last seen him, and his eyes immediately locked on Hayden as he flashed a challenging smile in his direction. Hayden sneered in response, and Bonk hopped down onto his shoulder and bared his little teeth at Davis.
Apparently Bonk hates foreigners…
Fortunately Davis didn’t try to sit at his table, instead joining Oliver and one of the other Creston team members. The two seemed to get along eerily well, which wasn’t at all surprising since they both hated him.
Within the half hour the other two teams arrived as well, and Hayden could hear the noise from the (former) dining hall that meant the school was probably assembled in the velvet-padded seats near the entrance. About five more minutes elapsed before an older student was sent to retrieve them, and this time Mizzenwald led the procession into the dining hall.
Hayden instructed Bonk to go see Torin and then followed Oliver, his eyes searching the crowd for friends. He caught sight of Zane, Tamon, Tess, and Conner, just as he took his seat on one of the C-shaped couches on the dais and waved at them.
There were (mercifully) no speeches this time from the Masters, and as there were only twenty of them to introduce this time instead of twenty-five the introductions went a bit faster. It also helped that people didn’t scream or gasp when Hayden announced who he was.
“The Wand trials will take place first, followed by Powders, Prisms, Elixirs, and then Conjury,” Master Willow explained to the room at large. “Anyone who is interested in watching the trials may join us in the main courtyard.”
He motioned for the four Wand majors to stand up and follow him out the main doors of the dining hall and down the corridor that led to the Pentagon and the front lawns. The rest of the school got up and began to file out behind them while the other Masters came around to introduce themselves to the remaining competitors.
When Asher called the prism-users together Hayden found himself stuck standing next to Davis, who was giving the Prism Master his undivided attention as they went through personal introductions. When Asher got to him, Davis said, “No need to tell me who you are; I’ve heard all about you,” in a voice laden with hidden meaning.
The Prism Master didn’t even blink, maintaining his easy-going smile as he said, “Likewise,” in a scarily-neutral tone.
“Now, Prisms, I’ll be checking all of your weapons to make sure that no mistakes were made,” he held out a hand and one by one they offered him their prisms to inspect. “How’s everyone feeling? Excited? Nervous? Ready to wet your pants?”
“I’m not feeling well, sir,” the boy from Valhalla interjected. He did look like he was about to be sick.
Asher stopped examining one of Davis’s prisms long enough to look up and say, “Got a cold?”
“I don’t think so, sir,” the boy replied miserably. “I felt fine until we got here, and now I feel like I’m going to vomit.”
“Well, be sure and puke before the Prism trials if you can manage it, and you should be good to go.”
He continued his inspection until he was satisfied and then gestured for them to follow him out to the lawns. By the time they got there the Wand trials were about to begin, and Hayden broke away from the group to find his friends, who he would much rather be sitting with right now.
Conner waved to him and he hurried over, watching the four Wand majors space themselves out across the lawns in the distance.
“What do they have to do?” he asked immediately.
“Willow is going to loose about a hundred conjures against them,” Zane explained, “and each time they get a hit that would be critical if the monsters were real, a number gets added above their heads. The person with the least number of critical injuries by the time it’s over is the winner and the one with the most is out.”
Hayden grimaced at the thought of fighting so many monsters at one time with a limited number of weapons.
“Hopefully Reya and Farrah make it through alright…” he trailed off quietly.
“Who’s Farrah?” Mira asked with shrewd interest, popping up beside Tamon and bravely taking hold of his hand. Tamon looked mildly puzzled, albeit pleased, by the gesture.
“The Wand from Creston, with the ponytail.” He pointed to her for good measure. “We were talking in the holding area for a while and she seems pretty nice, so I hope she does alright.”
“Wow, she’s a looker. Nice going Hayden, nabbing yourself an older woman already.” Zane clapped him on the back. Tess frowned and turned to watch the trial as Masters Willow and Reede summoned the conjures.
Hayden needn’t have worried, because both Reya and Farrah made it through the round with relative ease, since the competitor from Branx lost his head at the beginning and was swarmed by a dozen conjures right away. He pulled himself together later on but wasn’t able to recover, and his Resonator bracelet was removed at the end of the challenge.
Farrah caught Hayden’s eye and grinned at him, and he gave her a thumbs-up by way of congratulations, distracted only when Oliver shoved him out of the way to walk past him for the Powder trials.
“Get your head in the game, Frost, or I will hurt you,” he said without turning back, and Hayden sighed and looked at his friends.
“Is it just me, or has Oliver gotten nicer this year?”
Zane laughed so hard that he snorted.
11
The Violet Web
Oliver won the second Powder trial just as he had won the first, remaining at the top of the rankings. Conner was tactless enough to point out that Oliver’s apparent skill with his major of focus meant he was more than capable of carrying out all of his dire threats against Hayden if he really wanted to.
As Hayden made his way through the crowds to join the other competitors for the Prism challenge, he overheard the Powders Master of Isenfall berating his champion for losing to Oliver a second time.
“…were you thinking, dropping focus when you were on the brink of victory?” the man lectured the red-faced boy. “When he fumbled with that drawstring I thought you had him beat. He left himself wide open and you choked!”
“I didn’t choke,” his student insisted through clenched teeth. “I tried to use Strength and crush him before he could recover, but it didn’t work!”
The Powders Master scoffed.
“Don’t be ridiculous. If you had cast correctly then the spell would have worked; you must have panicked and miscast.”
“I’m telling you,” the boy insisted, “I didn’t panic! I’ve been casting Strength for years—it didn’t work!”
Hayden continued past them, pitying the competitor from Isenfall who was getting reamed even though he was still in the running for the championship. A
t least Master Asher doesn’t give me an earful when I mess up.
He found the others standing in front of a large dome that he had barely taken notice of earlier that day. The domed area had been opaque while the other competitions were going on, giving it the appearance of a forty foot black bubble. Hayden stood with the other three prism-users and Master Asher as the black siding detached itself and sank into the ground, revealing the interior.
Now that the bubble was clear as glass, Hayden could see that the interior of the dome was trisected by three narrow corridors of red-tinted glass that converged in the center of the circle. In the open space between each corridor was nothing but the grassy ground, as far as he could tell. He had no idea what they would be doing in there.
“Alright, Prisms, pay attention to the instructions for this challenge or you’ll be out very quickly,” Master Asher greeted them, waiting until he had their attention before continuing. “As you can see, the four of you are going to enter the domed arena. When the competition begins, the three red-tinted corridors will drop and you will have the entire area inside the dome to compete.”
“What do we have to do, just knock each other out?” Davis sounded disappointed that it was so straight-forward.
“Not quite,” Master Asher corrected, and Davis’s eyebrows lifted with renewed interest. “It’s true that you’ll be free to fight each other while the safe-zones are gone, but after five minutes they will reappear, equidistant from each other but not in the same place that they are right now.”
Hayden glanced at the corridors with renewed interest after hearing them called ‘safe zones’. They were really only wide enough for one person to stand inside comfortably, though they ran from the perimeter of the circle all the way to the center.
“When the safe zones ascend, your task will be to get inside of one as quickly as possible, before the walls go up. When they do, if you’re inside a safe zone you are—well, safe, for the time being.” Asher frowned thoughtfully. “If you are outside of a safe zone, you will have to confront whatever challenge appears for the next five minutes, until the safe zones are lifted once more.”
The Other Prism (The Broken Prism) Page 16