by K T Quinn
“Questions” he hissed angrily. No one raised their hands. I think we all valued our lives too much. “Class dismissed. Except you Mikah. Remain after class” Titan snapped. The class broke up and everyone began to wander towards the door. The guy who had been holding my wrist began to pull me forwards towards Titan. He walked smoothly and with a smile unphased by Titan’s anger that was vibrating around the room. He released my wrist as we drew closer to Titan. Dizziness and nausea coursed through my body the moment his touch left mine. The anger in the room was stifling. Trust my empath powers to kick in at the wrong time. The guy sensed my distress and took my hand. He stroked my hand with his thumb and the coolness of his touch released me from the nausea that had overtaken me moments ago.
“Take it down a notch, you’re making her sick” he said abruptly turning to Titan.
“How would you know Syn, you’re not her boyfriend. You don’t even know her” Titan retorted venomously glaring at my tall and handsome saviour.
“I’m not now, but I will be” the guy replied with promise in his voice. He looked at me with a little too much familiarity for a stranger I had just sort-of-met before releasing my hand and tipping an invisible top hat in my direction. “Until we meet again my Fury-Queen.” He turned around and left the room leaving me in confusion. A small handful of students were still towards the back of the room chatting quietly. Next to them Victoria stood waiting for me with a stack of books in her hands and a smile. I turned my attention to Titan. His arms were folded across his chest and he was tapping his foot impatiently.
“You need to mind the company you keep princess” he snapped at me. “Stay away from Syn!”
“Just who do you think you are! You have made your intense dislike for me crystal clear. You don’t get to have a say in who I am friends with or who I date. You’re just my teacher!” I spat back at Titan angrily. I glared at him with disbelief. The guy normally couldn’t get away from me quick enough and I had about had it with his ice cold glares he was constantly throwing at me. Pain and surprise flashed across his features before he schooled his features back into a signature glare.
“You need to toughen up princess, you can’t save the world if you can’t save yourself’ Titan snarled before spinning on his heel and stalking off. I stormed after him determined to get the last word in - or just to punch him. Definitely to punch him. I was furious! Victoria gently grabbed my shoulder as I charged past stopping me from attacking the jerkhole and punching him in the face. I stood for a moment breathing heavily as I opened my senses and tried to channel her calm and let it wash over me. This was one of those moments I was grateful to be an empath and borrow someone else’s emotions - even if it was just for a moment. I let my anger ebb and flow away and gave Victoria a small smile of thanks. Before I could speak a high pitched giggle interrupted me. Sabine walked past slowly leering in my direction. “I don’t know what I was worried about, as if Titan would ever want...that.” She wrinkled her nose in distaste in my direction, the sound of her nasal voice and high pitched giggle drifted in her wake as she made her way out of class. Victoria held my shoulder a little more firmly now so I couldn’t race after Sabine either to punch her in the face. All of the hard work to calm the heck down had just been undone.
‘Next time try to stay on your feet and keep your fists closed - a strike to the throat should end it quickly. Or just eat her’ Alessia snickered in my mind snapping her jaws.
‘Gee thanks Alessia, you could have actually helped me back there you know! Couldn’t you just mindmeld to my body and eat her yourself?’
‘It doesn’t work like that with us, although it should’ Alessia replied sadly. ‘You will have to learn to fight with your body, and we must learn to work together so we can somehow be ready to fight when the Great War comes. We must be the ones to end it.’
‘You’re right. We must learn to work together. I need your help though Lessi, I have no idea what I’m doing, as much as I wish I did.’
‘I will always be here until our death’ Lessi whispered in reply.
“Earth to Mikahhhhhhh…” An antique pocket watch was swinging back and forth in front of my face. I looked around the almost empty room at Victoria who was giving me spirit fingers with the hand that wasn’t holding the watch. I raised an eyebrow at her.
“What? I was trying to snap you back out of your head. You went all silent dragon-speak on me again” Victoria whined.
“Dude! You’re trying to hypnotise me while doing spirit fingers… where did you read that one? The book of Myths?” I asked sarcastically.
“Nah on FaceBook” Victoria called out in a singsong voice over her shoulder. “Come on, we’ll be late for the next class - weapons” she grinned like a maniac before skipping towards the exit grinning like she was the reincarnate of Lizzie Borden.
Chapter 8
Mr Crigler stood amid a large pile of archaic looking weapons that looked almost as archaic as the old velvet blue suit he was wearing. Clearly he danced to his own beat.
‘The 1800’s called they’d like their weapons back’ Lessi snickered. A giggle exploded out of my mouth before I could hold it in. Quickly I schooled my face back into its expressionless state and tried to pretend it wasn’t me. Apparently turning around and whistling nonchalantly wasn’t fooling anyone, especially Mr Crigler.
“Name” he asked loudly, his brusque tone warranted no nonsense. I hadn’t been in this class for more than five minutes and I was already in trouble. I swallowed nervously before answering.
“Mikah Harper sir.” I nodded my head at Mr Crigler as a sign of respect. I hoped that this small act might soften his demeanour towards me instead of land me on the wrong side of yet another teacher.
“The Dragonkin. Right” Mr Crigler narrowed his eyes in my direction. “I don’t give two hootenannies who you are or what big magical prophecy you’re meant to fulfil to save us all” he said sarcastically adding in some spirit finger jazz hands for full effect. “In this room you’re just a student, same as everybody else so pay attention. Next time you disrupt the class it will be detention!”
“But class hasn’t started just yet” I replied a little taken aback from Mr Crigler’s sudden outburst. He was quite old so I suppose he is prone to senile outbursts I mused.
“Is this a classroom?” Mr Crigler asked.
“Umm yes?” I replied. Yep definitely senile.
“Is this a class” he asked gesturing to the students who had gathered inside the classroom.
“Umm I believe so?” I replied. I wasn’t too sure where Mr Crigler was going with this reasoning.
“Then class has started and you should stop wasting my time” he snapped before going back to the pile of weapons he had been perusing before I interrupted him.
I turned to Victoria and Twyla and shrugged my shoulders trying to see if they had some insight into why Mr Crigler was such a cranky old fool. They looked at me equally confused. The room was slowly filling with students who were all murmuring and quietly talking amongst themselves. Mr Crigler was still standing in front of his big pile of dusty archaic weapons. In his hand was a long metal stick that looked like a baton - a really shiny baton. I wondered if he would let me bedazzle it? He turned to the class and asked proudly "can anyone tell me what this is?" He looked like he couldn’t wait to tell us what exactly this weapon could do.
A couple of students looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. No one was willing to raise a hand after Mr Crigler’s outburst at me earlier in class. Mr Crigler looked at each and everyone of our faces expectantly, and a little disappointed that no one had raised their hand to answer his question. "This weapon is a relatively new weapon. It may be small, but it has the power to rip out souls and their magic from a being’s body."
Reap souls? Shouldn't that be a reaper stick, or whatever they're called. You know the pointy weapon that the Grim Reaper floats around with when he comes to take you to the next world. Whoever invented that weapon had absolutel
y zero design skills. What it did was pretty impressive, but why would somebody want souls and magic? I was struggling with the little magic that I have been given, plus Lessie my dragon spirit that I had been gifted. Why would anyone else want more magic? It was hard enough to get a handle on what we had been gifted at our Ascension. I had to ask why. It was going to bother me forever if I didn’t. I just had to know. I slowly raised my hand. Twyla made a motion against her throat with her hand signalling for me to abort mission, abort mission! Victoria was aggressively trying to wrestle my arm back down to my side but I prevailed despite knowing that Mr Crigler would probably lose his shit when I asked my question.
“Why is it shaped like a stick instead of you know, one of those reaper weapon thingies?” I asked Mr Crigler.
“She means a scythe sir” Victoria added in helpfully. Mr Crigler began to look constipated. Or angry. Probably angry. I figured I had nothing else to lose by asking. The only people on the Brightside that were nice to me I could count on one hand. The Dark side was a much friendlier place compared to here, now that was saying something. Anyway, what was one more angry Bright-sider. All Mr Crigler could really do was detention me into boredom.
“Exactly! Whoever made that weapon clearly needed to rethink some things. Why would someone want to take someone’s soul and the magic along with it? Wouldn’t that be too much magic to be contained inside one being?” I asked inquisitively ignoring Mr Crigler’s constipated angry face. He just stood there and spluttered for a moment. He couldn’t quite seem to get the words out. The rest of the class was dead silent unsure whether to run out of class before Mr Crigler exploded in anger or to stick around and hear what he had to say about this odd looking shiny stick.
“This!” Mr Crigler exclaimed loudly waving the stick in the air. “This - took many days and many hours to create and spell! This magnificent creation is a masterpiece! Do you know how long it took me to find the spells and magical artifacts to bind this kind of magic?!” he shouted. A sheen of sweat glistened across his forehead as he waved his arms in agitation.
“Oh. Do you mean to say that this was your creation?” I asked wrinkling my nose. Twyla was back to sliding her finger across her throat signalling for me to abort mission again.
“Yes! This is my life’s work! Created for Gabriel to use in the war against evil. Something that you know all too well about” Mr Crigler said through flattened lips, his eyes stared at me coldly daring me to speak another word. The thin hair that had been combed over his balding head now flopped over one side of his face in disarray. My hands curled into fists at my side. How dare he! I am so sick and tired of having my Nightrealm roots brought up as if it was something to be ashamed of. I refused to be ashamed of my heritage. It was becoming clearer by the day that perhaps the lore behind this Great War we were being trained to fight in, was wrong. The Nightrealm wasn’t perfect but we also took care of our own. I couldn’t help but feel guilt well up inside of me. We were meant to take care of our own yet here I was on the wrong side of town and had barely checked in with my best friend. I missed her. I unclenched my fists deciding not to retaliate to Mr Crigler’s nasty jibe. It just wasn’t worth getting into any more trouble. I wanted to get through this class so I could go text Bri and check on Wyrmie. I hoped that he had been looked after in my absence. I shook myself out of my reverie and focused on the bland nasal drone of Me Crigler’s voice. He had stopped ranting about the greatest weapon of all time - ‘The Crigler’ - and was now discussing the pile of archaic weapons at his feet.
“You May only choose one weapon. Once chosen it will bind itself to you, and you to it. There is no undoing it.” Crigler gestured to the weapons and beckoned the class forward to choose. “Wait!” Crigler yelled stopping everyone in their tracks. “I almost forgot. There is an incantation you must speak in order to find the weapon that was made for you in this lifetime. So find a space, open your Book of Incantations to page 12 and begin the spell.”
“Do you have the Book of Incantations?” I asked Victoria. The only book in my bag was the Theory of Combat.
“Sure do, you can borrow it as soon as I’m done.”
The room filled with a low hum of chanting. It resonated off the cold stone walls gradually getting louder and louder. The sound in the room became deafening. The soft chink of steel on steel gradually became louder and louder as the pile of weapons began to move as if it was a living breathing being. I began to chant with the group hoping that I was saying it correctly. I bounced on my toes in anticipation. I could feel Lessie shift in excitement under my skin as she prowled back and forth. My skin prickled as waves of energy enveloped me. It almost felt like I could shift into Lessie's form, it was just out of reach. The pile of weapons drifted off the floor into the air, levitating in its place. Energy beams flowing out of it like lightning moving between people and touching them as if looking for someone, something. They moved towards me and wrapped around my legs like a housecat before moving through the group slowly. The people in the room were swaying as they chanted, everyone was connected and moved as one. Suddenly the chanting stopped. Everyone's left arm abruptly raised towards the sky with open palms, waiting. I felt the urge to raise both of my hands in the air and to wait. A loud roar filled the room like an ocean. The energy beams that had been searching the room retracted until they covered the pile of levitating weapons. Electricity and lightning occasionally came from the pile, the static in the room made everyone's hair stand on end. The roar became softer and softer, the room became deathly silent, still. Yet no one moved. A loud clap of thunder boomed through the room accompanied with a roaring whoosh and the pile of weapons exploded through the room. As each weapon found a home it's owner flew backwards a little with the force of the weapon. I could hear soft cheers of excitement as each student looked at the weapon that bound itself to them. Almost everyone had received their weapons except for me, my arms were tired from being raised in the air for so long yet still I waited. I knew in my soul that my weapon would find me. I just knew. I could feel sympathetic eyes on me from my friends Victoria and Twyla. They were trying to hide the excitement of their weapons from me so I wouldn't feel as bad. They were good friends. I could hear a low hum from the small pile of weapons that had begun to drift towards the floor again. The pile rustled and moved as two small parrying daggers covered in a sheen ball of pink energy flew out of the pile into each of my outstretched hands. The force almost took me to the ground yet I stood strong, grounded. Their energy travelled down the blade of the weapons until it reached my hands and dissolved into my skin. A rush of energy flowed from my hands down my body and into Lessie, it was as if it was pulling us together. I closed my eyes and could feel it tying the loose bonds between Lessie and I stitching them together.
"Can you feel that Lessie" I whispered.
'Kokoro - the heart, mind, spirit' she whispered back in awe. 'The blades are ancient Dragonkin blades. They are the Blades Of Eternal Sleep, forged in the heart of the Earth itself. I thought that these were lost forever. They have not presented themselves to a Dragonkin for centuries. We are truly blessed.'
Hypnos and Thanatos.' The names came to me as if from the blades. 'The Blades of Eternal Sleep.’ I knew deep in my soul that somehow this is what they had been known as for centuries. The weapons felt as old as the gods themselves, and had slain many enemies before my time. ‘I didn’t think they would look so … puny” I said to Lessie as I inspected the blades closer. They were as small as my hands which meant they could be easily concealed. I didn’t mind the smaller sized weapons but I couldn’t help but long for a bigger more badass looking weapon. Especially when I could see some of the weapons being played with around me. For the love of all things dark that guy over there was wielding a flaming sword! A freaking. Flaming. Sword. And here I was with two pathetic little parrying daggers, no offence guys I thought to the blades. I felt a little silly talking to inanimate objects but I swear the blades felt almost insulted at being called puny.
“Okay show me your weapons girls” I said to Victoria and Twyla.
“Look Miksi! I got a whip! It’s gold too just like Wonder Woman’s” Twyla squeed bouncing on her toes. “When can we test them out! I wanna try it out now!” Twyla looked at her whip like it was chocolate cake. Her eyes were bright with excitement as she pranced around with her new shiny golden whip pretending to be Wonder Woman.
“This is what came to me” Victoria said with a shy smile as she ran her hands up the long wooden bow in her hands. Intricately carved fae adorned the bow. It was beautiful and looked like it had always belonged in Victoria’s hands. “What did you get?”
