“Shield.” Power rushed around us as I changed the sense of limitations in my mind. “Shield.” Another wave of power cocooned us, and I pivoted again within my mind. “Shield.” I barely got the third word out before power smashed into my shield, rocking me backward. Lucas stood firm behind me and I regained my balance.
I had been too distracted by my desperate attempts to work quickly to take in anyone else’s movements. But now I took a moment to survey the arena floor. Our year mates had surrounded us in a loose circle. They stood at a distance, but already I saw a gap in their ranks.
A quick glance at the stands showed Acacia ministering to a still-smoking Natalya.
“One down,” I said to Lucas, as I heard him rip another parchment. A strong gust of wind swept through the arena, sending Finnian, Coralie, and Dariela on my left tumbling to the ground.
But he had no time to send a follow up while they were distracted. A bellow from the other side sent both of our heads whipping in that direction to see Calix charging Lucas with his sword held in front of him. Weston followed silently a step behind, Lavinia flanking them. All three angled toward Lucas, ignoring me—perhaps because he was the one who had been lobbing fire and wind at them.
My last shield—the one against all physical attack—would stop them in their tracks. But at what cost to my energy?
“Drop,” I whispered, releasing that shield but retaining the others. Lucas was the best fighter in our year, he could hold them off. And my shields against magical attack and life-threatening physical blows remained.
Lucas took two steps away from me, giving himself room to maneuver, and my shield stretched, following him. The clang of steel against steel sounded, and I gripped the hilt of my own sword harder. Everything in me wanted to turn to help him, but if I did so, it would leave our backs unguarded. And their team still had five more mages in play.
Saffron ripped a parchment, and a small patch of grass just outside my shield sprang into flames. I ignored the tiny blaze, keeping my attention on the others. Finnian also had a composition in his hands, and when he ripped it, a gust of wind shot from him straight toward me. When it hit the flames, it fanned them, some of the tongues of fire leaping free of the grass to dance through the rushing air.
I suddenly remembered a half-overheard conversation between the cousins from the week before about the possibilities of coordinated attacks. Would my shield consider the wind or the small spots of flame dangerous enough to block? I didn’t wait to find out.
“Shield fire,” I gasped out in time for the flickering spots to crash against an invisible wall. The wind, less dangerous on its own, hit me full force and sent me staggering backward two steps. I nearly collided with Lucas who only just dodged me.
Weston’s sword lunged toward Lucas’s chest, colliding with my shield which turned it aside, sending it sliding up his arm instead. It tore Lucas’s sleeve, leaving welling blood behind. In my distraction I had forgotten the sword fight behind me. Outnumbered, Lucas would have been struck down without my shield.
The energy drain was already starting to wear on me, and it could have been worse if the wind hadn’t hit Calix and Lavinia as well as Lucas and me. We needed a new plan.
I had hardly regained my balance when Coralie and Araminta both sent power snaking toward us. Whatever its purpose had been, my shield blocked it, draining yet more of my energy. I needed to act fast.
I spoke quickly, my words tumbling out and almost tangling together as I hurried through the binding words.
“Rock the earth beneath the arena floor, everywhere except under us—”
“What are you doing?” Lucas panted over the top of me, keeping his eyes on his attackers who had all regained their feet. “You’re supposed to be on defense.”
I ignored him, keeping hold of my power as I pulled up the next lot of words to finish the composition.
“—until a large rock has emerged from the ground over there. End binding.” I pointed my finger at a break in the circle around us caused by Weston and Lavinia joining Calix.
The earth began to rumble, and our eight year mates all lost their feet, tumbling down as a large spear of dark gray rock tore the ground open, thrusting up into the sky. Lucas didn’t need me to explain what I’d done.
He took off running a step ahead of me, the oasis of calm earth following us as we threw ourselves toward the rock, placing it at our backs. I panted, my head spinning from the expenditure of power. At least I had been able to call real rock from the ground and didn’t have to maintain its existence with my power.
Calix regrouped, calling for Finnian and Dariela to join him, but now Lucas and I could face them together. And with the rock at our backs, they couldn’t all reach us at once.
Weston struck at Lucas who blocked the blow, his sword flashing to block a second one from Calix a moment later. I grunted as my own blade took the force of Finnian’s thrust, my hand trembling as energy drained from me to protect me from Dariela’s blow.
For a minute, I could do nothing but fend off as many blows as I could. But Lavinia had fallen back to join Coralie, Saffron, and Araminta, and the four of them threw composition after composition at us.
Lucas glanced at me sideways, between blows. He was holding his attackers off better than I was, reducing the drain on me, but I still wasn’t going to last much longer. We would have to surrender, or I would be drained dry.
For a second, I considered skimming some of my attackers’ energy, but I tamped down the instinct. Even without the issue of consent, the middle of battle wasn’t the time for such experiments, especially given our audience.
Two blows fell against my shield in quick succession as Lucas faltered in his defense, taking precious seconds to pull out a composition. A blast of raw power swept outward, widening to collide with all eight of our year mates.
It pushed our closest attackers far enough back that Lucas could safely lean over toward me.
“I’ve been testing their shields. I think I can break through all of them at once, but it won’t take them long to get them back up again. Do you think you can incapacitate them all if I do it?”
I didn’t have time to answer before our attackers charged forward again, but he must have read the agreement in my eyes. I saw both his hands plunge into his robe and managed to shout, “Shield,” before the first blow fell, calling back up my third shield against all physical attack in time to protect him.
I dropped my own sword, collapsing to the ground to avoid the blows aimed at me. I needed to be ready.
Lucas stacked three parchments on top of each other, ripping them all at once. I felt the rush of shapeless power, three separate surges that battered against our year mates almost simultaneously. Araminta’s, Coralie’s, and Saffron’s shields dissolved from the first wave, Natalya and Calix’s from the second, and Weston, Finnian, and Dariela’s from the third. As soon as I felt Dariela’s fizzle out, I screamed, “Bind them!”
My power poured out, streaming toward each of them individually. Finnian, Dariela, Calix, and Weston—standing closest—went down first, their arms and legs clamping to their side under invisible bindings.
Saffron and Natalya staggered and fell, and Coralie dropped a moment later, an untorn parchment fluttering to the ground beside her. But Araminta still stood. She had lost her original shield first and had moved faster than any of the others, managing to retrieve and rip a new one before my power reached her.
My power strained against her shield, racing around her, looking for a weakness, and my vision spun. My knees might have buckled if I wasn’t already on the ground.
“End Araminta’s,” I gasped out, cutting off the part of my composition that sought to bind her before I bled even more power. It was already taking too much to hold the others.
The extra stream ended abruptly, and I remained huddled on the ground panting. Lucas moved toward me, but I shook my head, my eyes widening.
“What are you doing? Araminta’s still standing!”
He jerked and took off running, racing past the prone figures of our year mates, several of them straining against their bonds as he passed. Araminta ran too, trying to stay ahead of him as her hands fumbled for another composition. But his longer legs soon caught up to her, and he leaped forward, tackling her to the ground.
As soon as she was pinned, clapping broke out from the stands, and Thornton declared the end of the bout. I instantly cut off my remaining compositions, flopping back to lie flat on the ground. I closed my eyes and groaned before remembering our audience.
I opened them again in time to see Lucas offer me his hand. I grasped it and let him help me to my feet. But as soon as I was standing, I pulled my hand free so our observers would know I was still standing on my own.
I let my eyes run over my friends first, checking none of them were harmed. All of them had regained their feet, although Coralie was bent over, retrieving her unused composition.
“Really?” Finnian, who had also been watching Coralie, turned to grin at me. “You couldn’t have let us win? For the sake of our pride. Nine against two, you know.”
“Ardann first,” Lucas muttered, but he was grinning back at Finnian.
“Yes,” said Finnian dryly, “it was nothing but pure altruism that pushed you to win.”
“What can we say, Finnian?” I managed to muster enough energy for a chuckle. “We’re just the giving types.”
Coralie and Saffron reached us, and Finnian slung an arm around each of them. “Good effort, girls. We lost, but we lost nobly.”
“Did we?” Saffron shook him off when Thornton glared at them. “My bruises don’t feel noble.”
I winced. “Sorry about that.”
She smiled at me. “It wouldn’t be combat without a few bruises.”
We reached the instructors and Sekalis just as Araminta joined us.
“Well done, Elena!” Walden beamed at me. “No surprises that you carried the day.”
“His Royal Highness also performed admirably,” said Lorcan coolly.
“A most interesting display.” Chen stood and bowed again. “We thank you for your generosity.”
My brow wrinkled, and I looked between him and Lorcan. Did he mean our expending power to give them a demonstration bout? I decided the safest option was to bow and say nothing.
At the deepest point of the bow I wobbled and might have lost my balance without Lucas’s subtle steadying hand on my back. I threw him a grateful look when I was upright again, but his attention remained on the visitors.
“Interesting, indeed,” said Thornton, turning the word from a compliment into an insult. “It seems the rest of you can learn something about shielding from Araminta.”
She flushed with pleasure at the small measure of praise, and I wondered if it was the first Thornton had ever given her.
“Well done,” I whispered to her. “I don’t know if I would have lasted much longer, so you nearly had us.”
Coralie nudged her. “And you were worried about embarrassing Ardann.”
Araminta shook her head. “I’m not sure surviving the longest is a particularly impressive achievement.”
Chen, who appeared to be the head of the delegation, looked as if he intended to speak to me, but Thornton dismissed us, and I hurried away with the rest of my year mates except for Lucas. I could feel Sekali eyes on me as I left the arena, but it only made me move faster. The safest way to not say the wrong thing was to not say anything at all.
As we came into the entrance hall, I swayed slightly, pressing a hand to my head. I had used more of my reserve energy than was sensible.
“You should have a nap,” Coralie said. “I’ll help you up the stairs. And we’ll save you some lunch.”
I glanced toward the door to the dining hall before sighing and nodding.
“I should if I’m going to make it through composition.”
She held out her arm, and I leaned on it gratefully as we climbed the stairs. At least we had a great deal less of them to climb now that we lived on the fourth year floor. Coralie dropped me off at the door of my suite.
“Are you sure you can make it into bed on your own?” she asked.
I rolled my eyes. “I’m tired but not that tired. I’m not going to collapse.”
“See that you don’t.” Coralie laughed. “I don’t want to have to carry you down to Acacia’s rooms.”
I gave her a light shove and closed my door. But I hadn’t made it as far as my bed when I remembered Walden had earlier asked to see me over lunch. I groaned and trudged back down again.
Back out in the corridor, I picked up my pace, hoping to catch back up to Coralie and let her know where I would be. But as I stepped out onto the stairs, she had already made it to the entrance hall. It was otherwise deserted, the rest of our year mates having long passed through into the dining hall.
I opened my mouth to call to her, but before I could do so, two men came sprinting across the large open space, one of them tackling her to the ground. I froze, my tired brain scrambling to make sense of what I was seeing.
A moment later realization came. This must be her test. Anger boiled through me. What unfair timing. She hadn’t had any chance to restock compositions since our bout. How many did she have left?
The man who had tackled her groaned and rolled to the side, and she emerged, disheveled but apparently unharmed, to face off against the other. His fist punched toward her, and I mustered the mental image I needed for a shielding composition even as I hurried down the steps.
“Elena!” Lorcan’s voice, coming from the far corridor, made me pull up just as my feet hit the floor of the entrance hall.
I turned slowly to find Thornton and Lorcan, now free of the Sekalis, approaching.
Thornton gave me an unimpressed look before moving on to observe Coralie’s efforts to fend off her attackers. I glanced toward her in time to see her block another attempted blow, dancing back as her hand flashed into her robe.
“Elena!” Lorcan’s commanding voice called my attention back in his direction.
He gestured imperiously for me to precede him toward his office, and with a final glance back at my friend, I followed him.
Chapter 8
Neither of us said anything until we were both seated inside his office with the door closed. He drummed the fingers of one hand against the desk, eyeing me with a weary expression.
“I believe Thornton has already spoken to you about interfering with the tests of other trainees.”
I winced. “I just—” I paused. “We just had the bout. I didn’t know how much she had left.”
His expression didn’t lighten, and I sighed.
“It’s Coralie. I couldn’t just walk away.”
His fingers stopped, and his brow creased.
“Your year is one of the most exceptional we have ever had at the Academy. And I don’t say that only because of you or even the prince. There is a reason for it, as you probably already know. Most of your parents’ generation were recalled to the front the year you were conceived, occupied with fighting back an intense Kallorwegian offensive. Only those too important to be spared remained behind, free to continue with their lives—and to think of babies for those so inclined. Coralie might not come from one of the stronger families, but her parents are intelligent. Back then her mother was involved with a crucial project for the seekers. Coralie has plenty of sense to make up for any lack of strength. And she has a flexibility of thinking many of her peers lack.”
He gave me a significant look, and I knew he was talking about her friendship with me. I hadn’t known her mother used to be a Gray. Had she thought it an awkward thing to mention to me when I visited their home?
“I understand it’s difficult for you,” Lorcan continued, “but you must learn to let your friends stand on their own feet. You won’t always be there with them, and they need the chance to receive as much training as they can get now. Even if that means failing at times.” He gave me a look. “Not
that Coralie looked as if she was failing to me. Trust your friends, Elena.”
I looked away, uncomfortable beneath his gaze. Was that what I had been doing? Not trusting Coralie? I squirmed as the truth of his words hit. She hadn’t needed me to intervene, and it had been arrogant of me to think I needed to do so. Especially given I was far more exhausted than her after our bout.
“You’re right.” I took a deep breath. “I should trust them.”
Lorcan gave me a quizzical look. “Such ready acceptance! You astound me.”
I looked at him quickly and caught the twinkle in his eye.
“You’ve come a long way since you first sat in this office, Elena. I find myself wondering what the Academy would be like if you had never arrived.” A smile inched across his face. “And the strange thing is that I find myself completely unable to imagine it.”
“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or an accusation.”
He chuckled. “A little of both, perhaps. But I was not on my way to look for you because of Coralie’s test.”
“You were looking for me?”
He nodded. “Just for a quick word.” He paused, his face turning serious. “Your…connection with the prince is hardly a secret. And Their Majesties would prefer not to remind the Sekalis of it. The enthusiasm of my library head aside, I was not intending to introduce you to them.”
“I didn’t—”
He waved a hand to silence me. “I know you have done nothing to put yourself in their way. And I’m inclined to think the contact was inevitable. You are not just the prince’s choice, you are also the Spoken Mage. We could hardly expect them not to be curious.”
He said it casually, but my cheeks still flushed to hear someone else refer to me as Lucas’s choice. If only he was actually free to choose.
I tried to focus on Lorcan’s words. “You want me to stay away.”
He sighed. “As much as you are able. If we are lucky, you won’t cross their paths again anyway.”
Voice of Life (The Spoken Mage Book 4) Page 9