The whole class turned toward me, sporting shocked expressions, while Professor Yates and Serenity wore matching looks of disdainful amusement.
“I think you’ve had enough for one day, Ms. Song.” Professor Yates turned back toward the rest of the class to ask for volunteers again.
Serenity sneered. “Yes, knowing when to stay down is a valuable and necessary skill.” She shared another chuckle with the students closest to her.
I ignored Serenity and addressed Professor Yates as I walked back to my place opposite her. “What, are you afraid I’m going to embarrass your star pupil?”
Professor Yates cackled as Serenity and most of the class snickered.
“Well, you’re a spunky one, Ms. Song. I’ll give you that.” He shook his head as he grinned ruefully. “But no, that thought did not once cross my mind. My concern is only for your well-being. But very well. If you wish so badly to suffer, then please, take your position.” He nodded to Serenity, who shared one last snicker with the students to her right before turning to me.
We went through the same motions, me weaving my loose web of energy as Serenity gathered her orange light. This time I tried to remain calm as she thrust her palm toward me and the blast of orange light came rushing on.
I remembered Professor Yates’ instruction to feel for the energy of her attack as it approached, reaching out with my mind as it raced toward me. Too late, I felt the pressure given off by the impending rush of energy. Just as I flexed my fingers to stitch together my ward, the blast slammed nauseatingly into my gut, again knocking the wind out of me as I collapsed to the ground on my hands and knees.
I retched, my breakfast of mixed berries and oatmeal pouring out onto the sand in front of me. I coughed and spit and heaved a few more times as I blew my nose. I wiped the back of my hand across my mouth as the dry heaving subsided and I struggled to catch my breath. When I finally glanced up, I saw that everyone in the class was either laughing hysterically, or gagging in revulsion. I was surprised to find that I actually didn’t care.
My stomach and back ached, and the sour taste of bile in the back of my throat made me want to heave again, but the sting of humiliation was not among the list of my current ailments. Maybe my short time at Broken Wand Academy had already numbed me to shame. Or maybe my desire to get the better of Serenity left me too preoccupied to care.
“Okay, well… that was unfortunate.” Professor Yates pursed his lips and shook his head in disgust before turning back to the class. “Now, would someone else like to try? I know Ms. Song may have turned some of you off to the exercise, but I promise, it isn’t always so, er…” he glanced back toward me and scrunched up his nose,“…disgusting.”
I coughed and spit out another chunk of oatmeal, almost as if to prove his point. I pushed myself to my feet and stepped carefully over my pile of vomit.
I narrowed my eyes and clenched my hands as I resumed my position across from Serenity, who chuckled with the students closest to her. “Again.”
Professor Yates cocked his head and furrowed his brow while Serenity turned toward me with an amused yet frustrated expression.
“That’s quite alright, Ms. Song. I think we’ve all seen enough out of you today.” He swept his arm toward the other students, indicating that I should return to the group, but I did not move. “Please, before this gets ugly.”
“Could it actually get uglier, Professor?” Serenity and her newest lackeys snickered.
“Oh, don’t talk about yourself that way, sweetheart.” I smiled at her sarcastically with a tilt of my head. “You’ll grow out of it.”
Serenity bristled and glanced at Professor Yates.
“Very well.” He shrugged and stepped back toward the other students. “Whenever you’re ready.”
I set my jaw and narrowed my eyes as I wove my circles and gathered the web of energy in front of me. Serenity repeated the same motion of sweeping her right arm out as she cycled through a series of gestures with her left hand. But instead of attacking as she drew her right hand back toward her body, she swept it away from her again in another wide arc, the orange light trailing behind her hand intensifying.
I flinched as she pulled her hand back to her body again, but again she swept it out in an even wider arc. The mass of orange-tinged energy intensified even more, so that at its largest point, just behind her hand, it was now a glowing mass about the size of a soccer ball. This time, when her hand came back toward her body, she thrust her palm out and unleashed the attack with a deafening boom.
This time, I felt the current of energy as soon as it started toward me. My fingers flinched in anticipation of the impact, but I held steady as the orange blast approached. As it drew nearer, time seemed to slow, and I felt the energy of her attack meet with the energy I had gathered in front of me. I closed my eyes and braced for the sickening impact as I thrust my palms out and flexed my fingers.
The ward stitched together, only this time it felt imbued with an intense, barely restrained energy that made my hands and forearms thrum. I opened my eyes and found the swirling mass of orange light suspended in the air in front of me.
I laughed aloud, the rush of success-driven joy indistinguishable from the powerful magical energy coursing through me.
Just as I was about to swirl my hands to try and execute the move Professor Yates had shown me, I caught Serenity’s expression of shock and indignation. A tingling sensation crawled up the back of my neck, and I recalled her exploitation of my vulnerability in the dining hall, when she had nearly boiled me alive in an effort to expose my naked body to the whole student population. Then I remembered her cruel lips laughing beneath her mask that night in the clearing, and the terrified face of the bound prisoner.
I wanted justice.
I felt as though I might throw up again, this time out of anger. Instead, I took in a deep breath and drew my hands toward my chest as I clenched them into tight fists. I didn’t know what would happen, really, operating as I was on raw instinct and emotion. I exhaled sharply as I thrust my hands away from me and snapped them open.
Serenity’s eyes went wide as her own attack rushed back at her with a violent rending sound. She quickly raised her hands and clapped them together in front of her just before impact. There was a blinding flash of orange light, followed shortly by a horrible, high-pitched scream that echoed through the massive space. A small cloud of dust rose around Serenity and some of the students to her right.
My stomach dropped and a twinge of regret pulled my features into a grimace. The sound of the scream was nothing I ever wanted to be responsible for, regardless of my dislike for Serenity. But when the dust began to clear, I saw that Serenity was unscathed. She glared at me, bristling as her eyes gleamed with a smoldering rage.
She turned to her right, and I followed her gaze to a small circle of students chattering in panicked voices. Howls of agony issued from the center of the group, and my stomach churned as vomit threatened yet again.
I followed Professor Yates as he pushed through the press of students to reach the source of the noise, peering around him as he reached the center of the group.
A girl with long, dark hair shrieked as she writhed on the ground and clutched at her shoulder.
“Genoveve!” one of the other students screamed before clapping her hand over her mouth.
I staggered back and my hand shot up to cover my own mouth, gagging as tears welled up. Genoveve’s own tear-filled eyes darted around, her screaming mouth contorted in pain as blood spurted from the place where her left arm should have been and soaked into the sand around her.
Chapter 8
“I thought you said no one could get hurt in here!” I shouted at Professor Yates as my revulsion turned to fury.
“Did I?” Yates answered over his shoulder as he stood over the maimed girl. He drew his wand from within his cloak and aimed it down at her. “You’re going to be okay, dear, just remain calm.” His tone was tranquil, which only added to my outrage.
“I’m going to get Madam Petrovich.” I started toward the large metal door, but froze as Professor Yates’ voice boomed through the massive room.
“You will go nowhere!” The veins in his forehead bulged. “Do not move. Do not speak. Do not even breathe, if you can help it.” He gestured down at Genoveve. “This is your doing, so be still and shut up.”
Heat rushed to my face as I opened my mouth to protest, but I thought better of it and clenched my jaw.
“I’m going to need you to move your hand for me.” Professor Yates spoke softly to Genoveve, who’s thrashing had grown less desperate. Her shrieking had also waned, the space now haunted by her low, moaning sobs.
She gazed up at him with wide eyes and shook her head, still clutching at the torn fabric of her blouse.
“Trust me. Everything is going to be fine, I promise.” His gentle tone surprised me, given what I’d seen of him so far.
Genoveve squeezed her eyes shut and dropped her remaining hand to her side.
Professor Yates pointed his wand at her wounded shoulder and waggled the fingers of his free hand. A blue, luminous stream snaked through the air from the tip of his wand and settled around her shoulder. The blood flow ceased, and Genoveve’s sobs diminished. The features of her tear-streaked face relaxed as she inspected the injured shoulder through fearful eyes.
Professor Yates concealed his wand beneath his cloak as he bent over her. “Can you stand?”
She sniffled as she nodded, and Professor Yates put an arm under her good shoulder and helped her to her feet.
“Are you sure I shouldn’t run ahead and get Madam Petrovich?” I stepped forward, my guilt-fueled desperation to help overcoming Professor Yates’ admonishment. “Maybe she can meet us here.”
Yates ignored me. “Can you walk under your own power?” he asked, slipping out from under Genoveve’s arm and straightening his posture as she nodded. “Good. Now everyone just relax and come with me.”
To my surprise, Professor Yates winked and shot me a subdued smile as he started toward the large metal door. Serenity flashed me a quick, wicked grin as she joined him.
Genoveve’s friends rallied around her, cooing and consoling her as they whispered in each other’s ears and took turns scowling in my direction. I dropped my head and hung toward the back of the group as we made our way toward the door that led out of The Arena. A pit of regret knotted in my stomach as I looked back at the blotch where the girl’s blood had darkened the sand.
An ear-piercing shriek issue from the other side of the door. I rushed forward and found the dark-haired girl again surrounded by a circle of chattering students. Professor Yates and Serenity smirked a few paces apart from the circle.
Genoveve was waggling the fingers of her left hand, flexing her perfectly healthy arm as everyone stared on in wonder.
“Impossible.” I gazed at her left shoulder, where only moments earlier the torn fabric of her shirt had hung limp and tattered. It was now completely restored, filled by an apparently healthy shoulder joint.
Genoveve’s cheeks were still stained by the mascara-darkened run of her tears, which continued to flow despite—or maybe because of—her miraculous recovery. Her grin was both anxious and relieved, but her sunken eyes betrayed the shock that she could not quite hide from the excited group of students.
Professor Yates stepped forward and spread his arms. “And thus, the magic of The Arena. As I said, different set of rules.”
One of Genoveve’s friends, a gangly, pale girl with straight brown hair, screwed up her face as she grappled with the concept. “So anything that happens in there doesn’t count?”
“Essentially, yes.” Professor Yates pursed his lips and furrowed his brow, gesturing toward Genoveve. “As you can all see from Genoveve’s experience, it very much counts while you’re in The Arena.” He raised his eyebrows and peered down his nose at the dark-haired girl. “Isn’t that right?”
“It was horrible.” She shuddered and closed her eyes as her friends caressed her and murmured reassurances.
“Yes, the stakes are very real inside The Arena.” Professor Yates pressed his lips together and glanced around the group. “But,” he held up a long, slender finger, “as soon as you step through that door,” he nodded toward the large metal door behind us, “all the effects of the day’s training disappear.”
Excited murmurs issued from the group as people glanced between the door, Genoveve, and Professor Yates, who placed a long arm around her shoulders.
“You handled yourself very well in there, Genoveve. A lot of people would have panicked, but you stayed calm. And, most importantly, you trusted me.” His eyes flashed to me before he scanned across the rest class. “That will be enough for today, I think. Don’t want to overwhelm you too much on your first day.” He glanced down at Genoveve and squeezed her shoulder. “We’ll meet here at The Arena on Tuesday to continue work on the ward of mitigation. Everyone have a good weekend.”
Professor Yates then leaned in and whispered something in Genoveve’s ear that elicited a grin, and she bounced off with her chattering friends as the rest of the class dispersed.
“Ah, Ms. Song?”
I stopped mid-stride and turned toward Professor Yates with a sigh. I raised my eyebrows and forced a hopeful smile. “Mmhmm?”
Professor Yates loomed over me, his hands clasped behind his back. “I’d like to speak with you in my office, if you don’t mind.”
“Uh, yeah, sure.” How many meetings was too many for your first week of classes? Whatever the number was, I had a feeling I was fast approaching it.
“Right this way, then.”
I scurried to keep up with the long strides of Professor Yates, though I wasn’t especially eager to get where we were going. Serenity smirked as we passed her, and I tensed with more thoughts that would’ve offended Leia’s nonviolent sensibilities.
Professor Yates closed his office door behind us and gestured for me to sit in a hard-backed chair. He skirted a large wooden desk and folded his lanky frame into a swiveling leather chair on the other side.
I swallowed regret as it rose in my throat. “I’m sorry, Professor Yates.” I hung my head and pushed the image of Genoveve’s mangled shoulder out of my mind. “I never thought something like that would happen.”
I snapped my head up as Professor Yates spit out a harsh laugh.
“Oh dear.” He cocked his head and furrowed his brow. “You don’t think you’re in trouble, do you?”
“Well, um, yeah?” I glanced to my left, where an intricate stone chess set was arranged atop a small, matching, checkered table. “I mean, why else would you keep me after class?” I returned my gaze to Yates.
“Because, Meena, I wanted to tell you privately that that was one of the most extraordinary displays of martial magic that I have ever seen out of a first-year student.” He grinned as he nudged his chin toward the door. “I didn’t want to make a big deal praising you in front of everyone else on the first day of class, especially considering what happened in The Arena, but the power you demonstrated was remarkable.” He leaned his elbows on the desk as he pointed a long finger at my chest and held my gaze. “I was especially impressed with your fighting spirit. That’s exactly the kind of resolve we need in our department.”
“Uh, thank you, Professor.” My shock was such that I barely managed to squeak out the words.
“Serenity is one of the most promising martial magic students we’ve had in years, and even she did not exhibit anywhere near that level of competence at the start of last year.” Professor Yates’ chair creaked as he leaned back and propped his loafered feet on the edge of his desk. “Of course, one expects a Proteus to possess certain innate talents, but even Mr. Thomas had far more difficulty accessing his martial abilities.”
“He did?” Despite my lingering horror over the collateral damage of my spat with Serenity, a prideful blush crept up the back of my neck.
“Oh, yes. We haven’t had a student with yo
ur potential in our department in quite some time.” Professor Yates grinned as he spun a gold-handled letter opener around his fingers.
I was flattered by his praise, and somewhat reluctant to change the subject, but the mention of Braden jogged my memory, and I recognized an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.
“What about Lucas Billings? I heard he was a really good student.” I tilted my head and creased my brow, as if only casually interested. “You were his advisor, weren’t you?”
“I was.” Professor Yates’ grin faded as he caught the letter opener by the blade and tapped the handle against his knee. “And he was an exceptional student.” Yates flattened his lips into a wan smile. “The future of our department looked very bright with Lucas and Serenity at the head of what promised to be one of our finest classes on record. In fact, Mr. Billings was supposed to be my teaching assistant for your class.” He sighed and shook his head. “Sadly, his incident forced me to call on Ms. Walker as a last-minute replacement.”
So Serenity received Lucas’ teaching assistantship following his death? How convenient for her. Everything I’d seen of her so far indicated that she was an awful person, but was she so awful that she would kill an innocent person just to attain a position of greater prestige within the academy? Was a position as a teaching assistant even worth such a drastic measure?
Braden’s warning about the competitive nature of Broken Wand Academy reverberated in my memory. He had said that I wouldn’t believe what people here would be willing to do to prove they were the best. It was hard to believe that Serenity would go that far to advance herself academically, but maybe not outside the realm of possibility.
“Incident, huh?” I glanced up, my face scrunched in exaggerated contemplation. “So you think it was an accident?”
“Well, I’m not sure. I don’t know all the details.” Professor Yates pursed his lips and squinted, inclining his head faintly and raising one brow. “You seem quite interested in Mr. Billings. Perhaps you’d like to share what you think happened.”
Broken Wand Academy Page 17
