Duels
Gia
Four hours later with a racing heart and sweaty palms, I headed for the great hall with Professor Kaius' instructions ringing in my head. Each step I took felt like an echo of my impending doom.
At the forefront of my thoughts were Kauis' brief history of the challenges and what they entailed. Coven duels were overseen solely by the student body and no teachers or school staff were allowed to interfere.
Two witches would duel till one conceded or was killed. According to him the most famous duel went on for over four days, both witches were so powerful a blanket isolation spell was cast over the school Island Aeaea, because the two witches' powers were so magnificent that they altered reality with their spells, and their enchantments rearranged constellations and the movements of the heavenly bodies.
Needless to say, that story had only made me queasy with fear. If I was going to face off with a witch that powerful, I was hopeless,
When I got to the auditorium it was already crowded with a sea of powder blue uniform shirts. At the center of the room were black rectangular sparring mats, the soft glow of sunset refracted through the windows and the domed ceiling made the room feel larger.
Banners hung from the walls, Green, red, yellow and purple. The space was supposedly multipurpose, and was used for dining, events, assemblies and also the occasional death matches.
No one paid attention to me as I walked through the entrance. It was rowdy, and everyone was seated to watch. Orbs of magic light were suspended over the arena, basking everything in aquamarine.
I'd left Zach back at Kaius' office still unconscious. Kaius had said he would be waking up any moment. I would worry about him later but right then I was having a hard time focusing on the task at hand. Especially because I was yet to come up with a plan on how to defeat whoever I would be facing.
How did one face off against a witch when they had no powers of their own? I had to figure something out quickly, but so far all I'd managed to do was dig myself into an even deeper pit of despair. I felt physically ill and it was nothing but sheer stubbornness that kept me moving,
Kaius had said to play to my strengths, and had rambled on about counter hexes and protection spells and enchantments and inanimacy magic. He'd assumed I knew magic, I hadn't bothered to try and correct him.
If I did he would probably have called the whole thing off and bundled my powerless behind out of his school before first light and I couldn't have that happening.
I went to a table where a girl with dreadlocks interlocked beautifully with cowries and small charm pieces sat. She was chewing bubblegum and absently flipping through a punk rock magazine.
"Hello," I squeaked, then cleared my throat and spoke clearer, "Hello,"
She looked up and her brows wrinkled as she eyed me from top to bottom and back up. Her eyes were huge, brown and expressive like a doe's. "I haven't seen you before. Who are you?"
"I'm Gia, I'm here to put down my name for the challenge," I replied,
She cocked an eyebrow, "You're a witch?"
I winced, "Well sort off,"
What qualified me as a witch? I'd never done magic before. The lights of the magic orbs hanging above us danced across her skin and made her look like some otherworldly creature.
The girl looked skeptical, "What's your last name?"
"Carvel,"
The magazine she was reading dropped from her fingers as blood drained from her face,
"Carvel?" She repeated in a hushed whisper. "Wow, I thought they were all dead? So the rumors were true, you're the daughter that survived that no one was aware of?"
It was my turn to stare back at her blankly, had news about me travelled that fast? Was there some supernatural social media where breaking news was broadcasted?
The girl kept looking at me, but instead of the usual animosity I'd come to expect, there was something like hero worship in her eyes, "Which form of magic do you favor?"
I tensed up at this, "Is that mandatory to answer?" I asked guardedly.
She shrugged,
"I guess not, it's good to keep your cards close to your chest,"
I had no cards whatsoever, but I wisely kept silent,
"You look like a conjurer, I heard that's what your mother was best at," She parroted away,
The mention of my mother set me on edge, "What do you know about my mother?" I asked a little too fiercely,
The girl only beamed at me, "Uhmm, Only that she was the most powerful and badass witch alive? And if you're her daughter. Then…"
She released a soft whoosh of breath and wiggled her eyebrows at me.
"You'll be fighting Kayla Cohen. She's the undefeated runner up."
She leaned forward in a confiding manner, "You know it's funny, if you hadn't showed up she would have been the uncontested leader of the coven. Astrid, that's the head of the shape shifters, has managed to remove all obstacles to ensure Kayla's undisputed victory."
My hackles rose at the mention of Astrid's name, of course she had to somehow be involved in this. Just great.
The girl's cute button of a nose wrinkled up as she continued to express her displeasure, "Witch affairs should be handled by witches not by some shape shifter, I'm glad we finally have someone to put a stop to all of this political nonsense,"
While I mulled over this, my ears picked up footsteps approaching and I caught a whiff of a familiar expensive perfume.
Astrid appeared beside me, her hips cocked to one side. She tossed her hair over her shoulders making the smooth shiny length catch the lights of the aquamarine orbs.
"What are you doing here?" She demanded,
I guess apart from politics, sticking her nose in everybody's business was second nature to her.
"She's here to challenge Kayla," The girl with dreadlocks said her chest was puffed with pride,
Astrid blinked like a cute kewpie doll, and then her eyes flashed dangerously. "Is this true?"
I didn't respond. She eyed me with renewed venom, "Just what exactly are you trying to do? This isn't allowed, I'll report you to the Principal and have you thrown out,"
"She can challenge Kayla if she wants to," The girl with dreadlocks spat, "She's a witch and she comes from one of the noble families,"
I looked between them, I was already nervous enough if I spoke I might have thrown up.
"Stay out of this Gabrielle," Astrid snapped at the girl, the air turned frosty as they exchanged ugly scowls, Astrid's eyes turned bright yellow and a low growl erupted from the back of her throat.
"No you stay out of this, it's witch business, you have no grounds to interfere, Gia will fight her end of story, now get lost." Gabrielle insisted, staring down Astrid.
Astrid ground her teeth and looked like she was going to argue, but then her expression cooled down, and a pleasant expression overcame her face.
"I was only looking out for you Gia." Her voice dripped with fake worry, and she grinned at me, "You see Kayla is from the house of Cohen, they specialize in sympathy magic. I had no idea you were so eager to die though, good luck."
With that parting remark, she turned on her heels and strutted away.
"By the goddess Circe I hate her," The girl Gabrielle muttered, "You have to win this duel Gia, what do you need? I have some crushed eucalyptus and cloves and sage here with me, and mugwort for protection. Where's your duel pouch?" She asked,
I didn't know what that was, luckily, Gabrielle was too busy fuming to notice my sheer ignorance. She untied a pouch from the waistline of her skirt and handed it to me. Her nails were painted a vivid shade of wine,
"You'll be fine, Kayla has to touch you to use her powers. Just make sure to stay out of her reach and you'll be able to defeat her, but don't underestimate her, she still has some nasty tricks up her sleeve. We take the same classes, she's a vicious one,"
I clutched the pouch in my hand, "Uh…thanks for this,"
The pouch was made of brown leather and felt warm against my palm. What was I supposed to do with a pouch of crushed dried leaves?
A bell rung, and Gabrielle's head perked up, "It's time. I've got to go make the announcement and introduce the contestants. I'm Gabrielle by the way, from the house of Zamora, goodluck!"
I nodded, she was the second person to treat me nicely in this school. Too bad she was about to witness my very spectacular death. Why was I doing this again? Oh yes, to find out more about my family.
Gabrielle walked away with a roll of parchment in her hand and hurried to the center of the room. The hall had fallen silent now,
"The witch duel is about to commence, and Kayla Cohen has a new challenger, her name is Gia Carvel,"
One could have heard a pin drop in the stunned silence that followed her announcement.
"The two contestants should step forward please,"
I approached the center of the room, I wasn't sure what I looked like to others, but I tried to keep my chin high and my shoulders straight. Whispers and murmurs floated through the air.
Another girl walked up as well and stood about four feet opposite me. She had long black hair, and her eyes were lined with thick kohl. She sneered at me as we faced each other on the mat. I fingered the pouch still clutched in my hand, a haphazard plan was beginning to form in my head.
There had to be magic inside of me right? I came from a supposedly powerful bloodline. Maybe I just needed a catalyst, the crushed leaves would respond to whatever magic was in my blood right?
"Let the duel begin!" Gabrielle announced and stepped away.
I was unprepared, and my hands shook.
Immediately, Kayla weaved a sign with her hands and beautiful whirls of power emanated from her fingers, she sent it javelining toward me.
Blood roared in my ears as my body reacted quickly. I dove to the side and I crashed on my side, the padding of the mat made it a soft landing, but the pouch flew out of my hand and spilled it's contents.
I reached desperately for the powder,
"Get up," Kayla taunted,
I gritted my teeth and crawled to my feet, Kayla's eyes were maniacal now. She was enjoying this,
"Your family took my birthright from me, we're sworn enemies." She said, her chest was heaving and there was murder in her eyes.
I was breathing hard, and the smell of burning leather wafted into my nostrils from where her spell had struck the sparring mat.
She sent another spark of power in my direction, I dove again, and she took that opportunity to run at me.
My mouth opened to let out a scream as she grabbed my hair. It was totally unexpected, was a witch fight supposed to be like a bar brawl?
I tugged and tried to free myself from her grasp, my eyes watered as some locks of my hair were torn from their roots.
She let me go and I staggered backward, my hands flailing. It took me a moment to realize my big mistake, I called to mind Gabrielle's warning. I wasn't supposed to let Kayla touch me. She used sympathetic magic and I'd just given her a handful of my hair, damn it.
She held tufts of my hair in one hand and there was a self-assured smirk on her lips. She pointed her other hand at me and started to chant. I felt a cold grip in my chest, and my lungs and airways were blocked. I went down immediately and a blood curling scream escaped from me.
In my haze of pain, I spotted Zach striding toward the mat his expression one of pure fury. Astrid stopped him, and they were arguing.
Despite my state of agony, I felt the connection between myself and Kayla through the sympathetic magic, it went both ways. I could sense it in my consciousness, like a string of thread. I reached out to it and the moment I touched it, I was pulled in, where I found myself was like a cistern where loud voices echoed and screamed at me from all sides.
I was aware of my physical body. The points where my skin came in contact with the sparring mat, and the pain that had made my body almost numb. Even Kayla's chanting and Kayla's voice chanting.
Yet I was somewhere else. Kayla's memories and thoughts overwhelmed me like an angry tsunami. I wanted to deep dive but I found that I couldn't. It was like skimming the surface of an ocean when I didn't know how to swim. I was terrified I would enter and never return.
But Kayla felt me even though she wasn't aware of it. I knew because I was inside her head.
I just need to win. I need to win. I pushed the thoughts outward, drowning out everything else, but it acted, like a vacuum instead, pulling her in. The voices were louder now. Someone else was screaming, it was Kayla and myself. She was feeling my pain, I'd dragged her into my mind.
The strands of my hair in her hand fell to the ground and she dropped to the floor like a stone statue.
Everyone was silent. I struggled to my feet, my insides felt like they'd been shredded, and blood dribbled from my nose, but I was alive and I'd just won my first fight.
Gabrielle's grin was wide enough to split her face in two, "We have a new head of the student body of witches. Gia of the house of Carvel!"
There was deathly silence, my chest rose and fell. I felt drained. Both mentally and physically. I promptly passed out afterwards.