Basics of Spellcraft (Ember Academy for Young Witches Book 1)

by L. C. Mawson

  I raised an eyebrow. “Is this the part where you tell me God is real?”

  “Depends on your definition of ‘god’, really. And records that far back are sketchy, so there are some magical scholars who debate the existence of the Creator. But the most commonly accepted idea is that She created Eden and left two Ancients to watch over it.”

  She drew two more circles beneath the Creator circle and wrote ‘Ancients’ between them, with arrows from the word to the circles.

  “So, God’s debatable, but Eden isn’t?”

  Natalie sighed. “Well, ‘Eden’ is just the latest translation most use, but again, there’s debate and argument about the use of the word. What largely isn’t debatable is that it was the first attempt at this creation, where Humans and magical beings lived together in one realm.”

  “Wait, ‘this’ creation? So, there are others?”

  “Again, that’s-”

  “Debatable? Yeah, I’m getting the impression that that’s going to be a recurring theme.”

  Natalie shrugged. “For now, yes. We’re literally going back to the beginning of history, and as long-lived as magical beings are, even we don’t have perfect memories or records.”

  “So, what happened to Eden? Or at least, what do most think happened?”

  “Well, as I said, all magical beings lived there. Demons, Guides, Vampires, Werewolves, Elves, Dragons, Mers-”

  “Witches?”

  “No. We came later. As did the Slayers. At this point, it was all other magical beings living together.”

  “Alongside Humans.”

  “Well, Humans were there, but I wouldn’t say that they lived ‘alongside’ magical beings. Guides and Demons feed on the emotional energy of Humans, so back then, Humans were more like a cross between cattle and slaves, with Guides robbing them of their free will to keep them happy, and Demons allowing them control of their minds but keeping them miserable.”

  I frowned. “I’m not sure which sounds worse.”

  “Yeah, that’s another heated topic of debate. But the free will of the Humans under the Demons meant they kept their personalities, which caught the attention of one of the Ancients. She grew sympathetic to their suffering and granted them a part of her power so that they could stand up to the Demons. They became the first Slayers.

  “The fighting got bad, though, and giving up part of her power left the Ancient weak. She died, in the end, and the Creator expected the other Ancient to return home to Her. But the remaining Ancient pleaded with the Creator for Her to return, reminding Her of other Creations, split to keep magic and Humanity apart. And so, the Creator remade the world, and split it into several realms. The Overworld for the Guides, the Underworld for the Demons, the elemental realms for the elemental beings, and Earth for the Humans, the Werewolves, the Vampires, and the Slayers.”

  She turned back to me. “Are you following all of this okay?”

  I blinked, realising that her melodic voice had me so enraptured that I’d forgotten this was supposed to be a lesson.

  I nodded. “Yes, I’m following just fine. But what about Witches? Where did we come from? And what about the rest of the hierarchies?”

  She smiled. “I was getting to that. The new world the Creator made relied on balance. And yet the Slayers and the death of the Ancient had created imbalance. So, the remaining Ancient had to restore balance by choosing another group of Humans to give her magic to. The Slayers had been warriors, so she found a group of healers and scholars. She granted them her magic and created the first Witches.”

  “So, we were originally Human?”

  “Yes. And the Ancient lost her physical form as a result of creating us, leaving the world with no more Ancients.”

  She struck a line through the two circles.

  “At least, not until the last Ancient found a host to bond with. But that’s a different story. As for the hierarchies, the Creator needed someone to watch over the world when She left once more. Without any Ancients, She chose four mortals.”

  Underneath the struck-out Ancients, she wrote ‘Death’, ‘Life’, ‘Fate’, and ‘Nature’.

  “Each of the four manage a different aspect of Creation. And each of them has Angels who report to them. No one ever sees the big four, but their Angels walk among us.”

  Underneath Death, she wrote ‘Reapers’. Underneath Fate, she wrote ‘Oracles’. Underneath Nature, she wrote ‘Daughters of Nature’. And underneath Life, she wrote ‘Angels of Life’.

  I raised an eyebrow. “How come Nature and Life didn’t give their Angels very imaginative names?”

  Natalie shrugged with a small smile. “Well, Nature’s Angels are her actual daughters. She needs them to be the bridge between nature and us, so she takes humanoid form and goes to find a Human lover to create them. That makes their name rather apt. But Angels of Life? Well, my best guess is that all of the other Angels keep to themselves so much that if anyone refers to an ‘Angel’, they usually mean an Angel of Life, so no one ever uses the full title.”

  “How many Angels are there?”

  “Well, for most of them, they keep out of sight, so no one knows. But the Earth was scarred for a long while, meaning that no more Angels could be born. There was only one Angel of Life, Queen Freya of the Underworld. Though she also has some of Nature’s blood as well.”

  Pain hit me like a hot poker through my eye, but I ignored it. “‘Was’ scarred?”

  “Queen Freya healed the Earth a few years back. If any Angels have been born since then, they’re not old enough to have come into their magic yet. Everyone has their eye on Queen Freya’s daughter, Princess Katherine, but she’s still a child.”

  I nodded, trying to buy time for my headache to dissipate before I asked my next question. It took a few moments, but thankfully, Natalie was patient. “So, who are under the Angels?”

  “The rest of us, and every faction have their own hierarchy. Though the biggest leaders are the Council of Light, the Demon Monarchy, the Mer Monarchy, the Master Slayers, and the Amazons.”

  “The Amazons?”

  “The largest and most powerful coven of Witches. They live removed from Humans so that they don’t have to hide their magic. Technically, Light Witches and Slayers are represented on the Council of Light, but the Amazons and Master Slayers are arguably more powerful. Though, no one has ever tested that.”

  I looked back over the paper and nodded. “Okay. I think that all makes sense. Is there anything else?”

  She turned and looked me over.

  I shivered a little under her examining gaze. “What?”

  She blinked, my words apparently bringing her back to the present. Except she didn’t shake her head or brush the moment off.

  No, she just brought her gaze up to meet mine. “Do you really not remember me?”

  The ground fell out from under me as I realised what she meant.

  That damn party...

  I took a deep breath to steady myself before answering. “I... Your name and uniform confused me at first. But I realised a while ago.”

  “Why didn’t you mention it?”

  I pressed my lips inward to wet them, realising how dry they were. “Why didn’t you?”

  She finally dropped her gaze, taking several moments before answering. “I just want to be your friend. Is that okay?”

  “Of course. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t.”

  She smiled before turning to the shelves surrounding us. “We should find some more specific information on the current magical faction leaders. Now, where to start...”

  “GIRLS.”

  We both looked up from our books to see the librarian approaching.

  She nodded to the clock, and I saw that it was nearing midnight.

  We’d been getting snacks from the coffee bar all afternoon, so it wasn’t as if we were hungry or anything that would have led us to notice how late it was getting.

  “I’m heading home soon, and I need to lock up.”

&nbs
p; I nodded as she left before turning to Natalie. “And I guess there’s probably a curfew.”

  “No. The punishment for staying out all night is being unable to focus the next day. But the library is locked when there’s no supervision to make sure we don’t break anything. Some of these tomes are priceless.”

  “What happened to them all having protection spells on them?”

  She smiled. “They’re not that good.”

  I nodded as I looked back at the clock. “I’m sorry for not noticing how late it was getting. You should have mentioned it.”

  She shrugged. “I didn’t notice it either.” She stood up and picked up her bag. “But we should get home and let Ms Olson get some sleep.”

  “Yeah,” I said, picking up my bag. I felt a little bad, hoping that Ms Olson hadn’t just been staying late for us.

  We headed back to the dormitories, though paused as we reached my building as I remembered that Natalie would be staying in the building for those who had already broken through.

  I tried not to focus on that fact too much.

  On the fact that as long as my magic was blocked, I would remain behind my peers.

  “How am I not tired this late?” I asked with a sigh as I realised that I didn’t want to say goodbye.

  Not yet.

  Natalie smiled. “I’m not sure, but I’m not tired, either. Being nocturnal is in my nature.”

  “Well, if you want to come up to my room, you can. We could load up a game of Civ and play Hotseat.”

  Natalie tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I would love that, but it’s really hard for me to keep daytime hours and I don’t want to disrupt your sleep as well.”

  “Yeah, I can empathise with that.”

  “Maybe if more Vampires start coming in the future, we could ask Gail to start some night classes, but for now, daytime hours are not optional. So, I should let you get to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow. Maybe we’ll finally crack open that book Ms Maltere gave you. I didn’t think we’d get to it so fast, but we flew through The Political Histories of Magic in one night, so...”

  I smiled, looking down at the large tome in my arms. I’d borrowed it for reference, and it was massive. “Yeah, when I actually get into something, it’s hard for me to stop. Hence, working until midnight. Sorry again about that.”

  She returned my smile. “I really didn’t mind. Your enthusiasm was infectious. I honestly wish more people here cared so much. I end up feeling like a boring nerd half the time.”

  “Well, you might be a nerd, but then so am I. And I definitely don’t think you’re boring.”

  She tucked her hair behind her other ear as she looked away. “Thanks. Really. But okay, I’m actually going to go now.”

  “Okay. Are you sure? My offer to come up is still there.”

  “Don’t tempt me.”

  “Okay, all right. Goodnight. For real.”

  “Goodnight.”

  She turned and finally left.

  Chapter Twelve

  I clambered over the broken branches and rocks littering the forest floor, propelling myself from tree to tree with my hands, trying to get there as quick as I could.

  I had to save her this time...

  Before it was too late.

  I eventually stumbled out of the trees and into a clearing, only to see Natalie standing there, in that same white dress.

  “Natalie!” I yelled as I saw the shadowy figure behind her, but I was too late.

  The sword burst from her chest, and red blossomed out until she was dripping with crimson.

  I ran over as she dropped to the ground, and the shadowy figure disappeared, leaving behind that damn silver pin.

  “Natalie...” I managed as I kneeled next to her, willing her to wake up.

  But she didn’t so much as stir.

  “Amy.”

  I glanced up at the familiar woman.

  “You have to wake up, Amy.”

  I BOLTED UPRIGHT, GASPING for air as I took a moment to realise that my head wasn’t being crushed in a vice.

  It just felt like it was.

  I frowned, reaching for the book I had been reading the night before.

  That woman... She wasn’t just familiar from my lost memories.

  Not anymore.

  I flicked to the back of the section on the Underworld.

  To the chapter on the current Demon Queen.

  I frowned at the picture drawn on the page, of a woman with pale skin, long dark hair, and wild green eyes.

  Queen Freya.

  Why was I dreaming of the Demon Queen?

  And what did she have to do with a teacher hurting Natalie?

  I wished that I could come up with some answer to my questions, but it was impossible to think through the fire in my head, my skull feeling like it was trapped in a vice.

  I closed the book and reached over to grab my bag, looking for my paracetamol, but I stopped as I noticed red out of the corner of my eye.

  I looked down to my white bedsheet, seeing a few drops of blood.

  Right beneath my nose.

  I reached up to touch my face with my hand, pulling it away to find my fingers coated in blood.

  A nosebleed?

  I’d never had a nosebleed before in my life.

  I briefly considered a trip to the nurse, but the headache was beginning to fade now that the book was closed.

  And the blood seemed to be slowing from my nose.

  No, the nurse probably wouldn’t be necessary.

  At least, not right now.

  I could always go later.

  I HEADED DOWN FOR BREAKFAST as soon as possible, wanting to put that morning – as well as my nightmare – as far from my mind as humanly possible.

  Or as Witch-ly possible, I supposed...

  Thankfully, Lena was already there, but she was talking to someone I hadn’t met before, though I recognised her.

  She was the girl with long red hair wearing trousers I’d spotted on the first day.

  I quickly grabbed some breakfast, and as I made my way over, I saw that the girl Lena was talking to had deep brown freckles that matched her eyes, and her hair was tucked behind pointed ears.

  “Hey,” I said as I walked up and sat down opposite them.

  “Hey, Lia,” Lena greeted as I sat down. “Have you met Willow?”

  I shook my head.

  “I’m Willow,” the girl with red hair said with a smile. “And you’re Lia?”

  “Amelia,” I corrected, though then realised that that might have come off as rude to Lena. “But I don’t mind Lia.”

  She continued to smile, and I found it impossible not to smile back.

  “I heard about the cold welcome Victoria gave you. Sorry about her, she’s kind of the worst.”

  I shrugged. “She’s not your responsibility.”

  “Well, no, but still, people should be nicer to newcomers.”

  I nodded, focusing on my coffee as I tried not to think back to that welcome.

  Victoria had only been so cold because I hadn’t come into my magic yet.

  I would feel so much better when I finally broke through, I was sure of it.

  NATALIE FOLLOWED ME as I headed to my first lesson of the morning.

  I raised an eyebrow. “Wait, do we both have Sociology?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. I figured it would be good to ground my science lessons in a wider context. Though I’ll probably drop it next year. What about you?”

  “It’s actually the subject I wanted to study most, and I built my other studies around it. The Human world never really made sense to me, so I wanted to understand.”

  Natalie smiled as we entered the classroom and she sat down next to me. “Does the magical world make any more sense?”

  “Not yet, but I’m hoping it won’t take sixteen years before it starts to.”

  Mr Stiles entered the room at that, and I turned to Natalie, speaking under my breath so that he wouldn’t hear. “Okay, seriously, does he
teach every class?”

  “Maybe he’s just the default substitute.”

  “Maybe...”

  I decided not to push further, still not sure if my whispers were actually out of his hearing range.

  He stood at the front of the class with a sigh. “So, most of you have probably had me as a teacher before at this point, but if not, I’m Mr Stiles. I must confess, Sociology is not my area of expertise, but it looks as if one of the teachers came to school with a mild curse. Nothing to worry about, just a personal spat, but it also knocked out another teacher who tried to heal it. Ms Griffin has a policy of not telling students personal things like this, but I pointed out that after this many substitutions, you might start to worry. Don’t worry, your usual teachers should be back to work tomorrow, but that leaves you with me to introduce you to this subject.”

  He held up a textbook. “Unfortunately, Ms Griffin also says that telling you to read the textbook doesn’t count as ‘teaching’, so I’m going to flounder until I find a topic I’m more comfortable with. Which basically leaves history or combat magic...”

  “Combat magic?” I piped up, unable to stop myself.

  He shrugged. “I know a few tricks. But you’ve got another teacher for that. Demonic combat magic relies on Dark Energy, but you might be Light. And you also need to use your wands to cast spells, which I don’t need to worry about. But,” he tapped the front of the book, “I’m not sure how that ties into the topic at hand.”

  He opened the book and had a quick flick through. “Okay, I suppose we could talk about the different societal make-ups of magical species. Sound good?”

  No one objected.

  “Well, I suppose the most important factor that shapes our societies is the kind of magic we draw from. Elemental beings build around their element, and Dark and Light beings build around, well, the emotions that fuel them. You Witches get to choose. It’s that choice that will define you. Or so people say. Many Witches don’t choose, they just go with whatever’s right in the moment. But that path bars you from certain privileges. Membership in Light or Dark covens, and the ability to draw on the help of the Council of Light or the Demon Crown. Some of you may already be certain of your path. Some of you will have been certain of it since you were small. Others will need time to realise what kind of magic calls to them more. There’s not an easy test that can tell you, it’s just something that you’ll know when you’re ready. Though, I don’t know. Personally, I wonder if morality rankings in videogames might provide an answer. I doubt Queen Freya ever chose to play a Jedi over a Sith.”