The Avatar's Flames (Through the Fire Book 1)

by Benjamin Medrano

  “Atavism! I’ve been trying to learn this for a week, but I can’t seem to make any progress on the basics,” Tadrick said impatiently, tapping the book’s cover. “Master Mara hasn’t been any help, and you’re the only one I know of who has any clue how it’s supposed to work.”

  “If you can’t get your mana to flow in the proper rhythm or to shield your thoughts correctly, you likely don’t have the talent necessary to use the art,” Ruethwyn replied, resisting the urge to sigh.

  Tadrick wasn’t the first of her classmates to approach her for advice, as all but Lissa, Madeline, and Yalline had approached her so far, but none of them had shown any talent for the art. Considering how incredibly skilled most of them were in other ways, it was eye-opening, and explained why Sinera had given up.

  “Couldn’t you give me a hint or something? It’s just… it’s frustrating not to be able to manage it,” Tadrick complained.

  “I don’t dare. I’ve told you that the art is dangerous, haven’t I?” Ruethwyn said, shaking her head slightly. “Master Mara told everyone that when you asked about being tested, too.”

  Tadrick let out a soft growl, glaring at the book in his hands, and a moment later, Lissa spoke, her voice soft. “Um, if I may… R-Ruethwyn? Could we see you use it? I find sometimes… seeing helps me understand. I don’t know that you’ve used your magic where we could see it before.”

  “That’s a good idea, if Ruethwyn is willing,” Sella said, her eyes brightening as she nodded at Lissa. “Thanks, Lissa. I should’ve thought of that myself.”

  The conversation had attracted the attention of most of the class, Ruethwyn realized, and even Master Mara had glanced up to look in their direction. With that much attention, she seriously considered refusing, but after a moment, decided against it. Sliding the ribbon bookmark into place, Ruethwyn closed her book and set it aside with a sigh.

  “Very well. I’ll have you know there’s two reasons I haven’t used this since coming to the school, the first being that it’s actively painful for me to use now,” Ruethwyn explained, carefully stretching her fingers. “I truly wish my mana wasn’t in its current state.”

  “Korima, let’s take a brief break to watch,” Master Mara said, a smile on his face as he added, “I’d like to see this, and I think you could use the break. This will be my first time seeing someone use atavism myself.”

  “Okay, Master Mara,” Korima agreed, her ears perking up as she quickly moved closer, the teacher following as she asked, “What’s the other reason, Rue?”

  Ruethwyn ignored the slight twinge the use of her nickname caused, and the memories it prompted. Instead, she took a deep breath and let it out. “It’s because the elemental merges with my thoughts. This affects my mind, and my personality changes slightly in the process. I only summon elementals I have a good compatibility with because of it. The question is which to summon…”

  “Fire!” Korima said almost instantly, her eyes bright with enthusiasm, and Ruethwyn shuddered at the thought.

  “Um, no, sorry, Korima. I have a mild aversion to fire now,” Ruethwyn replied, swallowing and forcing down the flashbacks of when she’d been injured. As she answered, she saw the kitsune’s ears droop slightly. “I can summon air, earth, nature, shadow, and water.”

  “Nature? There are nature elementals?” Tadrick asked, and Ruethwyn saw Barthel’s mouth close. She imagined several others had been about to ask the same question.

  “Many fey can be considered elementals of one type or another,” Master Mara said, smiling as he added, “Most angels are light elementals as well, but I’m not surprised you don’t have one of them you’re willing to summon.”

  Ruethwyn decided not to say anything, as she simply didn’t want to talk about her contracts in front of everyone. Negotiating with elementals was tricky and odd, and it didn’t help that if she called too powerful of an elemental it could end poorly for her. Instead, she took a breath, then asked Lissa, “Lissa, you asked, so… which would you like to see?”

  “Err…” Lissa hesitated, biting her lip and flushing as the others looked at her, then spoke hesitantly. “Shadow, I think? I have a talent for fire, so I think that’d be the best for me, but if it would make you uncomfortable… shadow would be best.”

  “As you like,” Ruethwyn said, taking a deep breath.

  “This should be interesting,” Delvin murmured to Dana, his voice barely audible.

  Ruethwyn ignored them and closed her eye, settling into the proper mindset and smoothing her thoughts. The sense of serenity was almost ruined by the pangs of guilt she felt at not using Sinera’s gifts in a few months, but after a few moments she managed to smooth out the ripples again. Atavism took a peculiar state of mind, as well as the proper arrangement of mana, so she carefully prepared herself, then gently began drawing on her mana.

  The pain didn’t reduce over time, Ruethwyn found. It still felt like she was drawing needles of fire through her veins, but she was growing used to it. Unlike casting spells, which took almost twice as long with half her mana veins nearly destroyed, creating the lattice through her body and mind was easy, and Ruethwyn smiled as she saw the streamers of light begin playing across her arm, almost like magical tattoos in lines and whorls. The mana gathered in her lips, and Ruethwyn took a deep breath.

  “Umbra…” Ruethwyn whispered, not speaking the full name of the elemental to keep others from overhearing it. Mana seeped out of Ruethwyn as she called for her friend. That’s how she thought of the elementals; they were her friends.

  The summoning completed almost imperceptibly, the silky sensation of alien thoughts washing over Ruethwyn, almost but not quite a comforting blanket at night. The main sign of Umbra’s presence was how Ruethwyn’s thoughts grew smoother and calmer, and the markings darkened to a purple so deep that they were almost black. She felt Umbra’s thoughts as the silent elemental drank in Ruethwyn’s memories, then the being extended her condolences for what had happened. It was almost a relief to have Umbra there, tempering her emotions and providing distance from what had happened.

  Korima gasped, her eyes widening as she spoke. “Your eye went blue, then almost black! Purplish-black, maybe? You look weird, Rue.”

  “Umbra is a shadow elemental, but a more benevolent one of their kindred. My appearance slightly reflects the nature of the elemental’s power while summoned,” Ruethwyn said, her voice slightly more precise as she nodded at Korima. “As you can see, it’s virtually impossible to hide that I’ve summoned an elemental, and—”

  Ruethwyn paused as she felt annoyance from Umbra as the elemental’s thoughts merged more fully with her own. The elemental wasn’t happy with Ruethwyn’s reduced vision, and with Ruethwyn’s permission, Umbra started casting a spell, using Ruethwyn’s lips and fingers to speak oddly sibilant words, and Ruethwyn struggled to understand what the elemental was doing. The knowledge was beyond what she’d learned from Umbra before, and the hints she could grasp were fascinating.

  The spell’s incantation came to a sudden end, and abruptly Ruethwyn found herself able to see shadows of the others on her right side. It was strangely blurry, like purple outlines against a black background, but it was vision on that side.

  “Ruethwyn, what did you just do?” Master Mara asked, his eyebrows furrowing. “That spell was… odd. Your injured eyelid is glowing now as well.”

  “Umbra decided to cast a spell that gave me vision on my right, at least sort of. It’s more like silhouettes of each of you on that side of my body,” Ruethwyn said, focusing on the images as best she could. It was very similar to vision, but not quite the same. Umbra was still annoyed, but seemed happier with the change. “I couldn’t understand it fully… the spell was beyond my personal knowledge.”

  “I… I didn’t understand what you did at all,” Lissa said, her voice soft. “You only said the elemental’s name, then you changed.”

  “I think that’s why the magical technique is so difficult to understand,” Delvin said, the man’s
voice thoughtful as he studied Ruethwyn. “Most spells and magical techniques… we get the gestures, the incantations, and we gradually grow to understand them. With atavism, it’s almost purely internal from what I can tell. It requires a degree of personal control, which I can’t just can’t seem to grasp.”

  “That’s the best guess among the teachers. We’re not certain if it’s actually a magical gift or a particular mindset that allows someone to learn it,” Master Mara agreed. “Did seeing Ruethwyn using it help anyone?”

  Ruethwyn stood still as the others looked at each other, trying to cross her hands unconsciously, at least until she remembered that her arm was missing. That disconcerted Umbra, she found, and the elemental quickly communicated her apologies, as the immortal didn’t have the concrete form of a mortal or the limitations Ruethwyn possessed. It was a strange feeling in many ways, but Ruethwyn found it oddly comforting, and the vision was fascinating. The only unfortunate aspect was the constant pain maintaining Umbra’s summoning caused.

  Finally, Master Mara nodded. “I thought as much. Ruethwyn, thank you for humoring your fellow students. It’s truly unfortunate what happened to you, as otherwise I suspect you would have one day rivaled your teacher’s skills at her height of power.”

  Ruethwyn hesitated a moment, then gave her goodbyes and thanks to Umbra before releasing the elemental. The release removed the pain, and both the vision and markings vanished with Umbra’s departure. The loss of vision left Ruethwyn reeling for a moment, then she shook her head as she answered. “I truly doubt that, Master Mara. Sinera… she was truly awe-inspiring in her youth. I’ve never believed I could exceed her skill, and now…”

  Shaking her head, Ruethwyn turned to pick up her book and sit again, figuring that the others would get back to what they were doing. She somehow doubted that Master Mara would spend much time with her, as so far, he’d been content to let her make her own way since she was passing his assignments without instructions. The soft murmur of words didn’t surprise Ruethwyn, not since the others were discussing what they’d seen, and her hearing wasn’t as good on her right either.

  The sudden roar nearly caused Ruethwyn’s heart to stop as the multi-toned bellow washed over her, and she recognized the sound of a dragon’s roar. All her suppressed nerves snapped to life, and Ruethwyn acted instantly as she dropped the book to the ground.

  She spun toward the source of the sound, flicking her wrist so that the silver bracelet she’d spent her first week at the academy building was apparent, and the flick of the wrist triggered the spring-loaded sheath she’d taken to wearing, which dropped a wand directly into Ruethwyn’s hand. Ruthlessly drawing on her mana, Ruethwyn hissed as she channeled it into the bracelet and wand, and a spherical lattice of glittering light snapped into existence around her as the wand began to glow a bright blue… and Ruethwyn stopped, blinking as she looked at Madeline, whose eyes had gone wide as the wand pointed directly at her.

  “Ruethwyn, don’t!” Master Mara barked out, a hair’s breadth slower than Ruethwyn, turning from where he’d been moving back to the middle of the clearing.

  Seeing the sparkling traces of the spell Madeline had cast, Ruethwyn paused, taking a deep breath before she slowly released the mana which she’d channeled into her items, allowing the shield to die and the wand to return to normal. She wanted nothing more than to scream at Madeline, but instead she closed her eye, breathing in and out for a moment before speaking.

  “I wasn’t going to attack. The moment I knew there wasn’t a dragon on the other end of my wand, I stopped,” Ruethwyn said, trying to calm her racing heart as well. “That was… unpleasant.”

  “Yes, it was. Madeline, what in the hells did you think you were doing?” Master Mara snapped out, his eyes narrowing. “Ruethwyn could have injured or killed you and doing that to someone who survived a dragon attack is the height of cruelty.”

  “I… I was just experimenting with air magic and did it on a whim. I didn’t think she’d try to attack me!” Madeline protested, her shock seeming to give way to outrage. “It was just a joke!”

  “It wasn’t a very good joke. Hell, I nearly jumped out of my skin!” Tadrick said, crossing his arms and glowering at the noblewoman. “I can’t imagine what it was like for Ruethwyn.”

  “Everyone, quiet!” Master Mara’s command was almost a shout, and he looked over the group with obvious unhappiness before focusing on Madeline. “Madeline, you owe Ruethwyn an apology. Now.”

  “But it was just—” Madeline began to protest, but Master Mara interrupted.

  “Now, Madeline,” the teacher said, his voice icy. “I don’t care what excuses you may have; you know better than to do something like that, and doing so shows very poor judgement.”

  For a long moment, Madeline didn’t react, but the anger in the noblewoman’s eyes was apparent as she glanced at Ruethwyn. Then, her anger vanished behind a mask of indifference. Behind her, Yalline was looking quite uncomfortable, but after a moment, Madeline gave a curtsey and held it, her voice calm and apparent sincerity in her voice. “Ruethwyn, I apologize for my actions. I didn’t realize how you’d react and will not do so again.”

  “Good. Ruethwyn?” Master Mara asked, looking at Ruethwyn, and she thought she saw a hint of wariness in his eyes.

  Despite Madeline’s words, Ruethwyn was certain the noble didn’t mean them in the slightest, not with the anger she’d seen. Still, Madeline had apologized, so she had little choice but to accept it and keep an eye out for any other pranks the woman might try. So, Ruethwyn nodded and spoke as calmly as she was able, slipping her wand into her belt as she did so. “Your apology is accepted, Madeline. I must add that different people react differently to stress. Some people’s first instinct is to run, and others to fight, and that can lead to poor reactions if you make a mistake. Just a thought for you.”

  Turning to Master Mara, Ruethwyn crouched down to pick up her book, fumbling slightly as she asked, “Master Mara? May I ask if you had a particular lesson in mind for me? I’m afraid that the stress of the summoning and the prank have left me somewhat fatigued and feeling unwell. If possible, I would like to go rest for a while.”

  “While I did have a few things I wanted to go over with you, they’re minor enough that we can address them tomorrow,” Master Mara said, a frown flickering across his face. “I do apologize about the stress, but it’s something you need to get used to, I believe.”

  “I agree, Master Mara, but I’m still adjusting to what happened to me,” Ruethwyn agreed, standing again.

  “I’ll have to take your word for that. Still, go ahead and take a break for the rest of the day, Ruethwyn,” Master Mara said. “You don’t need someone to accompany you back to your room, do you?”

  “No, I’ll be fine. Thank you, Master Mara,” Ruethwyn said, bowing politely, then picked up her bag as well.

  “Ruethwyn, are you sure you’ll be okay?” Sella asked, looking slightly uncertain as she took a step closer. “The look on your face when you turned around…”

  “I’ll be fine. Thank you, though,” Ruethwyn told her, smiling ever so slightly at Sella before giving the others a nod and walking away.

  As she walked away, Ruethwyn heard Barthel comment to Delvin, “Would you remind me later to ask her where she got the wrist sheath from? That was impressive.”

  “Right, like you’d spend the time learning to use it,” Delvin retorted, and Ruethwyn couldn’t help a small smile.

  At least most of her classmates weren’t entirely bad, even if most were driven by pity.

  The dormitory was quiet, and Ruethwyn appreciated that as she dropped her bag onto her desk, sighing, then pulled out the wand to set it down as well. Holding up her arm, it took a couple of flicks to get the sleeve to drop below her wrist sheath. Getting the sheath on and off was difficult, which was why she’d paid a leatherworker to make a sheath with clasps she could half-undo with just her mouth and easily slip it on and off.

  Ruethwyn set the sheath
on the desk and began pressing the spring back into place so she could load the wand again. She hadn’t known how frustrating missing a hand could be, and most days she wanted nothing more than to have her other arm back, magic or no magic.

  At least the pain from drawing on her mana had mostly faded, leaving Ruethwyn with a minor headache, and her heart wasn’t racing anymore. Ruethwyn put the wand into place and sighed, taking a step away from the desk. She’d just lay down for a few minutes, then—

  “When I heard about you from Captain Whisperblade, I’d almost been afraid your fire had burned out, but the little display earlier… Mm, I have to say that was a pleasure to see.” Essryl’s purr was unmistakable as she spoke, and Ruethwyn’s heart suddenly skipped a beat, as terror even greater than what the dragon roar had caused hit her.

  Chapter 11

  Despite her shock, Ruethwyn didn’t pause, instead taking a quick step back toward the desk to try to snatch the wand out of its sheath. At the same time, she opened her mouth to call out an alarm, but she wasn’t quite quick enough.

  An ebon hand covered her mouth like an iron clamp and Ruethwyn found herself jerked around, then landed on the bed heavily, her arm twisted painfully behind her. Essryl sounded amused as she spoke softly, the dark elf’s body holding Ruethwyn down. “Now, now, none of that, Ruethwyn.”

  Ruethwyn’s eye went wide at the dark elf speaking her name, and a moment later, her heart skipped a beat. Essryl had said that she’d heard about her from Captain Whisperblade, and that meant Alaran. That meant that he’d encountered the dark elf, and that didn’t bode well for him, considering her situation.

  “Mm, not quite how I like pinning someone to a bed, but I suppose it works,” Essryl murmured. “Now, Ruethwyn… I’m going to let go of you. If you try to attack me, I’ll make you regret it. If you attempt to alert others, why… I suppose I’ll just have to kill everyone in my path as I carve my way out of your lovely little academy. I may take the scenic route. Do you understand me? You can nod your head.”