by David Meyer
Across the field, I saw my remaining opponents. Given her newbie status, I was a little surprised to see Hannah still out there. But I was less surprised when I saw Kell at her side, throwing off vicious spells. Porter, meanwhile, was hunkered down behind a locker. He looked like he was in trouble, not that I was about to help him.
Adrenaline pumping, I worked my way across the field. All along, I’d hoped to use Chaotic magic to outshine my peers. But now, I wondered if I really needed it. I’d gotten this far with Structuralist spells, hadn’t I?
A healthy buzz ran through the crowd. The staffers cheered themselves hoarse. Meanwhile, the students lifted their voices, cheering for the other three competitors.
Kell whispered something to Hannah. Then he circled to his right, keeping up a tight string of Genphor spells. Hannah, meanwhile, circled around to the left, keeping behind cover and throwing out Elertfa spells. I was impressed. She might’ve been new to Madkey. But clearly, she was no slouch with a wand.
However, Porter was no slouch either. He was a regular in the final four and had won about a quarter of the HMQ games to date. So, when he realized they intended to surround him, he made his move.
Rolling out from behind the locker, he took aim at Hannah. She ducked behind an empty metal crate. Undeterred, he adjusted his aim.
With a loud crash, the crate jolted backward, bumping into Hannah. With a shriek, she flopped on the ground. Dropping her wand, she reached for her nose.
Kell stood up straight. “Hey, you can’t—”
Porter rolled again and fired off a quick Elertfa spell. It caught Kell’s side and the older boy grunted. The force drove him back a foot, but he remained on his feet.
Wasting no time, Porter threw out a Genphor spell and Kell went down hard. Squirming in pain, he managed to perform his own counter-spell. Red with anger, he dragged himself to the sidelines.
Porter whirled back to face Hannah. She looked so vulnerable laying there that I wondered if he might show her mercy. He answered my question by zapping her with an Elertfa spell.
The roar from the crowd turned ferocious. Students began to chant his name.
“Por-ter! Por-ter! Por-ter! Por-ter!”
Porter was a popular guy. Even so, I knew they weren’t cheering for him so much as they were cheering against me. Well, forget them. I’d made it this far, hadn’t I?
Spinning around, he laid eyes upon me. I stared back at him, my lip curled with malice. His shirt was soiled and drenched in sweat. I could see he was panting heavily from all of the exertion.
I raised my wand. My emotions slid into place and I entered Instinctia.
“Elertfa Lokwhan,” my lips whispered.
An auburn bolt shot out of my wand. At top speed, it hurtled across the HMQ, leaving a sizzling trail in its wake.
Unpanicked, he worked his wand. “Pobyl Caxtor.”
A chestnut streak crashed into my auburn bolt. They erupted into a colorful ball of smoke, then dissipated.
He broke into a sprint. Arms pumping, he raced behind some piled furniture and I lost sight of him.
Overturning a table, I dove behind it. In the process, I caught sight of Boltstar’s stony expression. Was he surprised by my performance? Pleased, even?
A blast of magic dislodged the table and sent it careening into me. The sudden jolt knocked me backward and I landed on the soft grass. With the scent of smoke wafting in my nostrils, I scrambled back to a crouching position.
“Por-ter! Por-ter! Por-ter! Por-ter!”
The chant gained volume. If anybody was cheering for me, I sure couldn’t hear them.
I peeked out from one side of the table. My gaze swept the HMQ and I saw Porter holed up behind a mid-sized flying boat. Named Revenger, it was one of twelve crafts utilized for Madkey’s annual Air Pirate Games. But at that moment, it was a cover position, a place for him to hide while he drew closer to me.
This wasn’t good. Any spells I fired at the boat would merely ding its siding. Meanwhile, Porter could keep his head down and continue to pound away at the table I was using for cover.
A frustrated grunt left my lips. Porter might’ve been a jerk, but he was fast and highly-skilled. How in the world could I hope to beat him? I lacked his knowledge, his discipline. He was a star pupil, capable of learning and casting spells in no time. Meanwhile, I was a dropout, unable to handle even a full semester of formal schooling.
Yeah, it was a harsh assessment. But it was also true. Despite my little run earlier in the game, I was still outmatched. Porter was better at school, better at Structuralist magic. That was obvious to everyone, including me.
So, maybe it was time to try something else. Why not set aside Structuralist magic for a spell or two? Why not give Chaotic magic a try?
I racked my brain for a decent spell, something that no one would recognize as Chaotic magic. Unfortunately, none of the ones I’d practiced with Tad would be useful in a fight. What good would, say, Immaculatize do for me? It just cleaned stuff, moving from object to object and …
My brow furrowed. My gaze moved to the boat. It was a relatively new addition to the HMQ, brought in to replace some demolished rolly-carts. Because of this, it was quite clean. Would anyone notice if it got a tad bit cleaner?
I relaxed, allowing my frustration and nervousness to melt away. Carefully, I massaged my emotions into place. My wand began to sweep back and forth. My mind zeroed in on the cleaning spell and my lips moved to speak it.
Before I could get the words out, Instinctia appeared within me. I felt a moment of blissful peace as I connected to the Capsudra. My wand, my emotions, even the words on my tongue, began to shift toward a separate spell.
Fight it, I told myself. Deny Instinctia!
I clawed back control of my emotions. My wand returned to its original sequence. My lips quivered as I prepared to cast the Chaotic spell.
“Immaculatize,” I whispered.
An auburn blaze, barely visible, streaked forward and hit the boat. A normal spell would’ve died right there. But the cleaning spell engulfed the boat in the blink of an eye, leaving a gleaming craft in its wake.
Clearing the boat, the spell continued onward. As I’d hoped, Porter caught a glimpse of the approaching light. Frantically, he dove out into the open.
My eyes locked onto him. Swiftly, I lined up my emotions. My arm shifted as I maneuvered my wand. The lure of Instinctia appeared and this time, I let it take control.
“Elertfa Lokwhan.”
My spell smacked into Porter’s chest. He reeled backward, then fell. His rear struck the ground, driving a small cloud of dirt into the air.
The crowd fell silent. I stood still, panting softly. Goosebumps covered my arms. Sweat dripped down my wrist and laced through my fingers, causing my grip on the wand to turn slippery.
“Mr. Wolf …” Boltstar blinked. “… is the victor.”
A collective groan rang out from the students. Meanwhile, the staffers raced into the HMQ. Reaching me first, Piper slapped my back. Leandra slugged my arm. Then I felt myself hoisted upward, onto the shoulders of Jax and Nico. They paraded me around in a circle to raucous staffer cheers. The students, meanwhile, stared at us in stony silence.
Boltstar watched this all unfold with a serene, emotionless expression. “Class dismissed. Remember to read the first section of Chapter Twelve for tomorrow.” Leaving the bleachers, he made his way onto the field. “A word, Mr. Wolf?”
My blood froze. What was this about? Had he seen the Immaculatize spell? Did he know it was Chaotic magic?
Jax and Nico lowered me to the ground. Heart pounding, I stepped over the magic rope. “Sir?”
“That was quite sloppy,” he said, greeting me next to the HMQ. “Fortunately for you, Mr. Garrington was worn out from the previous games.”
“Are you blind?” Leandra gave him a scornful look. “Randy crushed him.”
Boltstar trained his gaze upon her. “Do you have something to add to this conversation, Ms. Chen?”
“Uh, no, Sir.” Her face was red as a beet as she melted into the crowd of staffers.
“Even so, you won,” Boltstar said, turning his attention back to me. “And that’s no small achievement, especially for one with your, uh, limited academic success. I hope I’ll be seeing more of this from you in the future.”
My fear melted away and I beamed with pride. Yeah, I knew I shouldn’t care about his opinion. But hey, it wasn’t every day I got complimented by the world’s most famous magician. “Thank you, Sir.”
With a nod, he took his leave. By that time, the students and staffers were filtering out of the arena. I lingered a few moments, waiting for them to leave.
When I was finally alone, I reentered the HMQ. Blood raced through my veins and my heart was filled with excitement. Winning the game had felt utterly amazing. The only way to top it would be if I were to keep winning.
The thought dazzled me. What if I were to win more HMQ games? What if I continued to impress Boltstar? What if he came to see me as being equal to, say, a Porter or a Kell? What then?
An odd possibility, weird but intriguing, began to take shape in my head. What if Boltstar plucked me out of the staffer ranks? What if he let me return to class? What if I, in turn, actually studied for a change?
A door cracked open. Nico poked his head into the arena. “Hey, Randy!”
“What?”
“You’re coming right?” He grinned. “We’re going to throw you a little party.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m coming.”
“Excellent, man. See you back at the dorm.”
As the door banged shut, I found myself grinning from ear to ear. My mind returned to the dream of going back to school and I knew it was silly. Not only silly, but downright wrong. After all, I was trying to figure out a way to bring down Boltstar, not impress him.
Still, it was fun to consider. The benefits were endless. A bright future. An end to my self-loathing as well as Porter’s insults. No more lectures from Mom and Dad. The list went on and on. It was all so enticing, so exciting. And yet, completely unrealistic. Oh, well.
A guy could always dream, right?
Chapter 37
Tad, memory mirror in hand, munched on an apple as we climbed into the celestarium a few days later. He shot us a sideways glance, his eyes glistening in the moonlight.
“Oh, good,” he said. “I was starting to get worried.”
“Boltstar kept us late.” Scowling under her breath, Leandra hoisted herself through the aperture. Gaining her feet, she gave him the once-over. “What are you so happy about?”
With a wide grin, he lifted his shirt. “I’m cured,” he exclaimed. “That healing potion did the trick.”
We all crowded around him, gawking at his shoulder. The Gratlan had been healing for weeks now, gradually shrinking and fading in color. Now, it was gone.
“Awesome.” I gave him a curious look. “So, how’s the itching?”
“Gone, thank goodness.” He chuckled. “Another day of that and I’d have scratched a hole right through my skin.”
I knew what he meant. If my busted ribs hadn’t healed by now, I’d be going crazy.
“It looks great.” Piper poked his shoulder a few times, then smiled. “We should celebrate.”
“Definitely.” He cocked his head. “But first, how was class?”
“Ask him.” Leandra jabbed a thumb at me. “He’s the big winner.”
He swung my way. “Yeah?”
My cheeks started to burn. Since that first victory four days earlier, I’d won multiple HMQ games, thanks to the timely use of Chaotic spells. Nobody, not even Porter, was laughing at me now. But I was also beginning to feel the pressure of added eyeballs. People were watching me closely, trying to figure out the secret to my sudden success. It was becoming harder and harder to use Chaotic magic without arousing suspicion.
“I got lucky,” I said.
“Luck had nothing to do with it.” Piper attempted to smooth out her frizzy hair. “You earned those wins.”
For the next few minutes, we filled him in on the class as well as the HMQ games. Afterward, he sat back in his chair, looking thoughtful.
“How’d you do with letting go?” he asked.
“Letting go?”
“I mean, did you try letting your emotions guide the process? Did you forget the spells we’ve practiced up here and just go with the flow?”
Oh, no. Not this again. Tad had been bugging me about this very issue on a nightly basis. Curiously enough, my first Chaotic spell—Vanista—had been driven by real emotions. But since then, I’d focused on ginning up fake ones, casting spells, and recording the results. I just felt more comfortable working that way. Anyway, my process was producing results, so why change it?
“No,” I replied. “Not yet.”
He shrugged. “I always let my emotions guide my magic.”
“Good for you. But I’m trying to learn as many spells as possible. And the fastest way to do that is to keep trying different emotional combinations.”
“Fair enough.” He tossed his apple core into a magic trash can and it instantly vanished. Wiping his lips, he walked to the window. The moon was gigantic that evening, shining so brightly that it all but blotted out the evening stars. “Not to change the subject, but we need to talk. All of us.”
I knew what he was going to say before he even said it. “Yes,” I said.
He frowned. “Yes?”
“Yes, we’ll still help you with Womigia.”
“Are you sure you want to go up against Boltstar? And his inner circle, too?”
I thought about Boltstar’s underhanded attack on the Chaotics. I thought about the lives he’d ended, the people he’d drodiated. But most of all, I thought about Tad. I thought about him living each and every day in utter agony, hating himself for something that had never happened.
I checked with Leandra and Piper. They offered me small nods in return.
“We’re sure,” I said.
“Thank you,” he said gratefully.
“If we’re doing this, we need to do it right,” Leandra said. “So, what’s the plan?”
“I’ve got an idea. More of a strategy, really.” He paused. “Divide and conquer.”
We stared at him expectantly.
“Divide and conquer?” She arched an eyebrow. “That’s it? That’s all you’ve got?”
“What I mean is that we confront them one at a time. Then, bam, bam, bam, bam! We take them down.”
“Bam?” Leandra looked skeptical. “It’s going to take a little more than ‘bam’ to defeat the greatest witches and wizards of all time.”
“You’re right,” I said thoughtfully. “Even if we fought them one at a time, we might not outduel them. We need a distraction, something to keep them occupied while we take them down.”
Her skepticism melted away. “I know how to distract them.”
“How?” Tad wondered.
“My simulator mirror.”
“Forget it,” I said.
“But—”
“But nothing. This isn’t the time to fool around with unproven inventions. We need something we can count on.”
She glared at me.
“How about you?” I looked at Piper. “Got any ideas?”
“No,” she replied. “But I know how we can divide them, so to speak.”
“How?”
“Simple. We follow them. Get their schedules down cold. We figure out when and where they’re most vulnerable.” She brushed some strands of frizzy hair out of her eyes. “We use Shadow Madkey to get the drop on them. Then we strike.”
I gave her a thoughtful look. “Can you take point on that?”
She bobbed her head in response.
“What about me?” Tad asked.
“We still need a distraction,” I replied. “If you think of anything, let us know. In the meantime, I need your help with Chaotic magic. I need to practice Vanista. Plus, I need more spells, better spel
ls.”
For the next couple of hours, we worked in relative silence. Leandra sat at a table, stewing silently, fiddling with her simulator mirror. Piper sat across from her, drawing maps of Shadow Madkey from memory. Meanwhile, Tad and I worked in our usual way. I’d cast spells using fabricated emotions and he’d record the results in a notebook.
“Hang on.” Hunched over his notebook, Tad scribbled down a few notes. “What was that wording again?”
I scratched my head, befuddled and more than a bit amused. On the far side of the room, the bust had undergone a rather amazing transformation. Its mouth had popped open. Now, the mouth was moving in-time with my own mouth. If I curled my lip, its lip curled as well. It was freaky, to say the least.
“Copy-talk,” I said.
“Copy-talk?”
“Yup.” I sighed. “I can’t imagine it’ll be all that helpful.”
“We’ll put it in the ‘Maybe’ pile,” he replied with a wink.
I felt annoyed and frustrated. Pouncing on those emotions, I began to move my wand.
“Herd Crash,” I said.
Multiple bolts of auburn light raced across the room. The first one slammed into the bust, the others struck the table and the chairs. The table jolted across the floor. The chairs went airborne, tumbling a few times before smashing back to the ground. The bust, meanwhile, sailed into the glass windows. Clearly well-enchanted, they held firm, but the bust exploded into a billion tiny pieces.
Startled, Leandra and Piper looked up.
Tad cocked his head. “What was that?”
I blinked, awed by the unexpected display of power. “Herd Crash.”
“Try it again.” He scribbled down a few notes, then stood up. “On me.”
I stared at him. “Uh, did you see what I just did to that bust?”
“That old thing?” He snorted. “You could’ve blown on it and it would’ve cracked right down the middle.”
Before I could lodge another protest, he ventured out into the line of fire. “Are you sure about this?” I asked.