The Arch Stone
Foxway Academy – Book 1
by Adam Faulkner
© 2018 Adam Faulkner, All Rights Reserved
Visit the author’s website at AdamFaulknerWriting.Wordpress.com
Second Edition
First Edition was published in 2017
ISBN: 9781521933855 (Issued by Amazon)
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover design by Jake McGill
Introduction
So, this is kind of a weird story. I don't expect anyone to believe it, so I can be as precise and accurate as possible in writing it down. Even though it is all the truth. Every single word of this story happened as I said it did. Okay?
Right, now we have that out of our way, we can get down to beginning the explanation of what the hell this is. I guess the best description would be a memoir. Wait, scrap that. That makes me sound like some stuck-up TV presenter who wildly overestimates their own contribution to society. Diary makes me sound like a 7-year-old. Story? No, no we're back to it being fictional. Not to mention story, or tale, or anything like that kinda makes me sound like I think way too highly of myself... Shit, I have no idea what to call this. Oh well, whatever this is, it's basically what's happened to me. You get the idea.
A little more about myself first, I think. My name is Emilie George. I was, when all of this started, 17 years old, and had just started my last year of school. Looking around at Universities, I guess, but I wasn’t sure if it was for me. My mum definitely wanted me to go to University. No dad though. Never have. I'm adopted, you see. Mum wanted a kid, but she's never been the social type; never really found the 'one'. So, she looked around, and found a decent agency, and picked me. I don't know if I'm different, to be honest. As an adopted child, I mean. For the most part, I really don't have any burning desire to look for my 'real' mother, the one who gave birth to me. I guess that she probably had a good reason, and I don't blame her for a second, but the way I see it, she gave me up, so that's it. My mum is my mum. Maybe one day I'll find the person who gave birth to me, and… Actually, I don't know what I'd do. Anyway, that's not important.
There is one thing I always wondered though. I won't go into details about the rest of the story. Damn it. I used the word story. Crap. Anyway, even though I couldn't care less about my birth mother, there is one thing that I always feel is missing. From as long as I can remember, I've always felt like I should have a sister.
Until, one night, my entire life changed forever. And that was when I met my sister, Raven.
1
I stood outside of the gates of a surprisingly modern looking building.
“I was expecting more of a Hogwarts vibe, not gonna lie,” I muttered to myself. “This is so weird… And to think that just last week I was walking home from a normal school…”
I thought back to what had happened that night.
*
I walked across the garden/terrace thing that was in the middle of the block. Though, thinking about it, that makes it sound like somewhere you'd want to hang out. It was more of an extended alleyway, to be honest. It was where they kept all the bins and stuff. I thought I heard something behind me. I turned around, to see a man, very tall, and very well built, looking down at me. I screamed and ran back.
"I really wouldn't do that if I were you," The man said.
I carried on running. He muttered something under his breath, and stamped his foot on the ground. Tremors shook the ground beneath me, as cracks appeared in the concrete.
"What the hell are you?" I screamed, as the tremor threw me to the ground.
"Oh, like you don't know! The boss is gonna be pretty happy to see you!"
I scrambled to get away.
"What are you talking about?" I carried on shouting.
I started to shout for help, but I was stopped by someone else appearing. They looked about the same height as me, and wore a long black coat. I heard them mutter something, similarly to the man. Much to my surprise (That's putting it lightly) fire burst out from nowhere, and surrounding the figure’s arm. It was only when the hot air blew up their coat that I saw that they were a girl. She threw her arm forward, and blew back the man.
"I feel like you may be looking for me?" The girl asked my attacker. I thought her voice sounded similar, but I was too scared to bother to think.
"Yeah, I think I am!" He stamped down on the floor again. The girl jumped up, dodging the violent earthquake that resulted. The shock seemed to be directed, so I didn't get hit by it directly. It did stop my attempts to get up, however.
"Leave!" she commanded. Not that he listened. Another burst of fire appeared, and was fired at the attacker. It was a direct hit.
"Little brat!" The attacker screamed in pain. "You can't avoid us forever, fire-bird!"
She smirked as she threw another fireball. The attacker grunted in pain, as he slowly walked away, disappearing into the night.
"Th- Thank... Thank you..." I stuttered out. She turned around, and her hood fell down. I scrambled back in surprise. The girl... looked exactly like me.
"Who the hell are you?" The girl said sharply. "Are you a shifter? What kind of spell is that? Are you trying to trick me? Are you with him? Are you with the Syndicate?”
I backed myself up against the wall, and scrambled to my feet.
"Syndicate? Shifter? Spell? What the hell is going on here?" I tried to back away further, but the wall was in my way. The girl conjured up another fireball. "Please, I just want to know what's going on here. Why do you look like me?" I asked. Honestly, wasn't sure that it would have done anything, but frankly I wasn't exactly thinking straight. "Please..." At this point, I was too freaked out to say anything else. "Just tell me what's going on." The girl sighed.
"Sit down." she pointed to a couple of bins that had been knocked over by the earthquake guy.
"So, we look the same. Exactly the same. So... Are..." I started talking.
"Are we sisters... I suppose that's the only possible explanation," she finished. "So, sister. What's your name?" she asked. I was somewhat worried by her sudden change in attitude.
"Emilie. Emilie George." I couldn't help but laugh. "Shit, this is so screwed up. What is this?"
"I think I'll go first," she decided. "My name is Raven. Raven Blake.”
*
“Okay, how do I get in again? Didn’t she say it was a magic lock?” I asked myself. “A magic lock. Magic. Lock. What the hell does that even mean? I mean, I guess it’s a lock that’s magic. But how am I supposed to open that!” I complained. I dropped down to the floor. “Why didn’t I make Raven come and get me. She knows about this shit. I only just found out about magic…” I groaned, lying on the floor. A shadow passed over me.
“You’re new, aren’t you?” A boy’s voice asked me. I looked up. Two people were standing there. They were about the same age as me, a boy and a girl, both mixed-race. I sat up.
“Yeah. Completely new,” I replied.
“Still, weird that you don’t know how a lock works…” The girl noted. “I mean, you know magic, right?” she asked. I nodded. “So, what’s going on here then?”
“It’s a long story…” I replied.
*
"Hello." Raven smiled at me. She seemed different from yesterday, even different than the end, after we’d talked. She seemed more at ease.
"Hey. I did some digging. Not that we didn't know, but we are definitely sisters. And, I found out the n
ame of the woman who gave birth to us."
Raven seemed to get excited when I told her that. Another new image.
“Did it have our birth names on it?" she asked. "Tell me everything."
I thought back to what I had read earlier.
"Well, we were born in Newcastle, to a woman called Lorraine Peterson. We were born on February 18th, 1997, which means that our birthday is... Shit, our Birthday is only a couple of days away." I looked at the sky. "It's weird, isn't it? That we met, I mean."
Raven looked up as well. She shrugged.
"You got attacked by a Syndicate agent who thought you were me."
I shook my head.
"No, that's not what I mean. Yeah, I guess it makes sense logically. But there's just something odd about it. Almost like fate or something. Whether the other guy was looking for you or not, he still found me, and you still showed up, and you still noticed my face. I guess... I always, growing up, I always wanted a sister. I always felt like I should have one. Now, I guess I know why. And I'm glad. I don't remember if I said this yesterday, but I'm really glad that that guy attacked me." I looked at Raven.
"Yes, I get that. I'm kind of glad he did too." Raven smiled.
After a moment, the two of us burst out laughing. It was weird. We barely knew each other, but there was just something about the way we were talking, it was like we had always known each other, for our entire lives. I guess that's what you get with twins, they always say that they are linked.
We talked for a bit longer. Just about our lives. I told her about how I was adopted pretty much straight after I was born, by my mum. That was pretty much all there was. I explained how she had chosen to tell me I was adopted pretty early; she didn't want to keep secrets. Raven's life was significantly more interesting.
"When I was born, I guess that I didn't get anyone to adopt me. So, I stayed in a children's home for the first few years of my life," she explained. "Then, one day, the home was attacked. To this day I don't know why, or by whom, but they used magic. That was when Evaline Blake found me. She was another Magical, the one who I took the title of Enchantress from. She adopted me… And she started to teach me, both magic and normal, human subjects. We discovered early that my source was fire. You see, Magic isn't really what people always assume. Every Magical has a Source, a single type of magic that they are capable of using. The first step in my training was to find my Source. There's a spell that a mentor can use, in order to discover this. It manifests a small amount of whatever power a source provides. For example, for someone whose source is wind, a small breeze might appear. We had quite the shock when I set fire to the rug. I was lucky though. Fire is a rare and powerful Source. So, from there, we trained. It was around that time that my mother left town. She didn't tell me where she was going, or why. But the last thing she did was pass on her title of Enchantress to me.”
“So, you know anyone here?” The boy asked. “You seem pretty familiar with the floor though,” he joked. It was at this point that I realised I was still sitting on the ground. I jumped to my feet.
“My sister already goes here… I don’t know where she is though,” I explained. “No one else though.”
“Who’s your sister?” The girl asked.
“Raven Blake.”
The two of them looked at each other suspiciously.
“Your sister is the Fire-Bird? That Second-year?” The boy asked.
“I guess, yeah.” It occurred to me that Raven would be in the year above me. We were both 18, so that would place her in what I used to call Year 13. “I haven’t known her for long though. As I said, it’s a long story.” I replied. “Is that a problem?” I asked.
“No, I guess not. She’s kind of… infamous, that’s all,” The boy explained. Infamous? What sort of shit has she done? I wondered. “Anyway, name’s Matt Silvemist. This is my sister, Leigh.”
“You’re twins?” I questioned.
Leigh shook her head.
“No, not quite. The dates all match up weird. There’s about 10 months between us,” she explained. “What about you?” she asked.
“Me and Raven? Yeah, we’re twins. Didn’t know until recently though…” I admitted. “My name’s Emilie George,” I added, realizing I hadn’t actually introduced myself yet.
“You’ve got a different name?” Matt questioned.
“All part of the long story. I’d be happy to fill you guys in some time, but I’m kind of late. I was supposed to report to someone, no idea who, 10 minutes ago. I’ve been stuck out here 10 minutes because of this bloody lock!” I told him.
“Wait, you seriously don’t know how to open a lock?” Leigh asked.
“I’m kind of new to magic, okay… And by that, I mean I only found out it existed a week ago…” I explained.
Matt laughed.
“Okay, you’re definitely going to have to explain that at some point…” he decided. He walked up to the gate, where he confronted the round stone lock that had been giving me a headache for ten minutes, and placed his hand on the lock. “Ahis, Melona” he calmly muttered. The lock started to glow, and the gate opened.
“A spell… I guess I should have expected it would be something like that… This is going to take some getting used to…” I mumbled.
I eventually made my way to the office of the head of the school. I waited outside for about 5 minutes, awkwardly watching people walk past until I was called in.
That reminds me, I haven't really explained what I look like. Though, there isn’t really anything special. I'm pretty average height. 5'5ish, I think. Pretty average weight as well. Not exactly model thin, but I'm not struggling with weight or anything. To be honest, you probably couldn't get more normal. Blond hair. Still normal. Anyway, you get the idea.
The only noticeable difference between me and her was her hair. As implied by her name, she had deep black hair, and, possibly due to her magical ability, her eyes were a shade of red almost identical to her fire. My eyes were brown before, but not now.
You see, after she explained how magic worked to me, she did actually release my Source. It turned out it was Ice, which felt pretty suitable, with Raven’s fire. Still after my Source was released, I quickly discovered that my eyes had become the same light blue colours as the ice I apparently could create out of thin air. It was as strange colour, actually. It was definitely lighter than any kind of dark blue, but I couldn’t find an exact name for it. It was like this really rich sky-blue colour. To be honest, I wasn’t too disappointed. My eyes were always pretty boring…
Once I was called into the office, I was brought to meet the head. And the head was… different to what I had expected. Honestly, every other thing I found out about magic was surprising to me. I would have expected the person in charge of a magic school to be some kind of white-bearded wizard. In reality, what I was faced with was a thin-faced, middle aged man. He was tall, thin; almost skeletal. Honestly, everything about him screamed evil mastermind, but there was something about him that made me trust the man.
“Ah, you must be our new student. My name is Professor Maximillian Greyford. I am the headmaster here at Foxway Academy,” he explained.
“Foxway…” I mumbled. I was loving all the magic names. They were insane, at least by normal, human standards, but they were strangely satisfying.
“I do have to admit,” Greyford started, pacing around the room, “you are of a lot of interest to me, Miss George. You see, you are somewhat unique. We do have students here who did not grow up around magic, but even they aren’t quite as new to our world as you. Not to mention that you are one of the few students who was admitted to the school from a reference from an existing student, which is rare in itself.”
“Reference? Who from?” I asked.
“Someone who is somehow our best and worst student. Raven Blake.” Greyford replied. I frowned.
“Raven?” I questioned.
“You know her?” Greyford asked.
“She’s… She’s my siste
r…” I explained.
Greyford nodded.
“Yes, I know. She said in her letter. My apologies for misleading you, but, you can’t be too sure. Shifters do tend to slide in from time to time.” he noted. “Now, I do want to go over some things. Firstly, accommodation.”
“I’m staying at home.” I asserted. “It didn’t take me long to get here anyway, so it shouldn’t interfere with any of my studies.”
Greyford smiled.
“That isn’t typically how we do things here…” he admitted. “However, you are something of an anomaly, so we have decided to allow you to remain at your own home. We would much rather you didn’t have to explain everything to your family.”
“Thank you.” I replied. Of course, I had introduced Raven to my mother. And I had explained magic to her. So, basically, I was able to stay at home based on a lie. But, given that as far as they were aware, she didn’t know anything about magic, they could hardly bring her in to question her on it. The real reason was that I didn’t want to leave her alone. For my entire life, it had only been the two of us, and I knew that if I left she’d end up feeling way too lonely. Besides, I didn’t really want to be without her either.
Me and Raven kept talking for quite a while. She was telling me so many crazy stories that she’d heard back in the village where she grew up. She told me about this one time when someone who could control nature somehow managed to make crops grow faster so they could harvest more, but he accidently grew all the plants in the village and they had to fight off a hoard of giant Venus Flytraps. It was weird, hearing about all this stuff and it being real. It was insane. I tried to think of a similarly funny story, but it’s kind of hard to top magic. What a bitch, honestly. Coming into my life, teaching me magic, sharing stories. So selfish. (Don’t worry, that was sarcasm). It was all going brilliantly. Until Mum walked in. I guess I hadn’t kept an eye on the time, but when I heard the door open, I looked over at the clock. It was half eleven. I only had time to gasp and mutter “Shit” before she walked into the room. She dropped her bag on the floor.
The Arch Stone: Foxway Academy: Book 1 Page 1
