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Not enough. It was never enough, the damn rock wouldn’t move any higher, and if he didn’t make up for lost time he would never…!
“Sebek?”
The voice from the woods shattered his concentration, and the ten pound rock he was supposed to be lifting with his magic thudded to the loamy ground, rolling a few feet toward the bank of the slow-flowing stream. Sebek stifled a curse. Such language wasn’t befitting a knight of Lord Malleus!
Of course, he would never truly become a knight of Lord Malleus if he couldn’t prove his magic was at least the equal of Silver, who right now was staring at him with that stupid look on his stupid human face when he should be—
The last thought was shouted aloud. “What are you doing here, Silver!?” Sebek shouted.
Leaves crunched beneath Silver’s feet, and he pushed a low-hanging branch out of the way as he entered the clearing where Sebek stood. “I came by and your mother said you were out here training. I didn’t mean to disturb you. I just wanted to say goodbye before I left.”
Sebek grit his teeth, his fangs threatening to cut his bottom lip. Silver would be joining Lord Malleus at Night Raven. Silver had been accepted. Of course he had been—he had been trained by Lilia, and was talented, but he was still human and by all rights weak. Sebek was already tougher, stronger, and should be better at magic! Or he would be, if Silver wasn’t here distracting him!
His magic had come in late. Too late. He had to work twice as hard—no, several times more than that, if he wanted to compare. No, more than compare. He had to beat Silver at everything, and prove to Malleus that he could be the better choice as a knight! He had to prove he was good enough!
But if he didn’t get into Night Raven…
Sebek turned away, focusing his magic on the rock in front of him, turning his back on Silver. “Well, goodbye! Go prepare for your first day, and do not inconvenience Malleus and Lilia!”
His gut twisted at the words. He couldn’t let them down either. Every day Silver was gone, Sebek would train! He would get his letter to Night Raven, and attend with the others! He had to!
He refocused his magic, pain blooming at his temples. Stupid rock, move!
“Sebek.”
“What!?” He turned, and his heart skipped at Silver’s expression. It was almost sad, a quiet yearning, in a way that made him feel warm and no, it definitely wasn’t warmth. Not at stupid Silver. It was just… nausea, he decided. “I cannot focus my magic with you staring at me!”
Silver sighed. “You know, I have time. Why don’t we train one last—I mean, train for one more day before I go? And then we can compare our skills again when I return.” Silver smiled as he spoke, energy entering his words. “We can do Lilia’s gauntlet. Just you and me. Then when I come back for winter break, we can run it again and see how we’ve improved. What do you think, Sebek?”
Lilia’s gauntlet. They hadn’t run that together in almost a year, not since Sebek’s magic had finally come in and he had focused all his time on improving it. Not fast enough to get into Night Raven, not yet, but…
“Do you not want to?” Silver pressed.
“Hmph.” Sebek stood straighter, embers of pride burning when he stared down at Silver, who was shorter than him now. “I would train and improve regardless of a trivial gauntlet, and I will do so faster than you!”
“So…is that a yes, then?” Silver asked.
“If it will make you happy, fine!” Sebek snapped. “I will prove my talent is equal-no, better, than yours!”
“I’ll hold you to that,” Silver said. “It will be nice for me to run it one last time too, before I’m gone for so long.”
He would be gone, along with Malleus and Lilia. A full year alone. Not totally alone—he had his mother, of course, and his fath…that man. His grandfather, too. But his grandfather wanted him to be the best he could be, and had trusted his training to Lilia, and now he still hadn’t been accepted to Night Raven despite all that and even Silver was going on ahead of him. Leaving him behind.
Those thoughts whirled in his mind as he followed the familiar trails through the woods near his home, the burbling stream growing louder as it widened into a river where he liked to fish. Then onward, toward the mountainous and craggy deep woods of Briar Valley. That was where Lilia had trained them both, and the gauntlet was one such course.
Silver bounced on his toes, warming up, and stretched a few times, leaning over. Sebek looked away. He couldn’t be distracted. Not that Silver of all things would distract him!
“Let’s run the latter half,” Silver said. “Climb the mountain, over the log pass, down and then the swim across the widest part of the river.”
“It will be trivial,” Sebek said. He eyed the mountain trail, where a log stretched across a twisting path, connecting two dangerously high peaks. “Even a child could do it!”
“I seem to remember you being afraid to cross that when you were younger,” Silver said with a smirk.
“Well I am no longer a child!” Sebek snapped. “I will cross first and prove it to you!”
“You’ll have to beat me there,” Silver said. With one more bounce, he began to run. “Night Raven will be easy compared to this!”
For him, maybe. Sebek wouldn’t have the chance to try. Not unless he trained harder than ever before.
That thought in mind, Sebek put on a burst of speed. No pacing himself, and he dashed past Silver, catching a glimpse of wide, lavender eyes. He didn’t have the luxury of such things. He had to prove he could push past any discomfort and master anything in front of him. Then, he was sure, he would be able to attend the same college as Lord Malleus!
Silver’s footsteps pounded behind him, growing closer. Good. Silver was no weakling either. But Sebek wouldn’t let him win!
Sebek drew close to the mountain and then began to climb, finding footholds he had learned from the years of running this gauntlet before. His muscles quaked as he pulled himself up, and while he was taller now, some footholds in easy reach, it was somehow more difficult to support his weight on the sheer rock face, and he found it harder to stretch in certain ways. Out of practice, then. It had been over a year. A fault of his own—he would train this gauntlet more too while he waited for his letter. There was no skill he would overlook!
He risked a glance to the side, where Silver was climbing. Sebek grimaced. Silver was climbing faster than he was, nimble and quick. Humans really were like hairless monkeys, just like his grandfather said.
“I’ll be across the log pass before you’re even at the top,” Silver called out with a smile.
The challenge boiled Sebek’s blood. He gripped the rock harder, wishing he had the powerful fae claws his mother and grandfather had, and kept climbing.
Muscles straining, heart pounding, Sebek neared the top. Silver did get there first, disappearing over the lip of the mountain, but that was fine. Sebek would make up for lost time later in the gauntlet. His magic had come in later, but he would make up for that too! Silver may be getting to Night Raven first, but he would get there and show him just how much he too deserved to be there! By Malleus’s side, and side by side with Silver.
Sebek gasped, nearing the top. His bottom leg scraped, and his shoe slipped on the foothold. A year ago it had fit, but his feet were bigger now.
His arm muscles quaked with pain as he gripped the rock, and he forced himself to shove away the sudden fear, the knowledge that he would fall so far that even his fae toughness wouldn’t protect him.
What if he couldn’t do it? What if his best years—the years with Lilia, with Malleus, with Silver—were alredy behind him? Left behind to flail and falter while Silver ran ahead, leaving him alone.
No. He had to push through. That couldn’t happen! And even if it did…the thought made him clench his jaw. Even if it did, he wouldn’t just give up!
He gripped with his hands, swinging his leg back and finding a new foothold, and then finally hooked his hands over the top of the rocky cliff.
Yes! Straining, he pulled himself up, feet kicking, using his sheer force of will to pull himself over. Gasping, on all fours as he crawled onto the top of the cliff, he managed to call out “You see, Silver! I—”
Silver was standing on top of the log, halfway across the chasm, swaying. Sebek knew that look.
Silver was falling asleep. Falling asleep, balanced on a log across two mountain peaks, and he didn’t have any of the fae toughness Sebek did.
Silver swayed. His feet began to slip.
Sebek’s focus narrowed. All thoughts of competition, of his own fears and uncertainties and comparisons against the man about to fall to his possible death, faded. Two thoughts fixed in his mind.
He had to be fast.
He had to get to Silver.
He needed speed, needed…only magic would work. Only fast magic, faster than anything.
He saw it. The path he needed, fast as a blink. Magic around his body, making his hair stand on end, zapping hard against his skin, but he ignored the pain.
The words came to him, just as Silver began to fall.
“Strike through the stormy heavens, o lightning!”
Sebek blinked, his vision a flash of white, and when he opened his eyes Silver was in his arms, and then in another instant they were across the log bridge, Sebek stumbling and dropping Silver onto the rocky outcrop on the other side. Sebek took a few steps forward and fell too, his body arcing with electricity, the energy dissipating into the ground but a lot of it zapping against his skin like a thousand rubber bands.
“Ow, ow…damnit!” Sebek said.
“Sebek?” Silver blinked bleary eyes, sitting up slowly. “I…how…?”
“YOU IDIOT SILVER!” Sebek shouted. He sat on the ground, trying to prevent more static shocks. “HOW MANY TIMES HAVE WE TOLD YOU NOT TO FALL ASLEEP? YOU COULD HAVE DIED! THEN WHO WOULD GUARD LORD MALLEUS AT NIGHT RAVEN UNTIL I GET THERE! OW!” More lighting snapped against his temple.
“Sebek, you…” Silver stared, then smiled.
“THERE IS NOTHING TO BE SMILING ABOUT! OW!”
“Sebek, is that your unique magic? It’s…amazing.”
“I—” Sebek shut his mouth against another shout. He blinked.
The memory of the magic, his desire for instant speed and to save Silver, filled his mind. It solidified, a spell he could cast whenever he wanted, a more keen and instant understanding than any other spell he had ever cast. He didn’t fully understand every bit of it, but he knew he could cast it. Something innate to him.
His magic. His…
“My unique magic?” More painful static shocks hit, but he no longer cared. His unique magic! “I CAST MY UNIQUE MAGIC!”
“And you saved me,” Silver said. He stood up, then offered a hand to Sebek. “Thank you, truly. I’m so grateful, Sebek.”
Sebek stared up at Silver. The sun illuminated him from behind, his pale hair like a halo, his searching eyes.
Sebek let himself take Silver’s hand. “Ouch,” Silver said, grimacing as more static jumped at the touch. But he pulled Sebek to his feet anyway.
“That’s amazing, Sebek,” Silver said. “Thank you again. I’ll always remember this.”
Sebek dropped his gaze, his face and body hot. Almost certainly just from the last effects of his unique magic, of course. “Well, I wasn’t about to let you fall!” he said.
“And with your magic, I’m sure you’ll get into Night Raven,” Silver said. Sebek looked up, swallowing when he met Silver’s eyes. “You’re a hard worker, Sebek. And you have a good heart. I’m sure I’ll see you there next year.”
Sebek huffed. “Of course I will! I have my unique magic now! And I’ll…I’ll still work hard! I’ll be able to save you from all sorts of stupid things you’ll likely do, Silver!”
Silver smiled, sending Sebek’s heart beating faster than it had while climbing. “I’m sure you will. But first,” and he began to run, a slow jog before picking up speed. “The gauntlet isn’t over!”
“Stupid Silver!” Sebek shouted. He began to run too, after his fellow guard.
His fellow guard, and rival. Silver always pushed him to improve. And now, because of him, he had his unique magic. A spell only he knew, the type of spell powerful mages who would get into Night Raven would have.
Sebek ran faster, chest out, some of the anxieties that had been plaguing him easing.
He would train. He would make it. He would trust in that—and trust Silver.
The race had to go on.