The Arch Stone: Foxway Academy: Book 1

by Adam Faulkner

  “Oh, Emilie. I didn’t know you had a friend over.” Raven was facing the other way, so she didn’t see her face at first. I looked at Raven, who was somehow completely calm.

  “It’s fine, we had to be introduced eventually.” she turned around.

  Mum gasped, loudly.

  “Hello, Miss George. My name is Raven Blake. I am Emilie’s sister,” she calmly and politely introduced herself.

  My mum gasped again, and fainted.

  “Well, I think that went rather well, all things considered,” Raven said, deadpan. I wasn’t sure whether or not she was being serious.

  Again, all I could squeeze out was “Shit”.

  Me and Raven did some improvised combination of magic, with her melting my Ice, in order to bring my mum back to consciousness. When she did, Raven stepped back.

  “Hey, Mum. Are you okay?” I asked calmly.

  “Yeah, I think so. Did I bang my head or something? The last thing I remember was someone saying they were your sister.” I helped her up, and she ended up looking straight at Raven.

  “Hello, Miss George. Are you alright?” she asked. Mum sighed.

  “Oh, bloody hell. You really do look like Emilie, don’t you?” I sat her down on the sofa. “So, go on then, tell me the story. How did you work out that you had a sister, Em?”

  Me and Raven sat down as well.

  “I… was walking home after school on George, while you were at work. I… someone jumped me on the streets. Raven just happened to be walking past, and she helped me. Then we realised we looked the same. So, I looked a little more into my past, and found that I did have a sister. She’s here today because it’s… it’s our Birthday.”

  “You were jumped?!” Mum shouted. “Why didn’t you tell me?!”

  “Because it wasn’t quite… normal…” I admitted.

  “What was it? Did they try to…” she asked.

  “No, no, nothing like that… It was… they…” I scrambled for a good excuse. There was nothing. “They could use magic.” I gave in and explained everything.

  “Magic? Magic’s not real, Em.” she replied.

  “Yes, it is. The person who attacked me used it. Raven uses it. I… I even started to learn it.” I replied. “Archaeus, Invoco, Elementum, Gelus.” I mumbled. My ice covered my arm. Mum gasped. “Do you believe me yet?”

  “Hello, Miss George?” Greyford snapped me back to reality. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yes, sorry, sir, I’m fine. I just drifted off for a moment.”

  “You’re going to have to focus a lot more if you want to study magic, Miss George. Anyway, as I was saying, you will still be allocated to a dorm room, even if you don’t stay there.” Greyford explained. “So, do you have any questions?”

  “Why do people seem to have such a problem with Raven?” I questioned, slightly more aggressively than I had intended. Greyford sighed.

  “As I said, your sister is both my best and worst student. You see, Raven Blake has some of the highest potential of any student I have ever seen. However, her attitude towards magic is somewhat… unorthodox. I can only assume that she has told you about a Magical’s ‘Source’?”

  “Yeah. Why?”

  “There’s a lot more to Magic than that. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, per se, but Source magic is only one type of magic. However, your sister’s own teacher is notorious for being… reserved when it comes to Magic. The Enchantress, Evaline Blake, is one of the most powerful Magicals that I have ever seen. The thing is, she, for reasons that I will explain another time, rejects most forms of conventional magic. An ideology that your sister has inherited.”

  “There’s more than just Source magic?”

  “Yes. Source Magic, or Spoken magic, is a powerful type of combat magic. However, when magic is studied to its full extent, there far more to learn. However, your sister is… Difficult when it comes to learning other types of magic.” he explained. “But I don’t want to ruin your classes for you. Who doesn’t hate spoilers…” he handed me a sheet of paper. “This is your timetable. Please do your best not to miss any lessons. And although we do encourage our students to practice magic in their own time, fighting is strictly prohibited. Under any circumstances.” he asserted. “Do you understand?”

  “Yeah, I wasn’t planning on getting into duels or anything. I’m here to learn.” I retorted. Greyford chuckled.

  “Yes, well, that’s good. Anyway, that will be all. You may leave.” he told me.

  “Thank you, sir.” I replied, as I turned and walked out of the room.

  Here we go then, I thought to myself. I guess I’m a wizard now…

  2

  When I walked out of the main building after my meeting with Greyford, Raven was already waiting outside of the building.

  “Hey,” I greeted.

  “Hey…”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Were you in a meeting with Professor Greyford?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “I assume he told you about me…”

  “He told me some things. He told me about how Source magic isn’t all there is… And how you and Evaline don’t like to use anything else…” I hesitantly explained.

  I sat down next to Raven.

  “A lot of people at this school were brought up in the real world, simply in communities that practiced magic. The place I come from… It’s different. We’re a very secluded village, and we’re very… specific about how we use magic. I was brought up only knowing Source magic.”

  “But why not learn other magic?”

  “I… I don’t know… I think it’s because of my mother… She never told me the exact reasons why she didn’t like to use anything other than Source magic… But I know there must have been a good reason, at least for her. I guess it’s a memory thing, or something like that. It feels like it would be ignoring her teaching to do anything else.”

  “I don’t think that’s it at all,” I decided. “Evaline is your teacher. She’s taught you a lot, that’s clear. But I don’t think she’d want you to just cut off everything just because she did. She’s your mother. And a mother would want their kid to make their own decisions,” I told her. “Listen, if you want to stick to Source magic, then do it. But don’t do it because of anyone but yourself.”

  I was impressed at myself for my little monologue. I don’t know quite what came over me, but it all just kind of slipped out before I had a chance to react.

  Raven nodded.

  “You know, that makes sense. I guess I never really thought of it like that. I’ll… I’ll think about it…” she decided. “So, how are you finding Foxway?” she asked, changing the subject. I laughed.

  “It’s insane...!” I replied. “I feel like I’m high or insane or hallucinating or something. It’s so surreal…” I explained. “But it’s all real.”

  I pointed over to an area across from the courtyard we were sitting in. Someone was moving branches on a tree to make some kind of hammock.

  “Like, where the hell do you see people doing that?” I asked. “It hurts my head…”

  “You’ll get used to it,” Raven assured me. “You’re already handling it well, given how fast this has all happened.”

  “Thanks… It’s mostly an act, I admit. I’m totally freaking out like 90% of the time here…” I admitted. “When do classes start?” I asked. Raven pulled out a pocket watch. I burst out laughing. “You actually use that?” I asked. “Don’t you have a normal watch?”

  “I like this!” Raven protested. The watch was black, with a strange, crystalline face. I do admit it looked pretty cool. “Anyway, we’ve got about 10 minutes. Let me see your timetable,” Raven requested.

  I pulled the sheet of paper, which was already slightly crumpled, out of my pocket and handed it to her.

  “Okay, you’ve been put in a provisional beginner’s class,” she told me. “That’s in… Block 2. I’ve got to get to Magic Theory, which is in Block 5, so I kind of need to go.” she
told me.

  “Where’s block 2?” I asked. Raven hurried up and started to walk off. “Hey!”

  “Fire-bird ditch you, huh?” A familiar voice asked from behind me. Matt laughed.

  “It’s fine. You in the beginner’s class?” Leigh asked.

  “Yeah. Not sure where to go, though…”

  “It’s fine,” Leigh smiled. “We’ll show you the way.”

  *

  The Beginner’s Magic classroom, in Block 2 of the school, was a large building, which looked like it was about fifty years old. Matt and Leigh walked me in to an almost university-like lecture hall. A few other students were packed into the front of the room, with other scattered around. I went to sit down in the first available seat, one row from the front.

  “No, no, no, you don’t want to be sitting at the front. It’s not like this is an important class.” Matt protested.

  “It might not be important for you, but I don’t know shit about magic. I could do with listening to this…” I argued. “You two can do whatever you like.”

  “You’re going to have to tell us how you’re so…” Leigh trailed off, stuck on how to phrase it without being offended.

  “Stupid?” I finished her sentence. “I’ll explain it to you guys later, okay?” I sighed.

  Leigh smiled and led Matt to a pair of seats about halfway into the room.

  It was only about a minute after I had sat down that the teacher walked in. It was a woman, who looked like she was somewhere in her thirties. She looked stern but relaxed at the same time. The sort of teacher who wouldn’t be a pushover, but wouldn’t be too strict. Honestly, I was trying to keep a completely open mind when it came to this place. I don’t think anything could have surprised me.

  Greetings, students. My name is Miss Artemis. I will be teaching you all the basics of magic. Now, I understand that this sounds like a stupid question, but who here grew up around magic?” she asked. I looked around as the entire rest of the class put up their hands. Artemis walked up to me. “What is your name?”

  “Emilie George,” I replied.

  “Why didn’t you put your hand up?” she asked.

  “I was answering your question…”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Studying magic.”

  “But you said you didn’t grow up around magic?” The teacher questioned.

  “I didn’t. I’ve only known about it for about a month.” I replied. “Is that weird?”

  “You look familiar…” The teacher muttered.

  “I get that a lot. My sister has been here for like a year and we kind of look identical.” I explained.

  Artemis raised an eyebrow.

  “Blake. Raven Blake. That’s your sister, isn’t it...?”

  I nodded.

  “I do hope you’re not quite as challenging as her, Miss George.”

  “What does everyone have against my sister?” I quickly regretted challenging the teacher, not that I didn’t stand by my point.

  Artemis stepped back and sighed.

  “She’s a maniac!” someone shouted from across the room. I stood up and turned around to face the voice. It was a girl, red-haired, model-thin, and looking pretty pissed.

  “What the hell did you just say?” I asked.

  “Raven Blake, your sister, is a dangerous maniac, who’s only capable of setting fire to things,” she replied.

  “I’m sorry, but you do not get to say that about my sister!”

  “And what are you going to do about it?” she challenged.

  I held my arm out to the side.

  “Archaeus, Invoco, Elementum, Gelus,” I muttered. The strange blue ice formed around my arm.

  “Ice magic? Spoken magic at that? You’re pathetic,” The girl laughed. She held out her hand in front of her and flicked her fingers and wrist around.

  What is she doing? I wondered.

  I imagine I was just about to find out when Miss Artemis stepped in. She waved her fingers in the girl’s direction. The girl’s arm dropped down. I let my ice dissipate.

  “You two, stop this at once!” she shouted.

  The room fell silent, other than a few faint murmurs.

  “What do the two of you think you were doing? Using magic for fighting is strictly prohibited.” she reminded us. “Now, Miss George, I will give you the benefit of the doubt, being new to the school, that you simply forgot.” she turned to the girl. “You, however, Miss Flamel, should know better.” she scolded.

  Flamel started to move forward. Artemis raised her eyebrow, the look alone making the girl stand down.

  “Sorry…” she apologized, sitting back down in her seat. I dropped back down to my own seat. I turned around, to see August staring at me.

  Shit.

  *

  I met Raven at lunch outside of Block 2.

  “How was class?” she asked. I looked at August, who was walking away, still glaring at me. “Friend?”

  “Yeah, I think I might have made an archenemy…” I groaned. I felt someone pat me on the back.

  “You really did well in there!” Matt laughed.

  “What did you do?” Raven asked.

  “I may have snapped at some girl for calling you a dangerous maniac…”

  “It was pretty awesome.” Leigh laughed. “Your sister almost froze her ass!”

  Raven looked at me.

  “You did what?”

  “What was I supposed to do?”

  “Who was it?”

  “Something Flamel. I didn’t get her first name.” I shrugged.

  Raven’s eyes widened.

  “Flamel. August. Flamel.” she gasped. “You almost got into a fight with August Flamel.”

  I laughed.

  “August. That girl’s name is August?” I kept laughing. “Do people actually have names like that?” I asked.

  All three of them stared at me in confusion.

  “This place is going to give me brain damage, I swear…” I sat down.

  “You alright?” Leigh asked, seemingly genuinely worried about me. “You’re acting really weird…”

  “You two grew up around magic, right?” I asked. “Well, I didn’t. In fact, I didn’t even know that magic existed until recently. Me and Raven were separated at birth. I ended up being adopted by my mum, who is a normal person. Raven ended up with Evaline Blake. Then, last month some time, I got attacked by some guy. Who used magic. Raven saved me. We realised we were sisters. She taught me a little about magic and told me about this place. And now I’m here. It’s all happened so fast, but I’ve been kind of thrown into all of this magic stuff in the deep end. To me, no one seems to have normal names. Or normal… anything…” I explained.

  Leigh sat down next to me.

  “That’s actually pretty cool, you now. Most people struggle to learn magic without any prior experience.” she complimented. “You’ll get used to it all, I’m sure.” she reassured me.

  I smiled.

  “Yeah, I’m sure I will. It’s going to take a lot of getting used to though. I think I’m getting the hang of whatever we were learning in class though.”

  I looked at a pinecone that was lying on the floor. I held my hand out in front of me, and extended my index and middle fingers. I turned my hand around, clenched my fist for a moment, and then extended my fingers out towards the pinecone. It slowly lifted up.

  Leigh enthusiastically clapped. Matt clapped too, albeit a little more sarcastically. Raven grunted, doing her best to hide the fact that she was actually a little impressed.

  “You’re a natural,” Matt decided. I wasn’t sure whether or not he was being sarcastic.

  “That was really impressive, Emilie!” Leigh agreed, slightly more obviously excited than her brother. “I mean, it’s not a particularly hard spell, but you only learned it today.”

  “It… I guess it doesn’t seem too complicated. Not as much as I was expecting, at least.” I shrugged. “What’s our next class?” I asked, pulling out my t
imetable.

  “Nothing, right now. Lessons are pretty spread out. We’ve got the afternoon off. You got your dorm sorted yet?” Matt asked. I shook my head.

  “I’m not staying on-site. I got permission to stay at home, and come here every day.” I explained.

  “Didn’t want to leave Miss George at home, then?” Raven questioned. I nodded.

  “You know, I’m sure that she wouldn’t mind you staying with us as well, Raven. You’re family, after all. It may not be official, but I know that mum feels that way too.”

  Raven smiled.

  “I think I’d rather stay here. I wouldn’t want to get in your way. Besides, Professor Greyford prefers everyone to stay on-site. You’re a special case.” she reminded me.

  “Yeah, I guess. You are going to come over for dinner sometime, though. That’s not debatable.”

  “That would be nice,” Raven smiled. “Anyway, I’ve got work to get done. See you later, Emilie.” she waved as she walked away.

  Matt stood in shock.

  “Holy shit. Did the Fire-bird just smile? Like, actually smile?”

  “Yes. Strangely enough, she’s a human being. They do that sometimes,” I replied. “Oh, and make fun of my sister again, and I’ll freeze your eyes.” I threatened.

  Leigh stifled a laugh. I was joking, of course. I wasn’t actually going to hurt him.

  “Got it?”

  “Sure…” Matt grunted.

  “Are you going home then, Emilie?” Leigh asked. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the time. “There’s a party in the Nightrain Dorm this afternoon, which we’re going to, if you wanted to.”

  “Nightrain?” I questioned.

  “There are five different dorms in the school. Emerald, Maidenheart, Solaris, Umbra and Nightrain. Emerald are the weird ones. You don’t see a lot of any of them. There are a few guys in there who go to stuff, but we kind of ignore them mostly. Maidenheart is all female, and that’s all anyone knows about them. They’re not reclusive, but they’re pretty hush-hush about what goes on in there. My money’s on either witchcraft or a gambling ring. Solaris are the normal ones, like us. Umbra is basically the emo-dorm. Your sister’s there. Nightrain are the cool ones, essentially. And Nightrain parties are the shit.” she explained. “So, can you come?”