by Dixon, TJ
“Where have you been?!” Rin whispers at me as I enter my room. Hermes is in bed and asleep. She looks a little better but Rin is clearly feeling dreadful.
“Porting our club back. That magic really affected them. Even Yu Kii was shouting abuse at me when they came out. The ones who could port just abandoned the ones who couldn’t. I had to almost kidnap them to get them back safely.”
“Yu Kii, the constantly bowing and always polite Yu Kii, shouted abuse at you?” Rin asks in disbelief.
“That’s the one.”
“I can’t imagine it.”
“You’d better go back and make sure she’s OK. Then get some sleep.” I say. Rin nods worriedly and then ports. I fall onto my bed and look up at the stars ready to fall asleep. I think I hear something, but it is very quiet. I listen for a while but don’t hear anything else. Just my imagination I guess.
The next morning Hermes wakes me. I am relieved to see she seems fully recovered. We port to the class a little earlier than normal and find Rin and Yu Kii there already. Yu Kii throws herself on the ground at my feet.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” She keeps repeating.
“Relax and get up. It wasn’t you, but the magic, that said those things. Anyway it’s not like a few words are going to harm me.” I say but it takes a few minutes of persuasion for her to get up. I am just grateful that nobody else is here. Thank you Hermes for getting me up early! Of course I can’t say that with Yu Kii here.
Soon the rest of the class starts to port in, and not long after that the class is full. The lesson begins but goes slowly. It is theory and I am distracted by last night. Eventually it is lunch time and Yu Kii ports us straight to lunch. We buy our lunch before it gets busy and take our time eating today. We talk about the lesson but mostly about last night. Then Yu Kii ports us back to class. It is unusual for Yu Kii to offer to port us but I guess she must still feel guilty. We spend the rest of lunch just talking.
The afternoon lesson goes slowly. It is more theory. Finally though it is over. Yu Kii again offers to port us but I ask Hermes to do so instead. If I let Yu Kii continue to port us all the time it would be like accepting that she was to blame. She wasn’t. The magic was.
We arrive at the tree and nobody is here. We wait a while and nobody turns up. I am now concerned and clearly I’m not the only one. Finally Yusa arrives. She throws herself on the ground at my feet just like Yu Kii did earlier. I just about manage to catch her with a strong wind and throw her back up before she hits the ground.
“It’s muddy.” I say with a sigh. “Anyway I don’t blame anyone for last night. You were all under the effects of magic.”
“But we were so horrible! I’m really sorry!” Yusa says looking and sounding really upset.
“Don’t worry about it. For now I want you to find the others and get them to come here. Nobody is in trouble or anything.” I say.
“But they will be if they don’t turn up.” Rin says crossly.
“Yes! Right away!” Yusa says and turns, and then runs away. After a few minutes Neko and Aventurine both turn up together. They are both looking down miserably.
“It’s ok.” I say. Neko looks up hopefully, looking even smaller than normal. I can’t help but pat her on the head. She smiles timidly and Aventurine blushes.
“Enough of that.” Rin says crossly to me, and then glaring at Neko and Aventurine. “Make sure you’re not late again.”
“Yes!” They both call out standing up straight and looking forwards.
“I’m sorry I’m late!” Calls out Niji and I turn to see her approaching at a run. It takes a while but eventually we have everyone here. I let Rin lead today again, but this time she is teaching ice and water magic. Along with Emma, Hermes and Yu Kii I mostly watch and see who seems to have the talent. It is fairly basic though so we also help out a little. Charlotte helps out most though, because it is her element.
By the end of the lesson it is clear that Yusa and Aventurine are both talented at water magic. Niji on the other hand seems to be having trouble with even the simplest of water magic. Everyone else seems to manage but not excel. Even with just one session most of the group has improved. Everyone seems to think that the training is over but I disappoint them.
“Next we will cover earth magic. We still have a while before it is dark, and we started late… Yu Kii, this is your element.” I say.
“Okay. I guess I knew this was coming…” Yu Kii says and steps up to the tree where Rin taught them. She begins with the basics, and in her typical fashion is ever so polite as she teaches everyone. Soon almost everyone is OK with the basics. Yusa is the only one who is struggling and this time Cherry and Sherry seem to be the most confident. Not far behind them though is a girl I haven’t spoken to other than when doing the contracts.
It takes a moment to recall but her name is Helski. She is tall with very fair skin and white hair. She has more muscle than the rest of the group and larger breasts than most too. She seems very confident when she talks. Yu Kii in fact seems a little intimidated by her, but that’s mostly because Yu Kii isn’t very confident when she talks to someone she doesn’t know. Once they get to know each other I’m sure it isn’t going to be a problem.
“That’s it for earth today.” Yu Kii says and everyone glances my way nervously. It is dark now so it is too late to continue without affecting everyone tomorrow.
“We’ll do air and fire tomorrow, so nobody be late tomorrow please.” I say. Rin grins before adding her bit.
“If you are late or absent you may be learning how to fall rather than how to fly!”
“She’s just joking, but seriously we don’t have time to waste so please don’t be late.” I say seeing some very scared expressions.
“Yes I was just joking. Probably…” Rin says. The next day nobody finds out whether or not she was joking, because everyone is on time. I have Jenny teach everyone fire magic, so I take the group to one of our training spots from the holiday. Everyone is impressed by her skill, and many are surprised that I have a nonstudent available to help.
This time Aventurine has the most trouble and Sherry astonishes me with her talent for fire magic. I was impressed when she used earth magic but that was nothing compared to fire magic. She doesn’t have the same control as Jenny but she can match Jenny’s raw power by the end of just the first lesson. Cherry on the other hand has excellent control but has far less power than most of the students.
Now it is my turn. Air magic. I start off slow like I did with Rin and the others. I have everyone bring air into themselves and expel it with magic. I will save more complicated magic for another day. It is soon clear that Cherry, Neko, Midori, Niji, Tomo, Mirai and Tabi have a good talent for air magic. Of them all I would say Cherry and Tabi are the best so far but the others aren’t far behind. Only Sherry seems to have no talent for air magic at all. I end the lesson before it gets dark.
I was planning from the start to split the group based on their elements but I now find that over half the group has the same element as me, which will make teaching them harder. Perhaps they partly chose to join me because they share the same element or perhaps it is just chance. After a moment I decide to stick to my original plan.
“Year 3s will work in groups based on their element. I will lead the air training, Rin water, Yu Kii earth and Jenny fire, just like our initial training sessions. Half the training each day will be on your element and the other half on an alternating element. We will continue Year 3 training the day after tomorrow, because we can’t afford to neglect Year 2 training. Not a single one of us here can consider ourselves fully trained. Year 2s will meet at the same place tomorrow. Everyone will meet at the same place the day after tomorrow.” I say and notice some sighs of relief from my fellow Year 2s. As I expected, they must have been concerned that they might have to focus all their attention on the Year 3s. The Year 3s seem happy enough to have a day off too.
Soon I am back in my room and go straight to be
d. I look out the window at the stars but they are silent. I turn my mind to the “magical creation” and her imminent fate. I find myself unable to sleep and eventually decide I can’t just mind my own business. I will talk to Rin in the morning. Having made a decision I am soon asleep.
The next morning I am up early and after waking Hermes I port straight to class. I am surprised and glad to see Rin and Yu Kii already there. I expected to have to wait for them.
“Morning Peter.” Rin says.
“Good morning.” Yu Kii says smiling brightly. Perhaps a little too brightly given how early it is.
“Good morning, Rin, Yu Kii.” I say before looking at Rin and taking a deep breath.
“What?” Rin asks nervously.
“Do you know anything about magical creations?” I ask.
“You’re not joking?” Rin asks looking at me dubiously.
“Why would I be?” I ask confused.
“You know my mother is an alchemist, and to some extent so am I.”
“You create people through alchemy?” I ask with a gasp.
“People… That sort of magical creation… Yes you can, but that is a different sort of alchemy to the one we practise.”
“Do you know how to keep someone alive who was created that way?”
“In theory you form a bond with them the same way you take energy. By kissing. Then you have to maintain a constant flow of energy. It takes a lot of energy though, and creating someone is really difficult. I doubt a single person at this academy could do it.”
“The singer with the silver wings in that play was a magical creation.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. There’s no way that’s possible.”
“It’s true.”
“A mage good enough to do that would be on the front lines or teaching. They wouldn’t be playing around with something like this. Perhaps they thought that saying that would help sell tickets. Maybe that was why it was so full.” Rin says and I am relieved, but not completely. I’ll check on them on the last night. It would be a chance to practise my new skill at hiding myself. I don’t imagine it could be that serious if I am found. Worst case I could contact the Queen. Rin looks at me oddly and asks. “What?”
“Oh, sorry Rin. Just lost in thought. Thank you. I feel better for knowing that they were just lying.” I say and then Hermes ports in and I go back to my seat. The day passes quickly and before I know it we are training again. I practise hiding my presence and nobody is able to detect me. Of course without a wind user to test me I can’t be sure, but it is good enough for now. Hermes improves her fire techniques with Jenny’s help. Rin and Charlotte work together on water magic and seem happy with their progress. Emma and Yu Kii work together on earth today. I’ll have to get them both some help on dimensional magic as they are both weak there but for now Emma really benefits from Yu Kii’s help on earth. Yu Kii also seems to benefit from a different take on her element by a talented young mage with better overall understanding of magic.
The next day flies by too and then it is my first time with just my group of wind users. I start with what everyone seems to want to learn first, flight. Cherry is the only one who knows how to fly already but soon everyone is able to at least get off the ground. Tabi is soon flying energetically and chasing Cherry around the sky. I suspect it isn’t going to be long before everyone is flying confidently.
My next group is Yusa and Aventurine who Rin was training. I have the others split up as there are so many in my group. With Yusa and Aventurine I go back to basics, but this time I am able to focus on just them so they make a bit more progress. I should be able to get Aventurine flying after a few more sessions but for now they have a better control of wind than they did before. It will be a while before Yusa is flying though. Next time I’ll try to make Aventurine a little more efficient, but will need to work more on the basics with Yusa.
The next day is the last day of the week before our day off. Lessons go quickly again and so does our training with the Year 3s. My group are all flying at least reasonably well and Helski doesn’t make bad progress either although it will be at least a couple more lessons before she is ready for flight.
We hold Year 2 training on our day off but I take it fairly easy and call it quits early. Of course I then port to the tent outside the city. I timed it of course to get there just as the play ends. I hide my presence and keep to the sky as I watch the audience leaving. I then fly inside making my best attempt to hide my presence.
I look down and see the actors gather in a circle around a large black man, and the woman with silver wings. Her wings darken as I watch and her aura is fading. The man’s aura however is strengthening as hers fades. It is a terrifying, dark and truly evil aura that makes me feel queasy.
“Please…” She whispers with the last of her strength and I can only hear because I am focusing my senses. His laughter though can be heard by everyone. It is a wicked laughter that not only fills me with disgust but makes me shiver in fear. Then he looks up right at me. Did I lose my focus in that moment?
“Here to save her?” He whispers but unlike her weak whisper it is more commanding and terrible than shouting. “Or to fight us?”
Every man and woman is looking in my general direction but I think he is the only one who can see me. I sense the lightning and dodge. My presence no longer hidden the air is filled with fire and lightning, but I dodge every attack. I have no time to think but my choice is simple. Fight or flight? Well in my case it is fighting flight! Continuing to dodge I weave my way towards the man and the winged woman.
Deadly metal sand fills the air above their heads and I am forced to the ground. Now I am amongst them their attacks are much more cautious, for fear of hitting each other. I strike wildly with lighting and air cuts. Some defend easily but those that don’t are forced to move aside and so I am able to advance but it is slow and indirect, and worst I am no longer able to dodge every attack.
Shielding and attacking is using my strength. At this rate I will run out of power before I reach my target. So I recklessly charge a woman and to her shock my lips land on hers. She is unable to resist as I steal her power. I only take her power for a moment and port in front of another woman a moment later and take some of her power. I don’t try my luck by repeating the tactic again, but my power is now back to almost normal. I combine porting and flying now and manage to avoid each attack. Although I save power not having to shield, porting uses more power than flight magic alone.
Suddenly I enter an empty ring around the man and winged woman. There is something in the air, but I push it away with a strong wind. Too late I realise my mistake as flames fill the ring and press towards me despite a desperate wind shield. I visualise the area the man is standing in and port directly in front of him. I almost vomit as I smell the stench of death in his aura but instead manage to strike him with lightning. I port it inside of him, or rather I try but the port fails and the lightning is easily thrown back by his shield. Seeing the woman I port again but again my port fails and I am left standing in front of him. He laughs and casually reaches towards my throat with his right hand. I dodge with flight magic but he ports between me and the woman each time I try to reach her.
Suddenly I hear a voice in my head. It is Rin. “Peter, I’d like to talk to you about tomorrow. Is now a good time?”
“No!” I silently answer as I almost fail to dodge his first recent strike. It is a foul poisonous gas that keeps trying to follow me.
“What’s wrong?” Rin asks worried.
“Not now!” I call out silently, and desperately fly up into the sand, which tears through my wind shield and then my flesh like a hot knife through butter. I ignore the pain and try again to port. This time it works and I am in front of the woman with a hand on her arm. Then I have a hand on the back of my neck and of course I am unable to port. I use almost every ounce of my power to surge into the air, and then the last drop to port back to the academy outside Rin’s door. The hand is still on my neck but
I call out to everyone I am connected to by the Queen’s gift. “Rin’s room, outside, enemy!”
“Inside the academy! It will be fun hunting today!” The man says with a laugh.
As Rin’s door is thrown open ice magic and earth magic strike at the man but he laughs it off and throws me at the wall. My arms become an intense agony and I hear a disturbing snap, but they break the impact and the rest of my body is just a normal sort of pain. Flames fill the hall as Jenny and Hermes arrive but he just laughs and points at Hermes who suddenly starts to spasm. Then at least five rows of mages arrive, and at their front is the Queen. The fire is no longer a laughing matter with the Queen’s power thrown into it, but I sense him port away.
A healing potion is thrown down my throat and a salve applied to my arms. I am still in pain but it is much more manageable. Looking up I am relieved to see Hermes is OK now.
“What is going on here?” A teacher I don’t recognise asks before she sees the Queen. “Your majesty, what are you doing here?!”
“Am I not allowed to be here?” The Queen asks raising her eye brows.
“Of course you are!” The teacher says hastily. The head teacher is here, and so are a few other teachers.
The Queen looks annoyed but sounds calm as she says, “I will talk to the witnesses. Everyone other than the boy and his friends will leave. I will meet you all back at the palace, so that includes you.” The last part of course is to her guards. Her guards and the teachers are gone but the head teacher hesitates.
“May I be of assistance your majesty?”
“Yes, you can leave us alone.” The Queen snaps and the head teacher ports away quickly. “Now, into the room. What was the criminal David Ishki doing here, and what was your business with him?”
