by Ariel Hunter
The lack of restful sleep was starting to wear me thin. I had been keeping my sharp tongue in check with Callan as best I could, but this class today was particularly trying. We were gathered in one of the large dueling halls. We had started by firing attack spells against stand-up dummies in the first half of the session. Mine had fallen weakly at the dummy’s feet or glanced off the surface, rather than sinking into its canvas surface. The dummies didn’t have faces, but it sure seemed like they were taunting me. Or maybe those were Julia’s thinly veiled snickers.
My heart and head just weren’t in it.
Now I had to challenge Julia, a person whose shiny green eyes reminded me of another failure in my past.
“Maybe I can turn that and let it inspire me. Use the frustration. Find the motivation,” said good-Marnie.
“Just seems like setting myself up for another failure,” said asshole-Marnie.
“I can use my emotions in a way no one else can, without the need for spells,” good-Marnie pointed out.
“Not in this case, though. I need to also learn how to use the spells,” asshole-Marnie said, like a total buzzkill.
“Seems pointless if I have skills beyond them,” good-Marnie said, although I won’t lie—she seemed like she was getting a little big for her britches there.
“Yeah, skills I can’t control,” asshole-Marnie said. She had a good point.
My argument with myself got me nowhere, and I just plunked my water bottle down on my backpack and turned to face Julia.
As annoying as the classes at Dimlight Academy sometimes were, I was glad that I was still allowed to attend. For a moment, it had seemed like the Council was going to recommend that I only do one-on-one mentoring with Callan. At least here I was able to be exposed to the progress of other new witches and warlocks. While a lot of the time it meant I was judging myself against them, it also allowed me to learn from them.
“All right, commence your duel. Stick to lower level attacks and defenses at this time,” Tamsin said.
Julia started murmuring under her breath and her red magic twirled toward me. The ribbon of her red snaked through the air. It was a binding spell, intending to wrap around my feet.
“Pink magic spread, cut red snake’s head. Resist the binds, make red unwind.” As I spoke, my pink magic spread out from my fingertips like tiny knives and dove toward the red magic ribbon, severing it in tiny pieces. The red snake unraveled, a jumble of threads unwound, slashing about and quivering as it returned toward Julia.
Her lips quivered in a tiny pout as she glared at me.
I felt the internal elation from my triumph. I followed it quickly with my own spell attack. “Pink oil rain down, flood the ground. Slick the floor, she’ll stand no more.”
My pink magic flowed out in a sheet of beautiful pastel magic that nearly matched the flowers on Julia’s robes. It floated over the top of her, a hazy glow. Then, I pulled my hands down to the ground quickly and it fell in droplets, sheet after sheet, flooding the floor with pink rain. The area all around Julia was coated in slick oily pink magic.
I tried to hide my smirk as I thrust more power into the sheets of oil rain.
Julia slipped and slid, trying to regain her footing, her robes soaked through, sticking to her body, her brown hair clinging to her face. Her skin reddened in anger even more, lips puckered in a grimace .
She struggled to keep her footing, feet swishing side to side on the oil slick of my pink flood. Our duel had started to attract the attention of more of the classmates as Julia flailed around. The oil slick had been admittedly creative.
I dropped my hands as I waited for her next defense or attack. I hadn’t made any friends in the class yet. I wondered if that might change today, though I doubted it. It was so frustrating. I was being thrust into the witching world and had yet to see the good of it. Most of them feared me, and those that didn’t show it outwardly likely did too. The witching cliques were worse than human high school. At least I would always have Anya.
Julia had regained her balance enough to chant something under her breath and as I swung my attention back to her, a ball of the oil at Julia’s feet, my pink magic, swelled to red and came flying at me, lighting on fire as it flew straight toward my middle.
I tried to lunge out of the way, but the flaming red magic burst into my stomach, the size of a basketball, and sent me flying backwards, my breath pummeled out me. I gasped as I slammed against the floor, my tailbone cracking on impact, pain streaking through my legs, and I stared down at my middle, my hands beating at the small fire blazing through my shirt.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, I’m on fire!
Sheer panic rushed through me as I patted at the flames, my hands stinging with the heat, but the sparks died quickly, eating away the fabric. I sucked in air hard to get my breath back. A red blush was left on my stomach and hands, but not enough to be a real burn.
Gasps rang out, snide comments, and a little bit of laughter surrounded me as I quelled the flames.
I looked up at Julia, still heaving my chest for air. She was standing still, steady, away from the oil slick. In the air were three more balls of flaming red oil, aimed at me. Her face was a smear of red triumph and disgust. She well and truly hated me.
I looked down at my burnt shirt, tattered edges showing through to my stomach underneath, stunned that she had thrown something at me that could actually hurt me and then I looked around at the crowded group of students, all pointing at me, where I sat on my ass, laughing at how stupid I looked. The whole time, her Mystic didn’t choose to stop her from using fire against me. Julia had made her point. All that bullshit about obeying rules . . .
Fuck this.
As Julia reached to throw another ball, I thrust my hands forward, pink magic erupting from hands, swelling forward, imagining the binding spell she had attempted. I embraced all the frustration and irritability I had been feeling, the embarrassment of the moment, the anger at how they treated me, and as I stood, I ripped giant vines from the roots of Dimlight’s stone floor. They wiggled up and grasped at Julia’s feet, tethered around her hands, and then writhed around her neck. She was lifted up, squirming as the convulsing plant vines supported her weight. She gasped against the chokehold, eyes wide, pleading, demanding. The flaming balls she had been holding evaporated in the air.
Mystic Tamsin leapt toward me, her own magic flaring at her fingertips. I swung my attention to her, wrenching new vines forward and binding her next, demanding tendrils wrap around her ankles, shimmy up her body, curl around her arms and secure her into a tight cocoon. She screamed at me, and a vine moved over her mouth to muffle her sound.
Mystics and pupils were yelling, running in disarray. Two more Mystics moved to face me. I was breathing heavily, pissed as fuck. Why was everyone always trying to control me?
Suddenly, Callan was in front of me, standing calmly, hands up in surrender.
“Marnie, focus on what you’re doing.”
I blinked rapidly, a few times and looked around at the screaming group of people. The other two Mystics who were challenging me, trying to throw magic at me, were being bound by vines I hadn’t even intended to command, but were just working off my previous desires.
I looked at Julia where she was now unconscious in the trusses of the vine’s chokehold. Mystic Tamsin was held tight, yammering and yelling behind her binds, demanding to be released.
I focused on Callan, my mouth dropped open, my heart racing, my body suddenly overcome with shaking.
“You need to unwind your magic. Find the piece of the web and tuck it back into where it belongs. This is a chaotic acceptance of creation from your will. You need to undo this. You need to release them.”
I stared in horror at what I had done. The stones of Dimlight’s floor were upended, cracked, cratered like an earthquake had shaken through it. Desks and battle dummies were thrown askew. Pupils gathered in a corner, other Mystics standing in front of them, protecting them from vines that were growing ever cl
oser.
I gasped as I looked back at Callan. One of the spindly, green vines was crawling up his middle, anchoring around his torso, holding his arms in close to his chest. His legs were tied out, so he was spread eagle and there was a thin finger of a vine clasping around his throat and creeping up around his forehead.
Still, he spoke calmly to me.
“Find the end, Marnie. You have to free us.”
I closed my eyes, breathing deeply. I can do this.
Find the harmony.
Find the chaotic beginning.
I reached inside myself and looked for where the will to maim and possibly kill some of these fuckers had started. The incredible frustration and anger and embarrassment. The irritation I had been feeling all day. The intense dislike I had for Julia and her hypocrite Mystic. But I had to find it and will it back in. I had to guide these vines back into the earth, just evaporate them the way Callan had made all the roses I had made disappear at the pawn shop.
“You can do this,” Callan’s voice was strained, a gasp. The vine around his throat was getting tighter.
I tried to speak to the vines, giving them permission to disseminate. Giving them permission to leave. To fold away. To merge back into the harmony.
To do anything but strangle people.
I peeked through my closed eyes and saw that the vines were shivering. It was working.
I continued to speak to them. I imagined them releasing, shrinking, slinking away. I gave them thanks for their help, for they were an intense power that came from within me, and I couldn’t discredit that. But I also needed them to leave.
Tears were leaking down my cheeks and my chest was heaving when I felt Callan’s hand on my arm.
I looked up at him, realizing I was bowed over myself. The vines were disappearing, the last tendril disappearing in a ripple of pink and white sparks.
A hush had come over the pupils and Mystics. The two that were released had returned to the other students. Mystic Tamsin was kneeling over an unconscious Julia.
At least I hoped she was just unconscious.
Callan stood next to me. Tamsin handed Julia to one of the other Mystics and then stormed toward us.
“You don’t belong here! You’re a danger to all of us.”
Callan stepped in between me and her. I sank to the ground entirely, leaning my head against my knees, trying not to shake.
“Callan, you can’t protect her this time. I’m going to the Council about this. She has gone too far. This is reprehensible. She’s far too dangerous to be working with other students.”
“I will always protect her, Tamsin.” Callan’s voice was low, deadly, dangerous.
What had I done? I couldn’t even manage this part of my magic and now I was supposed to tackle seeing the future? I was useless. I was a particularly passionate piece of uselessness.
“. . . a danger. There is no excuse. We all saw it.” Tamsin was still raging.
“Take Julia to a healer, please,” he instructed another Mystic while blatantly ignoring her rant. As he said the words, a sulphur smell and spark sounded. Someone had teleported out with the student I had knocked unconscious for a second time.
“We won’t stand for this. You can’t control her. You can’t control your classroom. This is a learning environment.”
“All of you are lucky to have such a unique challenge to face in your cohort of classmates. Pink magic is so rare it’s never happened before,” Callan said, turning to speak to the entire group. “If you choose not to further pursue your learning at this time, that is your choice. But I caution you: fear of those with higher magic than your own will not benefit you.” He turned to face Tamsin again. “You, Tamsin, as a red witch, will never have the opportunity to learn from someone of my gold skill level again. I will make sure of it. I’m not just teaching the pupils, but also teaching you as a Mystic. You’re fortunate that you were chosen for this position. It was not given to you by right. If you want to decline it and try your luck elsewhere, please, be my guest. Should you decide to address the Council, please make sure to inform them of your choice to allow your own student to use fire to burn another during what I instructed to be low-levels spells. Don’t forget to tell them that you didn’t put a stop to it either, but rather that you were about to allow additional fire in the duel. You are welcome to go, Tamsin. But Marnie stays.”
Tamsin sputtered over whatever words she wanted to say. Instead, she stormed off.
“Class is over for today. See you next week.”
Callan’s hand was gentle on my shoulder as I heard footsteps exiting the dueling hall. He helped me to my feet. My hands were still shaky. I waited for his reprimand or his anger, knowing that I well deserved it. Instead, his hazel eyes just looked at me appraisingly.
“Get your backpack.”
I obeyed him without question, my feet shuffling on the floor, stubbing my toe more than once on stones uprooted by my raging vines. My head hung low. What a mess.
“I need to fix the floor.” My voice sounded so miserable.
He shrugged. “I’ll come in tomorrow and take care of it.”
We teleported out, and I was surprised when we arrived on his beach, rather than inside his house. I looked out to the ocean and took in a deep breath of fresh ocean air. The half-moon was bright, shining a path that glittered along its roaring high tide. A few stars were still brave enough to glow in the moon’s brilliance, dotting the night’s dark blanket. The ocean’s rich scent calmed me, soothed me, invited me to feel its gentle touch stroking my body.
Callan rubbed my back in small circles as I breathed in and out. It was not an unpleasant sensation, matching his calming touch with the soothing call of the ocean.
“I thought you might need a pick-me-up.”
“Thank you, that’s really nice.” I turned as there were footsteps behind us. Anya was walking down the beach with my shortboard and her own. I smiled in surprise.
“Callan texted me. He said you really needed a night ride right now.” She handed me my board. She looked a bit tired. The Friday night shift at Boundless probably wasn’t over yet. Callan must really have impressed upon her how much I needed her for her to leave early.
I smiled at Callan, trying to convey how grateful I was.
“The only condition I have is that you let me put some protection enchantments on your boards, so that I know if anything bizarre is happening. I’ll hang out on the beach either way. But I will feel better with the spells.”
I nodded and set my board down in front of him.
Anya squeezed my arm. Callan stood over our boards and murmured an enchantment. A golden glow wrapped around our boards and sank into them. He stood up and brushed a hand through his hair. The moon shined on his short, turquoise, form-fitting robe.
“Okay. I’m going to just sit and wait. Just for an hour or so, all right?” Callan leveled his look at me, and I nodded. I couldn’t thank him enough.
We paddled out. When we were sitting on our boards waiting for a wave to take in, Anya asked what had happened in class.
I explained that I had lost my temper, nearly killed a girl, and bound four other people, including Callan, in vines that I made grow up from the ground.
“She hates me, Anya. She has since she first saw me. I know I knocked her in the head with a pebble, which totally didn’t help my case at all. But nothing was going to anyway. Then I go and do this.”
Anya looked up at the moon for a moment, then said, “Maybe they shouldn’t pair you with that dickwad in the future, huh?”
I snorted. I really did hope Julia was okay. At least, that nothing permanent happened. A little bruising wouldn’t hurt my ego right now after the crap she pulled in class. I did appreciate that Callan was clearly waiting to talk about what had happened until the morning. And I was certain we would have to talk more about it. And there was no doubt; they just shouldn’t pair me with her ever again.
“Why are you so sensitive about what witches and warl
ocks think of you?”
“I’m not,” I said defensively.
Anya’s raised eyebrows, even visible in the moonlight, made cringe a little. “All right,” I acquiesced. “It isn’t so much about what they think of me. It is more about failing. Over and over again. I mean, I seem to have this amazing amount of power, right? But I struggle to control it in the way I am supposed to. So, they all fear me. Fear turns to hate pretty quickly. Or they just dismiss me as dangerous. I don’t like being doubted. Constantly. Or told how horrible I am. Constantly. I didn’t want any of this. It’s a lot to process. That’s all.”
“Aren’t you the one who is doubting yourself the most?”
I looked at her from the corner of my eye and trailed my fingers in the ocean water, letting little pink sparks light up the ripples my fingers were making. “Probably so.”
“In the end, it sounds like you are getting a lot better at controlling it, anyway. I mean, you turned off the water pipes you burst. You unwound the vines you had choking everyone. That’s good. That’s great control to not end a bitch who lit you on fire.” I smiled a little at her attempt to make me feel better.
“Yeah, but I am the one causing the problems in the first place.”
“Baby steps, baby steps,” Anya said, smiling at me gently. “I believe in you, Marnie. I am sure you will start getting it. Besides, tomorrow you are going to get some fierce, incredible animal companion that will help anchor you. And that’s going to be awesome.”
I nodded, a strange shiver going through me. I was so nervous about the Seer induction ceremony. How was I supposed to take care of a magical animal when I was struggling to take care of myself and my own magic?
“All right, let’s get this next wave. I’ll go first.” Anya started to paddle but stopped. “Oh, one more thing. Tell me,” her eyes were a taunting glow in the moonlight, “what did it feel like to tie up Callan for the first time? As exciting as you thought it would be? Is he a fan of a little light bondage?”
I splashed water after my best friend as she grinned and started paddling away to catch the wave.
