“I think it’s a poisonous mushroom, but not just any mushroom. It seems to be the deadly Andrysian mushroom called the Shadow of Death,” I said finally. “Look at the purple tint around her lips.”
Damien thought for a moment. “Maybe you’re right,” he said. “After all, you are from Andrysia.”
I was surprised that he agreed with me so easily. I thought I would have a fight on my hands.
“Well, that is an easy remedy to make then,” he said, full of himself. He went about making the concoction. I wondered what he was doing. It didn’t look right.
“I don’t think you should add any more of the purple dragon-flower seed,” I said. “The girl could die.”
“You dare to question me,” said Damien, smirking. “I know exactly what I’m doing.”
A professor was standing quietly in the corner. Only inspecting, no advising. I was alone. Damien had confused me, made me think I was wrong when I was so sure that I had been right. I remembered studying this with Penelope.
Damien spooned the mixture into the girl’s mouth. Instantly she started turning white, and her breathing became even more labored.
“She’s dying,” I said aghast. It was as I expected. Damien had made the wrong antidote.
Even the old professor looked worried when I glanced over at him, but he offered no words of help.
Damien looked confused. “But it was such a simple remedy,” he said to himself. “Maybe you were right about the purple dragon flower seeds.” He started to look panicked. “What do we do now? You’re supposed to be such a good healer, heal the girl! What are you waiting for?”
That made me lose all concentration, and I could feel the fear rushing in. What if I was wrong? What if I made the wrong remedy and the girl died?
I had to take a chance; time was running out. I mixed the herbs together as I had been taught. Everything I needed was there in the little kit that had been provided in the tent. Damien just stood there, doing nothing to help.
“If you are wrong, she could die,” said Damien. “Not that it really matters. She is a peasant girl and of no consequence.”
I faltered. No! I said to myself as I pulled myself together. I wasn’t going to let him get to me. And I wasn’t going to let the girl die either, peasant or not. A life was a life, and everyone deserved to be treated the same. I knew what I had made was right. I poured some of the liquid down the girl’s throat and waited. Her breathing was still hardly visible, but soon the girl’s eyelids fluttered slightly.
The professor came and checked the patient. He smelled the contents of the liquid cure that I had made and then took the girl’s pulse, but she was still not waking up.
“This is correct for the first poison,” said the professor, “but I am afraid your partner here administered another poison into her blood. We must call in Professor Plumpleberry to heal her, or she will surely die.” The professor looked extremely worried and left the tent.
Did that mean we had failed the test? Damien was smirking at me, but his eyes looked worried. What if Penelope did not get here in time? I hadn’t seen her in the arena. What if the girl died before she could heal her? I thought about it, and if Professor Plumpleberry could heal the girl, then it could be done. I had to try something; time was running out.
I placed one of my palms on the girl’s head and one over her heart. I closed my eyes and concentrated, just how Penelope had taught me.
“What are you doing?” hissed Damien. “Do you really think you can heal her with just your powers? Only the professors know how to do that. You will wear yourself out before you can even begin.”
I shut out Damien’s voice and concentrated. I could feel the faint heartbeat of the girl, and I concentrated on my own power source. I pushed some of that power into the girl through my palms and went about searching for the poison. It was easier than I had imagined at first, but soon my power started to fade. I could feel the amulet working, making me ordinary. My mage powers were not enough. I needed more to heal this girl.
I searched around me. I could feel magic in the air and under my feet buried deep in the earth. In fact, now that I was looking for it, I felt magic all around me, not just within me. I pulled some of it into myself and pushed it through my hands into the girl.
I knew instinctively that I was using fae powers instead of mage, but it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered right now was that the girl lived. I pushed more power into the girl, and the blue-white light spread through the girl’s body like a forest fire, expelling and destroying the poison and cleaning her blood.
It was done.
I opened my eyes, and so did the girl.
Damien was shocked. “How did you do that?” he asked incredulously.
I was shocked at myself. What had I done? I had used fae magic. I was sure of it. Had I revealed myself? Did Damien know?
The tent flapped open, and in strode the old professor and Professor Plumpleberry. Penelope immediately went to the girl and checked her thoroughly. When she was finished, she turned and smiled at me, but her eyes looked worried. “It seems I am not needed after all,” she said.
The professor who was overseeing the tent was spellbound. “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 said, pointing 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.”
“I do not like liars, my boy,” said the old professor sternly, turning away from Damien and walking out of the tent. He gestured for us to follow him. Penelope stayed behind to check the patient.
I sneaked a peak 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 are 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. He was suspicious, and it was only a matter of time before he figured out the truth.
Damien was out of 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 the 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 just scraped through her test, since she tried to turn my hair green but only succeeding in coloring half of it.
The last day of the 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 didn’t see 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 all around it. It looked like a mini coliseum. I looked up; 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. You are a low-born imposter, probably of peasant blood, and I am going to prove it.”
I walked away from him, my anger boiling. How could I have been so stupid? I risked everything to save the girl, and now Damien was looking into my past. Once he found out who I really was, he would go straight to Lucian.
I couldn’t think about that right now. I had to concentrate, or I would fail the most important test. Damien must have known that and was taunting me on purpose, but I wasn’t going to let him get the better of me. I would show him.
The fourth, third, and second years went first, 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 was looking 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 attacked me. But I was not the same person I was then. I was stronger, faster, and adequately trained to take him on now. I had to concentrate; I had to beat him.
As I was musing and patting myself on the back for winning the first round, 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 and 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 win by default.
I tried to clear my head and concentrated on the last round. If I lost this, Damien would win the duel.
He came slowly closer, circling and taunting me, as I tried to stand up. “You think you’re so great because you are good at healing,” he said meanly. “It takes more than healing powers to make a great mage.”
I was finding it more and more difficult to concentrate with him badgering me. I was upset and frustrated that Damien had made me lose the second round, and now he was going to try and do it again. I ignored him and concentrated on holding my shield.
Damien started hitting me with a barrage of stun strikes and push strikes. I was maintaining the shield, and his strikes just bounced off it, but I was getting tired.
I could hear one of 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, even though my leg was throbbing from where the strike had hit me. 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 to show everyone what I was made of.
I knew I had been told to keep a low profile, but I didn’t care; at this moment all I wanted to do was to win. I wanted to win to prove Damien wrong, and most of all I wanted to prove to myself that I was worthy of my father’s throne. I had been holding back my powers for so long. I knew I was not supposed to show I was special, but the fact is that I was, and I was tired of hiding.
Uncle Gabriel’s warning resounded in my head, but I pushed it from my thoughts and concentrated on the task at hand. A well-aimed push strike would send Damien flying a few feet, and the match would be over. I knew I could perform a formidable push strike. Professor Tanko’s lessons had made my magic stronger. The more I used it, the more powerful I grew.
“Give up, Rory,” 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, clasped the necklace that lay around my neck, removed my amulet, and put it in my pocket, all the while holding my shield and 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 was rising 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 on a simple push 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 was shaking from the concentration it took to try and 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 powers. 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 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. 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.
The whole school was in an uproar. Penelope was tending 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,” were resounding 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 was 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. And I 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 asked, feeling stupid as 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 asked, looking down and feeling very awkward.
Professor Dekela frowned. “Now that is another matter entirely,” he said. “You should never have revealed yourself like that. Everyone saw you; this story will spread like wildfire through the seven kingdoms. Morgana will be looking for you even more fervently now. She will want to get rid of you before you can learn to master all of 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. What had I done? I hung my head. “Where will I go now?” I asked.
“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.”
The Last of the Firedrakes Page 26
