Mirror Mage 2: Chapters 55-60 (Patreon)

Chapter 55

You would think getting a morning handjob from your new girlfriend while your current girlfriend had her tongue in your mouth would be enough to keep a guy from getting out of a warm bed. And it almost was. It took every bit of motivation I could muster to finally drag myself away from my new pride and sneak out of the dorm to get a shower before class.

Molly volunteered to escort me out of the dorm. She scouted through the halls and down the stairs to make sure no girls spotted me sneaking out. I wasn’t supposed to be here, after all. So with her leading the way, we went down floor by floor until we reached the door.

I was surprised when Molly walked out with me, but I really shouldn’t have been. We needed to talk alone, and while I knew there was a curfew at Shetland Hall that said girls had to leave by nine PM, I didn’t know when they were allowed back inside the dorm. Eight AM seemed reasonable. When we entered Shetland and the office was empty, no one stopped us.

We walked through an empty dorm, hand in hand like silly teenagers, until we got up to my room. When I unlocked it, I opened it to find Tyson dozing like a rock inside. Molly and I were both used to that, and he rarely woke up even when we chatted at full volume.

After she followed me inside, I closed the door and turned to her. I kept my voice low.

“You wanted to talk about us without Harper around, didn’t you?”

She nodded and walked to the bed. She sat without saying anything, and I sat beside her. We cuddled as I considered our morning after the morning after. What did I need to ask her about this huge change in our lives and our plans? Everything, I supposed.

“I guess, first thing. I know you’re okay with what happened last night, but I want to know why. I love it, but I don’t understand it, and that’s messing with me.”

She rolled her eyes in a way that I knew was both her being annoyed and playing for time while she thought my question over. She stared up placidly.

“Fine. What don’t you understand?

“Well, let’s start with this. When did you know?”

“That I was gonna be okay with letting another girl play with my boy?”

I nodded.

Molly looked down her legs. “Honestly, I never thought I would be. I was right bloody pissed when you said Tez mentioned it. I was pissed for a long time.”

“You didn’t seem that upset about it.”

“That’s cause it wasn’t your fault, K. I was mad at him, not at you.”

“And now?”

“Resigned, I guess?” She looked up at me. “But you talked me around.”

“I don’t recall actually pushing you on this.”

She shoved me gently. “You didn’t ask, you big clod. You gave.”

“I what?”

“You’re selfless, K. Toward me. You do so much for me, all the time, without asking for anything in return. You always have, ever since I was little. I think... well, I think what really planted the seed was when you offered to not have sex with me.”

“You mean the confluence? But that’s just—”

“Unreasonable.” She cut me off with a frown. “And don’t say it’s something any guy would do. Waiting was a huge ask, and when I brought it up, even when I said I didn’t need it, you didn’t bat any eyelash. You wanted to help me. You even talked me out of having sex with you, multiple times, because you were so set on helping me get power.”

“But you need that confluence to catch up with the other girls.”

“And you need a pride to catch up with the other guys.” As I opened my mouth to protest, she pressed her fingers to my lips. “Selfish, K. You’re never. You need to start.”

I considered that. Molly squeezed my hand with one of hers, then took the fingers on the other away from my lips. She leaned close.

“Most guys would jump at the chance to have a bloody harem, especially with all the power you get with it. You could have pressured me, and I would have given in eventually. I love you that much. Yet you were worried enough about me, about my feelings, to turn it down repeatedly. You never pressured me into it, which is why I couldn’t let you not do it.”

I finally accepted what she was saying, and it made sense. I no longer worried that this was something she hadn’t already considered carefully. She’d done her homework.

“So that’s why you set me up with Harper.”

“Course. It was that or watch you waffle about the bloody idea for the rest of the semester, and we don’t have time for that. We need power, fast, to beat the serpents.”

I lifted her hand to my mouth and kissed it. “Then I guess I’ll just say thank you.”

She grinned. “You’ll be thanking me a lot.”

I lowered her hand and held it tight. “And not just because you’re okay with this... pride, thing. Because you’re so focused on us.”

“Just like someone else I know. So, in May, I get my confluence. And going forward, you get your little harem. And both of us are going to get a boatload of power as a result, which means we have a better chance to stay alive.”

“No one is taking you from me. No serpent. No god.”

She kissed me gently. “Same.”

“So... okay. I understand what changed now, and now that I know you’re really okay with this and why, I’m good with it, too. For obvious reasons. But can I ask another question?”

“Och, fine.”

“Why Harper?”

“Because she deserves you.”

I tilted my head. “Can you, um, expand on that?”

She considered me a moment, then nodded. “Jaxon wasn’t the first petty gobshite to expect her to just put out.”

I winced as I remembered that Jaxon had ended their second date in the shittiest way possible. “I figured that.”

“Yeah.” Molly looked away. “We were roommates for a whole semester, remember. Half a bloody year before you got here. I knew why I didn’t have my own fella... I was waiting on you... but Harper staying single never made sense. She’s bloody gorgeous.”

I remembered how amazing her shy smile had looked as she stroked me. “That she is.”

Molly smiled approvingly instead of looking jealous. “And she went on a few dates with a few guys, but only a few. One or two, and then it was over, ended. And you’ve seen her! She’s sweet, devoted, and fecking fit, so why would a guy not wanna be with her?”

“Because of Ahosu’s request.”

“Aye, though I didn’t know that at a time. It didn’t make any bloody sense to me that it kept not working out, so finally, a few weeks before the end of the semester, I asked her what was wrong with all the idiot guys on campus. That’s when she finally told me that she had to wait until marriage to have sex.”

“She has to wait until she found the one. Does that really mean marriage, though?”

“She has to feel like she’s with a man who’s going to be with her forever before she has sex with him, and marriage is pretty much guaranteed at that point, right? So if I was her, I wouldn’t give it up until I had a ring on my finger. Guys can be tricky that way.” She smiled warmly. “But not you.”

“Right. The guy would at least have to propose.”

“And no one was willing to do that here. Not with all the other girls walking around who are open for business, no matter how sweet or devoted Harper would be. It pissed me off, K. It’s not like she wasn’t willing to keep them happy if things went well.”

“Like you keep me happy?”

“Aye, and I’ll keep it up. Handies, blowies, whatever makes you happy.” She smiled as if an idea had just struck her. “Hey, you want to stick it between my tits?”

My dick abruptly stood up. “Yes?”

“Great. I’ll get some lube to make them slick, and then you can slide it right in there. We’ll need to plan ahead, but you can feck my boobies, K.”

“Okay!”

“But not today.” She squeezed my thigh. “What I mean is, I hated what Harper was going through. I kept hoping she’d find a guy who would understand what she needed, who could wait until she was sure about him, but apparently, they’re about as rare here as you are.”

I was still thinking about lubed up tits. “Well, that’s their loss.”

“So anyway, I was already upset about Harper not having anyone she could be with. Then you got here, and then I found out about Tez’s demand, and like I said, I was right bloody pissed for a long time. But then you reminded me that our future is about more than us, and you reminded me that you’d do anything to help me protect myself.”

“Like you’d do for me.”

“Not until I agreed to let you form a pride.” Molly frowned at a memory. “Marshall might be out of line, but she’s right. You need a pride. We need a pride. So, that’s why I chose Harper for my little experiment. I got to fix her problem, and fix ours. Like you said when we were talking about how you’re not going to have sex with me until May, it’s win win win.”

I nodded solemnly. “Thank you for explaining all that. I’m dense, so I need things explained in big bold letters.”

She eyed me in affectionate concern. “Honestly, I didn’t think I’d have this hard a time talking a boy into having multiple ladies. You’re a special man, K.”

“Well, just take that as evidence of how amazing you are. Yes, I like this idea, but I would have been perfectly happy all my life having you. Just you. You’re that important to me.”

She clutched my arm. “That’s how I know we’re doing the right thing.”

“So... okay. We’ve communicated.” I frowned. “Oh, and there’s something else.”

She huffed in exasperation. “Seriously?”

“Not about the harem! About my Tez dream.”

Molly perked up. “Right, you said the serpents want me to open a gateway to an underworld.”

“Yes, but that’s not all. Jaxon Price is coming after me today.”

Molly hissed. “Oh, that fecker. Course he is. You made him crap his trousers.”

“In front of everyone, though he did that to himself. But yes. Tez warned me that he and his friends will likely come after me and my conclave today during our live exercise.”

“And you don’t know what you’re doing yet?”

“Not a clue.”

“But you’ll have Tyson. And Leon.”

“And Valerie.”

Molly nodded approvingly. “I wouldn’t want to get crosswise with her. She’s a bloody force, that one. So you’ll be fine.”

“Should I tell Miss Wilcox?”

“Why?”

“Because Jaxon might try something.”

“Oh, psh. He does, you and your conclave will feck him up.”

I frowned at her. “Why aren’t you more worried about this?”

“Why would I be? You can bounce back any word they throw at you, and your conclave is all badasses.” She leaned close. “Do me a favor?”

“Uh, I can try.”

“You get the chance, you kick Jaxon in the balls hard enough he spits blood. Crush em up like wee little eggs. Bloody gobshite’s better off never having children.”

I winced in empathetic agony. “Jeez, Molly.”

“I’m just saying. If he comes after you, you feck him up. Not just for you, but for him being a rancid shite to Harper too.” She gripped my arms and stared at me with an intensity that was both hot and scary. “I want you to beat his ass, K.”

I felt a sudden rush of satisfaction at the idea. “You know? I think I will.”

Molly kissed me. Hungrily, eagerly, and gratefully. Then she eased away, sighed a heavy sigh, and nodded.

“Get cleaned up. Get ready for your little soldier exercise. And after you crush it today? Harper and I will have a special surprise for you.”

Every part of me keyed up. “Special?”

“Oh, aye.” She grinned. “But you gotta wait until tonight to unwrap your presents.”

Chapter 56

Thursday morning, I showed up for Conclave Battle Tactics showered, dressed, shaved, and extremely relaxed. I had presents to look forward to.

I wore my gym clothes under my jacket instead of my uniform since Valerie had texted us first thing this morning with an update. We’d finally received our orders for the day.

“Briefing at 8:30 AM. Meet in front of the administration building. Wear warm clothing suitable for physical activity and durable footwear suitable for hiking. Do not be late.”

I was glad we’d convinced Valerie to become our conclave leader. I’d been a little too busy this morning to pay attention to early morning e-mails from Lieutenant Green, let alone answer them and forward them on to my team.

I would have been there earlier, but, you know. Reasons. So I showed up at 8:25 AM, five minutes early, to find a large crowd of students already gathered. I was one of the last ones here, which was the first time that had happened since the semester started.

It seemed when we all actually knew our grades were on the line, other students showed up before classes. Or maybe this was just a habit upperclassmen developed that prentices and novices didn’t have yet. A few low grades would do that.

I spotted Jaxon and his conclave first. He and his boy band were all wearing matching camouflage jackets and pants, along with hiking boots and thin but flexible gloves. That seemed a bit excessive for a field exercise, but maybe they got cold easily.

As I looked around at the crowd, however, I had that sinking feeling you get when you have a dream about going to class without any pants. Everyone else here was dressed much more warmly than me. A number of them had full hunting outfits like Jaxon and his buddies, including jackets, hiking boots, and thick gloves.

Did we need cold weather gear today? I actually didn’t own any cold weather gear, since I hadn’t needed it until now. Headmaster Marshall had popped me into this class without warning, and I hadn’t even received the normal syllabus or list of required supplies.

My normal jacket kept me warm on the short walks between the shuttle bus to classes, and my gym clothes were good enough to keep me warm on runs outside the Athletics Building, especially when I was sweating a lot. I had brought gloves, of course, just to keep my hands warm, but they weren’t thick or insulated.

I also had tennis shoes or loafers rather than good hiking boots, because I didn’t own any hiking boots. I’d had no reason to buy any of that stuff while sitting in warm classrooms and listening to instructors lecture. It seemed I was seriously underdressed for today’s exercise.

If I hadn’t been so busy with Molly and Harper, I would have put more thought into my clothing choices. Depending on how long we were out in the cold today, I could end up miserable. So, let that be a lesson for you.

Make sure to figure out everything you need for your morning’s exercise in Conclave Battle Tactics before you spend the night hooking up with two girls.

 I had to excuse myself to slip through several rows of people before I spotted Valerie, Tyson, and Leon all gathered near the doors of the administration building. They, too, were dressed much warmly than I was. All wore the same sort of hunting gear.

That made me feel even more unprepared and stupid. But we had five minutes until go time, so I couldn’t run back and change. I wasn’t going to bring down my team.

Tyson and Leon wore matching camouflage outfits, thick jackets, pants, and hiking boots. They also had thick winter hats and gloves. Tyson even had a camouflage ski mask.

Valerie was dressed the same as Tyson and Leon, though her hunting jacket was tighter around her chest than theirs was. It couldn’t quite hide her attractive curves. She had her hair tucked into a thick green wool hat and had a scarf around her neck.

Two large, stiff shopping bags sat beside Valerie. As I approached, she glanced at me and briefly smiled before her expression turned neutral again. Tyson’s face lit up at my arrival, and Leon merely raised an eyebrow as if judging me for showing up only five minutes early.

Of course, after showing up early for every class this week, the one time I’d actually arrived shortly before the start time was the one time it was important. As I reached them, Tyson looked me over. His blue eyes widened in concern.

“Dude, are you gonna be warm enough? We’re gonna be in the woods for a while.”

So we weren’t just going to be outside. We were going into the actual woods today. I’d had no idea I’d end up trekking through the woods at the crack of dawn, in the bitter cold, like we were going deer hunting. That would have been a nice thing to include in our briefing.

I held back a sigh. “I’ll manage.”

Valerie reached into one of the two bags and pulled out a pair of hiking boots. They looked expensive and sturdy. She also pulled out a rolled up pair of thick brown socks. Her blue eyes held mine as she handed those over.

“Put these on before we begin the exercise. They will improve your traction and keep your feet much warmer than those tennis shoes. I believe these are your size.”

I stared in disbelief. “Woah, hold up. Why do you have spare hiking boots?”

“Given that you were only added to this class on Tuesday, and the circumstances of your arrival here, I thought it likely that you would not have appropriate winter clothing for today’s exercise. I acquired additional gear to account for that eventuality.”

As I, dumbfounded, somehow remembered to take the brand new socks and hiking boots, Valerie reached into the other large plastic bag. She pulled out a thick hunting jacket just like her own, though a bit larger, and set it on the ground. Then she pulled out a pair of thick gloves and a headwarmer. I continued to gawk at my gifts.

Our conclave’s leader eyed me calmly. “Change quickly. I doubt we will be begin much leeway once the exercise begins.”

“This... wow. Thank you.”

I thumped down on my butt and pulled my tennis shoes off, then my socks. The cold gnawed hungrily at my feet, but they wouldn’t be bare for long. As I pulled on the thick, warm socks, I groaned in relief. I was immensely grateful for Valerie’s forethought.

We’d chosen the right leader for our conclave. She had not only guessed that I lacked any winter weather gear, but taken time to acquire some for me. She’d even guessed at my shoe size and gotten it right, at least from how the hiking boots fit after I got them on.

“I’ll pay you back for these. You have receipts?”

“That will be unnecessary. I purchased them with my father’s credit card.”

I smiled on as I imagined how Headmaster Marshall might react. “So this is official Hallowstone Preparatory School provided gear?”

“Were you provided with a list of required gear for this class when you enrolled?”

“Nope. Never got that.”

“Then that is the school’s mistake, not yours. My father moved you into this class without providing you all the necessary documentation. Consider this his apology.”

I could live with that. It would certainly save me some money. I was still lacing up my new, school-provided hiking boots when Lieutenant Green’s voice rose over the students.

“Class! Fall in!”

As everyone else awkwardly formed multiple lines, I ignored them and continued lacing up my hiking boots. Hopefully since I was on my butt, Lieutenant Green wouldn’t notice me. As I continued dressing, then pulled on the thick hunting jacket as well, he briefed our class.

“Here’s the situation! Packets of documents containing top secret information about troop deployments across the realm of Draud Epesh has been stolen by hostile magi! We have the last known location of these packets, but lack the manpower to retrieve them!”

So, cool. We were LARPing today. Lieutenant Green had invented a fictional situation that would set the stage for our very real hunt. I shrugged on my jacket and worked on getting it buttoned as he continued to brief us on our secret mission... should we choose to accept it.

Valerie had gotten all my measurements right, including my shoes. I didn’t know if she was just absurdly good at estimating guy sizes, or my measurements were on file somewhere with the school. Either way, I was now comfortable and prepared for a long hike.

Valerie was amazing. The best. Green continued shouting out orders.

“Each of you will be provided with a map of satellite imagery including the last known location of these packets, designated Alpha through Zeta, and a compass! Your phones will be disabled for the duration of this exercise, so you will not have GPS! You will need to rely on landmarks and prior experience with the terrain to find your path!”

Tyson grinned at me. “Good thing we took all those pictures of the diorama, dude.”

I nodded. Green continued.

“Your team leader has information on the packet you will be sent to retrieve! You have two hours to collect your packet and return it here to me at the administration building! If you fail to return with your packet, you will fail this exercise. Dismissed!”

That was the extent of our briefing. As I swapped out my normal gloves for the thicker ones Valerie had got me, she beckoned. She remained the best conclave leader ever.

We moved away from the other students enough that they couldn’t easily overhear us. I carried my old shoes and gloves, along with my new headwarmer, as Valerie carried the bags. Once we were in a spot where she could brief us, she handed me an empty bag.

“Put your excess clothing and shoes in here. Someone will come from the administration building to pick it up. You can retrieve it there after the exercise.”

I complied without question. Valerie sat down the bags and then reached to one of the pockets of her hunting jacket. She unbuttoned the pocket, then reached inside and pulled out a small laminated piece of stiff posterboard. We all crouched down to look at it.

It was a satellite map of the forest north of Hallowstone like you would see on any modern mapping service on the Internet. It also matched the diorama that I’d taken pictures of with my phone back on Tuesday.

Out of curiosity, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and opened it up. The words “No service” displayed prominently. The others did the same and discovered the same thing.

So Hallowstone could jam cell phones. Or, more likely, the soldiers at the base could. That must be frustrating for anyone attending normal classes today.

Yet while jamming our cell phones meant we couldn’t use them to communicate or to use GPS, we could still use apps like our Photo app. Which had pictures of the diorama from the classroom that we could use for reference. Everyone offered me a knowing nod.

My pride affinity swelled.

As a team, we turned back to the map. There were six small, bright red circles scattered throughout the forest. I recognized the campus buildings lined up in a loose rectangle at the bottom of the map. As I estimated the scale, I nodded in relief.

Based on the size of those campus buildings and their relation to each other, the actual area we would be searching today couldn’t be more than a few square miles of woodland. It wasn’t like we had to go into the deep forest, not that there was much of that in Rhode Island. Hallowstone’s entire campus and the fort were on a small stretch of countryside.

I’d looked on the satellite maps myself after coming here. On those, the land on which the campus, town, and fort resided looked like undeveloped wilderness. There was even a wilderness preserve in one part of it, but no sign of the fort, school, or town.

That suggested either that the US government insisted that public companies not reveal Hallowstone on maps, or that Hallowstone actually had the ability to magically make itself invisible on satellite imagery. I had often wondered if the protective dome over the place was what hid us from orbital surveillance. That would keep foreign governments from detecting us.

Valerie tapped a red dot in the upper corner of the map with one gloved finger.

“Our orders state we must retrieve package gamma at this location. I was also informed by Lieutenant Green that while we do not expect active resistance, the enemy has left traps in the forest which may impair our movements. We should thus proceed with caution.”

I grimaced. “Traps? We’re dealing with actual traps?”

Tyson laughed and thumped me on the back. “Welcome to the big leagues, roomie.”

Leon offered a bit more. “Some of the instructors here, and our senior magi, can create traps that will temporarily immobilize or paralyze you. It’s like when I use eanglach to numb someone’s limbs. I can get you moving again if we hit one, but it’ll take energy.”

“What about teams that don’t have a Leon?”

Valerie spoke up. “Such traps are linked to the magi or sorcerer who left them. Once triggered, the creator will know. They will send a team to retrieve the student if their conclave is unable to get them moving again.”

“Is that fair to the teams that don’t have healers, though?”

Valerie looked me straight in the eye. “Ensuring a conclave has people who can fill all needed roles is something their leader should have considered before choosing their team.”

She was right, of course. She was always right. I considered a moment.

“What do you know about these traps other than that?”

“How do you mean?”

“How do they work? Do they actively cast magic at you?”

Leon nodded thoughtfully. “You’re wondering if you can bounce it back.”

“Right. I bounce back words of power, so do these traps use those?”

Valerie frowned thoughtfully. “We should test that.”

“So I’ll be a live test subject.”

Leon gently thumped my back. “I can fix you if it doesn’t work.”

Valerie eyed me calmly. “If you are uncomfortable with this, I won’t order you to do it.”

I doubted Hallowstone’s instructors would actually set up any traps that could hurt us. Being numbed and paralyzed would suck if it happened. But if I could bounce back whatever magic the traps used, I’d be a huge asset to my team.

And Leon could heal me if it didn’t work.

“I’m game. I need to learn everything out what I and Tez can do.”

“Then we should leave immediately. Kyle? Take point.”

“Right. And... which way am I going?”

She pointed past Agrippa Hall. “Proceed northwest toward the tree line. Keep going until we enter the woods. I’ll use my compass to direct us once we get further in.”

Chapter 57

I waited until we were a bit into the woods that made up the central undeveloped portion of Hallowstone before I delivered the rest of the bad news to my team.

“So, head’s up. I didn’t want to tell you all this where Jaxon and his boy band might overhear, but he’s going to try something today. Possibly even something against the rules.”

Tyson, who was walking just behind me, frowned.

“He’s a douchebag, but I don’t think he’d break the rules. He knows the consequences.”

Leon glanced at Tyson as we walked. “Yeah, but Kyle made him shit his pants in front of the entire class. I doubt that boy is thinking straight right now.”

I groaned. “To be clear, I didn’t make him shit his pants. He tried to make me shit my pants, right after we met, and suffered the consequences. But last night, I got a dream from Tez. He warned me Jaxon will be coming for me today.”

Tyson slapped me on the back. “Dude, you finally remembered a Tez dream?”

“Yes. Not all of it, but enough that I know he warned about Jaxon and Resheph.”

Valerie called out. “Everyone, halt!”

Her firm order caught us all by surprise. We immediately turned to stare at her. She had a pretty good command voice when she put her mind to it.

Valerie narrowed her eyes at me. “Your idol informed you that Resheph himself would target you today?”

“That’s exactly what he said. Apparently, me making Resheph hit his own disciple with his own word of power was an affront to his honor or something. Tez told me he would handle Resheph if he tried to come after me, but dealing with Jaxon and his boy band is up to me. He’ll try to fuck us over today, or at least fuck me, specifically.”

Valerie turned to Tyson. “You know his conclave best. If they wished to harm Kyle or stop us from completing our mission today, what options do they have?”

Tyson looked a bit taken aback. “Why would I know?”

“You know their idols. You have spent time with them outside of class.”

“Only at social mixers! I try to stay friendly with everybody, even the jerks, so I can smooth stuff over if I need to. But I don’t actually know those guys all that well.”

Leon crossed his arms. “Hugo could summon something that might harm you.”

I glance at Leon in surprise. “Like a demon?”

“No, nothing infernal. Hugo’s a disciple of Arawn. One of his words of power lets him summon otherworldly hounds for short periods. They can track people and defend him. He also has words that can affect the behavior of beasts. He can influence animals.”

“Oh. So he makes them familiars? Or pets?”

“No, but he could make a buck want to run you through with its antlers.”

I grimaced. “Lieutenant Green said we can’t use words of power on other conclaves, but if Hugo summoned one of his phantom hounds, or one of his murderdeer attacked us, we could really get hurt. It violates the spirit of the rules, but not the letter.”

Leon nodded grimly. “He could always claim his hound got off the leash, or he lost track of one of the animals he influenced and it randomly attacked you. But he’d have to know where we were going ahead of time.”

I looked at Valerie. “We don’t know who else is retrieving what packets, right?”

“That is correct. Lieutenant Green only told us which packet we were to retrieve, not which packets the other conclaves were tasked to retrieve.”

“But we know where the other packets are. They were on the map.”

“Yes.” Valerie frowned. “And now that I know Jaxon intends to harm you, I believe we may have made a tactical error by departing right after the briefing. Jaxon knows we must retrieve gamma. I wish you had told me of your suspicions when you arrived.”

“I didn’t know how to do that without him overhearing. Or one of his minions overhearing. I worried they might have super hearing and call it off.”

Tyson frowned. “But why would that be bad?”

“Because he’d still want to hurt me. He’d just do something different at a different time, when I wasn’t ready for it. Today we know he’s planning to come after me, and we know to prep for it. That means we can catch him in the act and prove he broke the rules. It’s an advantage I didn’t want to give up by risking that he might know we know.”

Valerie nodded. “I suppose that is a valid point.”

“But you think Jaxon knows where our packet is now. How?”

“Due to the time limit, my first instinct was to depart as fast as possible to retrieve our packet. We have the furthest distance to travel. I noticed Jaxon conferring with some of the other conclave leaders, but thought nothing of it.”

“What were they talking about?”

“I assumed they might be coordinating their own packet retrieval, and I saw no harm in that since I believed, at the time, all of us shared the same goal.”

I looked ahead. “But now we know that Jaxon’s real goal is to fuck us over. If he talked to the others, he knows what packets all the other teams are going after, along with his own. So he knows we’re going after gamma simply by process of elimination.”

Tyson frowned. “But if he steals our packet, can’t we just report him for cheating?”

I knew the answer to that, but I wanted to help Tyson figure it out for himself. I decided this was a teachable moment and looked at my roommate.

“How would reporting that Jaxon cheated to Lieutenant Green help us, Ty?”

“Because he cheated. So he’d get in trouble.”

“Only in academic settings. This is war, or is supposed to simulate it.”

Tyson considered for a long moment, then frowned. “Oh.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. A wise man once said all war is based on deception. So I guess deceiving is okay we’re playing at war.”

Every time I was tempted to dismiss Tyson as a big-hearted but slightly dull jock, he reminded me that he’d read Sun Tzu. And he’d understood it. I looked at Valerie.

“We can’t rely on Green to penalize Jaxon’s team for stealing our data packet, especially once he knows we knew that might happen and didn’t stop him. Green just wants the data. From a military perspective, Jaxon’s conclave would complete their task. We wouldn’t.”

Leon scowled. “Green might also be looking to see who has the balls to play dirty.”

“That’s right. If this were a real exercise, if there really were packets exposing troop positions out there in the wild where the bad guys might get them, that means the lives of hundreds of soldiers are in jeopardy. We’d need to retrieve those packets no matter the cost, using whatever methods we deemed necessary. There’s no honor in war, just survivors.”

Valerie nodded calmly. “We should retrieve packet alpha first.”

That was the last thing I’d expected her to suggest. “What? Why?”

“It’s far closer to our current position, and the team tasked to retrieve is far behind us. Unlike packet gamma, we have a near certain chance of retrieving it successfully.”

“But Green told us to retrieve packet gamma.”

“That will remain our secondary objective. Yet if we are right about Jaxon’s plans, and he plans to target gamma, he could outdistance us and retrieve it. That would leave us with no packet, which means we fail the exercise. If we secure packet alpha and then go for gamma, we will still complete the mission even if we don’t retrieve gamma from Jaxon’s crew.”

Tyson tilted his head. “But what about the conclave that went to get alpha? They’ll get a bad grade. We can’t just screw them over.”

Valerie looked ahead. “If we successfully retrieve packet gamma, we will wait for that conclave and turn packet alpha over to them outside the administration building, but only once we obtain both packets. I do not relish the idea of causing another team to fail their mission, but I must prioritize our conclave over others. Our success comes first.”

I fell into step beside her as Tyson and Leon followed with expression that suggested they weren’t complete convinced. I wasn’t either.

“Are you sure you want to do this, Val? Screw over another team on our first exercise?”

“I have just offered my reasoning. We will provide the conclave tasked to retrieve alpha with their packet if given an opportunity, but our primary goal is ensuring our own conclave’s success. The grades of the other students are a tertiary concern.”

“I get that, but I think there’s a factor you’re neglecting to consider here.”

Valerie glanced at me as we walked. “Yes?”

“Green must have known we might turn on each other. He may even expect existing rivalries to get in the way of our mission. This feels like... like we’re all groups from different nations who just formed a fragile alliance. We have to consider how harming an ally would change their stance toward us. Is completing our mission worth burning a bridge forever?”

“You are suggesting we consider the impact of our choices today on the whole of the campaign, rather than just this exercise?”

“Exactly. Yes, we could snag packet alpha and ensure our own success, but then we risk alpha team retaliating against us for the rest of the semester. Even if we give their packet back, we still made them look incompetent, which would piss me off. I think Green wants us to trust our allies. So I’d suggest we only go for own packet, even if that’s a risk.”

“It is a risk. If Jaxon’s conclave reaches our packet and retrieves it first, we will be too far out of position to retrieve any other packets. We will fail the mission.”

“Yes. That’s the worst case, but it’s one grade... or I guess one battle... in a long campaign. We could even spin a loss today to our advantage.”

Valerie’s blue eyes narrowed as she adjusted her glasses. “How would failing to retrieve our packet help us?”

“Simple. Green might not penalize Jaxon’s team for stealing our packet, but we can still point out to the other conclaves what he did. We can show they intentionally sabotaged us, their allies. They’ll win this exercise, but also expose themselves as people who can’t be trusted. They’d get a single win, but take a huge reputation hit with the other teams.”

Valerie glanced back at Tyson and Leon. “Do you agree or disagree with Kyle?”

Tyson piped up immediately. “I’m with him. We don’t need more enemies, and I’d feel bad screwing over another team. I get that there’s no honor in war, but like Kyle said, the other teams aren’t supposed to be our enemies. If they’re supposed to be our allies, we should treat them like allies until they show us different.”

Leon nodded. “I have to agree. This exercise could be as much about diplomacy as much as retrieving the packets. For all we know, our next exercise could be to do something that requires us to form alliances with other teams. Alliances they might not be willing to make if we fuck them over. We want Jaxon’s conclave to be the bad guys, not us.”

Valerie nodded. “You have convinced me. We will prioritize our own packet today.” She glanced at me. “Continue heading north. I will update our direction as needed.”

I took the lead again, and as I did so, I was even more impressed with Valerie’s leadership. She had made a reasonable call she believed in, argued for it, and then listened to our concerns. And then, when she recognized we were right, she’d simply accepted it.

No arguments. No resentment. Rather letting her ego influence her into ignoring our concerns, she’d simply changed course.

She didn’t even seem upset that we’d offered arguments she hadn’t thought of herself. All she was focused on was finding the best solution to our problem as a team.

In my opinion, the hardest part about being a leader was knowing when to lead and when to listen. You had to be confident that you were right while also willing to consider that you might be wrong. It was a hard balance to strike, yet Valerie did it almost effortlessly.

She was a good leader. We made a good team. We knew the risks and dangers.

So now all we had to do was execute.

Chapter 58

We’d been walking for what I estimated was ten minutes, with me in the lead as we headed toward our destination, when Valerie called out sharply.

“Halt!”

I froze. Leon froze right behind me, and Tyson almost bumped into her before he caught himself. Valerie took one step forward, squinting at a space between two trees, then nodded.

“Trap.”

I looked where she was looking. “Where?”

“Look at the ground between those two tree trunks. Can you see the gleam?”

I looked at the ground between the two tree trunks right where Valerie had mentioned. It took me a moment, but then, like a curtain being pulled back, I spotted a soapy gleam in dirt, like a flattened metal baseball. I whistled softly.

“Yeah, I see it now. That’s a trap?”

Tyson frowned. “I don’t see anything.”

Leon walked up to stand on my other side. “I don’t either.”

Valerie glanced at them. “This trap was created by a sorcerer, not a magi, and concealed with a glamour that I doubt either of you can pierce.” Valerie glanced at me expectantly. “But you can see it, can’t you, Kyle?”

“Yes. But I’m a magi.”

“I suspect your unique blessing from Tezcatlipoca may play a role. Perhaps you are passively bouncing the glamour back at its source.”

I grinned at how much sense that made. “I did that with the serpents as well. When they used whatever word they use to hide themselves from others, like when they tried to take you on the night we met. I saw right through their glamour, even when no one else did.”

Valerie blushed briefly as she remembered the night I’d saved her from Quetzalcoatl cultists, but recovered quickly. “It seems your unique abilities allow you to see even through powerful glamours. That is a truly useful skill.”

My pride affinity flexed. “Great. That’s useful. So, we go around?”

Leon thumped me on the back. “Now’s your chance, Bubble Man.”

I frowned. “I thought we agreed not to call me that.”

Valerie watched me calmly. “We cannot tarry here, but knowing if the traps can affect you will be useful information. It is still your decision to make, but I would like to know.”

“Yeah, I know. I said I would do it.” I took a breath. “Here goes nothing. Step back.”

As my conclave listened, I walked slowly toward toward the soapy gleam between the tree trunks. I kept my hands out in front of me and hoped I’d fall forward if this paralyzed my body. The earth looked spongy, but I could still hit my head on a rock.

Two steps later, I heard a loud, metallic snap. It sounded like a mousetrap whipping shut. I felt the briefest of tingles before Tyson gurgled softly behind me.

I spun around to see him twitching in place, arms at his sides, before he slowly toppled over like a tree. Alarmed, I rushed back to my conclave.

“Ty!”

I slid to a kneeling stop in the leaves beside him. Valerie dropped beside him as well. As I looked him over with worry, Valerie tilted her head.

“How unexpected.”

“What happened? Did he trigger another trap?”

“No. When you triggered the trap, your unique blessing bounced back the magic embedded in the trap as we expected. Yet is seems the magic did not dissipate. Without the ability to strike a valid target, you, the person who triggered it, it chose another.”

“So the trap went off, but hit Tyson instead?”

Between us, Tyson groaned something intelligible. His blue eyes were wide and moved slowly, but it was obvious he was struggling. I felt bad for the guy. I looked up Leon.

“Can you fix him?”

Leon was smirking.

“Leon? Can you fix him, man?”

“Sure. Doesn’t mean it’s not funny, though.”

Tyson groaned through his paralysis, and I covered my brief chuckle with a frown. I patted Tyson’s shoulder.

“Sorry you got hit, man. Thanks for taking one for the team.”

Valerie frowned up at Leon. “Fix him now. We can’t delay, no matter how amusing you may find this situation.”

Leon sobered. “Right. Got it, boss.”

He knelt beside Tyson and closed his eyes, then reached out with one big, flat palm. He hovered it over Tyson and spoke two words I remembered from the frat party.

“-Eanglach leighheas.-”

The first word was how Leon numbed body parts in order to make it so wounded soldiers didn’t feel pain. The second was how he removed that numbness.

From watching Leon just now, and remembering how Molly removed her own words with another, the second word must need the first to function. Leighheas could cure afflictions, but it needed to know what to cure. In this case, numbness.

Tyson shivered, then raised his arm slowly and clenched and unclenched his fists. Leon and I helped him sit up while Valerie stood alertly over us all, scanning the forest with keen eyes for threats. Tyson worked his jaw, then frowned up at Leon.

“You big jerk.”

Leon slid a hand under Tyson’s shoulders. “On your feet, soldier.”

I moved to help. Tyson was heavy. Once we got him back on his feet, he was able to take several steps without falling before easing us off.

Tyson took a deep breath and rolled his head around on his shoulders, then extended one arm and clenched and unclenched his fingers. He frowned.

“Dude, paralyzing traps suck.”

I thumped him on the back. “I’ll try not to set any more off.”

Valerie pointed. “Kyle, move. That way. We cannot fall behind.”

“Right, got it.”

After a quick glance at where the flattened silver baseball had been to verify it wasn’t there any longer, I took the lead through the forest. Now that I knew what to look for, I was confident I could see any more traps before I set them off and took down a teammate.

Not five minutes later, I pointed. “Trap?”

Valerie nodded. “Good eye. Let’s move around this one.”

We did so, only to almost immediately come across another. I glanced at Valerie.

“Why are they so thick now? We haven’t seen any before now.”

“We must be near our packet. Allow me.”

She stepped forward, closed her eyes, and made a sinuous motion with one hand before snapping it out like a striking snake. A saw a tiny flash of energy, like a pellet, and then a loud snap sounded as the trap went off. No one fell paralyzed, however.

I stared at Valerie, dumbfounded. “That was awesome.”

She lowered her arm. “It was a basic magical strike. Hardly impressive.”

“No, it’s like magic missile. You just cast magic missile!”

“I’m afraid I don’t know what that is.”

Leon chuckled from behind us. “Ignore his nerdery, Val. We have to be close.”

Valerie took the lead now that we knew we could see the traps. I walked close enough to her that the Toyota Camry-sized bubble I generated would bounce back any words of power that a trap or anyone tossed at us.

We found more traps and threaded the needle where we could. Where we couldn’t, Valerie snapped them with her magic missiles. She did it without visible effort, casting with casual waves of her hand that wasted not a bit of energy.

Seeing a true sorcerer in action made me wonder just how well I’d do if I went up against one. Valerie didn’t speak a word of power to use her magic. She just did magic, and I suspected she had far more powerful abilities than what I’d seen.

Finally, we entered a small clearing with a single tall tree. It wasn’t an evergreen, which meant it was mostly bare of leaves, but it was still tall and impressive. Valerie raised a hand to halt us, and we all looked around for our packet.

Tyson pointed and hissed. “Dude! Up there, dude!”

I looked up and smiled. A small leather satchel was hanging off a tree branch a good ways up, swaying gently in the wind.

I remembered the guy I’d seen in physics class, the one who had a word of power that let him shimmy up a tree trunk like a squirrel. Too bad he wasn’t here. I looked at Valerie and grinned in relief.

“We got here ahead of Jaxon’s crew.”

“Yes, but we don’t know how far we are ahead of them. We should hurry.”

“Right. So, who’s climbing the tree?”

“I believe that will be unnecessary.”

Valerie closed her eyes again, then reached upward with one hand. I waited expectantly, then gasped as the leather satchel visibly sank toward us.

It looked like some invisible hand was tugging on it. Valerie was tugging on it from all the way down here. She had telekinesis as well!

At that point, I’ll admit I was jealous. I wouldn’t say her class was cooler than mine, but man, I couldn’t help but envy her spell selection.

We all waited in hopeful silence as the satchel swayed and dipped. Yet it seemed no matter how hard Valerie pulled at it, it wouldn’t come off the branch. A moment later the satchel popped back upward along with the branch on which it was stuck.

Valerie opened her eyes and looked at me. “They have fastened it to the branch somehow.”

“A lock?”

“Or a clasp. The mechanism is fine enough I doubt I can unlock it from down here, especially without knowing what it looks like. My grasp of fine telekinesis is still lacking.”

“So someone has to climb up there.”

“It would appear so.” Valerie continued staring expectantly at me.

I frowned, then glanced back at Leon and Tyson. Both of them were watching me expectantly as well. My frown deepened.

“Hold on. Why do I have to climb the giant tree?”

Leon barely hid his smile. “Val’s the leader, so she needs to be down here to keep watch and take command. I’m the healer, so if you fall and break your leg, I’ll need to be here to fix it. And Tyson’s our tank. We need him ready to react in case we get attacked.”

“Okay, fine, but what does that make me, then? The party’s rogue?”

Leon raised an eyebrow. “I feel you’d be more like a bard.”

“Oh, come on! I’m not the party’s bard!”

Tyson raised one eyebrow at me. “You are the one getting all the ladies.”

“That’s not...” I had an exciting flash of Harper and Molly last night. “Not really pertinent to the situation.”

Valerie frowned. “Kyle? Climb. We will secure the perimeter of the tree.”

That was an order, not a request. I sighed and nodded.

“Fine, but if I fall and break my neck, I’m haunting you. All of you. Jacob Marley style.”

Tyson grinned. “Hey, I know that one!”

I was already climbing the tree. I was relieved to find that the bark was dry and didn’t slide beneath my boots. There were also plenty of branches within easy reach. As I climbed slowly, I was surprised by the fact that it was easy until I figured it out.

This tree must have been chosen specifically because it was easy to climb. Whoever had set up this exercise wouldn’t want one of their students breaking their neck. Just about anyone could climb this tree so long as they got over their fear of heights.

I didn’t even need a word of power to climb. I simply worked my way steadily upward, refusing to look down. Looking down might make me lose my nerve. Time ceased to matter as I climbed, and then, finally, I reached the level of the hanging satchel.

Then I made the mistake of looking down.

Holy shit that was high. Valerie, Tyson, and Leon all looked like D&D miniatures from up here. If I fell, I wasn’t confident I’d only crack my leg. I shivered and looked at the satchel again. It seemed like it was hanging twice as far as it had been.

I worked past my fear and focused. There was a large branch, thicker than the others, that stretched toward the satchel like a balance beam. The other branches were thick enough that I realized if I were to fall, I’d likely end up getting caught in branches on the way down.

For all I knew, the instructors might have even created some magical safety net that would catch me if I tumbled too far. They could create magical traps, after all. I didn’t know there was a safety net, but I refused to believe they would just let students die on exercises.

I worked my way out on the branch, foot by foot, until I reached the satchel. It wasn’t as far out as it had seemed. I reached up and fumbled with the clasp until I found a single buckle, like on a belt. I undid that, and then the satchel dropped easily into my palms.

I shouted down to the others in relief. “Got it!”

Flush with victory, I used the branches as guardrails as I slowly worked my way back to the tree trunk. This was like walking on one of those tight rope bridges that had handrails for you to hold while you walked on the rope equivalent of a balance beam. Not hard at all.

I reached the trunk and glanced down, then frowned. Then stared in horror.

My conclave was still below me. Yet all of them had collapsed at some point between when I went out to get the satchel and came back. They were sprawled out on the ground.

Another trap? Had seizing the satchel triggered a magic trap? No, it was worse than that. As four figures in camouflage hunting gear strode from the forest, I groaned and tried to push down the sudden spike of fear that was stubbornly rising in my chest.

Jaxon Price yelled up at me from below.

“Hey, fish! How’s the weather up there?”

Chapter 59

Even though Tez had warned me this might happen, I couldn’t believe Jaxon would actually go so far as to attack my conclave and everyone in it. How dare he fuck with my people? And what had he done to them?

From the tree, I called down to them. “Are you fucking insane?”

Jaxon laughed mockingly. “What’s the problem, fish? You stuck up there?”

“What did you do to my conclave?”

“Relax, genius. They’re just taking a nap.” Jaxon’s expression darkened as he glared up at me. “Now, you and I are gonna have a conversation about respecting your elders.”

As Jaxon gestured expectantly with both arms, the three other magi in his boy band moved to surround the tree. As I looked down at them, I mentally rehashed their idols and abilities. Tyson and Valerie had told me that on our first day of Conclave Battle Tactics.

Jaxon was a disciple of Resheph, which meant he had words of power involving plague and other stuff. Had he used some sort of word of power to spread, like... sleeping gas? The rest of my conclave was obviously knocked out, so it had to be something like that.

Hugo Cunningham was a disciple of Arawn, which meant he could summon spectral hounds and turn deer into murderdeer. I didn’t like the idea of encountering either of those, though at least he didn’t have any murderdeer with him right now.

The other two I knew less about. I knew Sancus, the Roman god of trust and contracts, was the idol of Daniel Armstrong, but I couldn’t really guess that that idol was capable of. And the last of the boy band, Kenneth Lynch, was a disciple of Tsovinar, who I knew even less about.

Water god. Armenian. That was the extent of my nerd knowledge.

Were the all in on this together? Or were some of them having second thoughts? They had to know that they were on the hook now just like Jaxon if they were found out.

“Hey, I know Jaxon’s insane, but what about the rest of you? You can’t use words of power on other conclaves. You all ready to get expelled cause your buddy got his feefees hurt?”

I spotted a brief frown from Kenneth before he hid it. I couldn’t really see the expression on the other two. And Jaxon just laughed that deep, mocking laugh of his.

“Give up, fish! No one’s coming to save you, and no one’s broken any rules.”

“You just used a word of power to knock out my conclave!”

“How was I supposed to know they’d be standing around that tree like a pack of dumbasses? I used a word of power to put to sleep any hostiles who might be in the area. I didn’t target anyone directly.”

“That’s your excuse? You know that’s gonna fly, right? This isn’t even your packet, so everyone will know you came out here to fuck us over. Are you three really gonna burn your academic careers because your buddy picked a fight with the wrong guy and lost?”

Jaxon’s glower turned even darker. “I didn’t lose. You cheated.”

“You crapped your pants in front of the entire class, man! You spoke a word of power at me. You did this to yourself, and now you’re gonna get all your friends in trouble because you can’t admit you made a mistake. You gonna drag your whole team down with you?”

Two of Jaxon’s friends, Hugo and Daniel, briefly glanced at each other behind his back. I might not be able to see their expressions, but that glance held obvious meaning. I could imagine each of them was looking to the other to decide if I was right or not.

Jaxon glanced back at them and snarled. “Well, get him down from there!”

Hugo stepped forward. “That’s not a good idea.”

“Just send one of your hounds up to claw him off there!”

“If he falls, he could break something.”

“So what? If some dumbass breaks his neck while playing Tarzan, that’s not our problem. He signed a waiver!”

Hugo looked up at me. I stared down from my tree, aware that I was entirely safe from words of power. While I couldn’t get down and help my conclave without exposing myself to attack, they also couldn’t get up here without making themselves targets.

If there were a real battle, I could use mictia to blow up Jaxon’s head and make the others rethink their course of action. But I wasn’t going to kill a guy during a training exercise.

Jaxon was a douchebag, but murder wouldn’t just get me expelled. It’d get me arrested. Plus I’d likely feel really bad about it afterward, because while Jaxon was obviously a huge asshole, I was not.

Turning them against each other was the best course of action. I could already sense they were wavering. The thought of hurting me was different from actually hurting me and then facing the consequences. Maybe they’d break when push came to shove.

“You know Jaxon’s full of shit, but it’s not too late to back out! If you guys leave now, you can still get your packet and turn it into Lieutenant Green!”

Jaxon glared at Hugo. “Get him down from there. That’s an order!”

Hugo sighed, then raised a hand and spoke a word of power. “-Dereh umma.-”

Fear shot up my spine as a spectral hound appeared beside Hugo. It wasn’t a normal dog, either. It had six legs instead of four. It looked more like a wolf than any sort of hound.

It sniffed rapidly before its beady eyes fixed on me. As Hugo called up to me, I heard more resignation than anger in his tone. Like he was just a guy stuck doing a shitty job.

“Better come down, fish! If you don’t, my boy’s coming up to get you!”

Tyson had told me Hugo and his family were attack dogs for the Price family. Based on that, I suspected Hugo didn’t actually care if he got expelled... at least not enough that he’d jeopardize his continued employment with Jaxon’s folks by defying Jaxon directly.

The others might be similarly motivated. Daniel might not want to risk getting expelled, but Tyson had told me his family was dependent on the Prices for financial support. And Kenneth? He remained a wild card, but I couldn’t depend on him to flip.

As the spectral hound snarled and started toward the tree, I made my decision.

“Hold on! I give! I’m coming down!”

I might not be safe on the ground, but I’d be even less safe stuck up in a tree while a spectral hellhound tried to bite me in the ass. Once I was on the ground, I would have the choice to talk, fight, or run. All of those were better options than “fall out of a fucking tree.”

Jaxon grinned up at me with an evil expression. “That’s it, fish. Listen to your elders.”

As I worked my way down, slowly and cautiously, I took the time to plan my next move. The biggest advantage I had was that none of these guys could use their words of power on me. Anything they spoke at me would bounce back at them, and they knew that.

That meant if they wanted to do something to me, they’d have to restrain me physically. They’d have to catch me to do that, and with ihoyotl, I could outrun an Olympic sprinter. I could take our packet and sprint back to Lieutenant Green, but then what?

Would they hurt my conclave? Messing with me was one thing, but physically hurting unconscious fellow magi felt like a bridge too far even for Jaxon. Tyson, Leon, and Valerie weren’t Jaxon’s enemies. They were just my allies.

If I could get to the ground, making a run for it felt like a solid option to me. I wasn’t dumb enough to think I could fight off four dudes at the same time. I wasn’t Jackie Chan, and I didn’t have my shield and spear. Which would be really handy to have right now.

So, that would be the plan. Pretend I was going to negotiate with them, then sprint back to the admin building and Lieutenant Green. I might lose points for abandoning my conclave, but Valerie had already pointed out our goal was to get these packets back to our commander.

The lives of thousands of soldiers were in jeopardy. Fictionally. So even though the others might consider me a coward for running away, I’d have completed the mission and escaped an ambush. Yet as I got closer to the ground, a low growl rose in my throat.

Oh, c’mon. Really? Tez did not like the idea of me running from these guys, despite the fact that it was four on one. A true Aztec warrior would fight until he could fight no longer, not flee with his tail between his legs. Would I seriously lose rapport if I made a run for it?

Jaxon and his boy band could easily spread the tale around school of me running away like a coward and leaving my conclave to “die.” That could seriously hurt my reputation and make it less likely people would envy me. No, it would definitely hurt my reputation.

Tez had warned me about this. It wasn’t just ego at stake. It was my rapport.

Did Tez really want me to stay and fight a pointless battle I couldn’t win when it would be far safer to just run? He did. I knew he did. So while defying the will of my idol didn’t feel like it would end our relationship, it might make it harder to gain rapport in the future.

Yet I couldn’t defeat Jaxon and his allies in direct battle, at least not with my fists. A frontal attack was not a valid strategy. I also couldn’t just run away, because that would look to everyone like cowardice. Then I remembered what Tyson had said earlier today.

“All war is based on deception.”

To be fair, it wasn’t Tyson who’d said it. It was Sun Tzu. And as I remembered what else Valerie had told me today, I finally came up with a plan that threaded the needle in a way that I felt Tez would accept. I wouldn’t fight, and I also wouldn’t run.

I’d just appear to run.

When I reached the ground, I raised both hands to show I was ready to negotiate. “All right. I’m here. What do you want?”

Jaxon grinned at me, but not in a nice way. “You need to pay for your disrespect, fish.”

He beckoned, and his conclave moved to surround me and cut off all escape. Hugo’s spectral hound continued to worry me, especially because it was eying me like it thought I was a tasty snack. Hugo remained expressionless, just a man doing a job that he didn’t like.

Kenneth looked a bit nervous. Daniel did as well. But it was still four on one, and Jaxon was preening like a peacock with his chin high and his arms back.

I kept my voice hard and my back straight. “How do you want to settle this, then?”

“I want you to apologize.”

“For what?”

“For what you did to me.”

“You did it to yourself, numb nuts.”

Jaxon jabbed a finger at me. “You turned my own word back at me! Apologize, then...” His smile turned evil. “Get down on all fours and lick my boots.”

It wouldn’t stop with that. Giving into one demand would only encourage Jaxon to demand more. I’d never do it anyway, but knowing that was just the start of the degradation he’d demand made me even more firm in my conclusion.

You didn’t give into bullies. You punched them in the nose until they ran away.

Valerie, Tyson, and Leon weren’t waking up, but the fact that all of us were awake suggested that whatever word of power Jaxon had put them to sleep had already dissipated. They were breathing. They’d be fine.

“Fine, you want an apology?” I took a breath. “I’m sorry you’re such a dumbass.”

Jaxon’s eyes widened dangerously.

“Seriously. I really am sorry you’re such a stupid little shit, especially since you’re dragging your buddies down with you because you fucked up. I feel bad for you guys.”

Jaxon’s neck veins bulged. “You smug little shit!”

He lunged at me, and I darted sideways as he did so. Then I sprinted sideways and spoke one of my words of power.

“-Ihiyotl!-”

 The burst of speed I put on, and the extra agility my word immediately granted me, allowed me to dart around a clumsy tackle by Kenneth. It was so easy it was like he was drunk. I laughed mockingly as I tore off into the woods, running away... or so it seemed.

Jaxon roared behind me. “Get him!”

The hook was baited. Now I just had to reel these in my big fish.

Chapter 60

As I sprinted into the forest with the strap of the packet wrapped around my shoulder, I heard a snarl. That six-legged hound was after me, and the snapping of twigs told me the rest of Jaxon’s boy band were chasing me as well. I could have easily outrun all of them now that I’d activated ihiyotl, but I kept my pace my version of a jog so they could keep up with me.

I risked a whip quick glance behind me. Hugo was the closest, keeping pace with his spectral hound. I put on an extra burst of speed and scanned the forest. Soon I saw the telltale gleam of one of the gleaming silver circles Valerie and I had spotted on our way in.

Valerie and I had been able to see the traps placed by the instructors because she was a sorceress, and I could reflect words of power. Tyson and Leon hadn’t been able to see them at all, which meant most magi couldn’t see them. I moved to run straight at the trap.

The sound of the spectral hound on my heels almost undid me, but I kept going. I reached the trap and heard a loud, metallic snap as it went off.

The magic imbued in it bounced right off me. Behind me, a body thumped heavily to the ground. A second later, the spectral hound nipping at me disappeared.

I slowed just long enough to see that Hugo was now crumbled on the ground and twitching slowly. There was no sign of the others, which told me Hugo must have a word like mine. A word to make him faster. We’d both outdistanced the others.

It was now three on one, and better yet, the others didn’t know Hugo was down. Instead of continuing to run toward the admin building, I ran a circle instead. I jogged easily until I spotted two more figures through the woods. They also spotted me.

I turned away and stumbled like I was out of breath. Deception. Both of Jaxon’s attack dogs shouted angrily and ran toward me. I stumbled forward as I looked for another trap, then found it. Valerie was right. The traps were densest around the data packets.

I slowed as both of them got closer and closer. Neither dared speak a word of power for fear of bouncing it back, but both though they could likely overpower me as a team. Just as they approached, I stepped into the range of the paralysis trap.

Snap! Kenneth was the unlucky target, and as he wobbled and dropped, Daniel slowed and stared down at his friend in horror. As he looked at me, his eyes widened.

“You used a word of power on him!”

I grinned dangerously. “Did I?”

“You can’t use words on us! You’ll get expelled!”

“You think I care right now? You threatened me, asshole. You threatened my conclave. No one threatens my friends and gets away with it.”

As I stepped forward, I unleashed a loud Tezcatlipoca growl from deep in my throat. Daniel didn’t crap himself, but I swear he pissed himself a little. He stepped back.

“Hold on, wait! This was all was Jaxon’s idea.”

“Yeah, but he’s not here. So you get to pay for his mistakes.”

“I didn’t even want to do this! I... if you let me go, I won’t say a thing! Promise!”

That was the most bald-faced lie I’d heard today. But Daniel obviously didn’t know I knew that, and so far, he was doing exactly what I wanted.

“Fine. If you run now, I’ll let you go. You can tell Jaxon you lost me in the woods. But not a word to Lieutenant Green about me using a word of power on Kenneth. Got it?”

“Right, right. I got it!”

I pointed. “Go.”

With another worried glance at Kenneth, who was still completely paralyzed, Daniel rushed off into the woods. I smiled grimly. What had been a four on one fight a moment ago was now mano-a-mano, and I hadn’t even had to hurt Daniel to get rid of him.

From off in the woods, I heard someone shouting. Jaxon was shouting. He must have sent his flunkies on ahead to catch me and now wondered where they were.

I took a breath. “-Ihiyotl cēhui.-”

Cool, cleansing energy flooded me as I deactivated ihiyotl. I started recharging my energy. I strode back toward the tree with my packet in hand.

As I walked, I kept an eye out for any more traps. Just as I hoped, I’d spotted another one. They really were thick around our objective.

Some could argue it wasn’t fair to use traps Jaxon and his allies couldn’t see to take him down. Some would call it underhanded or even cowardly. What I called it was effective, and as we’d established earlier, there was no honor in war. Just survivors.

I was going to survive this.

I paused by the trap and waited patiently. Soon enough, the crashing of branches and the snapping of twigs announced Jaxon nearby.

“Hugh! Ken! Where the fuck are you guys?”

I called out. “Sorry! They peaced out!”

Jackson roared from the woods. “You stupid fuck! I’m gonna murder you!”

“Pretty sure that’s still against the rules, man! But feel free to come try!”

A moment later, Jaxon stumbled out of the woods and stalked toward me. Yet when he saw me standing there with a cocky smile, he slowed. His eyes narrowed as he looked around suspiciously. He was obviously wondering where his boy band had run off to.

“Where’s the others?”

“I told you, they ran off. They said, and I quote, ‘Fuck Jaxon. I hate that guy.’”

Jaxon glared. “I’m gonna kick your ass until you shit your pants.”

I set down the packet and beckoned with two fingers, just like I’d seen cocky fighters do in dozens of martial arts movies.

“You can try.”

Jaxon took two more steps toward me before he paused. As he looked around again, I saw him sizing up the situation in a way I didn’t like.

I had hoped to blind him with anger enough that he’d just charge me like a bull, but he was still out of trap range. He frowned suspiciously.

“Hugh wouldn’t run.”

“Well, he did.”

“Daniel wouldn’t run either. I own them. I own their whole families.”

“Wow, you’re paying for friends? Just when I thought you couldn’t get more pathetic.”

“You used a word of power on them, didn’t you? On my conclave.”

I smiled like the proverbial cat who’d eaten the... you know.

“Did I?”

“That’s not gonna work on me, fish. My shields are way too strong for you.”

“I don’t need of power to drop your ass. But you can still run if you’re scared.”

Before he could answer, Valerie called out from the woods.

“Kyle! Where are you? Answer me!”

My grin widened. “Oh, no! Looks like your sleeping fart gas wore off.”

Jaxon glanced back nervously as Valerie’s voice echoed through the woods.

“Kyle! Are you safe?”

Tyson’s voice followed hers.

“Dude! Are you out there? We found Hugo, but he’s all messed up!”

I smiled grimly at Jaxon. “Last chance to run, dickhead. It’s okay if you’re scared.”

Leon joined the chorus. “Kyle! If you’re awake, call out!”

I continued smiling smugly at Jaxon, who was looking increasingly worried by the fact that it was now four on one in my favor. I could have shouted for my conclave to come join me, and I didn’t. That’s how confident I looked.

Jaxon stepped back, glowering impotently. “You broke the rules, fish. You used words of power on your fellow magi, and you’re getting expelled. I’ll personally see to it.”

“Go on, then. Run back to Daddy and tell him I made you cry.”

Valerie called out. “Kyle, please answer us!”

I raised a hand. “I’m here! I’m safe! Jaxon was just leaving!”

“Oh, fuck you!” Jaxon snarled before turning and running toward the admin building... with the satchel containing his packet bouncing as he ran.

As he turned tail and fled, something came over me that was entirely unlike the person I knew I was. I’d planned to let Jaxon go, but seeing him fleeing in the face of my power triggered something instinctive inside me. Something primal. A low growl rose in my throat.

I was a hunter. That was my prey. And he was running from me.

I charged after Jaxon with a loud growl. As he sprinted and I rapidly caught up almost effortlessly, I felt the urge to tackle him. Rip at him. Tear his throat out.

No! Murder was still off the table. Just like when I’d felt an overwhelming desire to tackle and mount Ilva while chasing her, I forced just enough of myself back into my connection to Tezcatlipoca not to tear out Jaxon’s throat. To the left, I spotted another gleaming trap.

I sprinted past Jaxon with another burst of speed, then veered like I was going to cut off him. Just as I’d hoped, he cut left in hopes to avoid me. A moment later, there was a loud, magical snap! Jaxon Price tumbled and rolled several times before going still.

I slowed, breathing hard, and walked toward him. As he lie paralyzed on the ground before me, staring up at at me and trembling with his eyes wide, I saw something that made me smile. Real, pants-shitting fear. He was now terrified of me.

Good.

“Kyle!”

Valerie’s voice snapped me out of my staring contest with a terrified Jaxon. I looked up to see her rushing toward me from deeper in the woods, with Tyson and Leon close behind her. Seeing them safe and healthy helped me push back to the last of Tez’s fury and focus on me.

I was Kyle Bradley, magi of Hallowstone. I was Tezcatlipoca’s disciple, but that didn’t mean I was an animal. I was a warrior, and warriors were masters of self control.

My opponent was defeated. His whole army was defeated. So now, the battle was over.

Save for the gloating.

As I glanced down at a motionless Jaxon Price, I smiled thinly as I knelt beside him. I rolled him over, snatched the leather satchel that held his data packet, and effortlessly pulled the strap off him. I rose and tucked it over my shoulder along with our packet.

“Guess all the money in the world can’t buy you friends, asshole. Or a spine.”

Jaxon just glared impotently up at me, saying nothing. He couldn’t. As as Valerie, Tyson, and Leon all caught up with me, Valerie glanced calmly at Jaxon before looking at me.

“Where are the other members of his conclave?”

“Dealt with.”

“How?”

“We’ll talk on our way back.” I motioned with a tilt of my head. “I’ve got his data packet and our own. So, shall we?”

Valerie glanced once more at Jaxon, then nodded. She glanced back at Leon and Tyson.

“Move out.”

She strode off without another look at Jaxon. Tyson and Leon both offered me curious glances as they followed. I feel in behind them. We walked in silence for long enough that we knew Jaxon was no longer in earshot, and the Valerie called a halt.

She turned to me. “Kyle? What just happened?”

I quickly explained everything that had happened after Jaxon used his word of power to knock everyone out. Valerie, Tyson, and Leon all listened eagerly and with increasingly wide eyes. When I finished my story, Tyson grinned like a madman.

“Dude, you fucking rock!”

I grinned at his enthusiasm. “Thanks, man.”

Valerie crossed her arms beneath her breasts. “It would have been safer to run. We were in no immediate danger.”

“I couldn’t do that. I wasn’t going to abandon my conclave, but moreover, I couldn’t just run from those assholes. It wasn’t just an ego thing. It was a rapport thing.”

Leon nodded calmly. “Aztec warriors don’t run.”

“Pretty much. At least, Tez doesn’t want me to run. Plus, since I already knew I could use the traps on them, I had a way to take them down that didn’t involve breaking the rules.”

Tyson grinned happily. “That’s right! You didn’t use words of power on them. They just got caught in the traps the instructors set up. No one can blame you for that!”

“Let’s hope so. Now, aren’t we on a schedule?”

Valerie nodded thoughtfully. “Yes. We should hurry.” Then, she smiled. “Well done.”

Somehow, praise from Valerie Marshall felt almost as good as praise from my dad might. Not that I mentally put them anywhere near each other, mind you. One was my dad, while the other was a hot blonde sorceress with huge... ideas about our future.

Valerie was one of the top students at Hallowstone, and she’d just complimented me on how I’d handled a very difficult situation. That felt good. As stressful as today had been, I couldn’t think of many ways it could have turned out better.

And I could think of a lot of ways it could have turned out much worse.