The picking of brackets started the next day. Doreen and Tapper waited at the back

of the crowd. She didn’t want to be there, but fleeing seemed out of the question. The

other students from the Academy and from the other schools milled around looking

for their names.

She didn’t understand what the note from Woody meant. She had read it several

times. She couldn’t parse out what he was trying to tell her.

She waited for the crowd to clear out before she went up to look at the board. She

frowned, seeing that she was going last after everyone else fought. She hoped the

losers didn’t lose their totems as soon as their matches were lost.

She wanted more time with Tapper.

She looked around. The departing students talked about who they were fighting in

their matches. She imagined some of them were strategizing against the various forms

they would have to face.

Fighting for Tapper’s survival was the last thing she wanted to do.

She hated having to fight with him as a weapon. He was sweet and good natured.

Fighting other totems would be the hardest thing he had ever done.

And then there was Woody entering the tournament. He knew he wasn’t supposed to

do that. How did she explain things to Errant? He would be so mad if his familiar was

hurt while under her care.

And he was a bit smug about it.

That afternoon the fights would start. She should leave the grounds. Tapper couldn’t

be erased if he wasn’t there. If she did that, they would rip Tapper apart and then

wound her until she couldn’t take care of herself after someone finally caught up with

her.

“You ready?,” asked Jessica, falling in beside her. Jaw flanked her like the cat he

resembled.

“No,” said Doreen. “I was thinking about just leaving.”

“Where would you go?,” asked Jessica.

“I don’t know,” said Doreen. “Anywhere but where I could lose Tapper. I don’t want

to give him up.”

“You would have to go over the sea, or across the mountains to the Elementists,” said

Jessica. “If you stayed in the kingdom, the army will find you and erase Tapper

anyway.”

“My aunt lost her totem,” said Doreen. “My mother said she was never the same

afterwards. I don’t want to lose that part of myself.”

“No one wants to lose their totem,” said Jessica. “It’s a risk to pass us into being

useful citizens for the kingdom. You don’t have to win the whole thing. You only

have to reach the final cut.”

Tapper patted her cheek from his place on her shoulder. He swished his transparent

tail.

“I think I am going to go wait for the bell at the lake,” said Doreen. “Maybe that will

help me. Maybe it will help me with Woody’s note.”

“What did it say?,” said Jessica.

“Something about spells could be dispelled but you could reignite them if you knew

what you were doing,” said Doreen. “I don’t understand what he was trying to say.”

“He’s fighting first,” said Jessica. “I suppose the Headmaster thinks he won’t be able

to contend with any of the opponents he might have to face.”

“The Headmaster doesn’t know what Woody is capable of,” said Doreen. “His master

turned a flame bolt with his bare hands. The totem can do that at the very least.”

“I don’t remember you telling me about this,” said Jessica.

“You don’t want to know about any of this,” said Doreen. “It will just cause trouble

for you down the road.”

“Just talk to me about it,” said Jessica. “It will make the time go by quicker while we

wait our turn.”

Their walk had taken them to the library. Doreen led the way inside, holding the door

for her friend. She didn’t see anyone studying, or the librarian who should be on duty.

She led the way to a table in the back so they could sit and talk with a small amount

of privacy.

Doreen told Jessica about the events that had led to her knowing Errant, about how

she had found him at the lake with Woody. How they had talked about Tapper being

coached by the wooden dog. She told her the two stories of the beginnings of the Dai,

and the totems. Jessica said nothing about the founder of the kingdom being

misrepresented in the stories that had come down as the official history of the

kingdom. Then Doreen told her friend about Bernard coming to the lake to bully her

and how she and Errant had fought back. Errant had caught a flame bolt from

Bernard’s bird and redirected it at the enemy. And then Tapper had turned into a giant

and beat the bullies with his body.

Tapper jumped up and down on the table at the mention of swamping the three boys

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with the water from the lake. Then he held up his forearms while sitting on his

backlegs to emphasize the height difference.

“Do you believe Errant being impossibly old?,” said Jessica. “The Dai’s first death

would have been centuries ago.”

“Yes,” said Doreen. “No. Maybe. He can do things that other people can’t. I don’t

have a problem with him being incredibly old on top of that.”

The school bell bonged to let people know they had to get to the dueling stage so they

could see the first brackets fighting. Doreen looked up at the ceiling.

“We have to go,” said Jessica. “Maybe Woody won’t win against his first opponent.”

“He won’t lose,” said Doreen. “And he won’t fight fair. He cheats.”

“We still should be there in case our opponents can’t fight, and we go to the next

round,” said Jessica. She stood. “Come on. I hear they are having musicians play the

One Thousand Note song when the commencement starts.”

Doreen stood. She held out her hand. Tapper jumped on it and climbed up her arm so

he could ride on her shoulder. She took a breath and tugged on her tunic.

“Let’s see how badly this goes,” said Doreen. “I wonder if he will bite his enemy in

the first round.”

“Do you think he can bite through stone?,” said Jessica. She smiled.

“Yes,” said Doreen. “He doesn’t work like our totems.”

“We’ll see what he can do,” said Jessica.

They fell in behind a crowd making their way across the school to the dueling area.

There was a lot of talk about who was going to win the bouts ahead. No one said

anything about Woody being there without a partner to tell him what to do in combat.

Woody walked on the stage from one end of the stadium. One of the proctors pointed

to where he should stand. He went over to the spot and sat. He watched as a student

from one of the other schools walked on the stage with a medium winged dragon of

fire.

“Are you ready?,” said the proctor. He looked at both of them. They both said yes.

“Did the dog just say something?,” asked Jessica.

Doreen frowned. Woody had definitely spoke. It was rough and harsh to her ears.

When had he learned to do that?

The proctor looked a little taken back like he hadn’t expected Woody to talk. He still

went ahead with the reading of the rules. Then he asked if they understood. Both of

them replied yes.

“Fight!,” he commanded. He hurriedly stepped out of the way as he dropped his hand

for them to proceed.

Woody howled. The sound rocked the area. The dragon blew up in front of him.

Then the totems resting with their partners in the audience blew up as the sound

passed over them. Shouts went up as the students and facility realized their partners

had been blasted to nothingness.

Woody walked over to the dais where the Headmaster sat on his seat in his box

overlooking the stage. He sat and looked up at the gathered teachers and staff.

“Trophy,” said Woody. “Tournament over.”

“What did you do?,” demanded the Headmaster.

“Won,” said Woody. “Trophy. I can do to people too.”

Doreen watched as the Headmaster’s secretary quickly brought the trophy down from

the dais. She hugged Jessica as the other girl cried at the loss of her faithful cat. The

secretary put the trophy down on the ground in front of the wooden monster.

“No more tournaments,” said Woody.

Woody picked up the trophy in his mouth and started walking away. Doreen frowned

as the dog left. He didn’t look happy at the win.

“I need you to help these people,” said Doreen. She took Jessica’s face in her hands.

“I need you to try to look after things. Can you do that?”

“I don’t know what I can do,” said Jessica. She looked at the crowd. They seemed in

shock. She knew how that felt.

“Do what you can,” said Doreen. “I’m going to try to fix this.”

“Do you think you can?,” asked Jessica. She stood, raising her hands. “Calm down,

everybody. Calm down. I’m sure the teachers can fix this.”

Doreen didn’t think they could fix anything. They looked in shock as they tried to

deal with the absence of their totems. She stood and hugged Jessica. She headed

down to the wall separating the seating from the stage. She swung over the wall and

dropped to the ground. She headed for the exit.

She knew where Woody was going. She just needed to know if he knew how to fix

this before people started doing stupid things. She knew this was his plan that he had

been trying to explain in the note he had left for her.

She also knew she was fighting grief and rage to keep going. She couldn’t bear it if

he didn’t know how to fix this.

She ran as much as she could toward the lake. She walked when she ran out of breath

and her heart beat too hard. She saw the lake and looked for the wooden demon on

its shore. She heard something that sounded like warming up for singing in the trees.

She headed for the sound and hoped it wasn’t some lurking random monster.

She found Woody laying under a tree. He glanced at her, but continued to make the

noises. The trophy for the tournament lay beside him on its side.

“The academy is in a state of shock,” said Doreen. “I am too angry to be in shock. I want

Tapper back. I want him back now.”

“It’s your magic,” said Woody. “That is a little better. I think I need a little more treble.”

“No,” said Doreen. She walked up to him. “You need to fix this.”

“No,” said Woody. “I don’t need to do anything. It’s your magic. Use it.”

“I don’t know how,” said Doreen. “You have done something cruel. Don’t think you

haven’t. You should help me.”

“Should I?,” said Woody. His ears flickered. “Almost right.”

“Yes,” said Doreen. “You should. I will tell Errant about this if you don’t.”

“That means nothing to me,” said Woody. He blinked. “I am not his puppet.”

“You are his familiar, and you weren’t supposed to enter the tournament, and you killed

all of our totems for no reason,” said Doreen. “I think he will be unhappy with you.”

Woody sighed.

“You have to help me help the others,” said Doreen. “You have to give me back Tapper.

You have to.”

“Sit down,” said Woody. “Close your eyes.”

Doreen followed his instructions. She heard the sounds of the forest around her. She

had ignored the background noise until she settled in her place.

“Think about Tapper,” said Woody. “Think about everything you feel when he is

around. Think about why you picked a squirrel shape for the spell to work through.

Think about what you want from him.”

Doreen thought about Tapper, and how much he helped her and accompanied her

everywhere. She thought of him as her child that she was teaching to be a better totem.

She thought of how wet he felt when she grabbed him out of the air.

Something tapped her face. She opened one eye. Tapper sat on her arm, tapping her

face.

“You’re back!,” said Doreen. “You’re back. I thought I would never see you again.

Thank the gods.”

Tapper waved his arms and jumped up and down. Then he turned and chattered at

Woody, shaking his paw in a fist. The wooden dog raised eyebrows at the lecture.

“I don’t take complaints from lesser familiars,” said Woody. He settled under his tree.

“And you are not a friend.”

“I have to get back to the Academy,” said Doreen. “Will this work for everybody?”

“If they want their familiar back,” said Woody.

“Come on, Tapper,” said Doreen. “We have to hurry. Everyone was in shock when I

left.”