Amari And The Great Game

After dinner, Amari and Elsie go to the Club Fair. There, they meet Tristan Davies, a prodigy who also belongs to the Elite club and arrogantly offers to be Amari’s new partner. The Elites are then invited into a luxurious tent where Bureau officials greet the new members. They congratulate Amari for her exploits from the previous year, then announce this year’s gold star Elites. Amari is one of them, but Tristan, to his own dismay, is not. Amari then takes the opportunity to mingle with Bureau officials to learn what she can about the time freeze. They have little knowledge of Bane’s secretive investigation, but confirm that it is impossible for a magician to have caused the freeze. When Director Van Helsing and Harlowe sneak away, Amari follows them. She overhears Harlowe stating that Bane has plans for Amari, but she is caught eavesdropping. Harlowe discourages Amari from investigating and, although she appears friendly, she seems threatening.

The next day, Amari and Elsie get to their separate classes. Elsie finds her way to Magical Science, while Amari goes to Supernatural Investigations. Amari is initially partnered with Tristan, but he is bullying Lara, who—because of her family name—was admitted as a Junior Agent despite failing the tryouts the previous year. Annoyed by his behavior, Amari asks for a new partner and, to everyone’s surprise, picks Lara.

Amari starts a new class, during which the Junior Agents discuss current events happening in the supernatural world. Someone brings up the Prime Minister’s treatment of UnWanteds, an outdated term dating back to the Ancient Wars. Some students argue that magicians and other UnWanteds are dangerous and should be excluded from the supernatural society. Others try to defend UnWanteds, and Lara unexpectedly stands up against Tristan. Amari tells them that she wants to be treated fairly rather than with prejudice and fear. Bear also mentions that the Supernatural Congress happened to be voting on the UnWanteds’ status when the freeze happened.

Later, Amari and Elsie investigate Bear’s claims. Unfortunately, they cannot find any official document about it, so they hack into the government’s website. They learn that the topic of the day was deciding whether UnWanteds should be allowed equal rights. Bane and Harlowe were supposed to be present to argue against Merlin, who was defending the UnWanteds.

After lunch, Amari meets Maria in a briefing room for private tutoring while her classmates are practicing their supernatural abilities. Maria was tasked by Merlin to teach Amari about magic, but they need to keep their sessions secret to avoid being found out by Bane. Additionally, Maria is outraged when she learns that Cozmo put pressure on Amari to accept the Crown. She then teaches Amari about the nature of fair and foul magick—or selfless and selfish magic. Amari is relieved that Maria will be tutoring her, because she has been afraid of losing control over her power and accidentally harming someone.

After telling Cozmo that she is officially refusing the Crown, Amari goes back to the Junior Agent Room. Suddenly, a Red Alert starts blaring and an emergency message states that Dylan Van Helsing has escaped the Sightless Depths, a highly dangerous supernatural prison. Amari is afraid that Dylan may come after her. She is then called to Supernatural Health, where she learns that her brother Quinton’s condition has worsened. Now that Dylan, the person who cursed Amari’s brother, is free, his magic is taking hold again.

Still shaken and disheartened, Amari returns to her room. Jayden comes to check on her, and Amari is grateful for the distraction. The young boy excitedly tells her that he has been given the ability to understand and speak to animals. They are interrupted when Amari receives a text from Cozmo asking all magicians to meet. Maria received the same message, so she and Amari leave together.

When they get to the League meeting grounds, a grand throne room where many magicians are assembled, Cozmo shocks everyone by revealing that he helped Dylan escape. Amari realizes that Cozmo wants to offer Vladimir’s Crown to Dylan. Cozmo explains that the only way to pick a leader between Amari and Dylan is to call for a Game. From the back of the room, Dylan’s voice suddenly rings out.

Dylan, now gaunt and pale due to his stay in the Sightless Depths, enters the throne room. He states that he will gladly accept Vladimir’s Crown and return magicians to their full power. Cozmo then brings in the Crown, and an illusion of Vladimir explains the rules of the Game. Only one victor will be granted the crown, and this victor will also acquire the loser’s magic. Both Dylan and Amari agree to take part in the Game and are given enchanted rings to symbolize their oaths. The rings will call the two contestants to compete in five different tasks in order to earn Victor’s Rings. The person who wins the most rings will be crowned.

The next day, Lara joins Amari for breakfast and tells her that she resents Amari for choosing her as a partner out of pity. Amari responds that she did it to spite Tristan, so Lara offers her a deal. Lara will help Amari keep up with the other Junior Agents, and, in exchange, Amari will help Lara prove that she deserves to be a Junior Agent. Surprised but cautious, Amari agrees to trust Lara.

After breakfast, Amari and Lara start their first day of Field Training as Junior Agents. They meet Agent Magnus, who is now engaged to Fiona and introduces the class to their first assignment. The Carcolh, a dangerous hybrid between a dragon and a snail, has come out of hibernation and is attempting to reach the surface of the Earth. The Bureau’s agents are tasked with leading it back to its cave. However, Amari must stay under close supervision because of Dylan’s escape, so she, Magnus, Lara, and Tristan are sent on a different mission. They must deport an Unwanted that has been hiding in a building, a mission that Amari strongly resents.

The group teleports to the area where the UnWanted is hiding. Once they get there, they disguise themselves as pest control workers and enter a luxurious apartment complex. In the mechanical room, they encounter tiny fairies, or borrowers, who live in the walls of the building. They have built an entire city out of discarded human objects. One of them leads them to the area where he last saw the UnWanted creature, and the group splits up to find it. Amari is the first to run into a frightening, shadowy presence.

The creature surrenders immediately and turns out to be a young NightWalker named Newton hiding from both the Bureau and the magicians. Newton explains that a magician has just sent out a call for UnWanteds to join the fight against Bane. Amari is worried that Dylan may already be building an army. Newton then mentions that everything is happening just as it did during the Ancient Wards, including the time freeze. Before Amari can ask more, she hears the others approaching and tells Newton to flee. Newton can walk through walls but his pet shade cannot, so Amari rescues the little creature. Lara steps in, having overheard most of their conversation, but decides not to turn Amari in.

Just as they are returning to the fairy city, Amari’s ring suddenly grows hot, signaling the beginning of the first contest. She steps away from the others and presses it until it teleports her to the edge of a cliff. Instructions tell her to walk straight ahead and reach the pedestal on the other side of the canyon, where a Victor’s Ring is waiting. Amari closes her eyes and takes a step into the abyss, relieved to feel an invisible bridge under her feet. However, the wind starts whispering around her to make her doubt herself. When they whisper that Dylan is right behind her and ready to attack, Amari mistakenly turns around. She starts falling but uses the ring to teleport back to the apartment building. She has failed the first task.

After she gets back to the Bureau, Amari tells Maria about what just happened. Afraid for Amari’s safety, Maria sets out to teach Amari how to defend herself. She explains that every magician has secondary magic, and she uses a magical notebook to reveal that in addition to creating illusions, Amari can also summon storms. Maria then gives Amari a book to help her learn how to master her weather abilities. However, Harlowe and other agents suddenly barge into the room.