If only this book was the only thing he needed to get, then he could have left this strange school. But no, his grandfather was being greedy and wanted more. Izban looked at his list. Four more items to go, and all of them stranger than the next. As if a book supposedly written by the goddess of horses wasn't strange enough.
He sighed as he read through the next line of instructions. A red ruby, infused with baobhan sìth saliva. Seriously? This sounded more and more like things charlatans would sell at the carnival. He really didn't want to touch anything that had been 'infused with saliva', especially if it was that of an incubus. He'd never met one of those fae, but maybe it was good that way. He was as straight as they came, but he'd read how nobody could resist the vibes of an incubus in heat. He quite liked his genitals intact, and incubi weren't known to be gentle.
There were no notes about where this ruby might be found. Probably not in the library. Did the school have a vault? Time to find out.
He put the book into one of his magically enhanced coat pockets, which both decreased its size and secured it from both magical influences and pickpockets. He couldn’t be careful enough in a place full of naughty teenagers.
Vaults were usually in the basement, so that's where Izban headed next. A door with an old 'staff only' sign made him smirk. It was locked but he didn't even need his aos sìth to open it. He'd been cracking locks with magic since he discovered he had it. His parents had hated it.
With a click, the door opened, leading into a dark corridor. He conjured a light to hover in front of him. He'd never been a fan of the dark. There were no lights on the ceiling that he could see. A very old part of the building then. Before they supplied the building with electricity to make it seem more normal to visitors. Humans didn't take kindly to floating balls of light. After a few metres, the corridor forked into two further hallways. Izban randomly chose the right one. It smelled better. The floor became increasingly uneven and he increased the strength of his light. That's when he spotted some cleverly hidden doors built into the walls. Their doors were the same dark stone as the walls and only a thin black outline gave them away. Curious. He wouldn't have noticed them without the extra light.
He tried pushing the first one but it didn't budge. There was no lock that he could see so that kind of magic was useless. He examined it with his magic awareness, but he couldn't detect anything. It just seemed to be a slab of stone.
Time to summon his aos sìth, who was going to be rather grumpy about being disturbed again.
Unless it wasn't a magic door at all. Maybe there was a lever somewhere? Izban looked around again. On his left were three doors but the wall on his right was smooth. No buttons, levers, wheels. Nothing.
He walked a bit further along the corridor. It ended in a wooden door, one with a lock this time. Easy. He opened it and stopped in surprise. It was a laboratory, as old fashioned as they came. He cautiously entered the room. There was a cauldron, lots of weird vessels and tubes, and rows upon rows of shelves on the walls, laden with filled glasses. This was an alchemist's paradise. Pity that Izban had no interest whatsoever in all of this. Whenever he tried to produce a potion, it usually ended up as something poisonous or simply an ill-smelling mess. It was not one of his talents, so he'd given up trying to find enthusiasm for the art of potion making long ago.
What he was interested in was a way to open those strange stone doors. Maybe there was a clue in here somewhere?
He looked around, trying to ignore the little creatures floating in some of the glasses. He almost thought he spotted an aos sìth in one of them. Gruesome.
Chapter 3
Amber shivered as the cold air hit her skin. She hated coming down here, but she needed to do it if she had any hopes of her tail regrowing soon. There was something restorative in this room apparently. Or at least, that was what the nurse had told her the first time she'd lost her tail.
That time had been a genuine accident. She'd trapped it in a door frame during one of the early shifting classes, and quickly found herself tail-less.
After that, she'd only lost it when someone had detached it. Apparently, she shouldn't have let them know it would regrow. Their theory now was that if it could regrow itself, then it wouldn't hurt.
The idiots. Of course it hurt. If one of them had their fingernails pulled out it'd still hurt, and they'd grow back. Amber had considered doing it to them in their sleep more than once, but had decided against it. She didn't want to give them the satisfaction of knowing they got to her that much.
A loud creaking noise filled the room, worrying her slightly. The entrance to it was hidden, and she was the only student with a key. As she should be. She was the only student who was also a beithir. The rest of them didn't need a room to regrow body parts. Especially not regularly.
So no one should be around. Not to mention they should all be asleep. It was well past lights out, and none of them wanted to risk the intense scolding that would come from the headmistress. No one knew what kind of supernatural she was, but she tended to spew a little bit of fire whenever she was angry. If a student wanted to keep their clothing intact, then they didn't make her angry. It was as simple as that.
The creaking sound came again, and she turned slightly, trying to see what was happening over by the door. Times like this, she wished she didn't have to stand with her back to it. Or stand there naked. The magic needed both to work, annoyingly, so she had no choice. Didn't mean she had to be comfortable with that though.
"Hello?" she called out. At least she was still in human form. She rarely turned into a beithir at school. Or not a full one anyway. She'd dwarf the other students if she did. But she could do partial shifts, and often had to.
She heard the scuffing of shoes against the hard floor and a mild panic took hold. Her mind flitted between running for her clothes, and shifting so she could protect herself. Maybe this was the origin of the human concept of fight or flight.
"Hello?" she repeated. This time, there was a small cough in return, one that sounded worryingly male. Shifting it was. Without knowing who it was, she didn't want to be caught in human form at all. There was more than one male student here she tried to avoid one on one time with, thankfully they were in other years. And if it was someone that didn't go to the school...well she certainly didn't want them to see her naked. She may be a shifter, but she still had her insecurities.
Amber reached down deep inside herself, and pulled the shift outwards. She'd never understood how it worked, but it was almost like something unfolded from the centre of her chest outwards. As the shift progressed, scales began to cover her skin, and her long red hair turned into a ridge of webbing down her neck and back. She used to hate the slightly grey tint to her green scales, but once she'd accepted their use, things changed. Now, she loved them, and not just because she'd be able to hide against the storm clouds easily in this form.
A deep longing filled her. She hadn't flown in ages. School had an annoying no flying rule that meant she couldn't. And she wouldn't be able to go home until the summer. It was a frustrating catch-22. By then, there wouldn't be nearly as many storms.
The shift was almost complete, and she felt her face lengthening and eyes widening. It was always an odd sensation feeling her eyes slide from the front of her face to the side, but it enhanced her vision a lot. Maybe this would even help her spot whoever it was that was in the room with her.
Maybe it'd even scare them off.
She could dream.
Amber tried to flick her tail from side to side, mostly because she enjoyed it, but partly so she could balance. Except that all she had there was a small stub of one where it had started to grow back. Her eyes narrowed with hatred.
More scuffling sounds came from near the doorway, and she swung her head around in that direction. The sounds were clearer now, but that was likely just her improved hearing making her more attuned to it all.
She lowered her head to the floor and slithered in the direction. She'd forgotten ho
w freeing it felt to be in this form, and the grace with which it moved. It was as natural as her human body to her, and would be even more so once her magic actually set in. But she had years to wait for that still. Some beithirs got their powers early, but no one in her family ever had, so it seemed unlikely that she would either. It was the kind of thing she dreamed of though. No one would mess with a large snake-like creature who emanated lightening. Maybe she'd even breathe it? But that was a skill not many of their people had. Maybe one in a generation? She wasn't sure. It'd been a while since she'd been forced to memorise the family tree and who'd been last to manifest what power.
A piece of rubble chinked against the floor to the other side of the door, and she swung her head to the side, the long whiskers that sprung from her snout swaying with the movement.
She slithered forwards again, and turned the corner, coming face to face with the last person she'd expected to see here.
Not him. Not again. What was it with this man that he appeared wherever she went to? His blue hair was a stark contrast from the dark laboratory around them, but even without it she would have recognised it. Hopefully he hadn't seen her shift, then he wouldn't know who she was. Maybe he'd think her just another snake... okay, a rather large snake with not much of a tail.
He stared at her and she couldn't bring herself to break eye contact. He seemed to be just as transfixed by her as she was by him. What was he doing down here? Did he know this was the place she'd go to? No, it couldn't be. Nobody knew about it besides some of the teachers.
What was she supposed to do now? Slither away and hide? Wait for him to leave? Stay here all night so he wouldn't see her in her human form? Why did he have to come down here? And what was he doing here anyway?
Pity she couldn't ask him while she was in her beithir shape. While she could communicate mentally with others of her kind, it didn't work with other species, especially not humans. There were rumours that mindtalk was possible with soul mates even if they were not a beithir themselves, but Amber didn't believe in that. Why would anybody be with someone who wasn't a beithir? That was just weird. They would never understand her customs and need to shift from time to time. Her human skin got itchy if she stayed in it for too long. And her tail felt a lot more natural in this form, too. She was used to having it wrapped around her waist as a human, but it wasn't comfortable and the baggy shirts she wore had often resulted in people asking her whether she was pregnant. No, if Amber ever fell in love, it was going to be with another beithir.
But why was she thinking about that? She was supposed to find a solution to her immediate problem: Izban. The blue-haired man was still staring at her as if he'd seen a ghost. She couldn't blame him though. Her kind were notoriously hard to find if you didn't know where to look. As far as Amber knew, she was the first beithir at this school for at least a generation.
"What are you?" the man whispered and she hissed in frustration. Was he expecting her to reply? Seriously? Couldn't he see that her forked tongue didn't lend itself to speaking like a human?
She shook her head and turned, finally breaking eye contact. If he was going to stay, fine, but he wasn't going to stop her from healing. This room held artefacts far more magical than Amber would ever understand. One of them, or several, were responsible for the powers that were now slowly making her tail regrow.
As long as she stayed In the lab, she'd heal. And if Izban had to stay for that, so be it. As long as he didn't attack her. Or take pictures. She hated that. Whoever came up with the idea of putting a camera into a phone? They were everywhere and she had to be careful that pictures of beithirs didn't reach the internet.
Of course, smartphones were forbidden at Ben Vair, as most kinds of supernaturals there were publicity shy. Humans hated what they didn't understand, which was why most of shifters and mages lived in hiding. But there were always some rule breakers who thought that putting a video on Youtube would be fun.
No, it wasn't.
She hissed in irritation at those thoughts. Teenagers were so annoying. They had no sense of responsibility and scale. Most of them would sacrifice the centuries of secrecy their kind had prevailed only to get a few more clicks and views. Pathetic.
"You don't need to be afraid of me," Izban whispered, nearing Amber. She slithered backwards a little. When he continued to follow her, she bared her fangs, glistening with venom. That made him stop in his tracks.
"Okay, you don't have to bite, I'm backing off, see?"
And indeed, he walked back a step or two. Satisfied, she closed her maw. It was good to see a bit of fear from people occasionally. Far too many underestimated her. Just because she didn't bite the girls who ripped off her tail didn't mean she was completely defenceless. But she had principals. And she valued her freedom. Killing people was not going to be in her future, venomous teeth or not.
She'd never tried how poisonous her bite really was, but her parents had taught her that most grown beithirs were easily able to kill a human with their bite. Or even a supernatural.
"I need to look around for something, would you mind leaving me to it?"
He looked almost desperate. She had to laugh - inside, of course, snakes didn't laugh.
She shook her head in a wide gesture, obvious enough so he couldn't miss it.
He huffed. "I don't have time to do this tomorrow. If you don't leave, will you at least promise not to tell anyone I was here?"
She cocked her head. That was a big kind of promise. Usually, she'd set terms, like being able to tell someone if it was endangering him, her or others. But she couldn't speak, damn it.
Maybe she should partially shift. It would mean she could actually talk, and she wouldn't be left totally naked. Kind of. She could leave it so her scales mostly covered her, though technically they were just a part of her skin. Which made her naked again in her book, though she could understand why a lot of people would disagree. She did feel less exposed when she was wearing them after all.
The blue-haired man looked at her intently, worry etched on his face. Now that was interesting. He didn't have anything to be worried about as far as she knew. But it did raise questions about what he was doing down here in the first place.
And what he was looking for.
Curiosity got the better of her, and Amber began the transformation into her half shifted form. Her face and hair returned to normal. Her body shrunk dramatically, and the grey-green scales retracted until they were covering all of her skin up past her breasts. At least she was decent.
Blue-hair's eyes widened as he took her in.
"You can half-shift?" he asked.
Odd question. She'd have many more if she were him.
"Obviously."
"But not your tail?"
She scowled at him. But really, how was he to know her tail had been removed. She'd long since given up telling any of Ben Vair's staff when she lost it. They just didn't care.
"My tail and I had an unfortunate separation," she replied.
His gaze travelled the length of her body, making her particularly self-conscious. No non-beithir had ever seen her like this, and it was an unusual situation to find herself in.
"Unfortunate how?"
"Tamsin," she replied stiffly, holding her head up high. She wasn't going to let anyone see how much she hated being without a tail.
"The annoying wolf shifter girl?" he asked.
"Yes. Are you sure you're a teacher?"
He certainly wasn't acting like it, and she wasn't sure she liked it.
"Yes, yes, whatever."
Amber frowned at him.
"What are you looking for?" she asked as he glanced around the lab again.
"I can't tell you that." His response was instant, and pretty definite. Then again...
"What if I agreed not to tell anyone you were down here. Or that you were looking for something. Or that you're clearly not a teacher?" She squared of against him, and his features took on a concerned look. Good. She was getting to him then.
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Blue-hair smiled slightly. "You swear it?
"On the stub of my tail."
"I'm looking for a ruby infused with baobhan sìth saliva." He sighed, and pushed a hand over his face, leaving his blue hair in slight disarray. She almost reached out and smoothed it down. Almost.
"And you think you'll find it in here?" She could almost laugh. He was in completely the wrong part of the underground rooms to find anything like that.
"At least you think it exists," he pointed out.
"Of course it exists. Otherwise you wouldn't be looking for it. But why in the clouds would you want one of those?" She didn't even know what one did. Probably something icky if there was a incubus involved. Not that incubi themselves were icky creatures. Nor was sex with one, but there were a lot of ill uses to their magic according to rumour, and she dreaded to think what some of those could be.
"I wish I knew." He looked away and shuffled his feet, so she dropped it. Despite really wanting to know, she didn't want to make him uncomfortable. She had a feeling he knew a lot of interesting things. And she wanted to learn them all if she could. And more.
After Ben Vair, she'd been planning on journeying all over the world, and discovering creatures like her but by other names. She was sure there were some after all.
"You're looking in the wrong place."
"Huh?"
"You're not going to find a ruby in what is effectively a biology lab."
"How do you even know what biology is," he muttered, quite possibly not meaning for her to hear.
Amber hissed, the sound coming across more menacing due to her half-shifted form. "I'm a mythical being, not an idiot. Try and remember that."
Seven Wardens Omnibus Page 20
