The Four Nations Tournament: The Aegis of Merlin Book 6 Read online

  3

  Tryouts

  Sunday midmorning arrived and the glare off the snow forced Conryu to squint as he stepped out of the dorm. Hardly a cloud floated through the sky and a cold wind swirled off the frozen lake. Fire Aura kept him comfortable in his black robe.

  Tryouts were due to start in a little while. He didn’t want to arrive too early as waiting around in the cold didn’t appeal to him, even if he couldn’t feel it. After his evening chat with Heather last night he’d had an awful time getting to sleep. It struck him as manipulation to send the woman most people considered the most beautiful in the world to ask him to join up. Just having her standing on the sidelines should be good for a point of improved ratings. He’d watch for her legs alone.

  “Conryu.”

  He glanced up at Crystal as the earth magic senior joined him on the steps. “Hey, you trying out?”

  She nodded. “I barely missed making the team last year and the girl that beat me graduated so I think I’ve got a good chance. What about you?”

  “Yeah, everyone on the Department payroll seems to want me to. It’ll be interesting to see how I stack up against the dark magic seniors.”

  Prime snorted. “I can tell you exactly how you stack up against a bunch of students who’ve never been in real combat in their sheltered lives. They should offer you the position outright if they want you to join so bad.”

  “That wouldn’t be fair,” Conryu said. “I need to earn my spot, the same as everyone else.”

  He knew he was supposed to say that, but he suspected Prime’s was the more honest assessment. Still, maybe he’d be surprised.

  “Want to walk down together?” Conryu asked.

  “Sure. I hope we both make it. It’ll be fun to be on a team together again.”

  Conryu led the way down a well-worn path to the lake. “If Sonja was here to represent fire, it would be just like the golem club only with a few extras. Speaking of our fearless leader, have you talked to her?”

  “All the time. She’s having a blast at her job. They’re working on some top-secret government project so she can’t give me any details.”

  “That’s good. Sonja seemed so conflicted last year. I’m glad she’s settled in.”

  Crystal nodded. “We should invite her to join us in London, assuming we’re on the team. It’ll be like a reunion.”

  “I’m down with that.”

  More girls in robes of all colors joined them as they moved closer to the lake. A small crowd had already gathered and two figures stood off by themselves closer to the shore.

  “That’s weird,” Crystal said. “There’s usually just one coach. I wonder who the extra is?”

  Conryu knew exactly who it was, but he figured they were going to make a big deal out of announcing her so he didn’t want to spoil the surprise. “We’ll find out soon enough I expect.”

  They merged with the crowd already waiting and settled in. Crystal stood up on her tiptoes and squinted. “Is that Heather James? It sure looks like her.”

  “I can’t see,” Conryu said. It was the truth, even if not the whole truth.

  Stragglers continued to arrive over the next ten minutes. When a full minute passed with no one else showing up, a stern woman with short hair wearing a gray, Department-issue robe stepped forward.

  “My name is Melisandra Chort.” She had a deep, almost masculine voice. “You will address me as Coach Chort or just Coach. We are here today to find out which of you has what it takes to represent the Alliance at this year’s tournament. I see some familiar faces. Just because you made the team last year doesn’t guarantee you a spot this year.”

  She locked eyes with Conryu. “I don’t care how famous you are or what you’ve done to make you think you deserve a spot on my team. You can either do the job or you can’t. You may have noticed we have a special guest today. This is Heather James, a former team captain. She will serve as my assistant coach. She has real-world experience. I suggest you take advantage of it.”

  Heather moved up closer to Coach Chort. She’d traded her sexy outfit from last night for a blue-green water wizard’s robe. “I’m looking forward to working with this year’s team. We’ve had a rough run of luck, but this year I’m sure we’ll turn things around.”

  She flashed a brilliant smile and winked at Conryu.

  “Alright,” Coach Chort said. “Let’s get the trials underway.”

  Coach Chort ordered everyone to line up by element. Conryu wished Crystal a final good luck and moved to the far right-hand side of the gathering. Four girls in black robes eyed him the way he’d look at a dead rat on the kitchen floor. He didn’t recognize any of them and assumed they were seniors. None of them had a familiar which didn’t surprise him. Other than wind wizards, most everyone considered them a liability. Then again, most wizards didn’t have a familiar as awesome as Prime.

  When everyone had finished sorting themselves out, Coach Chort said, “Alright, we’ll start with light magic. This isn’t actual combat, so the need for healing should be minimal. What we’ll be testing for is your ability to integrate with other elements. Heather.”

  Heather wove her hands in a circular motion and chanted. A sphere of water formed and floated in the air. Coach Chort cast a spell of her own, encasing the sphere in earth.

  “Now, I want each light wizard to cast Elemental Fusion. If you don’t know it, you can leave now. Whoever does the best job merging the separate spells into one gets the job.”

  Conryu watched as one white-robed girl after another cast the same spell. It made the earth-and-water globe glow to varying degrees. If it did anything else, he couldn’t tell.

  When they’d finished, Heather and Coach Chort released their spells. The coach pointed at the third girl who’d cast. “Congratulations, your fusion functioned at over eighty percent, the best by fifteen percent. You make the team.”

  The girl thrust her fists into the air. “Yes!”

  The other light magic users grumbled and started toward the dorm.

  “Okay, now water,” Coach Chort said. “We’ll be conjuring water serpents, biggest one wins.”

  The result of the test was as simple as it was obvious. The winning girl’s serpent was half again as tall as the next strongest person’s. It struck Conryu as the fire wizards lined up that it would be simpler just to go through the applicants’ test results and choose the ones with the strongest magical potential.

  “Raw power doesn’t always indicate who’s the better wizard,” Prime said. “Skill also enters into it. A weaker wizard with better control of her energy flow might get a superior result. That’s why they’re doing the tests, or so I assume.”

  Conryu was just starting to think maybe he wouldn’t get stuck on the team when Prime added, “That’s assuming the competing wizards are close in overall power. When you’re five times stronger than your competition, efficiency becomes much less of an issue.”

  So much for that hope. The fire wizards had finished their testing and Crystal and the other earth wizards took their places center stage.

  “The earth wizard is probably the most important piece of the team,” Coach Chort said. “The ability to create physical obstacles to the opposing team is key in the group melee. Each of you is going to cast Stone Behemoth. In addition to its offensive potential, the spell can serve as a mobile wall between you and those trying to blast you. You’re going to pair off and battle. Durability is every bit as important as size in this circumstance.”

  Only four earth wizards had showed up to try out so it wouldn’t take long to get them sorted out. Crystal and her opponent went first. The stone giants they summoned each stood about ten feet tall and half that wide. Their features were blunt and crude, but basically recognizable.

  The two behemoths came together with a crash. Shoulder to shoulder, hands locked, they pushed, churning up the snow and sending clods of frozen earth flying.

  Crystal’s creature pulled back first before launching a punch that s
ent the opposing monster’s head flying out over the lake. Conryu thought that would be the end of it, but since the giants were nothing but mounds of earth, the lack of a head didn’t bother them.

  The giants traded blows until only a gasping Crystal’s behemoth remained standing, albeit with three head-sized holes smashed in its chest. Once it had collapsed into a pile of dirt and stone, the second pair had their match. The spells produced foes of similar size, but one of the girls lacked stamina and soon collapsed in an unconscious heap.

  When Crystal faced up to her second opponent, it was clear the other girl was fresher. That was proven out when Crystal’s behemoth appeared at only eight feet high. The grin on Crystal’s opponent said she knew she had the upper hand.

  Two heavy blows drove the head of Crystal’s behemoth down into its chest. She was losing and losing ugly.

  “Go for its legs!” Conryu shouted.

  Crystal’s behemoth ducked an incoming punch and leapt at the legs of its opponent. Instead of tackling it, the heavy impact smashed both legs to bits and sent the upper portion crashing to the ground.

  A few heavy blows to the fallen creature ended the match with Crystal as the winner.

  Conryu grinned, but the other girls all glared at him. If he wasn’t supposed to help, someone should have said something. This was a team competition after all.

  When the coach didn’t complain, Crystal staggered over and hugged him. “Thanks. I never would have thought of going low.”

  “Since your creature was shorter, it made sense. I’m glad it worked. This wouldn’t be nearly as much fun if you didn’t make the team.”

  “Maybe you’ll be the one that doesn’t make the team,” one of the dark magic wizards snarled at him.

  Conryu shrugged. “Maybe.”

  The wind test came next. They were tasked to find an object hidden on the island and retrieve it using a summoned spirit. Whoever succeeded won the test.

  Ten minutes later a scroll cylinder came zipping across the lake and landed in the hand of one of the few juniors trying out for the team. The senior wind wizards grumbled, but no one complained too loud.

  “Last but not least comes dark magic,” Coach Chort said. “Your primary task will be using Dispel against our opponents’ spells. To that end we’ll be testing the power of your castings. Don’t hold back as I need an accurate idea of what you can do. Heather.”

  Heather raised her hands and summoned a water dragon in the sky above the lake. Conryu remembered that spell from the last tournament he watched, it provided the basis of the combined conjuring from the first round.

  The coach pointed at one of the seniors. “You first.”

  She took a couple steps closer to the water’s edge and put her hands together. “Darkness dispels everything!”

  The dark sphere slammed into the dragon and exploded. Dark magic washed over the construct and sent it splashing down into the lake.

  “Ha!” The dark wizard pumped her fist. “Beat that.”

  Heather summoned the dragon three more times, but none of the other girls fully dispelled it. The coach turned her hard gaze on Conryu. “Let’s see what you got, boy.”

  Heather repaired the damage to her construct and gave him a smile of encouragement. “I’m going to try something different,” Conryu said.

  “I’m not sure this is a good idea, Master. Trying a new spell during such an important test might not be wise.”

  “Yeah, but I’m going to do it anyway.” Conryu put his hands together and chanted. “Darkness dispels everything.”

  He chanted it over and over, compressing the magic with each casting like he did with Focused Dispel. Black lightning flicked out as the power built. When he couldn’t contain it a second more Conryu hurled the baseball-sized sphere of dark energy at the dragon. It punched through, leaving a small hole in its side.

  The dark wizards laughed.

  “Is that the best you can do?” the girl who’d dispelled the dragon first asked.

  Conryu grinned and snapped his fingers, releasing the energy stored in the sphere.

  A pillar of inky black power exploded out and up, consuming the dragon and blocking out the sun for a second. When the mini eclipse passed he said, “Yeah, that’s about the best I can do.”

  Everyone stared in silence until Coach Chort said, “Congratulations, Conryu. You made the team. Everyone that didn’t make the cut is excused. The rest of you line up.”

  Crystal moved to stand beside him. “That was awesome.”

  “Thanks. I’d been wanting to try that variation of the spell for a little while now, but I didn’t know when I’d get the chance.”

  Heather took her place beside the coach. A light sheen of sweat covered her face. She probably hadn’t cast that many spells in a row for a while.

  “Well, you did it,” Coach Chort said. “But making the team is the easy part. Now you need to learn to fight together as a cohesive unit. We’ll be working on that for the next twenty Sundays. I’ve seen what you can do and I say with confidence that you’re the strongest group we’ve had in a decade. If you’re willing to work hard, we have a real chance of winning this year. The rest of the day is yours. Training begins next Sunday. Dismissed.”

  Conryu gave a little shake of his head. Dismissed? She sounded more like a drill sergeant than a coach. He still didn’t know how to feel about making the team, but he’d done it and that meant he had to give it everything he had.

  “Want to get lunch?” Crystal asked.

  “Sure. I’ve got to tell Maria and the others the good news.”

  “That you made the team or that Heather James is the assistant coach?” Prime asked.

  “Stop reading my mind.”

  Crystal and Conryu had barely left the lakeshore when Heather came running up to join them. The assistant coach beamed at them. “Congratulations, both of you. You both gave impressive displays.”

  “Thanks,” Crystal said. “I see you haven’t lost your touch either.”

  Heather cracked her knuckles. “I try to keep in practice. Some models travel on a private plane, I like going by portal. Saves all kinds of time. I wonder if you could give Conryu and I a moment alone?”

  “Um, okay.” Crystal lengthened her stride and started to pull away from them.

  “I’ll catch up to you in the cafeteria,” Conryu called after her. “So what’s up? I’m on the team like you and everyone else wanted.”

  “Yes, and I’m sure everyone at the Department will be thrilled. What we need to talk about is your style. Also, is that girl someone you’re in a relationship with?”

  “Not the kind of relationship you mean. We’re friends. Now what’s wrong with my style?”

  “It’s indifferent. When you were trying out, I got the feeling watching you that you didn’t care one way or the other whether you made the team.”

  “I didn’t, but rest assured I don’t do anything halfway. I’m on the team now and I’ll do my best to see that we win.”

  She shook her head. “You need to do more than that. We’re the headliners. You need to show enthusiasm, some flare, get excited about the competition. For goodness’ sake act like it matters to you.”

  “I’ll work on that. If there’s nothing else, I need to go.”

  She sighed. “No, that’s all for now. See you next Sunday.”

  “Sure.” Conryu left her on the path and hurried back to the dorm. What would be the best way to fake caring about the competition? He didn’t know, but winning a few matches should take care of any complaints.

  “You made the team? That’s great!” Maria hugged him. “Dad’ll be so relieved. They take the loss of revenue seriously.”

  “I know.” Conryu sat beside her and across from Crystal.

  Anya was nowhere to be found and Kelsie hadn’t left cooking club yet. The pulled pork sandwich he got at the kitchen smelled great and his stomach growled in agreement. It had been a long morning and he was starving.

  While he at
e, Crystal picked up the conversation. “Did you know the Department was hiring Heather James to serve as assistant coach?”

  Conryu couldn’t see Maria’s reaction, but the moment of silence spoke volumes. “Dad didn’t mention it. Why would they do that? When Heather was team captain, they still came in last.”

  Conryu set his half-eaten sandwich down. “I doubt it had anything to do with her coaching ability. She’s there to look good on camera and get attention. She’s certainly got a knack for it.”

  “What did she want to talk to you about anyway?” Crystal asked.

  “My attitude. She says I need to act more excited about competing.”

  “Representing the Alliance is an honor,” Crystal said.

  “That’s a good line. You should use it when the reporters show up. As for me, I’ve had about all the honors I can take. At least this one isn’t apt to be delivered posthumously.” He ate a couple more bites, sighed, and looked up. “Sorry. I’m just a little bitter about the whole situation. When the bell rings I’ll be ready.”

  The subject of conversation shifted quickly after his outburst to everyone’s apparent relief. Crystal and Maria chatted about their studies while he finished up.

  When the food was gone Conryu got to his feet. “I’m going to head to the library. I want to do some research. See you guys later.”

  He left Maria and Crystal and marched over to the library. Why was he so annoyed? Guilting him into joining the team wasn’t that big a deal. No one’s life hung in the balance. The tournament served as a bit of mindless entertainment, a chance for wizards of the four allied nations to show what they could do. Win or lose, who cared?

  More important matters required his attention.

  The library covered several thousand square feet. Bookshelves filled most of it, with an occasional table thrown in for good measure. The librarian had Sunday off, just like everyone else. Students still had permission to do research, but they were on their own.

  That suited Conryu perfectly.

  “Are we alone, Prime?”