(William)

The week leading up to the Spirit Competition was zonkers. William was constantly busy.

They had him Levitating dirt for the trenches, Levitating stones for the wall repairs, Levitating ore for the smelters, Levitating bags of grain for the Silo District, and even more Levitating during school practice.

“Chores, magical practice, sleep… More chores, more practice, less sleep,” William muttered under his breath and yawned.

He wiped the sweat off his forehead and looked up. He examined the sizable pile of rocks that he, John, and Mary had Levitated. They had finally finished their latest chore and his favorite part of the day had arrived.

“Twins! Let’s go have lunch at the Bright Bell. Didn’t Gerald promise us some free apricot cider? Let’s take a break and get some real food.”

John perked up. “Now, you’re talking. I’m sick of booster bars.” He cracked his neck. “Let me tell you, with all of this magical practice, I’m a shoo-in to go to Eel Island.”

“All of the casters are going to Eel Island, bonehead,” Mary retorted. “After all, there aren’t many of us.”

“Pfft,” John scoffed and ignored his sister. “Anyway, do you think one of us might be chosen as a champion?” His eyes lit up.

“They won’t pick any kids,” Mary decreed.

John placed his hands behind his neck. “Watch me when I’m chosen. I’ve gotten so much better with casting. I can take down any Shadow caster with both hands tied behind my back.”

Mary rolled her eyes. “In your dreams. As I said, the only reason we’re going to Eel Island is because we’re casters.”

“Humph!” John glared at her. “You’re such a wet blanket.”

Before another fight could start, William jumped in. “Hey, last night I snuck into the Dicers Den. They’re already taking bets for who the Sprite Queen will pick. None of our names were on the list.” He sighed.

“Bah, they don’t know nothing.” John waved his hand dismissively. “Anyhow, let’s go eat.”

They crossed Market Street and heard lively discussions about the upcoming qualifiers. Everyone had an opinion. Hark Bolt, Rose Summerbreeze, and Rob Stone were the crowd favorites.

The streets were jampacked. The city of Pike was flooded with people from the northern parts of the kingdom who wanted to see the preliminary qualifiers.

After lunch, they watched the mind elimination rounds at the local library. Despite being in the library, William found the mind games surprisingly entertaining.

“I just don’t get the rules,” John grumbled. “How did a Foot Soldier kill a Bear unit?”

“You’ve got to pay attention to the terrain, abilities, and the power rankings,” his sister explained.

John sighed. “Just go over the basics, again.”

Mary leaned forward. “So, they’re playing Proving Grounds, which is a variation of Blood and Honor.”

“Right.” John nodded.

“Blood and Honor is the actual game that they’ll play at the Spirit Competition.”

John shook his head. “Then why aren’t they playing Blood and Honor right now? Ugh, never mind... Keep going.”

“The game board has eleven rows and sixteen columns…”

“Yeah,” William interrupted. “That gives you one hundred and seventy-six hexagons. Don’t ask me how I know that. You know my brother.”

“Got it.” John grunted.

“The game starts with that screen in the middle, which allows the player to arrange their units in secret,” Mary continued. “You don’t want your opponent to see your units when you’re placing them. At the start of each game, each player is given fifty gems and has access to half of the board. The gems are used to purchase units and terrain modifications. The armies consist of Foot Soldiers, Archers, Bears, Panthers, Eagles, and Stone Giants.” She looked at William. “What else am I missing?”

“Well, each unit has different abilities and can grow in power rankings. See that player, she just purchased a fog piece. That’s a magical terrain modifier that doesn’t last forever. It’s all about strategy and tactics.”

After watching another match, it was time for their casting class. William was excited because they were going to practice Mirror Image. Rose always made casting fun by turning it into a game. He could not wait to trick the twins with his multiple clone Mirror Image spell that he had been practicing in secret. Despite all the chores, he had been working hard on it every night. He had even pranked his brother into chiding one of his clones while he had been hiding under the bed.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Rose and Drake will probably get chosen as champions for the Magic event, he mused.

#

The morning after the initial qualifiers William woke up energized.

“Eel Island,” he cried out. “Here I come!”

By lunch time, he joined the other finalists from the northern region. They headed down Mason Street toward the arena. The road was packed with jubilant, screaming spectators. Children clustered around funsters that strutted on stilts and tossed bonbons. From the rooftops, people threw ribbons, winged-whorls, and confetti. This was part of the traditional celebratory sendoff parade before the contenders left for the Spirit Competition.

The hundred finalists entered the arena and the crowd erupted with cheers. They were followed by bannermen, musicians, and drummers.

The announcer started hyping up the crowd and it was not long before William tuned him out. The twins were playing a game, levitating candy, and he wanted in. After all, who did not like sweets. And, he still had space in his pockets.

By the time they were done in the arena and his pockets were full, it was time to leave the city.

A marching band escorted them to the west gate, where their mounts waited. The party rode out as well-wishers bellowed from atop the city wall.

“Tell the Queen of Dirt that Pike is free,” someone shouted.

“Go shifters!” another roared.

“Long live the Lord Commander.”

“My daughter needs a wealthy husband!” a woman wailed.

It took them a few hours before they reached their destination. William saw the portal in the middle of an island at the center of a lake.

The closer they got, the more agitated the horses became.

“Dismount!” the Lord Commander bellowed. “From this point on, we’ll go on foot. Leave the horses with the attendants. They’ll take them back to Pike.”

“How are we going to cross by foot?” asked William. “The island is in the middle of the lake.”

“Well, we can shift.” Mary shrugged.

“I know that,” William answered. “What about everyone else?”

“Well, they can swim,” Rose said. “Didn’t you get the missive about the bathing suits?”

William narrowed his eyes. Something fishy was going on. He looked over at his aunt. The corner of her mouth twitched. “Sure… bathing suits. Hey Ivan, how are you crossing the lake?”

“Remember when I told you that the laws of nature are disrupted around the portal. Well, you can actually walk on this lake.”

“Really?” William’s eyes were as big as saucers. “That’s nippy!”

“Wait until we reach the island.” Rose winked at him. “Things are going to get wacky.”

Right, like walking on water isn’t wacky enough, William thought.

Ahead of them, he saw people striding across the lake as though it was solid land. He shook his head.

When he reached the edge of the lake, he stomped on top of it a few times, before taking a tentative step forward.

He chuckled with each step that he took. “Weird…”

“Hey William, stop staring down at your feet and check out the floating balls of water.” John nudged him.

His eyes lifted and he gaped. Thousands of globes of water rose from the lake. Some of them were as little as cherryberries and others were as big as watermelons. William ran ahead and poked one of the floaters. The blob rippled and bounced away.

Whack!

“Hey,” William cried out in surprise as something wet smacked him on the cheek. He looked around but only saw innocent faces.

A moment later, William, Rose, and the twins were engaged in a full-blown water ball battle.

Splat!

Aaaah!

Their laughter echoed across the lake.

They settled down as they neared the island. The portal towered up ahead, thrumming with energy. Even from this distance, William could hear the crackling sounds of lightning. The raw force was palpable.

He turned around when he heard John’s laughter. He was pointing at his sister’s hair, which stood straight up.

“You look like a mad porcupine,” John roared. “I wish you could see your hair. It’s sticking straight up like quills.”

Mary huffed. “If you’re so brave, go make fun of Lin. Her hair is sticking straight up too.”

John’s eyes widened and his laughter died down. “Sheesh, so touchy.”

William did not blame John for his strategic surrender. Lin was obsessive about her hair and whoever messed with it would be in a world of hurt.

He stepped onto the island and looked around. The ground was covered with a carpet of green grass and blooming flowers. The thrumming portal loomed ahead.

In the blink of an eye, everything around him stilled. Even the portal was frozen.

He gaped at his aunt. She stood motionless, like a statue. His eyes darted around. No one else moved. His heart thudded in his chest.

The water balls were the only things that moved, and they were floating toward him.

He gulped!

The globes coalesced into a translucent female figure. She had long liquid hair formed of clear water, which cascaded down her shoulders. Her eyes were mesmerizing. Their ever-changing colors looked like stormy seas crashing onto an opal beach.

He could not look away.

She glided toward him. “How curious.” Her voice sounded as though it was coming from all directions. “You are an amalgam. Only Nature casters are permitted through my portal.”

She moved closer to him and stared searchingly into his eyes.

William trembled. He felt as though his thoughts were no longer private. He could not breathe. He was submerged under a flood of his own memories. The scary water woman was rummaging through his head. She was particularly interested in the events that surrounded his fall into the Lonely River.

Storm clouds gathered above her. Crashing waves moved across her liquid skin. Her hair rippled and churned as she replayed his memories about the old man who had saved his life.

Without warning, the woman rippled and exploded into hundreds of water globes. The water rushed toward Ivan, and then reformed next to him.

She circled around Ivan, scrutinizing him. The wind howled, mirroring her temper. She tilted her head to the side and then nodded.

The storm passed and the clouds above her dispersed. The waves across her liquid skin abated. She placed her palm on Ivan’s shoulder and her hand pulsed with golden light. His brother remained frozen the whole time.

She turned toward William and glided back to him. She placed her hand on his shoulder and said, “I gift you and your brother amaranthine transit through my gateways.”

William stared as the mysterious woman flowed toward the lake and merged with the water.

In a snap, the sounds of lightning, laughter, and chatter erupted around him. William glanced left and right. Everyone appeared oblivious to what had just happened.

“Uhhh, whaa?” William stammered.

“Are you alright?” Mary asked him. “You look like you just saw a specter.”

“You didn’t see her?”

“See who?”

“Er, um… I don’t know,” he stammered. “This place is weird.”

“I know, right!”

Was that a daydream? he wondered. The last time I saw things that no one else did was when I accidently ate some blurryberries.

“Hey, William,” Ivan called out. “Check out the runes on the portal. They’re starting to glow.”

His brother showed no indication that anything out of the ordinary had occurred. “Yeah, the runes on the portal,” he replied absently.

William did not look at the portal. His eyes were glued to the watery handprint on Ivan’s shoulder.

Scraps, that water woman wasn’t a daydream!