Chapter Twenty

T he Headmaster just stands there observing us all. I overhear a group of students next to me talking about leaving and being sent home. They all know the severity of the games and that not all of them will survive. I, however, am excited, probably inappropriately so.

“Quiet!” the Headmaster bellows, and everyone shuts up, looking far more nervous than they were when we first arrived. “I know that some of you have probably already had the idea to leave the academy to avoid taking part. Unfortunately, this will not be possible; even if you do go home, the realm will pull you into the games when it sees fit. You are better off training and preparing as much as possible before that happens.

“Some of you will have longer to prepare than others as in the past, the realm has called teams staggered, and we have no reason to think otherwise this time. You will all be going out on your missions still, as real-world experience will be essential in helping you in the games. We promise to prepare you as best as we can. Fortunately, you have a good foundation already. Those of you who don’t have a team will find your members when you get pulled in, you will be at a disadvantage since you have no knowledge of each other, but you must prevail. Despite the deceptive name, this is not a game. If you do not perform well enough, you will die. If you do not complete the task in time in a level, you will be taken to the temple where the gods will decide your fate. There is no point in running or trying to hide the realm will see that fate follows its course.”

“If the realm has decided to call the games again doesn’t that mean that something big is coming, like a war?” someone calls out, sending murmurs around the hall as the implications of that statement sink in.

The Headmaster spears the speaker with a look before answering, “That is how it’s happened in the past.”

He appears to be starting to feel flustered, so it’s no surprise when my professor, from the first day, the one who told us about the games, steps forward and whistles shrilly, quieting the panicking students.

“This is a serious situation, and if you do not treat it as such, you will die. All the money in the world will not get you out of this. From this point forward, those of you with teams will be in every class together, and you will be moving into the shared housing regardless of whether you are a full team or not. We need to promote camaraderie between you.” He pauses, “I will be going more in-depth in my classes. Your new schedules will be in your rooms when you get back. For the rest of the afternoon, you can do as you please. This will be your only break for the foreseeable future, so use it wisely. We will be doing full weeks of classes from now on, so you will have a class all eight days. For those of you who are interested, I will be in my classroom answering questions about the games only in an hour.”

“You are dismissed.” The Headteacher adds, and I swear my history teacher rolls his eyes.

The teachers all leave quickly, trying to avoid the students who understandably have questions they want answers to. The students that are not trying to get to the teachers, however, are rushing to get out of the doors. I do not doubt that those who can afford a communication stone are using them to contact their parents to see if they can get them out of it. I am pleasantly surprised to see a fair few students looking excitedly nervous.

“Well, that was unexpected,” Reaper says drily.

“I don’t feel like I’ve got nearly enough information about the Warrior games.” Loki frowns.

“Well, let's go and get showered and changed and then get to Professor Fitz's classroom. He’s probably the only teacher here who has enough information, and also, he’s the only teacher so far who has actually offered to help the students.” Killian suggests.

“You would’ve thought the combat professors would’ve offered the same thing.” Storm adds.

We all wait until the main push of the crowd has dispersed before we make our exit, only to run into the Headmaster waiting just outside the door, hidden in an alcove to avoid the notice of the other students who have rapidly disappeared.

“Glad to see you all back, okay,” he announces, stepping into our path and not looking happy to see us at all. His smile is sinister as he adds, “did you make it in time?”

Storm stares at him piercingly and surprises me when he doesn’t hold back on his words as much as I was expecting him to, “I get the feeling you already know that we didn’t, Sir,” he says sarcastically and before the bristling Headmaster can reply adds, “no we didn’t, everyone was dead.”

He then goes on to explain stiffly what we witnessed and what we saw, and now that I know he’s got a photographic memory, it makes a lot more sense how easily he can recall all of the details. It also makes me realise that he is going to remember in vivid detail everything that he saw today, and whereas I can say that it will stay with me for the rest of my life, eventually, the sharpness of the memory will start to fade, Storm doesn’t get that privilege.

It doesn’t take Storm long to finish, and as we all start to walk off, now pushed for time to get to Professor Fitz's classroom, the Headmaster calls out after us.

“No other issues?” he asks, hidden meaning in his tone, which is made evident when he sets his narrowed gaze on Reaper.

“No.” Storm replies bluntly.

“Fucking prick,” Loki mutters as soon as we’re out of his earshot and nearly back to the room.

“We’ll deal with him. For now, everyone needs to go and get showered so we can get to this class. I will not allow him to distract us enough to make us unprepared for the games. I will not lose one of you. We will survive this, and more than that, we will fucking come out on top.” Storm’s speech is surprisingly inspiring, and I’m starting to think that he’s carrying a hell of a lot of emotions under that stoic shield he always has up. I think it's not that he doesn’t feel them, just that he doesn’t show them.

Mayhem claps Storm on the shoulder as he walks past, and Killian stops in front of him.

“You won’t lose any of us, brother. We can handle whatever they throw at us.”

I leave them to it feeling like I’m intruding slightly on their moment. When I first brought Killian back here, there was more than just slight tension between them, but now, they seem to be getting back on the right track, and I’m so fucking glad.

My shower and change are quick, and we’re all on our way to Professor Fitz's classroom with ten minutes to spare.

“When we get back, I want everyone to pack a bag. With a medical kit, and non-perishable food, we should be able to hunt, but we may not be able to. Any spare spell bottles you’ve got lying around that you think might be useful, clothing, waterproof sheeting, and water. Anything else you guys think will be needed too? We have no idea if we’ll be able to grab things or not when we get called, so I want them with us at all times.” Storm orders.

“On it, I’ve got a spare larger bag that Farren can use,” Rival replies.

“Good.”

“Ah, I thought I’d see you lot here, come and sit down.” Fitz greets us decidedly more friendly than he was in our first lesson.

I think now that we’ve, or more like, I’ve proven that I’m here for the right reasons, I want to learn, and I didn’t get in on my father’s money. He’s not so surly with us. As we take our usual seats in this class, I’m surprised how few students are actually here, only around seventy, not including us, and that’s out of the four hundred or so currently in attendance at the academy. You’d think they’d jump at the chance to get some extra information.

“Zev, you alright, mate. Do you want to sit with us?” Loki asks, spotting Zev a few rows away.

“Sure,” he grabs his stuff and makes his way up, taking a seat next to Mayhem.

“In case you were wondering, this is what I saw. I’m sorry I couldn’t prewarn you.” Zev explains.

“Don’t worry about it, mate. We know what it’s like with visions.” Rival replies easily.

Our conversation is interrupted as Fitz calls the class to order.

“Right, it appears this is all who want to prepare themselves best, so I suppose we should get on with it,” Disappointment is evident in his tone, “this will just be a basic information kind of lecture, I will be going more in detail in my actual classes, and at the end, I will take questions.”

I pull out a notebook that I actually thought to bring because I have a feeling that we’re going to get a lot of information thrown at us very quickly, and I don’t want to forget anything vital. I’ve learned over the short amount of time I’ve been here that he doesn’t repeat himself.

“First of all, when you get called, there will be an invitation in Fae fire, and you’ll have minutes to get ready, grab any supplies you think you’ll need and arm up. Because of this, I suggest that you always have your weapons on you and nearby while you are sleeping. I would also suggest that you have a bag ready to go full of any supplies you think you may need in an easy to grab location.”

I look over to Storm, who has a slight uptick to one of his lips; he totally called it and has every right to feel smug.

“Now I know there’s not many of you that are in your completed teams and so, therefore, are living in the single dorms. It will be a challenge now that you’ll be sharing space with the members of your team that you do have, but it is absolutely crucial that you get to know them well. Learn their strengths and weaknesses so that you can help each other out in the levels of the Warrior games. Along that same thought line, I imagine that your combat professors will be having you spar against your teammates before you work as a team against another team of your size. They will be stepping up their training to ensure you are properly prepared.”

“Is there any way to know when we will get called?” Someone asks and shockingly doesn’t get his head bitten off, which is what usually happens in Fitz’s classes.

“Unfortunately not. The first team could get called in the next hour, or they could get called in a week. There’s no way to tell, but the Realm is fair, so I would like to think that she’d let us get at least a little bit of information in you before sending you in unprepared.”

“It seems a bit unfair that some teams are going to have more information than others going in,” a girl in the second row asks.

“It is but that is only because this school has become a farce in recent years. Back when the games were a regular thing and even for a long time after, you were all rigorously taught this. There was a professor specifically for all things to do with the games. Combat classes were harder, and failure wasn’t an option. If you weren’t passing all classes, then you were thrown out. Money,” he looks around seriously at some shrinking postures, which I think is slightly unfair since they’re here, which shows they’re taking it seriously even if they got in using money. “Money got you nowhere. You got in on your own skills, and you stayed so long as you kept up. So when the Head Seer announced the games once the Realm contacted her, everyone was ready. They just trained extra hard in combat to ensure they were on top of their game or to refresh their memory.”

I share a look with Loki sitting next to me. Well, that sure as shit explains why all the royals were called to the winter court by the Head Seer, although not why my father was involved apart from being a nosy fucker. What I am curious about though, is whether Zev got the warning from the Realm or somewhere else.”

Infinitely curious, I dart my eyes over to him, and he catches my gaze and nods once in confirmation. My own eyes widen. Holy fucking shit balls that means that Zev is going to be the next Head Seer. I suddenly panic, realising that he went to the fucking slimy as shit Headmaster, who would undoubtedly use him.

I scribble out a note, asking whether he told the Head or not and pass it over via Loki and Mayhem, who look at me curiously. Zev reads the note and looks up at me shaking his head no, and I release a worried breath. Thank fuck for that.

He passes the note back, and I read over it, “I had every intention to, but something felt extremely off about him, so instead, I told him that he needed to get in contact with the Head Seer immediately and left.”

I write back, “Good, don’t trust him and don’t tell anyone. Something is going on with the Headmaster, and he can’t be trusted. If you need anything at all, our room number is thirteen-thirteen. Any time.”

He reads, smiles slightly and nods. Which I hope means that he will actually use it if he needs to.

Panic over and getting curious looks from the guys, I tune back in and hope I haven’t missed anything too important.

“Right, as you know, the games are not all about the combat and weapons side of it. It’s also about brain power and strength of character. Your other teachers will be going over all the supernatural species in this realm, and the others, making sure you know how they work, what kills them, what they eat, how their magic and supernatural sides behave, and everything along those lines. They’ll also be going over strategies and trying to familiarise yourselves with as many territories across the Realms as possible. That is particularly important to pay attention to as you could end up absolutely anywhere. The Realm has a plan and knows far more than we could hope.”

Well, shit, that’s a hell of a lot of places that we could end up in, and I don’t know nearly enough about them or the creatures that occupy them. I need books, lots and lots of books.

“The length for your challenges will vary depending on what task you are set. There will be at least four days between stages so that you can rest and recuperate between each one, and there are ten stages in total. By the end of it, you will either be successful and bestowed a blessing and an extra gift from the Realm to help you protect it, or you won’t.”

I’m pretty grateful he didn’t say, or you’ll be dead. I have never heard of the Realm bestowing extra gifts on warriors that have won the games, but then again that would explain some of the crazy stories I’ve read in the history books about warriors of the past. There’s a buzz of excitement around the classroom as everyone chooses to focus on the extra gifts and not the threat of death.

“Now, the last thing I will cover, as it’s nearly time for dinner, is that usually, all outside jobs would be stopped and left for those who had already graduated, mainly to give those in the games a chance to train and focus solely on them and also so that they don’t get called whilst they are out on the job and risk compromising it,” he pauses, frowning and clearly disapproving of what he says next, “for whatever reason, the Headmaster has decided to send you all still out on them. I will carry on trying to convince him why this isn’t a good idea, and I hope he will finally concede. Until then, I wish you all the best of luck.”

Sensing that as the dismissal it is, everyone starts to pack up and move towards the door. Something occurs to me as I grab my notebook, and I barge past the guys to catch up to Zev. The others following quickly.

“Head Seers don’t have teams do they?” I ask.

He doesn’t look as worried as I think he should when he replies, “No, they don’t, but I promise I’ll be fine. I’m tough, and you’ve been helping train. I’ll be okay.”

He grins like he knows something, which I guess he probably does and then makes his way out the door.

“Did that mean what I think it did?” Killian asks, his eyes wide.

“Yes, and don’t worry, he didn’t say anything to the Head.”

“Thank fuck for that.” Storm adds.

“We need to keep him safe,” Loki adds in as we walk the halls.

“We can’t keep him safe in the games though, can we?” I mutter, I know I haven’t spent much time with him, but I like him, which is rare and means that he’s one of mine now.

“Shit, Seers aren’t usually at the academy, so they aren’t called which means they don’t have to worry about going through the games alone.” Reaper summarises.

We fall silent at the implications, and I send up a prayer to the fates that he will be okay and protected.

“I hear you, daughter. He will remain safe. Beware, everything is about to change.”