Magical Midlife Meeting (Leveling Up 5)

“They have no idea what they just walked into,” Sebastian murmured, looking at Noah’s smug face through his binoculars.

“A bunch of naked guys, that’s what they just walked into. Why did you put the magical ceiling so low over the arena if they fly?”

“I wanted to let the shifters shine on this one.”

“You need to get over your love affair with shifters.”

“I don’t love them. I’m terrified of them. It’s nice to feel a strong emotion again after Jala died, even if it is fear.”

They fell silent as the two red-clad staffers met in the middle of the meadow. Kiki, the brunette with a very pleasant way about her, worked a spell to broadcast her voice.

“This tournament will continue until one party yields. At that time, the winner is decided. Do not kill. This is not a fight to the death. If you kill, you will be gravely penalized. When we leave the field, you may commence.”

His people walked to the little protective alcove at the side of the field. The second they were gone, Noah blasted out a spell from way, way too far away. He wasn’t nearly strong enough to make any impact with it. He clearly thought Jessie was nothing.

As expected, she brushed it away as though it were a spider web and then started working her hands. Magic coalesced and took form, wrapping around her and her people.

“Is she trying to protect them all?” Nessa asked.

“She’s the only mage on her team. If she wants them magically defended, she has to do it herself.”

“That’s going to put her at a severe disadvantage.”

Noah and his people walked forward now, their robes rustling around their feet. Jessie’s people still hadn’t moved. Sebastian sat forward on the edge of his seat anxiously, wondering what was taking them so long.

“Good,” Jessie said, her voice barely audible from where he sat. “Good, good. Go. I’ll cover you.”

“She’s playing defense?” Nessa asked.

He shook his head slowly. It wasn’t like her to stay out of the fight. Unless she was worried about her control. Perhaps she feared she’d accidentally kill someone.

“She needs training in a bad way,” he said as the first gargoyle—still in human form—lowered to a crouch. He was the one with the colorful hair, but Sebastian was blanking on his name. Niamh reduced down into her little gremlin creature, black as night and with a mouthful of teeth. Blasts of light erupted from the shifters as the attacking mages bore down on them, shooting off paltry spells meant to toy with them, the spells barely missing. It was the equivalent of shooting bullets at someone’s feet to scare them.

Two huge wolves emerged from the light, followed by an enormous silverback gorilla that quickened Sebastian’s heart.

“Holy crap, Broken Sue turns into a bad mama jama,” Nessa said, her voice reduced to a whisper.

The huge polar bear was the last to emerge, down on all fours and no less massive for it. Nessa’s jaw dropped.

“Here we go,” Sebastian said.

Austin reared up on his hind legs, topping the basajaun in height by three feet, and let out a roar that thundered through the air. It soaked into Sebastian’s blood, turning his bowels to jelly. He shivered even as Nessa did, but the display had only just begun. The basajaun was next, his great arms wide and his hair puffed up. The silverback followed, roaring as he beat his arms against his chest, white scars knifing through his leathery black skin. The wolves growled, heads down and hackles raised, working around the outside of the mage group, flanking them.

The little gremlin creature shot forward, skittering on hands and feet, fast and agile and creepy as hell. The shifters and basajaun surged forward next, all rage and raw power and incredible speed and force, cutting down the distance between them and the mages in no time.

The mages cowered on instinct. Confident and full of swagger one minute, they were stooped and frozen solid the next. Not all shifters were created equal, and they’d clearly never seen any like this.

Austin reached Noah before Noah even straightened up, but instead of engaging him, he plowed into the man directly next to him, clamping those great jaws on the man’s shoulder before ripping to the side.

The mage screamed and tumbled like a rag doll, hitting the ground ten feet away and rolling. Blood smeared the sand. The basajaun got the mage on the other side of Noah, grabbing him by the feet, lifting, spinning, and then throwing him. The mage smashed into the barrier wall, what should have been an impossible distance for a throw like that, and crumpled into a heap.

“Don’t kill!” Jessie yelled.

“Good God, Sebastian,” Nessa said, her mouth still hanging open, staring.

The silverback took a shock of magic. It vibrated within the protective spell Jessie had placed on him, gaining power, and then shot back at the mage who’d fired it off, smacking him in the middle moments before the silverback was on him, knocking him to the ground and clubbing him.