Midnight Magic, page 70
“Thanks, brother.”
“Out of duty, of course.”
Typical.
Nako snickered.
“I wouldn’t laugh too much, Nako, considering we’re not related and all. No duty to cheer you on. In fact, I think I’ll cheer on whoever you’re up against, in the hopes they knock you on your ass.”
Nako chuckled. “You’re doomed for disappointment on that one, Tarek.”
“Only because I’m not allowed to compete yet.”
Thorne and Nako both laughed out loud at that, mostly because it was true.
“It’s a shame you can’t compete, Tarek, but this will be better for Mother, not to lose us both in one cycle,” Thorne said.
Tarek nodded soberly and held out his arm.
Thorne clasped it in a warrior’s hold.
“Strength and wisdom, brother.” Tarek turned to Nako, offered a similar warrior’s hold, then said with a grin, “As for you, good luck.”
And so it was that Thorne and Nako entered the Eastern Trial Arena, chuckling softly, with huge grins on their faces.
CHAPTER 4
One thousand years ago
The site of the Western Trials was on the outskirts of the old city of Pahzah.
Pahzah was a full three days’ journey from where Kalina lived and four days from Mitaru’s village. It was also one of the most beautiful and historic sites in all of Faerie.
For this reason, they made plans to leave a week before the Trials were set to begin.
Mitaru journeyed with his sisters to Kalina’s village and met her in the town center, where most of the town residents had gathered to wish her good journey and strength of purpose for the Trials.
Her aunt and cousins weren’t there, in a deliberate show of their disapproval of her decision.
Kalina wasn’t bothered.
The only ones she really cared about would be journeying with her to Pahzah.
Still, it was nice the town had made the effort to show their support, especially in the absence of it from her family.
“Good journey, Kalina,” Paero said as he passed her a bulging sack. “Just a bit of sustenance for the road.” She knew whatever he had packed, it would be delicious, for he was an amazing cook and his mate a pastry chef.
“Thank you, Paero.”
She secured the sack on Shahni’s back, murmured a soft word of praise in the horse’s ear, then swung herself up on her back.
She nodded to Mitaru and he led the way through the crowds and down the winding road out of her village. As they went, traditional blessings of “good journey,” “swift feet” and “strong will” followed them out.
The moment the populated village was behind them and they faced open fields ahead, Luna, who was riding to Kalina’s left, let out a cry of sheer joy and flung her arms wide.
“To Pahzah!” She clicked at the horse she rode and the two surged forward in a rush of movement.
“To Pahzah!” The others shouted and raced behind her.
It was a glorious way to start their journey.
Kalina grinned fiercely into the wind as she raced her friends and reveled in the freedom of the road.
Three days later, they were settled in rooms at the Pahzah Inn that Kalina and Mitaru had reserved almost ten years in advance, for rooms went quickly when the Trials approached.
Luna and Zara were pouring over their itinerary for the next four days, Luna focused on the shops she wanted to visit, along with any of the areas known for their wild animals, while Zara concentrated on identifying gardens, historical sites and museums.
The two had some good-natured arguments about whether the Noreli Hummingbird Garden was better than the fields where the cochari, known both for their beauty and their ferocity, hunted.
Eventually, they agreed they would visit both, which wasn’t a surprise considering both adored anything to do with animals or nature.
Kalina grinned at Mitaru, who just shook his head in exasperation, something Kalina knew was only for show.
Mitaru indulged his sisters whenever and however he could and they both adored him for it.
Kalina knew, therefore, that the next four days would be exhausting, yet full of fun. Perhaps they would even be fun enough to alleviate the stress she felt at the approaching Trials.
She was confident in her abilities, but there were areas where she still struggled, and she knew the competition would be fierce.
At their last training camp the month before, there had still been more than four hundred hopefuls planning to compete in the Western Trials.
It was tempting to think this meant she would only be competing against those she’d trained with in the camps, but there was at least one other camp that fed into the Western Trials, not to mention the other ones that fed elsewhere.
After all the Trials were completed, the candidates across all of Faerie would be ranked and only the top five hundred would be chosen to become Guardians. Those five hundred would then be divided equally between the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Veils.
Kalina and Mitaru had discussed this over and over through the years and they had both agreed. It was not enough to outperform those of the camps. They had to be in the top echelon of the Trials, possibly even as high up as the top ten. It was the only way to truly ensure they would be accepted as Guardians.
“Oh, stop worrying, Kalina,” Luna exclaimed. “You’ve been training for four hundred years. What more could you possibly do to prepare for the Trials to come?”
Kalina shrugged. “Maybe another practice session or—”
“No,” Luna and Zara exclaimed at once.
Behind his sisters’ backs, Mitaru was nodding fiercely in agreement.
Yes, another practice session or two would definitely help.
“There’s nothing you can do at this point,” Zara said.
“Exactly,” Luna exclaimed. “If you’re not ready now, you’ll never be ready.”
What a horrible thought.
“Now, come on.” Luna leapt up from the bed where she’d been pouring over her notes of all the places she wanted to visit. She linked arms with Kalina and dragged her toward the door.
A glance over Kalina’s shoulder showed Zara grabbing hold of her brother and hauling him in their wake.
“It’s time for fun!” Luna hustled Kalina through the door and down the stairs into the courtyard that stood outside their rooms. “Let’s go exploring!”
The next four days were wonderful.
The places Luna and Zara dragged them to invariably brought peace to Kalina’s heart and soul, as they always did.
The hummingbirds flitting around in the gardens of Noreli, the woods the girls dragged them through as they tested their abilities to communicate with the trees and the animals, and even the hours they spent wandering museums and historical sites honoring those long gone brought Kalina joy and peace.
Of course, that didn’t stop Mitaru and her from practicing their skills along the way.
They practiced traveling through the trees, leaping from branch to branch, racing each other high above the forest floor as Luna and Zara cheered them on.
They tested each other’s abilities with bow and arrow and magic in the maze of Correna, where they set for each other impossible tasks.
“So, here are the rules,” Mitaru said. “You have to hit each target perfectly. Every time you miss a shot, the walls will move in. The only way they’ll move out again is if you hit the final target in the perfect spot.”
“You’re diabolical,” Kalina muttered as she studied the targets.
They were hanging high above the maze walls, sacks filled with leaves with a tiny red mark at the center of each. Despite being hung with magic, Mitaru had clearly ensured they would still sway and move with wind.
This was going to be quite the challenge. “Time limits?”
“Thirty seconds between each target, five minutes to complete the course. If you’re late to a target, the walls will move in again. I suggest not being late.”
Kalina sighed. “You know I’m going to get you back for this.”
“Looking forward to it.”
“Tell me when.”
Silence for a moment, then, “Go!”
Kalina leapt forward and entered the maze at a run. She could only go by instinct, tracing the feel of Mitaru’s magic that would hopefully lead her to the first—there!
Rounding a corner in the maze, she shot off an arrow and didn’t even stop to see if it hit the target. She just kept moving.
The walls didn’t shift, so she assumed her arrow hadn’t missed. She made the next three shots, but then missed the fourth entirely when she realized Luna was sitting atop the maze, perilously close to where the target was.
Kalina jerked her aim to the side at the last minute and the arrow went wide, Luna laughing merrily in her wake.
“Are you crazy?“ Kalina shouted as she raced around the next corner even as the walls shifted closer.
“You can do it, Kalina!” Luna hollered back as she raced across the top of the walls, their movement not causing a single hitch in her stride as she kept pace with Kalina, both of them racing toward the next target.
Kalina shut out all other distractions, including Zara, who appeared at the eighth target, and Luna, who kept leaping across the maze from one wall to the next, giggling madly the entire way.
The tenth target was the hardest. High in the sky, the dot almost invisible to the naked eye, Kalina still shot her arrow without hesitation and grinned in fierce joy when the walls shifted back to their original position.
“You did it, Kalina, you did it!” Luna leapt down from the walls to land next to Kalina and flung her arms around her.
“Congratulations, Kalina,” Zara said as she landed next to her sister. “You’re going to be amazing at the Trials.”
Mitaru, who was lounging on a bench at the end of the maze, stood and grinned at the three of them. “Pretty impressive, Kalina. Less than twenty seconds between each target. Total time: three minutes and eighteen seconds. Incredible shooting and I’m especially grateful you didn’t shoot my insane sister.” He hooked around Luna’s neck and dragged her close. “What were you thinking, crazy one?”
“That Kalina has to be ready for anything.”
She was right. Kalina should have been able to adjust and make that shot on the fly, even with Luna surprising her. She needed to do better.
“You’re not thinking that you made a mistake, are you?” Zara demanded.
Luna pulled away from her brother and looked at Kalina. “Don’t be silly, Kalina. You directed the shot away from the target to keep me safe. That’s exactly what a Guardian would do. It’s that kind of thing that will make you one of the best Guardians to ever serve in their ranks.”
“She’s right,” Mitaru said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re not heading your own unit within the year. To be clear, though, I expect to be part of that unit. Understood?”
Kalina grinned. “Absolutely!”
It wasn’t until the last day before the trials that the four of them made it to the cochari hunting grounds, the only place on the infamous list they hadn’t yet visited and the one place Kalina was truly excited about.
The cochari had the unique ability among all the animals in Faerie, to project a glamour much like the Fae did, masking their true form when hunting.
Kalina was really looking forward to seeing if she could pick out the cochari from their prey.
When they reached the hunting grounds, they chose a couple boulders high above the grazing elk and deer and watched closely.
“There,” Kalina said, pointing to one of the elk, who had slowly made its way toward the center of the field.
“Why him?” Zara asked.
“He’s good, but he’s clearly on a mission. Look at how he moves. He’s not really grazing like the rest of them.”
“There’s another one.” Mitaru pointed to the opposite side of the field. “He’s edging toward that cluster of deer over there.”
“Oh, I can’t watch,” Zara moaned.
For long moments, the cochari pretended to graze with their prey, still projecting the peaceful elegance of the elk and deer around them.
Then from one moment to the next, they exploded into their true forms, a rainbow of colors, red the brightest of them all, and one long horn they used to stab their prey. Then, of course, the flashing fangs as they attached themselves to the neck of their prey and bore them to the ground for feasting.
As weird as it might seem, Kalina found the hunt brought her as much peace as the hummingbirds, perhaps because it was all in the natural order of things.
Zara, however, wasn’t so enthused. “Oh, no. I didn’t really think this through, coming here,” she fretted. “Maybe I should help? You know, go down there and heal them?”
“Eh, I think they’re a bit beyond healing,” Mitaru said. “But you can practice on us.” With that, he whirled on Kalina and though she leapt back, he still caught the edge of her upper arm, slashing a bright red line across it.
Kalina let out a hoot of laughter and drew her swords. “I call foul!” With that, she flung herself into the fight.
There, high above the cochari hunting grounds, the two of them pit their skills against one other again.
Even as the clang of their swords rang through the air, Kalina registered the sting and burn of Zara’s healing power, closing the wound on her shoulder mere seconds after Mitaru had opened it.
She dodged and danced with him, a comforting sense of timelessness to the ritual, one they had indulged in thousands of times throughout the years.
As they fought, lines of red appeared and disappeared as first Zara, then Luna, healed them.
By the time they declared the fight a draw, twilight had fallen and the fields below were empty of both prey and predator.
CHAPTER 5
The Trials were divided into three phases.
The first phase—the Arena Trials—lasted seven days, five spent in combat with other Potentials and two spent resting and recovering.
The second phase—the Elemental Trials—took four days, three spent in the woods, demonstrating Fae mastery of the elements and of nature, and one again in rest and recovery.
The third phase, known only as the Final Trial, took place on the last day and was a complete mystery. Everyone’s final trial was unique to them, and according to rumor, was the most challenging to pass.
In all, the Trials lasted twelve days and would become progressively more difficult as the days advanced.
The Arena Trials were intensely physical, as Thorne had expected, but also emotionally brutal in a way he had not.
He had not taken into account the fact that every win of his meant someone else went defeated and how much he would hate watching the dream of becoming a Guardian fade from his opponent’s eyes as they clasped each other’s arms in respect after a good bout.
It was easy in the beginning, but as he progressed through the first phase of the Trials, all of which took place in the Arena, it became harder. Harder because those he fought were better and more determined and believed more fiercely in their destiny to become a Guardian.
The battles were harder, the swordplay intense and fierce, the magic they called more and more dangerous and the injuries piled up.
There were healers on hand, of course, to heal any life-threatening injuries, but once a healer was called, disqualification followed.
Thorne couldn’t wait for this phase to be over. He understood it was the quickest way to eliminate much of the competition, but he hated battling other Fae whose only crime was that they too wanted the honor of becoming a Guardian of the Veils.
By the time he left the arena on the fifth and final day of phase one, he was exhausted, covered in bruises and minor cuts, but full of relief. Rankings would be posted in the morning, but he was content in the knowledge that he’d made it at least into the top twenty, possibly even the top ten.
When he stepped out of the locker room, he found Tarek and Nako waiting. Nako had finished earlier in the day and had joined Tarek in the stands to watch the final bouts.
Thorne grinned at them both.
“You were amazing!” Tarek crowed. “Nako too. Did you see him?”
“I did. I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t make number one.”
Nako just let out a grunt.
Thorne knew he was still annoyed that he’d almost lost the last bout against Jodahn, a Fae from a neighboring village, who was probably going to make it into the top ten. That battle had ultimately been declared a draw, but it had been close several times.
“Take heart, Nako,” Thorne said. “If you’re annoyed about Jodahn, imagine how he must feel. He couldn’t beat a Fae three hundred years his junior.”
Nako grinned. “Okay, there is that. Every time I get annoyed, I’m going to remember the look on his face when we clasped arms at the end of our bout.”
“Annoyance?” Tarek guessed.
“Respect.”
Thorne and Tarek made identical grunts of satisfaction, the sound so similar it may have come from the same person, causing all three of them to burst into laughter.
“Come on,” Nako said. “I could really use a drink.”
*.*.*.*.*
* * *
The first phase of the Trials went by in a flash, possibly because Kalina didn’t find them to be that challenging. There were no combat situations she hadn’t already practiced every month for the past four hundred years with Mitaru.
They had challenged each other as often and as best as they could and those practice bouts had prepared them both for the Arena Trials.
In the end, they left the Arena and the first phase of the Trials, confident they would at least progress to the second phase.
They celebrated with Luna and Zara, eating and dancing the hours away, with Kalina trying her best to relax and not worry about what was yet to come.
The next morning, they wandered into the hall where breakfast was being served to a hail of cheers and congratulations.
