Conrad Edison and the Anchored World (Overworld Arcanum Book 2) (36 page)

On our way back to the keep, we met Esma Emoora in the hallway.

She smiled. "Good luck tomorrow, Conrad. I'll be rooting for you."

"I hope I'm up to the challenge," I replied.

Esma pursed her lips. "I have no doubts about your abilities whatsoever." She nodded and continued on her way to the dining hall.

"Wish I felt as confident as her," Max said. "Truth is, I'm scared half to death for you, Conrad."

Ambria's eyes flared. "He's going to get smashed to bits, isn't he?"

"Probably," Max said.

I groaned and shoved Max. "Stop it. I'm nervous enough as it is."

That night in bed, I tossed and turned for what felt like hours, my mind churning through kabash scenarios. I imagined the plays Elliott taught us and the formations we used for defending our buildings and attacking the opposition.

The best laid plans end in chaos
, Vic said in a smug voice.
Chaos leads to victory.

True
, Della confirmed.
Be unpredictable. Keep them off balance. Make them react to you.

It was quite strange getting such sound advice from the voices in my head.
Thanks, I'll do my best.

You are an Edison.
Della's calm reply took away some of the fear and anxiety, and suddenly sleep pulled me into its depths.

Chapter 32

Game time arrived at noon the next day. Crisp fall air mingled with the faint scent of cooking sausages and the dull roar of a crowd eager to see the first game of the year.

I flexed my hands in the stiff leather gloves and made sure my uniform was snug. The black leather jacket and pants resembled something a motorcyclist might wear. The thick collar at the top bore enchantments to screen our eyes from the wind as a pair of goggles might, and in the case of an accident, to shield our head like a helmet.

I ran a hand down the large white symbol of a hammer on my chest.

"These uniforms are brilliant," Max said, admiring the white wand emblem on his jacket.

"I thought black and white would look drab," I admitted, "but it actually looks somewhat menacing."

Max grinned. "Hopefully menacing enough to make Tiberius quake in their boots."

"Broom up," Elliott commanded.

"Welcome to the first kabash game of the season," an announcer boomed from within the stadium. "For today's game, we have the Moore Skywraiths versus the Tiberius Titans."

Cheers and the pounding of feet vibrated the stadium itself.

"How many people are here?" I asked Max.

He shrugged. "Maybe a thousand or more."

My stomach lurched at the thought of so many people watching.

The announcer continued. "Next week's game will be Graeven versus Frankenstone, and the week after that, Tesla versus Edison."

"There's an Edison Keep?" I asked.

"Edison Lab," Max replied. "Science Academy doesn't have keeps."

"Labs instead of keeps." I shook my head. "I suppose it makes sense."

"After the Overlord died, some people tried to change Edison Lab to another famous bloodline, but nobody could agree to anything, so they ended up keeping it." He looked toward the gates into the stadium as they began rumbling open, chains clinking in the mechanisms. Max gulped. "Here we go."

Elliot held up a fist and then threw it forward. We flew inside the stadium and toward the center of the field while team Tiberius in their red leather uniforms with purple emblems approached from the other side. The announcer shouted something else, but it was lost in the rumbling roar of the crowd. I could hardly concentrate with so much noise, my nerves winding tighter and tighter.

The teams met in the center above the yellow scrum circle. Rhys and Devon exchanged nods with Elliott while officials in turquoise outfits hovered around the teams. Max's brothers reserved a glance and a smirk for me, making my insides squirm.

Mind games
, Della said.

I know.
But knowing didn't help my nerves.

The lead referee blew a whistle, and the teams went toward their end zones.

"Starters with me," Elliott said. "Second strings, go to the sidelines."

Max lightly punched my shoulder. "Good luck, Conrad."

I swallowed hard and nodded. "Thanks." My voice sounded feeble and frightened.

"Keep it together, Edison." Yuri scowled at me, hands clenching his broom handle. He turned to Elliott. "You sure this boy is up to it? It's not too late to change me to carry."

The team captain turned his cold blue eyes on the other boy. "Yuri, are you going to do your best, or should I replace you?"

Yuri stiffened. "Of course, but—"

"Then shut it, and keep to the plan." Elliott twirled a finger in the air and we formed a circle. "Moore Keep has been down these past few seasons, but this year is ours." He gazed calmly around at the others. "Keep a sharp eye for typical Tiberius tricks, and protect your teammates." He pointed to Jenna. "Don't forget to keep checking your left side. I don't want you getting blindsided like last year."

She nodded. "I'll remember."

"Then let's do this." Elliot put his fist in the middle of the circle and the rest of us pressed our fists together. "One, two, three."

"Skywraiths, form up!" everyone shouted at once.

A gong boomed and the towers burst from the ground on either side of the centerline, each painted with team colors. The keeps erupted upward next, followed by the castle-shaped fortresses in the end zones.

The gong rang once again.

We lined up in front of our fortress, carries in the center, defenders and freezers to the sides. The official threw the striker into the scrum circle and we shot forward.

Elliot reached the kabash first, but before he could grab it, Harris flicked his freeze wand forward. A bolt of ice shot from the end, striking Elliott in the side. The team captain froze in place, broom and all, leaving space for Rhys to scoop up the disc.

I skidded sideways and bumped into Rhys. He shoved back with his shoulder, and I bounced into Devon on my right. The pair sandwiched me and dragged me toward our tower. Jenna came in for the rescue, but two defenders blocked her path, and the other Tiberius freezer disabled Yuri.

"What a lovely day for a ride," Devon said.

Rhys chortled. "Here's your stop, Edison."

Using the tails of their brooms, they catapulted me forward right at the tower. I heard a whirring noise and rolled upside down just as the striker flashed past where my head would have been and slammed into our tower, leaving a crack. Devon grabbed the rebound and flicked the disc back at the tower. I regained control of my broom at the last second and shot upward to block the throw.

A bolt of ice hit me in the stomach. I couldn't move a muscle and watched helplessly as the disc rammed our tower again. Elliott sideswiped Rhys and intercepted the striker. He relayed it to Yuri who flung it to Julie. A bolt of ice from Peter stopped Harris from disabling Julie. Peter fired at Rhys and missed.

My body unfroze and I zipped back into the action. Elliott took a shot at the other tower, but a Tiberius defender intercepted the shot and flicked the disc to Rhys. The striker went from a muted glow to azure blue, indicating the double damage bonus.

Rhys threw the disc overhanded. The brightly glowing disc whizzed sideways, flashed between two of our defenders, and struck our tower for double damage. The final crack destroyed the tower and sent it crumbling to the ground.

The Tiberius seating section went wild.

I grabbed the rebound. Elliot swirled his finger and we grouped up into a protective formation. "We're down an entire tower, and no hits on theirs," he growled.  "Peter, Ryan, I need you to focus Devon and Rhys." He jabbed a finger at Yuri. "Keep their freezers off me, okay?"

Yuri scowled. "Got it."

We zipped in for an attack, but Tiberius defenders formed a wedge and split us down the middle, and our offensive attack failed, giving Tiberius possession of the striker once again.

Our teams went back and forth, nobody scoring a strike. Peter and Ryan finally nailed freezes on Devon and Rhys, and the Tiberius formation fell apart. Elliott scored two strikes on the Tiberius tower before the twin brothers thawed and drove us off.

"Pay attention, you morons!" Rhys shouted, his careless façade broken.

The game raged on. I felt useless as the bigger players rammed me aside, and Harris Ashmore took every opportunity to freeze me, though I posed no real threat. As the other team formed up for another attack, I realized something. Even though we were flying, most teams stuck to a horizontal attack pattern and rarely flew higher than the towers unless trying to escape a freeze bolt.

I didn't know what good that information would do me, but tucked it away for the future. Other than that, Devon and Rhys liked to hog the glory for themselves. Their third carry, Allison Charms, rarely took a shot and looked cross every time the brothers forced her to relay it to one of them. Taking out Max's brothers weakened team Tiberius considerably, but the boys now had defenders blocking the freeze spells whenever possible.

Suddenly, I realized how my earlier revelation might help.

We took a defensive formation twenty yards in front of our keep as Tiberius circled for another attack. They'd scored five hits on it already, and only needed one more to destroy our second building.

"Elliott, have Peter and Ryan fly high and low to take out Rhys and Devon." I swooped my hand through the air. "They won't expect vertical attacks."

He frowned, then motioned toward the freezers. "Fly straight at them like normal, then Peter angle up, Ryan angle down, and hit them from both directions." Elliott slashed his hand forward. "Move out."

We jetted forward. Devon and Rhys flew at the center of a circle formation with defenders at the front and freezers somewhere in the back. The roar of the crowd grew louder and louder as our two formations streaked for a collision course. At the last minute, our freezers aimed their wands. The Tiberius defenders tensed to intercept the blow, but Peter and Ryan zipped above and below them. Freeze bolts speared for their targets.

Rhys and Devon cursed in unison just before the freeze spells silenced them. Our defenders drove a wedge into the opposing team, sending Tiberius players spinning away on their brooms. Elliott collided sideways into Allison and knocked the striker from her hand. He flung it to Jenna, and we left the enemy team floundering.

Jenna took a shot at the purple and red tower, but the air around it shimmered and the disc bounced off without leaving a crack.

"They fortified!" Elliott shouted as he caught the rebound. He waited a count of two before throwing the kabash. The shield vanished just before the disc struck home. Before Tiberius recovered, we took out their tower and scored two hits on their keep.

Their next possession, the Tiberius freezers tried our own tactics on us and caught Elliott off guard. Devon threw the striker just as Peter froze him. I streaked for the intercept, but missed, and the sixth hit landed on our keep, and the building crashed to earth.

Tiberius only needed eight more strikes to win. We needed twelve.

I caught the rebound and hung back for my team to circle up. Elliott took the striker from me. "We've got to keep the fight in their territory. Our only advantage now is that our last building is all the way at the end of the field."

My mind worked furiously on strategies as we flew downfield, but I came up with nothing. We earned two more blows on their keep before Devon plucked a rebound and raced ahead of everyone down the field and struck our fortress. After a long skirmish, we captured the disc and finally finished off their keep. Moore fans burst into applause as the purple and red building turned into a pile of rubble.

But we were still in trouble. Tiberius needed only four more hits to finish us off. We managed two strikes on their fortress, but Devon came back and slipped in two more blows on ours.

On our next possession, Elliott tricked the other team with a reverse relay, allowing Jenna to slip behind enemy lines. She flung the striker for a hit. I came up from the other side, recovered the rebound just before Harris got it, and threw it for one more strike.

Rhys rammed into Elliott and grabbed the rebound. Peter aimed a freeze bolt at Rhys, but missed and hit Elliott instead. Laughing, Rhys relayed the striker to Devon. Harris froze Yuri, and a bolt from their other freezer hit Jenna. The rest of my team raced after Devon, but he scored another strike before we could stop them.

A Tiberius victory was only one hit away.

Peter looked absolutely miserable when he rejoined us.

"Shake it off," Elliott told him. "Everyone misses."

"We're going to lose and it's all my fault," Peter said.

Elliott glared at him, then held up a fist.

"Time out called by Moore," the announcer said.

"Go to the sidelines and get Max out here," Elliott said.

Peter nodded sadly and flew away. I could see the whites of Max's eyes halfway across the field when Peter motioned him in. Max zipped over to us, the freeze wand held in a trembling hand.

"You ready for this, Max?" Elliott said.

Max nodded. "Y-yeah! You can count on me." He gulped.

"Keep calm and freeze one of your brothers," Jenna said.

"Just don't hit one of us," Yuri said.

Elliott threw up a fist. "Skywraiths, form up!"

We fought back downfield, the striker trading sides several times, but the skirmish never moved from center field. Everything became a blur as I tried to keep track of the disc and avoid freeze bolts and defenders. I realized I no longer felt nervous. Instead, I felt like this one long battle was my entire life. The broom was my ship, and the fight was a bucking ocean.

Max managed a crucial freeze on Devon and Elliott slipped past, throwing a twenty-yard attempt for a true strike on the Tiberius fortress.

We needed two more hits and it was over.

But Devon intercepted the rebound from Jenna's outstretched hand. A freeze bolt caught Elliott, and another snagged Yuri. Before our freezers could react, Tiberius defenders smacked into them. Ryan's freeze wand flew from his hand. He shouted and dove after it. Max recovered and fired at Devon, but missed entirely.