Markov looked to Narach and the wizened master waved him forward. ‘Go on. The sooner this is finished the sooner we can get back to the Vault.’
Markov set down the chest of wands and dutifully stepped forward with a slump in his shoulders.
‘Roll up your sleeve … arm out … good.’ Duvarek circled Markov. ‘The paralysis wears off after a few hours, but it can take as little as an hour if you are young and healthy.’ Duvarek raised the wand and tapped the sleeve of Markov’s right arm. The boy flinched, but nothing happened. Duvarek poked him in the leg, chest and ribs. Again, nothing happened.
‘The rod doesn’t work unless you touch bare skin. If you do that …’ Duvarek tapped Markov’s bare arm and it fell limp to his side. Murmurs of interest broke out among the avatars.
‘Steward Markov, did that hurt?’
The steward shrugged his good shoulder. ‘It is uncomfortable, but not painful.’ Duvarek glanced to Edra, who stepped behind Markov.
‘Touch a bare limb and it goes slack,’ Duvarek continued. ‘Touch the head, neck or spine, and the whole body will be paralysed.’ Markov saw what was coming and closed his eyes, resigned to it. Duvarek tapped the wand on Markov’s spine and he flinched, but nothing happened. The steward visibly relaxed.
‘Remember,’ Duvarek said, ‘it has to be bare skin.’
The master poked Markov in the neck and his body crumpled, falling limp into Master Edra’s waiting arms. One of the acolytes gasped while a few of the avatars began murmuring. Edra dragged the steward’s body to the side of the room and propped him against the wall. Duvarek dropped the rod back inside the box.
‘You will each have a rod in addition to the medallion you have received. You have one hour to collect as many medallions as possible, ideally using stealth instead of physical combat. Stun your fellow students and take their badges.’ Duvarek looked to Edra. ‘Does that cover everything?’
‘Almost,’ Edra said. He reached beneath his tunic and pulled out a small key tied to a leather thong. ‘Avatars and acolytes taking your test tomorrow. Whichever one of you gathers the most badges will receive this.’ He waved the iron key at the male students. ‘I won’t tell you what it’s for – you’re all smart enough to pick a lock – but it will give you an advantage in tomorrow’s Test of Judgement.’
Another advantage! Annev studied the key, suddenly more alert. Maybe that could make up for Fyn’s head start. He nodded to himself, committed. He would win that key.
Duvarek took up the black box. ‘That’s it. Boys, take your wands from me, then find a position in the nave.’ He glanced at the wit-apprentices. ‘Ladies, you will collect yours from Witmistress Kiara. You will all wait for my whistle to begin.’
Chapter Eight
Therin and Titus followed Annev through the maze of hanging panels.
‘Shouldn’t we be hiding?’ Therin asked, peering up at the curtains as they ran past. ‘We could climb these drapes and get a drop on anyone that walks by.’
‘Or we could hide under the pews,’ Titus said from the back. ‘I don’t think I could hang from those curtains for an hour.’
‘Later,’ Annev said, weaving towards the dais at the front of the nave. ‘Our tunics stand out in the darkness. If we want to be stealthy, we need to cover them. We should try to cover more of our skin, too.’ He climbed the steps to the dais and headed for the altar.
‘How do we manage that?’ Therin asked, a few steps behind him.
Annev stopped beside the pile of black fabric behind the altar. ‘With these.’ He tossed a piece to Therin. ‘Wrap them around your body – legs, arms, torso. Cover everything you can, but especially your tunic.’ He tossed another scrap to Titus.
Therin started wrapping the cloth around his legs. ‘You know, if we tore these into smaller strips we could wrap them around our hands and faces. No one could stun us!’
Annev wrapped his torso with the discarded fabric. ‘That’s what I was thinking. They could probably get us to drop the rods if they touch our fingers, but if they have to poke us between the eyes to stun us, we’ll have a big advantage.’
‘It’ll be harder to move, though,’ Titus said, carefully weaving the black cloth around his arm. ‘Harder to climb, or crawl under those benches.’
‘Go easy around your joints,’ Annev said, flexing one arm. ‘That should help.’ They went to work in earnest, wrapping their limbs, loins, hands and faces, helping each other as needed.
A piercing whistle came from the other end of the nave.
‘We’re off,’ Therin said, lowering his voice as he tucked his wand beneath his cloth wrapping. He looked down at the gold handle poking out from beneath his black rags and tsked. ‘That’ll stand out when we’re swinging from the curtains.’ He shifted his wrappings and covered the gold handle as well. ‘That’s better.’
‘You’re really going to climb them?’ Titus asked.
‘Sure. We don’t have to fight anyone, just surprise them. Probably one of the few times I’ll have an advantage over someone like Fyn.’
Annev slid his Rod of Paralysis beneath the cloth wrappings on his hip. ‘One of us should climb to the rafters and see if we can spot anyone. If we do, we can signal the other two.’
‘I’ll go up if you promise to split the medallions,’ Therin volunteered. ‘I can’t stun anyone if I’m acting as a scout.’
‘Sure.’ He looked to Titus. ‘You coming? If we stick to the curtains at the edge of the dais, no one can sneak up behind us.’
The younger boy let out his breath and nodded. ‘Yeah,’ he said, forcing a smile. ‘I can’t hang from those curtains for too long, but I’ll do my best.’ He slid his Rod of Paralysis into the wrappings at his waist – and instantly crumpled to the ground.
‘Balls, Titus!’ Therin swore, jumping back from his friend. ‘What’d you do?’
‘Titus?’ Annev knelt beside his fallen friend, already guessing what had happened.
Titus frowned and propped himself up from the waist. He tried to turn over but his legs wouldn’t cooperate. His face went pale. ‘I think … I paralysed my legs.’
Therin struggled to keep his voice down. ‘Are you serious?’
Titus nodded, eyes watering. Annev carefully pulled the Rod of Paralysis out from under his friend’s wrappings. ‘I can’t move them at all. I doubt I could even get into one of those crawl spaces.’
The murmured creak of metal rings rubbing against wooden poles suddenly echoed throughout the nave, prompting all three boys to look up. Cloth panels jerked and rippled around them, and one of the curtains near the dais billowed softly. Therin licked his lips and looked at Annev. ‘Everyone’s on the move. I can’t get caught in the open, I won’t stand a chance.’
Annev nodded, understanding. ‘Go. I’ll stay with Titus.’