"Sen-ti-nels! I feel like I'm being choked to death." Jammy hissed to Javi, tugging at the collar of his uniform. He'd never worn his Corvus House robes this tight, nor seen them this impossibly clean. Housemasters had personally overseen every detail; even Javi, with his perpetually bandaged limbs, passed the white-glove inspection before daring to set foot in the Grand Hall.
"What are you talking about?" Javi muttered back, leaning against the polished wooden bench, a wide grin splitting his face. "We look *good*. Even you and I, with our busted limbs." He finished with a loud, unapologetic laugh.
Javi groaned then, shooting a venomous glare across the vast expanse. Rose and her compatriots shimmered, flawless, completely oblivious, and unapologetic about the illegal tackle she'd pulled. That witch, he swore, had not only defeated him but left him with a broken hand, a remarkable disadvantage for the dueling finals, still two days from healing.
"They should do this often, you know." Raj said, pointing at the transformed ceiling. Jammy nodded. Gone were the familiar, staid banners of the five Houses. Seven colossal, ancient crests shimmered instead, suspended by the sheer weight of history above the soaring dome. They pulsed with the golden-green heartbeat of countless earthlume firelights, casting long, dancing shadows. Each intricate crest bore a sacred sigil: a proud silver wolf, a burning eye that seemed to watch, a snowflake carved in glass, a sun coiled in shifting sand, a whispering shadow, and a final, brilliant seven-pointed star.
Jammy hadn't seen them all. "These Sigils are something else, aren't they?"
"Yes," Raj replied, his voice almost reverent. "All of them are supposed to be the sigils of the kingdoms of the Old Blood."
"Where'd you hear that?" Ved asked, finally rousing from his casual sprawl.
"Just, you know, something they say." Raj shrugged, evasive as ever.
"Who cares?" Jammy muttered, trying to scratch under his bandages with his wand tip, earning a sharp glare from a passing Prefect. "How long is this going to last? I want to lie down."
"Hear! Hear!" Ved echoed, raising his empty goblet from the table, which gleamed with heavy gold silverware.
"Man, you two need to shut your traps. Yawana's hosting an International Finals! Sit back and enjoy this." Javi said, adjusting his crutch with a wince, but his eyes glowed with anticipation.
Jammy rolled his eyes at his friends, but his gaze, despite himself, darted between the hovering crests and the Headmistress's empty lectern, a knot of genuine anticipation tightening.
---
The very air of the Grand Hall thickened, charged with untold power, as the colossal golden doors creaked open with a low, resonant groan. Even the firelights dimmed slightly, as if bowing, as Headmistress Adara entered. Her snow-white robes flowed behind her like a winter storm. Her hair, regal and intricate, was pinned with frostlight gems that cast tiny, cold stars around her head.
Jammy leaned forward, captivated, as she took her place at the center dais, her silver wand, stark and powerful, already in her hand. It had been a long while since he'd seen her, let alone address them like this. A good thing, he thought, as a familiar prickle of fear running down his spine. He never understood why, but she always scared him, her presence was cold and dreadful regardless of how full of life she looked.
"Friends of the realm, honoured guests, and students," her slow, powerful voice resonated through the hall, magically magnified, seeming to wrap around every individual. "Today, you witness not only the joining of our schools, but the meeting of our histories. Ancient pacts rekindled, new legends forged."
She paused, a scarily mischievous smile playing on her lips, a glint in her eyes that made Jammy shiver. "We are privileged to host the other Six Great Schools of Magic for the International Dueling Finals. Each has sent their finest, their most promising, to compete for the title of the Champion Supreme."
A slow ripple of electric excitement swept through the hall. The Headmistress raised her arm, and a collective gasp went through the crowd as the first sigil above them pulsed, flaring with an inner light that seemed to warm the very air. From the Yawana school band, a single, melodious flute began to play, its mournful, hopeful notes reverberating across the vaulted air, echoing the grandeur.
"From the noble Kingdom of Thirvane, we welcome the headmistress Sasha Nazdok and scholars of Elaria School of Crystal Thought."
From the grand entrance, a tall, solemn woman in robes woven from spun moonlight and crystalline threads stepped forward, her face marked with intricate runes that shimmered faintly. At her side, stood, their champion, moved with a quiet, almost unsettling confidence. The small, silver-haired boy, no older than fourteen, had eyes like twin blades of ice. He wore only a circlet of clear quartz, pulsing with his steady heartbeat.
"Please welcome Champion of Elaria, Lioren Rayne," Headmistress Adara's voice boomed.
Jammy didn't clap. He couldn't. Jaw slightly agape, he noticed the looks of surprised awe on everyone else's faces, mirroring his own.
"That kid looks like a walking icicle," Javi muttered, a low whistle escaping his lips.
"How did he become their champion?" Raj exclaimed, squinting.
"Yeah, that kid is toast," Javi added, a definite smirk.
---
The second crest above the hall then pulsed and flared, blazing with raw, molten gold.
"From Vizar, we welcome the champion of The Ashen Forge! Matt Dorn" Adara announced.
The Headmistress of the Forge walked like a hammer in human form, broad-shouldered and blunt, radiating unshakeable confidence. She wore a constant, challenging smile and their champion Matt Dorn marched up the aisle with all the subtle grace of a battering ram. He met the students' gazes, a defiant smirk on her lips, daring them all as of to challenge him.
Jammy noticed the girls of Yawana looked at Matt with big smiles and stars in their eyes.
"He's going to break someone in half," Jammy whispered, eyes wide, a thrill of terror and excitement running through him.
"That icicle most probably," Raj said, returning the smirk.
---
With a dramatic shimmer of ethereal blue and pristine white, casting a cold, pure light over the grand entrance.
"From Larasa Light Academy, guardians of the ancient currents, we present the champion, Rhea Vasilis!"
Their Headmaster looked like he had stepped directly out of a blizzard, his vast beard frosted, his robes stitched with pale feathers that seemed to shift with invisible breezes. But all eyes, including Jammy's, were drawn past him to the girl who followed.
Rhea was pure ethereal grace. White hair, like spun moonlight, floated behind her without a breath of wind. Her feet didn't seem to touch the polished floor as she moved, gliding more than walking. The air around her grew perceptibly colder, carrying the faint scent of mountain air and snow. She offered a small nod, not a smile, her gaze distant and serene.
"My, oh my!" Javi murmured, a low whistle joining similar hoots and whistles.
Jammy couldn't help but smile then, a genuine, wide grin. Maybe this would finally be fun. Really fun.
---
The fourth sigil flared, igniting with a blaze of gold against the deep red of a shifting sand dune, pouring warm light over the hall.
"From the sun-baked lands of Averan, where the desert winds whisper secrets, we welcome the champion of Sunspear Collegium, Serai Nazim!"
Their Headmistress was cloaked in robes of pure spun gold silk, her hands marked with illusion ink that rippled and shimmered in patterns too fast to follow. Serai was breathtaking. Her robes flickered and danced between shades of living gold and vibrant crimson with every step. Her bold, confident smile could have sold war to a pacifist. When she cast her gaze over the crowd, half of them leaned forward involuntarily, drawn in, without even knowing why.
Raj gasped, a sound somewhere between awe and pain. "I think I just fell in love."
Ved muttered without looking up, still fiddling with his empty goblet, "You say that about everyone."
"Yes," Raj whispered, eyes fixed on Serai. "But this time, I mean it."
---
The next sigil came, cloaked in a sudden, absolute darkness, absorbing the light around it, a silent shadow against the glowing domed ceiling.
"From Velmoor, where the shadows themselves find sanctuary, we present the champion of The Umbral Sanctum, Kael Nox!"
No fanfare, no music, no grand announcement accompanied this group. Just a quiet ripple of deeper shadow, a momentary distortion, and then a boy simply *stood there* at the entrance, as if he had emerged from the very fabric of night. His face was unreadable, his eyes like pools of ink that swallowed the light. Kael offered nothing – no nod, no bow, no acknowledgement of the cheering crowd, just a single, unsettling look that seemed to pass through every person present.
"I don't like that guy," Jammy said immediately, a shiver running down his spine.
"Because he looks like a serial killer?" Javi asked, a wry amusement in his voice.
"Yes," Jammy said, not even attempting a joke. "Exactly that."
---
Then came the final sigil, the most anticipated. It burst forth with a silent, blinding brilliance, a galaxy of shattered stars glowing vibrant above them.
"And from Merios, where magic is spun from the cosmos itself, we welcome the champion of the Stellanova Conservatory, Alara Vey!"
A collective hush fell over the hall, profound and reverent. Everyone had heard of Stellanova. The most prestigious magical academy, once Yawana's only true rival. Their Headmistress entered, robed in actual starlight, the fabric alive with shifting nebulae and distant constellations. Her voice, quiet, seemed to echo with the profound resonance of a song half-remembered from the dawn of time.
Alara Vey was the only one among them who looked like a princess - a true royal even in her schoolrobes. Her hair shimmered with impossible hues, shifting between the darkest black and the deepest violet. Her hands were bare of rings or weapons, yet something about her presence, a silent, indomitable will, made every student sit straighter, eyes wide with awe. Even Ved, the most indifferent of their group, glanced up, a flicker of genuine interest in his expression.
"Hey," Jammy breathed, leaning back finally, a genuine, delighted grin spreading across his face. "We're gonna have ourselves a good time."
Absolutely breathtaking, and he wanted to dance with all of them, even with his broken hand.
"Be careful of her. She's a princess," Ved said, a rare, knowing smile playing on his lips.
A thunderous wave of applause, rising to a crescendo, echoed through the chamber as the six champions took their places behind Headmistress Adara, their figures silhouetted against the grand backdrop.
She turned to face the cheering crowd one last time, her voice cutting through the noise with ease.
"These are your opponents."
She raised her silver wand high, and the room filled with an audible hum of magic. Six glowing runes, vibrant with raw power, materialized and hovered above each champion's head, pulsating with their aura.
"We wait only now for the champion of Yawana," Adara declared, her voice ringing with anticipation, "and we shall then have ourselves an International Dueling Final!"