Chapter 9

 

The elemental race finished not long after the vampire obstacle course, with Ali from the Australian Academy coming second. Their race had involved using their special abilities to pass through various sections representing the different elements; Earth, Water, Air, Fire, Astral and Celestial. Of course each elemental could easily cross his own element, but part of their training had involved learning how to brave other elements as well.

The reason Ali did so well because Earth was one of the toughest elements, and Ali had learned at an early age to do stone and more importantly, move while in this massive form. So, after crossing through his own natural plane he was able to walk through the water plane, the air plane and the fire plane completely unaffected. But the Astral plane slowed him a little because he became disorientated, and the Celestial plane would have flummoxed him completely had he not closed his eyes against all the stars and swirling galaxies surround him and thought; one foot in front of the other.

He came in behind a year 12 celestial with brilliant white wings with blue tips, who was already a master of Second Circle Magick. In the past Ali would have grumbled about coming second, but he’d mellowed over the years. He didn’t even hate Harley any more.

But Alice, on the other hand, was still unlucky. To him she always looked like she was hiding something. Those big blue eyes were just too dark and brooding.

The elementals were led to a rest area not far from the vamps and instructed to sit. “Some air elementals will appear shortly with food and drink. Sit back, relax and watch our next event on the monitors.” Flickerton gestured towards the screens. “The were triathlon!”

She turned and headed back to where the weres were waiting impatiently. They all jumped to their feet and started stretching and running on the spot in excitement. “Alright, settle down, settle down!” she laughed. “Your event will start over here. Please follow me.” She turned and walked over to a dirt line in the grass. Please line up in an orderly fashion.”

The weres did, barely able to contain their excitement. Directly in front rose one of those small, but dense Oval Jungle forests. They couldn’t see what lay beyond.

“The first part of the Were Triathlon is to use your agility to get through this jungle. You are not allowed to go around it or, if you have wings, fly over it. If you do an alarm will sound and you will be disqualified.” She paused to allow her words to sink in, and everyone nodded.

“Next is a bare, flat area, perfect for you to stretch your limbs and test your speed. But it isn’t very wide, so basically the faster you are, the quicker you’ll get through. Do whatever you must to make it through, but there mustn’t be any deliberate tripping, shoving or biting. That’s another event.” Flickerton gave a wicked smile.

“What’s the last bit?” asked the big were, Morgan.

The VP’s smile broadened. “The best bit. The lake at the centre of this arena. Your objective is to reach the island in the middle. It is only large enough for three people to stand on. The lake is about ten metres deep. You will have to swim.”

A lot of the weres’ excitement faded. Of course everyone knew how to swim – it was mandatory for all weres to learn this very important skill. But so few of them were at home in the water, and all feline-aspected weres, including Carla and Karinder Singh, actually cringed at the thought.

Flickerton rubbed her hands together, sending more sparks flying. “On your marks … get set … go!”

Some weres, like Lucinda, simply took off running in human form. Others paused for a second to shift into their animal forms, like Toby, Carla, Karinder, Grizzer, Jamie and the moose Eric. Then they all took off. The wolves were the fastest and soon took the lead, rushing into the mini jungle.

That was when things got interesting. This little jungle may have only had two levels, but they were jam-packed with excitement. Scarcely had the weres gotten five metres in when roots started lifting beneath their paws to trip them up, branches moved to block them, and vines dropped in nooses to ensnare their bodies. Strange creatures came leaping out of cleverly concealed hiding places to attack. Lucinda, still in human form, shifted just her head and bit one in half with her formidable shark jaws. Toby dodged another and Carla had to shift to half-human form so she could swat a third in the face. Jamie immediately shot up into the level above, darting along the thin vines. Due to his agile rat form, he began drawing ahead. Karinder followed him close behind, making him very nervous.

These weren’t genetically engineered creatures like the ones from the big jungle, either. They were imp-possessed animals, with far too many heads and limbs, staring blood-red eyes and slavering jaws. Some were covered with scales, others fur and feathers. They all smelled bad, some like rotten meat, others like spoiled milk. When Grizzer bit one’s head off, it exploded in a spectacular cloud of offal, showering him with disgusting bits. The infuriated bear had no time to howl in frustration – the roots beneath him were shifting again, this time sending him stumbling up into the thin network of vines and branches that made up level 2. He really didn’t want to find his way through up here – he was a bear, not a monkey!

The imps came thick and fast; popping up from the ground, bursting from holes in tree-trunks and dropping from tangles of vines from above. Lucinda kept her shark-head and continued to snap and bite. She actually swallowed one whole. Another managed to knock Jamie back down onto the ground, sending him tumbling head over heels. It leapt down after him and tried to bite his tail. He ran like he’d never ran before in his life. Karinder continued to race along the branches and leap through the vines. He looked like he had been practising such agile moves for a while. The moose Eric was fast, but kept getting his massive antlers caught. He soon fell behind.

Toby raced along below while Carla also scrambled through the vines above, almost as quickly as Karinder. She spotted a scaly lizard-like thing crouch to spring at Toby, and was torn between continuing the race and helping him. Truthfully she didn’t care about winning. She leapt at the thing and her weight caused the branch to break and crash down into the dirt below. But the monster died and dissolved into a sludge puddle.

Hey, thanks! Toby sent.

But Carla didn’t seem to hear his telepathic voice, and continued on into the jungle. That was odd, Toby thought. I hope she wasn’t ignoring me. But then why would she if she’d just helped me? Now he was confused!

Best not to think too much about it, he decided as he ran.

Grizzer blundered along through the upper level for a few metres, becoming hopelessly entangled in branches in vines. Fortunately he was so big that his weight soon tore the foliage loose and sent him plummeting back down to safer ground. He shifted to a half-man form so he could rip the vegetation free. Then he returned to his favourite shape, that of a full bear. He’d always felt the most comfortable in this form. He thundered along, head-butting one imp out of the way with his big hard head, and trampling another beneath his enormous bear paws. He started to catch up with the rat and weretiger scuttling overhead. He could hear crashing behind him and knew someone was hot on his heels.

But it was Jamie who managed to burst from the jungle first and take a spectacular flying leap into the flat race-track. He was off and scuttling, his long thin rat tail whipping out behind him. Still with a few tendrils tangled around his back legs, Grizzer raced out after him. He was closely followed by the weres Karinder and Morgan and some other shifters from the other academies. Toby and Carla emerged next, with Lucinda puffing along behind them. It was Eric who came out last, with two massive tangles of vines around his antlers, like a set of enormous fluffy pigtails. He had to shift back to human form to dislodge them.

Toby and Carla soon picked up speed on the hard-packed earth. On either side of the track, to keep them contained, rose curved stone walls of several metres. Toby’s powerful wolf legs became a blur as he raced along, closing the distance between himself and the rumps of several other werewolves in front, one of whom was the Russian were, Nikolai. There were three of them, running neck and neck, cooperating to keep the passage blocked.

But Toby was very agile and one of the best in Tooth and Claw. He knew a trick or two. He leapt into the air, landing on Nikolai’s back. Before the creature could react, he jumped again, hitting the ground running in front of him.

It was a trick Carla knew too, and she followed, also using poor Nikolai as a steeping stone. Nikolai tried to snap at one of her back legs as she landed, but she was too fast.

Unfortunately for Jamie, his agility in the Jungle did not translate to speed on flat ground. Karinder, used to dense jungle, also slowed down. Grizzer overtook both the weretiger and Jamie, nearly bowling the smaller rat over and sending him tumbling into the curved wall. Jamie only managed to keep running by scuttling half-way up the bank. He glared daggers at the werebear’s enormous backside.

Toby also overtook Karinder and came up beside the big were Morgan, who was very large and taking up half the corridor on his own. He put on a fresh burst of speed to pass, and Morgan slowly shifted over to block him. Darn it Toby thought. I can’t get past this behemoth! He was too tall for Toby to risk jumping onto his back while running at such a speed. Then Toby had to drop back behind Morgan as he overtook Jamie, who was still scuttling along the curved wall at 45 degrees.

It was Carla who leapt onto Morgan and landed in front. Now she was second, just behind Grizzer who was charging along like a runaway locomotive.

But before she could try to overtake him, the flat passage ended and Grizzer plunged into the water. He hadn’t prepared himself for it and splashed and floundered for a few seconds, trying to right himself in the cold, deep liquid. He could swim better as a bear, yes, but not very quickly. Jamie, still in ratform, soon followed and started to overtake him. Toby raced in after Jamie.

Carla paused so she could shift to human form and drop her shoes, PE jacket and long pants. She gritted her teeth and plunged in. She could actually swim far better as a human. Morgan, still in his were form, dropped in with a huge splash, followed by Nikolai and the other wolves. Karinder also paused to shift back into human form and strip. The rest of the weres also dropped in, with Lucinda, still in human form, bringing up the rear. Eric thundered right past her and charged straight into the water.

The pool wasn’t very big, only fifty metres across. The weres only had to swim half the length of an Olympic pool. This would have been easy if the water had been still. But it wasn’t. Several water elementals had been employed to churn things up a little. Weres already struggling along were caught up in eddies, splashed by waves that appeared from seemingly nowhere, and dragged off course by mysterious currents. Only a couple managed to avoid the elementals by diving deep and speeding along the bottom. These weres quickly overtook the others.

Even Carla was sprayed in the face and pulled under. When she finally managed to resurface, coughing and spluttering and cursing, she witnessed a truly spectacular sight; Lucinda in full shark form leap out of the water, shifting back into human shape as she did so. She landed on the little island in the middle to the sound of uproarious applause.

“We have our winner!” thundered the enhanced voice of Mrs Flickerton. “Lucinda Little from the Australian Academy!” The vice president was standing on the other side of the central lake.

Second place went to Morgan, the second person who’d managed to avoid the worst of the mischievous water elementals. He heaved himself up onto the island in his full were form, that of a bear – a polar bear. He rose up onto his hind legs to massive applause and lifted his front legs in the air.

“Second Place! Morgan Gainsford from the North American Academy!” shouted Flickerton. “Now assume your human form so the third place person can climb up!”

He shrank down. Grizzer and Jamie were heading towards him, neck and neck. Toby was following with the rest of the wolves, and Carla, who’d been dragged around to the other side, was coming in from the back. Karinder was right behind her. A few stragglers followed, wondering why they were still bothering to race.

Grizzer approached the island. He was going to make it! He was going to nab third place! But then he felt something scramble onto his back and leap for the island!

It was Jamie, in full rat form! The wererat landed lightly on the rock and shook the fluid from his sleek brown coat.

“Third place! Jamie Bell from the Australian Academy!” shouted Flickerton. There was more applause.

Grizzer couldn’t believe his senses. He released a roar of fury.

“Now it’s no use protesting. That was a perfectly legitimate move. All I said was no deliberate tripping or biting. Otherwise several of you would have been disqualified in the running section of this event for leap-frogging over each other!”

Grizzer glared at Jamie and bared his massive bear fangs.

Flickerton clapped her hands and the water elementals in the pool buoyed up the weres and carried them back to shore. Lucinda and Morgan swam back themselves, but Jamie allowed himself to be carried.

On shore, Jamie shifted back to human form. So did Grizzer. Grizzer balled his massive hands into fists. “I don’t care what that fiery chick said, rat-boy – you cheated!” he snarled at Jamie in a low voice. “That third place spot was mine!”

Jamie lifted his hands. “What about when you tried to cram me into the wall during the middle bit and I had to run half-way up it?” he demanded. “Or didn’t that count?”

Grizzer had never liked getting logic thrown into his face, so he grabbed Jamie by a handful of his sport shirt and lifted him up off the ground with one hand. “That was different!”

“How so?” demanded Jamie.

Grizzer glowered as he struggled to think of an answer. “That … that … that wasn’t during the end bit!” he finally spluttered.

“Oh, so when you do it it’s okay?” Jamie demanded.

“Come on you guys!” Toby cried. “You start a fight here and you could get kicked out!”

Grizzer glared at Jamie for another second or so, and then dumped the boy onto his backside the ground. “If you ever come near me again, you rodent, I just might decide I feel like rat for dinner!” He turned and stomped off.

Jamie climbed a little shakily to his feet and brushed down his rumpled sports uniform. “Geez Louise! What a sore loser!” He tried to laugh, but truthfully he was rather shaken. He’d only jumped on Grizzer as revenge for his earlier action, but he’d never thought the bear would react so badly.

“Are you okay?” Toby asked.

“Yeah, yeah – I’ll be fine. I’m sure Griz just needs to let off some steam.”

“I’ve never seen him so mad at you.”

“Well, I also think leap-frog move should not be allowed,” Nikolai butted in loudly. “Two of you jumped on me! Two of you! I felt like doormat!”

Toby couldn’t help but snort at that, even though the big Russian wolf had been deadly serious. Nikolai grabbed him by the front of his shirt just like Grizzer had grabbed Jamie.

“Dude, you and your buddies were deliberately blocking the way with your great big hairy butts!” Toby shouted, refusing to be intimidated. “What were we supposed to do?”

“Come on you lads – that’s enough!” Carla shouted, annoyed because she was now wearing a wet shirt and shorts under her dry jacket and long pants. “It was just a race, dammit!”

Nikolai glared at her. “You don’t use me as doormat again, either!”

Carla rolled her eyes. “Jeez, okay, okay, you cranky canine! Let’s all settle down. Take a chill pill. Instead of fighting like a bunch of little kids you should be graciously congratulating the winners.”

With that, Carla walked up to Lucinda, shook her hand and patted her back. Then she shook Morgan’s and Jamie’s hands.

Realising that they were acting like a bunch of brats, the others followed her example. Grizzer grudgingly shook Lucinda’s and Morgan’s hands, but he refused to even look at Jamie.

“This concludes the morning’s activities!” shouted Flickerton. “We shall now adjourn for lunch! All students are to return to the school, players by the underground entrance, but you visitors may stay in your gallery where refreshments will be brought to you. Games will resume at 1:30am, with the Weres versus Vampires Race!” She clapped her hands and people began to disperse from the arena.

What a fantastic start to the Nightmare Games that had been!

 

Ogden Connifer stayed behind in his box. He looked up at the rune he’d inscribed earlier, still hanging in the air. Only now a couple of sections of it were glowing green. He smiled. It was starting to come together quite nicely.

 

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