A man from Haven house broke the whispering chatter and approached the Siren girl, pushing her away from Fareth. “Step away, Celina. He’s the son of Housemaster Geroth and his brother is Mentor Taranth. It’s no surprise that he’s here.”

Celina kept her gaze fixed on Fareth. “Oh, I’m perfectly aware of his heritage.”

Fareth hovered a wobbly hand over his robes to the spot where his staff was hidden. “Is there a problem with my being here?” he said.

“Not at all.”  Celina said. “Just don’t expect to pass on your first try. It’s my second attempt this year and everyone is expecting me to be the most promising young student.”

“Well…” Fareth said, swallowing a lump in his throat. “Good luck then.”

She raised an eyebrow, “Oh, I won’t be needing it,” she turned away from Fareth to face her group of friends.

Fareth watched her walk away until the moment they were far enough apart that she couldn’t hear him. He let out the breath he had been holding, “Thanks,” he said to the man that had spoken up. He turned to face him and recognised that it was Daloran. Fareth did not have many friends other than Gaia but he considered Daloran to be one of them.

“What’s Celina’s problem with me?” Fareth asked in a low whisper.

Daloran turned his head towards Celina, watching her talking with her group of friends and then he turned back at Fareth. “She’s just jealous,” he said.

“Jealous?” Fareth repeated, “Jealous of what?”

“Of you.!”

“Why would she be jealous of me?”

“Well, a couple of years ago there was talk of a promising young student from Siren. She had the praise of everyone and excelled in every way, except for one.”

“What was that one?”

“She failed the final trial.”

Fareth lowered his brow. “Oh. But what’s that got to do with me?” he said.

“Nothing, really. It’s just, in her eyes, you’ve stolen the spotlight.”

Fareth looked at Celina and wondered. Could that be the reason he felt her malicious gaze or maybe… maybe there was a more sinister reason behind it.

“Daloran, if she is so great, why did she fail the final trial?”

“Ah, now there’s a story I’ll never forget. Curious the way she failed her final exam. I’ve never seen it happen before and this would be my… sixth time… so I’ve seen a lot of attempts.”

“What happened?” Fareth asked.

Daloran leaned in towards Fareth making sure that only he could hear him.

“She used her comrade as bait and left him.”

“She… what?”

“Yeah, it was horrible. I mean, strategically it was brilliant. Her group was the only one to defeat the final trial that year. But Housemaster Thaine was not happy.”

“How could Celina do that… that’s heartless!” Fareth said.

“Yes, it was, it caused quite a bit of controversy actually… you see, Grandmaster Balon was okay with it but ultimately the decision was left with Housemaster Thaine.”

“Hmm, If Grandmaster Balon was okay with it then why didn’t he intervene and grant her the victory?” Fareth asked.

“I don’t know!” Daloran said, exaggerating his hands, “It’s strange! In all of my trials I have never seen a victorious group that Grandmaster Balon looked so... impressed with.”

Fareth paused momentarily before replying to Daloran. He wondered just what kind of a person Celina was. But then, the thought occurred to him, he didn’t actually know what kind of person Balon was.

“Daloran,” Fareth said, “I’ve heard a lot about Grandmaster Balon but I’ve never actually met him.”

“Just between you and me… It would have been better if you could have kept it that way.”

“Why do you say that?” Fareth asked.

“Well, I can’t be sure, but I’ve always felt that Grandmaster Balon holds some animosity towards our house.”

Farerth was about to ask Daloran for more information when he was abruptly interrupted.by the sound of the door in front of them began to creak open. Everyone turned to face the great hall doors. A few gulped, some hearts raced and others began to perspire. They knew that once they stepped foot into the hall, the tournament would soon begin.

Fareth and the other Wizards climbed up the small steps that lead into the examination hall and they walked through the door. Once they stepped foot inside they saw a large open area directly in front of them. To their left and right was a small stairway that lead up to a low angle viewing balcony that had seats ready for them to sit on. At the far end of the hall, standing on top of a hovering rock in the air, was a group of five Wizards that were waiting to examine the Wizard prospects this year. These group of five Wizards were the four Housemasters and the Grandmaster of all houses, Balon.

The students walked forwards into the examination hall and they stood in the centre. They had split up into their respective house groups and sorted themselves out into group of eight by eight lines side by side. Haven house was on the far left, next to them was Myren house, then Siren and Naxen house. The students looked up towards their superiors waiting for them to speak.

On top of the floating rock above the students stood Housemaster Geroth at the far left and he watched on with an intense look on his face. Next to him was Housemaster Miloran (Myren house), then Housemaster Thaine (Siren) and Housemaster Zaran (Naxen). Each was clad in respective robes similar in colour to the students except they all had the golden dragon insignias on their fronts and backs. In the middle of all the Housemasters stood Grandmaster Balon.

Balon was a relatively lanky man. He had long straight black hair that reached his back and his eyes were a white iris. The robes he wore was different to every other Wizard. His robes were golden in colour and had a black dragon insignia on his front and back.

Balon walked forward slightly and looked down to the students below ready to address them. He spoke in a slow and confident manner.

“I trust, that I do not need to remind you, that this is the tournament part of your Wizarding Trials.”

A few of the Wizard prospects looked towards each other in eagerness. A couple of Wizards started whispering to each other.

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“Silence,” Balon ordered raising his hand, “There are some trivial matters that I must go over before we begin. First, everyone that received the letter of approval here today has obtained at least an “M” (Mediocre) in each study of magic. There are some exceptional candidates here and other… disappointments.”

Fareth couldn’t help but notice that Balon looked over towards him as he said that.

“Of course, it is one thing to understand and practise magic in a test situation, and it is another to use it in a practical one. Thus, from today forth, you shall no longer be restricted to any specific type of Magicwielding. You will be free to use what you see fit.”

Fareth listened carefully to Balon’s words. He knew that Balon was saying them as a formality to everyone but he wondered about the possibility that they were being said strictly for his own benefit. Fareth felt an anxious shiver go down his spine.

“And of course,” Balon said, “This rule will apply for tomorrow’s final trial as well.”

Balon eyed down the prospect Wizards in silence for a moment before he spoke up again. “Now then, I shall go over the rules before we begin. First, you shall be called up to the duelling stage for your one-on-one duels. Should you succeed, there will be a total of three rounds. You will be facing only the Wizards from your own house. So for today, they are not your allies, but your competition.”

Fareth could feel his heart in his chest beat rapidly in excitement and anxiety. He could tell that the other students were just as anxious as he was.

“There are a few ways in order for victory in a round to count,” Balon said, “First, if your opponent cannot regain their feet in ten seconds. Second, if they are knocked outside of the duelling circle. Lastly, if your opponent has been disarmed and their hands bound in any form of sealing magic. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Grandmaster!” The students chorused together.

“Good.” Balon said, “And my final message is to the students that seek true glory. I look forward to the traditional final round where the best elected Wizard from each house will battle it out and take home the victory cup.”

There was a moments silence as the Wizards waited for the trophy to be presented.

Housemaster Zaran nudged Housemaster Miloran and gestured his head towards the cup in his hands.

“Oh, right.” Miloran said and walked over towards Balon handing him the cup. “We’ll be taking the cup back to Myren house again this year!”

“We shall see.” Balon said as he watched Miloran take his position behind him again. Balon snapped his fingers and the trophy in his hands levitated up and hovered above him.

“It is time to begin the first of the three rounds. We will begin with Naxen house. All other Wizards, head to the viewing platform to your left and right.”

“Yes, Grandmaster!” The students echoed back.

The Wizards from the houses of Haven, Myren and Siren all exited to the viewing balconies on their left and right. Fareth climbed up the steps and took his seat as he looked down on the Naxen house Wizards. There were eight duelling circles on the hall floor and the Naxen students had been directed to take up each of them with a duelling partner.

Fareth watched as Zaran, the Naxan Housemaster, perched on the rock hovering above the students snapped his fingers signalling the commencement of the eight duels.

The duelling students mostly used the same magic since the most common form was Staffwielding. In Wizarding history there were notorious Staffwielding Wizards, known as Expert Staffwielders, which is the highest ranking honour a Wizard can get in the categories. The most famous of the Staffwielding Wizards was Fareth’s older brother and father. Of course, they were not the only Expert Staffwielders but they were amongst the most well-known.

The Wizards that used Staffwielding magic all used spells from their respective houses. The spells were emitted from the tip of their dragon headed staff in some kind of form that they chose. The Naxan Wizards worshipped the Earth goddess, hence naming their house after her. As such, their spells were all earth related. Inside of the duelling circles the students would cast offensive spells such as ones that would shake the ground beneath the feet of their opponent, unearth the ground hurling rocks or fracture the ground with a fast propagating crack. In response to the offensive spells, some of the Naxan Wizards were forced to use defensive spells such as one that would unearth rocky walls and deflect the attacking spell.

As Fareth watched the duels he tried to maintain his concentration, but he could feel it starting to wane. It didn’t take long before he wasn’t sure how many duels had been fought or which round they were on. He wasn’t sure why he was suddenly feeling so tired. He wasn’t sure why his eyes were starting to feel heavy. But most of all he wasn’t sure why he was hearing voices.

“Fareth…” A voice whispered to him.

Fareth sluggishly looked to his left and right and tried to strain his eyes to see if the other Wizards could hear the voice too. They didn’t look as if they had heard anything and his head started to spin.

“Fareth…” The voice said getting louder.

Fareth’s vision blurred completely and suddenly he blacked out.

Fareth was no longer in the examination hall. His surroundings were fuzzy and he was confused but he could make some things out. He was standing in a grassy patch in the middle of a dark and cold night. The wind howled and rustled his hair.

Fareth tried to concentrate on his senses to make out more of what was happening. He could see the silhouettes of the Blue Mountains in the distance and a cloudy night sky above him. In between some of the clouds he saw the two moons of Aeroth shining down on him.

Fareth heard a muffled voice but he couldn’t make out what it was saying.

He turned around and tried to concentrate even harder on his surroundings. He saw the sign that read “Welcome to Tal’thorn!” but he quickly realised that something was amiss. He could hear the sound of fire crackling and the intense heat on his back as he turned around.

The village of Tal’thron was in flames but it was not that sight that frightened Fareth the most. It was the man lying on the grass just outside of the burning village.

“Fareth!” The voice said and this time it was much clearer to the horrified Fareth as he realised his father Geroth was lying on the ground in a bloody beaten up heap surrounded by flames.

“What?” Fareth said out loud as he stumbled and fell down on his back.

He began to pant. His face was sweating. His heart was racing. His eyes darted around trying to make sense of everything. All of a sudden he heard crunching footsteps coming towards his father through the grass. His heart began to race even faster. He couldn’t see who was approaching but he knew that whatever was coming carried a sinister aura.

There was more crunches as the footsteps grew louder and closer to his father. Until they suddenly stopped and Fareth watched in fear as he saw a dark cloaked figure standing before Geroth. The clocked figure had a hood up and all that Fareth could see of his face was two bright red eyes. The cloaked figure reached into his robe and he pulled out a black flaming scythe.

“No!” Fareth cried out realising what he was about to do. “No!”

The black hooded figure raised his scythe in the air above Geroth’s body and with one swift swing he brought it down on him.

“Fareth!” A voice said suddenly bringing him back to the examination hall. “Fareth! Are you alright?”

“No!” Fareth said breathing heavily and not completely realising that he was back in his seat. “I mean… I don’t know.”

He quickly realised that he had said this quite loudly and some of the Wizards around him were looking at him. Thankfully the noise of the ongoing duels had prevented too many Wizards from noticing what had happened to him.

“You looked ill and fell asleep.” Daloran said. “I thought it might have been stress related so I wanted to let you rest for a bit… but you started saying things in your sleep and you looked awful.”

Fareth tried to calm himself down taking in deep breaths.

“What happened?” Daloran asked.

Truthfully, Fareth had no idea. He wasn’t sure if he had just imagined it, fell asleep or if he had seen something he shouldn’t have. He was sure however that sharing this in the middle of the tournament was not a good idea.

“Just a bad dream… probably from the stress.” Fareth said lying flicking his gaze up towards his father. Fareth noticed that his father was looking directly at him and he gave Fareth a warm smile. It didn’t seem like Geroth knew the extent of what had happened to Fareth but he clearly had a worried look on his face before he turned his gaze back to the duels.

“Hey, you’ll be fine.” Daloran replied. “Just because your father and older brother are both expert Staffwielders doesn’t mean you have to be as well. You just be the best you can be.”

Daloran’s words had meant to be helpful and to a degree they were. He was partially right. That was what Fareth was stressed about. Of course, it was now no longer the only thing he was worrying about. He took in a deep breath and turned to Daloran.

“Thanks, Daloran.” He said.

“Well, don’t thank me just yet.” Daloran replied. “It’s almost our houses turn.”

“What?” Fareth said stunned. “But we just started and we’re usually the last house.”

“You were asleep for quite some time.” Daloran replied.

Fareth looked over at the duelling Wizards and he confirmed what Daloran was saying. Myren house was now on the duelling circles and the final duel had just concluded.