The Quantum Games (Alchemists Academy #3) Read online

  Chapter 10

  They got only the briefest of looks at the rules for the Quantum Games before they had to run to try to make Ender Paine’s class on time. In those few snatched seconds, Wirt did his best to make sense of everything that was written there. It seemed far more complex than a straight fight to the death. Instead, it looked like there were going to be multiple rounds, with only the highest scoring students going forward to face one another in the final.

  In a way, that made Wirt feel a little better about the whole thing. It meant that the Games were there to test more than just who was best able to kill the others. There were actual tests of skill that he might be able to succeed in before the quantum ball even came out. And that meant… Wirt swallowed as he thought it. It meant that he might not have to face Spencer in the final. There wasn’t time to think about that right then, though, because by that point he had to grab Spencer and transport them both so that they could make it to the lesson on time.

  The Slightly Cavernous Lecture Theater lived up to its name, and more. It was built like a stadium, except that there shouldn’t have been room for a stadium inside the tree. Once again, Wirt found himself having to try not to think too hard about the internal geography of the school, because doing so would only give him a headache, and he wanted to be fresh for whatever the headmaster had in mind.

  That turned out to be row after row of targets. Ender Paine stood at the front.

  “We will start by seeing what you can all do,” he said. “No doubt, it will be pathetic, but I must work with what I have. Select a target. Pretend that target is an enemy who intends you harm. No, better yet…”

  He waved a hand, and several of the students there shrieked in fear as the hall filled with an assortment of enemies. Where the target in front of Wirt had been, there now stood a grinning ogre. Next to it was a large man in dark, spiked armor. Looking around revealed lizard folk and vicious looking creatures with fur, great cats and giant spiders. It was an impressive illusion.

  Still, it was just a target underneath. Wirt reached down into himself, remembering his lessons on elemental magic with Ms. Burns, and summoned up fire. He threw it in a focused jet, which consumed the illusionary ogre in seconds. He turned to see other students dealing with their own foes in a hundred different ways. Roland conjured up a film of ice across his target, which constricted to crush it. Spencer seemed to spend a long time calculating something, and then his target cracked and toppled backwards as he hit it with a small blast of force. Priscilla turned her target into a frog, while Robert, obviously aware that he was being watched, somehow managed to set his own shoes on fire.

  Alana was a surprise, because she went for the same kind of fire based approach Wirt had. Then again, so did half the students in the hall, with mixed success. After a minute or so of it, Ender Paine waved a hand, and all the magical effects vanished.

  “Too many of you were far too slow,” he said. “Had these opponents been real, you would have been dead. We will try again, and this time you will all get it right.”

  They tried again. And again. Apparently, Ender Paine believed in teaching by rote when it came to so many students. Once they’d attacked the targets a few more times. He demonstrated using shadows as a shield. Wirt had never seen that done before, though he’d shielded with air and water before. It was harder than it looked, trying to catch hold of something that wasn’t really there and use it as a solid object to stop oncoming force. Annoyingly, Roland seemed to know what to do with that almost immediately. Yet another thing he seemed to be able to do better than Wirt.

  From the shields, the headmaster went on to describe a number of specialized offensive spells, all of such complete unpleasantness that some of the younger students looked ill. There was the one that took an enemy’s shadow and made it strangle him or her. There was the one that could apparently make someone’s blood boil in their veins. Then there was one that the headmaster promised would curse someone so that they started to melt from the ground up like a too hot waxwork. The only good point, as far as Wirt could see, was that by the time the headmaster had finished describing the effects of all his favorite offensive spells in great detail, there wasn’t any time left for actually learning them.

  The headmaster seemed to realize that and came to a halt with a mildly annoyed expression just as he was about to demonstrate a spell on a student who had dared to whisper while he was talking. The headmaster shook his head as the school bell rang.

  “How the time flies. Very well, you may all go to your next classes, and we will just have to hope that nothing tries to kill you all before tomorrow. I have work to do.”

  He disappeared, and Wirt guessed that he would have gone back to his office. He went over to Spencer.

  “We didn’t get much information from those rules the headmaster set out,” he said. “Do you want to go find out more?”

  “I can’t,” Spencer said. “I have another class. You could tell me what you find out though.”

  Wirt nodded, and headed for the transport tubes. He headed down into the cafeteria, only to find that the list of the rules wasn’t where the headmaster had left it. Had Roland taken it? Had someone else? It was just as likely that one of the dryad staff members had tidied it away, not liking anything that cluttered up “their” tree.

  Which meant that Wirt needed to find another way to learn about the competition. Maybe if he asked the headmaster directly? Wirt stopped himself for a moment. That did not sound like a good idea, given the way Ender Paine tended to react to unwanted interruptions, yet what other options were there? He and Spencer needed to know how the competition would work to have the best chance of coming through it alive. If that meant a visit to the principal’s office, then so be it.

  Wirt headed up there, to the weird hallway in front of it, where the impossibly ugly statues of the school’s otherworldly “governors” stood. He moved along the hallway quickly, but stopped at Ender Paine’s door as he heard voices within.

  “Tell me everything that happened,” the headmaster said.

  Wirt recognized the voice that answered him. It was that of James, the elite class student from earlier.

  “The attack came out of nowhere,” James said.

  “The same with me,” a female voice added. Wirt guessed that it was Tess. “If James hadn’t warned me…”

  “But he did,” Ender Paine said. “Why did you do that, James? With your kingdoms on the brink of war, most people would have thought that an attack had something to do with the other one. They would not have warned their opposite number.”

  “I didn’t think that Tess would have been part of an attack on Prince Alrin,” James said, “and in any case, this attack wasn’t like anything the Western Desert Kingdom could have sent.”

  “But you did not think it was random, either,” the headmaster insisted, “or you would not have sent a warning.”

  “I heard some of the rumors about attacks on other kingdoms, other advisors,” James said. “I thought that they were just rumors, but when it happened to us, I knew that things were serious. Just the way the attack happened tells me that it wasn’t random, because it came too close to succeeding.”

  “Perhaps that is attributed to some weakness on your part,” Ender Paine said, without sympathy. That was so typically him.

  “You know exactly how strong James is, Headmaster,” Tess pointed out. “He told me that he used his sandstorm spell. I’ve seen what that can do to raiders.”

  “It reduces them to bleached skeletons,” the headmaster said, matter-of-factly, but there was a note behind it that sounded interested, to Wirt’s ears. “I am still waiting for the full details of what happened.”

  So was Wirt. While he waited for James’ reply, he realized that he’d pressed close to the door to the headmaster’s study in order to hear more.

  “I was preparing to go riding with the prince,” James said. “Just as we do most mornings. We were outside the palace, but still on the royal grou
nds.”

  “So still theoretically protected by guards?”

  “Yes, Headmaster.”

  “Interesting. What then?”

  James went on, and his voice sounded less certain, as though he didn’t like recalling what had happened. “The man, or creature, I’m not sure which, attacked and I tried to fight it off with magic. In seconds, it had the prince comatose. I was able to get it to attack me and draw it off, but nothing I did seemed to make any difference. It appeared to be, not just strong, but actually immune to my magic.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Tess told you about the sandstorm spell. It shrugged it off like I hadn’t done anything. I tried lightning, water… nothing made any difference.”

  Standing outside the door, even Wirt shuddered at that thought. What would it be like trying to fight something that couldn’t be hurt like that?

  “So it wasn’t just an environmental invulnerability,” Ender Paine mused as though he had just been presented with an interesting academic problem rather than news of a nearly fatal attack. “How did you survive?”

  “It… went away,” James said. “I don’t know why. I’m just glad that it did, because for the first time since I joined the elite class, I felt genuinely helpless. If it had gone back to the prince and killed him, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it.”

  “But you are alive now,” Ender Paine said in a surprisingly reassuring tone, “and that is what matters. Trust me when I tell you that I will get to the bottom of what has happened. I said as much in the cafeteria, and I meant it. For all that this school is filled with irritating children it is my school. No one harms the disgusting little brats here but me.”

  “Yes, Headmaster.” Tess and James said it at almost the same time.

  “Good, now say nothing about what happened, either of you. Tess, you are to continue preparing to help with the Quantum Games. James, you may assist her if you wish. Do not return to your prince. There is nothing you can do to help yet, and I believe… I believe that going back there might place him in further danger, now, you can leave.”

  Wirt realized that they would be coming his way just in time, and transported himself down to his room in a blink. He thought about what he had just heard, and right then, he didn’t know which part was more important; what he had just learned about the Quantum Games, or what was going on in the surrounding kingdoms.

  Chapter 11

  Days passed in a blur for Wirt. Each morning brought lessons in magical combat with Ender Paine, though after the first day those weren’t too bad. They still worked with fire and transmutation, summoning and manipulation spells, all focused on utterly destroying someone attacking them.

  It was, when Wirt thought about it that way, a huge responsibility to have that kind of power. Yet really, he’d had it all along. He’d already been able to manipulate the elements, to transport people, and to use transmutation magic well. While Ender Paine was teaching him and the others applications of those magical disciplines that were utterly focused on destruction, Wirt couldn’t pretend to himself that he hadn’t had those abilities in him already.

  Once the daily lesson was done, Wirt either went on to classes with Robert or kept practicing for the Quantum Games. He still didn’t know precisely what was going to happen in them, but Ms. Burns and Ms. Lake seemed to be determined that he would spend a good proportion of his time leading up to them dodging balls thrown at odd times. Indeed, they somehow managed to persuade their first year students to help with that, by encouraging them to throw a soft ball at Wirt anytime they thought they could get away with it. It got so that Wirt started walking the corridors of the tree with all his senses on full alert for the first sign of a young student reaching into a bag or pocket.

  The lessons he had to take alongside Robert were the biggest revelation. There were so many of them, for one thing. The headmaster might have allowed him and his sister to take some magical classes since they had the aptitude and the school sat in their father’s kingdom, but that didn’t get them out of any of the extra classes they had to take to prepare them for their royal duties. That meant that Wirt learned more about heraldry, falconry, horse riding, the accoutrements of knighthood and the running of a royal court in the next few days than he had in the rest of his life put together. He still didn’t feel like he understood it all.

  The strange thing was that Robert obviously did. He still pretended to be interested only in jesting in public, and frankly a strong streak of it still carried over into everything else he did, but he also knew more about the running of a royal household and kingdom than Wirt was ever likely to. In fact, by the end of the first week, Wirt was starting to wonder why he needed an advisor at all, and he said as much.

  “This isn’t all just some way to get me ready for the Games, is it?” he asked when they were back in their shared room. “I mean, you seem a lot more able to make your own decisions than Priscilla is, so…”

  “So you’re wondering if I will turn around and say that I don’t need an advisor as soon as the Games are done?”

  “Exactly.” Wirt nodded. “And you’ve kind of proved my point, because Priscilla wouldn’t have guessed that.”

  Robert shrugged. “She might. She isn’t actually stupid, you know. Just… not very in touch with the world. That’s part of what I want from you, Wirt. You’ll be able to see the times when I’m thinking too much like a prince and not enough like anyone else.”

  “Part of what you want?”

  “Well, another big part is making sure no one finds out that I’m not just interested in the skills of a clown. I figure that if I have an advisor, everyone will assume all the good ideas are yours, and my reputation will be safe.”

  “Your reputation for being not very bright and only interested in slapstick?”

  Robert beamed. “Exactly. Of course, it’s partly right. And if you do have any great pieces of advice, that’s always helpful too.”

  So things went on like that. On, and on, until Wirt could almost put the upcoming Quantum Games from his mind. Yet they were always there in the background, advancing as slowly and certainly as a glacier. By the time of the night before the Games, he couldn’t ignore that pressure any longer, and he sat him his room, thinking forward to everything that might happen. Going over the same old questions: did he really want to do this, could he really fight Spencer, could he even bring himself to disintegrate Roland?

  Wirt found his thoughts interrupted by a knock at the door. It was Spencer. The other boy stood there nervously, not making any move to come inside, and obviously uncertain whether to say what he was about to.

  “Wirt,” Spencer said, “I just wanted to say… whatever happens, I’ve enjoyed knowing you. You were a good roommate, and you’ve been a good friend.”

  Wirt wasn’t sure what to say to that. It all sounded so morbid, like Spencer was certain that one of them was about to die. Yet Wirt couldn’t deny that it might happen. In fact, right then, he couldn’t see any way for it not to.

  “I know you’ve always cared about Alana,” Spencer said. Wirt didn’t try to deny it. “If… if something happens to me, will you make sure that she’s all right?”

  “Yes,” Wirt said simply, “but…”

  “And make sure that you beat Roland if it comes down to that. He’s evil, Wirt, and not just the way the headmaster is.” Spencer sighed. “I want you to know that I don’t want to have to disintegrate you out there, but if it comes down to it… I’m going to be doing the best I can, Wirt, so you should too.”

  Wirt nodded. “I understand. Good luck.”

  “You’re wishing me luck?”

  Wirt shrugged. “The way I see it, the luckiest result involves neither of us getting killed, so yes, I hope we’re very lucky indeed. You’re right though. If we have to…”

  Spencer nodded and shook his hand. “If we have to.”

  He left, and Wirt shut the door. It was only a few seconds though before there was another kn
ock on it. Wirt opened it, expecting to see Spencer, but it wasn’t him. It was Alana. She looked… amazing, standing there. So beautiful, and clever, and perfect, with a look in her eyes that made it hard for Wirt to say anything, because it was so close to the look she’d had the time that she’d kissed him.

  “Wirt,” she said, “I wanted to talk to you about the Games.” She took his hand, brushing the palm with her lips. Where they touched, Wirt felt like electricity was running through his skin. “You’re very dear to me, you know. I’d hate for anything to happen to you, or Spencer.”

  “With the way the Quantum Games are set up…” Wirt began, but Alana cut him off.

  “I know. I know. But if anyone can find another way, it’s you. You helped stop Ervana. You made it here from a world where they don’t even have magic, so far away that no one should have been able to do it. Do this too, Wirt. I don’t think I could stand to lose either of you.”

  Either of them. Which meant…

  “When you say you care about me...”

  “You know exactly what I mean,” Alana said.

  “But you’re with Spencer. You told me that it was him you wanted, not me. You told me he was the one for you, Alana.”

  “And I thought that, Wirt. It’s complicated.” Alana looked a little uncomfortable at that. “I’d had a crush on Spencer for so long that I kept it up almost out of habit, and you said that you were fine with me seeing him, so I assumed that you weren’t that interested in me.”

  “That’s not true,” Wirt said. “I’m definitely interested in you. But I still don’t get how this is coming out of nowhere. I mean, you dated Roland last term.”

  “I thought you weren’t interested, and that Spencer wouldn’t take a risk on me. But Roland… after everything he did I don’t want anything more to do with him. Then when Spencer finally stood up to his father, I thought I ought to give him the chance he deserved. I thought if I tried hard enough, it would be like it was, but I find myself thinking about you as much as him, Wirt.”