Drakonika (Book 1) (39 page)

He quickly decided to cast a spell he had learned from his black book. The spell was named Destructive Boulder and it was supposed to make a tunnel straight through the rocky wall. “I'll do it on my own,” he grunted under his breath and stretching his right arm forward, he uttered a quiet incantation. None of the cards on his glove showed this spell. In fact, there was no such spell in Magiker whatsoever.

Then something happened which made his gloved hand bolt towards his face — Magnus got slapped. He got slapped so hard it almost brought
him
, the strongest of all Aedan's novices, to the ground. And his spell? It failed.

“Cheater!” he heard the watchers scream.

“He wanted to cheat! We require justice!” the players shouted savagely.

Maren gasped. Aedan froze on the bench. Most of the crowd were staring transfixed at Magnus, yelling and demanding from the mage administrator to disqualify him.

Magnus swayed, but he didn't fall down. With his cheek red like a pepper, he kept turning around in horror, his heart thudding like an army of giants. Reinhart allowed himself a malevolent sneer as he climbed down on the other side of the rock.

The moderator raised a hand to silence them. “Disqualification rejected,” he announced calmly, speaking into the megaphone. After an outbreak of muttering and disagreement, he added courteously, “The rules specifically say that the player who attempted to cheat can only be disqualified if the slap knocks him down. And Magnus is still standing on his feet,” he said in a silky voice, smiling.

Magnus felt a huge boulder fall off his heart. For a moment there, he really thought he would be disqualified! “Thank you,” he muttered quietly.

“Let the game continue,” the mage said brightly and both players and the audience had to accept his decision. However, Magnus had an unpleasant feeling that he would be known as “
the one who wanted to cheat in the Magiker tournament” for many years to come.

Still red from shame, Magnus decided not to push his luck for the second time and surveyed his cards once more. There were a few spells
— useless, then fighting cards — useless, and finally, a card called
Explore
. Want it or not, it was the only card he could use now. Perhaps there was another way to get to the other side, something the other players had missed. When the others finally returned to their own business — one of them trying to use a climbing card though he obviously couldn't climb well — Magnus sneaked farther away from them, examining the surroundings. He was lucky. A part of the rock had moved and revealed a secret door. Soon he was looking through a dark tunnel to the other side of the arena.

Suddenly, he felt piercing gazes on him. He looked to the right, only to see the sixteen remaining players staring in his direction. They charged at him momentarily like a herd of wild horses, with their boots thudding heavily on the ground, almost squishing the first loser. Magnus vanished from their sight at once, running through the black tunnel to the other side.

Shortly, the little five-year-old mage, who was leading the way at the moment, had soon noticed that someone was on his heels.
Levitation
, although a very useful spell, had one disadvantage — it slowed the caster down. He was outrun by Magnus and Reinhart, who dashed underneath him like two thunder-bolts, and soon by the rest of the players. The little mage fell from first to last place within seconds.

The moderator's voice commented on each of the players' actions, creating a very dramatic mood.

“The treasure is mine!” Reinhart yelled over his shoulder, running as fast as he could. “As well as the trophy and Fjalldís!” At these words, Fjalldís' face turned so red, it shone in the roaring crowds.

Magnus got curious, so he peeked into Reinhart's mind. Now he knew when he had found the time to meet her. “Well then, you probably won't like it much when you fail completely!” Magnus shouted, his eyes glinting.

It seemed that Magnus would never get tired. Reinhart was a good runner, but he still had no chance against Magnus, who was now at least fifteen feet ahead of him. And what happened next was really unexpected.

Magnus stopped and turned on his heels so suddenly, it cast a wisp of dust from under his boots. With his face as rigid as stone, he reached his right arm forward and that's when it happened.

Reinhart was stopped by a large, misty wall which rose from the ground so suddenly that he almost ran into it. He gasped and bringing himself to a halt, he gaped forwards with his eyes wide with horror. There was a chilly air about the wall, carrying dreadful whispers.

This effect was created by the spell
Shadow Wall
which Magnus got after examining the rocky hill. T
his card was from the Warlock deck and Magnus was absolutely sure that he didn't learn it during his lessons in Aedan's guild or from the black tome. Still, he could cast it perfectly and that was a serious reason for worry.

Anyone who was familiar with the spells used in Magiker knew that crossing this wall could be fatal
— the
Shadow Wall
was able to suck the life out of living things. However, the deadly chilliness worked as a warning and nothing and no one would dare cross to the other side. It was wiser to wait for it to disappear.

Nobody could doubt Magnus' power now. Many people stood up to see the spell feat better and Zimbadur and Xanthar were no exception.

“You were right, General!” said one of the policemen beside him. “He really
is
a Warlock!” Nothing was certain yet, but it was said that General Xanthar had a nose for these things.

“Thought so. Loser,” Magnus grunted as he sped off towards the treasure.

Before Reinhart could recover and pull himself together, the rest of the players dashed through the vanishing misty wall, led by the five-year-old mage, who had used the card
Haste
.

From the first place, Reinhart fell to the last, and he finally understood that there was no point in sparing Magnus. Actually, all of the players understood this. They all joined forces and for a moment they showered Magnus with all kinds of attack spells that their cards allowed them to use.

Luck was on Magnus' side. No one knew how it was possible, but he always seemed to be the lucky one. When his glove showed the card for
Magick Shield
, he didn't hesitate to use it. All spells that hit him didn't do anything at all and Xanthar was considering if Magnus was cheating. After all, he had tried it before and there were many potions and spells to increase one's luck that he could have used before the tournament started.

With a long line of dust behind him, Magnus hurtled towards the finish. Seconds later, the remaining fourteen players had caught up with him, almost running him over at the end. Another two got knocked out on the way there, their gloves so heavy it looked as if they were stuck to the ground.

“Well? Where's the treasure?” Magnus yelled heatedly. “I was first so it's all mine!”

Maren, Fjalldís and the other novices were stunned by his greed. But then again, that was supposed to be his role.

“I want my gold!” Magnus demanded, glancing up at the young mage on the tribune with a deadly glare.

“Do you see that?” said one of the Magi policemen, dressed in a green-gold uniform. “Such a sinister look! Do you think he's just playing it?”

“No,” the general said firmly, barely hearing his own words through all the catcalls and screams from the audience. “He doesn't play anything.”

Magnus' friends believed it was the other way around. Well, at least they wanted to believe it. “Magnus is a good actor, isn't he?” Maren said uncertainly, but Fjalldís only gave her a worried look.

Magnus was frowning more and more, awaiting the huge sack of gold that would fall directly at his feet.

“Well then, you probably won't like that the game isn't over yet,
cheater
,
” Reinhart said curtly, reaching the finish as the very last. He shot Magnus a hateful look.

And indeed he was right. The first battle scene had been shifted to a new one. This time, it was a stone-wall labyrinth, which could only be seen by the watchers from above. The players were supposed to get through it to the finish.

Magnus didn't hesitate. Hearing the challenging “START!” from the moderator, he forced his way insolently between two elderly mages who stood before him and vanished into the maze of stone aisles. But soon he noticed that he wasn't alone — Reinhart was on his heels, apparently as “pleased”
to see Magnus as Magnus was to see him, and behind them, the youngest mage player quickly panted forward. The rest of the players seemed to have chosen another path.

Their way was accompanied by sour looks, because each one of them wanted to show he was unhappy with the present company. Their minds were buzzing with plans and thoughts on how to con the others best
— and Magnus was reading their minds quite effortlessly.

“Hey,” Reinhart's voice cut through the silence, when he walked along with Magnus in front of the younger co-player. “Let's get rid of that shrimp,” he whispered.

Their two covert glances darted to the little mage behind them.

Magnus knew what Reinhart was thinking of, but he pretended that he didn't. No matter what, he couldn't reveal his ability to read thoughts, because
that
could surely be a reason for disqualification.

When Magnus didn't answer, Reinhart continued, “Look
— we can make a deal. We'll get rid of the wimp, I'll help you to trick the others and when we get to the very end of the game, you keep the gold and in exchange for my help, you'll give me your friend,” he whispered, leaning to him closely. The five-year-old boy seemed to have noticed their exchange, because he watched them with a suspicious look, his cheeks bulging angrily.

“Yeah ... that sounds good. You can have them both,” Magnus said airily. Fjalldís and Maren were lucky that the quiet chat from Magnus and Reinhart wasn't carried all the way to the upper seats. The watchers sitting closer to the scene were enjoying the thrilling story though.

Although they both focused all their cards on getting rid of the five-year-old boy, it appeared it wouldn't be easy to lose him. He kept avoiding their traps and ambushes successfully and they soon realised he had outrun them quite a bit. Turning corners and flinching back and forth every now and then, they decided to take a different path, hoping the little one would get lost and never reach the end.

They got rid of one, but another three players appeared in the corridor several steps behind them. They didn't get close enough to Magnus and Reinhart though
— running towards the two boys, they activated a trap and they suddenly found their legs in the air. All three of them yelped as a huge abyss opened under them, gulping them down like raspberries.

“Three of the vermin down,” Magnus commented coldly. 

After a while of walking in the labyrinth, Reinhart used the card
Explore
. As unbelievable as it was, he found something they would have overlooked if they rushed by the aisle. Could it be Magnus' luck again?

“A map!” said Reinhart's voice, picking up a slab of polished grey stone from the ground.

“A map of the treasure?” Magnus said hopefully.

“No,” Reinhart said, “A map of this level.”

“You mean there'll be more?” Magnus breathed impatiently.

Reinhart suspired, “This is your first tournament, isn't it?”

“I just want my gold!” Magnus exclaimed, audibly enough for all watchers in the arena to hear it. Before the tournament, he didn't care about money at all. But when he thought of his leather pouch filled with gold coins now, it suddenly seemed like it wasn't enough. Each minute that parted him from the promising treasure felt like forever to him.

“And I want my damsel! But we have to be patient. Come on, this way!” Reinhart said hastily, pointing into one of the many branched corridors.

They were lucky that Reinhart had found the magick map. No other map would be able to show them their exact location and direction in this huge maze. It had three buttons with various functions — one would show them all items in their vicinity, one would show them enemies nearby and the last one would show active spells. Magnus was sure these maps were a rare thing and he wished he could have kept it and carried it with him everywhere he went.

Thanks to the magick map, it wasn't so difficult to get through this level. They soon made it through the knotty aisles of the stone labyrinth. Only eight of them passed to the end and much to their dismay, there was also the five-year-old boy, whom Magnus and Reinhart had tried to get rid of so hard.

The next stage —
The City of Ghosts
— required the players to be fast and agile, because in this level there were monsters released into the arena. The beginning of the tournament seemed slow, but as the players proceeded to the next levels, everything gradually got faster and faster. Soon the cards on their gloves were changing rapidly and if they wanted to deal with the monsters as well, they had to be extremely quick and smart.

Nobody expected that Magnus and Reinhart would become such a good team. Although they were both just ten years old, they were doing exceedingly well. Reinhart stood in the front, fighting the monsters in close combat and Magnus crushed the enemies by casting attack spells from a distance. All those who knew him simply couldn't believe their eyes
— just like Maren and Fjalldís. Was it really the nice, bashful boy, who always tried to run away from squabbles? No matter how much they looked at him now, he reminded them more of a fighting machine. A
perfect
fighting machine.