Magic Academy (A Fantasy New Adult Romance)

by Jillian Keep

  Firia’s face fell and she looked towards the ground sheepishly. “I’m really sorry Ala. I got lost in thought…”

  “C’mon,” she said with a sigh as Firia came and helped her along. “Let’s duck out. I’ll help you with that some more later. For now I think we’ve gotten about as much practice as I can handle,” she remarked.

  Firia swept her black bangs from her face, a nervous habit she’d almost kicked since coming to the Academy. Now she just felt like she wanted to hide into a hole. Why’d that dream have to make her so… unstable? She’d barely been able to look at Mae’lin, but that was only half the problem.

  Was it actually Varuj intruding upon her dreams?

  Chapter 26

  Despite Ala’nase’s generous offer, Firia had an appointment to meet with Bran. She stopped at her room on her way out.

  Immediately the light show that was her familiar spilled out of the room and she had to slip inside and shut the door. She could feel the magic, its presence and the ongoing battle rippling out. She immediately noticed one of the wards was no longer present, and then – with a thunderous crackle – she witnessed the flash of arcane energy as another gave way to Luka’s assault.

  Excitement flooded her. Maybe this was really it. Luka was getting closer, and it wouldn’t be long before they were all taken care of. She wanted to stay, to watch, to try to help, but she knew that it would still take a torturously long time if she watched.

  “Way to go, Luka.” She smiled brightly at her familiar.

  There was no response from her embattled familiar, just the undulating lights that threaded about in a war of sorcery.

  As she worked her way through the student’s lodge, she passed off the smiling Mae’lin. “Hey Firia,” he said softly, approaching her so enthusiastically. “I know you said you had to do something else today, but I was thinking tonight while I study I’ll put together a little exam for you. I figure that way we’ll both benefit from it even while you’re away.”

  For a moment she tried to shy away, to go unseen. All she could think of was the way his hands felt against her, the way his mouth tasted. Her pulse quickened and she had to stop herself from just running by him.

  That was what the old Firia would have done, but that wasn’t who she was any more.

  “An exam?” He’d proposed in the dream. Or at least said he was going to. She fidgeted to her other foot. “What kind?”

  “Just some questions about the arcane syllabary,” he said so pleasantly. He didn’t have the calm composure that Bran did, so he fidgeted a bit with his hands. The tall, lanky elf glowed positivity however, in a way she could never quite imagine her fellow human doing. “I’ll really grill you. So make sure you don’t forget what you’ve learned, okay?”

  She’d never seen Mae’lin without his shirt on, yet after the dream it was spectacularly easy to imagine it.

  Another rush of excitement teased her veins and her loins and she nodded a bit too quickly, trying to move past him as she spoke. “Absolutely! Make it hard…” She nearly choked on her own words.

  As she exited into the night the rush of cool air was a welcome calmative.

  Firia set off to find Bran. She was barely outside the building when he took hold of her arm and spun her about to face him. “There you are,” he said with a broad smile. “Ready for dinner, m’lady?” he asked with that curious air of charm and grace that seemed so out of place on another human.

  She gasped when he touched her, her heart nearly stopped from the fright. She’d been so lost in thought and her face flushed as she nodded. She just hoped he couldn’t see what she’d been thinking of.

  She’d brushed her hair back into two pigtails and dressed more casually than her day robe, though it wasn’t saying much. She was still stuck with second hand clothes and few at that, but her smile was bright.

  She needed to learn to control her thoughts, and him catching her in a daydream was another reminder of that.

  In the looming evening shadows he guided her along, “I trust I didn’t catch you before you had time to prepare,” he stated, glancing to her as he guided her to the same secret hiding spot he’d shown her before. She was slow to realize he’d changed his clothes. No longer wearing his fancy wizard’s robes, he instead had on a rather striking suit. Black boots, pants and jacket, with a high collar.

  Did she not look prepared? She looked down at the worn outfit and frowned, wishing she had something nicer. It was just another thing that made her stand out among the sea of elves.

  “I’m ready.” She brushed her bangs out of her face, as if that would make her feel more confident, but as usual it didn’t work. “You… really didn’t have to get dressed up for me.”

  The glade was even more beautiful at night, and silver of the moon reflecting off the flowers, the grass and surrounding trees. She saw then another beautiful spread upon a very spacious blanketed area, and he took her there, helping her down. “Nonsense,” he stated so pleasantly. “A gentleman should look good for his lady.”

  His lady? Her nose crinkled. This was… a study appointment, right? She thought they’d been clear in making plans. Still, when she tried to open her mouth she felt flustered and unsure of herself, afraid that she was reading into it too deeply.

  “Well… a lady,” she finally managed, but it was choked out.

  Bran paid her words no heed, but offered her some of the food as he smiled. “I was training this afternoon with fire. It made me think of that performance you put on at the competition, which I sadly missed. How I’d love to see you do that again someday,” he remarked.

  “I’m not sure I’ll be up for it any time soon,” she admitted. “Not until I get more control over it, anyways. I mean, Mae’lin really could have been hurt…”

  Bran merely laughed as they continued to eat. “Oh well, I’ve been made to feel more than a few lumps by overzealous elves in practice. They just love to make us upstart humans hurt,” he said with a flash of his brows and a grimace.

  “I don’t know. I’ve never been hurt like that.” She’d been the one far more out of control, and then earlier with Ala’nase … She was getting worried that if she didn’t get Varuj back, and fast, she’d never be able to make it through her first year.

  “You’re lucky then,” he said. “In the magical immersion program the elves were always ganging up on me with their newly learned spells.” With a shrug he said, “It forces you to toughen up to survive. And I got a few scars to show for it,” he remarked as their meal continued.

  “Sounds like it kind of… sucked. No offense.”

  With a brush of his hands he nodded to her before pouring up some cups of drink from a decanter. “It did. But it made me a stronger sorcerer. I figured something similar had to have happened to you to get so far, with so little training. I mean… by all accounts you’re pretty amazing, Firia,” he said with a charming smile as he handed her the cup.

  “You keep saying that.” She took a sip of the tea thoughtfully before she shook her head. “I just always knew this was what I wanted. It’s always been what I’ve worked towards, before I even knew it was a goal.”

  Bran sipped his drink as he watched her. “You’re determined,” he said after some thought. “That’s important. It’s what matters most. And to have held onto that determination for so long? So many let it die out before it really matters.” He smiled and lowered his free hand, resting it next to her leg so that his finger brushed her knee.

  “Yea, well… Being a groundskeeper isn’t exactly what I wanted for myself. And it’s not what my dad wanted for me either. So I guess what kept me motivated is just wanting to do something…” She didn’t want to say better, because it wasn’t necessarily better. It was just better for her.

  Cozying up beside her, Bran rested his cup down then placed his arm around her back. “You didn’t want to be chained to mediocrity,” he stated. “You’ve a great deal of promise with magic, it would be a crime if that were to happen to you,” h
e stated confidently, a thin smile on his face illuminated by the moon.

  “Still… You look so comfortable with it. Like nothing bothers you.” She felt him press around her and it felt so safe, like when her dad would hold her after a long day. And she’d had so many long days, filled with so much excitement and worry.

  And loneliness.

  What was comforting suddenly changed and her body prickled as she shifted away from him a smidge. “I just hope I could get to that level.”

  Bran didn’t back off though, for he reached up and trailed the backs of two fingers along her jawline. “Together we’ll go to levels no human magic-users ever have before, Firia,” he said in a husky, firm voice. “I’ve always known I was destined for greatness.” He lowered his hand back down to her knee, resting it atop it this time, “But now I realize that together, you and I? We could surpass even my dreams. We’ll be the envy of all others.”

  Her skin was electric to his touch, and she felt such intense need. To be close to someone. Anyone.

  Yet Varuj’s voice rang in her memory and she stood up instantly.

  Had she forgotten about him?

  The thought haunted her, but what bothered her most was… Should she care if she had? The thought of the demon’s body pressing against hers, kissing her neck and feeling so right was horrific, and she looked down at the confident Bran. They had so much in common, didn’t they? The only two humans at the school, in the same year. Both so determined.

  “Sorry,” she apologized, though she didn’t know why. Was she afraid of offending him?

  Why did Varuj have such a hold on her? No matter how she tried to organize her thoughts, they kept coming back to him. He’s a demon, damn it! she cursed herself.

  Bran stood up with her, a look of confusion on his face. “Are you okay?” he asked, “I don’t understand what happened,” he struggled with the words, for the first time seeming to have lost his intense feeling of control over all situations.

  “Come sit again,” he pleaded, reaching for her hand, “It’s too early to end the night already.”

  She looked up at him with her blue eyes, and she wasn’t sure what happened either. She just… panicked.

  “Do you like me?” she asked, her voice skeptical.

  The look that crossed his face was something of relief, and the most pure expression of joy she’d ever seen the stoic sorcerer exhibit. “Absolutely,” he said. Though from there it did not go as she anticipated, he lunged for her, arm around her back, the other on her arm as he pressed their lips together in a passionate kiss.

  Bran was much larger than her, stronger, and he held her in such a tight hold, pressing her to him as he tongued her lips beneath the silver moon.

  She couldn’t believe what was happening. She was simply shocked into inaction, and she didn’t even protest. Couldn’t!

  Was she sure this wasn’t another dream?

  Suddenly she was both afraid of and hoping for Varuj’s interruption, for him to imply she was selfish. That she’d forgotten him and got lost in her interest for another.

  Yet the kiss wore on and there was no demonic presence, no shift in perspective. Just the taste of his hot, spiced mouth on hers.

  Bran was such a strong presence, so confident, and he took control of her then and held her petite frame against his chest. She felt like he might never let go as that smug young wizard pushed her to the grass and…

  A gasp broke the moment, and Bran tore his lips from hers to twist his neck around and looked behind.

  There, Firia and Bran saw standing behind the bushes a gaped-mouth Ala’nase and a terribly sullen-looking Mae’lin.

  “What are you two doing here?!” insisted the shocked Bran, still holding onto Firia.

  “We didn’t mean to intrude!” Ala’nase looked both shocked and apologetic in equal measure.

  For a long moment Firia wished she could simply disappear into the grass. She couldn’t even get up and flee with the weight of the man on top of her. She gasped for breath and squirmed beneath him, but that only made it so much worse.

  What was happening to her body? Why did his weight on top of her feel so damned good when she should be feeling ashamed?

  She didn’t want her friends to see her like this. To get the wrong idea, but it was far too late for all of that.

  “It’s not what it looks like,” she pleaded with them, but what good would that do? Mae’lin was already gone, she noticed, and Ala’nase was holding up her hands and backing away.

  “So sorry, Firia!” the elvish woman called out as she receded back through the bushes. “I am so, so sorry!”

  Bran, filled with irritation at the interruption, finally looked back to her, clutching her hand. “How did they find us here?” he lamented, but squeezed her hand and leaned in. “Now they all know about us anyhow,” and he kissed her lips again.

  She pulled away and shook her head. “Bran, I have to find them. This… I’m so not ready for whatever this is,” she finally managed as she struggled free.

  The confident young wizard looked simply confused by that declaration. “What do you mean…?” he muttered, still lying there on the grass, supported on one palm as he watched her go. “Firia! We’re partners now, you said…” he struggled for the words.

  She didn’t know what he thought she’d said but she grabbed her book. She hated having to crush him so, but what other option did she have. “Look, we’ll talk later, okay? Thanks for dinner,” she shouted over her shoulder as she ran towards the exit.

  “It’s good that they know!” she heard him call out as she left.

  She ran through the bushes, but no sooner had she come out the other side of the secret entrance did she go crashing into Ala’nase. The two went sprawling with the impact, and Firia’s satchel spilled its contents about the grass behind the library.

  “I said I’m sorry!” Ala’nase cried out as Firia lay atop her slender, elvish form.

  She couldn’t control her magic or her bumbling form, and she rolled onto her back to free her friend. “Listen, it wasn’t what it looked like. We were just talking and he grabbed me and… it just happened so fast, I didn’t know what to do.”

  It would be different if she felt for Bran, wanted it to happen. But it hadn’t even really occurred to her, and the surprise had made her slow. And embarrassed.

  Ala’nase, for her part, rose up onto her palms and began her own hurried explanation. “No, you don’t need to explain! It’s my fault, I saw you get grabbed from one of the upstairs windows, and I thought you were in trouble! So I ran out to get you, Mae’lin saw me in a panic… and as soon as he heard what I saw he refused to give up. So the two of us went searching for you and… It was a big mess! I’m so sorry for barging in like that. I shouldn’t have let my imagination run away.”

  Firia felt so flustered as she pushed herself up off the ground. “Where’d he go?”

  “He’s back inside, isn’t he?” she said with some confusion, slower to brush herself off and get back up.

  “I don’t know,” she admitted. “He just… Damn, he looked really hurt.”

  I was going to propose.

  The dream with Mae’lin popped back into her mind and she couldn’t help that it made her heart pound, despite what Varuj wanted. Regardless of his interruption.

  “Bran look hurt? So why’d you leave him then?” she asked with confusion. “Or you mean… Mae’lin?” Ala’nase looked about, slow to catch on to the complexity of what had really just happened. “I don’t know, he was really concerned for you. He’s probably gone back to his room,” she explained.

  “Look, we’ll talk later, okay? Just… I need to find him.” She didn’t wait for a reply, though. She didn’t need one right then.

  She just didn’t want for Mae’lin to hurt a second longer than he had to over this.

  Night had sunk its claws into the sky deeply, it was very dark on the campus, and the moon was hidden behind one of the buildings wherever she went, it seemed. She
went back to the dormitory and up to Mae’lin’s room. She knocked on it there. But no sound emerged.

  “Mae’lin?” she asked, knocking again fruitlessly.

  It wasn’t long before one of the other male students looked to her curiously and she asked, “Have you seen Mae’lin?”

  He shook his head. “Not in a while,” he remarked.

  Damn, damn, damn.

  The only other place she thought she might look and actually find him was their study corner in the library.

  Or maybe she was just hoping he might be sentimental enough to be there.

  The library was so labyrinthine, the endless corridors; up and up she went. Only the convenience of the air tunnels the arch mages put in made getting around it take less than hours. Though still, she was breathless when she reached the proper section.

  She headed down, passing off row and row of book shelves. She knew exactly where their little hideaway was, but all the same, she checked each row as she went by to see if she could see him.

  As she neared her destination however, she saw something…

  It was a bag of some sort. It was dim and hard to see, but there was something there – someone! – in the section. She hurried towards it faster when suddenly that now familiar bell tolled so ominously.

  She tried to call out but instead she found herself calling out “Mae’lin!” into her own bedroom, the shimmering light show of her familiar as bright as ever as she stood alone.

  The tears in her eyes made the glitter even brighter and she fell to the bed, frustrated. Tossing her books aside she lay back at the mattress, staring at the ceiling as she sobbed herself to sleep.

  Chapter 27

  The sound of thunder reverberated all around her, the heavy pelting of rain beating upon Firia’s form as she pressed on through the rocky hills. She knew the place, knew it well. She’d explored the hills to the west many times growing up, the lonesome treks through the woods up into the hills to see the valley below were another lonely experience of her time growing up.