Lessons on Dueling

FALL TERM - DAY 7

Aries de la Fel was running his mouth again and this time, there were consequences. Namely, that Blackclaw picked me to go first to duel against his teaching assistant. Did I mention that I hate this class? 

I'm here because I wasn't left with much of a choice. Considering I'm here to learn how to practice magic, I figured all of my classes would include spellcasting. Not so. So far, it's been a lot of lectures, a lot of assigned reading, and then a sliver of spellwork wedged into Blackclaw's combat lessons, and only Blackclaw's combat lessons. Unfortunately for me, that meant I had to enroll in this class for the rest of term. I'll be stuck with Aries for ten more weeks.

Because of course he signed up too.

So, Aries was running his mouth. "Don't go easy on me, Noodle. I can take a hit." 

If I looked up, hoping I might see someone sock him in the gut, could you blame me? But no, he was talking to a yellow-furred dogfolk boy, Noodle, who sat in the row behind us. His pink tongue was sticking out and his fluffy tail thumped against the wood back of his chair. He wasn't really the type to hit anyone.

"I had a personal trainer that said half of fighting is learning how to fall. He was a werewolf, by the way, and you better believe he didn't pull punches." 

I snickered to myself. Only Aries would brag about being good at taking a beating. 

Over the last few days, I realized Aries mostly just left me be if he saw me reading a textbook before class. He was still too loud and sometimes he pulled one of my horns to the side as he slipped past the back of my chair to his seat. But like I said, mostly left me alone. But right then, he'd noticed me looking on. Which might as well have been a written invitation to engage. 

His lips twisted up into a smirk. "You ready to duel with us today, Zeph?" 

Zeph? What the hell? I couldn't help myself. "You want to duel? You don't know how to cast anything yet. Don't be ridiculous." 

Aries tossed his head back melodramatically, showing off the long pale line of his neck. "Okay, yeah. I'm not exactly a reliable caster yet, but I've got to start sometime. It's on the syllabus for today, and besides, it's not like I knew how to wrestle a werewolf before trying it myself. I've got to learn somehow."

"I don't think that applies to casting spells," Noodle said. 

I stifled a laugh only to hear another, deeper chuckle from over my shoulder. 

"Only one way to find out," Blackclaw said as he strode past our desk and up to the front of the room. "Clear your desks, everyone. Today, we're getting into duelling. And we've already got our first volunteer. Isn't that right, Mister Ashbourne?" 

Right then, in front of everyone I didn't see a way to politely correct him, which just as well could have been Blackclaw's plan all along. And even if I could, it seemed criminal to volunteer Aries. He was truly defenseless, despite his insistence that it would be – what was it again? A learning experience?  

I said nothing. It made it all the worse that Blackclaw seemed especially giddy. Maybe he really did just want to watch me get my ass kicked. 

We took the next few minutes to reorganize the room. Now that the introductory tutorials had ended, every class had been cut down to roughly half a dozen students. There were eight of us enrolled in combat lessons, just enough of a margin of difference from other class sizes you might call it "popular." To put it in context, Sigils with Mistress Kelyn Marblebrook had been whittled down to a class of four. There were more desks than needed and Blackclaw had us push as many as we could out of the center of the room to make space for dueling. Blackclaw explained that starting next term we would have a designated practice field outdoors, but given how new we were and that there was only so much damage we were capable of, best spare the trip and just practice here. 

We hovered around the edges of the newly cleared space as Blackclaw stalked forward into lecture.

"We will be focused on duelling for the rest of term for a few reasons. First, so that you may learn the Mages' Code of Conduct. And second, because it is illegal in Mesym to practice magic with intent to harm another person outside of a formal duel.

"The Mages' Code of Conduct extends beyond Mesym's law to all magic users, regardless of nation. It is our ruleset for legally sanctioned acts of violence, such as duelling, but also, war. 

"With that said, I'm not here to train soldiers. I'm here to train new mages. I don't expect you to go out into the wider world and have to duel with any regularity. Our emphasis will be on defensive magic and magic safety. If you can protect yourself from fire in a duel, you can protect yourself from fire in an alchemical accident. A strong dueler can think quickly and cast accurately under stress. Both are skills that should help you more broadly in the years to come."

"So…" Blackclaw clasped his hands together. "Let's get to it. Mister Ashbourne will be going first. Step on up." 

 Aries's hands were on my shoulders, urging me on. "Show 'em what you've got, Zeph." 

"Today, we have Miss Sims from my advanced class joining us as my assistant to play adversary." Blackclaw gestured to his teaching assistant who joined the circle. 

Allegra Sims was a petite woman in a plaid skirt and tight sweater. She had neat dark hair, tied back with ribbon. She was tiny enough that my first instinct told me that it was wrong to duel against her. In Caburh, men didn't generally duel against women. It wasn't always just about gender - any physical mismatch in a duel was something of a faux pas. To provide some context here, I'm about six feet tall, which is short for most dracari, but tall for humans. I'm not particularly muscular, but I am lean and my size alone makes a difference when it comes to physical strength. 

But physical strength didn't really matter here. It doesn't really factor in when fighting with magic. It occurred to me quickly that refusing to duel against her would have been more of a misstep. I held my tongue. 

Aries was still playing the role of unnecessary hype man next to me. He was a little too excited by the idea of duelling, even if he himself wasn't the one thrust into it. 

"Come on, tough guy." He really never does shut up. 

"In any duel, you need a second," Blackclaw said. Aries's eyes momentarily lit up, unabashedly hopeful. If Blackclaw noticed, he made no mention. "For today I'll be playing the role of second for both of you. In a duel between mages, each side has a second, who will set the rules for the specific duel, ensuring it will be as fair as possible. The rule we'll be working with today to level the playing field is that you may only use spells that you have learned in this class. Some of you have more of a background in magic than others, and for at least the first few weeks, any spell cast at another classmate will only be something you've learned under my supervision. Miss Sims has been given your syllabus and knows what she's up against. So, let's get to it!"

Blackclaw took a few minutes to talk me through where to stand. Allegra was already waiting a dozen paces opposite me, hands clasped in front of her. "In magical duels, you start with your hands together and in full view of your opponent. Then, your second counts down to start. Given you both would have seconds, which one counts off is decided by a coin flip, or more traditionally, whichever party initiated the duel." Blackclaw looked to me first. "Are you ready?" 

"Yes," I said quickly. 

He and Allegra exchanged a look. She nodded. And the countdown began. Three. Two. One. 

Allegra was quicker to cast than I was, sending a blast of something in my direction. I didn't even think to cast shield, only avoided the hit by dodging out of the way. 

"Use your spells, Ashbourne!" Blackclaw called out. 

Easier said than done. I had just started the gestures for conjured frost when I had to switch abruptly to shield to avoid the blast of Allegra's next spell. This wasn't a duel I was expected to win, but knowing that and feeling that are two different things. 

I felt a prickle of sweat on the back of my neck and my hands were trying to remember the motions for the one combative spell I knew. Conjured frost. 

My casting was interrupted again by another spell from Allegra. I managed to switch to shield again. 

"We know you can block, let's see you cast something, Ashborne," Blackclaw said. 

As though I'm not trying. I finally managed to make it through the casting for conjured frost. 

The spell hit lower than I'd intended and Allegra conjured a shield to avoid the blast. She was in the middle of casting another spell when she suddenly slipped forward and was down. 

I automatically started trying to cast conjured frost again. When suddenly I was hit with another spell I hadn't seen coming. 

My whole body tensed and suddenly I couldn't move. 

"Whoa! Hang on," Blackclaw shouted. Whatever spell kept me immobilized had clearly come from him. I didn't like it. Its magic was wrapping around me, like a thin sheet pulled taut against my skin. 

Blackclaw went over to Allegra to help her to her feet. It was hard to say if she was hurt. Her eyes were wide and uncertain. She rubbed her knee with her hand. "I'm okay, really. Just a little surprised, I think." 

Blackclaw turned back to me, suddenly very serious. "What was that? Ashbourne, what did you cast?" 

The spell keeping me frozen dropped away. I felt the pressure constricting around my body suddenly dissipate. 

I didn't understand why Blackclaw was angry. "I cast conjured frost. The spell I've been working on in class all week." 

"That wasn't one of the optional spells I'd assigned you. I understand some of you may have taken this week to read ahead in the textbook, but that wasn't something understood as allowed in this duel. The duel's over." 

I was confused. I hadn't read ahead in the textbook. I wasn't exactly good at spellcasting. I could manage to do it but considering I was in a university for mages, that didn't seem like a particularly high bar. I knew a total of two spells - shield and conjured frost. I tried explaining as much to Blackclaw, but he cut me off abruptly saying, "We can speak more on this after class." 

 I was ushered off into the sidelines as Blackclaw tried to resume the lesson, starting over with a different student - this time one of the prissy high elves who probably did know a few extra spells before arriving at the Court. 

"I think he's just bitter that you won," Aries muttered to me. 

I didn't think this was winning. I felt a slight twinge of pain on my bicep. The dark mark of Orendell, still hidden under my shirtsleeves, seemed to agree. I half-watched the next few duels trying to figure out just what had gone wrong. It wasn't a mystery. It was obvious by the third duel just what was different. No one else cast conjured frost or even anything like it. No elemental magic. Over the course of the next hour, I caught a few names of spells – be still, slow, silence. It seemed Blackclaw and Allegra hadn't exactly anticipated me using any kind of physical attack spell. But then, why assign it?

After class, I flipped through the textbook, checking against the page numbers he'd given us. Be still, slow, and silence. Those had always been the spells he'd assigned. But then how did I get conjured frost? When I finally found conjured frost it was several sections ahead in the textbook. No wonder it'd been so hard to cast. 

But more than that, this wasn't Blackclaw's fault, but mine. He probably thought I was just being an ass and showing off a harder spell. It was one thing if he didn't like the fact that I was from Caburh, but another all together for something I'd done unintentionally. I spoke first before he could have a chance to say anything else. "I apologize for casting conjured frost. I genuinely practiced it believing it was one of the assigned spells this week. I don't know what happened." 

Blackclaw remained expressionless as ever. "Don't let it happen again, Ashbourne. And if it's true that you have only been working on this spell all week, you're already behind. I'm holding a remedial lesson this afternoon. Be there."