The Young Magician (The Legacy Trilogy) (32 page)

Just then, and unexpectedly, Jurien changed his stance, thrusting both hands as fists towards the Grand Master. Pure energy arced towards the Grand Master, carrying such force that it manifested into the physical realm and formed streams of intense blazing power that streaked Samuel’s vision. The crowd gasped in amazement. Samuel half-expected Anthem to be vaporised by such force, but the bolts struck the Grand Master’s magic sphere and vanished completely, sucked into it like a fly gulped down by a bullfrog. The crowd gasped again and began applauding loudly.

Anthem then retaliated with a sly grin. He drew just a fragment of the energy from between his hands and sent it flying towards Grand Master Jurien, who, taken by surprise, only now began putting up his magical defences. He was far too slow, and Anthem’s spell seized his body and threw him back against the wall with a tremendous cracking sound. The crowd gasped once more in disbelief as Jurien slumped to the ground.

Samuel was thinking the old man was surely dead, but Jurien rolled over with a groan and stood up on wobbly legs. Surprising everyone, the old Grand Master actually began laughing.

‘Ha ha ha, you old devil!’ he called out to Anthem. ‘I can’t believe you beat me so easily this time. Very well. Very well. I yield!’ And with that he strode gracefully to the side and resumed his seat by the others. It took the audience several moments to recover from the shock and then everyone began applauding as hard as they all could. Of course, many of the old Masters had seen this many times, and they merely sat and looked on, making the odd comment to each other. Some even chatted together idly and ignored the scene completely.

Grand Master Anthem bowed modestly to his defeated opponent, all the while keeping his sizzling ball of magic in his upturned palm.

The second of the Seven Lions then strode out confidently and took his place opposite Grand Master Anthem. His robes were long and splendid, having silver adorned hems. Samuel could already see magic bursting from the air all around him as he settled into Simple Stance, standing straight, palms together almost as if in prayer. Anthem did nothing, as his power was already at hand and waited patiently for his opponent to prepare himself.

‘Grand Master Orien,’ Goodfellow whispered.

Samuel was about to ask Goodfellow a question when some magical weaves sprang up right before him and Samuel almost leapt out of his seat with surprise. Then, he realised that some of the other Masters were creating a spell shield all around the audience, to protect them from any harm, should the duelling Grand Masters get carried away.

The air between the two men erupted into a web of weaves as the silver-hemmed Grand Master unleashed a spell. Magic bloomed around them, but was swallowed up just as quickly by Anthem’s magical sphere, saving him from any effect. To all who watched, the men had not moved a muscle, for only Samuel had the ability to see their spells at work. Anthem bore a great toothy grin towards his opponent.

‘Damn you, old man!’ Orien swore out loud and the crowd laughed in glee, for no one else would dare curse the Grand Master so openly. Samuel peered around the hall, for he could feel another spell at work somewhere in the great chamber, but it remained unseen.

‘I will teach you, upstart!’ Anthem declared playfully and began to laugh as he prepared to spell. His laughter, however, vanished as magic burst up from the ground beneath him. Orien’s first spell had been a ruse, while this second spell had been coursing deep beneath the floorboards.

‘Bah!’ Anthem called out as vines exploded around his feet and began entwining his legs. Losing balance, he toppled backwards onto the floor. The whole crowd gasped again and cheered at the amazing sight. Another spell formed and came at Anthem in a heartbeat, but the old man was not beaten yet. His power sphere still hung in the air and gobbled up the new spell as it came near. Anthem called out in the Old Tongue and a swathe of magic swept out from his sphere and turned the vines around his legs to a shower of shreds, bringing further sounds of excitement from the onlookers.

‘I’ll teach you!’ Anthem swore with some mirth, getting back on his feet and dusting off his robes. It was clear he was enjoying the competition.

With that, Orien changed stance and quickly set up a myriad of defensive spells all around, hanging like shields of lightning-white webbing all around him, and prepared himself for the counter-attack. Anthem raised a single finger and a jet of silver magic washed out from his power sphere and engulfed his opponent like a storm of sparks. Samuel gasped and had to shield his eyes as the fury of magic flashed and flickered before him. When he could lower his hands once more, the other students around him were all staring at him with amusement, for, of course, they could see nothing of the brilliant spells. Samuel shrugged and returned his attention to the centre of the room.

Orien was now sitting upon the floor, defeated. Samuel could see that his power had been completely extinguished.

‘Good job, old man,’ he spoke. ‘Maybe next time?’

‘Bah! I don’t think so,’ Anthem returned in good humour, his voice rich and deep. ‘Perhaps next time you will make me try a little harder.’

The crowd cheered as Grand Master Orien returned to his seat. It was a much less interesting affair for them, Samuel realised, for no one else could see what was actually going on. To them, the two men had faced each other, vines had grappled Anthem to the ground, which then fell apart, and then Anthem’s opponent had taken his turn to fall over, leaving him defeated. Samuel actually felt sorry for them for missing out on such a great display of magic. He was enjoying every moment.

The third Lion took his turn to face Anthem and he entered the makeshift arena with the aid of a short walking stick. Samuel sniggered to himself, for it was at once obvious to him that this man was, in fact, an illusion. The real old Grand Master had cloaked himself in spells of concealment and was tiptoeing around behind Anthem with a look of great amusement on his face. The entire crowd had their eyes on the illusion, which began touching its toes and limbering up quite comically. The crowd all laughed at the sight of this old man readying for battle. Samuel peered amongst the Masters in the audience to see if any were aware of the ruse, but all had their eyes set squarely on the illusion.

‘Are you ready?’ Anthem asked.

‘Oh, yes, yes,’ replied the illusion, and instantaneously a blast of power exploded from Anthem’s sphere, not towards the illusion as everyone expected, but directly behind, slamming the true magician to the floor.

The crowd all cried out in awe once more as the true old Grand Master was suddenly revealed, with scraps of spell and shadow falling to the floor around him. He coughed and waved his hands in front of his face as his concealment spells literally began going up in smoke.

Anthem clucked his tongue and shook his head. ‘Surely, you can do better than that? That’s the same old trick as last year!’

‘Ah,’ the other Grand Master croaked. ‘I was sure I would have you this time, you canny swine!’ And with that he climbed to his feet with the help of his walking stick and hobbled from the scene.

‘So much for Grand Master Tudor,’ Goodfellow whispered.

Anthem made a great show of yawning and the crowd laughed and cheered as the fourth of the Seven Lions stood and entered the area. He was much younger than the others, with just wisps of grey in his hair, and he appeared muscular and strong. Samuel knew him as Grand Master Gallivan.

Anthem began replenishing his magical sphere and this made Samuel think that Grand Master Gallivan must be quite powerful. Gallivan formed a very strange, twisted stance, with both his hands having their thumbs and forefingers out, as if trying to crush two large walnuts. Brilliant arcs of magic flashed into being between these fingers and the man was surrounded in a halo of white-hot light. Samuel subdued his sense of sight and watched on in awe.

‘Very nice!’ Anthem stated. ‘Such power is truly wondrous to feel. I
wonder
how well you can use it.’

With that, a flurry of minor spells struck at Gallivan, disintegrating harmlessly.

‘Oh, come on!’ Gallivan retorted calmly. ‘I’m not going to fall for
that!
’

Samuel realised these first spells had been to test Grand Master Gallivan’s mettle—like clapping your hands in someone’s face to see if they blink.

Anthem then sent much more powerful magic surging at Gallivan: a series of intense spells in quick succession that flashed towards him. Gallivan, however, easily matched each one, somehow sensing their intent and matching them with counter spells, allowing him to save his spell-shields for later in the competition. The air popped as each spell vanished from existence. When all was done and the spells had vanished, Samuel could feel that some strange magic still remained. He barely noticed at first as his sense of
sight
was subdued so much, but he could feel the spell just on the edge of his perception. A thin creeper of magic was stretching out from Anthem’s power sphere and snaking slowly across the floor, where it carefully latched onto Gallivan’s radiant aura.

‘How intriguing,’ Samuel muttered to himself, for the spell began sucking away at Gallivan’s strength, leeching at his magic like a parasite and sending it back into Anthem’s own magical sphere.

‘My turn,’ Gallivan said, and an enormous spell birthed before him. It almost felt as if it bore a great physical weight and Samuel’s eyes opened wide. He felt giddy for a moment and had to hold firm to his seat for fear he would fall forwards out of it.

Samuel just had time to see Anthem raise his hands to protect himself before the air transformed into a maelstrom of fire, roaring and blistering the air. All in the crowd also gasped and many stood ready to flee or else covered their faces, but the flames struck the magic barrier before them and no one could be harmed. For long moments, the scene was a hellish storm of incredible roaring fire that raced around the chamber. When the flames had slowly subsided, everyone cocked their heads or stood from their seats to try survey the scene. As the smoke slowly dissipated, Gallivan could be seen first. He had changed stances and now had his arms thrust out towards Anthem, but he was breathing quickly and his face was coated with a film of sweat. His magic was severely diminished and he looked greatly weakened.

Anthem then slowly became visible as the chamber cleared. He was shrouded by a twisting curtain of smoke. Then, by magic, the smoke fell away as if turned to dust and the old Grand Master began laughing heartily. He surprised everyone when he actually began clapping his hands.

‘Well done, Grand Master Gallivan!’ he spoke. ‘Such a great spell! I was hardly prepared. Where did you come up with that?’

Anthem’s power sphere was now larger than ever, pulsing and seething with raw magic—a good percentage of which was no doubt gained from Gallivan. It now hung above the Grand Master’s head like a huge, devilish halo and was pulsing as if with its own life.

‘I made that one especially for you,’ Gallivan responded, panting and obviously exhausted. ‘I’m just sorry it wasn’t quite what you were looking for.’

‘That was quite an impressive effort, well worthy of something in return,’ Anthem announced and he paused only momentarily to form a spell. There was a hint of sweat beading on the old man’s forehead and Samuel was relieved to see that Anthem was not totally invincible. It seemed he was finally starting to tire.

There was a strange snap in the air, as if some enormous length of wood had been cracked crisply in two, but no one else apart from Samuel seemed to have noticed it. Then, a great gasp came from the crowd as a fiery form began to appear on the floor. Its substance seemed to be gathered from the air around it; blazing flames burst from the air and gathered together more and more until a shape became apparent. It was a hound of sorts, yet somehow formed of fire itself. It had hellish red eyes and, when it snarled, fiery saliva dripped from its maw to hiss on the floor. It surveyed the scene around it slowly and deliberately. Everyone in the audience sat back in their seats nervously. A spell was set about the thing like a manacle and Samuel guessed it was to keep the creature under control, for this was no mere illusion. Such summoned things were powerful and unpredictable. It took an equally powerful spell to bind it to the summoner’s will.

Gallivan’s resolve fell apart at the sight of the creature slowly stepping towards him. ‘Very well, very well! I concede!’ he called out to Anthem, standing up straight and waving his hands in surrender. He was laughing, but with a good amount of desperation in his voice. Samuel could see that he was attempting to form some magical barriers, but his power had waned and his spells could not form true. The man now looked completely emptied.

Anthem nodded with a sly smile and released his spell. The creature at once flashed out of existence, leaving four wisps of smoke where its feet had been touching the timber floor.

Gallivan looked ready to collapse. ‘I cannot face such power,’ he stated. ‘I commend you Grand Master Anthem. You are truly great.’

‘Thank you, Grand Master Gallivan,’ Anthem returned. ‘I look forward to another challenge soon—after you get some well-needed practice.’

With that, the defeated Gallivan walked on wobbling legs back to his seat and virtually collapsed into it.

‘One more,’ Anthem called out to the audience. ‘Then we can relax and have dinner. Grand Master Du, if you will.’