It hadn’t taken me long to start wishing I was part of Patty’s family.
After refilling the bowl of cream for our brownie and setting beside it a slightly crushed donut I’d picked up at breakfast, I jumped onto my bed and clicked on the floor lamp. My welcome packet lay on my bedside table, and I dropped it on my lap. I really needed to see what the rest of the week held for me.
Orientation schedule first.
Day Three (tomorrow)
Stone Selection
Knew that already. Dreaded it already. But it was scheduled for the entire morning. After the ominous suggestions my friends had whispered about the Selection, I’d be naïve to assume picking a stone would take only a few seconds. However, all that time? How complex could it be?
Lunch
My belly growled already. I’d eaten late with Donovan but missed dinner. Patty and I had yet to hit the mall to buy snacks but we needed to do it soon or I’d waste away.
Afternoon free period
To recover from Stone Selection? Ugh. I’d be glad when this part was over.
Day Four
Stone practice.
Perfect. Would I learn how to extract power from the environment and perhaps use it? If so, I’d need to figure out at least one of my skapti, right? Well, more than an odd ability to throw fire. I couldn’t see many practical applications in that.
I sighed. If only discovering my skapti was simple.
Day Five
Introduction to Magical Creatures—which sounded beyond cool. We’d be split into three groups, by Coven.
Stone Practice
Day Six
More Magical Creatures
Stone Practice
Day Seven
Free time.
Yay.
Second Year students arrive.
And, at eight…The Grand Ball.
Blessed fae. I not only needed to find a gown, I really needed to learn how to dance.
After brushing my teeth, I turned off my light and snuggled underneath my blankets.
I rolled onto my side, facing the wall, trying not to feel jealous as Patty continued to mindchat with her family.
* * *
We ate a quick breakfast then packed into the lobby with everyone else, joining up with Donovan. Or he joined up with us; hard to tell. Alys, Bryce, and Moira were right behind him. I was surprised to see Moira, but the healers must perform miracles. While pale, she appeared mostly back to normal.
“I’m a freakin’ wreck!” Patty said, clutching my arm.
Yeah, so was I. I danced on my toes. It was happening! Finally.
“All right, everyone,” the Headmistress called out. “If I could have your attention?” She stood on the first landing of the grand staircase with her arms lifted overhead. When we quieted down and faced her, she lowered her arms to her sides and smiled. “Welcome again. Day Three! I imagine it feels as if time is going by much too quickly.”
“Except now.” Beside me, Patty rolled her eyes. “Get to it,” she hissed out.
“I know you’re all excited about Stone Selection, and I don’t want to hold you back.”
Patty hooted and a couple of kids laughed.
“We have three Covens,” Justine said. “Which means there are three Selection Arenas. And three hosts, the Coven Masters who will supervise each Arena.”
“Arena?” I asked Patty. “Are we taking part in a gladiator fight?”
“You might wish we were.”
My eyes bulged. Was she implying Stone Selection could be worse than a battle?
“Arena is only a formal term. Wait and see.” But she squeezed my hand. The fact that hers was sweaty told me she was as worried about this as me.
The Headmistress cleared her throat, redrawing my attention. “I’d like everyone in Wind Coven to meet out front, on the driveway with Professor Mealor.”
“Right this way, folks!” Professor Mealor yelled from behind us. He held open the door and a cluster of the students streamed past him. “Team Wind is with me!”
“Fire Coven,” Justine said. “You’re with me and Professor Kreat, in the right parlor. I’m training Professor Kreat in Stone Selection. As you know, she’s new this year to the Academy. We’ll be proceeding outside through the exit near the cafeteria once we’ve gathered together.”
About half the remaining students started filing in that direction.
“And, before I leave to join Fire, I can’t forget about Earth Coven,” the Headmistress said. “Cloven, your Coven Master, will be your guide. Please remain in the lobby; he’ll direct you from here.”
This left one-third of the incoming class milling around.
Dressed in the long robe he’d worn the day I met him, Cloven climbed the stairs to take the Headmistress’s place. His gaze swept across us, and he nodded. “Looking great, guys.”
Someone clapped.
He smirked. “Let’s face it, Earth Coven rules!”
We all shrieked and stomped our feet, chanting Earth, Earth, Earth!
Wild speculation filled the air. What would Stone Selection entail?
I’d quizzed Patty over breakfast but she didn’t know much more than me. We’d enter a room. Select a stone and be chosen by the stone in turn. Then exit. We weren’t allowed to share what happened inside.
No wonder Alys suggested she’d face her worst nightmare. Lack of knowledge never made a person assume the best.
“Without further ado,” Cloven said with a smile. “This way. Follow me!” He hustled down the stairs, his robe swishing around his ankles, and we followed him into the left parlor, past the classrooms, and then through the steel entry door Donovan and I had used yesterday. We turned right after crossing the moat and strode toward one of the back pastures, the dense forest encroaching—watching—on our left.
In the center of the pasture, a large tent had been erected. Made up of yellow, green, and blue canvas, it looked like something out of Arabian Nights. Small flags waved from the multiple pointy peaks on the top.
Cloven stopped a few feet away from the tent’s entrance and faced us. “Take a seat, everyone.”
I dropped to the grass. Donovan sat on my right with Alys, Bryce, and Moira streaming out beyond him.
Patty nestled into my left side. “I think I’m going to pee my pants!” she basically screeched. A few kids turned and stared at her, eyebrows lifted high, but she ignored them. “Or puke.”
Taking her hand, I squeezed tight. My belly was rolling, too, threatening to dump the waffles I’d scarfed down at breakfast. “We can do this.” We had to do this. There was no other choice. Without stones, we couldn’t focus our power or develop our skapti. Backing out was not an option.
“I know you’re all eager to enter the arena and claim your stones,” Cloven said. “Even more, I know some of you are scared shitless.” He slapped his hand over his mouth but his eyes sparkled above. “Sorry about that. Anyway.”
Cloven was a fun contrast to a sterner Justine. I was looking forward to taking classes with him.
“Everything you’ve heard about Stone Selection is true,” he said in a deep voice.
Our worst nightmare?
“And everything you’ve heard about Stone Selection is not true.”
Wait. Was I hearing this right?
He grinned. “You’ve got it. It’s different for everyone. Each of you will go in with uncertain expectations yet come out with knowledge. About your future, about yourself.”
“How is this possible?” I asked Patty, who shrugged, her attention riveted on Cloven.
“Stone Selection is a risk,” Cloven said. “Not with your life but sometimes…with your soul.”
Despite the warm, sunny day, chills wracked my frame. What did he mean about risking my soul?
“Many of you will emerge with a stone while others…I’m sorry.” Cloven hung his head. No longer up in a man bun, his hair swayed across his face in a gray shroud before he lifted his gaze, penetrating each of us. “I wish I coul
d say that all of you will be successful today but history has proven that’s not true.”
“If we don’t get a stone, can we try again?” I asked Donovan.
“No stone, you’re done,” he said.
Hold on. “As in—”
“Shhh!” Leaning forward, past Donovan, Alys shot me a scowl.
I tightened my lips.
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you anything else except good luck,” Cloven said. “Fae willing, you’ll emerge from the arena with an awesome, magical future.”
Patty grabbed my arm and pumped it. “It’s starting!”
My answering grin came out slick. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to squeal or throw up. Talk about tension.
“Alys!” Cloven called out, and she rose.
“First name alphabetical,” Donovan said. “Hmm.”
Moira jumped up and leaned close to Alys. “Go claim that moonstone,” she whispered. “It’s waiting and it’s yours.”
It’s yours. The man in the park’s voice echoed in my mind.
Alys joined Cloven, who led her over to the entrance. Leaning forward, he spoke near her ear and she nodded. As he finished, she gulped, reeling away from him. What had he told her? Her hands visibly trembled but she turned to stare at the tent before stiffening her spine. Parting the canvas doors, she stepped inside.
I turned to speak to Patty, but Moira suddenly shrieked. Leaping up off the grass, she raced toward the tent while everyone cheered.
Alys stood outside the tent, her hands raised in victory. Moira lifted Alys and spun her around. As she dropped Alys back onto her feet, they both giggled.
Sobering, Alys held out her hand.
“Emerald!” Moira burst out. “You got emerald! It’s so beautiful!”
While Moira returned to sit with us, Cloven directed Alys across the field to where a table had been set up underneath a maple tree. A tall, very slender man with long white hair stood behind the table. He bowed in greeting to Alys.
“That was fast,” I said.
“Time means nothing inside the arena,” Donovan said.
“I could be in there for hours yet only seconds will have passed out here?”
He nodded.
“Ava,” Cloven yelled. “Come on up. It’s your turn.” A dark-haired girl strode over to Cloven and went through the same procedure, emerging from the tent with a stone in hand within seconds.
Bryce went next and came out with a speckled jasper he proudly showed off. He was also directed toward the white-haired man standing underneath the maple tree.
“Who’s that, by the way?” I asked Donovan.
“The jeweler. He’ll set our stones and return them to us at the start of class tomorrow. We’re not allowed to have them in our possession until a professor can teach us how to use them.”
I hadn’t forgotten the conversation in the auditorium, how Cloven planned to ask the jeweler to ward our stones.
“Cerise!” A girl sitting on the other side of Patty rose and timidly walked over to stand in front of Cloven. She cringed when he spoke and at first, I thought she’d run back to the Academy rather than enter the tent arena. But Cloven nudged her back, and she essentially dragged her feet inside. She also came out quickly with a stone.
“Darcy!” A short guy stumbled over to Cloven, tripping and almost falling on the way. He entered the tent but, this time, at least ten minutes went by.
“Oh-oh,” Patty said. Her hands blanching on her lap.
“Not looking good for Darcy.” Donovan’s gaze remained focused on the tent. “Poor guy.”
Taking longer was a bad thing, then.
Darcy emerged through the canvas flaps with hunched shoulders and empty hands. He gaped at us. “I…I…Please. I need to—”
A pop sounded, and a huge bird appeared, flapping its wings to hover above the ground beside Darcy. Sunlight reflected off its orange, red, and yellow feathers. A firebird?
“No.” Darcy shrunk, backing away from the bird like a dog being chastised.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“He’s leaving,” Patty said sadly. “Since no stone chose him, he’ll be stripped of his magical abilities.”
I leaned away from her. “What are you talking about?” They could take away our magic?
“The firebird’s here to flit him to reorientation,” she said. “They built a special complex in the city. After training, he’ll go live with those who have no power.”
“Outlings?”
“Yes,” Donovan said.
There was no holding back my dismay.
“Once trained in your ways,” Alys said snidely. “He’ll be left to make a life in your world.”
“Your ways? My world?” As if I was still an outsider. “I belong here. This is my world.”
She sneered. “I don’t see a stone in your hand.”
Vulnerability made my body curl forward. Would I come out of the tent successful or would I be dragged away and thrown back with the other, magicless outlings? Seven years ago, I would’ve begged to have my magic stripped from me and return to my mom.
Now, I was hungry.
“Lay off her, would you?” Donovan snapped at Alys. He turned to me. “I have a good feeling about this. You’ll be celebrating tonight.”
If only he could know the future, but that was Patty’s specialty, and I’d already asked. She hadn’t been able to see.
“You’re not Elite,” Alys hissed out, stabbing me in the gut one more time.
You’re not accepted, she meant.
She twisted the knife further. “No matter how hard you try, you’ll never be more than an outling.”
I’d never be worthy.
While I sank into myself, Donovan growled, the sound erupting from his chest loudly enough a few kids gaped around as if wolves snapped at their throats.
With a huff, Alys rose, dragging Moira up with her. “Let’s go sit over there.” She pointed to a spot about ten feet away, and they left.
Good riddance.
“Sorry,” Donovan said.
“Not your fault.”
“It’s her problem, not yours. Ignore her.”
Kinda hard to do when Alys wasn’t the only one pointing out my mongrel status.
I held my back tight. My eyes stung and, inside, I cringed. Might as well brand me an outcast, not an outling. Would I ever feel as if I belonged here? I thought I’d begun to find something special at Crystal Wing Academy, but Alys seemed determined to beat me down at every opportunity.
Two more kids with names starting with D entered the tent and came out stone-less, only to be whisked away by the firebird, taken to reorientation.
One-quarter to one-third of us were failing. The odds were not in our favor.
“Will they see their families again?” I asked, cringing as the firebird engulfed a student and popped out of view.
“Unfortunately, no,” Donovan said softly.
I’d been abandoned by my mother for possessing too much power. These kids had been rejected for not possessing enough.
“They’ll be okay,” he said. “Really. They’re taught everything they need to know to survive.”
As if they’d be thrust out, into the wild.
“But their skapti. They were tested.”
“Not by the stones. Skapti testing reveals potential. The stones take us to the next level, adding to our ability to manipulate drawn-in power to enhance those skills.”
“What happens to their elemental magic like mindspeak once they leave here? Do they take it with them?” If I was rejected here, too, would I at least keep that?
“Where they’re going, they won’t need it. And we don’t want the outling world to know magic is even possible.” Patty took my hand and squeezed it. “A few of them will go on to be leaders in their fields because you can’t completely drain away skapti. Some will be called gifted. But they’ll never draw magic, never achieve their potential, because they weren’t chosen.”
Their power
would fizzle like a candle dipped in water.
“Donovan,” Cloven cried.
I jolted and turned wide eyes his way. What if he wasn’t chosen by a stone? Ironic that I’d found…something with this boy, yet I might lose it within the next few seconds.
He rose to his feet and fully faced me. “Wish me luck?”
“Go in there, and…” Scrambling to my feet, I gave him a quick hug, whispering, “Jump.”
“Oh, I fully intend to.” His voice had gone husky. “It’s only the landing that hurts.”
With a nod to me, he strode over to Cloven, who whispered then slapped Donovan on the back.
Without hesitation, Donovan thrust aside the canvas flaps and entered the arena.
Chapter 17
A minute later, after I’d gnawed through my knuckles, Donovan appeared at the tent entrance.
As he stepped outside, his gaze remained focused on me. While other kids called out, what’s your stone? and where’s the firebird? he held his hand out and splayed his fingers wide.
“Obsidian!” Cloven burst out in shock from beside Donovan.
“That’s unusual?” I asked Patty while Cloven clapped Donovan on the back and directed him toward the jeweler.
“It’s…” Patty swallowed, her eyes following Donovan. “No one has gotten obsidian in almost two-hundred years. Not since…”
I couldn’t read anything on her face. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“Fleur!” someone yelled.
“What do you mean, nothing?” I asked her. “What aren’t you saying?”
Evading my gaze, she elbowed my side. “Cloven’s calling you! It’s your turn. Don’t worry about Donovan’s stone. I’ll explain what I can later.”
“Fleur!”
Wait. It was my turn?
Fear bolted through me like a lit match dropped on gasoline. I stumbled to my feet and wavered in place.
“Come on, Fleur,” Cloven said, waving at me. “It’s your turn for adventure.”
Crap. This wasn’t an adventure. It was a horror show. What would I face inside that tent?
Donovan stopped on his way to the jeweler and turned back to watch me. “Go, Fleur!” he yelled, making other kids laugh.
Crystal Wing Academy- The Complete Series Page 15