Zak Turner - A Twist In Time (15 page)

“I need to caution you both though that dark magic draws in those who study it, and few are strong enough to learn about it and then resist using it.  That’s why it’s so hard to teach people how to defend themselves against it.  To learn defensive techniques you really need to practise against the real thing, but very few wizards are prepared to learn the incantations to enable them to teach their students first hand, including me!  Please do not be tempted to do it yourselves, for powerful as you are, you will not be able to stand against it.”

Zak and Tallion both nodded as they studied both their tutor’s very serious face and the ritual circle, and quietly answered with a simultaneous, “Yes sir,” which made Barty smile.

“So why have I shown you this today?  Because, amongst other things, this
particular
ritual circle can also train you in self-defence.  When your father showed it to me I was amazed, and I still am!  Augustus Sapari Middleham was an astoundingly clever wizard, and he built these classrooms centuries ago for his own sons and daughters at a time of great unrest in the magical world.  He knew that his family needed unsurpassed skills with a wand in order to survive, and this is where they learned it all.  Training here will hone your reactions like nothing else, it’s as good as being in a real battle, believe me!”

“Let me demonstrate,” he said with a smile, and motioned the boys to wait by the teacher’s desk while he walked to the middle of the circle.  He spoke another incantation, aloud this time, but didn’t wave his wand.  The circle began to glow and the lines and symbols all came to life, rearranging themselves into a duelling ring, with sigils in the centre for the trainee, and around the outside for the opponents to stand on.

“How many opponents?” asked a man’s voice from behind the teacher’s desk.  Zak and Tallion jumped out of their skin and swung round!  There was no-one there…

“Three,” answered Barty.

The voice from behind the desk spoke again.  It was a warm friendly voice and sounded vaguely familiar although neither boy could place it.

“Level?”

“Magus,” replied Barty.

“On my mark, three, two, one, MARK!”

What happened next took both boys thoroughly by surprise!  Three wizards appeared, standing on three of the eight sigils rounds the outside of the circle.  They were hooded and cloaked, and were poised with their wands drawn.  One was out of sight behind Barty, but the other two were in view.  Suddenly the first opponent cast a spell, which whistled towards Barty.  He parried it with a Deflecto, but before he’d even finished speaking the incantation, two more spells were flying towards him from the other wizards.  Barty deflected them both, and turned slightly so that he knew which sigil the third wizard was standing on.  The first wizard cast again.  This time Barty ducked, allowing the spell to whistle over his head straight at the wizard behind him who leaned lazily to one side allowing it to pass.

The second wizard had already cast again, and soon all three of them were flinging a steady stream of spells and hexes at Barty, who was now non-verbally deflecting and ducking, but always keeping his eyes on his opponents, and listening carefully to the wizard behind him. 

Zak and Tallion were mesmerised, having never watched a full power duel before.  It seemed like the opponent wizards were really trying too, deliberately varying their casts, and trying to catch Barty out.  They both found themselves to be very tense, almost holding their breath as they watched their teacher apparently battling for his life!

After a couple of minutes deflecting, Barty seemed to be getting into some kind of rhythm, and started rebounding the incoming spells.  His own wand was a blur, whirling from side to side and even casting spells backwards at the wizard behind him!  He now had the other wizards ducking as their own spells hurtled back towards them, and he was obviously adding his own power because they returned much faster.  He was clearly enjoying himself, and seemed to be equal to the contest as he started to add his own spells into the mix. 

Zak and Tallion hadn’t realised at first that Barty was using non-verbal spells, because they could hear his thoughts.  It slowly it dawned on them though, that he was casting spells far faster than anyone could possibly say them.  He interspersed his Reverturs with Firmus spells, and started casting his spells in pairs, the Revertur first, followed by the Firmus.  It wasn’t long before he managed to hit one of the wizard opponents, who disappeared with a shower of sparks and a bang.  With only two opponents left, Barty turned slightly so that he could see them both, continuing his double attacks, with the same results against both wizards.

As the shower of sparks from the final exploding wizard faded, and the crackling whoosh of spells stopped, the silence in the room was deafening and sudden.  It took several seconds before Zak and Tallion started to breathe properly and gather themselves.  For the first time in weeks they’d even lost track of each other so intense and gripping had the duel in front of them been!  Now they looked at each other with eyebrows raised and a single word in their joined minds.

Blimey! 

Barty was catching his breath in the centre of the duelling circle, bent over with his hands on his knees.  Although he was smiling, it had clearly been quite a work out, physically as well as magically!  Eventually he stood up straight and walked back to the two eleven-year-olds who were looking at him with respect!

“So, do you think you’re up to handling a few opponents in a duelling ring yet?”

“Er, no!” said Zak firmly.

Barty grinned.  “Come on Zak!  You’ve taken on and defeated three of the toughest assassins in the country!  A little sporting duel against a couple of puppet wizards is hardly in the same league!”

“That was different, I was fighting for my life, and it was only one at a time!”

“You get to choose how many you want to take on, and also the level you want to duel at.  You can start with a single opponent at Novice level if you want, although I’m sure you could easily handle a single opponent at Magus level!  You know all the spells that I was using, and remember, this exercise is to teach you defence, not how to attack.” 

“Now, the duelling circle
can
be set up to teach you attacking magic, and the opponents will simply block and rebound your spells, but we won’t be doing that for a long while yet.  Although we
will
do it before you finish your schooling!”

Tallion was much less reluctant than Zak was, and seemed quite eager to give it a try.  He had a few questions first though.

“Barty, what are the different levels, and how do they work?”

“Good question.  There are ten levels, and they mirror the competitive duelling levels you’ll follow at Mhonarr Castle.  At school though, they restrict you to certain levels per year, so you have to wait until the following year before you can progress.”

“Sadly, as far as competitive school duelling is concerned, you two are going to have a bit of a problem.  You’re already at about fourth year level in terms of reaction times, spells and defensive ability, so to compete you’ll need to ‘downgrade’, which isn’t easy!  However, I’ll teach you the spells you need at first year level so that you can compete in this year’s competition.  After a few practise sessions in here though, you’re going to be unstoppable!”

Tallion was grinning, and Zak was intrigued to see this competitive side to his soul mate which he hadn’t witnessed before!  As his companion’s thoughts raced in several different directions, one thing stood out clearly, the Duelling Cup!  Tallion dearly wanted his name on it, alongside his father’s name!

You’ll have to fight
me
for it though! 
thought Zak mischievously to his friend.

That will be a battle to behold then!

Barty was explaining the history behind the different levels of duelling, and his voice dragged the grinning eleven-year-olds back to reality.

“…and they’re all based on very ancient grades of magical skill.  In the distant past, before the Wizard Council existed, wizards used to duel all the time in order to decide who was in charge and resolve all manner of other disputes.  The outcome of the duels revealed the ability level of the witch or wizard, and their position in wizard society depended on their ability in the duelling ring.  In those days the results could be fatal too, although official duelling has always forbidden the use of what we now call restricted spells and curses.” 

“The levels run as follows.  Novice, Apprentice, Initiate, Adept, Magus, Praeceptor, Archmage, Legend, Transcended, and Divine.”

“Divine?” asked Zak, with a very sceptical look on his face.

Barty smiled. 

“No-one ever gets there these days Zak, and I doubt if anyone ever did!  It’s just something to put at the top of the list to represent ultimate magical power.  Today most people aim for and attain Adept status, with some only progressing to Initiate level.  You really need to be Adept though if you’re going to feel safe living as a witch or wizard in the magical world.” 

“To lift the duelling cup at school you need to be a Magus, bordering on Praeceptor.  Your father had attained Praeceptor level here at Lofthouse about a month before he won the tournament at Mhonarr.” 

“It requires serious dedication and prolonged training to reach Archmage, but if you want to be a shadow-wizard, that’s the entry requirement.  To get beyond that requires special gifts, and you really
do
have to be a legend to be a Legend!” 

“There
are
a handful of Legendary wizards in the magical world today, although most would be too modest to claim the title.  Professor Trell would qualify, as would Arandel Strang, head of the shadow-wizards, but I couldn’t confidently name anyone else in Britain or Ireland.”

Both boys had listened carefully and were nodding.  It was obvious that Tallion was itching to have a go, but Barty hadn’t quite finished his explanations.

“In this duelling practise ring, up to Initiate level your opponents will always be in sight, so that limits you to a maximum of four.  At Adept level one opponent can be out of sight, and at Magus two can be out of sight, meaning that you could have either five or six opponents, but they always stay in the same location.” 

“From Praeceptor level the wizards can move about between spells, and there are no restrictions on their numbers, so you can have up to eight.  To actually qualify at any level, you need to defeat at least four wizards in five successive duels.  The other restrictions are all around the type of spells that they cast, and the rate at which they cast them.  Remember, the purpose of this duelling ring is to train you and sharpen your reactions, not to defeat you.” 

“At Novice level they only cast jolts or stinging spells at ten second intervals, so you can survive a hit and carry on, albeit with a bit of a distraction!  Ten seconds sounds quite long, but if you have four opponents that averages out at an incoming spell every two and a half seconds, and they could all cast at once!”

“At Apprentice level the rate increases to a spell every eight seconds, and they add in debilitating spells which sap your energy and gradually make it harder for you to coordinate your own defence or attack.  Theoretically they could, ultimately, leave you immobilised.” 

“At Initiate level the spells will be coming at you every six seconds, and they add in full stunning spells, which will leave you paralysed for a few moments.  If you’re up against a single opponent, then you’ll have time to recover before the next spell, but if you’re against multiple opponents, then one hit by a stunning spell will probably finish the duel.”

“At Adept level the stunning spells are more powerful, and you’d be unlikely to recover quickly enough to beat the next spell.  They come much faster too - every four seconds.  Your spell work must be completely reflexive, and you’ll need to start anticipating your opponents to succeed at Adept level.”

“At Magus, you’ll face combination spells, and will need to cast combinations back in order to overcome your opponents.  It is seriously difficult, especially if you have an opponent out of sight.  You need to be able to successfully take on five opponents at Adept level before you even think about trying Magus level.”

“The duels only end when you’ve either disabled all your opponents, or been disabled yourself.  The magic that supervises the duel can tell if you’re paralysed or defeated, although you’ll usually fall over if that happens!  All clear?”

9.  Dual Duels

Tallion’s eyes were alight in a way Zak had never seen before, except maybe during numerology, and he could feel his keen determination to master this sport.  It was infectious. 

“Right, Tallion, I can see you want a go, so just stand in the centre Sigil, say Exercebat Pugnae, and answer the questions.”

The blond-haired wizard nodded, moved swiftly to the centre sigil, and turned to face Zak and Barty as he spoke the incantation.

“How many opponents?” asked the voice from behind the teacher’s desk.

“Two,” answered Tallion with a smile.

“Level?”

“Apprentice.”

“On my mark, three, two, one, MARK!”

Two cloaked and hooded wizard puppets materialised on sigils to the front and side of Tallion, and drew their wands.  Before they got chance to cast though, Tallion sent a Firmus spell whizzing straight at the first wizard puppet, who neatly deflected it.  Almost immediately the other puppet launched a stinging spell towards the eager eleven-year-old.  Tallion almost missed it, but managed to get a Deflecto out just in time, and sent the spell whizzing off to the side of the circle where Zak noticed that it dissipated, rather than flying across the room and hitting the wall.

The first puppet also cast a stinging spell, and Tallion deflected that one too before sending Firmus spells quickly at both targets, who both neatly deflected them.  A second later, they both cast at Tallion in quick succession, and he managed to deflect one spell, but the second hit home with a powerful jolt.

“Oww!” he called out, turning his attention to the wizard puppet who’d cast it and unleashing a blistering Firmus straight back at him.  The spell travelled so fast that the puppet had no time to cast a Deflecto, and exploded in a shower of sparks as the Firmus hit home!  The second wizard had cast a debilitating spell at Tallion, but his mind was in duelling mode now, and his response was lightning fast.  He cast a Revertur, which hurled the incoming Infirmo spell straight back at the wizard puppet, and followed it up with two Firmus spells back to back.

It was unclear what finished the wizard puppet, whether it was the rebounded Infirmo or the first of the two ferocious Firmus spells, but he too vanished with a bang and a shower of sparks.  Tallion stood grinning in the centre of the duelling ring, adrenalin rushing through him, spoiling for another fight.

“Addictive, isn’t it,” smiled Barty.  “However, if it’s easy, then it’s not doing you much good.  That match didn’t do anything to sharpen your reflexes, and only gave you chance to throw your magical weight around.  Stick with Apprentice, but start the duel with Exercebat Pugnae Apto and ask for three opponents.”

Tallion nodded and closed his eyes for a moment as he focussed his mind again.

“Exercebat Pugnae Apto,” he said firmly. 

Zak could hear Barty’s thoughts and glanced at their tutor in time to see the corners of his mouth twitching as he clearly thought,
This will keep him on his toes!

Tallion went through the start-up questions and three wizard puppets materialised on sigils in front of him.  Quick as a flash he cast full-power Firmus spells at two of them, but then had to deflect an incoming Infirmo.  One of the wizard puppets exploded as the second dodged, and the voice from behind the teacher’s desk spoke.

“Adapting level.  New level is Initiate.”

Before Tallion could react, spells came at him from both remaining wizards.  He managed to deflect the first, but the second, which was a stinging spell, caught him on the arm as he tried to dodge it.

“Oww!” he called out, just as the third wizard regenerated on its original Sigil and the voice spoke again.

“Adaptation complete, duel restarted.”

Tallion was already casting a Firmus, and Zak could feel some annoyance from his soul mate, but it only served to make him more determined.  He was about to cast another Firmus when he had to turn and deflect an incoming stunning spell.  No sooner was that dealt with than another stinging spell was coming at him from the other direction.  He rebounded that one too, without adding his own power to it, and turned to deal with
another
stunning spell from the second wizard puppet!

This was definitely more challenging!  The third puppet deflected the rebound and immediately cast a stunning spell in return.  Tallion was now concentrating on rebounding and deflecting the incoming spells, which were coming at him more frequently, but it wasn’t long before he managed to send out a few offensive spells too.  The puppets were easily deflecting them, though, now that he’d progressed to Initiate level.  As his frustration mounted, so did the power he put into his spells, and eventually he ferociously rebounded a stunning spell and instantly followed it with a full power Firmus!

As before, it was unclear which spell hit the puppet first, but it disappeared with a bang and a shower of sparks, leaving just two opponents.  The blond wizard whirled his wand viciously towards them, and succeeded in rebounding a stunning spell, which got rid of another puppet. 

However, the voice behind the teacher’s desk spoke again!

“Adapting level.  New level is Adept.”

Tallion had just cast a full power Firmus at the final wizard, when the other two reappeared and both instantly cast stunning spells at him! 

“Adaptation complete, duel restarted,” spoke the voice calmly from behind the desk.

The rattled young wizard managed to deflect one incoming spell, but the second one hit him, just after his Firmus exploded the last wizard from the previous round.  As the spell hit, Tallion experienced a complete whiteout!  He lost sight of the duelling ring for a few moments, and all his limbs froze.  The sensation passed quickly, but by the time he came round, the two remaining puppets were casting again.  Tallion just had chance to get a powerful Revertur out to rebound one of the incoming spells before he was hit by a second stunning spell!

Again, the paralysis and whiteout left him reeling, but he somehow stayed on his feet.  He got his vision and movement back just in time to react to the next incoming spell with a Deflecto.  As he gathered himself, he realised there was only one puppet left, and he quickly cast two increasingly powerful Firmus spells at it, hoping to finish the duel once and for all.

Sure enough, the final puppet exploded and Tallion braced himself for the duel to be restarted yet again.  However, the glowing graphics on the floor marking the circle faded, and the duel was over.

“Are you okay?” asked Zak with a grin, as his soul mate lowered his wand and took a few deep breaths.

“Yeah, although it hurts everywhere I was hit.  I’ve never been hit with a stunning spell before either.  That’s a weird sensation if ever there was one!”

“I think that was a bit more useful as a training session though, wouldn’t you agree?” asked Barty with a lopsided smile.

“Yes, definitely.  What does Apto mean?” asked Tallion through narrowed eyes.

“It’s a bit easy!  It means adapt, or adjust.  In other words the session will adjust to your level of magic, so if you start too easy it’ll make it more difficult, and if you start too difficult, it’ll make it easier, in theory!”

“So it thinks I should be duelling at Adept level already?” asked Tallion in surprise.

“Yes, I told you that you were both somewhere near fourth year level.  That’s the maximum level fourth years are allowed to duel at in school, although most would still be at Initiate level.  Your turn now Zak.  I suggest you also start at Apprentice with two opponents to get the feel of how it works, and then for your second duel use the adaptive spell.”

Zak nodded and stepped forward to the centre of the circle.  He felt a bit nervous, but he was also looking forward to it, and he had a feeling he’d be spending an awful lot of time here with Tallion, practising!  After a few seconds to clear his thoughts and focus on what he needed to do, he spoke the incantation and the duelling circle came to life. 

“How many opponents,” asked the voice from behind the desk.

“Two.”

“Level?”

“Apprentice.”

As with Tallion’s duel, two cloaked and hooded wizard puppets materialised on sigils in front of him and drew their wands.  However, unlike Tallion, Zak waited to let them cast first.  He actually wanted to spar with them a bit, not just defeat them as fast as possible.  They both cast at the same time however, and although he managed to deflect one spell, the other Jolt hit him and made him cry out.  He didn’t fight back though, but waited until they cast again.  This time there was a gap between the spells, allowing him to deflect the first spell and rebound the second.

He carried on in this manner for a couple of minutes, and then started adding his own power into the rebounds, letting himself warm up to the fight.  Eventually he decided it was time to finish it, and poured all his considerable magical energy into a couple of Firmus spells directed one each at the wizard puppets.  They exploded within a second of each other, and Zak stood there grinning at Tallion and Barty, feeling relieved, pleased, and not a little fired up!

“Woh!” exclaimed Barty.  “That was very nice Zak.  It was a good move to spar with them for a while and get your eye in.  Nice explosive finale too.  Okay, time for round two, adaptive please.”

Zak nodded, steadied himself for a second, and then spoke the incantation.  However, he was determined to go one better than Tallion, so asked for four opponents.  His plan was to test how certain spells would work, and so he felt as though he needed plenty targets.  Barty smirked at the obvious competitiveness between the two boys.  There was nothing like wanting to beat your friend to make you develop faster.  He was sure that Zak would be a bit ragged, but there was plenty time to hone his skills.

The four wizard puppets duly appeared, and this time Zak pounced on two of them straight away so that he didn’t end up with four spells heading towards him all at once.  Both disappeared in explosions of sparks as he deflected the incoming spells from the other two, and the voice simultaneously announced that it was adapting the level to Initiate.

Zak cast two reasonably low powered Revertur spells towards the two remaining puppets from the first round just as they cast at him, and threw a couple more powerful Firmus spells at the two regenerating puppets, both of whom exploded again before they’d even managed to cast! 

Once again the voice announced that it was adapting the level, this time to Adept, during which time Zak deflected a couple of incoming stinging and jolting spells from the other two wizards.  He decided it was time to experiment a bit, and cast a Laxo at one of the puppets, which duly exploded into a shower of sparks.  Zak was surprised; he’d wanted to spar with all four for a while, but now he’d have to make do with three. 

He deflected a couple more incoming spells, one of which he decided must have been a stunning spell, and then set to work rebounding the spells back at whichever puppet cast them.  He was working hard and fast, but he didn’t feel out of control until two stunning spells came at him at the same moment.  He viciously rebounded one, but the other hit him just as the third puppet cast an Infirmo at him.

He didn’t see the first puppet explode because he was going through the shocking experience of being magically stunned for the first time in his life, but he did feel the second spell hit him and sap some of his energy, again a new experience. 

As his vision cleared, he realised there were only two puppets left, and he deflected their spells for a few seconds to get back in control, and then decided to experiment again.

“Aqua Vi!” he called out, pointing his wand at one of the wizards.  A jet of water blasted out of his wand and soaked the wizard puppet.  It didn’t explode though, but simply seemed to be distracted for a few seconds before returning to the fray. 

Zak decided to finish the duel off.  He cast a full power Firmus at one of the puppets immediately after rebounding an incoming stunning spell.  The puppet vanished in an explosion of sparks, but before Zak could finish off the last one the voice spoke again, announcing that it was adapting the level to Magus!

Zak swallowed hard; he hadn’t expected that!  He quickly blasted the last wizard from the previous round with a Firmus, but it managed to deflect it because he hadn’t given it enough power.  By the time he realised what had happened, he was facing four Magus puppets, three of whom simultaneously cast stunning spells at him! 

Zak somehow instinctively knew what was coming before the spells even left their wands, and he was determined not to be beaten!  In desperation, he cast a full-power Laxo spell and swept his wand round all four puppets as the magic visibly hurtled out of its tip!

In the same way that his Laxo had blasted everything in the greenhouse during the summer, it now blasted everything in the duelling classroom.  That
might
not have caused too much trouble if Zak hadn’t been through a number of life-threatening experiences since the last time he’d used the spell.  However, his ability to focus his magic had improved considerably, and his bond with Tallion was also much closer.  The result therefore, was somewhat more devastating than in the greenhouse!

Barty and Tallion saw the trail of multi-coloured light sweep round the duelling circuit and felt the hairs on their necks rising as the magical power it unleashed filled the room like electricity!  They saw it simultaneously explode all four wizard puppets before it hit the protective charm that shielded the rest of the room from the duelling spells.  The charm flared briefly and then exploded!  The Laxo lost
some
of its power, but not much, and it now blasted across the rest of the room felling everything in its path, including the two spectators.