Victory: Year Four

by Amabel Daniels

  Coming up to the November finals, I dreaded the ordeal. They weren’t even testing my Pure abilities. I’d thought these exams and assessments were to not only gauge our mastery of our skills but also to push us to improve.

  “Here comes another afternoon of child’s play,” I muttered as we all trooped into the clinic room at the Menagerie. At least the Zoology ones were.

  “Not so fast,” Paige retorted. “Mom and Glorian were talking about grades for seniors so far. Glorian wasn’t too happy with all the easy As and called Bateson in.”

  I knew it. She was going easy on everyone, not just me. Why bother being here if she was going to be so indifferent to her job?

  “Yeah?” Lorcan asked, walking alongside us.

  Paige nodded.

  God, I love how she knows the behind the scenes about everything. Nosy girl. I grinned.

  “So Bateson shows up and Glorian’s harping on her. She didn’t even care. Mom said she just shrugged, didn’t even argue back.”

  Didn’t sound like the Irish prof I knew from before. She and Glorian fought constantly. In the not-so-confidential council meeting I’d overheard, Suthering had to repeatedly mediate between the two women.

  “Then she snapped. Said she’d give her what she wanted and then stormed out of the office.”

  I caught Flynn’s frowning expression.

  So, did that mean she was going to be extra tough today? Or…something else? It was hard to hold the confidence that being a Pure leant. If Bateson had something nefarious up her sleeves, even my powers couldn’t trump evil.

  “Well, this should be interesting then.”

  Paige shrugged at Lorcan’s statement before we filed into the room.

  Bateson stood at the front of the room, propping her hip to the instructor’s desk. Her arms were crossed as she stood still, watching us enter. I stumbled in my step at her intense glower, as though she despised us for merely being in her presence.

  Just…great. Bateson was in a bad mood. Not surprising if she’d just gotten a dressing down from Glorian. This exam wasn’t going to be interesting…

  When she spotted me, she reduced her scowl into something like a smiling sneer.

  This is going to be bad.

  “Come on, children,” she drawled in the heaviest accent she could probably produce.

  Lorcan grunted at her greeting. “We’re not freaking kids anymore,” he muttered lowly.

  “Take your seats. You won’t be in them long.” She clapped, like ordering workers to the line. We weren’t dragging our feet. There was no need to hustle us.

  “Our exam will be in the aviary.” She stepped away from the desk, eyeing us from wall to wall. Perhaps she was satisfied with what she saw because her frown lifted and twisted into something hinting at excitement. “Perfect. You’ll be partnered with whomever you’re seated next to.”

  I bit on my lip. Whoops. That wasn’t planned well. Flynn and I often sat together. Or if I wasn’t next to him, it was with Paige or Lorcan—none of those three were individuals I wanted to compete against.

  Granted, in the exams we’d had so far, it was a mild concept of competition. We were partnered up as adversaries, but the higher scoring student’s grade didn’t count against the others. I had a bad feeling that idea was going to be viewed differently today.

  “Huh.” Flynn frowned at me and whispered, “That’s new.”

  I shrugged.

  “Let’s move along then. I’ll explain the exam once we’re there.” At least she hadn’t been lying about us not staying in the room long. Normally, she gave us a droning lecture about what would be required of us for the oral or physical test. She probably just liked to listen to herself talk. Today was an exception with her curt words.

  We stood from the desks, and at the sound of other chairs scooting out in front of me, I glanced up to get a preview of how others had been paired.

  Aura and Ren.

  Just. Fricking. Great.

  With a quick pace, we followed Bateson to the aviary. No other Menagerie workers were around and I kind of wished someone would be near.

  Maybe I could call for Knightley? I’d let him into the grog kennels when I’d come. He slept with me in my dorm, but when I was at the Menagerie for class time or work, I had him hang out with Arthur.

  Bateson’s only semi-Pure, but she’d know I had an ancient with me. No point to piss her off, trying to skewer her stupid test.

  “We’re going to start out with our Pures for this one. Layla and Flynn, and Ren and Aura.” She spun on her blood-red high heel, sending her long skirt swirling as we continued further into the aviary. Facing us and stepping backward—which was almost impressive at this speed of walking, in those shoes—she barked a mean laugh. “Well, most of the Pures, plus a Diluted.”

  Lorcan grunted and Paige smiled.

  Burn. She’d made the distinction just for Ren. He was no Pure. A fact he and his mother probably hated.

  I glanced at the black-haired jerk. His jaw was set in a firm lock and his eyes narrowed at our teacher. I didn’t blame him for being furious. And insulted? Bateson wouldn’t get a teacher-of-the-year award ever, but to actually make fun of a student? That was low, even for her.

  As I tuned out the bird calls and flutters of wings, it hit me. Her jab at Ren about not being a Pure, us being in the aviary…

  She’s doing this to get back at Glorian. Birds were her sect of power.

  Dread grew in my stomach. I didn’t even want to know what was ahead.

  “We’ll be practicing command over animals among their own kind. In the predator wing. Come along.”

  She had to plan for this wing? Of all the species, she chose birds who captured and killed? I did not want to come along. Stopping in the middle of our lineup, another student bumped into me from behind.

  The predators? With her attitude?

  I should call Wolf. Alert someone.

  “Layla, come on,” Flynn said, looking back at me. “We don’t want her…unsupervised in there.”

  I snorted. He didn’t want our teacher to be without our supervision? Something was backward about this. And so very, very wrong. I rushed to keep up with him, fighting every instinct to call out for Knightley, for Arthur. For any animal. A hawk flew close, right over Bateson’s head, and landed on my shoulder.

  Crap. Check yourself. I was resisting the desire to summon for help, but my energy still leaked out a rallying call for aid. This hawk had still sensed my mood.

  “Ah.” Bateson tilted her head and eyed me with my companion. “We already have one showing off.”

  I glared at her. Spikes began to rise on the beads of Hazel’s bracelet and I inhaled deeply to calm down. I wasn’t showing off. This was how the bond with species worked, dammit.

  “Go on,” I told the bird in a soft whisper. But stay close.

  She flew off.

  We were well into the rooms which housed the birds of prey. Bateson stood near a cage in the middle of the room. Inside was—

  “Eww.” A High Diluted elf plugged her nose and stepped back. “Gross,” she whined through a nasal tone.

  I winced at the odor too.

  A metal-ringed cage didn’t hide the contents. Through the slits between the bars locking it shut, we could clearly see a carcass. The soft-brown fur helped to identify it as a deer. Antlers jutted out from the container. No breaths pushed its chest up.

  At least it’s already dead. I glowered at the teacher. A small mercy, for the buck’s sake, but I wouldn’t put it past her to have ordered the creature killed for her little test.

  “Each of you four,” she said, gesturing for us to step forward, “come on, come on. Don’t be shy.” She waited for us to come to the middle of the room before speaking again. Flynn led the way, and Ren and Aura pushed their way through other students.

  “Each of you will each have a condor to command.” She waved a hand at the carcass in the cage. “Yesterday, I asked for an appetite stimulant to be administered
and to withhold their food.”

  Animal cruelty. That was the only way to describe it.

  “Ms. Bateson, the California condor is an endangered species,” Paige said, lifting her wary gaze to the high-ceilinged room for these scarily large birds. “How can you…manipulate their feedings, and just—”

  “I’m well aware of the bird’s status. Thank you for the reminder, Miss Mama’s Little Librarian. My purpose here is for education. To demonstrate to you all how strong the bond can be between elf and bird.”

  “We don’t need that kind of a demonstration,” Lorcan said with a bite in his tone. “We’ve seen how animals react to elven power.”

  She smiled like a witch. “Even yours?”

  Lorcan stiffened. He hadn’t shown any connections to birds, his family’s sect of species. His patience was admirable, and we all assumed his skills would show sooner or later. There was no need for her dig, though.

  Why is she so…cruel?

  “So let’s use today’s example as a way to illustrate it once more.” She raised her brow, as though challenging us to speak up again.

  Flynn took off his leather bracelet and I promptly began to remove mine. If he needed full access to his power, then I wanted to be ready as well.

  Bateson went on. “These condors are due to be fed in a couple of hours, and they will naturally be eager to get a taste.” She dismissively gestured at the cage with the buck. “It’s quite simple. Keep them from eating, and you pass.”

  “That’s it?” Ren asked.

  I laughed at him. “That’s it?”

  He glared at me. “Yeah. Doesn’t sound hard.”

  Hisses sounded from overhead, where the condors were strutting on a ledge built into the wall far above. Four of them, likely all they had here since there were so many in the world. Hairless heads bobbed up and down, their glossy eyes on us and then the carcass.

  “Doesn’t sound hard,” I muttered to myself as I shoved my bracelet into the hem of my skirt. Ren was a Diluted, likely not even a High one at that. He had no clue what he was getting into.

  “Yes,” Bateson said. “Simply keep them from eating.”

  “This is wrong,” Flynn said.

  “Who’s the instructor, here, hmm?”

  “It doesn’t matter who is who!” I clenched my hands into fists and didn’t care that bumps rose on my beaded bracelet.

  “Says the Pure…” she retorted.

  “This is wrong. Withholding food after starving them.”

  Bateson tsked. “For one day, Layla.”

  “It. Doesn’t. Matter.”

  “Any other questions?” she asked, dismissing me.

  Dammit. I shared a glance with Flynn. Then he surveyed the room and I bet he was looking for something as backup.

  “Yeah,” a fellow classmate said from the cluster of students who stood back a way, ready for observation. “What if they come after us, instead?”

  “Then I’ll release the cage and end the test.” She shrugged. “They would be more likely to go for the easy option before hunting on you.”

  No one spoke.

  “Well, I wouldn’t let them hurt you,” she added with a shrill laugh.

  Says who? I’d seen her prioritize her goals for an animal over student safety, like, mine.

  “Layla,” Paige said in something between a whimper and a warning.

  I nodded. I got it. I was scared too and nothing was right about this so-called exam. Not even for the sake of science or education.

  Like Flynn had, I scanned the room. I sought cameras and found none. The only things watching us were the four condors on the corners of the walls. On a branch of an old tree—a structure installed in here for the sake of making a realistic habitat for the creatures—was a black bird.

  How it had gotten in here…and why, I couldn’t say.

  It met my gaze with eyes that lit up green, and I realized this was no crow. In fact, it seemed similar to the bird that had followed me in previous years. I’d often thought it was a spy, but when it had helped me locate Sabine in the lake, I figured it might be on my side.

  “Layla?” Bateson asked, frowning as she glanced in the direction I’d been looking. She returned her gaze to me, with no reaction to the blackbird up there.

  An ancient species. She can’t see it. She didn’t even notice the apparition of it.

  “What?”

  “Ready?” she asked, smiling again.

  “No.”

  Her lips dipped to a snarl. “Too bad.”

  I looked to the blackbird. Find Wolf. Get help. Go.

  It took off toward the door. How it would get out, I had no clue.

  “Stop,” Flynn said. “Wait.” He instantly started commanding his condor, and while the great bird flapped its wings, he didn’t dart down toward the food.

  Wait. I met my condor’s eyes and it opened and closed its beak at me. Still, it obeyed.

  “Stop!” Ren’s call rent through the air and I gritted my teeth. His condor swooped down, toward him. I backtracked to shove him to the floor, holding my hand up to block the condor.

  “Wait,” I said.

  The bird landed on the ground before us and strutted back and forth. Hissing and screeching at me, it ceased approaching.

  “Stop.”

  I turned around to Flynn’s voice. In the time I’d broken my attention on my condor, it had tried to sneak by. Now both Flynn’s and my birds were on the ground, emitting angry sounds and pacing back and forth.

  I breathed harder, hating this. Hating how I was contributing to Bateson’s evil trick.

  Louder hisses came from my right and I whipped around to see Aura’s condor. It was still up there on the wooden branch of a ledge. He flapped massive wings, so hard the tips struck the walls. Hisses so loud, they hurt my ears, continued to come from him.

  Ren’s condor tried to peck its head closer toward the cage with the deer and I returned my focus to it. Then I dared to look at Aura. She was a Pure with fungal and floral powers, but no one had reported or noticed animal connections. How was she keeping that bird up there? And so distressed?

  I winced at the sharp, loud noises and wanted to calm it down. If I did, then Ren’s condor would sneak up. Flynn was already doubling up and holding back mine and his.

  Aura grinned next to me as she peered up at the dark bird. It hadn’t budged from the branch, like it was—

  “Dammit!” I tore my focus from the flurry of the angry bird to Aura. Her arm was outstretched, her hand gripping the base of the deadwood trunk that held the arm for the condor to stand on. I stepped closer to her and squinted.

  Vines, complete with thorns, wrapped around the condor’s feet, chaining him to the perch.

  “Stop it!”

  She scoffed at me and shrugged her free shoulder. “Why? I like winning.”

  Her condor was the furthest from the food. I didn’t care about this damn exam.

  “Paige,” I said while directing my energy to the birds, ordering them with my thoughts to stop reacting for the food. “Open the door.”

  “I didn’t authorize—”

  Scare her. I gave the command to Ren’s bird and it turned toward her. Walking side to side in a stilted, too-tall waddle. He extended his wings.

  Don’t hurt her. But scare her. I envisioned the condor flying right up to her face, hissing.

  “That’s against the rules, Layla!” Bateson said while facing the bird. She must have attempted to order it because it halted its approach toward her.

  “This is against the rules.” I grimaced at Aura’s condor’s heart-piercing caws for help. Shrieks from a torture victim. I ground my molars and drew in a deep breath.

  “Flynn, have yours and mine follow you out.”

  He nodded, his back still to me. With sure commands, he ordered the condor to obey. Elf and birds began to exit.

  “Stop!” Bateson called out. “I didn’t give you permission to leave.”

  With Ren’s bird still facing
Bateson and craning its neck to view the venison in the cage, I ran to Aura. Ren’s bird could get the deer for all I cared. One of them deserved it.

  Once I got to the raven-haired elf, I slapped my hand down on her forearm, a direct jab. She must not have expected it, because I broke her hold on the wood. With a cry, she backed up, cradling her arm to her chest. I slapped my hand on the trunk and ordered the vines to release the bird.

  Go. Leave. Follow the others. I had a chance long enough to look up and see the condor shaking off the vines. Aura stole my attention by barreling into me. She lunged for me. If she’d had both hands free, she might have gained a little advantage. In her right hand, however, was a twig. We fell to the ground and she tried to pin me down. I refused to stay still long enough to be anywhere near defeat.

  She hugged me close and I felt thorny vines snake around my chest. “Why do you always have to screw up everything I try to do?”

  I grunted at the dig of the vines and called them off. Pricks receded from my skin, but the vine still twisted around me.

  I cocked my head to the side. “What, like getting Flynn?”

  She growled, her teeth snapped tight together as she bared them. “You b—”

  Okay, I just had to. But, still. Really? Now?

  “Guess what,” I spat at her. “You’re not winning this time, either.”

  Her nostrils flared as more and more vines wrapped around me. I didn’t need my powers. I’d learned how to escape holds. And if I wrestled her off of me, then I could tend the plants. With a deft move of my left leg and a sharp jack-knife to toss her over, I eased out of her clutch. Free of her arms, I pressed my fingertips to the vines and channeled my energy to order the vines to retreat.

  “Eat,” I told the condor Aura had trapped. “Go on and get it.”