They huddled to discuss strategy. As captain, Xavier handled the planning.
"Rick, take the yellow orb. Timmie, blue. Zora, green. Harry, red. I’ll go for violet. Everyone else, defend the holders." He assigned positions and they moved into place.
The referee rang the bell. Both teams sprinted toward the center line where the orbs rested.
A trap triggered under Rick’s feet. A stone hand rose from the ground and locked him in place. Every trap lasted fifteen seconds. The Silverkeep player defending their holders had activated it.
Emberfell answered in kind. One Silverkeep runner sank waist-deep into a sudden puddle. Vines erupted and pinned another. A blast of wind launched a third into the air, leaving him unable to touch the ground.
Xavier himself dodged two traps only to drop into a sandpit. Fifteen seconds of stillness.
"Shit."
David from Silverkeep had already claimed an orb and was racing back.
As the sandpit vanished, Xavier shot forward and signaled one of his defenders. A wall erupted in front of David. He cut left—another wall blocked him. He spun right and found Xavier already there. Distracted, David stepped into a trap meant for Xavier, activated by silverkeep’s defender. His feet hit slime and he went down hard. Xavier ripped the red orb from his hands and threw it to Harry, who caught it and sprinted for their holder.
By then Rick and Zora had already secured their orbs and were heading back as well. Before Xavier left, he made sure David fell into another trap, buying another fifteen seconds. He grabbed the violet orb on his way and slotted it into the holder.
Emberfell now held five different-colored orbs. Silverkeep had four. Xavier went for the black orb. Every trap on the field seemed to focus on him. He jumped, cut, changed direction, and reached the center. One moment of lowered guard dropped him into another trap. His feet sank deep into the earth.
David stood in front of him.
"You can’t touch the black orb until you have all five," Xavier said.
"True. But I can keep dumping you into traps until my team gets theirs." David blasted wind spells into Xavier’s face, shoving him backward. "I can’t touch you, but I can still move you."
Xavier glanced back. His entire team was locked in traps. Moments later Silverkeep claimed their fifth colored orb. David turned for the black one.
"C’mon, you can do it," Elena whispered from the stands.
Xavier’s feet were tangled in vines for another ten seconds he couldn’t afford. He tore free with brute force and sprinted, already forming a spell in his palm.
David paused just short of the black orb, confused by the sudden roar from Emberfell students. He looked back. Xavier was one step away. The open hand came at his face—not a punch, but a concentrated gust of wind. David flew backward, face-first, away from the orb, landing in a trap.
"You were so close, yet so far" Xavier said, picking up the black orb.
Xavier reached his corner and set the black orb into the main holder. The referee blew the whistle. Emberfell had won. His teammates hoisted him onto their shoulders and carried him around in celebration.
Exhausted, Xavier returned to his dorm and collapsed onto the bed. Sleep took him at once. When he woke it was already 11 p.m. He washed up quickly and headed for the roundabout.
In the dark near the roundabout roughly ten students waited, including Elena and Melli, along with others from different houses.
"You made it," Elena said when he joined them.
"Yeah. What’s the plan?"
Elena told him the senior who organized it, Chris, still hadn’t arrived. A few minutes later Chris appeared and launched into his speech.
"The academy has forbidden us from entering the moonlit hallway. They’re keeping us in the dark about their true deeds. Follow me and we’ll uncover everything."
To Xavier the speech sounded like a cult leader working a crowd. He followed anyway, concerned about Elena and Melli’s safety.
Chris led them to the western side of the building.
"I left a window open," he said, sliding it up and climbing into a classroom. The others followed. Chris took out a key from his pockets, unlocked the door to the hallways, and stepped through.
The corridors were shifting in real time—connecting, separating, sliding into new alignments. One by one the group jumped onto the nearest stable section before it moved again.
"Where are we headed?" Xavier asked.
"Ground floor, central hallway," Chris answered.
They advanced carefully, leaping from one shifting corridor to the next until they finally reached the ground floor. Melli and Elena stayed close to Xavier.
"Where’s the hallway? It’s just a wall," Xavier said, staring at the blank stonewall in the center of the floor.
"Just wait." Chris checked his watch. "Five more minutes."
Elena stood close enough that Xavier could smell her perfume. They were at the back of the group. He decided to push his luck. His hand slid from his side to the small of her back, then lower, settling on her ass and giving it a firm squeeze.
"Stop it," Elena whispered.
He ignored her. He lifted the hem of her short skirt and traced the outline of her panties with his fingers. He rubbed her folds through the thin fabric while she gripped his arm, trying to push it away without any real force. He kept stroking her the entire time they waited.
"Get ready," Chris said.
The hallways shifted again, pulling away from the windows. Moonlight spilled across the wall in front of them. Dust puffed from the edges as the stone slid backward and then sank into the floor, revealing a hidden pathway.
"It’s here. Remember guys we must stay together. Let’s go." Chris moved first. Everyone followed.
Xavier pulled his hand free. His fingers were wet from Elena’s leaking fluid.
"Let’s go," he said to her, voice low and teasing.
"Hnnh..." Elena panted in low breath, trying to get over the pleasure she was feeling.
It was time to explore the moonlit hallway.