The tournament hall was packed tight with teams eager to join the first castle game of the season. I wasn’t sure if it was like this every year, but from what I overheard, this was the first time a spirit relic was being offered as a prize for the first game.
There was only one, so it would go to the highest scoring team. Judging by the crowd, competition was going to be steep.
Fortunately we’d be paired against another first year team so in theory we’d have just as good a shot at scoring points as the more experienced players. I one that wasn’t really the case, it was just a theory, and a bad one at that. Scoring more than 150 was almost unheard of for new teams; winning one of the grand prizes as a fledgling team had only ever happened once before and it was my mothers team that accomplished the feat.
“Castle game participants please gather with your teams in the designated area. Matches will be announced soon. Judges, referees, and medics please report to your designated areas.” An automated voice announced through the hall.
Mai had warned me to come early, I should’ve listened. Navigating the packed hall was near impossible. After the announcement I realized most of these people were spectators.
Neat lines broke into a chaotic swarm as they hurried to the teleporters that would take them to their viewing booths.
I was headed in the opposite direction where players gathered with their teams, only now I was drowning in a sea of people, trying not to get swept away in the tide.
“Participants this is the last call to join your teams, in three minutes all team rooms will be closed and any lacking the requisite five members will forfeit their entry.” The mechanical voice felt like it was speaking directly to me.
“Excuse me! Please let me pass!” I shouted over the crowd while raising my comm to display a holo badge with my team insignia.
Mai sure was prepared for this, it almost seemed like she’d been planning on forming a team all along.
“Please!” I begged as the crowd continued to push me in the wrong direction.
Realizing it was pointless, I put the badge away and fought the tide as best I could while slowly making my way towards the team rooms.
When the hoard started to thin out I realized I actually hadn’t managed to make any progress at all. If anything I’d moved closer to the spectator teleports, but now that the way was clear I broke into a sprint.
A floating holo sign at the other end of the grand hall marked the location of the team rooms.
Hopefully ours is near the front.
“One minute until team announcements.” At this point I was sure the voice was mocking me. I had to be the only person left, not in their room. Even the lights of shops, that had been packed full only moments ago, were now off and their tenders gone.
A wide screen at the end of the hall, taller than any I had ever seen, displayed highlights from previous tournaments.
The echo of my feet on the glassy black floor matched almost perfectly with the countdown over the video.
There were thirty seconds left when I slid into the team hall. Each door had the team insignia floating outside to tell members which room to gather in.
My eyes jumped frantically between them, but I didn’t see the one that matched my badge. I was holding it in front of me again checking it against the door signs when something wrapped around my leg.
The badge fell out of my hands when I was yanked backwards. I tried to grab it, but couldn’t recover my comm.
My face smacked against the black tile then I was pulled down the hall and into a team room.
“Team doors are now closing.” The voice announced as the metal door slid shut. “Team verification underway, please wait while match selections are determined.”
The grip around my ankle loosened and I pushed myself up from the ground.
Fuck that was close!
It was Mai who had grabbed me and dragged me into the room just in time to avoid elimination. I regretted losing my comm, but I’d just have to replace it later.
“Well that confirms it, we’re definitely not getting an easy stage,” Audrey said.
“What are you talking about?” Mai shouted back, “If that isn’t evidence of good luck then I don’t know what is.”
“You call making it by a hair's breadth luck?”
“You saved me in the cave, that’s why I asked you to come, but I’m starting to regret that already.”
“Yea, me too.” Audrey plopped down in her chair, crossing her arms and pouting. “I’m not being a pessimist you know, I just… never mind.”
Mai rolled her eyes. As Mai sat in her seat, the captain's chair, I noticed Cole and Carletta already seated, but on opposite sides of the table and not looking at each other.
Are they still fighting… maybe this wasn’t a good idea.
“Come on Fey, you have to be in your seat or it won’t register your objective.”
“Right.” I nodded and took the empty seat between Carletta and Mai.
I was trying to think positive, but something told me this wasn’t going to be as fun as I’d expected.
“All teams verified. Pairing matches.”
Audrey looked across the table between us at Mai. Her eyes said she wanted to tell us something, but she was probably holding back so she didn’t upset Mai.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“What’s our strategy going to be?” Cole asked.
Mai shrugged and tilted her head. “How can I decide that without knowing the stage or which jobs we’ll get?”
“Forsaken Fortress. That’s going to be the stage.” Audrey said just loud enough for everyone to hear.
“There’s no way! We’d have to be mega unlucky to get stuck there as our first stage.”
“If you don’t believe me then fine, but I’m telling you, this isn’t going to be easy.”
Carletta snapped. “What difference does it make? Whichever stage, we’ll make a plan once we find out.”
Mai nodded in agreement.
“Has anyone actually played this before?” I asked despite already knowing the answer.
It was impossible to form or join a team before being accepted to one of the five magic schools, so I wasn’t surprised when everyone looked at me like I was dumb.
“I’ve never played, but I do have some strategies in mind. Have any of you heard of ‘the five tails?’”
I nodded. Of course I’d heard of them, it was my mothers team, but I didn’t mention that. I didn’t want anyone to expect me to be any good at the game because frankly, I didn’t think I would be. I was just planning to hide out in the game field for the five days and hope that when it was over I’d have a chance to talk to my dad again about the voice.
I wasn’t planning to participate much.
An insignia appeared above the table, bobbing as it rotated on its vertical axis. It had a slightly irregular shape, like a spider's body, but with no legs and a spiraling white line that started at its center. “Ghost spiders?” Cole said, squinting to read the tiny print inside the thin white spiral. “What the hell is that?”
Carletta rolled her eyes. “Who cares, a better question is why did it show up here. Are we in the wrong room or something?”
As if to answer her, the automated announcer said, “please turn your attention to the insignia above your table. This will be your opponent.”
“I’m getting a bad feeling,” I said. The insignia looked eerily similar to a certain, disgusting, boy. He didn’t get into Sky Haven, so I was sure it wasn’t him. Still, after meeting him I felt like I’d developed some sort of arachnophobia… probably not, but The idea of facing a potential spider enthusiast was unsettling.
“Stage selection complete… Jobs assigned… Beginning transfer.”
I expected that we’d be teleported from our seats to the castle, but a few moments passed and nothing seemed to happen.
This part of the game was still set up and wasn’t shown on any broadcasts so none of us knew what to expect.
“Transfer complete.”
Several screens appeared above the table. A three dimensional model of a castle, built itself piece by piece on top of the table. The screens seemed to be showing the area outside the castle. It was built into the side of a mountain and only accessible by one path.
“I was right! We got a good stage,” Mai declared.
Audrey shook her head but didn’t argue.
Next a blue window prompted us to register a team captain. Mai was the obvious choice. She touched the console and gave it a bit of mana to complete the registration.
Finally a blue window, with details about a job and objective, appeared in front of each of us.
“Captains registered. Game beginning in 5… 4… 3… 2…1…”
The metal door slid open again, but the hall outside wasn’t the team hall.
The walls were built with grey stones and showed obvious signs of aging. The floor was carpeted over with a dingy red fabric.
Before stepping out to explore, we needed a strategy.
“I got beast tamer.” I announced with alarm. “I can’t take beasts… I’d just end up dead.”
“So an objective victory is out, but we can still win with elimination.” Cole suggested.
Mai was quick to shout, “No! That won’t net us enough points for the spirit relic. We need to at least try and score decently.”
“Right, I forgot that’s why you wanted to do this.” He rubbed his head. “Then what about the enemy base? Ours should be easy to defend, so what if we capture theirs and then complete as many objectives as we can?”
Mai thought about it for a second before nodding and asking, “does everyone agree to Cole’s plan?”
Audrey and I both nodded, but Carletta shook her head. “There’s no point. My job is sentry. Cole would never allow me to sneak into the other fortress alone. He thinks I’m too delicate for that, isn’t that right Cole?”
Cole opened his mouth, but closed it again without saying anything.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Mai said.
“The game has already started, right?” I asked, not because I didn’t know, but because we were wasting time.
The others nodded. “So what if the other team is trying for a rush blitz? They could be on our doorstep any minute and we don’t have a single defense set.”
It was a basic strategy and not very common among the higher ranked teams, but a new team that was only focused on stacking up victories rather than points wouldn’t hesitate to try it.
We all rushed out of the room, into the castle hall. It was a straight shot out to the main gate, a convenient layout design. If anyone had managed to reach our fortress we’d have likely heard them enter.
A metal portcullis was already lowered, barring access from the mountain path. Audrey ran up on the rampart to observe the valley, Carletta followed after her. Cole and Mai both went straight to the gate.
Something flying over the castle caught my eye, probably a raven. It quickly disappeared back into the clouds that hung low over the mountain like a fluffy white blanket.
“Fey come and help us.” Cole shouted from the gate.
He and Mai were trying to lift it, but the gate seemed to be stuck.
I looked back at the clouds, but there was no sign of the bird. Before I reached the main gate, Carletta shouted for everyone to come immediately.
From the rampart we could see a mage flying over the valley.
Behind him the contours of a black castle were only barely visible through the clouds. Mist filled the entire valley below like water in a basin.
With such low visibility I couldn’t believe someone was actually trying to fly across the valley. If there was a flying beast lurking the mist—
As if cued by my thought, a ferocious roar shook the mountains. Strong winds dispersed the clouds and revealed a beast that should never have been able to fly, hovering above the valley.
Its powerful muscles rippled and twitched under its leathery purple skin. Its paws and feet looked more like hands with short black claws at the tip of every finger. From its thick hairy mane, black horns sprouted then curved around its head to point out just past its face.
The creature was probably young, but if it had been full grown, it’d have been a behemoth class beast for sure.
The flying mage paid no mind to the beast. He just kept heading towards our castle. He didn’t even try to dodge or fight when the beast swooped towards him and ate him in one bite.
“What that fuck!” I said out loud without actually meaning to. “This can’t be normal… how are we supposed to survive here with that thing?”
“I told you, Forsaken Fortress.”
We all watched in stunned silence as the beast landed and walked on all fours to the end of the valley.
I’d heard of the Forsaken Fortress only once. It was basically a retired stage because of the beast that no one had managed to kill or tame. Even as a cub he was caused terror. No one knew where he came from nor how he got here, but his presence presented a real danger. After devouring countless beasts and mages he’d earned the name Blood Fang.