The Annual Rune Relay

"Take one and pass it around!" The centaur athletics teacher, Sir Chiron, instructed. "By the end of today's exercises, I need nominations for this year's Rune Relay."

The students were eager to see what the categories would be this year. They changed year to year, but most expected to see the same couple of contests. After finally grabbing hold of a flyer himself, Sigmund handed the stack off to Kyle, who immediately declined one for himself and quickly gave it to the peer beside him. The sorcerer was excited to take part for the first time after hearing about what the relay entailed and the prizes you could potentially win.

"We're going to quickly run through some of the exercises together." Sir Chiron spoke when majority of the students had received a flyer for themselves. He stomped his hooves to gain the attention of the eager students. "This year's relay will have competitions for alchemy, elemental kinesis, shape shifting, instant teleportation, summoning and of course, the aeroportation broom race."

In the gymnasium, Sir Chiron had set up different stations for the students to test their skills before the relay. After every attempt, the students would pick among themselves to nominate two students for every category to compete. Those nominated would be competing against neighboring academies, The University of the Underworld and The Halfmoon Hallows Witching Academy. It was the witching academy that most students of Milkweed were concerned about.

The girls of Halfmoon Hallows usually showed incredible accuracy, precision and lack of mercy towards other schools during events. They held the most trophies, were on record for their collection of medals and to date, had recently tied Milkweed in the coveted broom race. The race was the most anticipated event of the relay. While ghouls and reapers in the University of the Underworld didn't typically take it as seriously, the wizards and witches that faced off from Milkweed and Halfmoon Hallows most certainly did. Halfmoon Hallows had taken the win in the previous Rune Relay, and the students were ready to ensure that wouldn't happen again. There was a tie to break this year for the ultimate prize, The Sapphire Stone.

After reading through the events on the flyer, Sigmund turned to Kyle with a brightened smile.

"What are you choosing, Kahl?"

"Me?" Kyle retorted, a sarcastic snicker escaping him. He covered his mouth daintily and shook his head in protest. "As if, Sigmund!"

"What? You're not competing?"

"No! Why would I? These games are child's play! Foolishness and barbaric idiocrasy, honestly. I prefer to watch." Sigmund's brows furrowed. He didn't want to compliment the conjurer, but it was the only way he could get his latest thought across.

"That's upsetting..." The sorcerer frowned.

"What exactly are you upset over?"

"It's just, I've seen you ride your broom between classes, like in the open air when we have to go from one tower to another...and it's, well, impressive sometimes..."

"Huh?!" Kyle choked. Behind the boys, other peers slid into the conversation, all seeming to agree with Sigmund's statement.

"Ja!" Sigmund continued. "I've seen you leaning back on your broom before and you were going so fast with such ease! And another time, you were standing on the broom, but kept perfect balance the entire time like some sort of skateboarder!" At this point, Kyle actually blushed.

"I-I mean...it's just not that difficult to me.." He responded sheepishly.

"That's why I was hoping you'd be my partner for the race!" Sigmund grinned. "I wanted to attempt the exercise with you as my partner."

"Partners?! With me? I-I mean, you actually wanna be on a team with...me?" Sigmund rolled his eyes.

"Don't flatter yourself, Constipator..." He mumbled, to Kyle's displeasure and their peer's humor. "Not with you specifically, but yes. If we as an academia want to break the tie, I think the two of us would be the best choice for a nomination." Ignoring the insult, Kyle gave Sigmund a nod.

"Fine then. I'll give it a shot."

Together, the boys stood in line next to the rack of brooms in the gym. Other students made their way to one corner where cauldrons sat for the alchemy exercise and other respective areas of the room for the other categories. Watching together, the class ran through each exercise, casted their nominations and submitted them to Sir Chiron, who called the class to attention when they reached the broom race.

"Okay class! We're going to make our way outdoors to the arena! If you're taking part in the broom race, please pick your broom from the rack and make your way out with your partner!" Before Kyle could even pick a broom, Sigmund was already handing him one.

"Here!" Sigmund grinned, plopping the wooden handle down into Kyle's hands. Kyle nearly toppled over from the weight.

"What the-?! I can't fly with this!" He gasped. "This is heavier than my regular broom!"

"It's a competitive model, nothing like that cheap piece of junk you use to fly." Sigmund chuckled. "Now come on! Everyone's lining up to start!"

Kyle wasn't comfortable with the sporty broom at all. With nerves running through him, a light sweat formed at his temples as he took a spot beside Sigmund and the other nominees at the entrance of the arena. He practically dragged the broom behind him, while Sigmund walked with his own sporty broom effortlessly over his shoulder. The other students in their class watched on, eagerly, from the stands of the arena as Sir Chiron explained the rules.

"Each partner will take turns going through the obstacle course above us. Once completed, tag your partner in to allow them to start the course. The first pair to have completed the course, wins the race. Flight accuracy, speed and course time management are key, so try not to fall behind!"

"I'll run the course first~!" Sigmund whispered to Kyle as Sir Chiron raised his bow and arrow. Sigmund's eyes narrowed as he took a stance at the starting line with two other peers. Kyle and their respective partners stood behind to watch the first rotation. At the release of the arrow, the students shot up into the air and cheers roared from the stands of the arena.

In the air, Sigmund completely dominated the course. He flew through hoops and over barriers with the greatest of ease. The peers behind him had trouble catching his pace. At the starting line, Kyle dragged his broom in place, swung a leg over and took his spot as Sigmund nearly completed his rotation. With a large margin between himself and their peers, Sigmund swooped down suddenly and tagged Kyle in a high five. Unfortunately, Kyle struggled to get himself off the ground and high enough to reach the course. Sigmund gasped.

"GO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"I'M TRYING!" Kyle shouted back as their other peers caught up. Their partners shot up into the air as Kyle continued to struggle. Finally taking off, Kyle appeared to be swerving. The weight of the broom made it hard for him to pivot, which caused him to crash into the first obstacle and fall deep down into the bales of hay stacked below them. The students in the arena audience gasped while Sigmund face-palmed.

"Ugh..." Kyle groaned once his head popped up from the hay. By now, the race was over. Clearly, they had lost the exercise. Locating and dragging the broom out of the hay, Kyle met his other peers at the starting line.

"We lost, thanks to you..." Sigmund scoffed, folding his arms as he pouted. "I really wanted to compete!"

"Then you shouldn't have pressured me to use that stupid broom!" Kyle growled in annoyance. "I couldn't even get off the bloody ground! I didn't want to take part anyways!" Students handed in their nominee slips to Sir Chiron after the race. The teacher collected them all into a box and gave the students a warm smile.

"Great job everyone, really. I'm so glad to see you all taking pride in our academy. You're all showing real school spirit! Results will be posted in the main hall tomorrow morning, so check the bulletin to see who makes the coalition for the Rune Relays!" Walking out with lowered heads, the boys made their way to the locker rooms to change. Even though he would've preferred to watch the race, Kyle still wished he had managed a better performance.

The next morning, dressed for their day of classes, Sigmund and Kyle collected their books when there was a sudden, almost frantic knock on their room door. Pulling his leather satchel over his shoulder, Sigmund answered it with a raised brow. Kyle watched from his desk as one of the sorcerer's friends entered, hopping in place at the doorway.

"The main hall! You've gotta see it! The results are up!"

"Ah...I had forgotten..." Sigmund frowned. "Ja, I suppose I should look..." Kyle frowned himself, feeling guilty about the inevitable result. Grabbing his Necronomicon, he followed behind his peers and into the main hall where a crowd had already formed around the bulletin board. As the boys approached, their peers around them applauded. Kyle flashed a confused look as he closed in on the board. Were they applauding him? What kind of joke was that?

"Mein Gott!" Sigmund suddenly shrieked. "Kahl! Look! We did it!"

"Huh?"

"We did it! We're competing for Team Milkweed in the aeroportation broom race!" Kyle's eyes widened when he spotted his name under the category. It seemed as if his peers were willing to give him another shot. With Sigmund's original endorsement and the unforeseen error during the exercise, they had decided to show empathy.

"Just make sure you get it right this time." Sigmund's friend scoffed. "We need the Sapphire Stone this year." Glancing over at one another, Sigmund and Kyle gave each other a nod in solidarity. Over the course of the day, the boys spoke about their plans and scheduled training for the next three days before the relay over the weekend. The days went by quickly, and though Kyle couldn't stand the athletics broom, he tried it again and again. It hadn't worked out in his favor and Sigmund was starting to worry.

On the morning of the relay, students packed into dark school buses headed for Halfmoon Hallows Witching Academy. Since they had won the main event the year before, they were to host the games. Milkweed's athlete bus was buzzing with cheer, especially after receiving letterman jackets, caps and team vests. While Sigmund seemed to be enjoying himself, Kyle stayed quiet the entire ride and gazed out of the window of the bus. He didn't feel ready, especially now knowing he'd be in front of hundreds in the next couple of hours. Training had gone horribly. No matter how hard he'd tried and no matter how much Sigmund talked it up, the broom was just too overpowering for Kyle.

Finally making it to the opposite side of the enchanted forest, Milkweed Academy had arrived at the golden gates of Halfmoon Hallows. The bus erupted in cheers when they parked inside the grounds of the school arena and students quickly gathered their things, hopping out. Walking into the Halfmoon arena together, the athletic coalition was announced over a booming microphone.

"Now entering in the red corner, Milkweed Academy!" The sport spectator announce, earning an ear deafening response from the audience in the arena. From what Kyle could tell, it was packed full, and that made his nerves shoot up. As the school sat in the stands, the athletes sat in a pulpit on their respective sides. Sigmund tapped Kyle's shoulder and pointed up to the jumbotron that displayed them to the crowd. Giving the traveling camera a wink, Sigmund sent his admirers in the stands into a swoon. Surprisingly, students from opposing schools seemed to cheer him on. Kyle gave a sheepish smile and a weak wave on his end. It was all he could muster in the moment.

The camera switched focus to the students of the University of the Underworld, who's school took part in a joint incantation chant that nearly sounded cult-like. The students from that school gave off dark energies, gothic looks and gloomy vibes to the camera till it finally switched over to the witches of Halfmoon Hallows. The girls that appeared on the screen sent the arena into another wave of cheers. The witches blew kisses, flashed peace signs and cutely shied away from the camera.

After each team got the chance to see their athletes, the games had officially begun. Starting with the alchemy course, Underworld had lost to Milkweed and placed second by a slim potion error, with Halfmoon in third. Elemental kinesis was dominated by Halfmoon, who placed first with Milkweed in second. Shapeshifting had it's expected win from Underworld, but they didn't stand a chance to compete in the final relay after Milkweed won for instant teleportation and Halfmoon for summoning. With two course wins each, it would be Milkweed Academy and Halfmoon Hallows competing in the aeroportation broom race once again.

The crowd was roaring now, on their feet as the athletes from opposing schools made their way to the starting line. Kyle struggled with his broom as Sigmund waved to the applauding crowd around them. With their faces appearing on the jumbotron, the student sports spectators made more announcements.

"Flying for Milkweed Academy's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; Sigmund the Sorcerer and Kyle the Conjurer!" The boys waved together till the camera changed focus. "And flying for our precious haven of Halfmoon Hallows Witching Academy; Meghan the Malevolent and Erin the Enchantress!"

A green skinned, gothic looking witch appeared on the screen and snarled at the crowd as she approached the starting line, which got the audience roaring, especially on the Halfmoon side of the arena. But what really got everyone whistling was the witch that appeared afterwards. Glowing brown skin, beautiful bouncy hair and a sweet smile that excited everyone. Both witches adorned massive, brimmed hats and turned their attention to the boys when they lined up side by side.

"Hi! I'm Erin~!" The witch spoke, wiggling her fingers in greeting, making her green teammate snicker. "Good luck! Lotsa pressure, right~?" As a smile slowly spread across Sigmund's face, Kyle quickly turned the sorcerer away when he realized what was happening.

"AH! NO! NO! FOCUS!" Kyle snapped. "She's an enchantress! She's messing with you!" Sigmund blinked for a moment of thought, then gasped, turning back to Erin in fury.

"You tried to enchant me!" Sigmund accused Erin. Meghan covered her mouth to hold back laughter as Erin fluffed her hair coyly.

"I was only being a good sport~!" She giggled knowingly.

"FIRST ROTATION, TAKE YOUR MARK AT THE START!" The announcer suddenly shouted. Sigmund and Meghan took their places at the starting line, gripping their brooms in a stance. "AT THE READY...GO!"

As the two leapt into the air, the audience screamed. On the jumbotron, the screen had split to show both Sigmund and Meghan going through the obstacles. Kyle dragged his broom to the starting line, glancing at Erin as she did the same. He instantly noticed something about her broom.

"Hey! That isn't a sport model broom, is it?" He asked. Looking down at her broom, Erin shook her head.

"Erm-no? At least I don't think so..." She shrugged. "It's just the broom I use everyday."

"Isn't that against the rules?"

"No. They never said we couldn't use our own brooms.."

Now, Kyle was annoyed. For the past three days, he'd struggled with the sport model broom, just to be told it wasn't a requirement. Sigmund most likely didn't want to be seen with Kyle as his partner if he didn't have a high-end broom. The blisters he'd developed on his palms were all for nothing. Tossing the sports broom aside, Kyle conjured his daily broom and took to the start, just as Sigmund and Meghan touched down to tag their partners. The race was neck and neck.

"GO KAHL! GO!"

As Kyle and Erin took off, Sigmund's foot hit the discarded athletic broom. His eyes widened. If this was here, what broom was Kyle using?!

"MILKWEED TAKES THE LEAD! KYLE THE CONJURER IS MAKING IT LOOK REAL EASY OUT THERE!" Looking up at the jumbotron, Sigmund's eyes met Kyle's broom. As he suspected, it was his old, everyday run-down broom. Despite the condition of it, Kyle swept through the obstacles with ease and had already made it halfway through his last rotation before Erin could get through her first. Milkweed Academy was going wild, and eventually broke out in joint cheers as Kyle landed in first.

"AND MILKWEED ACADEMY TAKES THE SAPPHIRE STONE!" Kyle couldn't believe it. He hopped at the finish before he was snatched into a thrilled hug from Sigmund. Kyle hugged back, but almost instantly pushed him away.

"You made me use that broom all this time for nothing!" He growled. "I could've used my broom the entire time!"

"I know..." Sigmund pouted, fiddling with his fingers. "..but it's just so hideous. I hate your broom."

"Well, the broom you hate just won us the Sapphire Stone!"

Behind the boys, Erin touched down at the starting line with a frown and was instantly gathered into a hug by her partner. With the coach from Halfmoon Hallows bringing over the Sapphire and Sir Chiron meeting the students at the start, the award was passed over, much to the dismay of the witches in the arena.

"For your school, Sir Chiron. Wonderful performance!" The witch's coach smiled warmly as she handed the teacher the coveted prize. "Till next year, of course."

"That, we shall see, Lady Glinda." Sir Chiron chuckled in return. Taking the stone from the soft hands of Lady Glinda, Sir Chiron faced the boys who were eager to see for themselves what they'd won. "Here you are boys. Congratulations!"

Together, Sigmund and Kyle held the stone and together, they held it up above their heads for their peers to see. Over the loud cheers, screams and chants, Sigmund had managed to get a hold of the stone completely. Kyle rolled his eyes, typical.

"Congratulations..." Turning around towards the sound of a soft voice, Kyle's eyes met the outstretched hand of Erin the Enchantress. "You were amazing!"

"O-oh! Thank you!" He blushed, shaking her hand in return. "You weren't so bad yourself!"

"She should've lied to you." Meghan, the green skinned witch grumbled. "We would've won!" Erin giggled lightly.

"Oh, I could never lie to a face like that! Just look at those cute freckles he's got, Meg!" Kyle froze as Erin took her hand back from him and reached out to shake Sigmund's, who was currently enjoying Kyle's expression.

"Shut up, Erin! If you weren't so boy-crazy, we would've broken the tie in our favor! I'M SO MAD, I COULD BREAK MY OWN WAND!" Erin didn't seem to be phased when Meghan the Malevolent stomped away to their team's pulpit. Giving the boys a warm smile, she pushed her hands into her varsity jacket.

"Hope I see you guys next year~!"

"Ja! We'll compete again, so be ready!" Sigmund grinned. Kyle was having a hard time responding after her previous comment. Noticing his silence and reddened face, Erin turned her attention back to him.

"See you next year, freckles!" She winked, finally turning away with a chuckle. Flustered, Kyle covered his face. Sigmund rolled his eyes and started for the buses with the conjurer eventually following behind him.

"Finally!" Kyle sighed. "I'm ready to rest. Enchantresses are the most annoying spellcasters, I couldn't even speak!"

"What are you on about?" Sigmund asked, brow raised as he held the sapphire into the sunlight when they exited the arena. "She wasn't even enchanting you!"

"Huh?"

"No enchanting that time. Earlier, ja. This time, no."

"H-how are you so sure?"

"She spoke to me too, did she not?"

"Well...yes."

"Ja, you need to get out more."