First Year (29 page)

There was a sickening crunch, and then I saw my friend run forward, holding a bow and arrow in hand as she circled the hole, ready to shoot should Jake try anything at her approach.

But he didn’t. With a broken leg and no magic left, Ella had effectively expended the boy’s limits and left him with no defense.

The look Jake shot her was worse than any Priscilla or Darren had ever given me.

“I yield.”

The crowd went hysterical. And above the madness of it all, I could hear Alex screaming her name louder than anyone else.

“ELLA! ELLA! ELLA!” She had won.

Next up were Eve and William. The match wasn’t even a fair fight. Within twenty minutes Eve had exhausted her rival’s stamina and become the second champion of the day.

The crowd was even more hysterical than before. Eve’s victory had been astoundingly quick.

As the pale, seemingly fragile first-year and her bulky opponent exited the field, I saw Darren catch Eve’s arm and congratulate her on the match. William’s eyes flashed dangerously, but the prince didn’t seem to care.

Before the match had even begun, it had been obvious who would win. Anyone who had ever paid attention in practice would know that Eve was second only to Darren in casting.

William hadn’t stood a chance.

“Ryiah.”

I turned to see Master Narhari waiting for me. Ray was already walking onto the field in anticipation of our match. My stomach sank.

It was time.
 

I followed my training master, trailing behind Ray until I was in my starting position, two hundred yards across from my opponent.

The sun was bright in the sky, not a cloud to help ease my vision as I squinted at Ray across the way.

I had never had any qualms with the boy standing before me. One year my junior, he had fast become a member of Darren’s following early on because of his potential. Ray had come into this place like me: a lowborn, untrained, uneducated first-year with a dream and ten months to prove it. Ray had never taken part in the hazing, never tried to act as though he was better than me. He was just a tall boy with olive skin, dark wavy curls, and serious amber eyes.

And right now, he was the only person standing between me and an apprenticeship.

“Annnnnnnd begin!” Master Barclae roared.

All I saw was red.

Before I even knew I was doing it, I had cast two tunneling trails of flame. I watched as the twin fires bit across the landscape. In moments they had reached my opponent and cut him off from escape at either side. He was trapped.

As Ray attempted to quench the fires with an outpouring of sand, I threw all the force I could muster at Ray’s feet, willing the earth to crack open just as it had done for Ella. The ground moaned loudly and collapsed, but I was too slow. Ray was gone.

Suddenly, I couldn’t see anything. A thick cloud of smoke had appeared out of nowhere, and now I was surrounded by thick, gray fog anywhere that I turned.

Coughing, I tried to summon enough wind to rid me of the heavy vapor, but before I could blow it far enough away, the sharp “zzzzzing” of metal slicing through the air alerted me seconds before Ray’s sword came slashing through the haze.

I had the barest instant to throw up a shield to block the overhead blow, and then Ray’s sword slammed my defense. My arms buckled and quaked, but I held on. As soon as Ray withdrew his blade to try a different cut, I blindly slammed my shield into his chest. I threw myself into the blow, effectively cutting off my opponent’s windpipe as the impact knocked the both of us backward and out of the blinding smoke.

The two of us fell expertly. Both had spent months practicing how to land correctly. I tucked in my chin and knees, letting the impact hit my bottom, rolling until the impact faded. Then I pulled myself up at the same time as Ray.

We faced each other warily.

I braced myself, keeping my stance limber as I awaited Ray’s next attack. I had used up a lot of my magic in that first—and now useless— attempt to entrap him. I had to be careful to conserve the rest for my defense.

Ray had always done well in our class but I had never paid much attention to his training. I’d been so consumed with watching Darren and Priscilla that I had never stopped to think about the others in their group.

Now I wished I had.

A minute passed, and then I saw it in the way Ray was holding his arms. I threw up my shield, widening my stance and angling my guard arm so that I would not receive the full impact of his casting.

His magic hit me much harder than Ella or Clayton’s had ever done in practice. I had to dig in my heels to keep the magic from taking over my defense.

There was a shattering vibration and then Ray’s magic rebounded. Magic shot off the shield and into the woods behind me. A moment later there was a loud crack as a pine split in two.

I swallowed, realizing how close I had come to losing the match. That shield trick had just saved me from an instant defeat. I never would have been able to block a casting like that head on.

Ray’s mouth fell open in shock. He recovered quickly, but it was just enough for me to realize that while I had not noticed him in practice, he had clearly paid attention to my duel with Priscilla. That attack had been no accident. He had been planning to capitalize on my weakness. Thankfully, it was a weakness I no longer had.

Ray narrowed his eyes, and I readied myself for another casting. When nothing happened immediately, I squinted, trying to see what could possibly be delaying his attack. A second later I noticed the glint of steel and the strange curve of metal in my opponent’s hand. It was similar to the battleaxes we had practiced with in class, only this new weapon was much smaller, and the haft was not even two feet in length.

Why did he pick such a small weapon?
 

The answer came moments later when he hurled the object at me with staggering force. I threw up a shield and took off at a run, sprinting as fast as my legs could carry me.

If Ray had been a knight I would have been able to dodge the axe easily. But we were mages, and Ray was using his magic to steer the weapon. It crashed down upon my shield.

The blade was heavier than I had expected. The impact sent me stumbling to my knees as the shield splintered in two. The axe’s thick iron-tipped edge dug into my right shoulder, cutting a deep gash that was felt all the way down my arm.

I bit my lip, hard, and forced myself to stand. Blood was pouring from the wound and it was costing me everything not to cry out in pain. I glanced to Ray and saw another throwing axe had appeared in his hand. My heart stopped.

If he kept throwing those axes, he would be able to wear out my stamina much sooner than he did his own. Normal long-range weapons couldn’t break a shield. An axe could, but up until now I had foolishly assumed that it would not be a problem in distance encounters.

The second axe came hurtling toward me. I made a swift decision to change tactics. Instead of running away, I ran toward the axe. I threw my shield as hard as I could, sending the two items tottering off harmlessly to the left of the field.

I hadn’t wanted to engage Ray directly. He was tall and stocky, and I knew he would be able to outlast me in any weighted exchange. 
Especially with an open wound.
But as long as he kept throwing those axes at me, I had no choice…unless I used my magic for something big, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that again, seeing as how my last two attacks had done little else than drain my magic.

Summoning two blades, a hefty broadsword for myself, and a spectral blade for an additional attack, I lunged at Ray with everything I had.

It was a mistake. As soon as I engaged him I realized how reckless the decision was. Ray only needed to wait for me to bleed out and make a mistake. I shouldn’t have rushed him.

It was too late though, and I tried my best to ameliorate the situation. As predicted, Ray made no attempt to expend himself. I felt like a fool as we continued to exchange blows. Piers had spent months lecturing us about the realities of injury in battle. “
Nine times out of ten a knight dies not because of a direct wound, but minor ones that amass over time. The blood loss ultimately makes him dizzy and weak, which will cause him to make more mistakes than usual. This is what the enemy will wait for. The smart ones don’t strike to kill. They just wait for you to do the work for them.”
 

This can’t be how it ends.

I continued to lead the assault. Ignoring the throbbing of my right arm, I clutched the sword in both hands and delivered blow after blow with endless vigor. I tried to will my second casting to do the same, but Ray was prepared with a spectral blade of his own.

Our match transformed into a flurry of swordplay.

I knew I would lose if I kept the contest going, but I was out of ideas. We were thirty minutes into our match, and Ray still looked as composed as when we had started. Meanwhile sweat was stinging my eyes, my limbs were aching all over, and my shoulder smarted terribly whenever I shifted weight.

My spectral blade faltered. Just as it deflected Ray’s oncoming blow, I felt the casting shudder. I slammed the broadsword I was holding as hard as I could into Ray’s left side. He blocked easily, as I had known he would, but the impact gave me just enough time to jump back before my second casting vanished completely.

I began to run toward the armory.

All I had left was the sword in my hand. My magic hadn’t been able to hold onto both. It had exhausted most of its limits trying to float the spectral blade and wield it on its own. I was beginning to feel lightheaded, and the searing pain in my forehead had begun. It was only a matter of minutes before my magic expired completely, and then I’d be defenseless.

I had to get my hands on a real weapon.

Mid-sprint I released the broadsword casting and used the last bit of magic I had to summon a shield at my back. I was too open to attack, racing across the grassy field.

Not even a second later there was the sharp whistle of arrows and then the repetitive thuds as they lodged themselves harmlessly into my shield.

The ground beneath my feet began to tremble. I dove to my right. Glancing back, I saw a fissure where I had been headed just moments before.

I was close to the armory door now. Just another minute and I would be safely inside. It was off limits, I knew, but I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t just let Ray win. I had to put up a fight any way that I could.

We were supposed to rely on our own magic, our own prowess. Well, I had, but now there was a resource I couldn’t ignore, one that might somehow give me a chance in this after all. It was either forfeit now or bend the rules and hope the judges overlooked my decision. I chose the latter.

I grabbed the wrought iron handle, ready to throw open the door…

Ray’s hand shot out behind me, snatching my injured shoulder and yanking me backward so that I was sent sprawling into the grass behind. This time when I fell I didn’t land the way I was supposed to.

I fell on my outstretched arm. There was a sickening snap.

Turning my head, I saw the odd angle of my left wrist. I didn’t need a knowledge of Restoration to understand that it was broken.

“You know you’re not supposed to enter the armory,” Ray panted. He was shaking. The last couple of castings had cost him dearly. I wasn’t the only one running out of stamina.

“Surrender, Ryiah. You’ve got nothing left.” His eyes held pity. “Don’t make this any worse than it already is.”

He was giving me a chance, I realized. Ray didn’t want to hurt me more than he had to, but he would should I continue to stand between him and an apprenticeship.

Using my right arm to push myself off the ground, I gritted my teeth and stood. The shoulder pain was excruciating, and my surroundings were becoming blurred.

Ray let me stand, but after a couple seconds of silence he became impatient. Drawing his sword, he regarded me grimly. “Surrender
now, 
Ryiah, or I’ll have no choice but to make you.” He took a step forward, pressing the blade of his sword just above my collarbone, into the deep wound on my right shoulder.

The pressure of metal against swollen flesh and bone was so overpowering that tears streamed down my face involuntarily. My stomach roared in anguish.

I tried furiously to conjure a sword, a shield, any sort of defense to put between myself and the blade at my shoulder, but I came up empty-handed.

Ray pushed down with his blade.

The agony in my head was so terrible that I could no longer discern anything except the pain and the heavy breathing of my opponent.

This was it. This was how I would be remembered: just another first-year that had tried. I’d done well, but not well enough.

No!
 

The thought came raging through me as Ray increased the weight of his cut. There was nothing I could do about the pain. He had me there. He had me trapped, defenseless… the perfect ending to a perfect victory.

But there was one thing Ray could not plan for, one glimpse at hope he might not have suspected in his careful approach. It was dangerous, and until today I had never bothered to consider it… but now. I had nothing left to lose.

I threw myself onto Ray’s sword, letting its metal pierce my wound as the blade severed and cut, tearing down, down,
deep
into flesh. My vision went black, and I fell forward, shrieking and dragging Ray down with me as I threw out my magic in earnest.

Somewhere in the midst of my shouting and Ray’s own startled cry, the harsh booming of what sounded like thunder entered my awareness. I was barely able to register the bone-shattering blast before something heavy collided with my skull, and I lost all semblance of consciousness.

“Do you think she ‘ll wake?”
 

“I don’t know, she’s been through a lot…”
 

“I can’t believe Ryiah! She almost killed the both of them!”
 

“Master Barclae and the judges are furious
…
“
 

“Did you see the look on the king’s face? She just cost the Academy thousands with that stunt!”