Chapter 29
Talisa
Aurelian Trials, Day Two
My breath misted white in the morning chill as I walked through the grand entrance arch of the amphitheater, my hand tucked into the crook of Elio’s arm for warmth more than steadiness. Mira and Juno flanked us, their faces pinched with cold and nerves.
When we emerged at the top of the stairs that led to the seating section, I stopped so suddenly that Elio stumbled.
The amphitheater had been transformed overnight.
Gone were the twenty domed stations arranged in a neat circle. On the sandy arena floor stood four massive stone figures twice my height. Two pairs faced each other, their blank stone faces turned toward their counterparts across the length of the oval arena.
They looked like temple guardians, with stylized helms, massive shields clutched in their left hands, and thick stone cudgels in their right hands.
Each statue had been carved from a single block of black stone veined with threads of lighter stone.
Their painted chest plates were covered in glowing sigils.
I recognized them as control sigils. I’d seen them illustrated in textbooks, but never in actual use.
One set of statues had blue chest plates. The other set had red chest plates.
“Divine Mother,” Juno whispered. Her eyes were wide. “They’re huge!”
“We haven’t covered sigils yet in our Fundamentals Class.” Mira added, her voice tight, “I know Mage Instructor Mundise worked with us in their practice class, but there’s so much I don’t know about using them.”
My stomach dropped. I wasn’t any better versed in working with sigils than the twins. As for Elio…
I turned to look at him. His eyes were fixed on the nearest guardian, like someone calculating a terrible deal.
“Your affinities are Air and Water, aren’t they?” I asked him.
He nodded. “And this challenge appears to be specifically designed for people with Earth magic.” A muscle twitched in his jaw. “Wonderful.”
Below us, the nobles’ seating sections were already filling. I spotted Lukhan and Damien strolling down the stairs with unhurried confidence. Lukhan’s gaze swept the arena, lingering for a fraction of a second on the stone guardians before moving on. His mouth curved into a pleased smile.
Either he or Damien has Earth magic affinities, I guessed. Maybe both of them do.
“We should find our seats,” I said, and started down the stairs.
As we settled in on the bench assigned to the commoner teams in the competitors’ section, I studied the stone guardians. Up close, they were even more intimidating.
“Activate those control sigils with an Earth spell,” Dante said, stopping by our seats. “The standard pattern is to turn off the binding-rune, turn on the activation-rune, then turn on the directional-rune. See how the sigils repeat along the arms and legs?”
I nodded.
“Once the directional sigil is activated, concentrate on feeding it and the activation sigil a steady flow of Earth magic. Good luck to you four,” Dante told us. “You did great yesterday.”
“Thank you, Dante,” chorused Mira and Juno.
“Thank you,” I added.
“How are you with Earth spells?” Elio demanded when Dante had left to find his own seat in the upper tiers.
“Pretty good,” I replied hesitantly.
Earth magic was one of my affinities. But the sheer scale of the power required to animate something the size of those statues made my palms sweat.
“The question is whether I’ll be able to control it well enough after waking one of those monsters up.
I’m assuming this challenge involves making them do something. ”
“Crushing our opponents? Defending ourselves while they try to crush us?”
I stared at him in horror. “You’re not serious… are you?”
“Just a poor joke,” Elio admitted. “It sounded wittier in my head.” He sighed. “I’m not good with Earth spells at all.”
His gaze moved from one guardian statue to the next with focused intensity.
“We’ll figure it out,” I assured him, with far more confidence than I really felt.
His hand found mine and squeezed. “Don’t we always?”
The warmth of his fingers against mine should have been reassuring. But all I could think about was how badly yesterday had started before we’d found our rhythm.
What if we couldn’t find it this time? What if the thing that had saved us—that strange, perfect merging of our magics—had been a fluke born of desperation?
Chatelaine Lirelle stepped onto the temporary dais erected in the center of the area between the pairs of glowering statues. The crowd quieted.
“Yesterday, the Trials demanded whether our competitors possessed skill. Sixteen remaining teams survived the first culling,” she began.
“Today, we will ask what these victors can accomplish when we pit one team directly against another. Success will depend not only upon our competitors’ magical abilities but also their judgment, their adaptability, and their partnership. ”
I shot a glance at Elio. He grinned back at me.
Lirelle continued: “Today’s challenge focuses on Earth magic. Earth is often mistaken for the simplest of the elements. It is not. Earth remembers every weakness in a foundation and every flaw in a plan.” She inclined her head slowly. “May your foundations prove sound.”
A patter of applause rose. She waved it away. “The herald will now announce the starting teams.”
She gracefully stepped down from the dais and exited the arena. The herald replaced her on the dais.
As before, an assistant carried a large urn and placed it next to the herald.
“Round Two of the Aurelian Trials,” he announced, his voice magically amplified to carry to the highest benches. “Selected teams will compete, one after the other, in the Guardian Duel.”
A murmur of anticipation ran through the amphitheater. I leaned forward.
“The first team to compete in Round Two,” the herald continued, reaching into the urn his assistant held, “will be—”
Please not us, I prayed frantically. We need to watch someone else go first, and see how this challenge works before we have to do it ourselves.
“Miss Talisa of Bernswick and Mr. Elio Ferraro, you will command the Blue Guardians. Take your positions next to your guardians.”
My heart stuttered in panic. Elio’s fingers tightened around mine.
“Of course,” he muttered. “Of course we’re first up.”
We rose from our seats. My legs felt shaky. Above us, the commoner sections erupted in cheers and whistles. Someone—probably Dante—shouted something encouraging that was swallowed by the general noise.
As we made our way down the stairs to the arena floor, the herald reached into the urn again and announced, “Lord Theron del Mar and Lady Lyra Vex, you will command the Red Guardians. Take your positions next to your guardians.”
They were third-years. Lord Theron was tall and broad-shouldered, with the olive complexion common to the imperial capital and a jaw that looked like it had been carved from the same stone as the guardians.
Embroidered on the sleeves of his gown, picked out in gold thread against black wool, were the symbols for Earth magic.
I groaned silently.
Lady Lyra was shorter, fine-boned, with pale skin and hair the color of wheat pulled back in a severe braid. She wore no symbols of elemental affinity on her gown, which meant she was hiding her strengths.
She looked at Elio and me and smiled with no warmth whatsoever.
“We’re up against first-years?” she asked loudly. “How adorable!”
Elio gave her one of his cocky grins, but I felt the slight stiffening of his arm against mine.
We crossed the arena floor and took our positions next to our assigned statues. The stone guardians loomed over us, twice my height and probably twenty times my weight. Their sigils glowed amber, waiting.
The herald raised his hands, and the amphitheater fell silent.
“The rules of the Guardian Relay are as follows,” he said. “Each team controls two guardian statues. The winning team must disable both opposing statues while maintaining control of at least one of their own statues before the ten-minute timer expires.”
The rules sounded simple enough, if terrifying.
“Direct attacks on the opposing team are forbidden. This is a contest of control, endurance, and strategy, not combat.”
Well, that was something.
At least Lord Theron couldn’t simply command his statues to walk over and stomp on us like bugs.
Though, from the look he was giving us, he wanted to.
I tried to push down the fear roiling in my gut. I needed to face this challenge calmly, or I’d end up frozen and helpless like yesterday.
“The timer begins once the starting bell sounds. The round ends when the timer expires or when one team meets the victory conditions. Questions?”
There were none.
The herald nodded. “We will now clear the arena.”
As he and his urn-lugging assistant vanished through a side exit, a levitation spell whisked away the dais.
While we waited, I saw Theron rolling his shoulders, loosening up as if he were about to lift something heavy. Lyra stood with her arms folded, watching us with the bored patience of someone waiting for a tedious errand to conclude.
They acted as if neither of them considered Elio and me a real challenge.
A large floating clock appeared above the arena, its face reading 10:00.
Elio leaned close. “Ideas?” he murmured.
“Do what Dante suggested,” I said. “Turn off the binding-rune first, then turn on the activation-rune. After that turn on the directional-rune and focus your spell on feeding it magic. I’ll take the left guardian, you take the right.”
He nodded. His amber eyes were bright with excitement. Or maybe fear. “I’ll do my best. Earth isn’t exactly my—”
“I know.” I squeezed his hand. “Just hold it steady. I’ll try to—” I stopped. I’d been about to say I’ll try to combine our magic like yesterday, but the words died in my throat.
What if I couldn’t do it again?
Then the starting bell rang.
My world narrowed to the sigils glowing on the stone guardian next to me.
I reached for my Earth magic.
Or tried to.