Basics of Spellcraft (Ember Academy for Young Witches Book 1)

by L. C. Mawson

  “You know enough that someone more versed in magical lore could figure it out. If the reason these Demons came after you becomes common knowledge, more will follow. No, better that you disappear into Ember as a normal Witch. The school is well-guarded, no one should be able to get in, so no one needs to know about this attack.”

  “I thought Gail was your friend. Don’t you trust her?”

  Auntie Jess looked away, her jaw clenching. “I don’t really trust anyone, Amy. Now, you should get some rest.”

  I nodded and hugged Mr Fluffy tighter, though I doubted I would sleep.

  Not when I knew that my mother was cursed, and might never recover, because of me.

  I MUST HAVE UNDERESTIMATED my exhaustion, as I did fall asleep, waking to light streaming through my window, and my clock telling me that I’d slept through the morning.

  Over the back of my desk chair lay a smart black dress that I hadn’t worn since my grandfather’s funeral.

  I shuddered at the thought of wearing it now.

  I got out of bed, heading to my wardrobe, but found it empty.

  Auntie Jess must have sent everything to Ember Academy already.

  As I moved away from the wardrobe, however, I smelled the familiar aroma of M&S fresh decaf coffee.

  Mum sometimes made it on weekends, along with eggs and vegetarian sausage for me, and a full English for her and Dad.

  She didn’t cook much, but she’d gotten into weekend breakfasts. She and Dad were so busy with work, it was the one guaranteed time in the week that we could all sit together.

  But now...

  Now she was in some kind of magical coma, and I was leaving.

  I didn’t even know how long I would be gone.

  I looked around the room, wondering if it would be the last time I would ever see it.

  There was a cautious knock at my door, and I went to answer.

  I expected to find Auntie Jess there, but tears welled in my eyes as I instead saw my dad, standing there with a cup of coffee and a plate of avocado on toast.

  My stomach twisted at the reminder that Mum had bought the avocado as a way to change up the breakfast routine for me, as I didn’t eat meat.

  She hadn’t appreciated the subsequent lecture on the impacts of fad-foods on labour practices and the environment. At least, not at first, but then she had smiled and told me how lucky she was to have a daughter so thoughtful.

  I found myself unable to speak, tears welling in my eyes, so I simply wrapped my arms around my dad and held him tight.

  “Hey there, Amy-bear,” he said softly. “Careful for the coffee. It’s hot.”

  I nodded but didn’t pull away for several moments.

  When I did, Dad went over to my desk and put the food and drink down. “You need something to take your tablet with.”

  I nodded once more. I didn’t feel like eating, but he was right. And if Auntie Jess really was taking me to this new school, I would definitely need my tablet.

  I opted for sipping the coffee first, hoping that it would kick-start my appetite.

  “How’s Mum?” I asked, not sure if I was ready for the answer.

  Dad obviously tried to hide his pained expression, but he did a poor job of it. “The same. Caroline and Mina have promised that they’re going to do everything they can to figure out what kind of curse it is affecting her, but there’s nothing anyone can do until then.”

  I frowned a little at the easy way he was talking about magic. “How long have you known about all this stuff?”

  “About magic? I’ve known since I was a kid. Like I told Jess, the memory spells she used whenever she slipped up always wore off. My mum never slipped up enough to need memory spells, but I picked up enough to figure things out, anyway.”

  “And did you know that I would be a Witch like them?”

  He shook his head. “I knew it was a possibility, but I’d hoped not. Especially not after...” He sighed. “Sorry, Amy. Jess said I’m not allowed to tell you about... Well, about a lot of things. Not until you come into your magic, anyway.”

  “And after that? Then we can talk? Then I can...”

  I couldn’t finish my question, almost too afraid to voice my fear.

  The fear that I could never come home.

  But my dad seemed to know what I was saying, regardless. “It’s not safe for you here right now. But we can still call. And once this danger has passed, then you can come home again.”

  “Do you know when that will be?”

  “No, but I’m not having it like last...” He trailed off, shaking his head. “I’m not having you disappear on me. This won’t be forever. And your auntie will keep you safe.”

  That last bit seemed to be for him as much as me, so I just nodded as I nibbled at my toast.

  “I’ll miss you,” I eventually said, my gaze stuck on the end of my coffee as I tried to blink away the tears starting to form.

  “I’ll miss you, too, Amy-bear.”

  AFTER EATING, I HAD a shower and got dressed, feeling marginally better than the night before, but that wasn’t saying much...

  I arrived downstairs to see my auntie in the living room, a strange design drawn on the wall with chalk. It was circular and taller than Auntie Jess.

  “Sorry about your wall,” she said to my dad. “I would have driven her, but with everything that happened... A portal seemed the safest option.”

  He nodded. “It’s fine.”

  Auntie Jess took a vial from her pocket then and threw the contents at the wall.

  As soon as the shimmering powder within hit the chalk, it started to glow. The glow expanded until it covered the entire design, forming a glowing circle on the wall.

  The portal.

  Auntie Jess turned to me. “Okay, we just need to step through.”

  I turned to my dad, suddenly realising that as soon as Auntie Jess and I headed through the portal, he would be left alone.

  I rushed over and hugged him tight once more

  “Will you be okay?” I asked.

  I felt him smile. “I’ll be fine, Amy-bear. Your cousin’s starting her master’s at the local uni, so she’s going to come and stay with me. You don’t have to worry, I’m not alone, and your cousin can take care of both of us if any attackers come back.”

  I nodded, remembering how Nightingale had moved almost faster than I could see when the Demons had attacked.

  “I love you,” I eventually said.

  “I love you, too, Amy-bear. Now, go on. And try to have fun at this new school. You’ll be learning about magic after all.”

  I nodded as I pulled away, having to admit that if this revelation had come in any other way, I would have been eager to go to Ember Academy.

  But now, going meant leaving everything behind.

  That was the last thing I wanted.

  “Bye,” I said as I reached the portal and my auntie offered out her hand to lead me through. “I’ll see you soon.”

  I had no idea if I could keep that promise, but I didn’t think that I could leave without making it.

  My dad smiled. “Yeah, see you soon.”

  I took my auntie’s hand at that and stepped through the portal.

  Chapter Four

  “Here we are.”

  It took me a moment to shake off the strange sensation of the portal – like walking through a thick bubble until it popped – and focus on my surroundings.

  I looked back to see that the portal we had stepped through had appeared over a set of large, iron gates, and as the portal closed, I caught a shimmer.

  “What was that blue light rippling over the metal?” I asked, focusing to see if it would reappear.

  My auntie gave me a small smile. “You could see that?”

  “Yes. What was it?”

  “The protective spells over the school. They keep us safe from prying Human eyes, as well as any would-be intruders. Don’t worry, Amy, you’re safe here.”

  I nodded, trying to believe her as I turned
around to look at the school itself.

  I almost stopped dead at the sight.

  Several large buildings were in front of me, all white and covered in gothic spires, with stone paths cutting through the well-kept gardens between them.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen that many flying buttresses in person before,” I admitted under my breath. “And are all the windows stained glass?”

  Auntie Jess smiled. “I know, right? But, well, the money came from...” She trailed off. “Let’s just say that the school’s investors have a certain taste.”

  I nodded, trying not to be intimidated.

  “I know it looks like a lot, but remember, I’m a teacher here. How posh could it be?”

  I tried to smile, but the more I thought about the fact that my auntie was a teacher, the more nervous I became.

  I couldn’t imagine a school where that wasn’t a potential source of bullying. And what did magical bullying even look like?

  I suppressed a shudder as I hoped that I would never find out.

  “Well,” Auntie Jess said, pointing to the nearest building, “we should head inside. Gail’s office is just through here.”

  “Right. Okay.” I wiped my hands on my dress, hoping that the sweat wouldn’t leave marks as I struggled to remember how to breathe.

  What if Gail didn’t like me? What if Auntie Jess was wrong about me having magic like her, and I was sent back to face those Demons alone?

  “You’ll do fine,” my auntie assured me. “Now, come on. She’s waiting for us.”

  I nodded, though it took me a moment after my auntie headed towards the building to gather my wits enough to follow.

  The buildings looked even taller and more intimidating up close, but I swallowed my nerves and focused on my auntie, refusing to look at anything else as she led me through, into one of the buildings.

  The inside was just as intimidating as the outside, and the heels my mum had bought me to go with the dress clacked on the wooden floor, making me feel as if I were broadcasting my arrival to the entire school.

  I should have just worn my boots, no matter how odd it would have looked.

  Thankfully, Auntie Jess only walked to the third door down before turning and knocking on it.

  “Come in,” came the response. It was mostly accent-less but not in that overly posh way. More like my mum’s work voice. Respectably middle-class.

  That was ground I was slightly more comfortable with.

  We may not have been able to afford a holiday every year, but my parents were both university graduates. I could work with respectably middle-class.

  Auntie Jess opened the door to reveal a room lined from floor to ceiling with bookshelves, except for the two spaces for tall, narrow windows with small diamond grilles.

  In the middle of the room was a large desk, though where I might have expected to see a computer, there were just a few books scattered about and a large, unlit candle.

  “Ah, Jessica,” the woman behind the desk said with a polite smile. She was slightly taller than my auntie, which was impressive given how tall she was, and she had olive skin and long, dark hair that she kept out of her warm brown eyes with a large silver clip.

  I wasn’t sure what I had thought the headteacher of a school for Witches would be like, but I realised as I took in her sensible black trousers and the black waistcoat over her lilac blouse that it wasn’t anything like the woman in front of me.

  “It’s good to see you again.”

  Auntie Jess gave her a stiff nod in return. “And you, Gail.”

  Gail then turned to me. “And this must be Amelia. Come, let me see you.”

  I turned to Auntie Jess, who just gave me a reassuring nod.

  I stepped forward as Gail looked me up and down, making her way around the room to circle me.

  “Yes, hmm... Intriguing indeed.”

  I frowned as Gail made her way back in front of me. “What’s intriguing?”

  Gail smiled. “If I knew that, then it wouldn’t be intriguing, would it?” Her hand went to her pocket. “Would you mind if I took a closer look?”

  “I... What would that involve?”

  “Nothing invasive, I assure you. Just close your eyes, and it will be over in a moment.”

  I wanted to ask how something ‘closer’ than circling and ogling at me could be anything but invasive, but I was silenced by my bafflement.

  Out of morbid curiosity, I closed my eyes, figuring that this might as well happen.

  I frowned as the back of my eyes ached and my head spun.

  I opened my eyes, hoping that it would reorient me, only to find myself not in Gail’s office, but in the middle of a vast desert.

  I blinked several times, hoping it would clear away the strange vision.

  The strange vision that was overly reminiscent of dreams I only half-remembered.

  I turned around, spreading my arms wide, half expecting my arms to hit something in Gail’s office and bring me back to sense.

  But no, I felt nothing but dry, desert air.

  It felt real. As if I really had somehow been transported from Gail’s office to the middle of a desert.

  How the hell had I gotten there?

  Could Gail teleport people? Had she sent me to the middle of the desert as some kind of test?

  “Hello?” I called, but there was no answer.

  As I turned, the expanse of desert before me was finally broken by a cylindrical structure made of stone.

  I couldn’t see any entrance or windows, but I headed towards it regardless as the merciless sun beat down on me and I felt a few beads of sweat trickle down my neck.

  Hopefully, someone would be there who could give me answers.

  Or at least the structure could shelter me from the sun.

  I hurried forward, anxiety starting to kick in. I still couldn’t see an entrance into whatever this structure was as I struggled to keep my footing on the desert sand.

  The heels lasted only moments before I took them off and threw them over my shoulder, navigating the slippery terrain in just my black tights.

  While all black had been a sensible choice for meeting the headteacher of my new school, it did me no favours here as my clothes absorbed the sun’s heat, cooking me alive in the fabric.

  As I neared the structure, I saw a small gap in the stone wall where a few bricks had come loose, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

  Even if I couldn’t get through, maybe I could shout into the gap until someone heard.

  I didn’t know what I expected as I approached, but it certainly wasn’t what I saw inside.

  As I finally reached the wall, my hands hitting the rough stone to stop me from barrelling straight into it, I found that I could see through the gap.

  To the garden beyond.

  While outside the circular wall was a vast, lifeless desert, inside was a sea of green, broken up by bright colours as the tall grass occasionally gave way to various flowers in full bloom, and the trees all seemed to be sprouting assorted fruits and flowers.

  I stared in awe as a butterfly with bright blue and pink wings fluttered up to me.

  It looked almost unreal, the colours were so saturated, and I found myself fascinated by it, unable to look away.

  And then I blinked, and I was back in Gail’s office, sitting on one of the chairs with a dull ache across my head.

  I wanted to ask what the hell had just happened, but I didn’t even know how to begin phrasing my question.

  I looked up to see Gail still watching me thoughtfully as she leaned back against her desk. “What did you see?” she eventually asked, her voice soft and understanding.

  I frowned. What did I see? So, Gail knew about the strange vision? Was it to do with her “non-intrusive” examination?

  “What the hell did you do to me?”

  Gail gave me an apologetic smile. “You’re more sensitive than I realised. In my attempt to examine you, I prompted you to look inwards as well.”
r />   “What does that mean?”

  “What did you see?” Gail asked, ignoring my question.

  I shrugged, figuring that she wasn’t going to let it go until I answered. “I was in a vast, lifeless desert, and in the middle, there was a walled garden. A few of the bricks had come loose, so I could see inside, and it was beautiful, but the gap wasn’t big enough for me to get through.”

  Gail nodded, as if what I’d said was perfectly normal. “Tell me, Amelia, do you ever have strange dreams?”

  I shrugged. “When I’m stressed, I guess. But doesn’t everyone?”

  Gail just hummed in thought as she looked me over once more before shaking her head. “You’ve been too close to the threshold between worlds for too long, Amelia. Your subconscious is screaming at you.”

  “What is it trying to say?”

  “What do you think? It’s your subconscious, after all.”

  I shrugged. “I mean, I guess I would say that the garden is something within me. And I used to have dreams... I remember that garden. I used to see my auntie and cousin playing in the garden while I stood across a river from them in a desert. I tried to cross the river, but the currents were too strong... So, it’s something we all share, but I’m cut off from. My magic?” I shook my head as I heard the words coming out of my mouth. “I’m sorry, that’s ridiculous. I didn’t know about magic until a couple of days ago. I shouldn’t have... They’re just dreams.”

  “Why are you apologising? You were simply answering my question honestly.”

  I frowned. “Honesty isn’t always the best approach. Not when it results in gibberish and I sound...” I trailed off.

  I knew I wasn’t supposed to say ‘crazy’. It was ableist.

  But when my brain went off track and landed me in hot water, I didn’t have another word that covered the way I felt about myself quite as accurately.

  “Do you usually end up saying things that sound like gibberish or...?” Gail waved her hand to refer to the word I had refused to say.

  I cringed as I turned to my aunt. Hadn’t she told Gail?

  She had been so sure that I would make it through this interview, I had assumed that she had thought to bring up my ADHD with Gail when talking about me with her.