The first route I tried seemed simple enough, until giant bolts of crackling lightening appeared out of nowhere. They struck the ground with frightening intensity, spawning a huge grass fire that rapidly spread.
There were large barrels of sand nearby. I realized they were probably reminiscent of the barley sacks we’d been required to push and conjure the previous week, an aid to those that could exert the casting necessary to reap their benefits. Unfortunately I knew from past experience it would be a futile effort. The bags were easily twice if not three times the weight of the sacks we’d used earlier on, and I’d been less than successful with those.
I had no way of cutting a path across the flames.
Ahead of me some of the first-years, including the prince, were conjuring up two of the barrels. They spilled a trail of sand across the fire. The flames nearest the group were immediately extinguished.
I considered running after, but I held back.
My choice was justified a minute later when a desperate boy shoved his way past in an attempt to utilize their opening. I stopped what I was doing to watch the chain of events unfold. One of the first-years pointed. Eve whirled around and sent the surrounding sand flying so that Ralph was encased in a circle of hungry flames. The boy was trapped. Like me, Ralph did not have the magic necessary to conjure an escape.
I turned away and started off after a group of first-years to my left.
A minute later I heard Ralph cry out for Piers.
One down, four to go. Maybe we wouldn’t have to worry about those tokens after all.
First-years were starting to act merciless. It did not surprise me in the least that Darren’s friends had been the first to lead the charge.
The new path I took was more challenging than the last, and it was the one more traveled. I was following a horde of scrambling first-years up the rocky side of a cliff. Many members of the constable’s staff hid out behind boulders. I had to be doubly careful. The assisting mages were casting arrows as well.
Eventually our group reached a dead end. Before us was a raging stream, easily twenty feet across. Its waters were white, dangerous, and not particularly appealing. There was no other way to get around. It was immediately evident that if we were to continue our trek, we would have to cross the slippery logs and moss-covered stones to the other side.
Like the fire and its barrels of sand, I recognized this challenge as another of Piers’s makeshift obstacles. Only instead of a tightrope and shattered glass, we were now expected to cross a river. The commander and Master Cedric had stuck us in the middle of a real-life obstacle course.
Cautiously, I started my way across, following the crowd of first-years in front. Seconds into my progress a girl in front of me lost balance. She cast out her magic just in time, a long pole stuck out from the river to hold her in place. As I approached the same slippery rock, I reached out to grab her stake for extra support. It vanished.
The girl laughed loudly. She was one of Priscilla’s friends. I should have known better.
I barely kept my balance, and I would have fallen if Alex hadn’t caught my sleeve at just the right moment. Apparently, he’d been forced to take a deviation from his original route as well.
“Thanks,” I told my twin.
His eyes were locked on the shore ahead. “Thank me when it’s over.”
By the time we had crossed the stream, we were even further behind than when we had started. Another group of first-years had passed, having used their combined magic to secure a long climbing rope atop an extremely tall pine in the distance.
“Ry, behind you!”
I spun just in time to conjure a defense against the downward swing of my attacker. It was the same servant I had faced during that first day of Combat.
Our staffs collided with a loud smack. The man rushed off, having lost any advantage now that the element of surprise was gone.
“That was close,” I breathed as Alex grabbed my arm, dragging me forward.
“Come on,” he panted. “We’ve got to get to the chest before all the tokens are gone.”
I rushed after him, breathing heavily as we climbed the increasingly steep face of the bluff. We had just reached a level break when I caught sight of its clearing.
Just beyond reach, a cluster of first-years was engaged in a full-on assault with Darren and his friends. The non-heir’s group was fewer in number, but it didn’t seem to matter.
I could see Darren throwing out blasts of howling wind, knocking his opponents to the ground with the sweep of a hand. In a matter of seconds he had disarmed a large group and given his team an opening.
Meanwhile, Jake and his burly brother William were conjuring daggers mid-air. The blades were quickly embedding themselves in the remaining rivals’ limbs.
It was a blood bath.
Alex and I didn’t move, waiting instead for the prince’s friends to finish their attack and pass. I watched from a distance as they ended the skirmish and took inventory of their surroundings. They had just begun to move out when Darren turned around.