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Curious about what great Quest had drawn him away from the Castle.

Wishing he were right here in front of me so I could thank him.

I sent out a silent thank-you to him anyway, wherever he was.

EPISODE 5

THE TOURNAMENT OF KNIGHTS

CHAPTER1

THE OVAL

The fifth of January was the highlight of every year, and the key event was the Tournament, a magical sporting contest between Knights. The Tournament was broadcast all across the world, but here in Killfield we got to see it in person.

Kylie and I were staying in neighboring houses in the Apprentice Village, so we’d walked to the Oval together. It was barely seven in the morning when we arrived, but it was immediately obvious that we hadn’t come early enough. Even though the Tournament wouldn’t begin for another hour, people had already packed the perimeter of the low metal fence that surrounded the large grassy field.

The sun washottoday. Despite the early hour, I was already baking in my black shirt and leggings. Last night’s storm water was evaporating under our feet, rising off the pavement in steamy funnels, filling the air with the sweet scent of slowly-burning grass.

We’d been circling the fence for ten minutes, looking for a spot to stand and watch the Tournament. There weren’t any. Mom gave me a wave from the adults’ section across the Oval. She was chatting with a woman dressed in a wrinkled tan jumpsuit.

“That’s your mom, isn’t it?” I asked Kylie.

The two of them shared the same round face, heart-shaped lips, and blue eyes.

“Yes,” Kylie replied.

Kylie’s mom had sharp, intelligent eyes and a muscular build. In fact, she looked strong enough to benchpress me, which made sense. From her uniform, I knew she was a Fixer, a mechanic. In her line of work, those muscles came in handy. Fixers had to lift a lot of heavy machinery.

“The crowds came early today,” Kylie commented.

“People came early because everyone wants to get a close look at the Knights,” I said as we continued to look for somewhere to watch the Tournament. “And their magic.”

“Over here, girls!”

Bronte was waving at us from her spot at the fence. She was standing directly next to the gate the Knights would use to enter and exit the field. That put her closer to the Knights than anyone else in the audience.

“What time did you wake up this morning, Bronte?” Kylie asked as we squeezed in beside her.

Bronte’s laugh was a tad manic. “Who said I went to bed last night?”

I knew just how she felt. I’d hardly slept either, but that was probably because of the loud storm—and all the nightmares. The General had featured as the villain in a hundred different dreams, trying out a hundred different ways to get me thrown out of the Apprentice Program.

He’d even tried to drown me by dropping me into the Sydney Harbour, but that plan had kind of backfired. I burst out of the water on a majestic tidal wave, magic spear in hand, target in sight: the Black Obelisk. I totally flooded the General’s headquarters, and, no, I didn’t feel bad about it at all.

I sighed at the fleeting memory of that dream. If only my magic were even half as powerful in real life.

“I got to the Oval before five,” Bronte told us. “I wanted to make sure I got our team the best spot to watch the Tournament.”

“Have you seen Asher or Dutch yet?” I asked her.

“Yeah, they’re just…mingling.” Bronte chuckled.

“Mingling?”

“See for yourself.”

I looked where she was pointing. Our male teammates were parading through the crowd with the brightly-colored teenage magic fans we’d seen yesterday in the Emporium. They were taunting a man from the Brotherhood of Earth—and when that didn’t get much of a reaction from the Brother, the teenagers torpedoed his rough brown robes with handfuls of popcorn.