The Eyebright's Dimension

Chapter Sixteen: The Final Round

Inside the stadium, the tension was thicker than the dense fog that had settled overnight the morning of the Final Round. Kasity stood for a moment in the doorway, still feeling a bit drowsy from the effect of the magic, and wondering what in exactly had happened.

“Hey! Hey you, you’re Sylph!” yelled someone from behind her, distracting her from her thoughts. “Sylphs are on your right.”

Kasity turned to the right and saw a solid wall of sky blue. She turned around again and took in the sight of the staggered bleachers, all filled with students proudly displaying their Cloud colors. She felt like she was encircled by a multicolored patchwork quilt. In the center of the stadium was the playing field; she could see the Sylphs on one side and the Wyverns on the other, dressed in jade green and black.

“Come on, Kasity!” yelled several voices behind her, and Kasity looked behind her to see Karynn and the other first steps calling to her. Kasity climbed the steps up the bleachers carefully, massaging her throbbing temples. She almost tripped over a slippery step, but managed to slide in the seat next to Karynn.

“I saw Lander. He looked really mad. What happened?” Karynn whispered.

Kasity remembered her show-off moment, promptly forgot Eunae’s weird behavior before, felt herself flush red, and chose not to answer. Karynn looked at her for a moment, and then said, “They’re not letting the Clouds choose commentators. This girl named Miette, from Centaur Cloud, is doing it alone.”

Feeling very glad that Karynn had changed the subject, Kasity nodded. The teachers usually allowed the Clouds choose the commentators, but this time they hadn’t. Centaur traditionally leaned toward Wyvern Cloud, and Miette was clearly biased against Sylph.

“Line up for Wyvern: Morwenn, Council Leader and eighth step; Beagan, Council, Aerial Squad and eighth step; Carnig, Council, Aerial squad and eighth step and Kiernan, Council, Ground Division and eighth step. Very experienced members, all eighth steps.” Miette said, to ferocious Sylph boos. Kasity looked to her left and saw Aidan and the other first step boys booing, too.

“Line up for Sylph: Gautier, Council Leader and eighth step; Kael, Council, Aerial Squad and sixth step; Channer, Council, Aerial Squad, and seventh step—and, a surprise, Calixte, Council and Ground Patrol, and fourth step. We have two younger students in favor of the other two Council Members of Sylph who are older and more experienced—very varied age group for Sylph, whereas Wyvern’s lineup is all eighth steps. But experience is generally the best teacher…Sylph might be facing an early loss because of their weak lineup…” to more Sylph boos.

“Hey, Calixte isn’t there,” Karynn said, scanning the playing field. Kasity squinted; Calixte indeed was not there. Where could she be? She turned around and could see that the other Sylphs were wondering where Calixte was, too.

“First up are Beagan from Wyvern and Kael from Sylph. One…two…three…and they’re off!”

Beagan attacked first, a jet of light flashing through the sky that Kael dodged easily.

“Beagan starts with the offensive, of course, as the more experienced battler usually does—oh, and Kael has dodged it. There’s no weaponry or any sort of magical conductors allowed in this battle, it’ll all have to be based on their personal strength…”

The crowd gasped as both boys started firing like crazy, sparks flying through the sky. “Looks like we’re entering the main fray…Beagan’s offensive seems to be much stronger than Kael’s…however, there hasn’t been any major blows—”

Someone in the crowd suddenly shrieked. Kael had finally been hit, straight in the chest. He started freefalling toward the ground. Channer slowed Kael’s fall down and flew up to take his place.

“Kael’s replacement is Channer. He seems to have a much stronger offense, Beagan is faltering, probably tired from his battle with Kael, who wasn’t the best first choice… and Wyvern is signaling a tag…Carnig is coming in.”

Carnig was a mousy-faced girl with a permanent frown etched on her face. “Channer, who is arguably the best in Sylph, and a favorite for Council Leader next year, has started offensive…ooh, Carnig got a pretty good hit there, Sylph had never been big on defense, its hurting them a lot now…”

Kasity decided Miette’s commentary was too predisposed to be worthwhile and stared up into the sky to see the action for herself. The fog started to clear up, and the a couple rays of light penetrated the heavy clouds and blinded her. She blinked a couple times, then closed her eyes and saw white spots on her eyelids.

When she opened her eyes and looked down at the field, Calixte was among the ranks of the Sylphs, and seemed to be in a heated discussion with Gautier. Were they talking about Calixte’s late appearance? No one else seemed to notice; they were too consumed with the battle above their heads. Karynn gasped and dug her nails into her arm, bringing her attention back to Miette’s commentary.

“Carnig is…out! We have our first casualty. Wyvern is down to three members. Channer, however, looks visibly tired. And…in comes…Morwenn! What a surprising move! The Council Leader is generally reserved for last; we haven’t seen Wyvern Kiernan yet… And yes, Sylph is signaling a tag…Channer is coming out, and…Calixte! Calixte, the youngest member in this battle, is coming in. This is going to be interesting.”

Morwenn stared at Calixte through narrowed eyes.

“Rumor has it, in the Sylph-Wyvern fight last evening, Morwenn and Calixte faced off in a small mini-duel, if you might say,” Miette chortled. But no one paid attention to the commentary anymore; everyone was more interested in the staring match between Morwenn and Calixte that extended into a long silence. Kasity realized how much smaller Calixte was compared to Morwenn. Calixte, at twelve, had barely hit puberty. Morwenn, at seventeen, easily outstripped Calixte by a head.

Morwenn attacked first, causing an explosion that caused gasps of admiration from Wyvern and gasps of horror from Sylph. Kasity, blowing smoke from her eyes, looked up to see Calixte still floating midair. Calixte had blocked it. Morwenn sent another crushing blow at Calixte, but she dodged it with apparent ease. Morwenn, her face flushed, began sending blows with unbridled fury. Kasity held her breath as she watched the most impressive flying display she had ever seen in her entire life. Calixte swerved through the air, flipping and spinning, shields and blocks glittering in front of her. Morwenn stopped, wheezing. Calixte still had not fired a shot.

“Stop running, you coward!” Morwenn shrieked. Calixte gave a little bow of acknowledgement. For a moment, the only sound in the stadium was the whistling of the foggy wind.

Then the second bout began. This time, not only did Calixte dodge, but also reflected back the bullets Morwenn had sent her, which put Morwenn into defensive maneuvers, who displayed a bit of fancy fly-work herself as the Sylph cheers and Calixte’s offensive grew.

“It looks like the finishing blow!” Miette cried. And it was. Calixte sent a bolt, perhaps not as powerful as Morwenn’s, but forcible enough to guarantee a knock out. The entire Academy watched with bated breath. Kasity, for a moment, saw a look of mingled shock and disbelief of Morwenn’s face. Then, a flash of ice—Morwenn had drawn a weapon from inside her cloak—it slashed through the smoky magical residue in a blinding flare. Morwenn’s caduceus sent a screech of air so brutal it made Kasity’s hair stand up on end. Morwenn dropped her weapon as Calixte’s shot hit her squarely in the chest, but it was too late for Calixte. Calixte’s body flew opposite of Morwenn’s, up into the air. Morwenn had started to fall, like a dead weight, but she managed to right herself a moment before she hit the ground. Calixte’s body spiraled gracefully, like a blossom swirling down only to kiss the top of a glassy pond. It was silent.

Kasity wondered why no one was stopping her descent, like Channer did Kael’s. She wanted to shout out, but she couldn’t. It was as if there was an invisible force in work, keeping her glued to her seat. At the last moment, before the sickening thud, something amazing occurred—Calixte opened her eyes, swerved upright, shot up and sent another bolt at Morwenn. It crackled blue and hit Morwenn, and she hit the ground in an explosion of silver smoke.

The stadium was deathly silent. There was something very odd about Calixte, about her very being—almost unearthly. She turned wearily, and Kasity thought for a split second that she had made eye contact with Calixte. Her eyes were an icy, metallic blue. Then she collapsed. Sound returned to life. Kael was holding her limp body as the Academy clinician hurried forward. Sylph was cheering. Gautier flew up to take Calixte’s place, but before anything could start, a shrill whistle blew.

“And…I believe Wyvern has been disqualified! A rule for this battle was no magical conductors, and the last hit performed by Wyvern leader Morwenn was using her caduceus, complete disregard of the rules, and…oh, listen to that Wyvern crowd…”

Boos were filling the amphitheater. In fact, many of the boos were coming from the Sylphs, too. They wanted to see Gautier defeat the rest of the Wyverns.

“And the final result…Sylph wins!” The crowd began to leave, still muttering discontentedly.

“That was really dangerous. Morwenn could have killed Calixte!” Rissy said angrily.

“Why do you think they had a no magical conductor rule? A direct hit from a weapon like a caduceus…it’s a miracle she even managed to right herself at the last minute,” Lander replied, pummeling his hand into his fist.

Kasity thought the Wyverns would be upset at losing, but, on the contrary, they looked rather gleeful. Kasity spotted Adely laughing with the rest of the Wyvern Cloud, and she felt as if someone had taken a hold of her insides and wrenched it into a ball of hatred.

“I still can’t believe Morwenn…what was she playing at? Why…she knew she would be disqualified,” Aidan said, shaking his head.

“I guess she knew that, once she went down, it was over,” Gershom said thoughtfully.
“She knew that Calixte would be fine, and that Gautier hadn’t even gone yet…they were goners. She just wanted to do some damage before she went out.”

“Do some damage? Do some damage? It was murder! She was trying to kill Calixte,” Synnove cried, hysterical. There were murmurs of assent amongst the crowd. They were at the ravine, now, leading up the cliff, and the other Sylphs flew up, a mass of chattering, sky-blue birds. Kasity and the rest of the first years turned to begin their climb, because though they were able to fly down, it would be a while before they could fly up.

“Even so, Calixte was amazing,” said Claia after a period of silence.

Kasity nodded fervently, feeling relieved that the Round had distracted everyone from her late entrance, and ashamed that she felt relieved at all. “I guess I know now why she’s on the Council.”

“I definitely wouldn’t want to make her mad,” said Shant, shaking his head. “I almost felt sorry for Morwenn, to be on the receiving end of Calixte. Still, just looking at her, you’d never even know she’s so powerful.”

“What lineage is she, anyways?” asked Aidan. Kasity rolled her eyes. It was typical of Aidan to want to know about lineage. However, her old passion against him had faded. Last night had done that.

“Cé, I would suppose,” said Macom.

“Middle Cé?”

“I overheard some fifth steps talking the other day. They said she’s some sort of noble lineage,” put in Tal.

“I’m going to write to my brother and ask him if he knows anything,” decided Aidan.

“The crown prince?” scoffed Kasity. It was a bit of a joke between the first steps, knowing that Aidan was indeed a prince, but it was the first time that Kasity felt comfortable enough around Aidan to joke like that with him.

Aidan laughed. “Adair? Are you kidding? He’s much too busy, and he treats me like an annoying kid. I’ll write to Adem. He’s a couple years older than me, almost thirteen, but he won’t mind doing me a favor.”

“Why didn’t he come to the Academy?” asked Karynn.

Aidan shrugged. “First two sons of the king are supposed to stay at court, not go away to schools.”

“What about your sisters?”

“Hrm …Arawna, my elder sister, is already married. Adia is in the nursery. She’s my only younger sibling.”

Aidan spoke wistfully of his siblings. Kasity suddenly wished she had siblings, too. Next to her, Karynn shifted uncomfortably. Kasity knew that Karynn, like Kasity herself, had never known her mother. Karynn spent the first years of her life in a Cynarrisian orphanage, and came to Irinifa when she was adopted by an old Irinifan bachelor. He was, however, growing old, and sent to the Academy to ensure her future.

Practically everyone knew that Kasity was illegitimate, and Karynn knew that she could not consider her stepmother as her real mother. But Kasity felt uncomfortable talking about the subject even with Karynn. Thankfully, they reached the top right about then, and the other first steps dropped the subject before entering the Dwelling.

All the other students were sitting in the den, talking only in low murmurs. Everyone seemed to be sitting with their Divisions or Patrols, so Kasity, Karynn and Aidan said goodbye to the rest of the first steps and sat with the rest of their Division. Kasity avoided Lander’s gaze, in case he hadn’t forgotten Kasity’s misdoings in aftermath of the Round.
“Is Calixte okay?” whispered Kasity to Rissy.

Rissy shrugged worriedly. “They took her to the clinic, I think.”

“I bet she’s fighting the clinician right now,” said Lander, rolling his eyes.

But behind his dry humor, there was a note of apprehension that seemed to have nothing to do with Kasity, she noticed thankfully.

“She looked pretty bad right after the battle was over,” said Karynn worriedly.

“But she still was able to stop herself from falling,” commented Aidan.

Lander shook her head slowly. “I don’t know exactly what happened there. I was sure—I mean, everyone felt that she was out. And that last bolt…it was odd. It seemed almost too powerful considering the fact she was supposed to be completely drained and not even using a weapon.”

“You’re right…” Rissy said slowly. “It was weird. I don’t know why, but something about Calixte made me shiver.” Rissy shook herself a little, tugging at her red hair. “But I’m probably just being silly. Calixte has talent.”

Synnove rolled her eyes. “Better than anyone in the whole stinking school, that’s our Calixte.”

There was a murmur of assent in their Division, but Kasity couldn’t help but agree with Rissy—there had been something odd, unnatural, about Calixte in those last moments. Suddenly, Eunae stood up and strode toward the door. It opened as she reached at it with her fingertips, and Calixte was standing behind it. “Calixte,” Eunae said, pulling her into a quick hug. It was indeed Calixte, smiling and looking every inch her normal self.

“Eunae,” Calixte said gravely, although smiling.

The rest of Calixte’s division came up. Rissy and Synnove pulled her into a tight hug, as everyone else surrounded her. “We won, thanks to you,” said Lander.

Calixte shook her head. “No, not thanks to me. If I had not done it, Gaudier or someone else would have defeated Morwenn.”

“Modest as always,” sighed Synnove, flicking her blonde tresses across her shoulder.