“I wish I had your optimism.” I picked at a splinter in the wooden bench. “None of them want anything to do with me. Even Stormclaw’s been acting weird. He’s never run off from me before, especially not when I’ve been hurt.”
Zara composed her face, but not before I saw her unease. “Well, it’s like Ryder said, right? You were screaming pretty loud. He must’ve just got spooked.”
“Gryffs don’t get spooked by human screams. If they did, they wouldn’t go round biting so many people. I don’t know. This was… it was something else. Something weird.”
I stopped short of mentioning the flash of yellow-brown, because I’d hit my head pretty hard and the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like my brain had probably just misinterpreted a flash of sunlight, what with the being rattled around inside my skull. It seemed more likely than what I thought I’d seen – because there was absolutely no way that the yellow-brown flash had been fur.
We limped through to the end of the lab session on the back of Kyle’s potion skills, which was good because mine were mediocre at best – and I definitely wasn’t at my best right now.
Despite what I’d said to Zara, the race had me rattled, and having to see Xavier’s gloating face at lunch didn’t exactly make things better. He was, of course, going round telling everyone who’d listen – which was pretty much everyone – that I’d messed up the trius and fallen off, conveniently missing the whole part about how he’d hexed my ball. Apparently, my burned glove and hand weren’t proof enough. I couldn’t prove Xavier had been the one to do it, so of course he’d put a rumour about that I’d done it to myself to try to make him look bad. It didn’t help my cause that he was ahead of me when it had happened.
But I’d meant what I said – rankle though it might (and did), I had bigger concerns. Stormclaw was being antsy around me. He didn’t want to come when I called him, and he’d become surly and evasive. Well, okay, he’d always been surly and evasive, but never with me. It hurt. He was my friend. We shared a bond. Or at least, I’d thought we did, but now he didn’t want to be anywhere near me. The other gryffs, too. Just showing up at the field was enough to scatter the herd. At least Stormclaw just gave me the stink-eye. I’d have to go and see him again this evening, but truth be told, I was in no hurry to get rejected again. It was the first time I’d been reluctant to hang out with him, and it left me feeling… hollow. Empty. And resentful. What did I do to upset him? It wasn’t my fault I fell, and dammit, I’d been good to him. I’d saved his life two years ago. I did everything I could for him, and now he hated me, because, what, I fell? What world was that fair in?
Fair. What a ridiculous thing to believe in after everything I’d seen. My brow furrowed as I doodled on my open notepad. I wasn’t sure when I’d stopped believing in fair. I wasn’t sure when I’d become this bitter. And I wasn’t sure I cared.
“Lyssa, much as I appreciate you gracing my lecture with your presence, you might want to try taking some notes, or dare I suggest, joining in the discussion?” I jerked my head up to stare blankly in Martin’s direction as he carried on. “It may have escaped your attention, but Druidic Law is a somewhat important subject for anyone wanting a future in law enforcement.”
A few sniggers sounded, and I didn’t bother looking round to see who they’d come from. Xavier had a lot of friends here. Or at least, friends of his father’s status.
“Sorry, Martin,” I mumbled.
I waited until he turned away before I started cramming my books back into my bag.
“What are you doing?” Zara asked.
“I’ve got something to take care of. Share your lecture notes with me tonight?”
She snorted, and I glanced down at her notepad, covered in doodles and squiggles, and a passable sketch of Xavier being eaten by a three-eyed fish. I rolled my eyes and turned to Kyle, who already had several pages of notes.
“Go,” he said, without taking his eyes from his notepad. “I’ll make you a copy.”
“Thanks.”
I made for the door, grateful we’d sat near the back. Not that there was any rule that said we had to stay for the entire lecture, strictly speaking, but Martin was right – a good grasp of law was pretty essential for a career as an enforcer.
I hurried through the hallways and was almost to the external doors when I spotted Elias.
“Ditching?” he asked casually, falling into step beside me.
“Uh…”
“For someone in danger of not even being able to sit the Familiamancy exam, let alone pass it, you might consider spending more time in lectures and less time wandering.”
“Well, that’s kinda why I’m… here.” I’d been going to say ‘ditching’, but I still couldn’t bring myself to admit that to the head instructor. It was taking a while to get past the rigid adherence to routine Dragondale had beaten into me.
“Oh?” He sounded politely interested, like he knew I was making it up. But actually, now that I thought about it, it wasn’t completely unrelated.
“The familiars aren’t the only ones avoiding me. The gryffs are too – even Stormclaw.”
“I’m… not sure I see how the two are related.”
We reached the end of the corridor and came to a stop. I knew his office lay to the right, and the doors to the grounds on the left.
“I’m not, either,” I admitted. “But they’ve got to be, right?”
Elias sighed, all pretence of nonchalance gone.
“I know you’d like to think so, Lyssa, but the fact is, gryffs are cantankerous. Even Stormclaw. I’m aware you have a bond with him, but it’s in their nature to act like that. Look, you clearly need a break. Go and spend some time with him, and I’ll tell Glenn you can’t make your session this evening.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled, and turned left. Maybe he was right – I was just desperate to see a connection when there wasn’t one. An excuse for my failure. It wasn’t like I’d never failed at anything before – I had a whole list of university rejection letters gathering dust that proved otherwise – but not like this. Never with Stormclaw. And familiars? The whole idea was that they were familiar spirits, that they wanted to seek out and bond with a druid. But they couldn’t get away from me fast enough. I just wished I knew what I was doing wrong so I could fix it.
When I reached the field where the herd was running loose, a smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. There was joy in watching the big animals cavort and play, even knowing they wanted nothing to with me. It was still peaceful. It gave me hope. Things wouldn’t always be the way they were right now. I would find a way to fix it. I scanned the herd for the black and gold gryff, and eventually spotted him, standing a little distance away from the rest. That was weird.
“Stormclaw!” I called, and as before, the sound of my voice sent the rest of the herd running. Seriously, it was getting hard not to take offence. Stormclaw lifted his head, flared out his wings, and trotted after the herd.
My stomach sank. Not because of the rejection – at least, not just because of the rejection – but even from here, I could see his gait was off.
“Stormclaw, come back!”
He didn’t so much as twitch an ear in my direction, just kept ambling after the others, favouring his front left leg. The one he’d injured last year. The one that had nearly killed him.
I leaned on the fence, debating whether I should climb it and go after him, but there was no way I could outrun a hippogryff, even a lame one. We needed help. But who? There was no-one here Stormclaw trusted enough to let them close when he wasn’t hurt, never mind when every step was causing him obvious pain.
Professor Alden, maybe, if I could get a message to her? No, that wouldn’t work. The best he’d ever done was tolerate her, and she’d been one of his favourite people at Dragondale. He didn’t much go in for humans.
Wait.
Humans, no. But werewolves?
I was halfway to my dorm room when I realised the obvious problem with that. There was
too much magic floating around at Krakenvale – there was no way I’d get my phone to work long enough to call Leo. But every academy had one phone that was powered by magic, not electricity.
I changed course and rapped my knuckles on Elias’s open door.
“Lyssa, I meant what I said, I’ll cancel your– What’s wrong?”
He got to his feet, and I tried to get my breathing under control as he stepped from behind his desk.
“Come in, take a seat.”
I stepped inside but shook my head.
“It’s Stormclaw, he’s hurt. His old injury has flared up again, we need to treat it before he does any permanent damage.”
“Okay, no need to panic,” he said, his face creased in confusion. “I’ll send for the leighlann.”
I shook my head again. There was no animal healer in the country who could handle Stormclaw.
“You don’t understand. I can’t get anywhere near him, and if I can’t, the leighlann won’t be able to, either.”
“Well, that does make it more difficult. But I’m sure we can find some volunteers to help round him up, and there are sedation spells the leighlann can use if need be.”
“Those spells are too dangerous. There’s someone else who might be able to get close to him.”
“Oh? From Dragondale?”
“Uh… not exactly.” I took a breath and set my jaw. “Someone from Fur ‘n’ Fang.”
It took about three seconds for my words to fully register with Elias, and when they did, his face clouded over.
“No,” he said, in a voice that told me the topic was closed. Too bad I’d never been one for following social etiquette.
“But–”
“I said, no. I won’t have one of the shifter instructors inside this academy. Not after we came so close to war with them just a handful of months ago.”
“I didn’t mean one of the instructors,” I said. None of the instructors knew Stormclaw, and he wasn’t going to trust a stranger right now. “I meant Leo.”
“Leo, the–”
Elias cut off, apparently incapable of finishing the sentence, so I finished it for him.
“The shifter who was found innocent of the attacks,” I said. “The one who acted as ambassador between the packs and Dragondale. And the one who rallied the pack enforcers to come and help fight against Raphael in the exact same battle you’re talking about.”
“Alright, alright.” Elias held up his hands in surrender and his lips twitched, then his face grew serious. “I’ll allow the shifter to come into the grounds – not the academy – long enough to help the Leighlann with your gryff. But he leaves the moment he is done, and he remains under escort the whole time he’s here.”
“Thanks, Elias.”
“Don’t thank me yet. And don’t make me regret this.”
“I won’t.”
I stood there, smiling like an idiot, and Elias raised an eyebrow.
“Is this something else I can help you with? Perhaps you’d like one of my kidneys?”
“Um, gross. I’d settle for your phone.”
Chapter Sixteen
Leo came that evening. Elias had cancelled Itealta practice – I really wasn’t going to be flavour of the month at this rate – but insisted that Killian stayed with Leo while he was here. It was hard to imagine a worse combination than my hot-headed shifter friend, and the bigoted Combat Magic instructor. I just hoped Leo could hold on to his temper if Killian needled him, because the last thing I needed was for anyone to have another excuse to kick me out of here. Of course, if I didn’t manage to bond a familiar, no-one would need an excuse – but that was a problem for tomorrow. My priority right now was Stormclaw. Even if he didn’t like me anymore. Because I cared about him, and that meant I would do whatever it took to get him better, no matter the cost to me.
“Thanks for coming,” I said, reaching up and embracing Leo – the shifter was massive, and covered in lean, wiry muscle that would have impressed Killian – if it hadn’t been attached to a werewolf. Much as he prided himself in pushing his students to keep fit, I doubted he was so fond of seeing such obvious strength in a potential enemy. And I knew he didn’t like seeing us embrace, because he was glowering at us right now.
“Anything for… Stormclaw,” he said, shooting me a wink. “Who’s your friend?”
“Uh, Leo, this is Instructor Killian Danvers.” I didn’t bother pointing out the ‘friend’ was a stretch. “Killian, this is Leo.”
Killian inclined his head the barest fraction. “Shifter.”
Leo mimicked the gesture. “Druid.”
I kept from rolling my eyes through strength of will alone. “Leighlann Merrick is setting up by the main field. We should go and find him.”
He’d wanted to set up in the stables, but when I told him Stormclaw was in a foul temper and I didn’t think we’d be able to get him that far, he’d changed location without comment.
When we got there, I saw two other figures beside the leighlann. Iain and Martin. I frowned. Exactly how many escorts did Elias think one shifter warranted? Especially when that shifter had proved his commitment to the truce a half-dozen times over. Killian must have caught the irritation on my face.
“You didn’t think the leighlan would be here without protection, did you, Zeke?”
Leo frowned and looked at me.
“Zeke?”
I shook my head, in no mood to explain my less than flattering nickname.
“Zeke and Leo,” Killian said. “A fitting pair.”
“Wait,” Leo said, stopping dead and catching my wrist. “Zeke as in the cowardly lion?”
He glared at Killian and his shoulders tensed under his Fur ‘n’ Fang hoodie.
“Leave it,” I said. “It’s just a dumb nickname.”
“Dumb is right,” Leo grumbled, but turned his eyes from Killian just the same. “Cowards don’t ride into battle against powerful dark druids on the backs of animals that could kill them.”
Too bad I couldn’t do that anymore. I couldn’t even get close enough to Stormclaw to check out his leg, never mind ride him into battle. I said nothing, and he frowned, his gaze flickering over my face.
“They don’t cauterise wounds on shifters they don’t know, either, or stand up for their friends when people lock them away. You are not a coward. You know what they say about bullies, though.”
He sent a hard stare in Killian’s direction, whose jaw tightened.
“Watch your mouth, shifter. You’re here as a guest.”
“Yeah,” Leo said, not breaking eye-contact this time. “Remember that. I have guest rights.”
“You remember that, too,” I said, grabbing his arm and turning him to me. “You’re as bound by those laws as he is.”
Leo stalked off in front, and I didn’t bother to try to keep up. Some distance between him and Killian was probably a good thing right now. Breaching guest rights was a big deal in druidic and shifter circles. Enough to land Leo in some serious trouble. In theory, enough to land Killian in trouble, too – but somehow, I didn’t think anyone round here would be taking a shifter’s word over their own instructor’s.
“Ah, good,” Merrick said when we reached him. “I was starting to think you weren’t coming.”
“Sorry,” I said. “There was a… delay.”
Martin and Iain both turned to Leo, their attention sharpening. I kept from rolling my eyes only because I was damned if I’d be the one who broke the truce.
“Iain, Martin, this is Leo. Leo, Iain, Martin.”
They didn’t react, and Leo scowled in their direction. I elbowed him in the ribs.
“Really, is it so hard for druids and shifters to get past their prejudices?” I complained, loudly enough for everyone to hear, because it seemed like everyone was so concerned with hating each other that they were incapable of focusing on what was important. “Seriously. Zara has pineapple on her pizza, and if I can get past that, surely you can get over this hang up about whether someone
controls the elements or turns into a wolf?”
I saw the beginnings of a smile tugging at the corners of Iain’s mouth. He stretched a hand out to Leo. The shifter reached over and grasped it, shaking it once before turning back to me and shaking out the tension like a wet dog.
“You’ve got a friend who has pineapple on pizza?” He shook his head and mock eyeballed me. “You druids are weird.”
“Right back at ya, wolf boy.”
“So,” he said, glancing out at the field. “Where’s Stormclaw?”
I leaned over the gate and scanned the field. The closest gryffs lifted their heads, snorted, and took off at a canter away from me.
“You sure know how to clear a room.”
“Nice to be wanted, right?” I caught sight of a gryff at the back of the herd, moving with a lopsided gait. I pointed. “There.”
Leo planted one hand on the fence and vaulted over it with a grace that would put any of the trainees in my year to shame – except Paisley. No-one watching him could ever have mistaken him for human.
“Wait, you’ll need this,” I said, grabbing Stormclaw’s headcollar from the gatepost. Leo looked at it for a long moment, then shrugged and took it. If Stormclaw was even half as bad with him as he had been with me, he wouldn’t stand a chance of bringing him in without the collar. Or with it, come to that.
Leo headed across the field at an easy lope, not slowing until he was a handful of metres from the black and gold gryff. Stormclaw’s head went up, and my breath caught in my throat. If he charged Leo, we were all too far away to do anything to help, and I doubted even his super shifter healing could stop a ton and a half of gryff trampling him from being fatal.
Leo closed the gap between them with a slow, measured stride, his mouth moving the whole time, though I couldn’t make out what he was saying from here. Stormclaw tossed his head and flared his wings, but Leo didn’t back away. Instead, he raised one hand and stretched it out to Stormclaw’s porcelain smooth beak. Stormclaw froze, then stretched out his long neck and butted his head against Leo’s head. The shifter rubbed his hand over the beak, and I saw the gryff lean into his touch.
Familiar Magic (Druid Enforcer Academy Book 1) Page 11
