Magic Academy (A Fantasy New Adult Romance)

by Jillian Keep

  Most importantly, he no longer felt fear of being detected for what he was. After all, he now had a soul of his own.

  Chapter 31

  They approached great hall at the center of the craft district in the dead of night. From nearby came trotting Luka, the spectral fox reporting to Varuj in silence.

  While the rest of the city slept, the place was clamouring with constables ringing it, the raised voices of people squabbling inside, orders being barked and chained humans being hauled out.

  “Your salvation,” exclaimed the “reformed” demon, casting a sidelong look to Firia’s father.

  “Hardly looks like much,” he remarked in return a bit listlessly, little hope in his voice.

  “Not yet,” agreed Varuj as he looked to the fox. “Go. Return to your mistress, she may have greater need of you than I, and time is of the essence. Hurry.”

  As if he were caught in the wind, the fox swirled and wafted up into the air, taken away into the sky, vanishing into the night.

  “Now stay close,” remarked Varuj. “I’ll need to earn you a place in this group, so they can hide you.”

  Kanfa could only study the strange man with some detached curiosity, unsure of what to expect.

  Varuj simply strode forward into the cordoned off area, one of the constables approaching him. “Turn around! You can’t enter here, this is official –”

  The elf went flying, striking against the stone wall with a loud crunch, with only a finger laid upon him.

  With each step, Varuj swelled in proportion, his muscles bulging as more attention was garnered from two constables herding captives along. “What in the –”

  “Stop right there!”

  With massive fists, Varuj broke their jaws then kicked a third that came at him from behind, knocking him into the hall’s door and breaking the mighty wood.

  It was like a bee’s hive disturbed then, and the rest of the constables began to swarm upon the towering monstrosity. He showed no fear, batting them away like flies.

  A constable came at Varuj from behind, but Kanfa picked up a baton and struck him with it in the back of the head, saving the brute from a stabbing.

  Varuj noticed and grunted. “Free them!” He gestured to the staring humans, chained up and given reprieve from imprisonment.

  The fight was slow to wind down, until the other humans were freed and they joined in.

  When all was said and done, the hulking not-demon breathed heavily, with his robes tugged down, revealing a sweaty, heaving chest. “You owe your freedom to his man,” he said, pointing to Kanfa, who looked lost in events bigger than him.

  From out of the crowd of freed men and women came one. She looked a bit blackened and bruised, but bore the countenance of someone accustomed to leading. “He was sentenced to death for treason,” she declared. “And after tonight we’ll likely be no better off. How can we shield him?”

  Kanfa looked to Varuj, the great hulk of a man licking his lips before answering. “You are rebels. Your own fate was sealed before we came along. You were going to let this man take the fall for your acts,” he announced, though truthfully he was taking but a stab at the truth of the matter based on but a sliver of divined truth.

  Though judging by the looks on some of their faces, he had predicted right. They were the true traitors, plotting rebellion against the civil order. And they were going to let Kanfa take the fall for it.

  “After tonight the people will know you defeated the constables, and freed one of your own from a death sentence. Use this opportunity well.” With that, Varuj turned and began to stride off, though from behind him a voice rang out.

  “Why should we trust you? You’re no human, and you obviously use some… sorcery.” The word was spat out by the woman like venom.

  The great, dark giant turned and looked back at them. “This man bartered for his freedom, and I care naught for what you do against the order of this land. Refuse him if you would and sabotage your own interests if you’re enough of a fool.” He shrugged and strode away. “I have business of my own to return to, far away from here.”

  With that, he vanished back into the night as dawn broke, plans of his own in the making.

  Chapter 32

  Deciphering the sorcerous writing upon the countless doors was painstaking, and Firia was only fortunate to have brought pencil and paper to take note.

  She’d figured out the words, their meaning, even cracked the riddle to decipher which would lead her to her friends! Or so she hoped. Though as she focussed her magical powers upon the glyph and sought to unravel its energies, she could feel the sweat form upon her brow from sheer strain of anxiety.

  Firia had never dispelled a glyph before, only even understood it in the most basic of abstract terms. She barely fathomed what had happened with Luka when he’d done it to unleash Varuj.

  Varuj.

  Thoughts of the curious demon wafted back into her mind and made her concentration waiver. She cursed herself silently, she’d have to start again, but then…

  That first night with him. When she had brought him to the world, it had been such a curious experience. He had been intimidating, gorgeously masculine but alarming. She’d freed him from–

  She’d freed him. Freed him? No, she’d summoned him, hadn’t she? But… thinking back on the ritual, it had been unlike any other summoning.

  That was why she had been drawn to him as her goal in the first place. Unlike other summoning spells, his was more complex. He was obviously a being of great power, for she had to perform complex preparations unlike anything else she’d encountered, she’d had to…

  Her eyes flew open at the realization. She’d had to break through a binding glyph before she could even begin the summoning. A powerful wizard of some sort had sealed him away so that he couldn’t be summoned, she realized.

  Yet most importantly at that very moment, she knew she’d done this before. It wasn’t so mysterious as she’d thought.

  Excitement made her pulse quicken, but it was no longer one of nerves and uncertainty. This was something she understood, but it wasn’t at the Academy that she’d learned it. It was on her own, hidden in that library back home.

  She cursed herself for pushing away her initial studies, but it didn’t matter. She had it, she was positive!

  It took careful patience to work through the magic of the glyph sealing the door, but she understood it, finally. And better yet, compared to the glyph that was used to seal Varuj on another plane, this glyph was child’s play.

  It was just time she needed, the increasingly dwindling resource that threatened her future. Yet she couldn’t let those thoughts interrupt her, cause her to stress or panic. Anxiety would be her enemy in facing this barrier. A calm, collected demeanor would be essential to cracking it.

  The afternoon wore on, and she fought off the stray worries. The thoughts of missing her exam, of whether Varuj could save her father or not.

  It all slipped away as she became more and more involved with the casting.

  For the first time since she’d arrived at the Academy, she finally felt like she belonged there. That she wasn’t some stray pet taken in out of pity or selflessness. She deserved to be there, but more than that, she knew she wanted to be there.

  She’d gotten so wrapped up in the instructors and their worrying statements, so frightened at the fast pace and how outmatched she was by some of the other students, that she’d forgotten how much she loved this. How much of a thrill she got from just the act of casting a spell. The excitement she felt when she knew it would work.

  Startling her, the door crackled and the glyph flashed. Then vanished from her perception. She’d done it.

  The door swung open, then all around her the black chamber faded, as if disappearing into the beautiful surroundings of that familiar grove. Though before her she witnessed a strange sight.

  Mae’lin and Bran were frozen in place, enclosed within a magical cube of pure aether. Like insects frozen in an ice cube.


  Firia didn’t know quite what to make of it until she heard applause, and saw Gway’lin dangle his feet from over the top of the cube. “Well done,” he said with a soft smile, looking not quite like his usual cocky self. “Took you longer than I thought it would, but… you did it, fair and rightly.”

  Her nose crinkled at the elf, mildly insulted. She still wasn’t sure what to make of him, but then, he seemed so untouchable. So beyond her understanding and experience.

  She’d always been the serious sort and didn’t have much time for pranksters, though. Perhaps that was all her trouble with him. “Thank you, I suppose?”

  Pushing himself forward, he slid off the aether-cube and dropped to the ground. It was a long fall, and should’ve been a tough one to make, but he fluttered down slowly, as if his robes were a parachute easing his descent. She knew it had to be some sorcery, however.

  “Seeing as you’re the only first-year student to have cracked the glyphs on their room in many decades, I just figured you’d have blown through the mystery and got here promptly,” he said, smiling warmly at her. The tricksters-look in his eyes had melted away somehow, and he looked like a totally different person. “But I guess you still struggle a bit on the syllabary. No fault of your own,” he added.

  “I like to ensure I’m doing things right. Perhaps I’m just more cautious than you give me credit for?”

  Despite the calm words, she felt anything but. Her face was flushed and her hands trembled beneath her robe. “Does that mean this was the exam? Or… just a fun distraction?”

  “Neither really,” he said with a light shrug and a smile. “What I told you was true, your friends had fought against the rules. They had disappeared. What I didn’t tell you was that I had already found them and punished them by locking them in time here.” He glanced over his shoulders at the pair, “Quite the pair they make.”

  “So… you just wanted to see if I could do it?”

  “No, that’s not all it was,” he said with a wry smile. “You see, any student who manages to crack the seals on their room so early has to be tested. To ensure they didn’t cheat by receiving outside help,” he explained calmly. “It just so happened that the two instances lined up nicely, and… well, I think you earned your friends a waiver on this indiscretion of theirs, don’t you?” He arched a brow.

  She looked to them, and once more that guilt rolled in her stomach over their fight. Over the fact that it thrilled her for a few moments that she was so important to them.

  “I think the Academy would be losing out if you discarded them this early.”

  Firia was trying to push down the shame and embarrassment that Luka had been truly the one to break the room’s seal. She would loathe to have it show on her face, and Gway’lin seemed to see far more than most.

  Those bright azure eyes of his bore through her before he nodded. “I agree. I’ll let them go so they can take their exam then,” he waved a hand behind them and the two young men unfroze, looking startled and confused.

  “Run along gentlemen,” called Gway’lin in his musical voice. “Or you’ll miss your exam.”

  The two were slow to soak in the words, but Firia could see the panic on their faces the instant they each determined that their futures were on the line. Bran took off fastest, though Mae’lin gave her a sort of wounded look first before following.

  “No more fighting,” called Gway’lin casually, not feeling it necessary to threaten.

  Why did Mae’lin have to be so stupid and blind? Why’d he have to come across her at just the wrong time? Her gaze fell towards the ground and she felt such embarrassment even though she knew she’d done nothing wrong.

  But she’d hurt her friend, and that was difficult to handle.

  “I guess me too?”

  Gway’lin walked around her, stopping at her side and resting his hand on her shoulder. “Go rest up. I think you’ve proven the test is below your abilities. I’ll see to it you’re exempt,” he said with a warm look and a gentle squeeze of her shoulder. “You look like you need a bit of time to yourself anyhow.”

  She tilted her head and looked at him. For that moment, she felt like there was a real connection and understanding between them, but then it was gone and she simply nodded. “Thank you, Sir. I appreciate it.”

  “Sir, huh?” He smiled unevenly. “Working on inflating my ego already, are you?” He slipped his hand from her shoulder and gestured to the exit. “Go rest up. You looked like you had barely slept a wink when I came to get you. Sleep well, Firia.”

  As she turned to go, she saw sitting there Luka, the spectral familiar, staring at her, its fluffy tail waving against the leaves with its barely suppressed excitement at seeing her again.

  Relief filled her. Certainly Varuj wouldn’t send her pet home if…

  She paused, just for a moment, before forcing herself to continue on, recalling the familiar into her.

  Varuj had told her that he’d needed Luka to get him out of the Academy unseen. Was he back already?

  She nearly ran back to her room, dread and excitement filling her mind with endless possibilities from the morose to the miraculous.

  Her room was empty.

  Chapter 33

  It had been the better part of a week since Firia had last seen Varuj. Her familiar had returned in light spirits, and some days later she had received a simple note from her father. All it said was, “I’m safe, but must hide. Thank you.”

  It had arrived in an unmarked envelope in the usual mail delivery. In fact, the only reason she knew it was her father was the handwriting she recognized.

  Yet still, no Varuj.

  He’d abandoned her. He couldn’t get back into the Academy, not without Luka. He needed it to shield him, and now he didn’t need her fox anymore.

  He wasn’t coming back.

  She hated that it bothered her so much. He was a demon that she didn’t have under her control any longer, and that should have been almost a relief to have him gone. Instead she missed him terribly, and though she was grateful that he’d done what he’d promised and freed her father, she still couldn’t help but lament his absence.

  Still, she pushed the thought away as she went back into the library, once more trying to find Mae’lin to apologize. To explain.

  Over the past few days she had checked for him repeatedly, but he’d never been there. This day proved no different, for their usual spot was vacant. Firia resigned herself to a lonely time studying, when abruptly she felt a hand on her shoulder.

  Turning about she saw the familiar face of Mae’lin. He looked more himself, though still bore a bit of a pout. “Firia… I wanted to apologize,” he said softly. Sounding genuinely contrite.

  She smiled so brightly. Her anger and annoyance and shame all dwindled away at just being able to see him again. To hear him speak with her.

  Firia shook her head. “Mae’lin, you’re so dumb sometimes. Why did you keep running off? I could have explained.”

  He reached a hand up and stroked his palm back over his hair. “You don’t need to explain to me though, is the thing. And… well I felt so foolish after. I wanted to apologize, but then… the thing with Bran. It was so… dumb. And embarrassing.” He swallowed and peered down at her, the lanky elf so much taller than her. “I feel like a fool.”

  “Why’d you even fight him?” Firia shook her head, “Look, he only likes me because I’m human. Because he thinks that’s all that matters.” She wanted to be mad at him, to tell him he had no right to treat her like that, but she’d softened so much since her younger days. She didn’t want to be alone anymore.

  Especially not with Varuj having abandoned her.

  “I know!” exclaimed Mae’lin. “Look… it wasn’t like you think. Not exactly.” The pale elf looked flustered. “I didn’t start anything with him. He came to me and started shooting off his mouth about how you and he were the same kind, and I was sick for even hanging about you, and… on and on. It just got so disgusting, and when
he said you were his ‘territory’ I just kinda… lost it.” He screwed up the corner of his mouth. “It wasn’t right for him to talk about you like that.”

  Her nose crinkled and she had to drop her gaze. Her entire body felt so hot beneath her robes and her hands kept balling into fists as he spoke. It was far worse than even she’d thought. There was no joy or pleasure in this.

  “What a jackass,” she finally managed. “Why didn’t you just come to me?”

  “Well, I did! Just now…” he rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. “I know I should’ve come sooner, but I felt like such a fool. You’re a powerful sorceress in your own right, you don’t need me to stick up for you, and you certainly didn’t ask for it. And I wouldn’t have butt in, but… he was just such a jerk. I… lost control.”

  It was hard to imagine Mae’lin losing control. For as long as Firia had known him, he’d been so quiet and peaceful. Though as she looked him over, she saw his fists clenched at memory of Bran’s behaviour.

  “You didn’t come to me before the fight either,” she reminded him.

  “Well,” he began, wetting his lips, “I thought you and he were… y’know… going out.” He looked so mortified to be speaking to her so, and he moved aside and sat down in their usual spot, head hung in shame. “I figured I was giving you your space to do that, but… no, really I was hurt and… and…” He cleared his throat and looked up to her, eyes a bit glossy. “But once I heard how he spoke of you, I knew you couldn’t have fallen for a guy like that, Firia.”

  “Of course not!” She plunked down beside him. “Hell, when he was studying with me I was so excited to come back and show you what I learned. Hopefully you didn’t need it for the exam,” she teased lightly as she tucked some of her black hair behind her ear.

  Mae’lin gave a sheepish smile to the side at her. He didn’t have the looks or charm of an elf like Gway’lin, but she knew him to be a pure-hearted sort, and so his smile had a penetrating effect.