The Unknown

Chapter 1: The Game

Jude grabbed two boys from the crowd, the academy's only identical twins. Flinner and Volkner were like two peas in a pod, not even their parents could tell them apart. The six students stepped up on the elevated platform located in the middle of the field. The square platform comprised of three turquoise circles and three dark purple circles. The girls walked other to the turquoise ones while the boys stood over the purple ones. Once everyone in position, Kenzie held her hand out as she whispered, "sif utewk oulz mirtiva puzzorb"

As soon as the last word was pronounced, the puzzorb appeared on Kenzie's hand. Kenzie shifted her gaze from the sphere to the her opponents and stared intensely at Jude. He sighed as Kenzie threw the puzzorb into the sky. When it reached its highest, the sphere stopped and floated in the air. After a second, it started spinning on itself and the six players were shot up. One by one, rays of silver light appeared from the center of the boys' foreheads and connected to the center of the puzzorb. It took the girls a couple seconds longer to create those links, but soon enough six rays of light were connected to the sphere.

BOOM!

The puzzorb exploded into a hundred pieces and in less than a second the six players blinked their eyes wide open. Kenzie looked down at her palm where a minuscule part of the sphere laid. Since her team was the first to arrive, they had collected the first piece. A wide smile appeared on her face as she brought her gaze back up to Jude. Kenzie was overjoyed; since her arrival at the academy she hadn't been able to play this strange traditional game due to her lack of inexperience, but today she had been smarter and faster than everyone else.

Kenzie and Jude's staring contest didn't last long. Before anyone had time to blink, the six players were at opposite ends of the field, collecting as many pieces as they could. Pieces had been ejected everywhere, under rocks, in bushes, and throughout the field's uneven ground. As Kaia climbed a thin tree, Flinner grabbed her by the foot and pulled her down.

"Ouch" she cried as Volkner climbed up and grabbed the piece she had been trying to obtain.

The twins worked together in a viable way. One would block the opponent while the other grabbed the piece. It was very efficient. In contrast, the girls weren't organized. It could be seen that they hadn't prepared for such a challenging game.

After a dozen of minutes, only one missing piece was left. The girls had acquired forty nine parts and they only needed one more to tie with the boys. Kenzie had an idea on where the last piece could be but she pretended to still be looking so she could think of a plan. She had no intention of letting the twins stop her.

"We've torned this place apart, there's no sign of the last piece" Emily complained.

"Kenzie, what shall we do?" Kaia asked.

Ignoring the question, Kenzie and her friends walked over to the middle of the field where the boys were contemplating.

"Well if no one can find it, then we win" Jude argued.

"No, the game isn't complete until the puzzorb is put back together" Kenzie replied.

"In case you haven't noticed" Flinner said,

"The last piece is missing" Volkner finished.

"They're right, Kenzie. We can't keep looking forever" Emily said.

"So you guys are just gonna give up?" Kenzie asked.

"No, we won. We have the most pieces" Jude repeated. After a long pause he added, "unless you know where the last one is?"

"As a matter of fact, I do"

Everyone turned their gazes towards Kenzie in surprise.

"What? You know?"

"Where is it?"

"I bet she figured it out long ago"

Kenzie didn't pay attention to the other players' questions and comments. Instead she slowly walked over to the elevated platform, trying not to draw the attention of the other team. As the others were still arguing on what to do, Kenzie bent down to inspect the platform. It was made out of thin wooden planks, nothing extraordinary. Kenzie ran her fingers against the side plank as the crowd of students watching the game held their breaths. No one dared warn the other players.

Kenzie's theory had been right. A small hole was located at the bottom of the side plank and the last piece of the puzzorb had rolled through it. As she was about to snatch it, Jude grabbed her arm and pulled her up.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I lost my bracelet" Kenzie lied.

"Yah right, you weren't wearing one" he said as he let go of Kenzie's arm and bent down to the hole.

Without thinking, Kenzie extended her arms forward, facing her hands towards Jude with wide opened fingers. Small fireballs formed at her palms, increasing in size every millisecond. Jude quickly forgot about the last piece when he sensed the power rising behind him. He turned around and whispered "pymsa", instinctively creating a defense shield around himself, but it was too late. Kenzie's fireballs advanced toward the frightened boy in a blitz and hit him before his shield could close itself.