Adept Read online

  Eva and I sat down next to each other, our swordswomen to our sides. Adept Valla then organized the events, three-on-one for the newest journeywomen or the ones expected to do poorly, and four-on-one for the rest. Some of the women won. Some did not. She ran the events one at a time and critiqued them afterwards. She ran through everyone once, Eva and I having already gone once, then she switched to running two at a time at opposite sides of the field. She gave each of the women two more tries, skipping Eva and me. Anyone who won a round found herself facing an additional swordsman for her next round, or in the case of Dalla, she went from four to six to seven. She won the first two but seven was enough to beat her.

  Dalla was good. She'd been a journeywoman much longer than Eva and I had been, and she hadn't wasted the time.

  "All right," Adept Valla said. "Eva and Kia, you're up."

  We climbed to our feet. "How many opponents?" I asked.

  She grinned. "All of them."

  "Excuse me?" I asked.

  "Well, half each. They'll come in waves." Eva and I both turned to stare at her. And then we realized that not only were the swordsmen and women around who we frequently saw, but most of the instructors from the school were there, along with their swordsmen.

  "You planned this event."

  Quartain stepped forward. "We sure did."

  "Did you plan us together or separate."

  "Together."

  I turned to Eva. "It just turned into us versus them."

  "It sure did," she said. "Cancel the wager."

  "No," said Adept Valla. "The wager stands."

  I laughed. "But you won't stop us from cooperating?"

  "Of course not."

  I turned back to Eva. "I don't care about the wager. We play to win."

  "Yes, we do," she agreed.

  "What are our rules?" I asked.

  "You may cast no spells within twenty yards of my position," said Adept Valla. "If you do so, I will implement a penalty. If you hit me with a spell, then you may find the senior magus implementing a penalty instead."

  "Understood," Eva said.

  "Otherwise, the standard restrictions are in place. You may begin casting whatever you want when I call begin."

  Eva and I didn't even need to confer. We moved easily onto the field. I followed off her left shoulder just like Lunia frequently stood at my shoulder. We moved to the far side and then cut to the right, moving down field about halfway before turning around.

  "Begin!" Adept Valla called. Immediately ten of the swordsmen moved onto the field from Valla's position. I didn't have a spell ready, and my best tangle spell took time. So instead I used one of my weaker tangle spells. I peppered the ground in an arc in front of us. While I did that, Eva began casting on the approaching swordsmen and women, striking them in the chest as they ran to us. She got three, my tangle spells got four more, and then the last three were almost on us. I got a light spell into Odarn's eyes, and we both ducked to his side. He got in the way of Bryce and Garrison. Eva nailed Bryce with a paralyze and I got Garrison.

  We turned, moving towards our right, and saw there were twelve more swordsmen coming after us. I immediately began peppering the ground with tangle spells and we backed away. Eva coolly cast spell after spell as we retreated. We got them all tangled and several paralyzed, and then there were twelve more entering the field.

  And I saw some of the first I'd caught untangle themselves.

  "Hey!" I complained. I glanced over, and I saw Iladarta concentrating on taking down my spells.

  "If Iladarta gets more than twenty yards from Valla," I said, "Take her out."

  "Seriously?"

  I cast more tangle spells. Eva cast more paralyze spells, and we continued to back away.

  "She's cheating, she's cancelling my spells."

  We got a breather, and I tossed paralyze at the closest swordsmen.

  But then we were facing twenty of them. More got tangled in the spells that Iladarta hadn't dispelled yet.

  "Right," Eva said. "We have to go right."

  We both sent paralyze spells at the nearest opponents, moving towards our right. Jaagar almost got Eva, but I blasted him with a light spell. What was Quartain's swordsman doing out here?

  It was Nalteed that scored the first strike, a glancing blow on my ankle. It didn't numb my entire leg, but I tripped and fell. Eva stopped and protected me while I used her as a post to climb to my feet, throwing spells behind me as I did so. Then I quickly built a huge light spell and blasted it into the ground in front of us. We moved away from it, but it confused the swordsmen on the other side for several blessed seconds.

  "There's something like forty of them out here!" Eva complained. "And they're getting back up."

  I glanced over and saw most of the magi were casting.

  "Take out Cardartina!" I said. She was well clear of Adept Valla. Eva didn't even question it. I protected us while she built her best paralyze and sent it after the adept. Cardartina wasn't even watching for it, and Eva caught her square in the chest.

  We continued to retreat, but at least half of the swordsmen were up, and the magi were busily freeing the rest. I built my best tangle and set it into the ground in front of us, and then we were backed to the far corner with nowhere to go.

  So, I began dropping my biggest light spells in a line in front of the magi, keeping them at least twenty paces from Valla. Eva continued to drop swordsmen, but they were getting closer and closer.

  "A little help here!"

  I paralyzed Lunia and watched her fall into my tangle. Loralai immediately stepped onto her back, avoiding the tangle, but I got her, too.

  "Make a path to our right," I said. "Use a push."

  I kept dropping swordsmen, building a wall of bodies in front of us, and slowly we edged to the right as Eva pushed them out of our way.

  I glanced over, and the magi had cleared away my wall of light and were dispelling all our spells.

  So, I lobbed a tangle spell beyond Valla. "Push Valla twenty yards straight back. I concede our wager if they retaliate against you."

  Eva didn't wait. She nailed Valla and gave her a huge push. The adept practically flew into my tangle, then Eva nailed her with a sleep spell besides.

  I tossed down more tangles as we edged right, then I began taking out the adepts and magi. Then my spells began bouncing off their shields, but still they didn't cast back on us.

  "Oh shit!" Eva said. "Someone just stripped my magic from me!"

  "Quartain paid you for Valla," I said. "Be my eyes and try to get your magic back." I slammed down two more tangles then began to focus on Iladarta. I slammed spells into her as hard as I could.

  "Status?"

  "Need another tangle."

  I dropped one and let Eva lead me around the field, returning my focus to Iladarta. She got more aggressive dispelling my tangles, but then I got a paralyze through, winging her leg. She fell to her side but put up a fresh shield. I battered it for a while, dropped more tangles, and then Lunia was there. I blasted her with a light spell in the eyes, but she got my left arm before we moved away from her.

  "Any magic?"

  "You'll be the second to know," Eva replied. "Left!"

  She pulled me left, and then I blasted Henta with a paralyze. I knew it wouldn't keep her down long. I set out two more tangles, and we moved right through them, the grass tickling our feet but not tangling us.

  I put my focus back on Iladarta. Two tangles, then six casts against her shields. Two tangles and six casts. Finally, I got through and nailed her in the chest. She went down, and I tossed a tangle after her.

  "Yes!" I said. "I got Iladarta."

  She was the only one here who could dispel my tangles, or so I hoped.

  "Cardartina is back up," Eva said.

  We continued to retreat, and we began making headway, my tangles doing a better job. I didn't bother with anything else, unless someone came too close. When I got a chance, I picked the nearest magi and went to work on her shiel
ds.

  "Forget them," Eva said. "Take down the swordsmen and we win."

  "I don't think so," I said. I put down more tangles; the entire field was full of tangle spells by now. Iladarta was still working on them, but it was slower, and she hadn't taken care of the paralyze I'd sent her way. She should have; maybe that was part of the game.

  "I'm taking down Quartain," I said.

  "You'll never get through her shields," Eva said.

  I sent tangle spells all along the sidelines, catching absolutely everyone watching, including the magi. A few fell over and become hopelessly tangled. Unless Iladarta freed them, or they burned out the grass, they were stuck that way.

  But Quartain didn't drop. She let the grass tangle her feet but stood there. I watched her magic for a moment, and I realized that while she wasn't neutralizing my tangle spells, she was somehow wriggling my captives free, one at a time, and it didn't take her that long to do it.

  I knocked everyone down I could then began sending spell after spell after Quartain. Then I dropped six of my best light spells around her, but she gestured and they all faded instantly. She looked over at me and bowed her head, smiling, then went back to freeing the swordsmen.

  "Damn it," I said. "I think we're going to lose, Eva."

  "What gave you that idea?" Then she pulled me to face her and kissed me deeply, right there on the field. "I love you, Kia."

  "I love you, too."

  And I went back to hammering on Quartain's shields with my feeble spells.

  Ploardo got through while I wasn't paying enough attention. My tangle got him, but he managed to strike Eva's left leg with his sword. She wrapped an arm around my neck, and together we hobbled backwards.

  For his hard work, I hit him with a paralyze to go with the tangles. Then I tossed paralyze spells at everyone I could see. We backed way further.

  I wasn't getting anywhere on Quartain, so I began hammering at the other adepts, ignoring the magi. I got Balarta and Cardartina again, then Clarma and Malla. I couldn't see Martala, so I dropped another paralyze on Iladarta and began hammering at Magus Philene.

  "That's not going to work," Eva said. "Take down the swordsmen!"

  "I don't think there's a timer," I said. But I shifted focus and dropped everyone I could see.

  Iladarta got herself free of the tangle, so I dropped another one on her and hit her with another paralyze.

  We continued to circle left, the swordsmen at times dragging themselves after us.

  "Our path is blocked, Kia," Eva said. "All the swordswomen are waiting for us."

  "I'm getting tired," I said. I dropped six tangle spells in an arc around us and then went back to work on Quartain. Eva grew increasingly frantic. "The swordsmen, Kia!"

  "Quartain is the key," I said.

  Lunia was five feet away. On the other side, Nate was eight feet. The rest were a little further but not much. I dropped paralyze spells on the nearest ones then went back to Quartain.

  One of my spells almost made it through. She staggered and nearly fell, then looked over at me and frowned. I immediately tossed another spell at her, but she refreshed her shields, and I swore.

  "What?"

  "I thought maybe they wouldn't refresh shields," I said. I went back to paralyzing the swordsmen and women, but they were getting closer and closer, and I couldn't drop them faster than the magi were releasing them.

  Then Iladarta must have freed herself. I felt my tangle spells collapsing. The swordsmen came faster, and a minute later, Eva and I went down.

  The swordsmen weren't nice about it, and we both ended up with numerous bruises I would heal later. They then dragged our limp bodies and dropped us in front of Quartain. "Your prisoners, Senior Magus Quartain," Henta said.

  They left us there, ignoring us while they untangled everyone from the spells. It took a long time, and Eva and I both collected more slaps from swords. Lunia began bitching out some of the swordsmen.

  "We owe them a few," one of the men said. I didn't recognize his voice.

  "Touch them again, and Loralai and I will start telling them who they owe for the bruises," Lunia growled.

  "Lunia is right," Ploardo said.

  "Oh please," said the man's voice. "You're half in love with both of them."

  "Shut up, you idiot!"

  I listened carefully then lifted my magic, building a paralyze spell. I waited for the man to speak, and I sent the spell at him.

  I heard a body drop.

  There was silence, then Lunia knelt next to me. "Good shot." She kissed my forehead.

  Quartain hadn't noticed the dispute, but she finally returned to us and asked, "What happened to Dickens?"

  "Justice," said Ploardo. "Leave him there until it wears off."

  "Oh dear," Quartain said. "Kia dropped him?"

  "We presume," Lunia said. "He's lucky she did it instead of Loralai and me."

  "Well, well," said Quartain. "We'll deal with that later. Leave him there, Erin." She knelt down next to Eva and released her from the effects of the spell before turning to me. Our swordswomen helped us sit up.

  I turned to Eva. "I guess we lost," she said. "I didn't see who went down first, you or me."

  "You conceded the wager if Quartain retaliated for Valla."

  "Oh, you're right," I said. I bowed my head to her. "Laundry and pampering."

  "Just the pampering," she said. "It was the right choice."

  "Very gracious," Quartain said. "Well, are you going to stand up?"

  We climbed to our feet. Quartain hugged us each. "That was beautiful to watch. Why did you focus on me, Kia?"

  "I thought you were the key," I said. "I thought that's how we were supposed to win."

  She laughed. "You weren't supposed to win."

  "I figured that out when you renewed the shields," I replied. I shrugged. "I'm not sure what else we did wrong."

  "We didn't actually think you would go after us," Quartain said. "We just didn't know how to give you more swordsmen to fight than we have available."

  Eva turned and socked me in the arm. "You got to have all the fun!"

  "Ow!" I said, rubbing my arm. "If we hadn't taken out Iladarta, we wouldn't have lasted half that long."

  "Probably true," Quartain said. "You weren't supposed to last more than two or three minutes. That was nearly thirty."

  I turned to Eva. "It didn't seem so hard."

  "Yeah," she said. "Tell her that so she makes it harder next time. Good thinking, Kia."

  We laughed together. "That was fun," Eva said. "When can we do it again?" I asked.

  "The gods save us from cocky journeywomen," Quartain said.

  * * * *

  After that, the main event was anticlimactic. I had learned adept-level shields, and if I had enough time, I could even assemble a magus-level shield, but it took me fifteen minutes to prepare, and so I didn't use it on Sevenday.

  Eva, however, was using adept-level spells as well, and I remained susceptible to them. My shields lasted longer, but she always got through eventually, if she didn't make any mistakes.

  I could get through her shields, if she let me, but she could rebuild her shields in seconds, and it took me two minutes or longer to work my way through them. In other words, I couldn't beat her and never would, not one-on-one.

  But sometimes Lunia and I together beat her. She was still susceptible to my best tangle spell. She could camouflage her way through the lesser copies, but she hadn't learned to hide from my best yet. But that one took time to build, and I didn't usually have time to prepare it.

  We were, of course, on opposite teams for the main event. "You know, we could focus on helping the others learn," I told her.

  "I will," she said, "as soon as I’ve captured you." She paused. "Sarai chose Dickens this week." Dickens had been the one giving us unnecessary bruises.

  "So she did. I wouldn't suppose you're going to let me do something about it?" Sarai was on Eva's team. "It will take me a minute or so to get through
Sarai's shields on him."

  "Let you? I intend to help. I'll meet you in the middle on your right side. We'll each retreat to our respective ends once we deal with him."

  I laughed. "I'm almost empty, though. Don't bother playing with me this week."

  She nodded.

  When Adept Valla called, "Begin," I strode towards the center right. Eva hadn't disappeared, and we met together. A few people glanced our way, but no one sent a spell towards us. I looked through the melee to find Dickens and began throwing spells at him. It was difficult to make sure I hit him instead of anyone else, but I lifted the spells over his head then waited to drop them straight down.

  "Hang on," Eva said. Then she sent two spells I could barely see. "Okay, his shields are down."

  I dropped a paralyze spell on him. Eva threw something, and then she was dragging him out of the melee. What surprised me was that the swordsmen and women all smacked him with their swords as we dragged him through their assembled mass.

  "Oh, I think he annoyed more than the four of us," Lunia said.

  "Anyone else who was a poor sportsman?" Eva asked.

  "A few, but none as egregious," Loralai said. "This gets the message across."

  Eva dragged him to our feet. I slowly and deliberately built my best tangle and dropped it underneath him. Soon the swordsman was buried under a mass of clinging grasses.

  "Hey!" Eva complained. The spell waved at us, too.

  "It recognizes a friend," I said. "But it might change its mind shortly. I'd go around it later, just to be safe." I paused. "Did you deafen him?"

  "No. Should I?"

  I didn't comment. Instead I knelt down next to him. The way he blinked up and his eyes didn't track to me, I figured she had blinded him.

  "Dickens, it was just a game, forty to two, and you got angry because we defended ourselves anyway. Do you like hitting women? What is wrong with you?" I didn't expect answers.

  I climbed to my feet and turned to Eva.

  "Retreat to your end," she said. "Light him up when you're ready. I won't hold any spells ready until I see you hit him. We'll be starting even."

  "More or less. I'm the less."

  She laughed and kissed me quickly before she and Loralai began to retreat. Lunia and I moved backwards to our side as well. I paused then hit Dickens with a large light spell right at about his middle. And I wasn't going to dispel it later, either.