The Games of Ganthrea

by Andy Adams

  Brenner grinned, then flew back to his teammates, who were waving to the Silvalo supporters from the center pavilion.

  After the crowd at Evermax Stadium gave them a final, booming ovation—some folks shouting because their home biome had won the match, others cheering as they shook their coin purses, heavier from successful bets—Maverick led the team in a flight around the lower seats and then up the honeycomb walls. White-robed officials used their mircons to snip open a section of the magic, semitranslucent foil encasing the stadium, allowing the team to exit and then closing it so they wouldn’t be swarmed by overzealous, flying fans.

  The twenty-one Zabrani players flew back to the academy in the warm afternoon—Brenner quickly ensured he was flying next to Gemry, who looked over at him with a smirk, and, pretending to be royalty, loftily held her hand out for him to hold, which he gladly did. They weaved between ancient stone buildings and mammoth oakbrawns, where news of the victory spread like summer wind, and cheers and congratulations sprinkled down on them from upper balconies in the forested city.

  The team arrived at the entrance to the western gates of Valoria, touching down under great victory banners that were eagerly rippling, and walking past rows of lanterns emitting green sparks that formed a runway to the mahogany doors.

  “Welcome and well done, Zabrani team!” said Sage Shastrel, standing by the castle entrance, surrounded by a mob of Valoria students. “Let the victory banquet begin!”

  The Valoria students clapped each player on the back as they walked through the double doors of the castle, and down through the hallways to the Banquet Hall. More than once Brenner was knocked off balance by hands thumping his shoulders.

  After the long receiving line, the team was ushered into a rearranged Banquet Hall, where all the tables formed concentric rings around a forty-foot long high table, adorned with plush green runners, crystal chalices, and silver rimmed plates, all set around platters of savory food: hot roasted lamb, garlic chicken, buttered-cinnamon squashes, clusters of fruits that pulsed from blue to rich reds, vanilla custards, raspberry tarts, and a cake that shot green fireworks into the air, giving off frosting explosions that coated the Banquet Hall with a sugary-baked aroma.

  The chief Sage of Valoria, Spellmaster Kinigree, swept over to the middle table as the spellcasters chatted and found tables—Brenner joined the rest of his team at the center table, first scooting out Gemry’s chair for her, then sitting beside her. Kinigree levitated into the air, his shaggy mess of gray hair pushed back over his forehead, and a quiet hush filled the room.

  “Valoria spellcasters,” Kinigree warmly announced, rotating so that he could see the rings of tables, “it is with great pleasure that I deliver the closing remarks for this educational year, on the final day of the Games of Ganthrea.

  “Tomorrow, many of you will join convoys back to your Silvalo homes and begin your two months of summer harvest with hopefully, some rejuvenation too, while others who have accepted contracts will use their talents to forge new paths in spellcaster leadership, biome development, spell safety, potion crafting, and many other rewarding careers. I congratulate you all.”

  A smattering of polite clapping echoed off the walls and tapestries.

  “Now,” continued Kinigree, “it has been four years since we last had a champion at any of the three events, and more than thirty summers since we had champions of two. Please give the entire Zabrani team, and our Agilis Champion, Brenner Wahlridge, your applause.”

  Shouts and cheers erupted nearly everywhere Brenner looked, giving him tingles of pride and goosebumps of embarrassment. Only one table in the back remained quiet, where Kendra and her friends instead glowered at the champions. Sorian looked to be absent.

  Kinigree held a hand up to quiet the academy. “Your placement into next year’s levels will be posted on Valoria’s entrance tomorrow. And now,” Kinigree said, waving his arm out before him, “enjoy the sweet taste of victory.” He floated back to the ground.

  Brenner and his teammates dug into the rich food in front of them. For a carefree hour, the team recounted the best feats of the Games, their stuns across the field, who scored the highest in each category, and eventually, even joked about Haggerty’s near drowning—Francesca teasing him, “Your smell finally got to you, huh? Couldn’t wait until after the game for your bath?”—Haggerty laughed, and then retorted, “Well, I had to do something drastic to get your attention. Now that I’m fresh and clean, we still on for our pool date?”

  “Nope,” said Francesca flatly, “Still a definite nope.”

  The team ate and made toasts until Brenner was feeling full and more than a tad drowsy. Slowly, the number of spellcasters in the Banquet Hall trickled down. Gemry poured sparkling red drink into Brenner’s goblet, then her own, and nodded toward the exit. He picked up his drink, and together the two left the celebration, walking up through the corridors to the western ramparts.

  “Not bad for your first year,” Gemry said, as they strolled onto a balcony overlooking the sunset.

  “Well, once I was instructed on how to fly properly, it certainly helped my performance,” Brenner said, gazing at her with a smile. “Thank you.”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if the sages jump you up another rank or two in the fall, based on your performance at the Games,” she said, leaning against the castle ridge as the clouds started to match the color of her crimson currant juice.

  “If so, I’d be closer to your skills—it may even be socially acceptable for us to be together.”

  Gemry gave him a thin-lipped smile. “With your wins this weekend, you could talk with any rank of spellcaster here…and probably have a date with any girl at Valoria.” She took a sip of her drink, looking away.

  “What makes you think I want to be with someone else? I asked you to join me in the Agilis Parade, remember?”

  He slipped his hand along the top of the rampart, finding hers.

  Gemry’s green eyes turned back to his. “I just thought…with your wins and all…” she trailed off.

  “What?”

  “Usually the top players go for beauty, money, or connections. Whatever will get them ahead.” She looked away. “I don’t have those. You know my background—”

  “Stop,” Brenner said, giving her hand a squeeze.

  She sighed, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear.

  “Gemry,” he said softly and slowly, “You. Are. Beautiful.” Delicately, he brought his hand to her face, and turned it to his. “And winning or losing doesn’t change my feelings for you.”

  Gemry met his eyes…and smiled. “Thanks,” she said quietly.

  She looked down at her hands. “My parents spoke to me after the game today…hardly complimented the team on the win at all, just asked for my prize money.”

  Brenner frowned. “I’m sorry.”

  “I knew that would happen,” said Gemry. “And they said they’d come this evening right after the banquet to pick me up.”

  “Why so soon?”

  “My mother thinks the Zabrani win will draw more customers tonight. Father insisted they need me at the warehouse one more week while fans are in town, before I can work on my own for a month.”

  “They’re letting you work somewhere else?” He squeezed her arm. “Hey, that’s great! That’s what you were hoping for, right?”

  “Yeah…it is.” Her lips tightened. “They were supposed to let me do that immediately since we won…but whatever. It’s just one more week. I can stomach that.”

  Brenner thought back to his own parents briefly, wondered what they would say if they saw him winning at the games. They’d probably react just like Gemry’s parents…thinking of how to exploit it.

  “Enough about me,” said Gemry, “what are you doing after today? I bet you got some great bids for your skills.”

  Brenner felt embarrassed at her blunt but accurate appraisal. For a fleeting moment, he considered not telling her about Dalphon’s offer, that it might upset her or cause a
sting of jealousy, which was the last thing he wanted. But he also wanted to be more honest with her, even if he couldn’t tell her everything about his life.

  “I’ve been offered a contract worth five thousand golders.”

  “What?!” She shoved him. “That’s amazing—you have to take it. From what I’ve heard from graduates over the years, that’s the most a spellcaster’s been offered. Ever.”

  Brenner let out a sigh. “But then I wouldn’t see you…and Aquaperni is a long way away.”

  “It’s only one year…” she said hurriedly, although the way she avoided his eyes seemed to betray her true thoughts.

  Twelve months away from each other…

  “With that kind of money,” Gemry said with renewed vigor, “you could come back at seventeen for a final year of education, then get hired anywhere. Or you could skip the end of Valoria and start your own business. Anything’s possible with that many golders.”

  “Yeah,” Brenner said, wanting to tell her how everything was happening so quickly…

  He’d been in Silvalo three months, and while back on Earth he would now only have to think about how to spend the next months of summer vacation, here he was pressured to make decisions that impacted not only his education, but his entire adult career…Dalphon’s offer would make him wealthy, increasing his self-sufficiency and forcing him to sharpen his business and protective magic skills, at the cost of a full year away from Valoria Academy. Was that what he wanted to do? For most of his life he’d wanted to work solo, either engineering cool structures or maybe doing some type of research…this wouldn’t involve either of those, but he would be independent, and after it he could do anything. But if he took it, he felt his relationship with Gemry would wilt.

  Brenner just wanted to take a breath, and press pause on life.

  “Windelm offered me another position as a scout on his squad,” he said, sharing the dilemma on his mind.

  “That’s good, but you can always do that. Any spellcaster that’s reached the rank of conjurer or higher is eligible to join. And the pay would be a fraction of what you could earn abroad.”

  “Isn’t the type of work more important than the money?”

  “Maybe for the already rich. But not for most spellcasters. And not for me.”

  The orange sun touched the rim of the horizon. Gemry’s determined attitude was starting to rub off on him…

  “I’m sure they would give you leave every couple of months,” said Gemry, watching the sunset, “Depending on where you are in Aquaperni, it would be a two or three-day flight from the islands and around the mainland coast to Silvalo. You could come and visit sometime…it’s not like I’ll be leaving Arborio anytime soon.”

  Brenner watched the way the summer breeze floated Gemry’s long, brown hair around her shoulders…over her silky, smooth skin…it would be hard to be gone for so long.

  Sensing his gaze, she turned toward him.

  “I’ve never said this…to someone before…” Brenner began slowly, marshalling the courage to finally say what had been running through his mind for the past month, “it’s just…I love you.”

  Gemry beamed like the sun. He could have sworn her eyes sparkled from green to turquoise. Before he fully knew what he was doing, Brenner put a hand on her side, leaned in, and kissed her red lips.

  For a moment he’d gotten his wish: in the midst of her sweet fragrance and this kiss, the world indeed seemed paused. From the crown of his head, a thrilling prickle spread down to the tips of his fingers. His heart beat faster, pumping giddiness, pumping delight. Gemry put her hand on his. Their kiss probably would have gone on for a while—forever, please, his subconscious hoped—but a loud cough came from beyond the balcony, and then a curt voice: “Gemry. Time to go.”

  The two pulled apart, and Brenner turned to see the scowling face of her father, his arms crossed as he stood on Velvo. There was an awkward pause as Brenner wasn’t sure if he should introduce himself, or wait to see if her father would do so.

  He didn’t.

  “Now,” her father said, motioning to the carrier carpet.

  Reluctantly, Gemry let go of Brenner’s hand.

  “Take the job in Aquaperni,” Gemry said, stepping across the rampart to Velvo. “And stay safe for me.”

  “Okay,” Brenner said, nodding, desperately wishing their moment could have been longer. “If I go…you know I’ll come back to see you.”

  “I know,” Gemry said. She smiled. “And I’m sure you’ll have plenty of stories to share with me.”

  “Velvo, the shop,” her father commanded, one hand on Gemry’s arm.

  The carrier carpet whisked down the ramparts, and Gemry looked over her shoulder, catching Brenner’s eye once more. “Bye, Brenner.”

  “Goodbye…Gemry,” Brenner said, his hand raised in a wave, as she vanished behind the curve of an oakbrawn trunk.

  Head down, Brenner turned and shuffled back inside the castle. His hand absentmindedly rotated the amulet around his neck as he repeated her words. Take the job…and stay safe for her…I think I can do that… Although he was indoors, winding past corridors into the main hallways of Valoria, where groups of students laughed and talked loudly, Brenner felt like he was walking through a fog bank, and didn’t notice Finnegan trying to flag him down until his friend was at his side, holding an envelope and punching him in the arm.

  “So!” Finnegan blurted out, “what’s it like?!”

  Brenner slowly surfaced back to reality. “What’s what like?”

  “Oh I don’t know—” Finnegan said sarcastically, “let’s see…winning two of the three most prestigious Games, gaining elixirs that Valoria students see only a handful of times in their lives—let alone possess—having a feast thrown pretty much in your honor—do you need me to go on?”

  “Oh…that,” said Brenner. “I guess it feels good.”

  “That’s a relief,” Finnegan said, mockingly wiping his forehead. “I was starting to think that all the wishes we lesser mortals had about the Games of Ganthrea were completely misguided. I’ve already been asked by a couple mages if you were the one who taught me how to play Zabrani.” He threw his arms in the air. “What is going on in Ganthrea?!”

  When Brenner didn’t reply, he added, “You know you’re still allowed to smile, right?”

  “Yeah,” Brenner said, his voice feeling like someone else’s. “I know, Finnegan. I was just saying goodbye to Gemry.”

  “Ah,” said Finnegan. “You also know you can see her at her parent’s shop anytime you want, right? Like, say, tomorrow?”

  “That’s the thing.”

  Finnegan lifted an eyebrow, and Brenner filled him in on the offer, and his departure. It felt strange, as though he’d accidentally taken an unmarked path into adulthood, saying he was going to be a contracted merchant escort.

  Finnegan let out a whistle, then said, “Well, can’t say I blame you. If I could turn a year into five thousand golders, I’d do practically anything: shovel dung in dragon stalls, be a tester for potion trials. Heck, for that much I could even tolerate working in the same room as Sorian. But you’d have to pay me another thousand not to choke him when the boss wasn’t looking.”

  Brenner’s mood finally brightened. “Maybe I can help land you a contract, too, and on our lunch breaks we can plan pranks for how to make this a summer Sorian won’t forget.”

  “I’ve got just the thing,” said Finnegan definitively, “Unbreakable glue, a rogue Pegasus, and a fake offer to be a captain of level five. He’ll be stuck tight and sent to Gelemensus faster than he can bark orders.”

  “Nice. You get the glue and the letter, and I’ll borrow a Pegasus from Rimpley’s Sky-Couriers.”

  “I’m on it,” Finnegan said, clapping Brenner on the shoulder. “Hey—I almost forgot, one of Rimpley’s messengers stopped by the banquet and dropped off this letter for you.”

  He handed a piece of rolled parchment to Brenner, who uncurled the scroll to reveal a hastily scra
wled message that read:

  Dear Brenner,

  Sherry and I wanted to tell you again how proud we are of you.

  I realize that Valoria likely has celebrations for you and the team all evening, and we won’t get to see you for some time if you choose to take the Aquaperni contract.

  Of course, I’d rather have you join my squad this summer, and attend Valoria in the fall, but it’s your choice, and you will earn and learn much on your own in the islands of Aquaperni.

  Just be careful in choosing your companions.

  I know we are not your parents, but in case you’re wondering, you have our support, whatever you choose. If you do leave tomorrow, take good care of your amulet, mircon, and foremost yourself, and keep in touch.