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“Gelu’gladis.” Kaely’s voice is both a sneer and a whisper. A promise of death.
Ice. She has chosen to end me with ice.
I can only watch as she stretches sapphire light into a sword. My heart pounds furiously against my rib cage as the frozen blade solidifies.
I squeeze my eyes shut and brace myself for the caress of death. But it does not come. Neither does the bite of the frozen sword.
“Ignir’muriz.”
My eyes snap back open. Archmage Gidston stands between us. A fiery shield encases her, and it blazes so brightly the amber light glints across the arena’s marble.
Kaely’s frozen sword dissolves as it touches the flaming shield. Disappointment descends over her expression as a dense shadow. Disappointment that she could not defeat me once and for all.
“That is enough!” Archmage Gidston booms, her shout tremendous enough to make the clouds tremble. Even Kaely flinches. “Your victory has already been earned, Adept Calton. If you continue, you will end up killing her.”
Shame brands my cheeks, as scorching as the inferno Kaely hurled at me.
Kaely raises her brows in apparent surprise. “Reyna should be able to withstand my attacks. She is the Grandmage’s daughter.”
Her words might sound unassuming—respectful even—to everyone else, but I can hear the mockery in her voice. I clench my left fist. My other hand still clasps my shoulder. Through the cerulean fabric of my adept robes, I feel my skin throbbing where the blast struck.She was so close to killing me.
“Indeed,” Archmage Gidston says, turning to me. “She is.”
Her words are cold and pensive, and I can’t tell what she’s considering. Perhaps how unlike my father I am. When he was an adept at the Arcanium, he was known as a prodigy, while I am a useless and lazy adept.
“Conparios.” Magic bursts from the Archmage’s hands and radiates out. When the light fades, a small vial remains on her palm. It’s barely larger than her little finger, and frothy green liquid churns within like fluorescent slime.
As unappetizing as it appears, the sight of the healing elixir relieves me enough to straighten my posture. But I continue clutching my shoulder to suppress as much of the pain as I can.
“Catch, Ashbourne,” the Archmage says as she tosses the vial to me. In the next breath, she muttersventrezand a wind spell swirls from her fingers, blowing the small container across the arena and into my hands.
I tear off the cork, tip back my head, and deposit the entire contents into my mouth. The potion tastes like rotten eggs and has a lumpy texture that reminds me of liquified slugs, but I swallow it all in a single gulp and try to cough none up. Hopefully the potion will work quickly enough to banish my pain and minimize any bruising.
Archmage Gidston doesn’t watch and instead turns to address the other adepts. “Now that the last pair have finished dueling, your lesson is over for today. You are all dismissed.” She offers us no words of praise, but she never does. I’m yet to see the Archmage of Knowledge impressed with any of our performances.
The adepts scramble from their seats, and one by one they murmurlaxusand disappear into clouds of violet light. Aether scatters across the arena and glitters in the wind.
Archmage Gidston follows them, likely teleporting back to somewhere inside the Arcanium. In addition to overseeing its daily running, she also calls it her home. She lives somewhere in the upper levels, but I don’t know where exactly. That part of the Arcanium is banned to mere adepts. Actually, most of it is, aside from the teaching rooms and the library. While my father is the Grandmage of Nolderan, and arguably the most powerful sorcerer in the world, even I am forbidden from entering areas restricted to official magi.
When all the other adepts have teleported out of the arena, only three of us remain: me, Kaely, and Eliya.
Eliya bounds over to me with such speed she almost sends me flying back onto the stone floor, and her unruly crimson hair dances around her heart-shaped face. Fortunately, she brings herself to an abrupt halt before reaching me.
“Reyna!” she exclaims, clutching my shoulders and shaking me. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?”
I don’t mention that her fingers are pressing deeply into my left shoulder, the one which was injured by Kaely’s aether blast. The healing elixir hasn’t yet kicked in. Maybe in ten more minutes it will, but I expect my wound to be tender for a few days.
“I’m fine,” I mumble. If Kaely weren’t here, I would be more honest. I try to stand tall and proud, but I’m somewhat hunched because of the injury.
Kaely lifts her chin, doing her best to look down at me. Only figuratively, though, since she is much shorter than me. Sometimes I wonder whether she hates me because I’m almost twice her height.
Our eyes lock together. I think she will say something, but she instead draws aether into her fingers and mutterslaxus, fading away without another word.
Then only Eliya and I are left standing here, surrounded by the arena’s towering walls and thousands of empty stone seats. Against its sheer size, I feel as insignificant as an ant. Perhaps I am. Today I was horribly defeated by Kaely and failed to put up a decent fight against her.
I let out a heavy sigh.
“It wasn’tthatbad,” Eliya says.
