Tournament Mage: Fledgling God: book 5

8. Miss Mountain

The next day started in the best way possible. I woke up with Bermuda on my pillow and my warm naked man wrapped around me. I had the thought that if I could turn Tyler into a body pillow and mass produce him, I’d make a fortune.

We first made sleepy love, as I wasn’t ready to move yet. I didn’t have to move either, as the arm he had wrapped around me woke up and started doing wonderful things to my front side. He nibbled my neck and breathed in my ear as his middle leg started waking up behind me.

It wasn’t long before we finished our sleepy love and moved on to ‘Good Morning’ love. He climbed on top, and I wrapped my legs around him like he was a warm cup of coffee. He ramped up the caffeine, and it wasn’t long before we both added some cream and turned it into a frothy latte.

Then I realized what day it was—tournament day—and we made love again, just to get the nerves out and make sure I was fully warmed up and ready to go. When we were finished, I felt rested, awake, and filled with calm energy.

We got up and I was going to start showering, except John banged on our door and told us we needed to tuck it in our pants and get out there right now. He said Annabeth was ravenous, and if we didn’t get a move on, she was going to break down the door and gobble us up—winkies and all.

I could faintly hear Annabeth laughing, and she said something, but I couldn’t hear what it was. This wasn’t a cheap hotel, so the sounds from the living room were pretty muffled. We could only hear John so well because he was in fine form and bellowing it out.

I decided to forgo a regular shower. Instead, I visited the Freshness Fountain inside my Bank Stamp. Once again, I selected the full body quick refresh—Lavender Vanilla scent this time—as well as the ‘morning mouth’ routine, ‘smooth as a baby’s bottom’ shave, and ‘Truvy’s Brush and Blow Perfect Hair’.

As soon as my selections were made and confirmed, I tingled from head to toe, and suddenly, I was ready to go. I could get used to this!

Bermuda hopped into my Throne Room and started playing with his toys. He sent me a brief image that let me know that under no circumstances was he letting me wander around on my own. I was like a kitten that needed attention and supervision to stay out of trouble.

I thought that was pretty funny, as Bermuda wasn’t even a year old yet. Still, it was very nice having him with me. I always felt better with my fur baby around.

I didn’t have that much variety in clothing, so getting dressed was easy. I threw on dark blue shorts, a light blue t-shirt, and my last pair of shoes. I didn’t know what the day was going to bring, but hopefully, this would work.

Tyler matched my outfit, and we quickly exited the bedroom before John’s pounding on the door got any louder. I guess we were all thinking casual, as Sandy and Annabeth had on stretchy jeans and t-shirts and John a t-shirt and shorts like us.

We headed down to the buffet, and this time, Tock took us to the VIP entrance. Gold Trim was there, and I was surprised at just how fresh he looked. I wondered if he’d ever left, or if he’d already had a break and was now back for another shift. Regardless, he schmoozed Sandy like a pro while sticking close to John. He laughed at all John’s puns, even the ones he looked a bit confused over, and stayed around longer than he probably should have. Clearly, John had made a friend.

It was good he had, as the place was packed. Gold Trim got us a small table by the buffet, although he apologized profusely that a cabana wasn’t available. This time we shared a server with another table, but it didn’t matter. This was a buffet, not rocket science. As long as we had drinks to go with the food, we were good.

“So, what exactly is scheduled for today?” Sandy asked Tock once we’d gotten our food and were sitting down again.

“You have about an hour to eat, and then we need to be on our way,” Tock replied. “Jason and Annabeth, as participants in the tournament, you’ll need to report to a holding area that leads to the arena floor. Sandy, John, and Tyler, I’ve used your new status to upgrade your seats for the Opening Ceremony. I couldn’t get you into a booth, but they are on the first tier and much closer to the action.

“The Opening Ceremony starts at noon and lasts for at least an hour. At the end of that, there is the Parade of Teams, which ends with all the teams on the floor of the arena. The Master of Ceremonies will then declare the start of the tournament, and the portal will open. The premier teams will go through first, and with that, the first quest will have started.”

“Oh. Wow,” Annabeth said. Her eyes were wide. “Hearing that makes it all seem so real.”

I reached over and gave her hand a squeeze as Tyler spoke up.

“Are most of the teams here at the buffet?” he asked. “This place is so full of mages I can’t imagine how many teams there are.”

“No. Not at all,” Tock shook his head. “Many of the entry-level teams are here, but the mid-level teams will be at our other restaurants, and the premier teams usually have their own function.”

“Is that why Ivy League was so mad last night?” I asked. “They had to eat with the entry-level teams?”

“I’m sure that was part of their aggravation,” Tock noted. “There was a special celebration last night for all the premier teams, and they missed it.”

“How many teams are there in total?” I asked. I knew the teams had their support staff here, but even so, there had to be a lot of teams.

“There are nine hundred and sixty-two teams competing this year, which is almost a record,” Tock said proudly.

Holy crap!

Almost a thousand teams? We had to beat a thousand teams?

Annabeth looked at me in dismay. Then we both turned to look at Sandy.

She winced.

I guess she’d been afraid to give us the bad news. Tyler looked pretty shocked too, but John just shrugged.

“We have so many entries this year because the previous champions are no longer eligible to compete in the junior division,” Tock continued, oblivious to how we were taking the news. “They won when they were forty-five years old, which was a huge upset, but then they proved just how good they were by winning every tournament after that. Their team has graduated to the next division, so they can’t compete. Instead, they are all acting as the Master of Ceremonies, and they will crown the new champion.

“For the last two seasons we’ve had a record number of spectators, as everyone wanted to see if they would remain undefeated. On the flip side, we’ve had some of the lowest numbers of teams participating, as nobody wanted to go against them.”

“We’re supposed to beat that many teams?” I asked as my voice started rising. “I know we have skills and I know you guys will support us—but still. That many teams means there are going to be lots of really good ones out there. Plus, that means there are more teams that can get lucky in these quest events and more teams that can come after us. I always knew this was going to be hard, but now it seems impossible.”

“I know. And I’m sorry,” Sandy replied. “I didn’t learn how big this tournament was until you’d both gone to bed, and it was too late by that point. We’d already agreed to try, so we just have to keep pushing forward.”

“This seems like a lot,” John rumbled, “and it does make it more difficult, but it doesn’t change the stakes. We have to get pearls to pay off the Bank, and right now, this is the only quick way of doing that. Don’t get overwhelmed, and let”s get through the first few rounds. We’ll have a better idea of what we’re facing at that point.”

We talked about it a bit more, but John was right. It didn’t change anything. This was still our shot to keep from being Bank slaves—or indentured servants—or whatever Rene had called it.

“So, what do we know about the first round?” I asked Tock. I needed to let go of my surprise and get into problem-solving mode. I had great faith in my ability to figure things out.

“Officially, you know nothing,” Tock said. “The first quest is always big, fun, and full of adventure. It’s designed to provide action and excitement to the lower teams, and yet still knock a lot of them out. It’s also usually designed to provide a good opportunity for the major teams to go after each other if they want. It’s always exciting to watch a premier team crash and burn.”

Then Tock flew in front of me and gave me a serious look.

“Having said that, you need to stay away from any team-on-team action. You should just try to survive the first round. I know you are overly confident in your skills, but don’t get caught in the crossfire.”

I nodded in agreement. We weren”t here to beat just one team or take a rival down a peg. We were here to beat all the teams, and the longer they underestimated us the better.

“That pretty much jibes with what we learned at the watering hole,” John agreed. “It”s going to be a big, fun adventure, and nobody knows exactly what it’s going to entail.”

“You said officially you know nothing.” I turned back to Tock. “What about unofficially?”

“Well…” He got a mischievous smile on his face. “Somehow I’ve managed to acquire a lot more magic. And somehow I’ve managed to be a lot more active and listen a lot more than I normally would. And since nobody pays any attention to class E apparitions, I might have been able to overhear a few things.”

He looked absolutely delighted with himself and ready to burst.

“This is only speculation, but I overheard two class AA apparitions discussing their team strategy, and they felt like this was going to be a quest of quests.”

He beamed with pride, but we all just looked confused. What did that mean? He quickly explained.

“That’s when the quest doesn’t have just one objective. Instead, teams have the option of a lot of small quests when you arrive. That adds an element of strategy to the mix. They need to pick the right quests that fit their strengths. If a team is better at puzzles and scrying, they shouldn’t pick a quest of endurance, like loading a wagon or mining for ore.”

“Oh!” A lightbulb turned on in my head. “This sounds like a quest hub in an RPG!”

That got me some blank looks.

“It’s a common fixture in role-playing games, like World of Warcraft. You show up at a new town, and everyone you meet wants you to do something for them. The tanner wants wolf pelts, so you gotta go to the nearby woods and kill twenty wolves. The innkeeper is hearing noises in the basement, so you gotta go into the sewers and kill rats. There’s always some old lady that wants you to run across town and deliver a letter to someone else. It’s standard stuff, and usually gives a good amount of experience for your character.”

“I’m surprised you know anything about this,” Tock said, “but you have the right idea. In this case the two AA apparitions thought the teams were going to land near a town and all the quests were going to originate from there.”

“Thanks, Tock,” I said. “That info certainly helps. Town quests can vary a lot in difficulty and time to complete, though, so how is this thing scored?”

My puzzle brain was kicking in. If we got a point for every quest completed, we’d need to look for easy quests that we could get through quickly. If it was scaled on difficulty, then it would be worth looking around first to see if there was a single high-scoring quest that we could complete.

“I’m not sure,” Tock replied. “I didn’t hear anything about that. You can always ask, though. The apparitions in these types of scenarios are required to answer your questions to a certain extent.”

“Wait, the people in the town are going to be like you?” I asked, surprised. Somehow, I’d been thinking we were headed to a real town, filled with real people. Or maybe actors. But of course, it would make sense this whole thing was filled with apparitions. Why pay a bunch of people to populate an event when you could use reliable apparitions for free?

Well, not free, as they still required magic to run. But still, I’m sure the reliability was way up and the cost was way down, compared to actual people. Plus, it probably wasn’t a good idea to have live people anywhere near teams of mages that were geared up and ready to fight. That was just asking for trouble.

“They won’t be like me,” Tock shook his head. “They’ll look and feel real. They will have lives, families, and routines while you are there. I haven’t done this sort of work myself, as I’m nowhere near good enough for that, but I hear they take a lot of pride in their work. I know we’re talking about this like it’s a story, but I hear that once you get there, it feels real. Other teams I’ve hosted have been absolutely amazed by their scenarios. Most of them went out in the first round, but they loved what they saw and what they went through. They talked about it like it was an actual place.”

Okay, this was starting to sound fun! I knew we were here on serious business, but who wouldn’t want to be in an RPG game?

“Going back to scoring for a moment,” I continued. “These apparitions sound like actors with scripts. They probably need to stay in character, but do they have to tell us what their quests are worth?”

“I don’t know that they have to tell you anything,” Tock replied. “But I think they can help if they want to. It will be up to you to gain their trust and ask the right questions. They won’t be able to go against their character parameters or break from their main story, but I’ve heard they have a lot of leeway inside of that.”

I was getting excited, but Tock hurried to clarify.

“Keep in mind I don’t know any of this for sure. I’m just passing on what I’ve heard from others as well as my own assumptions. I could be completely wrong.”

What he said made sense. He might be wrong about a few things, but I was pretty sure he was right about most of it. We continued to talk about possibilities for the first round, but I didn’t learn anything new. I was hungry, of course, and I didn’t know when I would eat again, so I got right down to stuffing my face.

I looked around as I was eating and started noticing just how many other apparitions there were. There were a few that were Tock’s size, but most of them were slightly bigger. If I had to guess, I’d say they were the next grade up from him.

Despite being larger, they still looked like they had been put together using bad clipart. Whoever was responsible for the lesser apparitions should be fired. Or sent to an intensive art class. Or stretched on the rack.

Or maybe all three.

I also saw several of them freezing in place. One that was about Tock’s size froze for at least a minute. Tock, on the other hand, never froze once. His movements were smooth as butter, and his expressions were animated and clear. He also looked a lot more lifelike, with a lot more detail than any of the others.

I felt pretty happy with how Tock had turned out, and I continued to trickle charge him as he sat on my shoulder. I made a mental note to keep working on his form. His information had been useful so far, and with my improvements, he could continue to be our spy on the inside.

Aside from that, it made my Mark of the Deep Earth happy. It made me happy too. Our little fairy concierge was growing on me.

I wasn’t the only one eating like a starving kitten, but Sandy kept us all on track. As soon as Tock said it was time, she directed us to stuff our faces like chipmunks and hit the road. She’d already tipped the server and thanked Gold Trim as he’d hurried by.

We’d almost left the buffet when Gold Trim caught up with us one last time. He was going to be off during the tournament round, but he’d be back later tonight. He sincerely hoped we would stop by his humble establishment once again.

John rewarded him with a big smile and told him that we couldn’t wait to return, and he hoped Gold Trim would have time to hear all about our adventures. Then he gave him a big mountain troll hug. When we left, Gold Trim was flushed from getting squeezed so hard, but he looked happy too.

Sandy and John were still the only ones who could generate presence, so we all stayed together and went to the team drop-off location first. It was easy to find, as all the teams were headed there. We just needed to follow the flow.

We arrived at an enormous doorway that led into the teams-only part of the complex. There were signs posted that said that only team members were allowed beyond this point—no support staff. There were other signs that said teams needed to check in before entering, and there had to be at least a couple hundred security Men in Black all around the entrance. They were welcoming teams, answering questions, and leading them inside.

We walked up to the edge of the crowd, and one MIB immediately caught my eye. She was a mountain of woman, over six feet tall, with thick legs, powerful arms, and an enormous bosom. Like seriously, her breasts were huge. Almost hypnotic. I found I couldn’t look away.

I could curl up with them and have a nap for days. I could cuddle up to them and watch a whole series on Netflix. If my heart was broken, I could bury my head in them and sob for hours while Miss Mountain rubbed my back and said, “There, there.”

Annabeth elbowed me, and I finally blinked.

Wow. That had been an oddly specific daydream.

Fortunately, she hadn’t been looking at me. She’d been looking at John, who towered over the other mages. She waded towards us, and people just naturally got out of her way.

“Troll?” she asked John when she arrived. She had a deadpan delivery and a serious face, but something made me think she could let loose and have a good time when she wanted to.

“Yes, ma’am,” John replied. “Mountain.” For some reason he was looking all deadpan and serious too. Was this how trolls normally talked?

She leaned in and sniffed.

“British Isles?”

“Scotland,” John replied.

She nodded like he’d said the right thing and was now okay in her book.

She then looked at Sandy. Then Miss Mountain sniffed her too.

Somehow, Sandy kept a straight face.

“Yours?” she asked John.

“My wife,” John replied, just as deadpan.

Miss Mountain looked back at Sandy, who was looking like her normal badass self. Sandy and John just fit together, and I guess she thought so too, as she turned back to John and nodded.

“I approve.”

John kept his straight face, but his eyes twinkled. Sandy coughed to hide a grin, and then slipped her hand into John’s. They looked so cute together holding hands like that.

Miss Mountain then turned to Tyler and her face kept its serious look, but suddenly, she started putting off a whole different sort of vibe. She sniffed Tyler, but this time it was like she was sniffing a rare perfume and her eyes flared.

“When you are ready, come to me,” she said. “I’ll show you a good time.”

She flexed her legs and boobs and managed to convey that a good time with her would be long, loud, and filled with lusty heaven. And he’d better save his strength beforehand because she was going to wear him out.

Tyler gave her a big grin and a half bow.

“I thank you for the invitation,” he said simply.

Miss Mountain sniffed Annabeth next. This time her face relaxed ever so slightly.

“You are sunshine,” she said simply, and I could only agree. That was my nickname for Annabeth, although I hadn’t used it in a while. Little Miss Sunshine. I guess she smelled like a happy day too.

Miss Mountain, however, frowned slightly and leaned back.

“Be tough. Be storm!” She clenched her fist and raised it to the air.

Annabeth nodded in agreement and raised her fist in the air too. Somehow it still seemed happy.

“No! Grrrrr!” Miss Mountain growled at Annabeth and stood even taller.

“Grrrr!” Annabeth growled back and shook her fist in the air.

They looked comical together, this massive powerful woman and little Annabeth. I appreciated that she was bringing out Annabeth’s fighting spirit, though. We were going to need all the help we could get.

“Fierce!” Miss Mountain leaned down and stared Annabeth in the eyes. Annabeth held her ground and stared back as fiercely as she could.

“Good.” Miss Mountain nodded, and the tiniest of smiles graced her lips for a moment.

I was next, and after she sniffed me, Miss Mountain frowned slightly.

“You are trouble,” she said, and I almost laughed. Oh yes. I was trouble. I attracted more trouble than I wanted, that was for sure.

“Good!” she exclaimed, and just like that, I had her seal of approval. I followed Tyler’s example and gave her a half bow.

Miss Mountain looked back at John again.

“Yours?” she asked.

“Yes. They are my team,” John replied.

“Good,” she declared, and that seemed to settle it. “I will take them.”

She was as serious as a cat looking for her next meal, but I liked her. She certainly fulfilled the role of security guard very well. She looked as tough as a brick wall. There was no way I’d want to have to fight her.

She tapped Bank Stamps with all of us. Then she turned to go.

“Like the land said, fallow me.”

We all froze and looked at each other in surprise. Had she just made a pun?

No way! That was awesome!

She looked back at us, and her eyebrow cocked ever so slightly. For some reason, that made it even funnier.

“Like the weaver said, twill do,” I deadpanned back.

Her eyebrow raised a millimeter higher. Then she looked back at John.

“He’s well taught,” she declared. Then she looked at Tyler. She didn’t say anything, but she gave her juicy hips an extra wiggle as she walked away.

I gave Tyler a big grin and a quick kiss, then hurried after.

Miss Mountain plowed through the crowd like a mama goose through water. Annabeth and I were like two little goslings, staying close behind. We went through the big doors and entered a luxurious area with soft carpet, multiple sofas, fancy artwork, and bar service. I figured this was only for the premier teams, as everyone present had on team uniforms and looked tough, capable, and ready. We didn’t stop there, of course, as we were the farthest thing from a premier team. Miss Mountain continued to lead us through room after room, and as we progressed, the quality gradually dropped—both the quality of the teams and the quality of the rooms. The teams still looked capable and still looked like they had quality sponsors, but they just didn’t look as tough.

Finally, we went through the last room and ended up in a hallway that seemed to go on forever. This seemed to be a service corridor for the staff, as the teams waited on the left and the carts and supplies wheeled along on the right. I hadn’t noticed this in the rooms, but there were round placards on the floor every few feet that had a team name on them. Clearly, we all had assigned waiting places.

The teams in the rooms had ignored everyone passing through. The lesser teams were beneath them. In the hallway, however, teams were bored and taking note of everyone passing by. That’s when our status as a House team started being noticed. We started getting surprised looks as we passed by, and a murmur of conversation followed behind us.

We walked forever in what seemed to be the midtier section. The teams mostly had matching outfits, although of noticeably lower quality, but they still seemed capable.

The line turned left, then left again, and we found ourselves in the lower level teams. In this hallway nobody had matching uniforms. The best they could do was everyone wearing the same color shirt. The teams seemed younger, less in serious competition mode, and there was a lot more conversation and laughter.

At least, there was until we showed up. Then the surprised looks were often followed by glares, and the murmurs behind us started developing a darker tone.

“How are the teams organized?” I asked Miss Mountain as we hurried along.

“Power rating,” she said simply without looking back. Verbose was not a term that would ever be associated with her.

“Oh. I think we are going to be near the back of the line, then,” Annabeth said. She was practically running to keep up.

We turned right down a hallway, and now the teams were looking a lot less put together. These guys didn’t even bother wearing matching shirts. Not that we had a lot of room to talk. My t-shirt was blue, and Annabeth was wearing pink.

Miss Mountain slowed down a bit, and I noticed that many of the teams no longer had five people. Four-person teams were common, and there were even a few three-person teams here and there. Not all the teams were present, so I started scanning the floor ahead to see where our spot would be.

I glimpsed what seemed to be the end of the line ahead of us, and I shot Annabeth a worried look. Just how far down the power list were we?

The teams had seemed unfriendly, but nobody had really made a huge fuss up to this point. Then we passed one team, and this guy with wild, frizzy hair just lost it.

“A freakin’ House team?” he shrieked. “They let the House in here? I thought this was a respectable tournament.”

Oh, wow. We were almost to the end of the line.

“Hey! House Louisville! The bathroom called. They want their turds back.” Frizzy hair laughed uproariously.

We kept walking, and I noticed the second to the last spot only had one person. Surely, we ranked higher than him?

Miss Mountain kept going. Eight spots left. Four spots left.

“That’s right. Keep walking!” Frizzy was still going off. “There’s a closet back there with a broom in it. If you ask nicely, I’ll give you something to sweep up.”

The last spot.

Team House Louisville.

We ranked dead last.

Miss Mountain pointed to our place, and Annabeth and I stepped against the wall.

The single guy in front of us turned around and gave us a curious look. I glanced back up the hallway, and everyone was watching us. I thought maybe everyone was feeling nasty like Frizzy, but there were some more curious looks and more than a few expressions of pity.

“Keep walking, bitches,” Frizzy yelled. Something about us had really triggered him. “Don’t make me beat your ass, ‘cause I’ll like it!”

“Thank you so much,” Annabeth said brightly to Miss Mountain. “We appreciate your time.”

“No fighting here,” Miss Mountain instructed, motioning toward our obnoxious heckler. “Fight out there.”

“Sure thing,” we both agreed.

“Play hard. Play smart.” Miss Mountain gave us a supportive nod. “See you next round.”

We thanked her again as Frizzy kept ranting.

“You better run, House,” he yelled as Miss Mountain turned to go. “I’m coming back there, and I’m gonna beat your ass.”

He actually stepped out of line, away from his team, and that was a big mistake. Miss Mountain walked back up the hallway and slapped him.

I’ve heard the expression “Slap him silly,” but I’d never actually seen it before. She didn’t seem to put that much effort into it, but he looked like he’d been hit in the face by a wrecking ball.

Her slap actually picked him up and threw him against the wall. He bounced off, staggered for a step, and then collapsed on the ground.

He was still groaning and twitching as Miss Mountain motioned for his team to pick him up and drag him back into line again.

“No fighting,” she kept her deadpan voice, but her eyes showed her disapproval. “Don’t get disqualified.”

Frizzy’s team quickly nodded and agreed. There would be no fighting.

Miss Mountain looked up and down the line, daring any other teams to have a problem. Suddenly, everyone had a reason to look somewhere else. They were carefully not looking at us or her.

Satisfied that all was well, she gave us one last look and then headed back to the front. She seemed as serious as always, but I thought I saw a touch of amusement with a faint hint of “good luck.”

I thought we might have some further problems after she left, but we were completely ignored. Even the single guy in front of us turned around and left us alone. That was fine, as the Opening Ceremonies started promptly at noon.

We could hear the music through the walls and feel the bass vibrating the floor, but we couldn’t see anything. I’m sure the premier teams had screens set up to show all the action, but those of us in the back of the line were more of an afterthought.

My Bank Crystal offered to find us a feed to watch, but apparently, viewing it live was double the regular rate. I had a lot of pearls and would have paid anyway, but Annabeth said she’d rather not see any of the ceremony. She was nervous enough as it was.

I gave her a big hug, and then talked about other things. We sat on the floor, and Bermuda joined us for a while. He hopped up onto Annabeth’s lap and gave her purrs and love. I knew firsthand just how wonderful that was, and Annabeth soon got back to her calm, confident self.

Frizzy Hair recovered from the slap and gave us some dirty looks, but he didn’t say anything. After a while, he ignored us like everyone else was doing, and we didn’t have any more problems.

We’d gotten so settled, it was a bit of a surprise when the line started moving. We got to our feet and shuffled forward. At first, the line didn’t move that quickly. Annabeth figured the premier teams were parading first, and they were probably given lots of time to play up to the crowd. It wasn’t long before we were moving faster, though, and Bermuda got tired of walking. He cried for me to pick him up, which, of course, I did. But not before I reminded him that he was a young cat and this was a wonderful way for him to burn off some of that kitten energy.

He lay in my arms, purred, and reminded me that I was a young man and this was a great way for me to burn off my youthful energy. Plus, he was a cat and should be treated like royalty at all times. Annabeth agreed, of course, so that was that.

I’d left my backpack for Bermuda in the room. I’d figured I wouldn’t need it, so I ended up carrying him through all the hallways until we arrived at the entrance to the arena. He was having a good time, with his ears up, eyes wide, and enjoying all the new smells. The music was really loud at this point, though, and Bermuda decided he’d had enough. He hopped back into my Throne Room and curled up on his giant cat bed.

There was a float waiting for us, so we joined the last of the teams and climbed on board. It was fancy, well decorated, and layered like a cake. I guess being last was some sort of dubious honor, as Annabeth and I ended up on the top tier on our own. Once we were loaded up, we waited until the float ahead of us had gone, and then we proceeded into the arena.

The place was massive—probably as big as the arena at the Centaur Nation. The stands were filled with supporters and spectators, and they roared with excitement. We were the last float, so the tournament was going to start soon.

I scanned the crowd, looking for John, as he should stand out the most, but there were too many people. The music was rocking and the party had already started, so I found myself doing a little shimmy to the music. Annabeth joined in, and soon we were both getting down.

We were having a wonderful time until our faces appeared on the giant screens scattered throughout the place. I thought the camera guy had focused on us because of our dancing. But when the booing started, I quickly remembered that the House wasn’t liked here.

“A frown is just a smile that needs to be turned upside down,” Annabeth said as she took my hand and started waving to the crowd. I gave her a big smile and followed her lead. I gave them my best pageant wave and brightest smile as we floated around the arena as if they were cheering us on.

Despite the booing, not all the faces were mean and hostile. Some of them were curious, and some even seemed to have appreciated my dancing. I was there to win this thing, and I wasn’t going to let a stadium full of negativity get me down.

Our float arrived at our destination, and we got off. The music paused, the light dimmed, and a ridiculously handsome man appeared on the screen, flanked by four other guys. This must be the championship team we’d heard about. At least we weren’t competing against them.

“Portal engage!” he yelled, and the crowd roared. A giant arch at the far end of the arena flared with light.

“I declare this tournament open!” he finished, and the crowd went wild. The screens switched to the lead teams as they started running toward the portal. When the first team passed through and disappeared, the crowd roared again.

The screens flashed up a message about following their favorite teams live—with a small note that charges apply. Then they went back to the arena and showed more teams getting ready and heading out.

“I was hoping we’d see what was happening next,” Annabeth said.

“Me too,” I agreed. “I guess we’ll know soon enough. If this thing is a quest of quests, then going through first is a big advantage. The early teams will have figured out what’s going on and picked the best quests before we even get there.”

“That’s okay,” Annabeth said, although she sounded impatient to get started. “We’ll figure it out. We always do.”

We waited, shuffled forward, and waited some more. It felt like it was taking forever.

We waited almost two hours to get to the portal, and we finally saw what the holdup was. They were only letting people walk through in single file. With this many teams, that was a lot of people to put through.

‘Either they don’t want to overload the portal, or they want to give the premier teams as much of a head start as possible,’ my Analytical Side noted.

‘Probably a bit of both,’ I agreed.

The excitement started building, as we were down to the last hundred people. Then fifty. Then ten. Then it was our turn.

I flashed Annabeth an eager look, and stepped through.

The transition was jarring, as the pounding music and the noise of the crowds cut off, and I found myself on a large stone staging area. We were on the side of a hill, or maybe a small mountain, and the staging area looked like it had been cut out of the rock like a piece of cake. The area was big, but nowhere near as big as the floor of the arena, so it made sense why they’d limited the speed at which we’d arrived.

The sun was high overhead, but there was a breeze blowing and it wasn’t too hot. Annabeth appeared behind me as I scoped out the setting, and it was obvious where we were going.

About a mile further down our mountain was a city that looked like it had been lifted from the cover of a fantasy novel. It was encircled by a massive wall made of some sort of rose-colored stone. Wizard towers as tall as any skyscraper rose into the sky. I didn’t really know there were wizards there, but they had a magical look to them as balls of light circled their highest peaks.

At the center of the city was a beautiful castle, also made of rose stone, with its own wall and turrets. Not to be outdone by the wizard towers, it had its own lights that flowed along the wall and circled overhead.

The city was awe-inspiring and looked like it had been designed with the ‘good’ alignment in mind. There weren’t going to be any liches or demons here. Instead, I imagined we’d find centers of learning, theaters, marketplaces, clean streets, and a just king. Not that there wouldn’t still be shady thieves, murky sewers, and scheming scoundrels, but overall, this seemed like a nice place.

“Please, step this way.” A young boy with a high voice grabbed our hands and pulled us to the side. I thought he was only going to get us out of the way of the portal, but he kept pulling us all the way to the edge of the landing.

“Welcome, adventurers, to the land of the good King Wenceslas,” he said quickly. “I hope your visit with us is productive and profitable.”

“Oh, like the song?” Annabeth asked brightly.

I think the boy was mentally ready to continue his spiel, so the interruption threw him.

“I’m not sure,” he replied. “You’re the third person who’s asked that today. I don’t know nothin ‘bout no song.”

“Good King Wenceslas looked out,” Annabeth began to sing. “On the Feast of Stephen…”

The boy seemed to have lots of energy, and I got the impression that he was ready to say what he needed to say and get on to the next team. I was sure he’d already done this a lot in the past couple hours. Up to this point, we’d probably just been another group to him—no better, and hopefully no worse, than the last ones.

When Annabeth started singing, though, he froze. I didn’t realize how much he’d been fidgeting until he stopped, and I finally got a good look at him. He seemed like he belonged on a farm instead of greeting new adventurers. He had on overalls that seemed too big for him, as the legs were rolled up and the top hung down to the bottom of his chest. He had bare feet, and his hair looked like it hadn’t had a proper cut in a long time. It was freshly combed, though, and he looked clean.

Basically, he was the fantasy version of Huckleberry Finn, with a deep tan from being outside all the time and a twinkle in his eyes that said he liked to get into trouble.

Annabeth stopped after the first verse, but the boy begged her to keep going. I knew the song, but I had no idea of the lyrics. Fortunately, Annabeth did, and she kept singing. As she sang, I saw her motes of pink magic swirl through the air and settle on our young greeter. He relaxed, and a smile graced his face for the first time. That’s when I noticed that he had some jacked up teeth. The boy looked healthy for sure, even though he was a skinny little thing. But he sure needed some dental work.

I glanced around and saw he wasn’t the only one she was reaching. Other greeters had finished up with their teams and were starting to move our way. The teams that were leaving were running off the staging area, and they looked harried and frustrated.

I looked around again and realized our first test was going to be getting to the city. It was only a mile or so along our small mountain, but there wasn’t a road and the ground was rough. I could see a few other teams had decided to go that way anyway, and they were having a hard time of it. One team had given up, and it looked like they were coming back, carrying a team member who was screaming and clutching his leg.

The only road off the staging area went down the mountain to the valley, where there were lots of small farms and a tiny village. From there, a much larger road headed back towards the city.

The road wound around a lot through the farms, and it did a whole series of switchbacks as it climbed up to the city. I figured it was at least seven miles long, and it was filled with adventurers. Most of the ones near the city were on horses, but I guess they’d run out, as I saw other teams on donkeys, and one team that looked like they were on goats. The goats were fast and full of energy, but they hopped a lot and the team looked miserable.

Those not on animal transportation were running down the mountain and across the valley. Going up the switchbacks to the city had to have been taxing, though, as I saw most of the teams had slowed to a walk.

I felt anxious that Annabeth was taking the time to sing a song, but the looks on the faces of the greeters calmed me down a bit. I was used to Annabeth humming and singing all the time, so it was normal to me now. For them, though, it seemed like they were listening to an angel.

Five long verses later, Annabeth finished, and her admirers burst into enthusiastic applause.

“Can you sing another song?” the boy asked, holding her hand. He looked so freakin’ cute, and Annabeth wavered for a moment. Someone needed to be the bad guy, though, so I stepped in.

“I’m so sorry, but we have to go,” I said gently. “We’re the last team to arrive, and we’re already at the very back of the pack. We have to win this tournament, so unfortunately, we have to make up as much time as possible. Do you have any way for us to get to the city quickly?”

“We don’t have no more horses,” he said. “That’s what all the adventurers want. But if you’re wanting to get to the city real fast, then a horse ain’t the best way anyhow.”

“Oh?” Annabeth queried. “How should we get to the city? I’m sure you know best.”

She gave him her trademark smile, and he beamed back.

“The fastest way is over the rocks,” he said, pointing higher up the mountain. “I can take you if you want. We don’t have nothing else to rent anyway. Since you’re the last adventurers, I gotta go there anyhow.”

“That sounds great,” Annabeth said. “That is going to be a big help, and thank you for taking us. We’re ready to go any time you are.”

She gestured for him to lead the way. The boy started to go, but then he turned back sadly.

“Papa says I can’t do nothing for free. Especially when it’s your kind. He’ll be mad as hell if I don’t charge you.”

Several of the other guides watching us nodded their heads in agreement. I’m sure they looked at adventurers as a source of income. The only question was, how badly were we going to get taken for?

“Well, I certainly don’t want your dad to be angry with you,” Annabeth said. “How much do you charge for your services?”

“We charge two pearls for horses,” the boy said promptly. “But when we started running out, they were paying as much as ten pearls for goats. Since I’m all you’ve got, how about we say ten pearls?”

He looked hopeful, and a little greedy.

Annabeth just laughed like he’d said the funniest thing.

“Ahhhh. That was good,” she said as she wound down. “I needed that. They say laughter is the best medicine. Now, you’re about a tenth as big as a horse, so how about we say one pearl. Good?”

“I see what you mean,” the boy said, getting into the spirit of the game. “But I’m getting you there even faster than a horse, so I have to charge at least six pearls.”

“That makes sense,” Annabeth smiled back. “But we can ride a horse. I don’t think you can carry both of us, though. So I’m still thinking one pearl is a fair price.”

They went back and forth a few times, with Annabeth saying we were in last place because we were poor, and the boy saying he had to please his dad, his mom, and his fourteen sisters. Or they were all going to beat him. The claims got a bit outrageous and funny, but they settled on three pearls and a promise that Annabeth would sing him another song if we had a moment.

I had no idea Annabeth was good at haggling, but she’d managed to get a much better price than I would have. They’d just spit on their hands and shook to seal the deal, when we were interrupted by an older man who I could only assume was his dad.

He limped through the guides around us and put his hand on his son’s shoulder while he glared at us.

“You ain”t going nowhere,” he growled. “You know how dangerous these adventurers are. Anything could happen to you while you’re out there.”

“But, Papa!” the boy exclaimed. “The lady is so sweet. She won’t hurt me. You should hear her sing!”

“I don’t care,” he said. “You are staying right here with me where I can keep an eye on you and you can’t get into no trouble.”

“But, Papa,” the boy exclaimed again. “We’ve already shaken on it. I’m getting three pearls! I’m better than a horse!”

The man glared down at him. “You didn’t talk to me first? You didn’t think I’d say no?! How dare you shake on a deal when I’m putting food on your table! I’ve raised you better than that.”

The man was getting louder and louder, but the boy glared right back.

“I figured you’d say no,” he said defiantly. “That’s why I did it as quick as I could before you showed up and ruined everything.”

The man opened his mouth in outrage, but nothing came out. Then he couldn’t help it and cracked a grin.

“You little rascal,” he said and cuffed the boy lightly on the back of the head. “What am I going to do with you? Eh?”

“You’re going to love me like you always do,” the boy said mischievously and gave his papa a quick hug.

“Ahhh!” the father growled and hugged him back. “You have too much of your mother in you. You still can’t go, though. Adventurers are not to be messed with.”

He seemed very adamant about that, and suddenly, I had a hunch.

“I know that many adventurers are assholes,” I spoke up, “but not all of us are. I’m guessing that you’ve had a bad experience with our kind and now you have a limp as a reminder?”

“Damn right,” he growled. “We are just things to you. A means to an end. We put up with the abuse because we have to, and in exchange, you pay us to get ahead in this game you play. But if we don’t fetch a horse fast enough and you”re in a foul mood, then you take it out on us.

“We used to guide adventurers when they requested it, but no longer. Now we know how dangerous it is, and I am certainly not sending my son into danger. Your weapons are just too powerful, and you are too eager to use them.”

He sounded very stubborn, and I was pretty sure that no matter how much we assured him how harmless we were, he wasn’t going to let his son go with us. Unless I did something drastic.