"Excuse us. We’re stepping through," Winta said to Elaine as she made to step past her. Elaine let her get by, but then stepped in front of Ava. JiSoo had apparently already snuck into the room—she was nimble like that.
"And what if I don't let you by?" Elaine sneered.
Out of all the things Ava needed in her life right at that moment, this was definitely not on the list. And it didn't help that there was a bottleneck of shifters forming behind her, waiting to enter the class. They were all starting to grumble and loudly complain, but that didn't discourage Elaine.
Ava wouldn’t give all the onlookers the satisfaction of her making a scene, so she just said to Elaine quietly, "Haven't you done enough?"
Elaine leaned in closer. "I don't even know how you haven't been expelled yet, but I'm just getting started, Sweetie. When I'm done with you, you will wish we never met."
Ava rolled her eyes again. This time, she made sure Elaine could see it. "I already wish that, Elaine." With that, she ducked under Elaine's arm, inhaling the choking scent of Chanel No.7, and sailed into the classroom, headed straight for her favorite seat in the back.
Winta and JiSoo were already seated, and there were three empty seats next to them.
Ava settled in next to Winta as Levine's words echoed in her mind: "We pride ourselves on being the best, not just as shifters, but as dignified members of society. We can't have our students breaking rules. You broke in to the library, I assume for materials which are forbidden, and now you refuse to tell me why."
That was the lecture the headmistress had given them as she angrily escorted them to her office.
What exactly was it that was keeping Ava from sharing her reasons with the headmistress? Maybe she should have just admitted she was looking for information about her father. But for whatever reason, she felt the need to keep it a secret. And she was thankful Winta had her back.
When class started, she scanned the students for her favorite head of white hair. But he wasn't there. Strange.
She'd never seen him miss class. She entertained the thought that perhaps he heard all those things about her and decided to avoid her. In which case, Elaine's plan worked perfectly. But she had to remind herself that made little sense because he wouldn't skip class just to avoid her.
Throughout the lesson, Ava forced her brain to focus on the words floating around on the pages of History of Shifter Lore. Even more difficult was focusing on the words coming from Mrs. Peabody’s bulbous mouth (she was a toad shifter).
The short, squat woman droned on and on about the elegance of the shifter race and how it all began. It was actually fairly interesting subject matter, but her voice made it boring.
"When animals shared their bond with certain select humans, and humans did so with animals..." Toad Lady prattled on.
Ava's head jerked up. Wait, did she seriously just say that the shifter race began because people got it on with animals? That can't be right… Ava started thumbing backward through the pages of her textbook to figure out what she had missed. She clearly wasn't paying proper attention.
Here we go, okay. That's reassuring. Apparently it all stems back from sorcery. There were magical people, and magical animals, and at one point, they shared their magic with each other. Phew.
"It's truly a great privilege…" Mrs. Peabody was saying.
Ava certainly didn't feel very privileged at the moment. Coming to this school was already a mistake she sorely regretted. Then she caught herself. If she had never come to the academy, she wouldn't have met her friends. She should be happy and not sitting there feeling sorry for herself. Plus, she never would have met Tarun….
Not that that mattered now.
Although, despite the horrible things she said to him, he still stood up for her to Elaine. Maybe she should make things right with him. Apologize. She could just tell him she was briefly possessed by the devil or something. Or claim temporary insanity. Yeah, that would work.
That boy was a puzzle she couldn't fit together properly. He was clearly one of the popular guys in the school, yet he chose to talk to her. The tabby cat. And not just talk to her, but kiss her! And he did all this on top of ignoring Elaine, one of the—admittedly—prettiest girls at the school. But she had yet to find out why. Tarun could literally have his pick of anyone he wanted at the school—probably even the older girls. So what did he want with her?
As the teacher continued on about the first shifter lineage, Ava decided to keep herself awake by writing her letter to her mother. Finally. At least maybe then she could get some sort of confirmation. Confirmation she badly needed.
With her heavy hair shadowing her face, she leaned forward as discreetly as possible, hoping the teacher would just think she was taking notes, and she began to scrawl.
Hey Mom,
How are you? How is Buster? Are you both missing me terribly? I'm doing great here. The academy is everything I hoped it would be, and everyone here is super nice to me. Having the best time.
Anyway, I found something in the school library that got me curious. I'm sure you'd understand. I saw an old picture of Dad here in one of the yearbooks, and I was wondering if you knew he went to the school, too? Also, what kind of shifter was he? It's kind of important. I really need to know as soon as possible because I think it might help me with some of my classes. Please write back as soon as you can.
I love you,
Ava
PS: I'm sorry, I know you really don’t like talking about Dad. Just this once. Please?
Hopefully that would do the trick. She tried to butter her up at the beginning as much as possible so that maybe she'd be more willing to spill the beans to her. If Lucy thought everything was splendid, maybe she'd be so excited for her she’d happily offer up the information.
Ava closed the book over her letter. She'd mail it after class.
"There was a Blessing—hundreds of them—walking the earth freely back then. The purest creatures that knew no harm, but they were wild. None could ride them."
What was she on about now? A blessing of some kind?
"Unfortunately, these unicorns were later slaughtered…"
Unicorns! Ava sat up straighter in her seat. Mrs. Peabody had meant a Blessing of Unicorns. Her attention now piqued.
"…for many reasons," the toad went on. "Some wanted their blood because legends said drinking it would make one immortal. Others wanted to harvest their horns for a similar reason."
Ava shifted forward in her seat.
"The unicorn horn had the magical ability to heal anyone instantly. One touch of the horn could cure anything. Even death, if the touch came soon enough."
Holy smokes! Unicorn horns are that powerful and the school is using the dust to power the ship? That is absolutely blasphemous.
"When it was discovered that just shaving dust from the unicorn’s horn, or extracting a little of the blood, could get the same effect, they were hunted and killed off rapidly."
The teacher then cleared her throat and wrote the word "Origin" on the chalkboard in big letters. Then she went on. "Seeing as they were nearly gone, they wanted to keep their race alive, but also continue to help people and other animals. Knowing extinction was not far off, they gave to a group of magical humans the ability to become one with the Blessing. To change into their own breed."
"Unicorn shifters," Ava whispered.
"And that filtered down to other shifters we have today." A puff of chalk dust kicked up as the teacher tossed the chalk down, hitting the eraser. "And there you have it, children. To the best of our knowledge, unicorns were responsible for creating the original shifter race. Had they not bestowed their magic upon humans so long ago, the magical human race, or mages as so many now know them, would never have existed. And once the mages had that kind of magic, they were able to create all kinds of other shifters. And… Voilà!" She held out her pudgy little hands, indicating to the room full of students.
"And that, dear students, is where your school gets its name. Animage is the
name for a mage who can transform into an animal. A magical animal." She looked around, peeking over her little round spectacles. "Any questions?"
Probably thirty hands shot up in the air. Yes, they had questions.
One of those hands belonged to Ava, and Ava focused all her attention on the little toad lady, willing her to call on her. It worked.
"Yes, you in the back. What was your name again?"
Ava told her her name and then proceeded. "According to what you're saying, all shifters are actually mages? So that means we all have some sort of magical power?"
Mrs. Peabody bobbed her head from side to side. "Well, yes and no. We all indeed have magic to an extent. We wouldn't be able to shift if we didn't. But some are definitely blessed with more than others. For instance, your headmistress. She can utilize quite a bit of it. There's another one of you here… Oh, where are you, Azar?" She scanned the room. "Oh, there you are. Please, stand up."
Ava heard a shocked squeal come from someone about five rows in front of her. Then, a very tiny, black-haired girl stood up. The phoenix! So that was her name—Azar.
"Azar here is a phoenix shifter, and they have tremendous magical powers. So obviously, she has more magic than the rest of you."
Azar shook uncontrollably. Ava pitied her. This girl clearly did not like being the center of attention, and attention seemed to be all she got.
"That's another reason plain shifters, such as house pets or other domesticated animals with no impressive abilities"—Ava cringed—"tend to seek out vampires or werewolves and the like."
What? Some people actually seek those monsters out on purpose? That seemed absurd to Ava. But many others around her, including Winta and JiSoo, were murmuring their agreement and nodding their heads. So apparently that was common knowledge.
"And every shifter’s magic is different. Sometimes it doesn't come from the animal they shift into, like the griffin or the phoenix." She gestured for Azar to sit down, and Azar was more than happy to oblige. "Sometimes it comes from the bloodline of the mage. In those instances, you could end up with something like a fox shifter who can cast spells or control the weather."
A few more hands went up, but Mrs. Peabody ignored them. "We have to finish up here, but I want to make one more point about the unicorns."
All the raised hands went down.
"When the unicorns created the mages, and then mixed with them, making unicorn shifters, their bloodline didn't remain entirely pure. Drinking the blood of the unicorn shifter doesn't give one immortality the way it did if one drank the blood of a pure unicorn. Instead, it does give prolonged life, and also extended healing abilities. With access to enough of it, the drinker could live for hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands, of years."
Wow…
Ava exhaled with the rest of the class. Mrs. Peabody definitely had their rapt attention now after practically boring them to death for weeks. Ava wondered to herself if she would ever have the chance to meet one of these exquisite creatures. Were they really extinct? Heck, even meeting the shifter version would be cool, too.
"Sadly, these exquisite creatures are now completely extinct."
Meh.
"The last pure unicorn perished in the early 1100s. After that, unicorn shifters thrived for some time, but, along with shifting, they were also immortal. And they could heal with the touch of the horn, as you already know, but the shavings and the powder were used for various purposes." Mrs. Peabody curled her lip in distaste. "Purposes that were horrifically abused. Therefore, resulting in their eventual extinction."
Another detail Ava desperately wanted to know more about. She made a mental note to research more about this dust after mailing her letter.
Another hand shot up. It was Gregory the panda this time. The teacher checked her watch and then nodded, beckoning for the student to hurry.
"Ma'am, if unicorns are immortal, then how are they extinct? What’s their weakness?"
Well, that was a darn good question. Why hadn't Ava thought of that?
Mrs. Peabody stretched her pudgy little arms as wide as they could go. "Nature always maintains balance. There is a weakness for every creature. For unicorns, it's the horn. Once the horn is completely severed, it dies. But there were rumors that if even a little part of the horn was left behind, the creature could come back to life. So it is suspected there is unicorn dust very well hidden in certain locations around the world. It is rumored there are entire secret sects devoted to resurrecting the unicorn race."
Gregory wasn't satisfied. "So every unicorn that died was a result of human invasion?"
"Humans, vampires, werewolves, other shifters of all kinds. You name it. Everyone wanted a piece of these magical creatures. They were hunted, held captive, and butchered until there were none left. Up until maybe ten years ago, there were still a few of them. Maybe two or three, but they have since been killed off as well."
Mrs. Peabody wiped her sweaty brows with a handkerchief she pulled from her breast pocket. "It's a sad tale to tell, and I don't much enjoy it. Even when I was a girl, unicorns were still worshiped. Children adored them. Adults, too. But the poachers went too far. I even had the pleasure of teaching one when I came to the academy. But it's all over now. Does that answer your question, Gregory?"
"It does, Ma'am." Gregory looked so shocked he might cry.
Just then, the bell rang.
"Perfect timing. See you next week, class!"
As Ava leaned down to put her book back into her backpack, JiSoo leaned over Winta to say to her, "You look like hell."
Ava just looked up and glared. "Thank you for that, JiSoo. It's nice to know I look like I feel."
Winta intervened. "I think, what she means to say, is that you look very upset about something."
Ava shook her hair away from her face. "That was just a lot, you know? I feel so bad for those poor unicorns. But it also gave me an idea."
"You think your father might have been a mage?" Winta asked, reading her mind.
"So you caught on to that, too?" Ava smiled at her friend, so glad they were always on the same page.
"It definitely makes the most sense. Are you wanting to head to the library today?"
"You bet." Ava turned to look at JiSoo again. "JiSoo? Do you want to join us? Hey! Earth to JiSoo!"
JiSoo was staring, practically googly eyed, at one of the bunny shifters a little way ahead. He was chatting with his other friends as they headed out of the room. But before he got to the door, he turned back and flashed JiSoo a smile.
JiSoo's face immediately turned bright red.
"You didn't tell me you had a crush! Who is he?" Ava smiled eagerly.
JiSoo groaned and slumped her thin shoulders. "He's not my crush. He’s just a boy…"
"Oh, really now?" Winta taunted her. "Because he was just staring at you like you have all the answers to life."
JiSoo elbowed her. "That's not true."
"Oh, yes, it is," Ava agreed. "I think we should go get him right now and ask him." Ava stood up from her seat.
"Okay, okay, fine!" JiSoo jumped up as well, smiling ruefully. "Maybe I think he's nice and kind of cute."
"And?" Winta was standing now as well.
JiSoo became suddenly fascinated with her plastic bubble-tea key chain dangling from her backpack strap. "And there was this one time…shortly before I met you…"
Ava whirled around because she'd been about to walk out of the room. "Omigod! What? What happened? You better tell us everything!"
JiSoo looked off to the right and pressed her tongue to the inside of her cheek. "Let's just say I hope never to swallow that much of someone else's saliva ever again."
"Ewww!" Ava and Winta exclaimed together.
Ava made gagging noises, holding her belly and bending forward.
"It wasn't that bad," JiSoo defended. "He might improve. And besides, he's still pretty cute."
Laughing jovially, the three friends exited the classroom together and headed down the hallw
ay. Land shifters poured out of classes on the right, reuniting with the water shifters who were entering the big double doors at the end of the hall from the courtyard. It sounded as if everyone was shouting the building down. Ava just kept her eyes on her friends.
With every new experience that came to her at Animage, she was forever grateful to have her unique friends by her side. Especially because now she would need their help and support when she went on her quest to learn more about unicorns, mages, and if her father had magic.
22
Tarun had one job: patrol the grounds. And he’d be damned if he spent the entire time thinking about a girl who didn’t care if he lived or died. He was certain she was relieved not to see him in any of her classes today.
He told himself he was fine with it. She was just one girl after all, so what did it matter if she’d rejected him? Okay, not just rejected—practically spat on him?
He patrolled the perimeter again, needlessly; there was no one or thing nearby. Levine just liked to be certain that no one crossed it without her authorization. Although the only way to come in was via the ocean, which was nearby the school. And it was the only way to access the city above.
It was quite the honor, actually. He and several other stronger shifters were selected to miss a full day of classes to patrol the grounds, and it was his day. And he was the only first-year in the bunch. Great timing too; he wasn’t sure he could face her after what she did.
There were six of them, each in their animal form, a midnight black wolf, a bear—she stood over eight feet tall, intimidating with her snarling jaws, and long sharp claws—who reclined under a tree, dozing lightly. Then there was a kangaroo—she appeared defenseless at first glance, but Tarun knew she could tear someone to pieces if provoked, and a golden brown lion patrolling beside him. Above his head flew a red dragon—he completed the pack of six.
He’d tried to sleep, to eat the meat they’d been given an hour ago, but it was impossible. Lie all he wanted to himself, he missed her, and most importantly, he was worried sick about her.
Animage Academy: The Shifter School Down Under Year One Page 16
