By The Skies

by J E Mueller

  “Indeed.” Soleia shook her head as we reached the greenhouse. Herbal Spellcraft was probably both of our favorite classes. “At least he’s not in our section of this class.”

  “Praise be to the Four,” I agreed, letting out a relieved sigh as I made my way to our normal table.

  “Soleia, did you finish that potion?” Kismet asked, walking over to us.

  “Yes!” She quickly dug through her bag as Delmar, Aylum, and Calum joined us.

  “Did anyone else not do last night’s readings?” Calum asked.

  “I’ve already done next week's readings. What part are you behind on this time?” I frowned at him.

  “He’s behind on last year’s readings,” Delmar joked. We all couldn't help but laugh at how true that was.

  Calum elbowed him hard in the side while everyone laughed harder at his attempt to retaliate. “I just need to keep up enough to make this upcoming trip.”

  “The trip would be better without someone accidentally grabbing something poisonous.” Soleia smirked.

  Calum shot her an annoyed look. “That was only once.”

  “All right everyone,” The professor called. “Get to your seats.”

  “You dropped this,” Aylum said, and handed me another set of folded sheets.

  I accepted it with a nod as he moved to his seat. “Thank you.”

  Soleia raised an eyebrow as she sat down across from me.

  “What?” I shrugged, pulling out my notebooks, getting situated.

  “How could you have already dropped something if you haven’t even opened your bag yet?” she inquired skeptically.

  “Maybe from last class?” I shrugged again, trying to appear nonchalant.

  The professor started talking, ending our conversation, but I knew it was only temporary.

  I moved so my notebook was tilted and she couldn’t see what I was reading or pretending to write. I was far too curious about Aylum’s notes to pay attention and I was plenty ahead in this class anyway.

  A short lesson in dragons. To start, we are all shifters. We mostly keep our human form, and heavily use our between form. Wings are very convenient after all. Dragon form is just too big. How big? I honestly don’t know measurements. I would say about three to four stories tall if that helps. Sort of like human height it does vary a bit, though not by too much.

  I am not entirely sure what you want to know. I’m trying to remember what you said last night. Probably curious about why a dragon is very much in no dragon's land. Though, that wouldn’t entirely be true. There are plenty of dragons here. We like to travel like many do, and studying outside our own lands is seen as a good thing, though I greatly dislike much of what I’m learning. Too many things feel backward here.

  Still, I intend to stay here awhile. At least my destruction classes are going well. Back to the dragon thing…

  Aylum went into detail about how the magic was drawn from the universe. Dragons used magic which in turn kept the land filled with magic. The more the dragons pulled, the more magic was accessible to humans.

  The next letter was about some things we humans loved to theorize on. Why did certain magical talents consistently do better during certain months? That was a bit more complicated but if I understood correctly, it had to do with the natural ebb and flow of the universe. All magic wasn’t alike, and different lines of magic flowed stronger at different times. Everyone always had access to magic, but twice a year you got a very nice boost.

  It took the entire lesson to read since I had to pay enough attention to answer questions, keeping up the charade I wasn’t distracted. I loved his letters with unprompted answers.

  Aylum was a confusing soul to me. There was no reason to help, no reason to explain things, yet he happily did. It was a nice change to the men who scoffed at questions, who laughed at women learning. Of course, they all weren’t that way, but the open-minded were too few, and often too quiet to change things. It did no good to dwell on the facts, instead, I tried to focus a bit more on my day.

  Classes weren’t very exciting. Teachers were droning on, reviewing more than progressing. As we sat down with our lunch, Soleia leaned over and whispered to me. “So, when are you going to tell me what’s really going on?”

  “There isn’t much to say.” I shrugged.

  “Pretty lies. You’re terrible at keeping secrets.” She snickered but said no more as she bit into her chicken leg. Keti joined and we started talking about the last class and Calum getting caught and scolded for being behind on the reading.

  Aylum and Delmar joined us again. The clingy followers left in a huff, but with fewer words than yesterday.

  “Aylum, you know I think you look familiar,” Soleia stated as we chatted.

  He cast a confused look her way. “I don’t think we’ve ever met before.”

  “No, no we haven’t,” she agreed. “You’re from Dustarn though. My family hails from there.”

  He looked surprised. “Truly?”

  “I was raised here, but we return there as often as we can. I’m sure you understand why. It’s different there.” She smirked, a confident and amused smile slowly spreading. “Pretty lands, gorgeous mountains. I really love the plains. Some even say the magic is different.”

  Aylum laughed. “I agree. Everything feels so different there. The open spaces with mountains speckled in the distance are amazing.”

  Soleia brought up a different topic with Keti and I found the entire exchange strange. It felt as if so much was said without words. My suspicion rose with how easily it dropped but I had nothing to really prove my theory. At least I could bother Aylum for an answer in potions. I wasn’t about to accidentally give away his secret if that wasn’t something they were trying to discuss.

  I was absolutely antsy when we finally reached potions. The sound of conversation building as everyone worked on their team projects gave me the perfect chance to speak with him about everything.

  “Did you get a chance to read everything?” Aylum asked before I could question him.

  “I did. I was surprised by all the details,” I admitted.

  “I was hoping more details would help so there would be less questions later,” Aylum explained as he reviewed the directions for our potion. “We need to add the roots soon.”

  I nodded, pulling out the roots we cut yesterday. My heart raced as my mind filled with things that were still unanswered. Would it be better to wait? I glanced around, seeing everyone was busy with their own work still. It was probably safe.

  “What were you and Soleia discussing?”

  Aylum shrugged. “It is… oddly complicated.” He scooped up the roots and slowly sprinkled them in with one hand while he stirred with the other.

  “How so?” I wasn’t expecting this to be complicated at all. He had made things feel relatively uncomplicated with his prior explanations.

  “We covered several things. Her family is from the valley, but acknowledging the mountains in that way showed a great deal of her family's lineage. I’m not sure why she grew up here, but I suspect it’s been exhausting.”

  “If she’s from where you were, is she like you?” I questioned softly, checking the temperature of our current potion.

  “Not everyone from Dustarn is like me. Only those who come from the lines of old.” I glanced over at Aylum and he sighed. “You may discuss that aspect with her, but yes, we’re similar in that regard.”

  I let out a sigh of relief. “For the best, she is more than on to me.”

  Aylum snickered. “Can’t make up something about a little note?”

  “The first one was fine, the second she figured out immediately.”

  Aylum just chuckled, not bothered by that fact. “Let’s get the next stage of this potion prepped.”

  Nodding, I let the topic go and refocused on class.

  As best as I could anyway. My mind was more interested in my dragon friends. How had I possibly been friends with one for so long and not noticed? I wanted to ask Soleia e
xactly what was going on, but she slipped out of class ahead of me. I knew I’d eventually see her. I had divination next while she had… I couldn’t remember what exactly. Instead of trying to recall, I tried to get into the mindset for class. We were actually using magic today, and the only form of divination I was capable of calling upon was fire.

  The divination group was always small. Few possessed the right magic for it. Keti and Neveah were the only ones in my class group with that talent. With the four different years worth of classes together, there were only nine of us that made up the class.

  As class started and we all got our stations together I carefully dragged over my bowl, made of jade. Filling it with coals and a dash of Renkluaf powder, I carefully lit it with my striker. The flames steadily gathered, happily climbing a few inches tall. The powder was only useful in aiding with divination. It was otherwise poisonous to ingest if you happened to have more than a pinch.

  Today's object was to apply the recent lessons and scry for something in the near future. We were to write it down and document if it occurred or not, and if it was due to us changing something or misunderstanding the signs.

  I concentrated my magic on the now, letting it wash over the flames, inviting it to show me something as I whispered the incantation to the fire. The blaze danced before me, flickering happily as it decided if it wanted to play. Slowly, I gave it a little more power, bit by bit. Too much and it would explode and gleefully try and devour the room. Too little and it would never consider working with me.

  As the minutes ticked by the flame continued to do nothing, but I knew from a few too many burns to be patient. Finally, images started to play before me. A person I didn’t know was yelling down at me while I was being held back by two individuals whose faces I couldn’t see.

  The image changed, the fire flickering brightly, going nearly white for a moment before a new scene started. I was in the woods with Soleia, Orabella, and a few others I couldn’t exactly make out. A figure in a dark cloak that blended in with the night cast their arms out at us, magic shooting forward, barely giving me time to counter with a ward. The figure laughed before saying something, the words lost in the crackling flames. My face shifted from fear to determination. When I replied, something caused the figure to turn, giving me the perfect opportunity to fill the area with an abrupt, thick fog.

  Once more, the flames turned bright white, clearing the scene for something new. I could feel my magic start to feel stretched, pulled a little too tightly, but I ignored it. It was rare that fire gave more than a single glimpse into the future, and I wasn’t about to back down from its willingness to dance. This time a flower, a psutheria, showed bright being held out. The image slowly panned backward and I could see myself taking it, staring at it with surprise. Even now I was shocked. It was a rare flower. To find one meant so many different things but to me, it meant-

  My head spun, and suddenly my legs gave out from under me. I didn’t feel myself crash to the floor but recognized it had happened as I stared up at the ceiling in a haze. I released the magic I had been feeding into the fire and I suddenly realized that sound was coming back to me. When did sound leave?

  The professor came over, looking as concerned as she did firm. “Kareia are you all right?”

  I groaned for a moment as feeling returned to my body. “Yes, ma’am. I just need a minute.”

  With a nod, she stepped around me. She stopped being overly concerned back in my first year. We both knew that I recognized when to see a healer. As I got enough feeling back in my body, I pulled myself up on shaky legs. There was no way I would be able to do more in class today.

  My eyes searched for Keti. Her water scrying seemed to be done, and she was steadily writing. “Keti!” I whispered in her direction, trying not to distract anyone else.

  She glanced my way and frowned. “Again?” she mouthed at me and I nodded. Shaking her head, Keti motioned for me to leave.

  I knew she would take my bag to our next class. Without another word, I made my way to the door on unsteady feet.

  Chapter Six

  It didn’t take long to be healed. I mostly needed to lie down. The healing office was perfectly quiet and very boring. White walls met white curtains, and the ironwood beds were decorated in clean white sheets. One of the trio of master healers on duty gave me a once over before I was cleared to head to the final class of the day.

  Spellsayer class was the linguistic side of magic. It was all the difference in a spell working or not, in it being powerful or barely effective. I loved this theoretical side of magic. It was always useful whereas some lessons in other classes felt like a waste of time.

  As I reached class I saw Aylum and Soleia talking quietly in the hall. Something about the scene felt odd but before I could reach them Keti caught up to me.

  “There you are.” She laughed, taking my bag off her shoulder and handing it over. “You’re looking worlds better.”

  “Thank you for bringing it, and I didn’t look that bad.” I smirked as I slung my bag over my shoulder.

  “The walking dead looked better than you,” Keti teased.

  “Lies. We’ve both seen the risen and they are leagues worse looking than a little scrying burnout.” I laughed.

  “What happened?” Soleia asked as she and Aylum approached us.

  “Kareia may have met the floor again while scrying.” Keti gave a small laugh.

  “What?” Aylum could see I was currently well but looked far more concerned than necessary.

  “I’m fine.” I shook my head. “I kept the magic going just a bit too long, but I almost got three entire visions.”

  “But again?” Soleia sighed tiredly. “Have you completed any scrying lessons without fainting?”

  “I did not faint,” I clarified. “My legs just sort of stopped supporting me for a bit.”

  “And you stopped hearing somewhere around the midpoint,” Keti unhelpfully tossed in. “Professor Windworth tried to get your attention to cut the magic but it was obvious you couldn’t hear a word. She even said she’d give you another minute before the magic got the better of you.”

  Aylum looked genuinely worried now, “What?”

  The other two, not so much.

  “Did you see anything interesting?” Soleia asked curiously. “Three is a good number.”

  “I wish the flames would display for everyone and not the holder. Being overly powered shouldn’t be the only way to make them show for the entire room.” Keti sighed. “I bet that was fun.”

  “Why is everyone okay with this?” Aylum gave an exasperated sigh.

  “Class is about to start.” I shrugged heading in.

  Keti snickered. “Being top of the class has its price.”

  “That’s not what being the best involves!” Aylum followed behind us. “Why are you okay with this?”

  “We’re not. You try stopping her.” Soleia raised an eyebrow at him as she sunk into her seat. “Good luck.” Her lips turned upward in a challenging smirk.

  Aylum gave her an irritated look before shooting me a tired glance and taking his own seat.

  As class went on Aylum cast me a few looks and it took me more than a moment to realize he was still concerned. I offered a few reassuring smiles as I could. I really was fine now. The professor had a lot to go over and I was soon caught up taking notes for the rest of the hour.

  After class Keti and I got caught up in a conversation. By the time it was curfew I realized I had no clue if Aylum was even interested in helping with any more practice.

  “Kareia? Can I borrow your notes for Herbal?” Fenella called through my door.

  It was sometimes annoying how much my roommates borrowed my notes, but ultimately inevitable. “Of course.” I grabbed it and went to the door. Just as I handed off the notebook a knock sounded from my balcony.

  We both glanced that way. “My, the wind is weird.” I shrugged.

  Fenella didn’t seem to buy it but shrugged as well. “It has to be. Oh
well, I’ll have this back in an hour.”

  “Take your time. I’m exhausted after divination today. Just shove it under my door or give it back tomorrow.” I yawned, hopefully in a convincing way.

  “Thank you.” She walked away, not really hearing me as she was already flipping through the notes.

  Quickly, I closed my door and silenced the room before heading to the balcony. Aylum was standing there waiting, just the same as last night.

  “I wasn’t sure if you’d come.” I motioned for him to come inside. “Though knocking is not going to work.”

  Aylum raised an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t I? There’s still a lot to do before you’re really ready for a duel.”

  I loved how simple that was. “I’m glad we both agree there. We just hadn’t really discussed continuing.”

  Aylum shrugged, standing just inside the doorway. “I suppose we can consider it discussed now then.”

  I nodded. “So, about knocking…”

  “I’m guessing it’s a dead giveaway something is going on if anyone overhears it.” He smiled as if he didn’t mind the mischief he obviously had caused.

  “Yes. Thankfully, my roommate was far more interested in my notes than actually figuring out what was going on.”

  Aylum shrugged. “I suppose I can just wait. You will know to expect me about now so it’s not a problem.”

  “That works.” I smiled, glad that was decided.

  “But before we start anything, what is this nonsense about you overusing magic to the point where everyone laughs it off?” He crossed his arms, a frown spreading across his lips.

  I wasn’t sure what to say. “I tend to push a little harder at things every time I work with them. Sometimes, maybe a bit too regularly, I push harder than I ought to.”

  Aylum nodded slowly. “You can’t sense when it’s too much until it’s too late?”

  “Sometimes. Today I started to feel a strain, but it was just a tightness, nothing that screamed I was about to collapse.” I sighed, moving to walk around the room. “I’m fine though. Just a little dizziness after, which I did get seen for.”