Lovers of Babel by Valerie Walker Page A

power grade and had developed a style of their own. The tournaments were held in a glass dome called the Tourney that was located on the west side of campus next to the classrooms. The inside of the Tourney was less extravagant than the rest of the school’s interior décor. There was no flooring, just a well-manicured lawn that was painted in the middle with the symbols of each power. The audience was seated on wooden bleachers that circled the entire dome. They were separated by power grade.
    When I was first allowed to enter the Tourney , I immediately understood why the elementary students were forbidden to participate in the Power Games. The audience was fierce and rowdy. Some audience members used noisy medieval instruments and objects to clash together forming a chaotic raucous that nearly shattered the glass dome. The Tourney was similar to the way the original Olympic Games looked, where the crowd cheered in anticipation for bloodshed.
    Some people painted symbols on their faces that represented their particular power grade:
    First was the symbol for creators; Earth.

    Next was the symbol for teleporters; air.

    And last was the symbol for transformers; water.

     
    The competitors stood on the lawn in front of the audience wearing white one-piece lycra suits with their symbol stitched over their hearts. Since this was our first time in the Tourney, we were allowed only to observe the competition from a section reserved for junior high students. The tournaments went on only twice a year with the first semester reserved for junior high competitors and the second semester for high school competitors. Once we sat in on our first two tournaments, we could begin our training for the Tourney. The competitors were chosen at random, so they say, and it was always a privilege to compete in front of the entire school.
                  On my first day at the Tourney, the bleachers were filled with hundreds of students and teachers. There were six players in all, two from each power grade, and they stood paired in teams on separate sides of the dome. The teams were chosen by age and each member possessed a different power. The games were different for each power grade, but all would observe the competitions and wait for their turn. The games were as follows:
                  Mimicry was for transformers. The nature of the game was simple: kids would compete with each other to see who could transform the fastest into whatever person or animal announced by the Herald.
                  The game of hexes was for creators. Gamers would try to invoke whatever the Herald called out to see who could create the object the fastest and most accurately.
                  Quicktrek was for teleporters. Competitors would have to teleport to different areas in the school to find a hidden object that the Herald called out. Whichever contestant could find the object the fastest and teleport back to the Tourney in time would win.
                  Each of these games would get more challenging as the children grew up. The senior students had to compete in the most dangerous competitions, which is why the second semester games were the most popular to attend.
                  There were anthems being played by a band before the tournaments started. As I sat in silent anticipation for the games to begin, I looked at each competitor to see who would be harder to defeat. To the right stood a short red-headed boy with a water symbol on his chest who looked to be about fifteen. He was fidgeting with his hands. He didn’t appear to have any hope in winning. A few hundred feet away from him on the far side of the dome I noticed a tall blonde boy who looked to be thirteen. Later I found out his name was Chad.
                  Although Chad was quite thin and lanky, he stood full of confidence and I concluded that he would be fun to watch. The last pair of competitors looked to be