The professor who was overseeing the tent furrowed his brow in confusion. “But, but I was sure she was dying. There are no herbs that could have saved her.”
Penelope laughed and tried to sound flippant. “Maybe you didn’t check thoroughly, Sebastian,” she said, trying to ease the tension.
But then Damien piped up. “I saw what she did.” He pointed at me. “She healed that girl with her powers alone.”
The old professor scoffed at Damien. “Impossible—no one has so much power at so young an age, and even if she did, a healing like that would have sapped all of her powers. Only the fae can heal like this. You must be mistaken, my boy. I think the potion Rory made expelled both the poisons. Good, good, I must make a note of that for the guild.”
“But I saw her,” said Damien lamely. “I saw her. She healed the girl. She put her hands on her head, and she healed her.”
The old professor eyed him sternly. “I do not like liars, my boy.” He turned away from Damien and walked out of the tent, gesturing for us to follow him. Penelope stayed behind to check the patient.
I snuck a peek at Penelope, and she was looking at me very suspiciously. I think she knew. The question was, what would she do about it? Would she support me? Uncle Gabriel said most people were afraid of fae-mages. Would Penelope turn me over out of fear? Or would she keep my secret?
It was done now; at least the professor didn’t believe Damien. I knew Damien would not leave it alone. He was suspicious, and it was only a matter of time before he figured out the truth.
Damien left the tent first. I stumbled behind him into the sunlight.
Vivienne ran over. “What happened? Why was Professor Plumpleberry called in?”
Celia Greendew came over too. “Yes, Rory,” she said, pouting. “I thought you were so good at healing, all those extra classes and all. Hope you don’t fail your first test.”
I hung my head. What could I say? I couldn’t tell them what I really did. I had already raised Damien’s suspicions, and Penelope must have realized that the magic I used to heal the girl was fae magic. It wasn’t long now before someone found out and revealed my secret. And that someone would probably be Damien.
The next day of tests went well. It was the illusions and transformation examination, and I had the highest marks in the class. I managed to turn Vivienne’s hair pink and gave her fae ears. I thought she looked very cute. Even Professor Swindern was impressed and clapped when I performed my illusion. Luckily Vivienne scraped through her test, since she tried to turn my hair green but only succeeding in coloring half of it.
The last day of testing was upon us. I was so nervous the whole night I couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned in my bed and replayed all that had happened again and again in my head. I hadn’t seen Damien at the illusion test, and I hoped he had dismissed his suspicions about me. I dressed quickly and hardly ate any breakfast. My stomach was doing cartwheels, and I felt unwell.
The south field was completely transformed; in the center was a round, open arena surrounded by stands that rose in tiers. It looked like a miniature coliseum. I glanced up to find that there was a huge turnout today, and everyone had come to see the final tests—warrior skills.
Baron Tanko announced the opening of the day’s examinations and signaled for the testing to begin. He then read out the names of everyone’s opponents. It shouldn’t have come as such a surprise when I was pitted against Damien. The teachers knew of our dislike for each other, but they also knew that I was the only one who was as good as Damien in warrior skills. They seemed to want a public duel, and I was going to give them one.
“I did some checking up on you, Rory,” Damien said, coming up to me, a jeering tone to his voice. “I have searched all the archives for some mention of your family, and there is none. Every noble family is listed, even the obscure ones. So I did some more digging.” His eyes narrowed and turned to ice. “And you know what I found?”
I shook my head as my blood ran cold.
“I discovered that my uncle, the archmage Lucian, has been searching for a girl.” His eyes bore into mine. “An escaped prisoner who has been hiding from Morgana under a false identity.”
I stood frozen in shock.
He came closer and leaned close to me, his breath hot on my ear. “I know who you really are, Aurora Firedrake.”
My skin prickled at his words, but I kept my face impassive, pushing aside the dread that had started rising within me. “I don’t know what you are talking about. I’ve never heard that name.” I turned to leave.
His hand darted at me like a snake as he caught my arm in a violent grip. “Your days are numbered, Firedrake. Once I beat you in front of the whole school, I will send a message to my uncle, the archmage. I’m sure he will be very pleased to find out where you are.”
I walked away from him, my blood boiling. How could I have been so stupid? I risked everything to save the girl, and now Damien had found out who I really was. I had to stop him from sending that message to Lucian. But how?
I couldn’t think about that right now. I had to concentrate, or I would fail the most important test. But I wasn’t going to let him get the better of me. If I could hit him with a powerful enough stun during the match, I could potentially knock him out for a few hours until I spoke to Penelope and Professor Dekela and figured out what to do. But Damien was a powerful novice; it would be nearly impossible to break through his shield with my amulet on. If I took it off during the match, just long enough to knock Damien out, I was sure I could control my magic—for a short time, at least.
The fourth-years, then third-years, and finally second-years preceded us, as they always did. It was quite wonderful watching the more advanced students matched in magical duels. Their strikes were fast, and their shields were strong.
It was finally my turn. Damien and I took our places opposite each other in the center of the arena. We took ten steps away from each other as instructed.
Baron Tanko’s voice sounded across the arena. “Shields up!” he boomed. “Begin.”
Damien turned before me and shot a stun strike at my head, but my magical shield easily deflected it. There were three rounds, and the best of three won. Confident that my shield was strong, I channeled my magic into attacking Damien. I hit him with a stun strike, but his shield held. I gathered more power and performed a push strike, which succeeded in making him stumble. I beamed. I had got a hit in and had won the first point. If I won the next one, I would win the duel.
Damien looked at me with such hatred in his piercing blue eyes that a shiver ran down my spine when I remembered how he and his friends had attacked me. But I was not the same person I had been then. I was stronger, faster, and adequately trained to take him on now. I had to concentrate; I had to stun him with a powerful strike that would incapacitate him before he sent a message to the archmage telling him where I was.
As I was patting myself on the back for winning the first round and trying to figure out my next move, I lost concentration. That was all Damien needed, and a powerful stun strike broke through my shield and hit me on my leg. I staggered and fell to my knees.
I channeled my powers into healing myself from the inside. Penelope had taught me how to do this. I shook off the effects of the stun immediately without much effort. There were murmurs from the crowd, and I realized that I was not really supposed to know how to shake off the effects of a stun strike and heal myself, since I was still considered a novice. I had no choice, though. The stun would have left me too disoriented to have continued with the final round, and Damien would have won by default.
I tried to clear my head and concentrate on the last round. If I lost this, Damien would win the duel. After that, he would expose me to the world. The time to act was now.
He came slowly closer, circling and taunting me, as I tried to stand up. “You thought no one would find out who you are.” His voice was soft so only I could hear what he was saying. “But now I will destroy you. I will make sure you j
oin your parents in the afterlife.”
The mention of my parents gave me the strength I needed to push more magic into my shield. I was finding it more and more difficult to concentrate with him badgering me. I was upset and frustrated that his taunts had made me lose the second round, and now he was going to try to do it again. I ignored him and focused on holding my shield.
Damien started hitting me with a barrage of stun strikes and push strikes. I maintained the shield, and his strikes bounced off it, but I was getting tired.
I could hear someone in the crowd whispering, “She might as well give up now. The Blackwater boy is quite obviously a better warrior.”
I willed myself to stand up. This was my last chance.
Damien’s strikes were getting fiercer. I realized that he wanted to end this and was giving it his all. I gathered my power and strengthened my shield. In his frustration, Damien even tried a lightning strike on me, which was against the rules. It was weak, and it effortlessly bounced off my shield and fizzled out, but no one stopped the match or disqualified him.
I cleared my head and calmed my racing heart, taking deep breaths. I shut out the voices around me, just as Uncle Gabriel had taught me in my first concentration lessons. I was now more than determined to do my best and show everyone what I was made of.
I knew I had been told to keep a low profile, but at this moment all I wanted to do was make sure Damien didn’t leave this match conscious.
Uncle Gabriel’s warning resounded in my head, but I pushed it from my thoughts and concentrated on the task at hand. A powerful stun strike would knock Damien out for a few hours at least, and the match would be over.
“Give up,” Damien was saying. “You can’t defeat me. I will always be stronger than you.”
Damien was still trying to taunt me, but this time I ignored him and looked deep inside myself. The white light was growing fainter, but it was still there. I knew there was only one way to finish this. I pushed away the nagging warnings in my head and yanked the amulet from my neck. I held my shield, never taking my eyes off my opponent.
Instantly, my magic started to grow. Power rushed into me from all sides, even up through the earth, one of the greatest sources of fae magic. White light pulsed through my veins, and I was overwhelmed by the rush of power that rose like a tidal wave inside me. I knew what I had to do and how to do it, but my magic was still growing. Power coursed through me, and I instinctively raised my arms in front of me, with my palms facing Damien.
I had intended a simple stun strike, but suddenly I couldn’t control my power. My fae magic was mixing with my mage magic and fueling it. I tried hard to get it under control, but it was useless. It was still growing, like a huge ball of light that was ready to burst out of me, and I shook from the concentration it took to try to control it.
At the back of my mind I heard someone shout, “Can you feel that? I have never felt such power before!”
Someone else said, “Look at her, she’s glowing.”
Unexpectedly, and much to my utter dismay, I lost complete control over my magic. Powerful bolts of raging silver fire exploded out of my palms. It shattered Damien’s shield and hit him directly in the chest. He went flying a few feet and landed on his back, screaming in terror as silver fire enveloped him.
I was horrified. What had I done? When I looked down, I was hovering a few inches off the ground. I panicked and fell back down on my knees. I looked down at my hands; they were still spitting silver sparks. Penelope had told me that silver fire was the weapon of choice of fire-fae warriors.
The whole school was in an uproar. Penelope tended to Damien, whom I had just set on fire. Luckily, she had already put it out.
Professor Dekela’s voice reverberated through the arena. “Please do not panic. Our healer has this under control. The student will be fine.”
Shouts of, “She’s no mage, she’s fae,” resounded through the arena.
Another shouted, “She is no ordinary fae. Can you not feel the power she is emitting? She is a fae-mage.”
As he said that, all hell broke loose.
People started screaming. Girls were screeching, and many began to run away, as if I were some monster who was going to destroy them all.
I got to my feet, quickly slipped my necklace back on, and ran out of the arena. After the disaster at the testing, I was afraid to go back to my dorm in case someone called for me to be detained. So I hid and waited until Professor Dekela was alone, then went to see him.
“There you are, finally,” he said when I caught him walking back to his rooms.
I was anxious as to how he would react. “You aren’t scared of me?” I felt stupid as soon I said it.
Professor Dekela laughed at me. “No, my dear child, I am not scared of you.” He chuckled again and shook his head. “Imagine that! A fae-mage living undetected under my very nose. Marvelous. I never thought in all my years that I would ever get an opportunity to meet one. I must say I am honored, Princess Aurora.”
“So you are not angry with me?” I looked down, feeling very awkward.
Professor Dekela frowned. “Now, that is another matter entirely. You should never have revealed yourself like that. Everyone saw you; this story will spread like wildfire through the seven kingdoms. Morgana will search for you even more fervently now. She will want to get rid of you before you can learn to master all your powers. Now that everyone knows that you are a fae-mage, Morgana will think of you as an immediate threat. She will send her best after you. The school will not be able to protect you against her. You must leave the academy tonight. There is no time to waste.”
I nodded. He was right. But I had to explain why I had done it. “Damien found out who I really was and threatened to tell Lucian I was in Evolon.” I wrung my hands together. “I thought if I could stun him and knock him out for a while, I could stop him from telling the archmage until we figured out what to do.”
The mastermage narrowed his eyes as he studied me. “What’s done is done. We cannot change the past. We must now look to the future.”
I hung my head. “Where will I go now?”
“Go to the king at the Summer Palace. You must get the support of Petrocales. If Eldoren stands behind you, you will have a chance against Morgana.”
“What if he says no? I saw how people looked at me. They think I am some kind of monster.” I couldn’t help feeling very sorry for myself.
“That is because two of the six fae-mages turned to dark magic to enhance their powers even more,” said Professor Dekela slowly. “The world is still reeling from the death and destruction they caused.”
I looked at him aghast. “Uncle Gabriel didn’t tell me that part.”
“So he knows, does he?”
I nodded.
“I can see you are wearing the Amulet of Auraken. Where did you get it? Did Silverthorne give it to you?”
I shook my head. “It was my parents who made me wear it. It was around my neck when I was sent away to the other world. It was all I had with me when my adoptive parents found me.”
Professor Dekela adjusted his robes. “I think you now know that it is probably better that you keep it on.”
I nodded again. What could I say? I shouldn’t have done it, but there was no other way to stop Damien. I had learned my lesson, and I hoped it was not too late. I felt terrible; even though I hated Damien, I had only intended to hit him with a stun strike, which he would have recovered from eventually.
“What will happen to Damien?” There was a catch in my voice.
“Damien will be fine.” His eyes softened. “I know it was not your intent to unleash silver fire. I could see you lost control of your powers. Luckily for all of us, Penelope somehow pre-empted what would happen before you struck, and sent out a fae countershield. He was only left with a few burns, which can be easily soothed and mended.”
I was so relieved. At least I wasn’t a murderer.
“But,” he went on, “I hope you have learned your
lesson. You must learn to control your fae magic soon, Aurora. You now understand the severity of the situation. Today you unleashed silver fire; only the deadliest of fire-fae warriors use this power. If Penelope hadn’t been there and your strike had hit Damien directly, it would have not only killed him but turned him to ash in seconds.”
I stared at him wide-eyed. Was he serious? That was way too much power for me to handle. I was never going to take off the amulet again.
The old professor put his hand on my shoulder. “Be strong, Princess Aurora. The mages of Evolon will always be at your service should you ever need us.”
I thanked Professor Dekela for everything he had done for me. I went to my dorm while everyone was at dinner, gathered my stuff from my room, found Erien and Penelope, and left Evolon in the dark of night.
The Summer Palace
It was dark, and we rode quickly through the city streets. Professor Dekela gave us the use of three of the academy’s horses. Luckily Penelope and Erien were accompanying me to the palace. I was relieved, since I was quite nervous about going there by myself. I’d heard from Penelope that Uncle Gabriel was on his way back and would be joining us at the palace.
Penelope had come to terms with the fact that I was a fae-mage. Her suspicions were raised, just as I suspected, when she saw how well the girl in the test was healed. Much to my relief, she was not afraid of me.
I was too scared to face Vivienne, and I had no idea how she would react to this, especially after I had lied to her time and time again. That was why I left the academy without saying goodbye to her. I couldn’t bear the thought of her rejecting me, and I was worried that I had lost my best friend.
When the palace came into view, I was taken aback by its magnificence. It was an enormous structure that stretched the length of a football field. Although I had seen it from a distance, since it was situated on the other side of the city, I had never seen it up close.
The Last of the Firedrakes (The Avalonia Chronicles Book 1) Page 26
