Sky Breaking 301

by Viola Grace

  Her magic is coming along, her kitten is still deadly, and she is about to make an actual friend. Controlling weather is simple by comparison.

  Sky Breaking seemed like a useful course, but its usefulness lay in the amount of credits that would count toward Imara’s degree.

  Once she is in the course, she meets the only other student, and they strike an unlikely friendship. Kitigan is a seer who has an interest in farming and apiculture, weather magic is part of that peculiar parcel.

  After a series of classes that turn into tests, Imara is happy to head to Kitty’s farm for a weekend away from school, and Mr. E wants to head out and ride some sheep. Everybody has something to do, including the trespassing werewolf pack that just moved in next to Kitty’s family farm.

  Imara has to walk the fine line between guest and defender while taking her Death Keeper skills for a spin. Her weekend is anything but relaxing.

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Sky Breaking 301

  Copyright © 2017 by Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-987969-42-9

  ©Cover art by Angela Waters

  All rights reserved. With the exception of review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the express permission of the publisher.

  Published by Viola Grace

  Look for me online at violagrace.com.

  Smashwords Edition

  Sky Breaking 301

  Hellkitten Chronicles Book 3

  By

  Viola Grace

  Chapter One

  Imara was curled up on the couch, doing some advanced reading for her next round of courses when Reegar wandered by. “So, your familiar is taking up hobbies?”

  She blinked and stared at the spectre. “Yeah, he said he wanted to do something with his spare time. Why?”

  “I had to help him with the welding tank. His paws couldn’t turn the—”

  She was up and out of her chair, heading down the hall with all the speed she could muster. When she got to the lab, she grabbed the frame and whipped around the corner.

  She took in Mr. E in his safety gear and the objects he was welding together. It seemed better to wait until his foot was off the pedal that was controlling the gas before she spoke with him. “Mr. E, what are you doing?”

  He was in prairie dog position, and as she asked, he pushed his goggles up to look at her with his adorable kittenish eyes. I admired blacksmiths while I was a child, now that you have indicated I could entertain myself while you were studying, I decided to take up the hobby. It is more difficult with fur and my paws, but Reegar is helpful if bizarrely amused.

  Imara pinched the bridge of her nose. “I think he is wondering where you got the goggles.”

  Mr. E lashed his tail. Bara obtained it for me, once Reegar explained what I needed.

  “Ah. Well, what are you making?”

  He moved his small black body between her and his project. I am just experimenting right now. I will let you know when I have something worth observing.

  “So, you want me to go?”

  Please. You may call upon me if you need me, but I believe you are doing fine with your studies.

  “So, you are telling me to bug off.”

  I would never do that, my dear mage-in-training. But I enjoy the thought of making something with my own paws and minimal magic.

  “If you get sparked, let me know. I will come running.”

  He let out a small purr, and his chin lifted. Thank you. Enjoy your studies.

  She inclined her head and backed out the door, waiting until she heard him start up again before she snuck her phone around the corner and took a picture of her kitten with a blowtorch.

  Chuckling, she glanced at the image for the next two hours while she went over the basics of weather manipulation.

  Imara was sitting and studying when Bara burst in, “Imara, turn on the TV. Argus is on the news.”

  Imara closed her book and sat up, grabbing the remote and turning on the television. Bara grabbed the remote and flicked to a local station.

  “Where are they?” Imara was watching footage from the previous night.

  “There was a riot around Ritual Space. They have started to restrict bookings, and some wizard groups are complaining.” Bara sat next to her on the couch.

  They watched the XIA team round up the wizards who were disturbingly naked. Imara tried not to look, but the festively decorated bodies were hypnotic.

  Bara snorted. “They were one of those male magic is stronger groups. I guess they pissed off the proprietor.”

  Imara wrinkled her nose as the Mage Guild bus pulled up and the men were handed off to those who would be able to deal with them. Epithets were fired from the arrested men to the non-humans that had cuffed them, but Argus and his team kept their cool in front of the camera.

  The reporter tried to get them to speak, but the door to the space opened, and they excused themselves as the guild vehicle hauled the idiots off for processing.

  The reporter smiled tightly and signed off.

  Bara snickered and turned the television off. “Just thought you would like to at least see him this week. You two sure have an odd relationship.”

  Imara sighed and drummed her fingers on her book. “We are doing just fine. I am on a fast track through school, and he is dealing with whatever happens on his shifts. We connect when we can.”

  “From what I can see, you two don’t connect at all.” Bara looked idly down at her fingernails.

  “None of your business, but I am a little young for him, according to him. I also have a business plan that we both want to see put into action. There is plenty of time for connections after that.”

  Bara sighed and leaned against the back of the couch. “You are so serious.”

  “That is my lot in life. On the other side, I am smarter than heck, have a few good friends, and a weirdly determined familiar, so I am feeling pretty good about myself.” Imara opened her book and found her page. The smug smirk on her lips probably didn’t become her, but she was enjoying the feeling of security that her surroundings were giving her.

  A thought occurred to her. “By the way, how did Mr. E ask you for the goggles?”

  Bara chuckled. “Reegar translated for him. Is he really using them?”

  “Yeah. I think a welding shield would be better. He has a lot of fluff.”

  “Noted. I will keep an eye out. I am really enjoying the textile studies.” Bara sighed happily.

  Imara went back to her book, and Bara interrupted her again.

  “Why are you studying across the board?”

  Imara looked up and cocked her head. “How long have you wanted to ask?”

  “Since last term.”

  Snickering, Imara tapped the book in her lap. “For what I want to do, a business course is basically what I need, but to get my certification and guild membership, I need my degree. Learning what I can about other aspects of magic and its application can only help me in the long run.”

  “So, you still want to be an investigator?”

  Imara corrected her. “A spectral consultant. Outside of the Death Keepers, the spectres don’t talk to anyone. They can’t.”

  “So, since you are a registered Death Keeper...”

  “Technically an apprentice, but I am part of the guild.”

  “So, you can go right from graduation to consultant with a degree to propel you into full Mage Guild status.”

  “That is the plan. In the meantime, I am taking advantage of the largest collection of instructors an
d specialists on the continent. I have half the business classes already taken care of and am looking forward to whisking through the next three terms.”

  Bara gave her a long look. “Aren’t you even tempted to delay just to experience college life?”

  Imara shook her head. “Nope. I have been around enough partiers in my life to know that it might be interesting, but it leaves more regret than most folks want to admit. I would rather barrel through and save the regretful social situations for after I graduate.”

  “Are you planning on having any?”

  Grinning, Imara turned back to her book. “I have every confidence in my ability to get into trouble, with or without my familiar.”

  “I have to say, I am glad to hear it. You are way too put together for someone your age. You make me look bad.”

  Imara found the spot where she had been reading about the effect of magic on thermal currents. “I don’t. I just focus on my future. I have been planning it since I was four, so it is nice that I am finally here and my little self didn’t know what a kegger was, so it wasn’t in the plan.”

  Bara snorted and left her alone.

  Imara got through two chapters before she felt a tingle and smelled scorched hair. She got up and had her glass in her hand the moment that Mr. E barrelled around the corner, the top of his head on fire.

  She dumped the ice water on the flames and picked him up, removing his goggles and heading for the kitchen. A light tingle of magic ran through their connection, and she watched as the discoloured skin at the top of his head heal and then sprout fluffy fur.

  He sighed and relaxed in her grip. I didn’t think I would catch fire.

  “That was silly of you. I am sorry, but you were designed to be a kitten, and kittens need to eat, sleep, and they are flammable.”

  He mumbled something about stupid mages and cuddled into her arms. My head is still wet.

  Imara sat and rubbed the growing fur slowly with a kitchen towel.

  The spectre of Magus Reegar materialized in the kitchen. “Was he on fire? There is a trail of singed hair from the lab to the entertainment room.”

  She smiled as Mr. E gave Reegar a narrow-eyed look. “He was. I don’t know if he is finished with his project.”

  Reegar nodded. “I will turn off the equipment.”

  He disappeared, and Imara continued to soothe her grumpy familiar.

  In his previous life, he may have been a homicidal mage on a mission, but now, he was her kitten, and he needed attention. She scratched under his chin, and his little body started a heavy purr. Yeah, he was a terrifying monster. She was lucky to have him.

  Don’t forget it. He gave a delicate yawn. How are the weather magic studies coming?

  “They are fine. I think I am grasping the thermal drifts and how to use nature to magnify the effects.”

  Good. Prepare to be quizzed.

  “What?”

  In a volcanic habitat, how do you generate snow?

  She blinked, and he made a mental ticking clock noise. Apparently, class was starting a few days early.

  “You begin by locating a water source, and then, you check the temperature of the magma...” She continued to pet him as she worked her way through the options of the techniques she had just learned. It wasn’t going to be the right answer, but it was an answer. That was a start.

  Class was in session, and the professor was almost over his ouchie.

  Chapter Two

  Your suitor is definitely worthy of your attentions. The smug voice was laced with satisfaction from his position on his new perch.

  Imara smiled and kept hiking. “I am glad you are enjoying it. I still have no idea what to get him for his birthday, whenever it is.”

  The new backpack was wide, sturdy, and had a shelf built into the top for Mr. E to park his fuzzy butt. She was his Sherpa through the campus, and he was enjoying the ride.

  The summer session was in full swing, and the campus was nearly empty. Only the die-hard students were still attending. Half the faculty was on vacation.

  The field she was walking through had a single pathway in it, and it was enough of a hint that she was in the right place that she didn’t panic. The building that she was looking for had to be around here somewhere.

  It is underground. Look for a large stone slab and stand on it for one minute. It will take you down. Mr. E seemed to have worn off his dizzy fun, and he was now taking her finding her course location seriously.

  “How do you know that?”

  I asked Reegar. He is a fountain of information. He shared a similar worldview to mine and is delighted to have me under his roof. I am one of his heroes.

  “Oh, man. That isn’t good.”

  I beg to differ. Despite my sentence, I had no idea that I had an underground cult following. It is heartening to hear that folks don’t go for demonic intervention anymore.

  “I don’t think it was a trend that could have remained for any length of time.”

  It had begun to take on a cataclysmic pace. It had to be stopped, so I stopped it.

  She wrinkled her nose. “And the guild obviously didn’t disagree with your actions, or they would have sentenced you to death and not familial repayment.”

  Death would have been quick; this is an eternity of servitude. It is much worse.

  “Thanks for that.” She spotted the stone panel that he had described.

  Imara, you are the bright spot in an otherwise tedious existence, even if your choice of forms for me could have been slightly more masculine.

  She grinned and stepped in the centre of the circular pad. A click was audible, and the pad she stood on slowly lowered into the earth.

  Weather control was about to begin.

  “You won’t need your familiar. It can wait here.” The woman who spoke was distinctively green.

  Imara set her backpack down, got out Mr. E’s food and water and turned back to her instructor. “There, he is all set.”

  The dryad nodded. “Good. Now, the other student is this way. You will be working as a team.”

  “Other student? I thought there would be more.”

  “This is an advanced class, Ms. Mirrin. Few could make it through the selection process.”

  The structure they were in was stone. The walls, floors, and archways that led into other parts of the underground warren were all stone.

  “Am I late?”

  “No, you are on time. I believe the other student forgot to set her clock, but the Deegles have always been funny about time.”

  “Do I need my books?”

  “No. You can read the theory after the lessons. It will give you more reference points then, and you won’t overthink it.”

  Imara blushed. She had read all the texts twice. Her brain was whirling with situations and adjustments. She just had to try to tamp down those impulses when it came time to actually working with magic.

  They walked down a hall, and a huge amphitheatre waited for them. There was one small figure sitting in the first row with glints of light coming from her hands when she moved. She moved a lot.

  The dryad nodded to the other woman. “Introduce yourselves. I will set up the first lab.”

  Imara walked up to the other student and sat next to her. “Hiya. I am Imara, and it looks like we are it in this class.”

  The woman looked at her and nodded, her clothing dotted by orbs dangling from nearly every available surface. The woman smiled and extended her hand, covered in rings with small orbs on them. “I am Kitigan, but most folks call me Kitty.”

  Imara shook her hand in greeting and enjoyed the amused twinkle in the other young woman’s eyes. “Pleased to meet you.”

  “You as well. I have heard interesting things about you.” She quirked her lips.

  “Nothing bad.”

  “Nope. I took a course on bookkeeping with one of your brother’s last term. During a study group, he mentioned that you had joined the school.”

  Their instructor finished organizing
herself and tapped her lectern. “Okay, ladies. Pleasantries are over. I am Weather Witch Annamaria Eckoak. You may address me as Eckoak. Yes, I am a dryad, but my father was a weather wizard, and it is a family skill. I am here to try and transfer natural talent into deliberate action. Sky breaking is a difficult skill to learn.”

  Kitty cleared her throat. “Sky breaking?”

  Eckoak inclined her head and raised her hand. As she spoke, a cloud formed ten inches over her palm. “You are taking air, wind, water, heat, radiation, and anything else in the vicinity and inserting it into the existing weather pattern to assert your will. You are breaking the pattern and making another. You have to see where it is going and where it will end. The most important thing is to contain it. Now, I want each of you to come up here and try to replicate this particular effect. I want to see a storm in your palms.”

  Imara blinked. “What?”

  “Storm in your hands, ladies. Now. Come here and give it a try.” Eckoak gave them a slight and encouraging smile.

  Imara walked to face her instructor with a dazed feeling. Her mind ran through all of the information she had absorbed over the last few days, and she held out her hands as Kitty joined her in front of the lectern.

  She focused on finding water, but the air around her was dry. Deliberately, she didn’t look at either of her companions as she spit into her palm to start things off.

  Imara inhaled, exhaled, using her body as a heat source and her breath for wind. The tiny cloud began to form, and it flickered for a moment before dissipating and leaving her shaking and exhausted.

  She dropped her hands to her sides and watched as Kitty cupped her hands together and blew softly. A tiny tornado formed, shooting upward before Kitty let it lose steam.

  Eckoak looked up and made a tsk sound. “Sloppy but encouraging. Let me just grab that wind before it gets hostile.”