Curious Case of The River Serpent

The halls of Yawana Warlock Academy were as usual drowning in chaos. Boots thudded against old stone, robes flared behind scrambling students, and near the stairwell, Jammy saw a spell misfire and cover the railings in poisonous nightshade vines. The stern voice of a hall monitor, floated through the din: "No elemental charms in stairwells! Do you want people to die of poisoning?"

In the middle of the madness, Raj pushed his way through the crowd, his wand clenched awkwardly under one arm and his spell notes nearly slipping from his hands.

"What's the best counter-spell for Black Fire?" Raj asked, eyes wild, voice cracking.

Jammy looked at him horrified. "What?"

"I said…"

"I heard you. I'm just wondering which genius around here do you think can actually cast Black Fire. Half of them can't do a proper spell for a normal fire and control it."

Raj didn't respond and went nose-deep in his spell notes, flipping frantically past wand diagrams and half-scribbled incantations.

Jammy watched his friend with a mix of pity and second-hand embarrassment. Raj looked more frazzled than ever today, his hair was all over the place and his black robes were crumpled which reflected quite poorly on their group. Javi fared no better, he looked fine on the outside but his bloodshot eyes and permanent expression of panic freaked Jammy out. The fourth member of their group, had again pulled a disappearing act which Jammy thought was probably for the best as he had no hope for Ved of ever graduating the academy. 

"Why are you all walking? Run damn it! Run! We're late." A blur of a classmate shouted as he zipped past them across the courtyard.

All three turned instinctively toward the clock tower.

"It's 9:05." Raj's voice croaked.

Jammy ran at that, like his robes had caught fire. Raj and Javi followed, huffing-puffing and tossing half their belongings in the wind. Their parchment notes fluttered off the balcony like confetti. Only their wands stayed in hand, out of sheer necessity.

For a moment, Jammy thought they wouldn't make it.

The hall gates shut at 9:10 sharp. And Professor Sidharta was not exactly the forgiving type. At precisely 9:09, Jammy stumbled through the entryway, just as his two best friends tripped into him from behind, which was met with a lot of laughter and slow applause.

Jammy got up embarrassed, dusted off his robes and quietly slipped at the back of the class with his friends. Thanks to his height, he could see the dueling stage in the main hall was already set and standing at the centre of the hall.

Professor Sidharta stood calmly at the heart of it, reading from a long strip of parchment. The moment the minute hand struck ten past nine, the tall wooden doors shut with a low, magical whoosh and the room stilled.

"Students," the Professor said looking up, "these shall be our final lessons in Mystic Dueling."

"For four years, I've tried to teach you the true art of dueling," the professor continued "And now the time has come for you to put that knowledge and practice to the test."

He could hear the distressed whispers across the classroom.

"The International Dueling Finals begin in one month."

Jammy gulped hearing those words. This information was not new but it still made his wand hand feel clammy. The Academy was really going to make them duel each other; free of all spell barriers, which was a terrifying prospect because there were some real psychos in this class.

"Somebody's definitely going to die." Javi whispered shaking his head.

"It is important now, that I tell you why… why kingdoms across the Otherworld place such importance on a wizard or witches' ability of dueling. You see, contrary to popular belief dueling is not about magical power. No, it's about how your ability to think like a true wizard, how adept you are as a witch with your wand and spells. All of this is laid bare when you are faced with an opponent." He continued turning his back to them "Your knowledge of spells, potions, curses and counter curses are given true freedom in a duel. You are free to use all of it for the world to see."

"Yup definitely going to die." Jammy said looking down at his desk.

"Yes, Mr Raj?" The Professor said suddenly. Jammy looked at Raj, surprised who had his hands raised."

"Professor has anyone ever died in these duels."

Nobody in the class laughed, it was an indication of how dire the situation was that nobody found it funny.

"In the last ten years of the Finals no one has died Mr Raj we Watchers of the tournament make sure that that doesn't happen. Anything else?"

"Professor which kingdoms will be participating in the Finals this year?" Rose Hana's voice, cool and steady, cut through the hum of the room. Jammy, mid-thought, felt his attention slam to a halt. He watched in wonder the effortless grace of her slim hands as they lowered.

He leaned back then, tilting his chair just slightly, stealing another glance. Rose's blonde hair was tied in a messy bun and yet it somehow looked perfect. Her violet eyes sparkled faintly in the sunlight filtering through the stained glass and despite himself, Jammy found himself mesmerized by the subtle curve of her full red lips as they finished speaking. It was a shame, Jammy thought, that Rose was such a raging bitch.

"All seven kingdoms are participating this year, which means, dear students, you will face the best young witches and wizards of the realm." Professor Sidharta said smiling.

There was chatter now in the class, Jammy didn't feel like talking. This shit just kept getting worse.

"And we'll host them right here at Yawana. You will have home-ground advantage, so please don't be cry-babies."

Jammy just looked at the Professor as he raised his hand slowly and drew a glowing sigil in the air with the tip of his wand. As it rotated, shimmering hieroglyphs began to pulse along the edges of the dueling stage.

The stone platform lifted itself from the floor without a sound, suspended by nothing but thin strands of blue mist spiralling beneath it. The entire room darkened briefly as the torches dimmed, casting long shadows.

With a snap of his fingers, the torches flared back to life.

Jammy blinked. Now that was cool.

"Let's begin, shall we?" Sidharta said, brushing imaginary dust from his robes. "Same rules as the Finals. Knock your opponent down or out of the stage, and you win. And do try not to land in the infirmary just to escape these lessons. They're already annoyed with me."

There was a tense silence.

"Now then. Who wants to brave the stage first?"

Jammy expected no hands. But to his surprise, quite a few hands shot up. Sentinels have mercy! Jammy swore.

"Okay lets see, Rose come up and…." The Professor said searching "Yes Mr. Javi. Please come up."

He turned to Raj, and both of them were grinning like idiots.

"Oh, he's toast," Raj whispered.

Rose levitated herself to the stage and crossed the barrier like it was second nature to her, while Javi Jammy meandered, looking like a man walking to his own execution.

Raj whispered "He'll last two minutes."

"Nope tops one minute." Jammy shot back.

The duelling platform shimmered under their feet, glowing slightly blue beneath the surface, floating ten feet above the polished stone floor.

"Positions in place, wands at the ready," Professor Sidharta said, stepping to the side. "Remember no experimental spells, no death spells the punishment for which is still Blackwater prison and no summoning a beast you cannot control."

A few chuckles rippled through the hall. Rose didn't even blink. Javi, however, looked like he had clearly been considering it.

"Begin!"

Javi fired first, shooting a snap of lightning spells. Rose swatted it away with a counter curse with ease. She returned fire, literally with a stream of spiraling orange fire, forcing Javi to roll clumsily to the side.

"Nice roll," Jammy heard someone mutter from the back. "He's still alive?"

But Jammy looked at Javi in surprise as he whipped his wand in a sharp arc, sending a purple jolt of an immobilization curse of his own toward Rose, who blocked it with a flick of her fingers by what looked like a transparent heat shield.

"Oh, come on," Raj whispered. "Did she just deflect it with wind?"

"She excels in the elemental class," Jammy said, eyes wide. "Look she doesn't just use individual elements with spells. She binds them." Jammy said looking at the wind which crackled with blue lightning.

Javi, to his credit, kept moving — firing off a rapid volley of stunning curses, and a spell that temporarily created a glowing lasso made of chainlight.

Rose, to his surprise just, sidestepped the lasso and flicked her wand in a tight circle. The air around her shimmered. A pulse of earth magic shot through the platform, unbalancing Javi.

"Uh-oh," Jammy muttered. And then Jammy saw her go for the kill. Rose lifted her wand above her head and Black Flames erupted. The room gasped. Javi barely managed to raise a shielding charm before it exploded, launching him clear off the stage in a burst of glowing embers.

But before his body could fall, the platform's enchantment, caught him mid-air in a golden bubble. Unconscious, , Javi floated gently down to the floor and landed with a soft thud.

There was pin-drop silence and then a slow wave of applause.

Raj whispered scathingly "Yeah who can cast Black Fire, Jammy."

Professor Sidharta spoke from his seat. "Well. Miss Hana, excellent control and someone please take Mr. Javi to the infirmary."

Jammy leaned over to Raj and said "This is our chance." And they ran over to pick him up and escape this humiliation ritual. They had just managed to sling his arms over their shoulders, when the ground shuddered and lurched.

 A deep, violent tremor tore through the Academy floor like the Earth itself had sneezed in fury. Stone tiles cracked with a thunderous snap, windows shattered in their frames, and overhead, a chandelier swung madly before crashing down with a shriek of metal and glass.

Students screamed. Desks toppled. One poor soul tried to hold onto a bookshelf, only for it to bury him in six volumes of Cursed Creatures and Where Not to Fight Them. Raj fell backward, dropping Javi with a thud. Jammy stumbled, bracing himself below the platform's edge.

Outside, a distant rumble grew louder, like the sound of a thousand rolling drums underwater. And then there was silence.

Professor Sidharta stood up slowly. "Everyone," he said, tone deadly calm, "out of the hall. Now."

Jammy didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed Javi by the collar and dragged him behind Raj as the students spilled out of the Main Hall into the courtyard. Only what he made him skip a heartbeat.

A Gateway, by all the Sentinels a Gateway had opened right there in the courtyard. Not that he had ever seen one but this could only be a gateway. By all Sentinels he had read enough about them. It stood at the base of the old willow tree that had always been there, unassuming, beside the herb gardens. Only now, its roots glowed with runic light, the bark cracked open like a wound in reality. The gateway shimmered, rectangular and vast like a door, suspended between time and dream.

And from it, sliding forward with otherworldly grace, came a humungous river serpent, its body was blue-green, and its scales were glowing like starlight. The creature's body slithered across the courtyard, its coils rippling with magic. Students backed away, mouths agape, wands raised in confusion but no one daring to fire.

The serpent paused, raised its long, crowned head and Jammy stared in its eyes which were dark whirlpools and then, with a sweep of its wings, the serpent took to the sky. Jammy's astonishment turned to awe as it soared, its wings undulating like silk across the air, as it vanished beyond the clouds, leaving only trailing streams of silver mist behind.

Jammy looked at the gateway to see what else would come forth only he for a moment, he thought he saw Ved, slipping into the shadows on the far side of the gateway.

"Raj," Jammy whispered. "Did you see…"

But as he turned, the gateway began to collapse. The radiant runes dimmed, the light folded in on itself, and with a faint hum, like the sound of a lullaby being forgotten and the gateway sealed shut, leaving nothing but the tree, once again quiet, once again ordinary.

Only it didn't feel ordinary anymore. Jammy stared at the willow tree, now glowing faintly at the roots, as if something ancient had been awakened.

Jammy and Raj both turned to look at Javi, still unconscious on the grass.

"Well," Jammy muttered. "Javi's going to hate missing this."