by Bo Savino
Chapter 25: The Promise of Magic
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Team Phoenix walked the streets of New Faery City in silence, following the flow of people who all headed to a single destination—the competition field. The sky was gray and overcast, with clouds skimming along a cyclical path that left periodic gaps of blue. The brief patches of color were becoming fewer and farther between. Reggie knew what that meant—the outer bands of the hurricane were now reaching New Faery.
Others on the streets watched the bands as nervously as he did, although maybe not for all of the same reasons. He knew everyone was concerned about the potential danger to New Faery, and he was too. But he was also concerned that it would thrust his foster mother and brother into the path of the most damaging winds. He was certain that if the storm was as powerful as Ryssa said it was, the house they’d grown up in would not withstand the assault.
Reggie checked out his teammates. Heads hung and feet stumbled along, evidence that their confidence was as low as his was. They walked as though going to their execution. And maybe they were.
Just hours before, Ryssa had explained to them what he and she had seen in the Hall of Futures, and what she had been told by Kyellin. She had adopted a no-more-secrets attitude. The Team had a right to know what they were up against, and maybe she was right, but he still could not shake the feeling that she was holding something back.
When he had suggested that maybe they bow out and just let the Lia Fial eliminate them, she had stopped cold and uttered flat out refusal. The rest of the Team couldn’t sway her either. It wasn’t an option in her mind, although she had been the first to bring it up in earlier conversations. Something had changed and his twin wasn’t talking.
Reggie had exhausted every avenue he could think of to find some answers. He’d flipped through the book that Terry had given him and asked it questions. He’d tried talking to Starsong, Aurelius, and had even tried to get an audience with his aunt. She didn’t have the time, and no one else had any answers. He hoped his twin knew what she was doing.
When the Teams of potentials were instructed to take their places around the field where their banners sat, Reggie stared blankly. How fair was that? The Team Phoenix banner was placed near the tree at the center of the field. All of the other Teams were scattered around them. Random choice—yeah, right. It was to be a free-for-all elemental magic duel between all of the Teams, and Team Phoenix got to be smack dab in the middle of it all.
The goal of the contest was simple—be the last Team standing. The competition would end when only one Team was still on their feet, or when the sun set, whichever came first. Elemental Healing magic elders from each House stood off to the side of each Team, sort of an emergency-response-and-circuit-breaker unit for the protection of the children. If they had to step in and rescue a Team, then it was over for them.
Reggie maneuvered Team Phoenix to the side of the tree the furthest away from where Team Dragon was stationed on the field.
“They have the highest number of members from Fire Houses,” he explained his simple logic. The Team agreed quickly and moved.
The team huddled together, each facing out, Ryssa in the center.
“What kind of shield should we use, Regg?” Jet asked over his shoulder.
“Water, I think. Best chance of us not bursting into flames.”
“You’re up, Loo,” Jet said.
The boy moved into the center of the circle, back to back with Ryssa, waiting for whatever was to come.
They had practiced shield techniques in the past, but the concept of a magical duel was beyond them. It would consist of using more upper level elemental magic, and at best they would only be feeling their way through it. Aurelius had continually stressed their need to connect to the magic, and to each other, to learn how it all worked together. They hadn’t used it a lot in the way they would today, so decided to give leads to whoever possessed the strengths they needed at the moment, with Reggie calling the shots.
When the signal was given to begin, it turned out that Team Dragon was the least of their worries. Before Team Phoenix could complete their link to raise a shield, Team Lizard and Team Serpent made their first attacks. It seemed none of the other Teams wanted to deal with the strength of the Fire magic from Team Dragon either.
The earth erupted under Team Dragon’s feet and Reggie caught a glimpse of Blaze clinging to his other Teammates, trying to keep his balance. But Team Serpent didn’t give them a chance. A wave of water flew from the combined power of their wands and rolled over Team Dragon, knocking them off their feet. The water mingled with the newly turned earth, to make the field a muddy, slippery mess. The elders watching over Team Dragon struggled to help them from the field.
Team Phoenix had not quite managed to seal the weave on their shield of water when a blast of air from Team Firefly shot through the fragmented opening at the top. The weave unraveled, dousing Reggie and his teammates with their own water.
“Wands away,” Reggie ordered. Team Phoenix did as they were told. “Spread out and link together around the tree. Ryssa and I will take point.”
The fear was evident in Ryssa’s face, but she set her back against the tree, opposite of him. Team Phoenix circled them, facing outward from the tree and holding hands. They looked as frightened as Ryssa did. He had placed them right where they didn’t want to be.
“:Link us, Ryss.:” She didn’t answer, but he could feel the pull when she connected to his essence. He watched her bring the others into the link, one by one. Reggie joined her actions, helping to secure each of the members into the link.
“:Reggie—:” He heard her tentative voice just as he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. Team Lizard was maneuvering to unsettle them the same way they had Team Dragon.
“Back up,” Reggie called to his Team. They stepped in closer to the tree. “Hold tight.”
The lines of magic flowing through the ground were almost upon them. “:Can you shift those flows, Ryss?:”
“:To where?:”
“:Send them to Team Serpent.:”
Ryssa swept the lines around the tree, sending them directly to Team Serpent, who was poised to perform the same double whammy on them that they had on Team Dragon. The wall of water was just forming from the tips of their wands when the earth erupted beneath their feet. Team Serpent lost control of the Water magic and it recoiled, knocking them off their feet to leave them in the same muddy state as Team Dragon.
A small whirlwind was almost on top of Team Phoenix before it occurred to Reggie to look away from their fallen opponents.
“:Ryss, quick, give the lead to Storm and Whisper.:”
Almost immediately two smaller whirlwinds sprang out to attack the one that was nearly on top of them. The funnels battled, shoving against each other for dominance, when the next attack came.
The tree in the middle of the field started whipping about, trying to smash its limbs against the children beneath. If Team Phoenix had been standing further from the trunk, it might have worked, but it was difficult for the thick lower branches to bend in order to reach them.
It was only distracting at first, but finally one of the branches managed to slice across Jet’s arm. Reggie felt the searing pain through the link. He knew all of the Team could feel it, too.
“:Don’t break!:” He could tell that they were ready to. “:Ryss—feed to Meek. He needs to heal Jet.:”
With Reggie’s help, Ryssa directed some of the magical flow to Meek.
Reggie sensed Moira’s distraction with her injured twin, and it heightened his concern for Ryssa.
“:You okay, Ryss?:”
She didn’t answer.
Reggie stepped into the twin-bond as deeply as he could go and suddenly realized what had held her frozen. From the direction of Team Hedgehog, a ball of fire was headed straight for them, and it was gaining in size and strength.