Unbroken: Mage's Academy II

by Finley Morrow

  Unbroken

  Mage’s Academy II

  Finley Morrow

  Copyright © 2020 by Finley Morrow

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Don’t Miss The Final Year

  About the Author

  1

  The heat of the summer hadn't entirely left the campus by the time registration day came to the Mage's Academy. The new students were moving in and unlike me when I came here, many of them brought massive truckloads of stuff. As far as I knew nobody new was moving into Halewick House, but a car rolled around to the front of the yard and dropped off somebody. I couldn't see her from my far bedroom window, so I went downstairs to open the door. It could be Maeve or Ligeia. The long narrow stairwell led me into the sitting room and I opened the front door. The small blonde girl stood in front of the house.

  "Sybelle?" I asked excitedly. "Are you moving in with us?"

  "I had my housing assignment changed," She said in a relaxed airy voice. "I was getting tired of the terrible trio." She meant Aria and her friends who had gotten off on the wrong foot with me last year. I had never properly thanked Sybelle for the help she gave me last year, so I was eager to spend more time with her.

  "Can I help you carry anything?" I offered.

  "Yeah, I have a small box still in the car, if you wouldn't mind grabbing that." She said.

  "Sure," I said, running out to the car. There were students all up and down the street unpacking vehicles and moving in. I'd been watching all day for anyone that looked familiar. If I was being honest, I was mostly looking for Kairn. I hadn't seen him all summer, and with no way to contact each other, I had grown anxious. Would he remember me? Would he even still be interested in me?

  I opened the trunk of the black car parked in front of the house. What Sybelle had described as a small box was an ornate inlaid leather trunk, with engravings and antique metal hinges. The box itself looked like an antique that belonged in a museum. I was fascinated by the design on the trunk and found myself staring at it idly. An arm clapped me on the shoulder, awaking me from my daydream.

  "Esther!" She shouted. It was Ligeia. I spun around and she gave me a big bear hug.

  "Would you help me with this trunk for Sybelle?" I asked her after we had exchanged hellos.

  "Sybelle?" She asked.

  "Yeah, I forgot to mention that she's moving in with us," I said. Ligeia screamed with excitement when Sybelle came back out.

  I tried to heft the trunk, but whatever was inside was very heavy. Ligeia came to my rescue and we tag-teamed the trunk up the stairs.

  "What's in here anyway?" I asked once we'd gotten the box up onto the desk in her new room. She was right across the hall from me.

  "Just an old clock." She said.

  "A clock?" I asked.

  "Yeah, It belonged to my grandfather. It doesn't even work right now," she explained.

  "Oh," I said. "Are you planning to fix it?"

  "I'm going to try to." She said.

  Once we had moved all her stuff in as well as Maeve's and Ligeia's we made tea and took it to the sitting room.

  "How was everyone's summer?" I asked. I was excited to hear about what adventures they might have had while I was stuck here. Don't get me wrong, I was extraordinarily grateful for the opportunity to live on campus during the summer, but it had gotten a little boring. I was stuck with Professor Malus enchanting amulets all summer. It was good practice, but I really hoped I never had to see another amulet ever again.

  Ligeia let out an exasperated sigh at my question, "What didn't I do?" She laughed. "It was basically like a wild goose chase." She pointed toward the sky and we all knew that meant she'd been on a god quest. "I had to travel all the way to Nebraska. Do you know what's in Nebraska?" She didn't wait for us to answer. "Nothing. There's nothing in Nebraska. I went all that way and then he told me to pick a flower. It wasn't even a special flower. It was one we have here too. And get this, I just had to give it to some guy. He didn't know me at all and I just had to hand him a dumb dandelion... It was like that all summer."

  "That sounds.... exhausting." Maeve commiserated with her. "I just did a lot of gardening."

  I was surprised. There wasn't anything very magical about gardening, but then again, I was sometimes surprised by things.

  "What about you?" Sybelle turned the question on me.

  Now it was my turn to groan. "I was stuck here with Professor Malus all summer."

  The three girls groaned in unison. "What did she make you do?"

  "Just charming amulets, it wasn't so bad. Apparently, the Third Years are prone to disasters because we made so many amulets of protection." I sighed, remembering the tarnished silver of the necklaces. In the beginning, I'd only helped to clean and polish them, but as the summer wore on she began to let me help with the spell. It wasn't difficult, but it did require a very small hallow, a skill I hadn't tried before.

  "Were you the only one here?" Ligeia asked.

  "Definitely," I said. "Except for a few professors," I added.

  "So there wasn't anyone else here?" Ligeia said in an inscrutable tone. I wasn't sure what she was getting at.

  "No tall, dark and handsome people hanging around?" Maeve laughed.

  Oh. They were talking about Kairn. "I haven't seen Kairn since the beginning of last summer. I'm not even sure where he lives." I explained.

  "It's always a big mystery with him isn't it," Ligeia asked.

  I wanted to argue with her, but she was right. He told me once last year that he lived in a heavily forested area, but he didn't say where exactly, even the name of a city.

  "We'll just have to ask him," Maeve said, perhaps noticing my darkening mood. I hadn't heard from him at all this summer, and I'd tried not to let it get to me.

  "He'll be here tomorrow," Sybelle said quietly.

  We all looked at her, not sure how to react. Was this a prophecy?

  "Relax," She said. "It's just a small thing." She conspicuously did not say it wasn't a prophecy.

  "What time's the assembly," I asked.

  Ligeia checked her watch, "Right about now."

  We entered the courtyard, where tons of students were streaming into the large gothic building, that perhaps was once a chapel. I saw a lot of new faces, but also some familiar ones. Aria notably was one of them. I steered us farther down the quad so I didn't have to see her right now. Last year she had decided for some reason that she didn't like me and hadn't been shy about letting me know that fact.

  We entered the building which I hadn't been inside before. I came in several weeks late to the school year last year, so I hadn't been to the assembly. The first years were coming out of the large chapel and walking against the flow of traffic. Some of them looked scared, but most of them probably already knew a lot about magic. I still sometimes felt behind everyone else.

  The domed ceiling was filled with curious stained glass images. It was like a cathedral to magic. There were images of Mages filling the entirety of the walls and ceiling. The light shining down was v
ibrant and multicolored. I even smelled a faint smell of frankincense or some other heavy incense. There were rows and rows of ancient backless wooden benches that were grooved and worn from years of use. The dark oak had a patina of incense and magic. Lining the room in small alcoves were equally worn statues of apparently famous Mages, each carrying something that represented the god or goddess they were bound to. One, a tall and angular woman with long hair, etched in stone, carried a blacksmith's tool. Another, a stout man with a beard had a staff and backpack. These were very classic images of mages and I could've studied each one individually, but the assembly was about to start.

  Professor Malus stood at the large wooden lectern at the front of the room and began to speak. Her voice was amplified though I could see no microphone or other instruments. We gathered in the seats and awaited her speech.

  "Welcome Everyone, this is your Second Year here at the Mage's Academy and we are glad to see you back," She spoke. There was chattering all around. Was she the new headmaster? I realized that not everyone knew the events that had unfolded at the end of last year. What would they tell everyone?

  She continued with a stern tone that quieted all the ambient talking, "As I was saying, there will be a few changes here that you may notice. In the interest of transparency, I have to tell you that Headmaster Thornwick is gone. He was discovered to have engaged in an activity that was outside of the professional boundaries of his position and will no longer be with us." The chatter intensified. School had ended abruptly last year and without explanation, while I was in a medically induced coma. I had assumed that his absence had been noticed by others and explained by the administration.

  "With that said, It is my pleasure to inform you that I will be taking over as Headmistress of the Mage's Academy." There was some polite clapping, but the chaos continued undisrupted. Professor Malus frowned but continued on, apparently helpless to stop it. I didn't blame them. What had happened last year was crazy, and I had been there to witness it.

  "You are all growing in your Magical Talents, but your second year here will be no free ride. You will be expected to achieve a high level of magical performance in your regular classes as well as your specialties. So without further comment, I will announce your classes." She called each student up by name and handed them a slip of parchment which listed all their classes for the year.

  "Esther Crenshaw," She called out after several other students had gone. I walked up to the front of the room.

  Professor Malus handed me the heavy paper and I read over it. She said, "Esther, your threefold program of study this year will include Alchemy, Lectiomancy, and Arcane Arts of the Gods." She prepared to call the next name, but I interrupted her.

  "I don't recognize any of these professors, have all my classes changed?" I asked.

  "Well, to be frank, you have entirely mastered the curriculum in my class and I daresay your other first-year professors have felt the same way. You have to learn new skills every year, Miss Crenshaw." She said sternly. There was praise in what she said, but it was formed as a rebuke.

  "Yes, professor. Thank you." I walked myself back to my seat. I thought about what she said as I was waiting for my friends to get their schedules. I wonder if this year would be more difficult. I laughed out loud. As long as it didn’t involve a malicious headmaster trying to feed my soul to a demon I could handle it.

  2

  I slept a dreamless sleep that night, but when I woke up my room was filled with things that weren't there before. The school had given me new school supplies. I examined the contents of my desk. New pens with fresh ink and unused nibs were stowed neatly in the top drawer. I ran my fingers across the leather covers of several new empty notebooks. My notebooks from last year were arranged neatly on my bookshelf. Then there were the textbooks. My alchemy textbook looked like something that you might find in a witch's potion brewing chamber. It was hefty but filled with beautiful hand-drawn images of plants and strange looking alchemical laboratories. The Lectiomancy book, on the other hand, was small, but filled with dense cramped writing. I had a feeling that class wasn't going to be my favorite. Arcane Arts of the Gods, however, was the strangest book of all. It had no words, only page after page of intricate sigils and symbols.

  I stowed everything in my leather backpack so that it would be ready for tomorrow. I was equal parts excited and nervous, excited to learn new magic, but nervous that I would be out of my element. I decided to take a walk around campus that morning to see where my classes were and make sure that I knew where I was going the next day. Still in the back of my mind, I was looking at each person's face searching for Kairn. Sybelle said yesterday that he would arrive today, but what if he didn't? What if he never came back at all? My stomach jolted at the thought. I had spent the summer trying not to think about him, but my heart wasn't going to let me off the hook so easily. Last year was his third year. I didn't know what happened after a mage graduated from the academy. I could only hope that I would see him again.

  That afternoon I found Ligeia, Maeve, and Sybelle sitting out in the courtyard on a large quilted blanket. It was much like an ordinary quilt that anyone's grandma might have in their closet, except instead of patchwork chickens and flowers, it was stars and moons and a giant depiction of the luminous ether. It was a school of Mage's after all. What were their parents like? And their grandparents? I had never met any mages that were older except for the professors of course.

  I sat down next to Sybelle. "What have you guys been doing today?"

  "Tanning," Ligeia said through a snort. She obviously didn't need to tan, her skin was a beautiful golden brown already.

  Maeve answered more seriously, "We've just been talking about Specializations? Do you know what yours is yet?"

  "Specializations?" I asked. I'd heard Professor... I should say, Headmistress Malus, talk about it, but I wasn't sure what it meant yet.

  "Yeah, it's the particular magical ability that you have been called to." She explained.

  "Mine is divination," Sybelle added a helpful smile on her face.

  "Oh, I guess I hadn't thought about it," I said.

  "Don't worry, I don't know mine either," Ligeia said.

  "What about you Maeve?" I asked.

  "I think mine has to do with herbalism, but I'm still working on it." She explained.

  "How do you even find out what it's supposed to be?"

  Sybelle answered pointing in the general direction of the sky, "They tell you." She shrugged.

  I had never been told anything by a god or goddess. I thought about her, she who was supposed to be my mother. An ache filled my chest when I envisioned her face. Why didn't she speak to me the way the others so clearly heard their gods?

  I turned my face skywards. Cool air hit my skin, but the sun was warm. I tried to enjoy the afternoon because worrying about things I couldn't change was useless. When all thoughts of last year had left my mind, I was shocked to see Kairn walking across the courtyard towards us. His dark hair had gotten longer and it hung around his eyes. His features were sharp with high cheekbones and piercing green eyes. His face was hauntingly beautiful, and just as I remembered it. His eyes were more tired than I remembered, however. Our eyes met, and I felt a swell of nerves in my stomach. Three months had passed since I last saw him, would things be the same. We left things hanging last year.

  I'd forgotten how tall he was, and his stride was long. It didn't take him long to reach us where we sat in the courtyard. Sybelle was the first to notice that I was no longer paying attention to the conversation. Then Ligeia let out a long whistle. Clearly, I wasn't the only one who was, shall I say, taken with him.

  "Shhhh," I hissed at Ligeia, a stupid smile still on my face.

  "How did I never notice how good looking he is?" She laughed at my flustered appearance.

  "Yeah, he's really..." Maeve stuttered.

  "Hot. You mean he's really hot," Ligeia finished her sentence.

  My skin was heating as his eyes followe
d me. I stood up to greet him. What was I supposed to do with my hands? I was fidgeting. It was hard to meet his eyes. He walked up to me and spoke.

  "Hello," He said gently, his gaze still intense.

  "Hey," I smiled back at him, feeling the full force of his eyes on me. Did he know that I'd thought about him every day for the last three months?

  His eyes flashed to the three girls beside me and the moment was broken. "I'm Kairn," He introduced himself to my friends.

  "Oh sorry," I made the introductions. "Kairn, this is Ligeia, Maeve, and Sybelle, my roommates at Halewick House." I turned to them. "This is Kairn, my... friend." I winced as it came out. It was clear to all parties that we were more than friends, but what were we? I didn't look at his face.

  "How've you been?" He asked me gently. His features were so fierce it was hard to describe what he looked like when he was being gentle.

  "I'm alright," I hedged, before deciding to go for it. "I wasn't sure if you were coming back this year." My friends knew to look away and begin their own side conversation.

  "Technically I'm not coming back," He said, my heart dropping at his words. "As a student," he continued, a sly smile gracing his face.

  "What do you mean?" I asked.

  "I'm going to be a teaching assistant for Professor Atwood while I work on some research." He answered.

  I was relieved that he was still going to be around. "I guess I'll still see you sometimes?" I asked. He looked confused.

  "Of course you'll see me." He shook his head.

  My friends were standing up. "We're going to head to the dining hall, Esther?" Ligeia phrased it as a suggestion.

  " Let me walk you," Kairn suggested.

  We trailed behind the others and walked toward the looming gothic building where we had our meals.