The Silver Dwarf (Royal Institute of Magic, Book 4) Read Online Free Page B

maintaining a calm expression. It didn’t do to get angry at Lydia; she might crush you. To say she was big would be understating
things, and Ben had concerns about the chair she was sitting on. She had a mass of curly, brown hair and fiery eyes that looked ready to explode. But she
was an excellent spellstrike player, and that’s all Ben cared about. William had recruited her, and Ben suspected she might have a crush on the muscular third-grader, and so he was probably one of the few people who might be able to deal with her..
    When it was clear Lydia was finished, Ben continued.
    “Yes, I’m not sure if anyone in this room knows who Ross County are, but thank you. So, Will, where are we at?”
    “I managed to persuade Taecia’s youth team to share their timeslot on the Taecia battleground with us,” William said. “So every day at 6pm we get a couple
of hours to train, as long as we don’t get in their way.”
    “Aaron’s team are training three hours a day, at his own world-class battleground,” Simon said.
    Ben turned to Simon, who was slouched in his chair like a kid, playing with a pen by clicking it on and off.
    “More good news, thanks,” Ben said with false cheer. “Can anyone tell me something positive?”
    “Afraid not,” Lisa said. She had come on board out of sympathy for their plight, and Ben immediately recognised her as a natural athlete. She was wiry and
strong, with bright blue eyes and a fresh face. “I do have some news to report, though. You asked Simon and me to spy on Aaron’s team. We watched them for
a good hour last night, and it was impressive. I think their plan is to humiliate us by going with a five-pronged attack right at the start. If their
scouts can locate our flag, they’ve got a good chance of making this the shortest game in history.”
    Ben nodded. It was getting increasingly difficult to remain upbeat. “Well, at least we know what they’re planning, so we can counter that, right, Will?”
    He turned to his captain with an almost pleading look.
    Will seemed to sense his desperation and, to Ben’s immense relief, he gave a nod.
    “Yes, we can tailor our own tactics around that,” Will said. “I have a few ideas for traps we can set, which will punish them.”
    Ben thumped a clenched fist on the table. “Great. And remember, we can all practise by ourselves during our free time in the evenings. Even if it’s just
taking a jog to increase our stamina, it all helps. Alright, does anyone have anything else to add before Will takes the floor?”
    “Nothing that you’ll want to hear,” Lydia muttered.
    “Okay, then,” Ben said. “Over to you, Will.”
    William eased himself up, towering over them. He emptied the contents of a small box onto the table. They looked like chess pieces, except none of them were
recognisable.
    “This is a brief introduction to spellstrike, mainly for Ben and Charlie’s sake, though going over the basics can’t harm.”
    He threw eight red pieces down the other end, and kept the blues himself.
    “It’s eight against eight, with both teams having two reserves, which we don’t have. The object is to capture their flag. Unlike traditional
capture-the-flag games, you win the moment you have caught it – you don’t need to return to your own base. Got it?”
    Will looked at Ben and Charlie, who both nodded with differing levels of enthusiasm. Ben had tried reading textbooks on the game, but they just made his
head spin, so it was nice to have it simply explained.
    “There are a few basic positions in the game,” William said. He dragged a piece shaped like a bird to the back of the table.
    “The first is the owl. He or she is usually stationed as high as possible, with a panoramic view of the battleground. Their job is to watch and report. The
owl can use her spellshooter like a walkie-talkie, and communicate to the other players on her team. They can reply, but cannot communicate with anyone
except the owl.” William stopped