Anne was sitting next to him. She gave me a questioning look, and I wondered if somehow she could sense the new power within me.
Across the room, on the other side of the long dining table, Helen and Harriet sat statue-like upon two chairs. Hanging above them on the wall was a silver shield that had not been there before. A circular piece at its center was missing.
“Have a seat,” Anne said, motioning to a lone chair, opposite the twins. Above it was another identical shield with the center piece also missing.
I moved to the chair and sat down. “Musical chairs? Isn’t this a little first grade?”
No one said a word, so I exhaled loudly. Did they all have to be so damned serious? I didn’t think it was written anywhere that one couldn’t have both power and a sense of humor.
Just then, my grandfather raised his right arm. At the same time, a spinning silver disk rose from the balcony with a quiet hum. It was no bigger than my fist and had razor sharp edges. When it reached the center of the room, my grandfather lowered his arm, and the disk dropped to the middle of the long table. Painted on its top was the Segur family crest.
He spoke: “The first one to get the crest to their opponents shield wins. There are no rules. Begin.”
“Wait!” I cried when the room was plunged into darkness. I’d hoped for at least a countdown or something!
I heard the metal disk scrape the table as it lifted into the air. Act quickly! I “opened” my eyes, the darkness only an illusion created by the twins. The disk was flying directly toward the shield above me. I whispered, “Subsisto”, and the disk stopped, floating a couple of feet away. I took hold of it, and, with as much strength as I could muster, flipped it back toward them. Their eyes followed the disk’s movement until they managed to stop its progression. We both mentally pushed on it from opposite directions, suspending it in midair.
To distract them, I created an illusion of my own. It took just a thought to make the ceiling seem like it was moving. The sound was deafening as it creaked and groaned. Pieces of it appeared to fall to the floor.
Harriet flinched briefly, giving me the upper hand. The disk flew in their direction, but she quickly recovered and rejoined Helen’s steady gaze upon the disk, stopping it just above their heads.
A loud pop made me jump. The ceiling lights exploded one by one; glass fell like a sudden burst of rain. Razor sharp shards of glass stung my skin.
This was not an illusion.
Unable to see the disk any longer, I faltered. I heard it whizzing toward me. I quickly created a barrier, like the one in the forest, to stop the disks flight, but when it hit my invisible wall, the twins immediately began to burrow past it.
I concentrated hard upon sustaining the barrier, while also trying to figure out what to do next. The memory of the pocket watch in the cave came to mind. It took a lot of mental effort, but I managed to light up several of the china plates throughout the room. The light was just enough for me to see the hovering disk not far from me.
For several minutes, no one moved. We each mentally pushed upon the disk, trying to gain ground over each other. I focused on my breathing, the disk, and the twins. My feet tingled. The feeling spread throughout my body, the magic expanding, growing until I thought my skin might literally stretch. In that moment, I felt more powerful than I ever had before.
Just then, a ceramic dish from one of the curios exploded. It, along with other dishes, flew from their shelves and toward me, an army of broken china. I easily dodged the jagged pieces, my focus still on the disk, but somehow a shard escaped my notice and hit me in the side of the head, cutting deep into my scalp. My grip on the disk slipped, and the small sphere spun again as it whirled toward my shield.
Despite the searing pain in my head, I sprung from my seat, leaping to an unnatural height, and took hold of the disk. It sliced open the skin on my palm, but I didn’t hesitate. Instead, I tossed it right back at the twins using both mental and physical strength. They easily stopped its motion within a few feet of them, surprising me. I fell to the ground amidst broken china and glass, hurting myself even more.
Anne laughed from the balcony. I clenched my jaw tight and puffed air through my flaring nostrils. Magic once again swelled in response to my growing anger; just in time, too. I used a portion of it to knock the wine glass from Anne’s hand. She jumped and cursed when it shattered on the floor.
I battled the twins well into the night to the point of exhaustion. Even they sat hunched over, breathing deeply, but neither they, nor I, gave up. We had each tried everything we could think of to distract each other until finally we reached a standstill.