WarMage- Unrestrained

by Martha Carr

  Without hesitation, she joined the back of the line that moved quickly down the long table and snatched an apple. When she reached the tray of pastries, she couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes!”

  With three steaming hot rolls stacked in her hand, she moved farther and peered into the ceramic pitcher at the end. She leaned forward to take a quick sniff. It smells like goat milk. It’d better be Alby goat milk.

  As she tore a huge chunk of roll off between her teeth, she scanned the tables in the common room and peered around the other girls who moved between the service table and their chosen seats. Elizabeth sat at one of the tables and nibbled on a hunk of cheese as she stared at the book on the table. With the other hand, she fed her bat familiar one ripe blueberry at a time.

  Raven moved to the table and pulled out the chair with her foot before she plopped into it. “Morning.”

  The girl nodded but her gaze lingered on the page until she finished reading and turned it. She finally looked at her new roommate. “Oh. Hey, Raven. When did you get up?”

  “At my normal time.” She bit into the roll again and shrugged. “A couple of hours ago.”

  “Wow. Did you go out for a dragon visit?”

  “Yeah. He’s doing well out there so far.” Except for something ‘not quite right.’ We’ll keep our eyes open on that one. “Hey, how great is this, huh?”

  Elizabeth only frowned when Raven lifted the hot rolls and her apple. “You’ve…never had an apple before?”

  She laughed. “I had no idea they served breakfast here. Okay, I guess I never thought about it before when the dorms weren’t part of my day. Seriously, I think this might be the first time I have three rolls in my hand and the chance to actually eat all of them.”

  That only confused her companion more, so the girl shrugged and glanced at her book. Her dark bangs swooped across one eye again but she didn’t bother to push them aside. “Welcome to living at Fowler.”

  “It’s kind of better than I thought.” She leaned back in the chair and ate the second roll in under a minute. Elizabeth didn’t look at her once. “Okay. I’ll leave you to your book. See you in class.”

  The girl nodded without looking up from the page and fed another berry to her bat.

  Raven passed a few more girls in the stairwell on her way to the third floor. Many of them were upperclassmen but all of them either said hello or gave the newest resident a warm smile. Yeah, this is okay. There isn’t as much personal space as there was at home, but I’ll get enough of that with Leander later.

  When she reached her room almost at the end of the hall, the rolls were finished and the apple halfway eaten. She tried to open the door and almost smacked her face against the wood when the doorknob didn’t turn.

  “What?” She glanced around the empty hallway and jiggled the doorknob again. “Okay, there’s no keyhole, so…oh!” With a grimace, she shrugged her arm out of her jacket again and held her forearm to the doorknob. The access rune glowed orange, as did the doorknob, and after a soft click, she was able to finally open the door. Headmaster Flynn had it right. Actual keys.

  She hurried to her bed and retrieved her satchel from the floor, then opened it to make sure she had everything she needed. “And then some.”

  A few extra textbooks thumped onto her bedspread and she hefted the satchel over her shoulder and grinned. Yeah, I’m packing light.

  Before she left, the thin curtains over the window caught her attention again. Smiling, she pulled them aside and gazed at the perfect view she’d been given. The new dragon pen was more visible in the morning light, and the tips of two huge wings flashed a bright crimson in the sun where they peeked over the top of the pen wall before they vanished again. I think he’s enjoying himself.

  Raven joined the other students gathered outside the stone archway into the field. Professor Fellows had already set up a few sectioned-off sparring rings with lines of thick rope laid in the grass. Beside the outer wall surrounding Fowler Academy’s main buildings, two wheelbarrows overflowed with various training weapons. Raven couldn’t help but glance at the barn across the field, but so far, Leander was lying low.

  “Hey, Alby! What the hell?” Henry shoved around the last stream of students gathering for their first class, his eyes wide and his brown hair protruding in every direction. He ran a hand through it and only made the disheveled look worse.

  “Morning.” She grinned as he finally squeezed through to her side. “What happened to you, Derks?”

  “What happened to me? What happened to you? I waited for half an hour for you at the gate this morning and you never showed! Then I had to run all the way here so I wouldn’t walk into a class half an hour late.”

  “We’ve been late to class before, remember?” She nudged him with her shoulder. “And I’m fairly sure it wasn’t that big a deal.”

  “Yeah, that was you, me, and Murphy. It’s much easier to keep a low profile when I’m not the only person to catch everyone’s attention.” He spun on the grass and searched through the other students engaged in their conversations for the next few minutes. “Speaking of Murphy, I have no idea where she is either. She wasn’t at the fountain when I got there because you weren’t at the gate!”

  “Okay. Slow down, killer.” Raven gave his back a few quick, heavy pats. “I didn’t know that would freak you out so much. Sorry.”

  “I’m not freaked out.” He looked at her with wide eyes and they both laughed. “Seriously, Alby, I thought something happened. After all that weirdness about your grandpa up and leaving, you decide to change up our morning routine without any kinda warning.”

  Raven caught sight of Murphy as the girl stepped through the archway and waved. Fritz crouched in the tall grass behind her before he pounced on a bug. “Much more than that got changed up, Henry. It wasn’t my plan or my first choice, but I think it’s working out all right.”

  He stared at her and tucked Maxwell’s head absently into the top of his shoulder bag without looking. “Define ‘much more.’ And tell me why I’m only hearing about this now.”

  “Hey, I would’ve told you everything yesterday after I gave Headmaster Flynn that letter.” She smirked at him and raised an eyebrow. “But you had a date with Jenny.”

  Henry blinked. “It wasn’t a date.”

  “It’s totally cool, Derks. I get it. And I’m not gonna hold it against you or anything. She’s into you.”

  “I was tutoring her on that spell—”

  “Okay. We can call it that.” She laughed when his nose wrinkled in frustration. “But I wasn’t at the gate this morning because I was already here.”

  A sharp laugh burst from him, and a few other students turned to regard him with curious amusement. From the corner of her eye, she saw Bella Chase turn with a smirk of superiority aimed at Henry Derks before the dark-haired girl settled her gaze on her.

  “Why the hell would you wanna be here that early?” he asked.

  “Hey, guys.” Murphy shuffled between the other students until she stopped on the other side of Henry. “Is everything okay?”

  Raven laughed and shook her head. “You too, Murphy?”

  “Um…well, I didn’t see either of you at the fountain this morning, so I was worried.”

  Henry stepped back to point at the girl before he nodded vigorously at Raven with wide eyes. “See?”

  “I’m fine. And I’m sorry I made you guys worry by changing up the routine.” I guess that’s on the list of things to avoid with dragons and mage friends. “I moved into the girls’ dorm last night.”

  Her friends both fixed her with incredulous looks. Leaning forward, Henry whispered, “Are you trying to make my head explode?”

  “What? No, Derks. When I brought Flynn that letter yesterday, he said—”

  “Okay, first-years! Settle down.” Professor Fellows clapped and stalked across the grass beside the wall toward the wheelbarrows full of weapons. “Tongues in your mouths, eyes on me.”

  “No problem,” Murph
y whispered and tilted her head to watch their weapons professor with a dreamy haze in her eyes. Henry took another step back and frowned at the girl. Raven chuckled.

  “Magic is a powerful tool.” Fellows’ voice lifted across the gathered students and his long gray hair fluttered around his shoulders in the breeze. “You’re learning how it can become even more powerful when strengthened by the bond between you and your familiar.”

  “Have you had any progress with that one, Alby?” Henry muttered.

  “Oh, yeah.”

  “What?”

  She darted him a sideways glance and nodded at Professor Fellows. “I’ll tell you later. Promise.”

  He puffed out a sigh and stuck his hands in his pockets.

  “Almost as strong but no less important than your connection with your familiar,” Fellows continued, “is the bond formed with those fighting beside you. No mage works entirely alone, and let’s hope we never see the day when that becomes a necessity.”

  “Oh, boy,” Henry muttered. “Team battles.”

  Professor Fellows gestured toward the wheelbarrows beside him with a smirk. “In a moment, each of you will choose a training weapon from our selection. After that, I will assign partners and each team will be matched for two-on-two sparring. Get moving. We have much to cover.”

  The students filed toward the wheelbarrows and formed some semblance of a line as each of the first-years selected their training weapon. Raven pulled a long, dull-edged sword out and swung it a few times. The air whistled around it but it was poorly balanced and would deliver more bruises than anything else. If I even get a hit in. Grandpa’s sword is a hell of a lot better.

  “Uh, Professor?” Henry tucked his toad familiar’s head into his satchel again as he stepped aside to lower his voice. “What if we brought our own weapon?”

  “No daggers, Mr. Derks. Not today.”

  “Nope. No daggers.” He chuckled nervously and watched Bennett remove a long wooden staff with a ball at the end instead of a spear’s sharp point. “Only a slingshot. It’s kinda my go-to. Not for battles or anything, but my aim’s fairly decent.”

  Fellows licked his lips, folded his arms, and fought back a laugh. “And you want to improve your battle skills with a slingshot this morning?”

  “Not unless you have any bows in there and…non-lethal arrows.”

  This time, the professor laughed. “Not today, Mr. Derks. But if you think you can offer your partner something of value with a slingshot over any of these other weapons, by all means, sling away.”

  “Right.” Henry frowned at the man, then nodded quickly and bypassed the wheelbarrows altogether. “Thanks.”

  The weapons professor chuckled and called, “I thought I said hurry, people. This class will be halfway over by the time you’ve all chosen your weapons if you shuffle around like a class full of old men too deep in their cups.”

  “You’d think comparing student mages to a group of drunks would be one of those frowned-upon things at a school like this, right?” Henry lifted the strap of his shoulder bag over his head and set it on the ground. Maxwell hopped out and sat completely still in the grass at his mage’s feet.

  Raven shrugged. “Probably. I don’t think he cares. He called Professor Gilliam by her first name yesterday.”

  “Oh, the horror.” He snickered.

  “And that was right before Headmaster Flynn asked them to step out of his office so they wouldn’t see him burn my grandpa’s letter.”

  “What?”

  With raised eyebrows, she nodded. “We have so much to catch up on, Derks.”

  Murphy joined them as the students spread out across the grass again. The girl hefted a comically large ax with both hands. The head was dented and so dull, it was almost rounded along the blade.

  Raven chuckled. “I can’t wait to hear your reasoning for choosing that one, Murphy.”

  “Uh…well, it was either this or a wooden dagger.” She glanced at her barn cat familiar and shrugged. “I’m not sure I like the odds of a battle royale with a blunt piece of wood.”

  Henry eyed the weapon with an unsure smile. “Can you even lift that above your shoulders?”

  Their friend took a step back and swung it with both hands like she wanted to fell a whole tree in one chop. With a yelp of surprise, he leapt back and burst out laughing. Murphy’s cheeks flushed again but at least this time, she smiled. “That felt like a good start.”

  “Okay, people.” With his hands clasped behind his back, Professor Fellows paced slowly in front of his students. “I call your names, and each group takes their place in one of these sparring circles. Remember, this is only one day. You didn’t form a connection with your familiars in one day, and I hardly expect you to get to know each other in the span of an hour while fighting someone else trying to do the same. The importance of this is that you try and you learn, and there will be a prize for the team with the most wins. Mr. Derks and Miss Aberdeen will face Mr. Cotton and Miss Knowles.”

  “All right.” Henry grinned, wiggled his slingshot in front of Raven, and pulled a huge handful of stones out of his pocket. “It’s a good thing I’ve already bonded with this little beauty here.”

  “They’ll never see it coming.” Raven grinned and gave him a thumbs-up as he and Julia took their places on the far end of the first sparring ring.

  “Then I want Miss Alby and…oh, yes. Miss Chase. Pair up, please. You’ll spar with Miss Reynolds and Miss Murphy this morning. Take your places.”

  Murphy’s eyes widened as she watched Professor Fellows move down the line of students and call out one team after another. She met Raven’s gaze and went a little pale. “You and Bella are gonna win that prize for sure. It’s kind of an unfair advantage there. No offense.”

  “I’m not offended at all,” she said as Bella Chase gave her a haughty smile before the girl tossed her hair over her shoulder and headed toward them. “We might have more of a disadvantage too.”

  “The two witches at this school with the best handle on their magic and a long line of powerful mages running through the family? That doesn’t sound like a disadvantage.”

  “No. But I’m not sure Bella will play fair on a team at all.” Raven lifted the dull practice sword in front of her and tested its weight. “Not with me, anyway.”

  “Not against me either, I bet.” Murphy swallowed.

  “Come on.” She nodded toward their sparring ring set up in the grass, where Bella and Teresa were already in the middle of a conversation. Leaning toward Murphy, she muttered, “Don’t be afraid to really swing with that thing, huh? Don’t hold back.”

  The girl glanced at her friend’s dull weapon and grimaced. “I wish I could say the same about that sword.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “The goal is to balance both offensive and defensive techniques. To balance using magic with using your weapons. And, of course, to find balance in fighting with your partner and your familiar to defeat your opponents.” Professor Fellows frowned a little, but more than anything, he looked highly amused.

  Bella darted Raven a sidelong glance and sighed. “I heard your dragon finally made an appearance at Fowler Academy.”

  “Not only an appearance.” Raven glanced across the field toward the stables and the new dragon pen attached to the end of the building. “Leander’s here to stay now. And so am I.”

  “But you’re still not one hundred percent qualified for these lessons without your familiar at your side, are you?” Bella struck the butt of the bo staff she’d selected into the grass and dirt with a thud.

  She shook her head and lifted her practice sword in readiness. “I’m completely qualified, Bella. That’s why I’m here.” Maybe even overqualified with a dragon as my familiar. “You’re smart. You’ll figure it out soon enough.”

  “Figure what out?”

  Across their sparring ring, Murphy and Fritz took their places. The ax seemed particularly huge in the girl’s hands. Beside her, Teresa and her ferret familia
r looked a little worried—probably not at the prospect of fighting with Murphy but to fight against Bella. And maybe me, even without my familiar.

  She crouched into a fighting stance and gave Bella a determined smirk. “You’ll hopefully see that I learn what I need to learn one way or the other. My familiar might not be sparring with me but he’s close enough now to make a difference.”

  Bella’s pert smile faded for a second as she glanced at the stables across the fields.

  “Any foot that steps beyond the ropes of the sparring arena forfeits the match,” Professor Fellows called. “I want to see you working together. On my mark!”

  Bella recovered from her surprise, twirled the bo staff a few times, and assumed a ready stance beside her teammate. Teresa laughed nervously as she swung her practice sword, and Raven met Murphy’s gaze. She looks terrified. “Don’t hold back,” she muttered and gave her friend a reassuring nod.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t,” Bella said. “Wesley and I won’t have any problem picking up your slack.”

  She pressed her lips together and swung the practice sword at her side to test its weight again. “I wasn’t talking to you.”

  “Begin!” Fellows shouted.

  The field filled instantly with the clash of wood and steel sparring weapons against each other. A few students shouted warnings to their impromptu partners and familiars darted in and out between weapons and opponents. A few spells were cast.

  Bella didn’t hesitate and surged toward Teresa with the bo staff raised. Her firedrake launched himself off her shoulder and darted in front of the girl’s face to distract her. His mage attacked with the bo staff and swung it against her friend’s dull metal sword.

  Raven shook her head, stepped toward Murphy, and lifted her sword. “Let’s go.”

  The girl laughed and circled the edge of the sparring ring. When she hefted the giant ax and swung, her opponent barely managed to deflect it with her weapon. Both were surprised by the strength of the attack, then Raven grinned. “That’s what I’m talking about!”