Conrad Edison and the Anchored World (Overworld Arcanum Book 2) (33 page)

I went to the front of the room and gathered enough yarn and beads for three bracelets then returned to the table. We each took a length of yarn and began threading the beads.

Max took a blue bead. "So, where did you go last night, Conrad?"

I decided to go for a rainbow effect and chose a bead of every color. "Professor Emoora is tutoring me."

Ambria dropped a bead. It bounced across the table and fell on the floor. "Tutoring you?"

"I need to get better fast, so she said she'd help me." I leaned forward and whispered, "I told her about my parents."

Max sighed and shook his head. "I wouldn't trust anyone with that information."

"We still haven't told Galfandor your parents are on campus," Ambria said. "Do you suppose Esma will?"

"I didn't mention it to her." I'd forgotten to inform the headmaster, primarily because I hadn't seen him for a while. "Maybe I'll tell her tonight."

"Can we come?" Max asked. "I'd like to learn advanced spells."

"I don't think Professor Emoora would like that," I told him. "Sorry."

He rolled a bead between his fingers. "How often are you meeting her?"

"Twice a week right now." I fit another bead onto the yarn. "Hopefully she'll let me come more often."

"You're eating up her free time, Conrad." Ambria wet the yarn with her lips and twisted the tip to make it smaller. "You should be more considerate."

"Yeah," Max said. "More considerate."

Ambria gave him a cross look. "Max, finish your assignment."

He chuckled softly.

I finished threading the bracelet and tied it into a loop. When I put the enchantment on it, the beads glowed softly, but did nothing else.

Ambria sniffed. "What a waste of time."

"Lame." Max stared at his glowing bracelet. "Let's give our friendship bracelets to Harris and Baxter."

I snorted. "I'm sure they'd appreciate it."

That night, I once again met Esma for lessons. This time, she didn't frighten me half to death, instead, meeting me in her office.

"Survived another day?" she said dryly.

I sat in a chair across from her. "So far."

She smiled. "Well, with the barrier around the school, you should be safe until the end of the semester."

Though I'd told her about my parents, I hadn't revealed my suspicions about them being on campus. "Well, not entirely. You see, I think my parents are on campus right now."

Esma sat back in her chair. "What in the world gave you that idea?"

 "When Calvin Fain and Eolius Bane attacked the front gate, security let everyone in without using the charm on them first." I felt a bit unnerved by her look of disbelief, but continued on. "They must be hiding somewhere. It's a large area, and I've heard there are plenty of secret passages."

She leaned forward. "You're rather smart and observant, Conrad. Whether you like it or not, it appears you've inherited good instincts from your parents."

I shuddered. "I wish I could be proud of it, Professor." A sigh deflated me. "If only they were good people."

Esma perked up. "Well, let's not squander any more time and get down to it." She picked up her wand. "You have notified security about your suspicions, haven't you?"

I shook my head. "No, I've been so tied up with classes and bodily injuries, I haven't had a chance."

"Well, I'll be sure to tell Galfandor." She ushered me into the hallway and locked the door behind her. "I'm certain he'll take care of matters."

The weight on my shoulders lightened. "Thank you, Professor."

The night's lesson consisted of shield practice. By the end of the two hours, I could summon a simple shield spell immediately.

"Excellent work, Conrad." Esma put away her wand. "Since you're so committed, and since it's possible your parents may be on this campus, I've decided we should practice more often. How about four times a week?"

I gasped at this marvelous surprise. "That would be wonderful, Professor."

She smiled, and mussed my hair. "You have a powerful spark inside you, young man. I intend to see it burst into flame."

I went home that night with a full, happy heart. It felt wonderful for someone to believe in me.

Chapter 29

Another week ended and I felt like my magic skills were getting better, though I still had a long way to go before I could defend myself from my parents. Max, Ambria, and I went to Colossus Stadium to wait for Evadora and an update on Serena.

The strange girl soon skipped into sight, twisting and twirling as though she hadn't a care in the world. With a leap, she grabbed the crystal eye of the golem head and pulled herself to the top.

"What's the good news?" I asked.

Evadora jabbed a thumb to her chest. "I am Serena's little helper."

Max scowled. "You're supposed to spy on her, not help her."

"Actually, it sounds like the perfect way to spy on her," Ambria said.

Evadora grinned. "She says it will be weeks before she finishes the rod. Maybe even months."

"That's great!" Max blew out a sigh of relief. "It gives us time to get ready."

"Still no anchor stone pieces," Evadora said. "Serena sends me looking for fragments so she can test the rod when it's ready."

"This is great news," I said. "Anything else to report?"

"Your parents have not been back," Evadora said, "and Serena keeps a journal of everything." She mimicked writing on a pad. "Always writing. I tried to read it to see if she wrote down where your parents are staying."

I sat up, suddenly alert. "And?"

"She almost never sets it down, but the day she does, I will get it." Evadora grinned brightly. "Does anyone want to go play in the forest?"

As if to answer for us, a loud trumpeting roar echoed in the distance.

"The tragon says no," Ambria said. "Why don't we go to town for ice cream?"

Max snorted. "Since Conrad's parents are somewhere on campus, it's probably safer for us in town."

"Ice cream?" Evadora danced on the balls of her toes. "Can I come, brother? Can I, can I?"

I smiled. "Of course."

"Can you fly a broom?" Max asked.

She shook her head.

"Let's get a flying carpet, then." Max pointed toward Moore Keep. "They have some loaners in there."

We flew into town and went directly to the ice cream shop. Evadora was so excited, she didn't know what to order. I got her a mixture of Wicked Witch Watermelon and Vampire Vanilla covered in sprinkles.

"Ooh, it's so good!" She shoveled down another mouthful. "So yummy!" Evadora followed every bite with an exclamation.

"We get the point!" Max said at last. He took a crunchy bite of cone and shook his head. "You'd think she never had ice cream before."

"Never ever," Evadora said seriously. She snuggled up next to me and kissed my cheek. "Thank you, brother."

I suddenly couldn't swallow my ice cream past the lump in my throat. "You're welcome, sister."

"Aww," Ambria said. "That's adorable."

Max ignored us and took a noisy bite of his cone. "The Kabash League tryouts are tomorrow," he said. "I was hoping we could get on the team for Moore Keep, but I doubt we'd stand a chance with Rory and Gregory standing in the way."

I'd forgotten all about it. "Is it a racing league?"

Max shook his head. "No, but you have to be really good with a broom. Why don't you try out with me?"

I hesitated to answer.
Do I really have time for something like that?

Ambria seemed to sense my thoughts. "You need to enjoy yourself more, Conrad. Sitting around worrying about your parents won't help one little bit."

Max slapped me on the back. "All you do is study. Besides, I doubt we'll make the team since everyone hates us."

A wry laugh barked from my mouth. "You're probably right." I thought about it a moment. "I suppose you should tell me how to play the game first."

He grinned. "You got it. Let me hold your arcphone."

I handed him the phone. He set the phone on the table and projected the image of a large oval field. The sides of the stadium looked like castle walls with parapets along the tops, except these had rows of benches.

"Kabash is played on a tract—a field a hundred and fifty yards long and seventy yards wide." Max played the video forward. Two round towers sprang up from the ground, one on either side of a thick red line at the center of the field, and hovered about twenty feet in the air. Behind each opposing tower, a square keep rumbled skyward, followed at the ends of the field by a small castle.

"Each team has a tower, a keep, and a fortress to defend. The first team to destroy the enemy fortress wins the game."

Ambria peered at the paused image. "Destroy them how?"

"I'm getting to that," Max said. He resumed the video and we watched as two teams, one wearing yellow, the other in red, emerged from doors at either end of the stadium. They flew on brooms around the field, pumping their fists in the air while the crowd cheered them on.

Max zoomed in on one team. "Each team has three carries, two freezers, and three defenders." He sat back and cast a curious look at Evadora who danced in place while licking her ice cream. Shaking his head, he returned to the rules. "At the start of the game, a disc called the striker flies into the arena and circles around the middle. Each team races to get it first. Whoever gets it passes it off to a carry."

"Why are they called carries?" Ambria asked. "Because they carry the
striker?"

He snorted. "No, it's because they're supposed to carry the team to victory. Make sense?"

Ambria nodded. "Yes, I suppose so."

Max took a sip of his milkshake. "Anyway, the carries throw the striker at the buildings. Four hits destroy a tower, six hits for a keep, and eight for a fortress."

"Both teams use the same striker?" I asked.

He nodded. "The defenders guard the carries and help with rebounds. The freezers carry freeze wands—or freeze rays if they're from Science Academy—and can disable anyone for ten seconds once every minute."

"Can the defenders and freezers attack the towers?" Ambria asked.

"Yeah, but their attacks only count for half damage." Max rotated the screen to the side so we could see the field in profile. "A team can shield their tower for five seconds once every five minutes, so if there aren't any defenders protecting the tower, they have a few seconds to get into position."

"Sounds simple enough," I said. "Are you allowed to make contact with the opposing team members?"

"Yes, you can push them by bumping them with your body, but you can't use your hands." Max made a grabbing motion. "If someone does, they're penalized and taken out of the game for three minutes."

I pictured using my body to divert another flier to the side. "Meaning, your team plays a person down."

"Exactly." He forwarded the video through some gameplay and froze it as the yellow team pressed an attack on the red tower. "Here's a classic tower attack."

Like the others on his team, the yellow pusher's uniform had small shoulder pads, elbow pads, and leather gloves, but no helmet, which seemed dangerous with a disc whizzing back and forth at high speeds. The only difference between his uniform and the others on his team was the hammer symbol on front of his shirt. One of the disablers, identified by the freeze stick in her hand, had a wand symbol on her uniform. I spotted a defender in the back with the image of a shield on his.

Ambria winced as the striker whizzed past a player's face, narrowly missing it. "Why aren't they wearing helmets? That disc looks like it could cut off your head."

Max stopped the video again. "The uniforms are charmed like armor to protect players from impacts to their bodies." Max pointed to a thick collar on a carry's uniform. "If the disc comes too close to your face, it activates a shield."

"What happens if you get knocked off your broom?" I asked.

"Players wear tethers, so even if they fall, they stay attached to their brooms." Max shrugged. "You can still get injured, but at least you won't lose your head."

Ambria shuddered. "I would scream if I saw that disc flying toward my face."

Max chuckled. "Maybe you shouldn't try out for the team."

"Wouldn't dream of it," she replied.

Max continued the video. A yellow carry flung the glowing disc at the tower. Two red defenders flew to intercept, but a yellow freezer froze one. A freeze attack missed the second defender who snagged the disc from the air. The dull glow of the striker brightened to an electric blue.

The defender relayed the disc to a carry who zipped between two yellow defenders while his fellow teammates cleared a hole by blocking opposing players.

Holding the edge of the disc between thumb and forefinger, the red pusher side-armed it toward the enemy tower. The striker smashed against the enemy building and two large cracks formed in the stone.

Max paused the playback again and turned to us. "When the opposing team intercepts an attack on their buildings, they have twenty seconds to attack the enemy tower for double damage." He traced a finger down the crack. "Every crack symbolizes a hit."

"Interesting," Ambria said. "I don't think I've ever heard of such an odd game."

"It's more fun than you can imagine," Max said. "My brothers play for Tiberius Keep. Some people say they might be good enough to go to the professional league."

I stared for a moment at the still image and agreed with Max that it looked like a lot of fun. Something in the holographic image caught my eye—a familiar face. I zoomed in on the red carry in the background and felt a sudden shock of electricity in my heart. The face was younger, the eyes full of genuine excitement, but there was no mistaking Delectra.

"Whoa." Max looked at something on the phone. "I just searched for one of the old professional matches. I didn't realize your mom was in it."

For some reason, I wasn't upset. "She looks so happy."
Delectra wasn't always evil.

Max shook his head sadly. "I wonder what happened to turn her so bad."

I turned off the phone. "Let's try out for the team."