Mage Academy

Let's Play the Game

"That witch Lauren is your sister?!" Gibby exclaims.

"Gibby!" I reprimand, but I'm thinking the exact same thing. "He didn't mean it..."

"He did, but I don't blame him." Max's face clouds over.

"So, she's your sister...," I say, trying my best not to let any emotion leak into my voice. "I wouldn't have guessed."

Lydia jumps in, having heard the last bit of the conversation. "You're both seventeen, right? You must be twins."

"You don't look anything alike." Gibby frowns.

"She's not my real sister," Max explains, running a hand through his black hair. "her mother married my father when we were eight, and took our name." Max practically spat the last part out.

Oliver and Guy show up, and I start to feel guilty, like we're ambushing Max. "You didn't know? Darren's in the dorm below us." Oliver says.

"Darren?" I ask, confused.

"Lauren's twin brother." Max grunts, gesturing over to the left. I follow his direction and see Lauren walking with the boy version of herself. Long blond hair, blue eyes. What really makes him look a lot like Lauren is the snide look on his face, like he thinks he's a king walking among peasants.

"Pleasant guy." Oliver says grumpily.

"Darren called him an Earthling and challenged him to an Earth duel." Guy explains. "Just because he jumped into the last free shower."

"What's with those guys calling people Earthlings?" Lydia says disgustedly.

"They think that just because they come from an influential family, they have the right to be cruel to everyone." Oliver huffs. "Good thing you're not like that, buddy." he says brightly to Max.

"I try my best." Max says sarcastically.

"Imagine living with them for nine years? How do you cope?" Oliver persists.

"By keeping as far away from them as possible."

"Hey... they hate Fire majors, don't they? I heard Darren talking slack about them last night. How can they hate Fire majors when you're their brother?" Oliver questions.

"I'm not their family." Max says sharply, ending the conversation. He looks almost angry now, but I don't think it's because of Oliver's insistence. I think it would upset anyone, having to say that you share the same name as bullies. Thankfully, we're interrupted, as the people ahead of us stop. We've arrived!

We're on the outskirts of the forest, and in front of us Mr Croft and a woman with long strawberry blond hair tied into a braid. She too is wearing a light blue cloak, and is holding two long black sacks, one of which she hands to Mr Croft. "Welcome to Tree Dodging! I'm one of your Teachers, Ms Fan. Raise your hands if you've ever Tree Dodged before?"

A good half of the group raise their hands.

"Exciting! Either way you're going to have fun. Now I'll take..." Ms Fan lifts her free hand and makes a wind wall, separating the group in two. "this half of you. Come along with me."

The other half of the group wanders off further down the lawn, while the rest of us stay with Mr Croft. I'm happy that my friends are in my group, but I inwardly groan at the sight of Lauren and Darren. Mr Croft opens the sack and hands each of us an Air Stick. I weigh it in my hand. It's actually quite light, which isn't what I imagined. I trail my finger along the smooth wood, and stand it up next to me. It's around my height.

"Tree Dodging is my favourite sport, if I say so myself," Mr Croft chuckles, his kind eyes crinkling. I try to guess his age. Forty? Fifty? Sixty? Older? Younger? It's so hard to tell. He holds himself like he has the energy of a twenty year old, but his face suggests otherwise, lined with light wrinkles, most of them around his eyes. Laughter wrinkles.  "Tell me your names. I'll try and remember them, but it'll take a while!"

We each say our names, and then he asks what elements we major in. He gets to Max, who says "Fire" proudly, and when he gets to me I say it loud and clear too.

"Ah, two Fire majors," Mr Croft says, smiling. "Excellent! Now, everyone, lets get straight to it. Stand your Air Sticks in front of you, yes, that's it, now wrap yourselves around it, like so. Now, I want you to find a hole in the surface of the Stick. Found it?" we all say yes. "blow into it!"

Mr Croft blows into the hole on his Air Stick and is immediately lifted off of the ground, about five metres into the air. I widen my eyes and face the round hole on my Stick, which is about thee inches wide so it covers the diameter of the Stick. I cover it with my mouth, close my eyes and inhale until my lungs are full to bursting, then I blow with as much power as I can muster,  feeling the Air course through me. The Air Stick fills up, and I lift off the ground, not even noticing that Gibby is sticking his long nails into my shoulder. When I look around I see that I am one of the first up, and can't stop grinning. Guy, already floating, takes his hand off the Stick to give me a thumbs up. I attempt to give him a thumbs up back, but as soon as I take my hand off the Stick I wobble and tip to the side, and Guy reaches out to steady me.

"Oops! Thanks!" I say, embarrassed. Guy simply smiles at me, and we both look at My Croft, who is helping Students out. Lydia, with a gracious effort, lifts up into the air, and soon everyone is up, except Oliver, who's face has gone bright red from the effort of blowing into the Stick, and probably from the embarrassment of being the last one on the ground. Eventually, though, he leaps up into the air, so rapidly and violently that he almost crashes head first back down to the ground, but Mr Croft steadies him just in time. I cringe.

"Now, slowly and steadily lower the top of your Sticks down," Mr Croft says, demonstrating lying his Stick horizontally. We all follow, and I wobble slightly, but I manage. We all end up clinging to our Sticks, legs straight, arms bent with our elbows touching. "The trick is to make yourself as streamlined as possible. Now, lower the top of your Sticks again, only slightly, and you'll move slowly forward."

I tip my Stick down, and I'm thrilled to find myself slowly flying forward! I focus hard, trying to keep my balance. It's pretty terrifying looking down; if you fell it would really hurt.

We spend a good three hours practising on the lawn, going faster, slower, turning and stopping. It's hardest to stop; you have to lift the Stick up completely. It's clear that some Students have Tree Dodged before; Max, Lauren, Darren and Guy seem to be completely at ease. To my utmost joy, I'm doing quite well for a beginner, and Lydia struggles a bit with turning, but she seems to be getting the hang of it. Oliver, unfortunately, finds it really difficult, and jerks along strenuously. Eventually he smooths out a bit, but Darren, who I now see is just as nasty as his twin, imitates Oliver jerking forward, laughing cruelly. Him and Lauren's friends laugh bitterly, making Oliver flush with embarrassment. 

Max scowls at them, but all I want to do is knock them clear off their Sticks.

After Mr Croft explains the game to us, which it turns out is more dangerous than I thought--you are allowed to fly at competitors and knock them off their Sticks-- we all line up at the edge of the forest.

"You will find a clearing straight ahead, about one kilometre away. I will fly over the trees and get there before you. I want those of you who are more advanced to be easy on those who find it more difficult, alright?" Mr Croft looks at us with his smiling face, his eyes twinkling with excitement. "Try not to hurt yourselves too much! Three...two... one... GO!"

I dive straight into the dark forest, thick with trees blocking the sunlight.

This is the most dangerous yet riveting thing I have ever done.

And I want to win.