Taken

“Relax,” I said. “Focus on the one you will be fighting.”

Crystal was still on the podium and her gaze was resting on Fay Wilder, just as she’d watched every other apprentice who’d stepped onto the piste. I narrowed my eyes. Why are you watching them so closely?

Crystal turned away and raised her voice. “Natasha Babel . . .” Her eyes came to rest on us. “And Luna Mancuso.”

I felt Luna go stiff. “Go for it,” I said.

“It’s—”

“I know who it is. Kick her ass.”

Natasha was already walking onto the piste. Luna stepped out a moment later. She’d tied her hair back in a ponytail instead of her usual bunches, and as she took her place to the right end she looked quick and agile, standing balanced on the balls of her feet. The conversion field flared up around the piste and bubble shields appeared around Luna and Natasha. “Ready?” the arbitrator asked Luna.

Luna nodded. She was keeping the handle of her whip hidden and I nodded approvingly to myself. As I watched, the silver mist of her curse spread and unfurled around her, tendrils snaking out to a distance of two or three yards and causing faint flickers as they brushed the edge of the piste. Luna’s learnt over the past year to hold her curse in, but it’s more powerful when she doesn’t.

“Ready?” the arbitrator asked Natasha.

Natasha said something under her breath, not quite loud enough for me to hear. Luna frowned and Natasha gave her a thin smile. Just as in their first duel, Natasha carried no weapon. With her water magic she didn’t need one.

“Are you ready?” the arbitrator repeated to Natasha, more loudly.

“Ready,” Natasha said without taking her eyes off Luna.

“Fi—”

Natasha struck before the arbitrator had finished speaking, a lance of blue light stabbing at Luna’s chest. Water mages can’t manipulate the water in a human body—that’s the domain of life magic—and they can’t create water out of nowhere. But they can use the water vapour in the air to do pretty much anything water can do in much larger amounts, including hitting someone with the impact of a fire hose.

But Luna had started moving at the same time, and whether through foresight or the luck of her curse her sidestep took her far enough out of the way for the water lance to streak past. As she dodged, her right arm came up in an underarm swing and the whip came to life, its silvery length slashing upwards and straight into Natasha. The strand dissipated as it struck the bubble of Natasha’s conversion field, becoming a flash of brilliant light that made me shut my eyes.

“Point, right,” the arbitrator said. He was frowning, but neither Natasha nor Luna had quite jumped the gun.

“What was that?” Natasha demanded. “That’s not fair!”

“Point, right,” the arbitrator repeated more loudly. “One-zero.” Luna brought the whip back, the strand of silver mist curling around her feet. I’d expected it to go for the spectators, but it didn’t; it was pointed towards Natasha, coiled and ready. For Natasha’s part, she looked taken aback. This obviously wasn’t going the way she’d expected.

“Ready?” the arbitrator asked once everything was settled. I could hear murmurs from the crowd, people whispering in undertones. Luna’s curse is very difficult to see; my mage’s sight is better than most and even I can only spot it because I know exactly what to look for. To most of the mages here, it would have looked like Luna hit Natasha without doing anything.

“Fight!”

A spherical shield of flickering blue light sprang up around Natasha, the water magic combining magical energy and pressure to repel attacks. Luna’s whip sprang out eagerly and the silver mist bit into the sphere, but the shield held. Luna pulled back and struck again, stepping forward as Natasha stepped back. Light sparked from Natasha’s shield at the points of impact, silver-blue instead of the white flash of the conversion field. The whip was fast and responsive and it gathered itself for a new strike more quickly than any normal whip could do, but there was still a slight delay between each attack. Natasha timed it carefully, then as Luna was pulling back for another stroke she dropped her shield and sent a full-strength blast of water magic streaming down the piste. Luna was off-balance and didn’t manage to dodge. The azimuth shield took the brunt of the attack with a brilliant flash, but it couldn’t stop all the kinetic energy of the impact. Luna flew five feet before hitting the floor and slid and rolled for another ten.

“Point, left,” the arbitrator said as another murmur went up around the hall. “One-all. Is right able to continue?”

Luna got to one knee, steadying herself and locking gazes with Natasha. There was a small cut on her lip. “Oh, I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Natasha said, her eyes wide.

“You wish,” Luna said.

“Places,” the arbitrator said loudly.