by Riley Storm
“Don’t threaten my people,” Damien said quietly. “I won’t always be there to protect you.”
“Protect me?” Loiner laughed. “What makes you think I need protecting?”
Damien snapped his fingers.
A bolt of lightning shot down from the heavens into the stone less than two feet from Loiner’s side. The witch recoiled as the shockwave hit her, and Damien could see he’d shaken the woman.
“Rokh was toying with you back there,” he rumbled. “He’s got a temper, but he can be managed if you treat him like a person instead of shouting orders at him. We’re not prisoners here, your own Coven said that. Don’t make me go to them about you,” he said. “I guarantee they wouldn’t like that.”
He could see Loiner shaking with fury, wanting little more than to unleash her attack on him, but everything Damien had said was true, and the woman knew it.
Not that he expected it to stop her from trying to provoke Rokh again. She wanted an excuse, any excuse, to evict the dragons or to kill them. Damien wasn’t sure which.
The witches were filing away now, the courtyard emptying quickly once it became clear the confrontation was over. Soon, only a handful remained.
“Don’t ever threaten me like that again,” Master Loiner hissed at him. “You won’t like the consequences.”
Damien smiled grimly. “Neither will you. Trust me.”
Then he turned his back and headed off toward the dragons’ area. Rokh would be coming around soon and would need someone to take his rage out on. If Damien wasn’t there, he was positive Rokh would find a way to blame everything on the witches again.
He saw Anna waiting off to one side, peering around the corner of a building.
I’m sorry, he mouthed at her, shrugging his shoulders helplessly.
She understood, however, a tiny smile of sympathy blossoming on her face. Then she tapped her watch and made a circle with the same hand, before pointing it at him and her again.
Meet same time tomorrow.
At least, that was how Damien interpreted it. He nodded gratefully, mouthing thank you, at her, and hoping she understood. Then he put his head down and set off, wondering just how badly Rokh was going to take this.
And how badly am I going to pay for it?
Chapter Fourteen
Anna
“So, how is your preparation coming for the test?”
Anna shrugged, her mind elsewhere. “Not bad, I guess,” she replied, her usual answer to school-related activities.
Genna and Courtney rolled their eyes, her two best friends knowing her better than that.
“Not bad, she says,” Genna groaned. “That means she’s ready to ace it.”
“That’s probably where you’ve been the past few nights, isn’t it? Studying hard, trying to get a leg up on the rest of us?”
“Maybe,” Anna said with a laugh, glad for the ready-made excuse as to her whereabouts.
The truth was that she’d been spending them with Damien. To her surprise, he’d returned the following night, and the night after. The two of them had walked the hallways for hours, talking about each other, about their people, and most importantly, about Winterspell and beyond it, Earth.
There was a lot that Damien and his people needed to learn about the planet if they were to make it their own home, and Anna was more than happy to help him learn. He was an eager student and absorbed all her lessons about advanced technology with ease.
It turned out that, despite the similarities in their languages and appearance, the two planets had followed a different developmental track. Dracia had never had the industrial revolution. But because of their ability to travel long distances with ease in their animal form, they had unified themselves easily anyway. Travel wasn’t a big deal, and the dragon forms could haul huge loads without much stress.
The result had been a civilization that developed without the need for powered aid. The strength of the dragons was enormous, easily several times more than that of the strongest humans. Anna had marveled at the stories of buildings going up in days, constructed of stone and glass, or simply created from the earth itself by the Onyx dragons, masters of stone and earth.
She wished she could have seen it.
“How long did the ward charm take you to make, by the way?” Courtney asked the two of them. “I spent a solid nine hours to get it to work.”
Anna felt panic bubble up inside her at the mention of their project, one of the last things they had to do before taking the Apprentice level test. She’d totally forgotten about it! Her nights had been so busy with hanging out with Damien it had completely slipped her mind.
“About ten for me,” Genna agreed, extending her wrist and shaking it slightly until a bracelet slid free. It was composed of a loop of chain, with dozens of tiny little silver shields attached to it. “Tada.”
“Ooo, nice!” Courtney said, pulling a pendant out from under her shirt where it hung down from her neck. A pair of crossed arms hung from the bottom of it, a universal blocking sign.
“Pretty,” Genna said, turning the green symbol over in her hand. “Let’s see yours, Anna. You always have the neatest designs! How long did it take you?”
Anna went numb. “Uh, I didn’t do it.”
The two other Initiates looked at her. Genna was the older, and it was she who spoke. “What do you mean you didn’t do it? Anna, you never forget to do something.”
“It just happened, okay?” she said uncomfortably, pulling her hands tight around her chest in a protective manner. “I forgot.”
“Is everything okay?” Courtney wanted to know. “If something’s wrong, Anna, we can help you. We’re your friends, you can trust us.”
“I know I can. I know that,” she said, looking them both in the eye gratefully. Anna didn’t have a lot of friends at Winterspell. Many of the students judged her negatively for how hard she studied and worked to gain the power that she did have. They said it made them look bad. Privately, Anna thought their own lack of work ethic was what made them look bad, but she couldn’t tell them that to their faces.
Courtney and Genna, though, were much like her, though they had more natural latent talent. Still, they all liked to study the books, and their friendship had formed over many days spent in the Grand Library together, until they’d become close friends outside it as well.
“Trust me,” she said, giving them her best smile. “Everything is fine. I’ll be okay.”
Her two friends exchanged worried glances, and Anna thought they were going to push her for more information, to tell them exactly what it was that had caused her to “forget” to do a project. A project that had major ramifications when it came to their Apprenticeship test. A test the three of them had been working toward for a decade now, ever since becoming Initiates together.
“If you’re sure,” Genna said uncomfortably. “But Master Proche is going to be upset with you.”
“Yeah,” Anna agreed. “I’ll deal with it though. It’s my first time missing something or being late. She’ll give me a bit of leniency.” I hope.
The others nodded, but their body language said the same thing. They doubted it.
There were only ten Initiates in the Ward’s class taught by Master Proche, and the three girls were the first ones there, as always. Anna hung back while Courtney and Genna showed off their finished product, and then demonstrated that the devices worked.
Wards were defensive magic, designed to protect something. Usually, it was an object, such as a dwelling or place of importance to a witch. For instance, Winterspell was surrounded by overlapping wards that would make a magical assault on the Academy a nightmare for anyone who tried.
The items the women had designed were smaller, portable versions of that, designed to defend their person from magical attacks. One at a time, Master Proche cast a spell at them, and the wards turned it aside.
“Very good work, ladies,” the Senior-level Master said, clapping her hands politely. “Anna, you’re next.
Let’s see what you did this time.” Proche smiled broadly. Anna was one of her favorite students, though Anna tried not to suck up too much during class. She just enjoyed the way Proche taught, and it worked well with her learning style, so the two got along well.
“Ah, well, the thing is, Master Proche,” Anna began, stopping when she saw Proche frown.
“Did something go wrong, Anna? I thought you would come up with something magnificent, like always.”
“Well, I had plans to make something,” she said. That much at least was true. The beginnings of her ward had taken shape as she worked on it, but once Damien arrived, everything had fallen by the wayside. “But I kind of didn’t finish in time.”
“I see.” It was evident that Master Proche was upset with her. “I’m disappointed, Anna.”
Ouch. Why do they always have to use that word when you least want them to? Not many things hurt worse than having someone you looked up to say they were disappointed in you.
“Why didn’t you get it done?”
“I just forgot about it,” she said helplessly. “I’ve been so busy studying for the Apprentice test, and I forgot about this project.”
It was a bald-faced lie, and Proche and her friends knew it. Anna had very little experience with lying, and it showed. What was her alternative? To tell them that she’d been spending her evenings walking the secret passageways with one of the dragon men? No, that would go over even worse. So, she refused to open up, and let them formulate their own guesses.
“I know things have been turned upside down here the past few days with the arrival of the dragons,” Master Proche said quietly, as if reading her mind. “I also know you were involved with bringing the first group here. That certainly has to weigh on your mind, but Anna, you’re studying to become an Apprentice, and you have things you must do along the way if you hope to achieve that.”
“Of course, Master Proche.” There was no way that Proche could possibly know about her late-night rendezvous, but yet she seemed to naturally know that the dragons were the heart of the issue…
“Which is why I expect you to show me your finished project by noon tomorrow, or I will have to fail you.”
Anna’s throat constricted. A fail would mean she couldn’t take the test. Like, ever.
“Of course,” she said quietly. “I’ll get to work right after class.”
Sorry, Damien, but I won’t be able to meet you tonight.
Anna wandered back to one of the desks and took a seat, her mind anywhere but the classroom. Though as Initiates they didn’t spend much time in a typical school setting, sometimes it was necessary or more prudent, and today was one of those days.
Not that Anna heard much of what was being said. She was having an internal debate over a choice she was facing, and a decision she would have to make, and soon.
Could she continue to both see Damien and maintain her pace of studies?
Or would one of them win out over the other? Because if push came to shove, Anna would have to pick one.
And I’ve not spent more than half my life to get to this point just to abandon it when I’m so close, now, have I?
Yet she dreaded the idea of cutting Damien out from her life as well.
Chapter Fifteen
Anna
The next night, she waited in the tunnels as the appointed time came near.
Luck had been with her yesterday and she’d run into Altair while walking out in the courtyard for her afternoon meal. Although the dragon was still unsure about her people, he’d agreed to pass the word on to Damien that she wouldn’t be able to make it that night.
Unlike the witches, the dragons didn’t seem to have any rules about interacting with the women of Winterspell. They seemed far more pragmatic on a lot of matters than her own superiors did. Anna tried not to dwell on why that might be, lest it bring her down some paths she wasn’t quite ready to follow.
The door slid open, the silent movement startling her with its lack of warning. She stepped back just in case it wasn’t Damien on the other side, but her fears were immediately put at ease as a familiar head of blond hair ducked through the entryway.
“Hey, you,” she said, not quite throwing herself at him.
“Anna,” he replied, easily catching her in his arms and lifting her up as per usual. “It’s good to see you. I missed you last night. Did you get your project done?”
“Barely,” she said, sagging into him. “I think I got three hours of sleep last night at most. Was up all night working on it. I’ve never rushed such a project before in my life!” She tried to keep the frustration out of her voice, but Damien was quite perceptive, and she felt his arms slacken just a little in their hug.
Was he aware of what was going on in her head? Could he possibly know the problems she was facing?
“I’m proud that you got it done,” he said. “That must have been quite the effort.”
“All those years of studying hard paying off, I suppose,” she said, biting her lip in mild dismay as she disentangled herself from him. “Walk with me?” she asked.
“Is there a chance we could go somewhere more…open?” he asked.
Anna frowned. The tunnels that wormed their way through Winterspell were not oft-frequented by the students and residents of the Academy, and when they were, those inside usually sought privacy. It was fairly rare to run into someone else because they would try to avoid you as much as you did them. To go outside though…
She looked up as he shifted from one foot to the other. She saw his face, but it was what was beyond him that caught her attention. The arched stone ceiling. That was it then, she understood suddenly.
Damien was a dragon. A creature used to the freedom of the skies, and she’d been imprisoning him in the tunnels every time they met. Of course, he would want to get out!
“Umm, let me think here,” she said, trying to come up with somewhere they could go, but still be alone. There were plenty of towers and balconies in the two buildings, but she needed to find one that was unused. Where they could be…whatever it was they were, together, and alone.
“It’s okay,” Damien started to say, but she shook her head, quieting him.
“I just had to think of a route. I don’t usually go up either,” she admitted. “Sneaking around isn’t exactly my strong suit.”
Damien grinned. “So how rebellious do you feel right now then?”
“You don’t want me thinking about that,” she joked. “Cause then I might realize what I’m doing and stop.”
“Oh.” Damien didn’t seem certain how to react.
“Come on,” she said, reaching out to take his hand without thinking.
His fingers slid through hers and gripped on as Damien followed her through the winding hallways and they began to climb stairs too narrow to fit both of them side by side. They went up and up and up.
“We must be above ground by now,” he commented, easily following along as she led the way.
“Oh absolutely. But if we’re going to be outside, we need to be somewhere no one can see us,” she reminded. “Which means above everyone else that might be out on other balconies.”
“I see,” he said, falling silent.
At last, she brought them to a door. Not a compartment in the wall, but an actual door. It was unlocked as expected, and she pushed it open quietly, praying the hinges wouldn’t squeak.
They didn’t, and the two of them emerged into a tiny room with a set of stairs going up and down. She pointed up, and they went up one last flight of stairs, emerging out onto a flat-topped tower.
“Wow,” Damien breathed, looking up at the night sky. “This is quite the view. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, enjoying the view as well. This had been one of her favorite spots to come when she was a novice. The peace and serenity of the high tower had helped her come to terms with leaving home behind, knowing she would never return to the world she’d once been a part of.
“I came up h
ere—by the regular stairs—my third night here at Winterspell,” she said quietly. “I spent hours looking out in every direction, wondering if I could spot my home. If I could see the lights of the city I’d come from.”
“Are you from nearby?” Damien asked quietly, sensing the importance of what she was saying.
“No. Not at all,” she said. “I didn’t know that at the time though. I’d just begun to develop my magic, and they came for me.”
“You were kidnapped here?”
“No, of course not,” she said with a laugh. “They came during the day. They told my parents the truth about what I was going to become, and the good I could do if I were allowed to come and be trained here.” She looked down. “They also told them of the evil I might become if I were to continue unchecked. That if that happened, they would be forced to kill me.”
“I thought you said most people didn’t know that you can use magic.”
“They don’t,” she said. “My parents didn’t believe them at first. But in time they came to understand. Enough demonstrations will do that to just about anyone.”
“What…what happened to your parents?” he asked.
“They’re out there somewhere,” she said. “Enspelled to silence. They can never tell anyone about what happened to me. Not the true story at least. Everyone else thinks I’m off at boarding school. Or that I was, I guess, and that I just never returned home. My parents go to “visit” me sometimes.”
“Have you seen them since the witches came to bring you here?” he asked cautiously.
“No. Not once,” she said heavily. “It’s not an easy decision, but once I realized I was different, I wanted to learn all about it. The things I have seen here, Damien. The good that we are doing, it gave me a purpose I’ve never felt before. Something to work toward. It was that dream that made it easier to abandon the life I knew, the people I’d loved.”
“And that’s why it’s so important to you,” he said quietly. “Why you work so hard for it.”
“Yes. And that’s why the Apprenticeship exam means so much to me. If I take it and pass, then even if I never move on to Master level, I will always be a witch of Winterspell. I will be a member in its ranks, called upon to fight if anything breaks loose from the Abyss. I will get a chance to use my magic for good. Forever.”
