The Dragel's Song II

by Chera Carmichael

  Terius sighed. “If you’re feeling ill, then sit on the floor and put your head between your knees. It’s likely an imbalance of-” he reached out to Neil’s shoulder and stopped, when Neil visibly flinched away from him.

  An awkward silence stretched out for a moment, before Terius turned on his heel, addressing the next student on the bench. He made his way around the classroom, gleaning the names of the absent students from the day before. Occasionally, he glanced back to where Neil and Kendall sat.

  “Neil!” Kendall whispered.

  “M’fine,” Neil managed, slowly shaking his head in hopes that it would clear the fog that had begun to creep back over him. There was something wrong with this classroom and he couldn’t think straight long enough to put his finger on it.

  “You’re not fine, you look like you’re tripping out on some sort of—what’d you eat for breakfast this morning? Did you eat at all?”

  “Ow,” Neil answered, helpfully. The appointment card in his pocket had begun to burn in earnest, now to the point of being uncomfortable.

  “What?”

  “Pocket,” Neil lurched to his feet, shoving one hand down his trouser pocket and trying to fish out the troublesome card.

  “You’re volunteering, Hewitt?” There was a clear note of disbelief in Terius’ voice. Several other students turned to stare.

  Neil froze in mid-movement. He hadn’t even heard a call for volunteers. “N-no sir, I just—I wasn’t-”

  “Teacher,” Kendall muttered softly. “Not sir.”

  “I wasn’t volunteering, Teacher Terius.”

  “Looked like you were,” the redhead on their bench scowled down the row at Neil. “You stood up and everything.”

  “I-”

  “It’s not fair to everyone else if you’re backing down now,” another student called out.

  “Enough!” Terius snapped. “Hewitt?”

  ~*~*~*~*~*~

  Neil found himself standing on the far end of the platform, a focus object—an X-shaped gemstone of a murky purple color—in hand. He wondered what in all the realms had gone wrong since waking up that morning. How had it come to this?

  His mind was still sluggish and he was sorting through the twisted conversation that had led to his current predicament. Between the other students and the stern Terius, he’d wound up as the first volunteer anyway.

  There hadn’t been a chance to get a word in edgewise and then he had wound up here. The appointment card in his pocket continued to burn, now bordering on painful, while a tiny portion of his still-functioning mind suggested that Marsten must have done something to get all of the scholarship students so riled up.

  The sudden burst of attention had been suspicious enough, but it wouldn’t have been the first time that something like this had happened. Neil gripped the gemstone in hand and tried to will the tiny flame of magic inside of him to respond.

  Nothing happened.

  “First spell,” Terius called out, giving him enough time to prepare. “Remember, no lethal or permanently damaging spells, this is only to measure your magical aptitude for an accurate reading on your level of training. On the count of three, one, two and three!”

  Neil dodged the first spell and threw out his arm, the gemstone spinning from its chain as he pointed it and shouted the words for the protective incantation. This was one spell that every first-year magical student learned by heart and through excessive practice. “Prevarius Ansel!”

  Nothing magical happened—again.

  For the briefest of moments, there was a flicker of surprise, followed by confusion on Terius’ face, before he threw out a hand to retract the spell that was already too far out of reach.

  It was a basic attack spell, meant to shock and not to cause lasting harm, but that didn’t mean that he wanted to get hit. His movements were sluggish though and the color of the spell remained unchanged. Bracing himself for the impact, Neil grimaced at the rush of air, followed by the inevitable stinging sensation as the spell found him anyway. The stinging sensation stopped right before Neil realized that the spell’s intent had changed.

  A slight buzzing sound filled the entire room. The students shifted nervously and the classroom door flared with bright green light all around the edges.

  Neil had all of five seconds to realize that the buzzing in his head was more like chimes ringing and the ringing was in his ears, right before the stun spell took effect and he fell to the floor, immobile.

  The green light at the classroom door remained and Terius gestured at it. A flare of silvery-white light swirled to life on the visible seal, before it began to turn in the proper opening sequence. It swung open to show Benjamin Carson standing in the hallway, his hand poised as if he’d been knocking.

  “Excuse me?” He called out, ducking through the doorway. “I have a message for Teacher Terius from Headmaster Grond, he said to tell you that it’s about that thing you mentioned and that you’re welcome to pick it up anytime you like.”

  The image was sideways and that made sense only after Neil understood that he was lying on the floor. He tried to move his fingers and found that he couldn’t blink. His panic was short-lived when Kendall appeared in his line of sight.

  For the second time that day, Neil wondered what he’d done wrong for the fates to hate him quite so terribly.

  ~*~*~*~*~*~

  This is embarrassing. Neil thought, darkly. He focused on putting one foot in front of the other, while willing the rest of his body to cooperate. He was one part ticked off, two parts impressed and everything else completely up in the air.

  Whatever spell that Terius had used, it was one that he’d been able to cast silently and with precise control. Neil had seen the moment where the man had realized that his shield hadn’t activated. In that split-second, he’d altered the spell from a painful shock to a simple stunning spell.

  The stunning spell had been lifted a moment later—after Kendall’s frantic efforts had been useless—and Terius had caught sight of the Healers’ appointment card that had somehow managed to fall out of his pocket.

  That had prompted the lecture and Kendall was subsequently turned down to be his escort, right before someone else had volunteered. As a result, Neil was currently being escorted through the Academy halls to the Medbay by none other than Elite student Benjamin Carson.

  He was told that both the shock spell and the stun spell wouldn’t have been that bad, except for Terius’ spell had a rather adverse effect on magicless students. The entire classroom now knew of his magicless state as a rather upset Kendall had all but shouted it out in an attempt to explain Neil’s circumstances.

  The result had earned him another lecture and a temporary bodyguard in the form of Benjamin, who had volunteered to see that Neil made it to the Medbay without any further delays.

  “How are you feeling?” Benjamin asked.

  Neil gave him the best look he could manage. On top of the loss of most of his motor functions, his speech was rather limited as well. He was slowly gaining control back in his legs, though his entire upper body was still unresponsive for the most part and his voice—well, he was lucky he still had it.

  At present, he was hobbling along the hallways, using Benjamin as a living crutch, one arm slung over the taller student’s shoulders. Terius had tried to use a transportation spell, but that had just caused every single nerve to scream in pain and Neil’s screech had left everyone holding their ears.

  Scarcely a second later, Benjamin had volunteered to see him all the way to the Medbay, looking quite serious and grave in the same instant. He’d stated his intention and immediately began helping Neil to sit up, calming Kendall’s worry with a few clipped words. His authoritative manner worked quite nicely with Terius, who had only grumbled that it would be on his head if anything happened.

  “Sorry,” Benjamin said, calmly. “Just making sure. We’re almost there.”

  Neil didn’t bother to tell him that he knew that
.

  They hobbled along in silence for another moment, before Benjamin cleared his throat. He looked straight ahead as he spoke, but what he said was something that Neil had seen coming.

  “Sorry about yesterday.”

  Neil grunted. He wanted to ask which part, but his voice was still not working as it was supposed to. He wondered what kind of stunning spell actually affected the voice. He’d never known them to do that before.

  “My temper sometimes gets the better of me—especially when bullying is involved. I’m afraid it’s rather personal for certain reasons, but that’s still no excuse,” Benjamin said, quietly. “I didn’t mean to pry into your business, that’s not fair to you and it’s very rude of me. Sorry.”

  Any lingering resentment he’d had over the hallway encounter—shattered, when Neil caught sight of the genuine sincerity in Benjamin’s face, reflected in his steady voice. His hazel eyes were so light, Neil could have sworn they were more gold than brown and there was no hint of artifice in him at all.

  He processed the apology, turning it over in his mind until he was sure there was no loophole at all. He’d had plenty of experience at decoding the Synder’s expressions and fake apologies and trusted his intuition on this one.

  “That’s—fine,” he managed to say, with some effort, pleased that his voice was at least working now. He felt a slight tingle wash over him, another part of the spell unraveling. His eyebrows unfroze and the tiny stirrings of a headache, eased significantly.

  “Thank you,” Benjamin said.

  Neil almost smiled.

  ~*~*~*~*~*~

  The walk didn’t take much longer after that. They rounded the corner and the MedBay’s open floor greeted them straight away. Benjamin walked Neil straight up to the receptionist’s desk.

  “Excuse me, I have missed appointment for a Neilson Hewitt?” Benjamin smiled charmingly at the Medic behind the desk.

  “Hewitt?” The Medic checked the self-updating list on the wall. She tapped on the digital display and frowned. “I’m afraid I cannot reschedule anything for Student Hewitt until tomorrow evening at-”

  “There was an accident during class and he needs to see a Healer right away,” Benjamin said. “Won’t you check again?”

  Neil stifled a sigh. He tried to move his fingers again, testing for movement. He was feeling more exhausted by the minute. He knew there wouldn’t be any appointments, not unless it could be proved that he’d survived a life-threatening experience. His scholarship status made sure of that.

  The Medic looked up for a moment. She didn’t say a word, but returned her attention to the screen, her fingers flying over the display. A minute later, she looked up and smiled politely. “I’m afraid there’s nothing open for today, but if it is an emergency-”

  “It is,” Benjamin said, firmly.

  “-the tomorrow morning, there is a small gap between the-”

  “Tomorrow morning?” Benjamin repeated.

  Neil growled softly when the arm around his waist tightened a bit more than necessary. He wished his fingers worked so he could at least protest. A pinch would be quite useful now, if he could manage it.

  He didn’t want to make a scene today. A stun spell was nothing to get worked up about. He could probably sleep it off, though he had been slated to work this afternoon and it would mean a cut in pay.

  Benjamin wasn’t aware of any of that. “-you’re telling me there’s nothing you can do?”

  “I’m sorry, sir, this is out of my hands. It is Academy policy,” the Medic recited.

  Neil’s fingers twitched once, then twice. He huffed a sigh of relief and focused enough to convince his hand to turn and his fingers to dig into Benjamin’s shoulder. It wasn’t a pinch, but it would work alright.

  Benjamin turned to him at once, his hazel eyes darkening. “What?”

  “S’fine,” Neil managed.

  Those gorgeous eyes gave a rather spectacular roll before Benjamin turned around and put a hand to his head. “Oh dear,” he said, sarcastically. “I have an enormous headache. I don’t think I can move. Fetch a healer, wouldn’t you?” He fished out something from his pocket with his free hand and threw it on the counter.

  The Medic looked from him to the card and then turned it over. Her face went two shades of pale and one shade of red. “I’ll have someone ready straightaway, Mr. Carson.”

  “See that you do,” Benjamin said, coolly. He picked up the ID card and stuffed it back in one pocket, before rubbing his forehead. “At this rate, I really will have a headache.” He sighed. “It’ll just be a minute, alright?”

  “Won’t work,” Neil countered. He tried to pull away from Benjamin’s strong arm, even though he didn’t really want to. Something about the Elite student exuded a warmth and caring that he’d never associated with him before.

  “Sure it will,” Benjamin said, calmly. “Here, stop pulling away—I’ll brace you on the counter. Can you move your arms yet? Arms, not your hands—are you trying to pinch me?”

  Neil glared at him in answer. It took too much effort to speak. A yawn escaped instead.

  Benjamin shook his head. “You’re exhausted.” He eased Neil forward, helping him to lean against the front counter. It was just the right height for Neil to hold on. The waiting room was off to the side, but Benjamin didn’t appear to be interested in moving from his spot by the desk.

  It wasn’t the first time that Neil had seen an Elite student use their status to get their way—Elyenka had done it twice for him and once for Kendall, when they hadn’t been able to see a Healer on the same day.

  He didn’t have to like the system, he just had to know how it worked.

  ~*~*~*~*~*~

  “Mr. Carson?” A Senior Healer leaned around the doorway leading back into the private exam rooms. “Mr. Carson, if you—ah, there you are. This way, please.”

  Benjamin dredged up his polite smile. “Up you go,” he muttered to Neil, slipping an arm around his waist one more time. He walked them over and through the door, while the Senior Healer held it open.

  Soon, they stood in a private exam room, while the Senior Healer scanned Benjamin’s ID card to pull up his medical history.

  “You said you had a migraine?”

  “A mild one—starting a few minutes ago,” Benjamin said, calmly. “If you had a powdered headache solution, I would appreciate it.”

  There was a deliberate pause, before the Senior Healer looked up from his tablet to stare at him. “You’ve used it before.”

  “It’s my preferred delivery system. Pills are too difficult to swallow and all tinctures and potions taste utterly disgusting.”

  “A powdered solution it is then,” the Senior Healer said. He set his tablet down and gestured towards the exam bed. “You’re welcome to take a seat and your friend can have the chair in the corner. It will take me a moment to prepare the solution.”

  “Actually, my friend is recovering from a stunning spell that went crazy. If you could take a look at him first, I’d appreciate it. My headache is tolerable right now and I’m very worried about him.”

  “…indeed,” the Senior Healer snorted. “Up on the bed then, whichever one of you I’m supposed to be treating.”

  Benjamin helped Neil over to the bed and did something with his magic that floated Neil right up onto the bed without a single blink.

  One minute he’d been bracing against the exam table and the next he was sitting on it, leaning forward, his hands gripping the edge. Neil gave him another look for that, but he wasn’t about to complain.

  The Senior Healer turned around, a small white square in hand, bearing a tiny mound of pink and white powder. “Your headache solution,” he said, simply. “Now, what is your name?”

  “Neilson Hewitt,” Benjamin answered. He took the paper square and folded it into a triangle, before placing it at his lips. He poured it under his tongue and then closed his eyes and mouth.

  “Scholarship student
?” The Senior Healer asked, with a sigh.

  Benjamin only smiled. “Help him, won’t you, Landon?”

  Landon snorted. “Sit down before you actually pass out on me, and then I’ll have to deal with those bloodthirsty lawyers of yours again.”

  “If you’d actually just given me the powder in the first place, that never would have happened,” Benjamin hummed. He opened his eyes, but stayed standing beside the exam bed. “I understand you have to stick to your codes, the same way that I have to have a headache in order to help my friend.”

  “What happened to him?”

  “Stunning spell. Just like I said.”

  “Which class?”

  “Magical Arts.”

  “The new instructor did this?” Landon began to cast a series of diagnostic spells over Neil—or rather, he tried to. “Would you kindly stop blocking me?”

  Neil blinked at him. “I’m not,” he croaked.

  Landon muttered something beneath his breath and summoned a bottle of water from one of the shelves across the examination room. “Drink,” he placed the bottle in Neil’s hand and unscrewed the cap. His eyes narrowed when he realized that Neil couldn’t move his arm.

  Neil felt his ears warm, but didn’t have the energy to care about blushing, when Senior Healer Landon held the bottle to his lips and coaxed him to drink. “Thanks,” he mumbled, when he could speak clearly once more.

  “Your magic is blocking mine and because of it, I cannot cast a proper diagnostic,” Landon began. “So if you would kindly-”

  “I’m not doing anything,” Neil said. “I had an appointment earlier—for my magic to be measured for my Inheritance test.”

  “And-?”

  “I missed it, because I was in class, getting hit by this,” Neil flapped a hand at his stiff body. He was pleased to note that his hands were working much better now. “I was hit by the spell because I couldn’t defend myself. I don’t have any magic—so I can’t be blocking you.”

  Landon stared at him. “I beg your pardon?”

  “I don’t have any magic—not right now, anyway. I’m not blocking you.”

  “You’re blocking something and don’t be ridiculous. If you’re not magical, then you couldn’t have made it into Noir.”