The Storm Apprentice

Chapter 8

Jay's tournament approached amazingly quickly as they trained throughout the rest of the week. Narira began to figure out lightning, and the two continued to work on sparring, though Jay seemed distracted with thinking about the tournament.

Felsday morning, Narira awoke to Alessa shaking her. She reached out and clumsily batted at her sister's head, causing her to giggle.

"Get up, silly!" she demanded playfully. "You're going to watch your first tournament!"

Narira stared at her for a moment. Then her eyes widened and she sat up quickly, knocking into Alessa. "Sorry!" she said quickly. "And thanks for waking me up!"

"It's not even sunrise yet," her sister complained. "Why do they make the tournament start so early?"

"No idea."

"I made you some food," Alessa told her proudly.

Narira looked at her sister warmly. "Thanks, Alessa."

When she had gotten ready, she pulled her Starrynt out from under her bed to leave for the tournament. Alessa glanced at her curiously. "That's a weird sword," she remarked.

"Oh... this is a practice rapier," Narira said hurriedly. "It's rounded so you don't actually harm someone in practice."

"Cool," her sister said with glittering eyes. "I'm going to use one too, someday!"

Narira winced inwardly, but decided she didn't have to worry about it yet. "Well, bye! See you later!"

"Bye!" Alessa said with a wave.

Narira broke into a run as soon as the door closed behind her. Remembering her training, she pushed energy into her legs most of all, giving the rest of her body just enough to keep up. The form still felt weird, as one did not usually run with only their legs (without the help of pumping arms or anything), but she was getting used to it, and it certainly wasted less energy.

She sprinted through the city, barely slowing to turn. Once, her foot got caught in between the cobbles, but she flipped over as she tripped and kept going anyway, feeling a small twinge of pride in her new skills.

The sun was just beginning to rise as she made it to the arena. Ceylis was already there, leaning against the stone casually. He glanced at her as she skidded to a stop, then turned back toward the sunrise.

Narira looked at him, then sighed and sat down on the grass. She had slowly begun to learn that the electrovites had no qualms over using any random spot on the ground for their various things, and she supposed she might as well adapt.

Jay rounded the corner a moment later, but instead of stopping, he ran at Ceylis, then leapt off of the ground and slammed his feet into the wall just above Ceylis's head. He flipped backward, then drew his Starrynt once he landed. With a bow, he announced, "Jay the Annihilator, reporting for service."

"Jay the what?" Narira asked incredulously, slowly standing up. "And since when do you have a title?"

Jay cleared his throat. "As of this moment, I dub myself-"

"Alright, shut up," Narira told him, brown eyes glinting.

"Aha!" Ceylis announced suddenly. "Our carriage has arrived."

"Carriage?" Narira demanded.

"Ceylis likes to show up in a proper manner," Jay explained. "He hopes it will make up for when his apprentice - apprentices - embarrass him." He smirked. "He needs to try a little harder, though."

Narira smiled amusedly, then turned toward the street as a simple carriage rolled up. It wasn't covered, and had little in the way of decoration, but it was more than she had ever ridden in before. It was pulled by a handsome palomino who plodded along calmly, head bowed. She smiled to the driver, who nodded in return. "My Lady," he said formally.

"Oh- I'm just an apprentice," she said hurriedly, a blush rising to her face.

"Thank you for coming again, Verlan," Ceylis greeted him graciously, stepping in front of Narira to shake his hand.

"Always a pleasure," the driver replied. He motioned to the back of the carriage, and Narira climbed in. Ceylis sat with the driver, and Jay climbed in next to Narira.

After a few minutes of rolling and jostling, Narira turned to Jay and asked, "So what exactly does this tournament entail?"

He sighed dramatically. "Same thing it did when I told you yesterday."

"All you told me was that electrovites compete with each other, which is easy enough to guess!" she complained. "How do they go about competing with each other? How is it scored? How long does it take? What will you be doing?"

"No, yes, and yes."

"No, yes, and- that doesn't make any sense!"

He grinned. Then at her murderous look, he reluctantly said, "Alright, fine. I'll tell you how it works."

"Good."

"Basically, the tournament is divided into four stages. There are several events that run during each stage, but each person is expected to pick one for every stage to participate in. First is Athletics, which includes Sprint, Obstacle Course, etcetera. Then there's Target, which includes Open Hand or Starrynt. After that is Choice Duel, which involves events like No Magic, No Electricity, Confined Area, or No Weapon. In the Free Duel Stage, there is only one event, which is dueling with everything allowed."

"Complicated," Narira said. "Which ones are you doing?"

"I'm doing Obstacle Course, Confined Area Duel, and Starrynt Target. I'm always amazed by the ones who do Open Hand Target... the accuracy they can get is amazing!"

"Do many people do Open Hand in the Apprentice Tournaments?" she inquired.

"No. There's only one round of that, and about six of Starrynt Target."

Just then, Verlan pulled the carriage to a stop next to a shabby-looking cottage. A few people were trickling into it, more than should have been in the small space, but it wasn't a huge crowd.

"Well, here you are," he said. "Always nice to have you all!"

Ceylis thanked him, then jumped out of the carriage and strode over to pat the horse. Narira climbed down, then tapped a Ceylis on the shoulder. "Um... is this it? Where's the tournament?"

"Follow those people," he told her brusquely, pointing to the people entering the building.

"Is it underground?" she asked excitedly.

"No. The whole tournament's held in that tiny cottage. They like to use the table as target practice."

Jay snorted, then turned and led the way. They entered after a group of four, all who were chatting excitedly. Inside, there was a small table with some old chairs surrounding it, and a door leading to another room. They went into that one, and Narira was startled to see that the room was bare except for a starecase in the middle of the floor leading down. Jay started down without pausing, and Narira followed quickly, with Ceylis walking behind her.

The tunnel they entered a moment later spiraled downward for a short time, and it seemed progressively to get nicer as they went. Near the entrance it had been old and worn, the stone cut in uneven chunks, with moss and slick moisture coating the walls. As they descended, the corners became more defined, the walls more even, and there were torches lit along the walls.

Eventually, the tunnel widened into a passage, where people were milling about and chattering in small groups. Most were finely dressed, though a few wore the simple browns of peasants. At the end of the passage, a stout stone arch opened into a massive cavern, though Narira couldn't see much of it from her position.

As they approached the archway, Narira saw a woman greeting the stream of people entering. "Greet her formally," Ceylis told her in a whisper.

When they reached the woman, Jay bowed. "Jay, Electrovite Apprentice," he announced.

When it was her turn, Narira stepped forward with as much grace as she could muster. "Narira, Electrovite Apprentice," she greeted the woman with a small curtsy.

The woman smiled kindly. "Is this your first tournament?"

Narira grinned. "Yes. But I'm not competing... just watching a friend."