Chapter 14

Now that they had brooms, Gavin and Jack divided their free time between learning new spells and zooming around, high above the lake. Once they tried to see how high they could go, but the cold stopped them from reaching the maximum height. Seeing them fly around, they were occasionally joined by others. Most frequently, Aqua.

Over the break the Mekkler dining hall had been rebuilt, but the alliance still ate in Eddif's. The prefects and a few other students were busy planning again, although in the absence of any flags to defend the seating arrangement was thrown out the window.

One day Jack, Gavin, and Aqua were called up to the prefect table. "Seeing how well you handled it last time, we want you three to go to the Efural prefects and tell them to meet us at the same island as last time," she handed Jack a map identical to the one he had given the Eddif prefects months earlier. "We're making an alliance with them. It's the only way to get the flags away from Zurak."

"Won't that cause trouble later, when we have four flags and three houses to split them between?" Aqua asked.

"Yes, but I'll gladly lose the competition if I can be assured that Zurak will lose."

After classes that day Jack, Gavin, and Aqua took to the sky. Even though Gavin and Jack had superior brooms, Aqua had no trouble keeping ahead (she was the only one who knew where they were going). Jack even suspected that she might be holding back a bit, while Jack and Gavin were going as fast as they could.

They landed in the middle of the forest on a wooden bridge connecting two trees.

"Where are the cabins?" Jack asked, scouring the forest floor with his eyes.

"Not on the floor," Aqua snorted. "In the trees."

Looking up, Jack saw that although he thought the bridge was just connecting two trees was actually connecting two trees with mammoth tree houses in them. Aqua went to the one on her left, where a lot of noise was coming from. Not bothering to knock, she pushed open the door and stepped in. Jack and Gavin were a bit more hesitant, but followed her example.

The room they were in was full of people talking and playing games. Jack realized it was the Efural common room. All chatter stopped when they noticed the trio standing in the doorway.

"We need to talk to the prefects," Jack said, confident now that he had already done this once.

Two older girls got up and walked over to them. "What do you need?" one of them asked.

Jack was taken aback, he had expected to hear hostility after seeing the reaction they had gotten from the Eddif prefects.

"We need to talk to you in private," Aqua said, confidently but slightly demanding.

The two girls led the way out of the common room and into the other tree house. Inside there was a hallway with seven doors on each side. Each door was labeled with a list of names, Jack thought they must be more like dorms than the cabins that Mekkler and Eddif students slept in.

They were led into the last room on the left side, it was completely devoid of people. There were bunk beds like in Jack's cabin, however they went four bunks high and only had three of them. The prefects sat down on a bed.

"So what do you want to talk about?" one of them said.

"The Mekkler and Eddif Alliance would like to invite you into it," Aqua said. Jack wondered why she was explaining this to them but hadn't to the Eddif prefect.

"Why would we want to join?" The taller of the two asked.

"I can't negotiate terms with you, but know that the reason the alliance exists is to allow one of us to win, rather than Zurak. If you're interested meet our prefects on an island tomorrow after classes end," Aqua said it like they were negotiating an alliance between two countries.

"Which island?" the shorter one asked.

Jack handed her the map.

The two looked at it for a few seconds and said "We'll be there," in unison.

On the flight back, Jack asked Aqua why she had said outright that they wanted an alliance rather than keep it secret like she had to Eddif.

"You know we're sorted into the four houses by the Fire recognizing our strongest personality traits. Eddif students are brave, and are usually curious. So by not telling them what our prefects wanted insured that they would go. But Efurals aren't as curious. And they wouldn't want to offend us because they're so nice. If we hadn't told them they might have suspected a trap."

"Wouldn't the Eddifs have suspected a trap too?" Gavin asked.

"Yes," Aqua said. "But they wouldn't care that much because they're so brave."