Unbound: Mage's Academy I

by Finley Morrow

  I also noticed that the room had been filled with all manner of things that a student might use. There was a sturdy leather backpack that was filled with leather-bound notebooks and elegant fountain pens. This was all for me?

  I had never had such nice things before, strange as all of it was. I sat down on the bed and found it very soft. I pushed on it with my hand and realized that it was a feather mattress. What an odd place. Even the artwork on the walls was strange. There was a painting of a woman reaching out for a golden orb, that hovered just above her. As her fingers grasped the orb, it began to shatter, fracturing through.

  As I stood soaking in my strange surroundings, a creak sounded behind me. A voice came from behind me, and I spun around startled that I wasn't alone.

  "Sorry, didn't mean to give you a scare," the girl said. "You must be new here."

  "Yes," I answered catching my breath. "I just got here today." I surveyed her. She had a very quirky appearance, she had dark coppery skin, thick dreads wrapped in multicolored beads, and the widest green eyes I have ever seen. She was smiling widely at me, and despite her quirks, she seemed friendly.

  "I'm Ligeia Spencer," She stretched out her hand. She said her name in a sort of sing-songy accent like Lie - gee - uh.

  "Esther Crenshaw," I said as we shook, and we both laughed at the formality of it.

  "Do you want to join me downstairs for a cup of tea? I've been experimenting with alchemy." She said excitedly.

  "Sure," I replied though I couldn't fathom what she meant by alchemy. As far as I knew that was just the stuff of myths and legends.

  She led me downstairs to a large kitchen. The kitchen had dark wood on every service, just like the rest of the house, but it also had sturdy ancient stone tiles that clicked as we walked across them and a huge basin for a sink. A large cast-iron pot on some sort was brewing over the stove and it was creating the most alluring smell. It looked for all I could tell exactly like a bubbling cauldron. I inhaled the delicious scent and breathed a sigh.

  "It's Lavender," she said, ladling out two large mugs of the stuff. "And mugwort, and a few other things," She finished.

  It smelled amazing, but I was a little bit suspicious of taking an unknown potion from someone I had just met. I again sniffed the warm golden-colored liquid, and when I decided that it seemed harmless enough, I took a small sip. It was delicious. It was somehow silky tasty, and sweet as well. I took another drink and felt the warmth of it spread through my chest.

  "What do you think?" She said.

  "It's really good," I answered. "This is just tea?" I asked.

  "Well, as I said, I've been testing some things out and this is meant to create a sense of calm and relaxed assurance." She smiled proudly pointing to a book on the table. It was a thick leather-bound book. The cover had images of flowers and plants, and it read "Herbal Alchemy for Beginners".

  "Wow, you must be pretty good at all this stuff," I said. I was still feeling self-conscious about using the m-word. Magic. it was crazy, but I was indeed feeling calm and relaxed assurance. It could have just been a fluke.

  "Nonsense. I'm just starting out here too. This is my first year." Despite her words, She seemed very confident.

  "Well, this is amazing," I said, directing my attention back to her brew. I hoped that I would be able to keep up. It seemed that everyone here was already familiar with magic.

  "Thanks," She beamed. We made conversation in the kitchen and I realized that I was hungry.

  "We could go to the dining hall," Ligeia suggested as my stomach rumbled audibly. "It's almost time for lunch anyway."

  "That sounds perfect," I said. I wondered if I might see that boy there again. I could still see his face behind my eyelids and I wasn't sure whether I should be intimidated or intrigued.

  Just as we were about to walk out the door, Alice and a man I hadn't met before walked up the path in front of the house.

  "Oh! I forgot," I explained. "I'm supposed to meet with the headmaster this afternoon."

  "Ooooh, the headmaster?" She exclaimed, "That sounds important."

  Alice and the headmaster walked up. He was a handsome man, with striking golden eyes and thick black hair with streaks of grey. Despite his gray hair, he looked quite young.

  Alice introduced me, "Headmaster Thornwick, this is Esther."

  He took my hand, and for a moment, I thought he might kiss it. He had a strange vibe.

  "Nice to meet you, Headmaster," I said quickly, pulling my hand away as soon as I could. I wanted to make a good impression, but I felt a strange tension from the head of the school.

  "The pleasure is mine, Ms. Crenshaw." He enunciated. "Were you intending to have lunch with your friend?"

  "Um yeah, I forgot about our meeting," I said, uncertain if I should apologize to Ligeia.

  "That's alright," He said genially. "You should go ahead and have your lunch in our beautiful dining hall. We can meet right afterward. Ms. Spencer, would you mind showing our newest student to my office after lunch?"

  "Yeah, of course," She said with a slight waver in her voice. Was she as uncomfortable as I was?

  6

  It felt comforting to return to a place I had already seen, the cafeteria. To be someplace familiar was a small thing, but it put me at ease. Ligeia and I walked in and selected a small table in a corner. Now that I was here again, I was noticing smaller details of the place. Wrought iron chandeliers were hanging from the ceiling, something that wouldn't look out of place in a medieval castle. It didn't look out of place here either. Everything at the Mage's Academy seemed steeped in history and grandeur.

  Ligeia stood up after placing her bag in the chair. I wasn't sure whether I should leave mine at the table, but she said, "Don't worry about it. We are all bound by the Mage's Code here."

  "What's that?" I asked as I followed her to the area where large plates of food were being served by men and women dressed in all black.

  "It's like a sort of honor system. I think the idea is that magic unites us all together and so we should treat each other with the respect due to all magic wielders. In any case, if anyone gets caught stealing or cheating they are kicked out." She explained neatly, grabbing a spot in line.

  "Good to know," I said. There were many different stations, all serving strange things I had never seen before. I followed Ligeia and we were served a heaping portion of some kind of meat stew with carrots, onions, and potatoes. When we returned to our table I was delighted at the taste. It was some sort of rich curry sauce covering the meat and vegetables.

  "The food here is good isn't it?" She asked with a smile, clearly noting my delight.

  "Yeah, I didn't get to eat many things like this back home," I said. I thought of all the different foster placements I'd had and wasn't sure which one I would classify as home, but I didn't want to get into that yet. So I changed the subject. "What classes are you taking this semester?"

  She looked pleased that I'd asked and pulled out a schedule. "I think all the first years have pretty similar classes." She read off a list of class names that sounded mostly bizarre to me, but I recognized some of them from the places Alice had taken me when I first arrived.

  We decided that we'd go to classes together for the first week, just until we knew what we were doing. I wouldn't have admitted it, but it was really nice to have made a friend. I noticed that as we ate, the dining hall was filling with other students. Many of them were dressed in odd clothes, most had piercings and tattoos. Perhaps I wouldn't stick out so much, for the first time in my life. Ligeia took the liberty of pointing out some of the groups of students that were forming.

  "Those girls over there," She pointed to a group sitting in the middle of the dining hall. They were all honey blonde and classically beautiful. "They're all bound to love goddesses."

  "Woah. Is that why they look like that," I asked, astonished at how pretty they were. They were each perfectly primped and outfitted in what appeared to be designer fashion.

  "Who kn
ows. Maybe they're just living up to their reputations or maybe its a special gift from their patron goddesses. The girl in the middle - that's Aria. She seems sweet, but she's got a mean side." She warned me. I knew girls like that well, and I had grown up with them tormenting me. It wouldn't be hard for me to heed her warning and stay away. I didn't want to mess with that.

  "Is everyone here already bound to something?" I asked hesitantly.

  "Yes, I don't think you could get in if you weren't, otherwise how would you be able to use magic?" She replied. That made my stomach drop. As far as I knew I wasn't bound to anything at all. Did that mean that it was all a mistake? Would I be able to use magic?

  "Well..." I hesitated. I didn't want Ligeia to think there was something wrong with me, not when we were starting to get along so well. "How would someone know if they were or weren't bound?" I hedged.

  Her eyes widened and I knew she'd caught on. "You mean, you're not bound?" She asked.

  "I don't know." It sounded like a question as I said it. "I mean, I don't think so."

  "Oh, you would definitely know." She sighed. "That's just so weird."

  I felt my face growing red. Of course, there had to be something wrong with me.

  "I mean, what if I am and I just don't know it," I said.

  "Impossible. The binding is like a contract between you and your god. It doesn't happen without your consent. They find a way to make themself known to you and then you decide whether you want that relationship or not. But you only get one chance. The god that picks you is the only one that will work with you. So you either take it or you don't get to do magic." She explained.

  "That sounds like a lot of pressure," I added.

  "It is, that's how I know that you would know." She kind of laughed, but I could tell there was some tension there.

  "Was it difficult?" I asked gently "You know... for you?"

  "Yes and no." She said. "I knew that I wanted to do magic for almost all my life. So, in the end, it wasn't really a choice, but I was bound to a god whose name I can't reveal, but he is known as a trickster."

  "Is that unusual?" I asked. There was so much I didn't know.

  "Yes, in many ways. First of all, I'm a girl and usually only Goddesses bind with girls, and secondly, he is a trickster spirit. They don't usually bind with humans at all. I guess you could say It cramps their style." She said.

  "Hmm, I guess there is something about you that he must have taken a liking to," I said, not sure if that even had anything to do with it.

  "I guess so," She sighed again, though I could see that some of the tension was resolved from her expression. She quickly turned and pointed to a group of guys walking in. "Those are the Lycans," She said in a hushed tone.

  "Lycans? Like we-" I started, but she cut me off.

  "Werewolves, yeah." She said. "The Lover girls are all over them all the time, especially Luke." She added conspiratorially.

  "Which one's Luke?" I asked.

  "He's the gorgeous one in the front." She said. She was right. He was gorgeous in all the traditional ways. He had long sandy blonde hair and baby blue eyes. He also happened to be ripped. But none of that had ever appealed to me all that much. For some reason as I surveyed him, I suddenly could see a mental image of the boy from earlier. It made my pulse speed up, but I knew it was stupid. I didn't even know him.

  "I knew it." She said, looking at my face. "YOu think they're hot too don't you." She had misread me.

  "I mean yeah, they are attractive, but so not my type." I waved my hand.

  "Mmmm more for me," She giggled. "But then who is your type?" Oh no. She'd caught me.

  "Well there was this one guy," I blushed. "I don't even know his name and he looked like kind of a loner anyway.”

  "Point him out if you see him." She said. I turned and looked in the dining hall but I couldn't find him. I knew I'd recognize him again if I saw him, but he was no place to be found.

  "No such luck," I muttered, and I found that I was actually disappointed."

  "Oh well, maybe we'll see him tonight at the fen."

  "What's the fen?" I asked.

  "Oh yeah, its the place on campus where everyone goes to hang out. There's going to be a party tonight to celebrate school kicking off. You've got to come." She said breathlessly.

  "Okay, I'll think about it," I said noncommittally. Parties definitely weren't my thing. Still, I didn't want to seem lame.

  We finished the meal and I listened to Ligeia discuss her outfit for the party. It was some black leather affair that sounded intense. So far, everything about Ligeia was intense and just a little bit crazy, but it suited her. I genuinely liked her. When we had both finished, we exited the dining hall and began the walk toward the Headmaster's office. It was in a building on the first part of campus near the entrance. It was like a small house, but it matched the gothic architecture of the rest of the school.

  7

  Ligeia left me at the front of the building and I made my way inside to meet with the headmaster. His office was in the back of the building. The door was open and he invited me in. It was, like the rest of the school, furnished lavishly in heavy wooden furniture. The walls were dark wood and hung with portraits of many people, although I couldn't recognize them, I guessed that they were mages. Some were even wearing robes. Aside from the walls, his office was sparsely furnished. His desk was empty and I wondered what that said about him.

  "So Esther," He said, I noticed that he had become less formal, using my first name now. "I imagine this is all very overwhelming for you."

  I nodded, not sure what he wanted me to say. His expression was kind, but somehow he still managed to look imposing. His eyes golden eyes almost appeared to glow.

  He continued without prompting. "I want you to get settled in here as soon as possible. I hope you know that we are ever so pleased to have you at our school."

  "Thank you," I said, quickly adding, "Headmaster."

  "No worries, my dear. There is but one more thing I must ask of you." He smiled. "A test of sorts."

  I tried not to let myself get nervous. "I'm afraid I don't know anything about magic," I explained. I desperately hoped that this had not been a mistake. Now that I knew magic existed I wasn't sure I could ever go back to the way things were before.

  "It's not that kind of test." He said. "It's simply to see where your aptitudes lie."

  "Alright," I replied. I could feel my palms sweating.

  "Wonderful." He exclaimed. He produced a large crystal sphere. It was almost comical. A crystal ball, really? I stared at it.

  "What am I supposed to do with this?" I asked after several moments of silence.

  "All you need to do is look into it and tell me what you see." He said quietly. So I did. It had a dark blue color and the inside was a vibrant swirl of color that appeared to move.

  I stared into the sphere. At first, I saw nothing except the swirling patterns of color, but then something changed. All of a sudden I wasn't looking at the crystal ball. It was almost like I was looking through it. What I was seeing was not in the patterns but in my own mind's eyes.

  "The crystal helps you focus your intention," He said, answering my unspoken question.

  "I see a girl, maybe me," I started, describing what I was seeing. "I'm floating in space, or darkness, I'm not sure exactly. There's something that I'm looking for, but I don't know what?"

  "And have you found it, this thing you are looking for?" He questioned.

  "I think so," I continued, noting the quickly changing images in front of me. "I'm reaching out for something. It's above my head. It’s made out of light, but it's hard for me to see."

  "Do your best to look at it," He pushed. "It is very important." He promised in a soft voice.

  "It's shimmery, like some sort of film." I struggled to describe what I was seeing. It was hard to even grasp that I was seeing anything.

  "That's good," He reassured me. "What else do you notice?"

  I was grasping for
details. It was difficult and it felt like I was straining my mind. "It's flexible and golden. Like a living fabric." I was rambling, but I didn't know what he was looking for.

  * * *

  "Excellent." He said excitedly. "Simply excellent." It seems that I had pleased him in some way, although I was sure how.

  "What was I seeing?" I said after I had finished and broken my connection to the crystal ball.

  "You were seeing magic itself, Esther." He was staring at me with an intense look in his eyes. "You have a lot of potential."

  I was beginning to feel an uncomfortable pressure in the room and I was looking for a way out. "Is that all, headmaster?" I asked.

  "Of course," He said, releasing some of the pressure. "You are free to go, I'm sure you have plans tonight, perhaps with your housemates."

  "Yes, sir," I responded as I stood up. I gathered myself and exited the room as quickly as I could without seeming rude. It was like a weight was lifted off of me as soon as I walked out.

  * * *

  I walked back to Halewick House alone and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I already knew the way. The Mage's Academy had a certain imposing feeling, but at least it wasn't spread out. I started to feel excited about classes and I hoped I would do well. It still didn't solve the question of whether or not I was bound, but I decided not to worry about that. In a sudden moment of uncharacteristic hopefulness, I decided to take Ligeia up on her offer and go to the party at the Fen. It couldn't be that bad, right?