“That’s Professor Alean,” Patty whispered. “She’s an elf, by the way.” I assumed she meant the woman standing on the rock, not the creature.
Our teacher’s big brown eyes spanned the twenty-six of us remaining after Stone Selection and the announcement this morning. Two had left the campus already, their parents horrified about the attack. “Welcome to Introduction to Magical Creatures. I’m sure you’re wondering why this class is part of orientation and not something you’ll take once the Second Year students arrive.”
A few of us nodded.
“While we share our world with many magical beings and you’ll get to know them all over the next two years, some reside at the Academy and it’s my job to introduce you to them. Today, we’ll meet two.” Her hand swept toward the three-headed, dog-like beast lumbering into the field behind her. It was so huge, I worried it would suddenly thump forward and swallow her in one gulp. Then snack on us for dessert. “Behold, a Cerberus.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” the head on the left said in a formal, British accent. The creature stopped behind our teacher and sat on its wide butt. “I’m Gunner.”
Drea, who stood on the other side of Patty, stumbled backward, her mouth agape. “What, what…” Her legs giving out and she slumped onto the grass, her blonde hair puddling around her face. One of the other students—Nalli, I think was her name—dropped to her knees beside Drea and rolled her over. Nalli slid Drea’s hair off her forehead and Drea stirred.
“Syncope,” the middle hound head said mournfully. “We try so very hard to show we’re sweet and kind and thoughtful, but we still frighten a few!” Enormous, glossy tears slid down his black, furry face and plopped on the ground, spraying into the air in a mini fountain. The beast’s head lowered, and he sobbed.
“Personally, it angers me greatly,” the head on the right said, baring his long, pointy white teeth our way. “I can barely tolerate it!”
We all took a few steps backward, though Professor Alean only shook her finger at the beast.
“We didn’t bite the child, now did we?” Snapping his mouth shut, the head on the right bowed briefly to Professor Alean. “Apology extended.” His black-eyed gaze pinned us in place. “My name is Grottin, by the way, and he’s—” He scowled at the middle head. “Is Grugeon. And, contrary to popular belief, we’re vegetarians. We don’t eat raw flesh.”
That was a relief, but what about cooked flesh? I chose not to ask.
“Now, now, Grugeon, you know our lofty height and broad, stately body shocks some students from their very skins,” Gunner said, his long, pointy, snakelike tail whipping back and forth like an agitated cat. “But truly—” This he addressed to us. “We only wish to co-exist in harmony with you all.”
“Where do they live?” I whispered to Donovan. Since the creature stood at least three-stories tall, I should’ve run into it by now.
“In a cave in the eastern part of the forest.”
Must be a big cave.
“Drea, Drea,” Nalli whispered, patting Drea’s cheeks. “Wake up.”
Drea shuddered but roused and sat, clutching Nalli’s arm tight enough to dent the skin. “Is it gone? Please tell me it’s gone.”
“Nope, but you’ve gotta get used to magical creatures like this if you’re going to spend the rest of your life in our world.”
Ah, so Drea was one of the other outlings in my class. I hadn’t had a chance to track them down.
She gulped and stared at the Cerberus, but let Nalli help her to her feet.
“Some know the Cerberus from Greek Mythology,” Professor Alean continued, fully in teacher mode. “But other than being a child of Typhon and Echidna, the rest of the legend is not true.”
“Little kids are told they have to behave or the Cerberus will get them,” Patty said from the corner of her mouth. “They used to guard the gates of the Underworld, making sure whoever entered never left, but they live in the forest now. My mom always said, ‘behave yourself, Patrice, or the Cerberus will take you to hell and you’ll never find your way back’.”
“They came with the original six when they split from the fae,” Donovan said, studying the beast. “I knew they existed, but…” He shook his head, and his voice rose in amazement. “I haven’t run into one yet.”
“While the woods, in general, are forbidden to all students,” Professor Alean said. “I also ask you to stay away from the eastern cave system. Our resident Cerberus has laid eggs and they will hatch soon.”
“Yes, our young will soon join us,” Gunner said. “We simply cannot wait.”
“The children will be hungry,” the Professor said. “While vegetarians, they may be tempted to take a bite.”
I shuddered.
Professor Alean extended her arms out to the sides. Her robe fluttered as she coasted off the boulder and onto the ground.
Wait. I thought Elites couldn’t fly.
“Remember,” Donovan said. “She’s an elf. They can fly.”
I growled and schooled my face.
“This way, now,” our professor said, striding toward the Academy. “We still have one more creature to meet today.”
Grottin called out, “Bye! It was lovely to meet you.” Turning, the Cerberus started lumbering toward the forest.
“Do remember, we only wish to be friends!” Gunner added.
“Friends about to hatch children that will bite us?” I said with raised eyebrows.
“They’re awesome. Once they take flight, we’ll see the young circling the forest,” Donovan said, gazing over his shoulder in wonder at the Cerberus.
They had wings? Somehow, I’d missed that component.
Donovan tapped my arm. “I’m going to watch for them every night. Why don’t you come with me?”
I assumed from the roof. Sure, let’s just hang out like bait. “We’ll see.”
We followed our teacher around to the front of the Academy, to the main entrance, but she stopped in the middle of the bridge spanning the moat rather than take us inside.
“Oh, Sirra,” Professor Alean said in a lilting tone, leaning over the iron rail. “Sirra? It’s time to welcome our new Earth Coven class.”
Dark water churned to our right and a sleek head poked above the rippling current. Strands of grass clung to her dark, seal-like hair, and her golden eyes—reptilian slits—blinked before narrowing in on us standing near Professor Alean.
Crap. I took a step backward. I’d been teasing myself earlier. There truly was a mer-like creature living here!
“Ahhhhh, children. I likesssss children,” Sirra’s melodic voice sang. Her four pale arms extended toward us, beckoning. “Come clossssser to Sssssirra.”
“No, no, no,” Professor Alean said with a laugh. She snatched the back of a student’s shirt before the boy could swing his leg over the rail and jump into the water. As the kid shook his head and then glared at the mer-creature, Professor Alean’s face sobered. “Now, Sirra, you know luring students into the water is forbidden.”
Sirra pouted and her long, thick, snakelike body—covered with dark blue scales—undulated behind her, slithering in and out of the water in agitation. “I knowsssss but I likesssss ssssstudents.”
Turning to face us, Professor leaned her back against the rail, seemingly oblivious to the creature gliding up out of the water to rear above her. Sirra had long teeth, too. Fangs. They curled down along her chin. “Sirra is the head guardian of the Academy. She keeps intruders at bay.”
I bet she did. She could rip them apart or strangle them with her body like a croc after snatching the intruder up off the shore. Did she hold whoever she captured beneath the inky surface until they drowned? I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
“Is she the only guardian in the moat?” I asked. Please, say yes.
“She’s a naiad,” Donovan said.
Oh, yes, tricksy. Beatrice had warned me about Sirra already. Note to self: Always listen to your brownie.
“Yes, she’s a naiad
,” Professor Alean said. “And no, she isn’t the only guardian. We have many.”
In the moat? Moving over to the rail, I clutched it and sought ripples in the water that would suggest other mer-people approached, but the surface remained as depthless as a black mirror.
Professor Alean’s robes fluttered in the wind, sliding around her bare ankles like colorful serpents. “When the first families built the Academy, they diverted the river from the eastern side of the campus. It now flows around the main building and rejoins itself below. The naiad are our guests. In exchange for protection, we feed them power. Without it, their voices cannot lure.”
“Who do they lure?” Drea asked from behind me. “Please, not students?”
“Originally?” Professor Alean said, her voice tight. “Outlings, actually.”
While I reeled back, she held up her hand. “No fear. This happened ages ago, and only once, immediately after the first families settled here. Before our wards were solidly in place, some outlings ventured too close to the campus. Sirra’s people…Well, as I said, they’re our protection. They truly didn’t mean to cause harm.” Nodding as if to solidify her statement, her spine stiffened. She reached forward and patted my shoulder. “Outlings are our friends. You’re as welcome here as Sídhe children.”
This happened ages ago, huh? Any connection to the hints Ashton had shared about outlings being hunted?
“And that’s all for today, students,” Professor Alean said. “I’ll see everyone tomorrow for the next Magical Creatures class, here in the upper pasture.” She grinned and clapped her hands. “We have more friends for you to meet.”
Delightful. Not.
“Lunch?” Donovan asked as my fellow students dispersed, and I nodded.
“I’m going up to our room to nap,” Patty said. “I’ll grab something in one of the cafés. Catch up with you later?”
“Sure.”
After lunch, Donovan mentioned he wanted to talk to the Headmistress about Bryce.
This gave me the perfect opportunity to explore the library.
Leaving the cafeteria and striding down the hall, I paused inside the entrance. A cathedral ceiling spanned two-thirds of the room. The area below the open part was filled with wooden tables and chairs. And students. We didn’t have much to study yet since we were still in orientation, but kids were reading, hanging out, doing that ‘stay together or in pairs’ thing the Headmistress had asked for. Which I’d…oops, forgotten about when Donovan and I parted.
Along my left, stairs rose in tiers to the second and third floors, where long rows of stacks filled with books waited to be discovered. On the right, a wall of glass looked out over the eastern side of the campus, likely toward the caves where the Cerberus would hatch their young.
Ester’s library had been my quiet place. I could sneak inside the small room and run my fingers along the spines while dreaming of where the books might take me. While most had been dry tomes, I’d found a few hidden gems among them. I could curl up on the couch with it and sink into someone else’s life.
Leaving the main floor, I climbed all the way to the top of the stairs and scrolled through the stacks, sliding my fingertips along the endless spines.
Someone needed to dust. And bugs. Fluttery, wispy things that loved to eat paper abounded. Before dusting, they needed to call the magical exterminator, assuming that was also a skapti.
Ancient history. Myths and legends. Magic in a Modern Age. Oh, that sounded exciting! As I strolled through the stacks, my hand touched them all.
I was rounding the end of a stack when my fingers tingled. Stopping, I turned back. Had the plush carpet delivered a static shock?
A tiny wink of red from a worn black book—extinguished quicker than it flashed—pulled me near. Gnawing on my lower lip, I slid the book from the shelf and coughed when I inhaled the lung full of crud that came along with it.
How long had it been since anyone touched it?
Blowing on the front to clear the surface, I leaned closer, squinting. I traced my fingertip along the drawing of a dragon etched into the leather, eager to unlock this book’s secrets.
The Original Six.
Wait. I quickly flicked back the cover. Yes! A banner was displayed on the first page. Red, with a bird. And beneath the banner: One of two Fire Coven’s founding families, the O’haoehda Clan, a branch of the Jaessenach Fae Clan.
Cool.
Had I found a book that could tell me what no one else here seemed willing to reveal? Who needed a history teacher when I could research on my own? There was more than one way to discover information about Crystal Wing Academy.
The next page showed a banner with a dog. And, underneath, the second Fire Coven founding family’s crest, that of the Ha’Foaláin Clan, a second branch of the Jaessenach Fae Clan.
I’d turned the page and was tracing my finger across a banner showcasing a cat when someone came up behind me.
“What’s that?”
Jumping, I spun around fast, and the book flipped from my hands, into the air, and dropped on the carpet between us.
Alys picked it up and frowned at it. “Huh.”
“What?” Give it to me. Now! My fingers itched to snatch it from her grasp.
“My dad has this book in his personal library, too.” Her face twisted. “He doesn’t let many of us look at it, however. I imagine your father doesn’t have this book in his library, him being an outling,” she added snidely.
“Well, I don’t…” Do not share.
“Whoa, wait.” An eager meanness took over her face. “You don’t know who your father is?” Her nasty laughter burst out. “Isn’t this utterly perfect.”
“I know who my father is.” A complete lie. “He’s…” Think fast! “Dead. Yes, he’s been dead a long time.”
Surprisingly, Alys’s eyes dropped away from mine, and her shoulders curled forward. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She touched my arm in what felt like sympathy. Could Alys have a nice twin? Or maybe she’d been abducted by aliens when I blinked and returned a completely different girl. At the Academy, the notion wasn’t that impossible.
“Do you…know your mom?” she asked.
“Yes, I lived with her until I moved in with Ester.”
“Oh, yes, the sketar witch. My mom died when I was born.” Her voice grew sharp again, showing me that while Alys might soften on the rare occasion, her mean-girl persona ruled. “I killed her.”
Moira had told me about Alys’s mother’s death, but I wasn’t going to let on that I knew.
What I read as self-loathing took over Alys’s face. “Well, I mean spawning me killed her.”
“Spawning.” I felt like a parrot, repeating her words as if I couldn’t come up with an original thought on my own.
“Gave birth.” One of her shoulders lifted and fell. “You know what I mean.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Her fingertip traced the dragon on the book’s cover. “Dad doesn’t blame me. Not most of the time.”
While she was sharing the agony of her past, I doubted Alys would reveal this side of herself to me again.
Which would be better? Not knowing who your dad was like me, or believing your dad hated you?
That’s when I realized I might not completely hate Alys. It was hard to loathe someone when you also felt pity.
“I’m going to take the book,” she said, proving my momentary lapse into sympathy territory had been a mistake. “Dad only let me look at it once, and I want to read the whole thing.”
“I found it first.”
“And I found it last. Maybe I’ll let you look at it later. Like, two years from now, later.” Her gaze raked down my front. “It’s not for you, anyway. You’re not Elite.”
Like I’d forget that fact with her around?
“You don’t need to know family business.” Her fingers tightened on the spine.
“It’s the school’s history.”
“You can learn what they want you to know
from the professors.”
Why wasn’t anyone willing to tell me the truth?
A sneer came through in her voice. “Curiosity can kill, you know.”
“Are you threatening me?” I growled out, clenching my hands into fists.
The huff she released might be meant to lull, but the look in her eyes was sharper than flint. “I’d never do anything like that!”
Sure.
Clutching the book to her chest, she wrinkled her nose. “Where did you find it, anyway? There’s no way it would be left lying around for an outling to pick up.”
“It was sitting on a shelf. I didn’t exactly stroll into a vault and steal it.”
One of her eyebrows quirked up as she studied my face. “Maybe I won’t share it with you at all.”
I stomped up into her face, ready to grab her shoulders and shake her until her teeth rattled. “It’s mine.” The words burst out of me, fueled by the rage that had built inside me in response to her ongoing taunts.
“Didn’t you just say it was sitting on a shelf, here in the library?” Her laughter pealed out. “No reason I can’t let the librarian know I’m borrowing it for a while. He’ll…let me have it as long as I like.” Tugging her backpack around to the front, she unzipped the top and tucked the book inside. “Thanks for finding it for me. You’re the best.”
I needed to be polite, not stir her up. My fingers itched to rip the book from her bag and bolt. I could hide it somewhere on campus, some place she’d never find it. “Give it back. I’ll let you read it when I’m done.” In about a hundred years.
“See ’ya later.” Pivoting, she strode toward the stairs.
My face must be redder than the banners in the lobby. I fumed, but what else could I do? I wasn’t supposed to use magic against her. If I did, I’d get into trouble. Bad enough I’d pulled power and shot fire to protect Moira, something I’d conveniently forgotten to mention to the Headmistress. But that had been a life or death situation. I’d had to act.
This was an argument about a book.
If only I knew of an elemental magic spell I could use against her instead.
Crystal Wing Academy- The Complete Series Page 21
