Dark Is Her Nature

by Judith Berens

  Alison looked at the crystals that made up the kemana walls and wondered if she would ever see them for what they really were. Everything in her world was changing, and she didn’t like the presence of dark magic in it in the least.

  Horace pulled his hood down over his bright red hair and searched in and out of shops for Izzie and her friends. He had seen them entering the caves but hadn’t been able to get there in time to stop them. They had no idea how dangerous it was for them to be there, and even more so for Alison. He knew she was a Drow and the dark magic called to her, even if she hadn’t figured that out yet. During several times in history Drow had maintained a neutral position between light and dark, but rarely was a Drow all good.

  As he stepped out of the café he looked up, hearing the familiar sound of Scarlett and Claire. He moved to the side and put his head down, not wanting them to see him. Who knew what kind of devious things they were up to? Horace had been watching them for years. As they walked by, he turned to head farther into the city, but stopped when he saw Luke exit the general store. The group was behind him, all looking slightly beat up. They were not paying attention to anything. When they drew close, Horace stepped out in front of them and pushed back his hood.

  “Shit.” Ethan dropped his head. “Busted.”

  Izzie looked at Horace and almost sighed in relief. “Horace!”

  “I don’t know what you were doing down here, or why you look like you were in the Great Oriceran War, but you need to get back to the surface.”

  No one wanted to argue with him. They didn’t know whether the caretaker was going to rat them out or not, but they knew fighting with him would only make thing worse. Izzie stood next to Horace until the others had passed, and they took up the rear of the little procession. She opened her mouth, but Horace raised his hand and shook his head. Several of the street merchants made nasty remarks as Horace walked past, but he ignored them. He was used to it after all those years. He was the only human permitted down in the kemana, but that didn’t mean the magical beings there liked it.

  “Do you remember that story I was telling you?”

  “The one about the boy who was different?”

  “Yes, that one.”

  “I do, though you never finished it.”

  “This boy, the one who wanted so badly for people to think he was amazing, different, outstanding? Well, he started to become more powerful, as the magic grew inside of him. Symbols started to appear on his arms.”

  Izzie pulled her sleeve down over her wrist, looking down at the ground.

  Horace saw her wince but kept telling the story. “He was collecting a group of followers, and every day the number grew just a little bit larger. He was desperate to not be alone, and felt as if he was leading these people to something. He started using forbidden spells, which in turn pushed others away from him.”

  Izzie looked at a shopkeeper, who was brushing off his stairs and giving Horace nasty looks.

  “Meddlesome human scum, coming down to our city.”

  Horace ignored him, but Izzie gave him a look, letting him know he’d better knock it off.

  “Don’t worry about him, or any of the others. They have a right to hate humans. We have never been very welcoming to things or beings we don’t understand.”

  They turned the corner and headed for the staircase in the distance. Horace pulled his hood up and let out a deep breath, glad to be leaving the city. He never felt safe there, and he knew if he was ever caught in a bad situation he was as good as gone.

  “Anyway, so this student—he found himself in a very bad situation that he could not solve on his own, so he turned to magic. He conjured a spell, mixing things he shouldn’t have. When he cast it, the spell struck one of his only friends.”

  “Did they get very hurt?”

  “Well, had he gone for help when it happened they could have fixed it, but he was determined to prove his worth. Instead of getting help he continued to try to fix his mistake himself, which only made things worse. His friend died that night in his arms, and though the school saw it as a mistake—an accident—this student was left with blood on his hands and a life on his conscience. That kind of thing will ruin a man, or woman, or magical being, and it did that to this kid.”

  “That’s terrible.” Izzie shook her head. “I understand pain, though. Growing up I saw quite a bit of it.”

  “The orphanage?”

  “You know?”

  “I know a lot of things.”

  Izzie sighed, wanting to tell him more, but she couldn’t find the strength to voice it. The pain that she felt every single day of her life was almost too much for her to bear. She had thought she was moving forward, but there in the streets of the kemana it felt fresher than it had in a long time.

  “You don’t have to tell me if you aren’t ready. Sometimes this kemana not only amplifies your powers but your pain as well. You will feel better once you get some rest.” He stopped Izzie at the base of the stairs. “Just remember, no matter how bad it is or how much you want to prove you are strong, you can always ask for help.”

  Izzie nodded, seeing a flash of pain pass cross Horace’s face. She wondered if maybe the kemana did affect humans, just not in the same way it affected magical beings.

  22

  They climbed out of the kemana and the cool fall air became more apparent the closer they got to the top. The sun lit the steps, but from its orange cast, Izzie knew that it had to be close to late afternoon or evening. She was ready for a shower and bed at that point, not even caring if she made it to dinner. It was the weekend, so it wasn’t required that she be there. When she reached the top of the steps she looked curiously at everyone, because they were just standing there.

  “What are you guys doing? Oh.”

  Standing in front of them was the headmistress, her cloak flowing behind her in the wind. She raised an eyebrow, almost surprised to see Izzie. Horace stepped out and pushed back his hood, holding back the surprise he felt. He hadn’t planned on telling her about what they had done, figuring from the way they looked, they had learned their lesson. Ms. Berens looked at Horace and sighed.

  “You went looking for them as well.”

  Horace bowed his head and shuffled to the side, glancing at Izzie. The headmistress crossed her arms and let her eyes roam over them. Emma stood clutching her hands together and looking down at the ground, with a streak of black soot across her cheek. Kathleen grasped her bags, standing proud and tall to the side. Ethan had his hands in his pockets and was playing with whatever was inside, waiting for the punishment to just be over with. Ms. Berens raised her eyebrows at Peter and Luke—Peter with a burn in his shirt and Luke with a bleeding head. She opened her mouth but quickly shut it, realizing it was not the right place to ask questions. She eyed Izzie and Alison with disappointment.

  “Go up to the mansion and into my office at once.”

  The group didn’t say a word, just started up the hill with their heads hung low. They passed several whispering groups of students as they headed to Ms. Berens’ office, and waited outside once they got there. She opened the door with a swish of her wand and they filed in, not looking her in the eyes. All except Izzie, who stared at her like she had a question. The last thing the headmistress needed was for Izzie to start asking questions about her past.

  When everyone was inside Ms. Berens shut the door, then went behind her desk and stood there tapping her wand on her palm. This was not the first time freshmen had snuck off to the city, but it was the first time they had come back looking as if they had been to war. She took a deep breath and relaxed her shoulders.

  “When I lived in Texas, before I went to the World In Between, I took care of my granddaughter Leira. She is grown now, but at the time she was just a child. I learned from that, and from my own daughter, that when you tell a kid not to do something, somewhere along the way they will do it just to see why they weren’t allowed to. In this case, we don’t block freshman from going there because
we are mean. We forbid it because you do not have the magical capability to take care of yourself if you are threatened. We learned our lesson at this school many years ago, and sadly it cost a life.”

  Alison and the others just stood there, not knowing what to say or do. They couldn’t tell the truth about the fight, and they couldn’t rat out the others either. Izzie was the only one standing with her head up, almost in defiance. She believed Ms. Berens knew more about her than she was telling, but she also knew breaking the rules and sneaking off to the kemana wasn’t the way to gain Ms. Berens’ trust so she could get the whole story.

  “I am assuming you went there because you were curious, which is part of being a magical being and a child. But believe it or not, we old magicals—we know a thing or two about how to keep you guys safe. Now, does someone want to explain to me why you look like you have been battling Kilomeas in a swamp?”

  Everyone glanced at each other, but they quickly put their heads back down. They couldn’t tell the headmistress they had gotten in a battle with a bunch of wizards and been saved by Willen. It would sound insane, and would give her even more for her to yell at them. They had gotten themselves in over their heads; they knew that, but what was done was done. Izzie had a lot of questions from that encounter, including how the hell she could fight like that. If her memories were correct, she wouldn’t have been battling magical beings on a regular basis at her human orphanage.

  Alison took a deep breath and looked at Ms. Berens, tired of the torture of waiting. She just wanted it to be over with.

  “It’s my fault. I talked them into going. They thought it was a bad idea from the beginning.”

  Ms. Berens smiled. “Though I appreciate your loyalty to your friends, we both know that is not entirely true. If they had thought it was a bad idea, they would have stayed behind. Speaking of staying behind, please tell me poor Aya chose wisely and is not stuck in the underground city.”

  “She stayed behind.”

  “Good.” The headmistress pushed up the sleeves of her cloak and sat down in her chair. “Is there anything else that you would like to tell me before I hand down your punishment?”

  Alison looked at Izzie, Kathleen, Emma, Luke, Peter, and Ethan, none of whom said a word. She turned back to Ms. Berens and shook her head, knowing she had to keep the upperclassmen’s secret. It wasn’t their fault that the group had gotten caught, and telling the headmistress would only unleash their wrath on the group. She didn’t want to spend the rest of her school year running from Scarlett and her cronies. She knew she could take it, but she couldn’t even imagine what they would do to poor Emma if they cornered her.

  “All right.” Ms. Berens let out a deep breath. “Girls, you are going to help tend the magical plants with Professor Fowler. You will report to her tomorrow. It’s Sunday, so I will alert her that you will be coming. Boys, you will have library duty under the command of Mr. Decker.”

  “Oh, God!” Ethan’s face dropped. “Are you sure you don’t want to expel me?”

  The headmistress ignored him and stood. “I want to impress on you that I should be expelling every single one of you. This is a serious situation, and you cannot do it again. The underground city can be a very dangerous place if you do not know how to protect yourself, and I have a feeling you got a taste of that tonight. Anyway, I want all of you to go straight to your dorms, clean up, and stay there until the caretaker comes to get you in the morning.”

  They turned to leave. “Oh, and Izzie and Alison—please stay behind.”

  The others threw the girls a glance and filed out of the office. Ms. Berens closed the office door and glared at the two of them.

  “Alison, I would think after everything you have been through that you of all people would know not to mess with dark magic. That city is full of dark magic and you walked straight into it, leading those with no magical training into a dangerous situation. You have got to be more responsible.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “And you, Izzie! I expected so much more from you.”

  “How do I know magic?”

  “You are an elf, so it’s natural.”

  “But I...”

  The headmistress put up her hand. “I don’t want to hear another word about it. Consider yourselves lucky you both are still here and not being sent away. I know something else happened down there tonight, but none of you are budging. Whatever it was, I hope you learned your lesson. Now, back to your rooms. I will see you in the plant building bright and early.”

  Izzie bit her tongue and followed Alison out into the hallway. She waited for the door to shut behind her before letting out a low growl. Alison looked at her, confused.

  “You wanted to be suspended?”

  “No, I want to know the truth about my past. When I got here I didn’t think I knew anymore magic than how to tie your shoe, but all of a sudden I am a Kung Fu fighting ninja-elf? Yeah, right. I knew there was something missing, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on, and I still have no idea what it is.”

  “That has to be frustrating, but I think right now we just need to get through the punishment and wait for the headmistress to not want to lock us up in the dungeons, and then you can approach her about it. One step at a time, right?”

  “I guess so.”

  The girls walked in silence the rest of the way, went inside, and sat down on their beds. Kathleen looked at the others and pulled her knees to her chin.

  “I mean, it could have been much worse. We could have died down there. Or we could have been expelled. I guess playing with some singing flowers isn’t all that bad, even if it’s going to mess up my manicure.”

  Emma shook her head. “I’m just glad she didn’t call my parents.”

  The door opened and Aya rushed in, stopping and frowning at them. “Gosh, what happened to you guys?”

  “Which part? Getting caught, or fighting three very angry dark wizards?” Izzie half-smiled.

  “I don’t think I want to know. Did you get expelled?”

  Kathleen sighed. “No, just have to work in the flower building with Mrs. Fowler for the next thousand years.”

  “I was just in there. It’s fun! She got in a new set of dragon-eaters.”

  Kathleen’s face dropped. “Whatever that is, I’m keeping my fingers away from it.”

  “Probably a good idea.”

  Alison went to the drawer and pulled the gold-speckled egg out, which for some reason felt heavier than before. She sat down on the bed with it in her lap.

  “Thanks for having my back during the fight.”

  “Are you kidding?” Kathleen chuckled. “You and Izzie were the only ones keeping us alive. Then there was the rabid dog, who I now have a lot more respect for. Did you see his teeth?”

  “He was pretty badass tonight,” Alison smirked. “And Izzie was too, but she needs help to develop her skills…and we are going to help her.”

  Izzie looked at the girls in surprise. “Really?”

  “Hell, yeah..” Kathleen pumped her fist.

  “I’m down.” Emma nodded.

  “I already missed too much excitement.” Aya laughed. “I’m in for anything at this point.”

  Izzie smiled. “Thank you. From what I remember of my past, I’ve never had any real friends before.”

  Alison gave her a half-smile. “Well, as long as the upperclassmen don’t kill us, we will always have your back.”

  Just then someone pounded on the door. Izzie looked over and rolled her eyes.

  “Speak of the devils and they shall appear.”

  23

  The presence of the upperclassmen made Izzie cringe. The last thing she wanted to do after the kind of day they’d had was deal with Scarlett and her cronies again.

  Aya looked at everyone, raising an eyebrow. She hadn’t been there, nor did she understand the gravity of the situation. “Why are the upperclassman pounding on our door?”

  Izzie groaned and got off her bed. “Because we saw them comi
ng from the dark area of the city.”

  “Then you have to tell the headmistress immediately! That’s forbidden.”

  “We understand that, but we were in the wrong too and made a deal that if they didn’t tell on us and they left us alone for the rest of the year, we would keep their secret.”

  “But Ms. Berens found out you were there anyway.”

  “Doesn’t mean we break our promise.”

  Kathleen opened one of her bags and pulled out a top, holding it up in front of her. “Imagine what they would do to us if we went back on our word. I don’t need that kind of drama in my life.”

  Izzie shook her head. “Me either.”

  Someone beat on the door again, this time almost rattling the pictures off the walls. Aya headed for the door, then turned back and stared at Alison.

  “What?” Alison looked down at the egg. “Oh. Sorry about that.”

  She stood and carefully set the speckled egg back in her drawer, pulling the socks and undies around it again. She closed the drawer and wiped the gold and black dust from her hands before nodding, and Aya had just started to open the door when she stumbled backward as Scarlett, Claire, and the gang pushed their way into the room, shutting the door behind them. Scarlett looked around the room, her eyes briefly lingering on the dolls in the corner.

  “So, first we want to say that we had nothing to do with you guys getting caught. You apparently were too stupid to wipe away your magical trail before you went into the kemana.”

  Izzie kicked at the bedpost with the tip of her shoe. “Yeah, just like the trail of dark magic you left leaving the kemana. Good thing Horace is a human and couldn’t see it.”

  Claire’s eyes grew wide. “Damn it, Scarlett. I thought you took care of everything.”