“You ready to kick Derrick’s ass?” Nora asked Trey loud enough for the few people near them to glance over. The pair were walking to the Riv to meet up with their team. Capture-the-flag season was about to begin.

“Am I the designated ass-kicker?” Trey questioned as they crossed the bridge.

“Yes,” Nora said, pausing on the other side of the river. She kissed him twice, once on each cheek. “I, Nora Schallevon, hereby knight you, Sir Ass-Kicker!”

“Trey!” Skye called out from her gathering of five near the Riv. “Hurry! We need to go over our strategy!”

Trey and Nora joined the group quickly, and Skye wasted no time getting started. “Alright, everyone, this is Trey and Nora, our guardians. You already know Jeremiah and Kronar from class. This is Makorra, but you can call her Mako; she’s a dark mage acolyte. And over here is Allison, our earth sorceress.”

Trey briefly nodded to those he didn’t know.

“This is the first match of the entire season and it’s a big one,” Skye explained. “We are about to face the ‘Windrake’s Studs’ team. Their captain is Derrick, a dangerous fire mage. They also have Fowler, a dark-earth specter, and Kam, a skilled light mage. Those are just the players I’ve heard about, let’s not underestimate the others.”

“Who’s our team captain?” Jeremiah asked.

“Trey, obviously,” Skye replied.

“What?” Trey interjected. “That’s not obvious at all. You should be the team captain, Skye.”

Jeremiah spoke again. “I could be team cap—”

“I’ve already submitted the team,” she interrupted. “Now, are we going to argue about who’s team captain, or are we going to figure out how to win?”

“Kronar brought some artifacts for us to use,” she said, gesturing for the dwarf to step in.

“Uh, yeah,” Kronar said. “I tried my luck at creating some onyx steel shields for the guardians. “They’re probably not anywhere near the quality you’re used to.”

Trey eyed the pair of shields that were resting at the dwarf’s side. “Those look good, Kronar.”

“I’ve also brought some Mud Traps and Sandpoppers,” the artificer added. “There should be enough for everyone.”

“Thanks, Kronar,” Skye said. “Let’s talk about how we are going to win.”

***

Trey stood next to Skye in front of their fort, observing the oval arena in front of them. He purposefully avoided glancing up at the stands, where he knew thousands of people were watching. Professor Mavery stood atop the platform, ready to officiate, with Eva beside her. Trey gulped. He would need to escape the match unscathed to avoid another run-in with the vigilant elf. The sound of a gong snapped Trey’s focus back to the field as the battle commenced.

Trey watched as Nora shot forward, barreling straight toward the opposing team’s guardian. The sight of Braun, the opposing guardian, fidgeting nervously as he readied himself to face her was almost comical.

In a clever move, Mako, who had been trailing behind Nora, jumped to the side and cast a Shadow Missile directly at Braun. He sidestepped the incoming magic, but his evasive maneuver left him off-balance to Nora’s relentless charge.

With a loud crack, Nora's shield collided with Braun's face, sending him sprawling to the ground. He barely had a chance to regroup before she struck again, delivering another bone-rattling smash that rendered him unconscious. Triumph swelled within Trey as he watched, but it was short-lived.

Kam ambushed Nora with a brilliant flash of light erupting from his sabre. Trey’s heart lurched, but she reacted in a heartbeat, raising her shield just in time to deflect the blow. The blonde guardian expertly pivoted, putting pressure on Kam, who was now scrambling to conjure another spell. Meanwhile, Mako seized the moment to dart towards the flag concealed within the grove of trees.

Kam hastily shifted his target to the dark mage, desperate to cut her down before she reached the vulnerable flag. Mako summoned a Nightshield which bought her enough time to snatch the flag, however, Kam soon overpowered her, cutting off any escape route. With an impressive throw, Mako chucked the flag in Nora’s direction.

The blonde guardian swiftly caught it and raced back toward her home side, with speed that Trey suspected was magically enhanced.

Don’t push it, Nora.

Trey, on the other hand, didn’t have any time to be concerned by Nora’s recklessness. Derrick had boldly approached his position at the fort.

“Hey, guardian brute!” Derrick shouted at Trey. “I am in a charitable mood today. I’m going to teach you the basics of capture-the-flag. Lesson one: run away from the fire mage.”

Trey exchanged a quick glance with Skye before they hurriedly ducked into the sanctuary of their fortified structure. Derrick unleashed a barrage of fire spells so intense and theatrical that a wave of gasps rippled through the audience watching from the stands.

Not panicking, the two defenders positioned themselves atop a barrier, giving themselves a good vantage point to contend with the hotheaded opponent. Trey danced around, successfully keeping most of the fire off his sorceress.

Between his shield and his trained agility, their defense was holding up well, much to Derrick’s frustration. With a smirk on his face, Trey dodged yet another fireball. Derrick was good, but he wasn’t better than Bree.

Skye supported him with her water magic and would occasionally deploy a Sandpopper to muffle a torrent of fire magic. Yet, even amid their coordinated defense, Trey sensed that Skye could offer more elsewhere.

“I can hold him off,” he shouted to his partner. “Go reinforce Jeremiah.”

Skye nodded and slipped away to the left, rushing to where Jeremiah was supposed to be making a play on the pond flag. His originally assigned teammate, Allison, lay at the healing hands of Eva after a skirmish with Fowler and two other opponents.

On the right side, Kam had eliminated Mako and was challenging Nora’s defense as he advanced on the forested flag. Jeremiah retreated while laying down several Mud Traps in plain sight of the enemy, neutralizing their effectiveness.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Fowler left his two minions to press the attack on the beleaguered Jeremiah and Skye and trotted over to where Trey was holding off Derrick. The tide had turned, and suddenly Trey was deflecting fire spells on one side and earth and dark magic on the other. He used the defensive cover of the fort to his advantage, but he knew he was still outmatched.

Trey quickly lost track of time as his adrenaline spiked to support the flurry of maneuvers he executed to stay in the fight. Sweat was pouring down his body, both from his exertion and from the sizzling fire magic testing his resolve. The world around him narrowed to the pulse of his heartbeat and the rhythm of magic colliding against his shield.

An abrupt pain that seared his thigh dissolved any momentum he had been building. He failed to fully deflect a spell from Derrick, and his leg felt like it was on fire—perhaps it was literally on fire. Grunting, he tried to salvage his position, but the realization sank in: it was only a matter of time before his opponents overwhelmed him.

Utilizing a Sandpopper in Fowler’s direction, he turned his back on the specter and charged Derrick. He caught the blond mage by surprise as he leapt from a stone wall, swinging his onyx steel shield around. He felt the metal edge crunch against something, but his senses were overloaded when he landed on his injured leg, causing him to scream out in agony.

Dark magic flew in from behind him, yanking his body to the ground with brutal ferocity. The last thing he remembered was the deafening roar of the crowd before the darkness claimed his consciousness as well.

***

Trey felt a soothing sensation flowing around his leg, though he was struggling to feel anything else.

“What happened?” he asked, groggily finding his voice. He cracked his eyelids to see a pair of enchanting blue eyes focused intently on him. “Is Skye okay? Did we win?”

He heard a feminine giggle. “You know, a mind mage could have won that.”

Trey’s eyes shot wide open as his consciousness rushed back. He was immediately concerned about the information that was casually being thrown around, then groaned when he realized he recognized the voice. Eva was leaning over him, working her healing magic.

“Interesting,” the elf said with a curious expression on her face. “That certainly woke you up.”

“Trey!” another familiar voice cried out. “Are you hurt?”

“Wait,” Eva said, glancing at the approaching sorceress. “This is your Trey?”

“Yes,” Skye said enthusiastically, momentarily forgetting about Trey’s battle wounds. “How do you know Trey?”

A mischievous expression formed on Eva’s face while she stared down at the guardian she was healing. “He was supposed to take me on a date, but he’s been a ghost ever since asking me.”

“Trey!” Skye shouted angrily. “Is that true?”

He wilted under the sorceress’ fiery gaze. “No! I’ve been busy, but I would never be so disrespectful.” He turned his head to look at the elf. “In fact, I wanted to check to see if you were busy tomorrow evening?”

A victorious smile crossed the healer’s face. “I’m available after tomorrow’s capture-the-flag matches. I expect you to meet me at Rook’s Kitchen in Greshelm for dinner.”

“What if I had something planned for us?” Trey asked, scrunching his face.

She only responded by giving him a skeptical look.

“Fine,” he relented. “Rook’s Kitchen for dinner tomorrow.”

“I’ll make sure he’s there,” Skye assured the elf, adding to Trey’s shame.

“Uhh… What happened with the match?” Trey asked again.

“We lost,” Skye answered with a sigh, and then suddenly remembered Trey had been targeted by two of the more powerful mages on campus. She began inspecting him, her hands checking his limbs. “Are you okay? I can’t believe you held off Derrick and Fowler for that long.”

“Hmph,” Trey said, dissatisfied. “Did they take the fort?”

“No, actually,” Skye replied. “You held out the longest. They got the other two flags.”

“You landed a nasty hit on Derrick, too,” Eva added, not bothering to hide her glee. “Knocked him out with one blow.”

“So, how do you two know each other?” Trey asked.

“Eva is my water magic mentor,” Skye replied. “We are good friends now.”

“That’s great!” Trey said with forced enthusiasm.

Trey was astonished by the effectiveness of Eva's magic. He felt surprisingly unscathed, as if the fierce battle had simply been a bad dream.

“Alright,” the elf said. “You should be fine. I better go take care of Derrick. See you tomorrow, Trey.”

Trey frowned slightly, noticing the elf emphasize his name. Rising to his feet, he joined Skye’s side and the pair started walking off the field. “How did you fare?” he asked.

“They mostly focused on the flag,” she replied. “I had a few air spells thrown at me, but nothing I couldn’t handle.”

Trey let out a short laugh. “Next time, I get to face the air mage.”

“Don’t underestimate air magic,” Skye cautioned. “There are a few spells that can take you out of a fight very quickly. I read about a vacuum spell that makes it very hard to breathe, and another one that emits a whistle so loud, you have to cover your ears.”

“Where do you learn all this stuff?” he asked.

“Trey, we are literally at a magical academy.”

They reached the field’s exit and went up a stairway that led to the stands.

“You bring up a good point though,” Skye said after they found some seats.

“What?” he responded.

“You shouldn’t always be the one that has to face the powerful specters,” she said. “Maybe I should plan on facing Dana next match.”

“No,” Trey said immediately, not liking that matchup one bit. “I’m not putting you in that danger. Dana’s dark magic is on another level.”

“Ahh,” Skye said, hugging his arm. “Are you getting protective over me?”

Trey cleared his throat. “I’m the one that’s training to face these mighty magical threats. I’m the best option to face off against Dana.”

“Wait, go back to ‘I’m not putting you in that danger.’ I liked that reason more.”

He rolled his eyes. “The next match is starting.”

***

“You got destroyed by a dark mage!” Marvin exclaimed between fits of laughter as he leaned against the desk in his office.

“There were two of them!” Trey said, defending himself. “And the dark mage was a specter.”

“Ha!” the old man shouted. “If you think Fowler was tough, just wait until you face Dana.”

“It's not like I can use magic with so many people watching,” Trey complained. “Although, mind magic isn’t visible. I suppose—”

“No,” Marvin interjected firmly. “If I catch even a whiff of magic coming from you, I’ll end your capture-the-flag career faster than a light spell.”

Trey snorted. “You’ll have to convince Skye first.”

“Speaking of light spells,” Marvin said with a scowl, “you need to talk with Nora. That girl was more obvious than a troll’s erection.”

Trey winced, not appreciating the dark magic professor’s imagery. “She wasn’t obvious,” he argued. “You only noticed because you knew.”

“No,” Marvin countered. “I noticed because I was paying attention, and if I caught it, that means the Grand Oracle could catch it.”

“I’ll mention something,” Trey grumbled.

Marvin nodded. ”I informed Gordon that his former employees are in Greshelm. He’s a little bit paranoid at the moment.”

“More or less paranoid than you are normally?” Trey asked facetiously.

“Need I remind you that we snuck into an elite magic academy where the headmaster can read minds?” the old asked rhetorically. “If you’re not paranoid, you’re dead.”

“He wouldn’t kill me,” Trey scoffed.

“Do you want to find out what he would do?” Marvin asked, raising an eyebrow.

Trey shook his head.

“Good choice,” Marvin said. He checked his pocket watch and then strode to the door, his stomach rumbling in hunger along the way.

“Slipping by unnoticed is key to our mission,” he lectured. “Which reminds me, you’re staying away from the elf, correct?”