by K T Quinn
‘Black magic. Witch.’ Lessi pushed more images into my mind. Witches and warlocks flinging black magic spells at legions of men. It looked like an army of both light and dark battling to the death, fireballs flinging towards the witches and the sounds of swords clashing. More images flooded my senses, witches being burned at the stake. A decree that all black magic be eradicated. Women, children and men having their magic ripped from their souls by a long ago King. The magic being thrown into the fire and destroyed. ‘Careful. Black magic is forbidden. She has both dark and light in her. We MUST help her. Important. Destiny.’ It took only a few seconds for the images to play in my mind and to feel the importance of this girl, whoever she was.
The brunette beside the tall blonde smoothed down her black checkered skirt and looked bored. “Alice, do your balding spell! That will teach her for coming to OUR school, demon scum” the brunette said casually to the third girl of their little group of bullies. The third girl looked of oriental descent, and she smiled wickedly before raising her hands and beginning to chant in an ancient language.
My skin began to prickle and burn from the injustice. Smoke began to rise from my skin. Anger waved over me in waves like a rising tide.
“Her eyes, look at her eyes!”
“She’s burning! Everybody move!”
I ignored the shouts of the others in the hallway and focused on the trio of bitches in front of me. They had stopped what they were doing to the poor girl and turned to face me. The tall blonde looked at me with defiance, her hands resting on her hips. Her two buddies shrank back behind her watching me warily. Flames ran like wildfire down my arms and moved down my fingertips as my fury took control over me. The burning need to deliver justice to someone wronged washed over me. I pointed at the tall blonde, blue flames falling from my fingers to the floor leaving scorch marks.
“You have been judged. You will burn. You, who wrongs the righteous” an inhuman voice boomed from my throat. On some level I knew that this was wrong, that I should logically have my skin burning off as I was now engulfed in flames. That somehow, this nasty piece of work in front of me didn’t deserve the full force of a fledgling fury but I was unable to stop myself. I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to.
“You can’t do this, its against the Academy rules! No magic on other students! No abilities!” the blonde shouted at me with zero remorse. Her hands were still on her hips and she stomped one of her black pumps in a temper tantrum. “Come on girls, she can’t do anything to us. Wait until my Father hears of this” she shrieked at me as she grabbed at her friends and made to walk off.
I smiled a wicked smile and began to create a fireball in my hands. I was the predator and she was my prey. My feet began to drift off of the ground and I flicked a fireball in her direction. It struck the locker beside her. Thick scorch marks decorated the door as it groaned in protest before slowly swinging open. The blonde squealed and tried to storm off in the opposite direction. I hurled another fireball at her blocking her escape, then another and another so she was standing inside a ring of fire. Right where I wanted her. I began to create an ever larger fireball slowly in front of the girls, toying with them. The sound of breaking glass startled me, my fury side snapping back inside me quickly as water fell from the fire sprinklers on the roof. The girls shrieked and ran off towards class seizing the opportunity to seek safety. I looked down at my clothes that were now covered in burn marks and at the scorch marks I had left in the hallway. It was a mess. I felt a sinking feeling at the pit of my stomach. There was no way that Gabriel would allow me to stay after this. A small cough as someone cleared their throat behind me caught my attention. I turned around to see the small mint-green haired girl that I had just rescued behind me standing in the middle of a pile of glass. She shrugged apologetically at me before holding her hand out to me. “Twyla Black. Pleased to meet ya” she said with a twang. I took her hand and shook it still feeling a little dazed and confused from my moment of Fury. “Mikah Harper” I replied.
“Oh I know!”Twyla replied excitedly. “I’ve heard all ‘bout ya, I was hoping to find you here. I just didn’t count on being attacked on the first day of school. Does that happen a lot around here?” she asked me with a small sliver of panic in her big eyes. She smoothed her torn jeans down with her hands carefully before picking up her Hello Kitty backpack off of the ground and dusted away the shards of glass.
I looked at her thoughtfully before replying.”I’m starting to get the feeling it does. Sorry it’s my first day here too, I couldn’t even help you find wherever you need to be. I’m pretty lost as it is.” I pulled out my crumpled up map of the Academy again to try and make heads or tails from it. I wanted to get into class before Gabriel came down to see what had happened and sent me back to my dorm room. Twyla leaned up on her tippy toes to take a look at the map. She was short and bubbly, so completely full of joy - which was a royal contradiction to the black shroud of tar-like smoke settling along her skin. It must be her light shining through I thought to myself.
“Hand to hand combat - oh look! We’re in the same class this morning” Twyla said perkily. She grabbed my arm and began to pull me down the hallway in the direction of what I assumed our class to be. I was feeling pretty excited to start this class. I wanted to learn how to protect myself and hand to hand seemed like the perfect way to do it without relying on Alessia or my abilities.
The classroom was a large empty space with twelve rectangles painted on the hard wooden floor in blue paint, students were huddled in groups speaking in excited whispers. The room was pulsing with nervous excitement and adrenaline. Stains the colour of dried blood were smeared in some of these spaces. I shivered and turned to Twyla. “Where are the soft mats for us to train on?...there’s always soft mats in the movies...” Before Twyla could respond I could feel eyes boring into the middle of my back.
“There is no room for weakness in Skybjörn Academy” Titan growled as he stalked past to the front of the room.
“Who pooped on his parade?” I giggled to Twyla behind my hand. I hadn’t realised that Titan was still a student here. I am definitely not going to mind watching him in class I sighed internally staring at his butt as he walked towards the front of the class. I could feel Lessi signing with contentment as she agreed with me.
The class fell silent as Titan took centre stage and began to speak. “Welcome to class. The rules are simple. You do what I say when I say, you train hard and you don’t complain. There is no quitting. You can’t quit when the enemy has you down on the ground. You fight or you die. Lucky for all of you this is only a first year class so there should be no dying today.” Titan levelled the room of students with one of his signature glares. I was beginning to know them all too well. Most of the times that I had bumped into Titan since my run in with the Oracle consisted of him glaring at me or stalking off anytime I came in the room. He couldn’t stand to be around me for longer than a moment. I shifted uncomfortably as his glare lingered on me. “This class is for hand to hand ONLY. No powers or magic allowed or you’re out.”
“Out of class sir?” one of the guys in the front row asked nervously.
“Out of the academy.” Titan barked in the face of the poor guy who asked. He nodded his head nervously in agreement before taking a small step back and putting some space between himself and Titan. “There is no place for rule breakers in Skybjörn - or the Brightrealm for that matter” he snarled as he glared in my direction again. I didn’t know what I had done to make Titan dislike me so much. It was confusing. He was confusing.
“Harper” he barked. “You’re with Sabine.” I groaned. She’s going to kill me, filled with dread I moved one foot after the other to the large rectangle area that had been marked off for combat. I looked back over to where I had been standing at Twyla. Victoria had joined her and they both stood there with a small smile of encouragement. Victoria knew I wasn’t a scrapper by any means. The only thing I had on my side was a small blade that I carried with me everywhe
re that I had only used that one time back home when trying to torment a lesser demon. That didn’t end so well, I have the scar on my foot to prove it from where it had bitten me before Mom had pried it off. Scaring the shit out of Sabine and her cronies in the hallway was a fluke thanks to my Fury side wanting to seek vengeance for the injustice they had been committing.
Lessi, are you there?
‘Of course I'm here’ Lessi replied sarcastically in my mind. ‘Where else would I be?’
I pictured Lessi giving me the equivalent of an eye roll about now.
‘I need your help Lessi’ I whined internally. ‘How do I fight her? i Don't even know how to throw a punch! Can't you just take over my body and fight her instead?’
‘It doesn't work like that. Remember the whole problem of you’re still in your body, i’m in your body, one of us isn't meant to be here *cough* you... but let's not get into that right now’ Lessi replied.
‘Well maybe you should have decided to choose a different body just saying’ I snarked in reply. ‘Look Lessie I need your help or there won’t be a body for either of us to use. Sabine will annihilate me! I can't use my powers, not that I even know how to use them. I don't know how to defend myself, or even how to attack. I doubt they gonna let me use my blade. What should I do?’
A flurry of images flashed through my mind. An image of how to curl my fingers together and form a fist keeping my thumbs on the outside so they wouldn't break. An image of me striking my fist into Sabine’s solar plexus, swinging my hips to generate more power as I threw my punch. Another image of my feet moving, bouncing in and out of the way of Sabine’s blows, ducking and weaving just out of her reach.
‘There is so much I need to teach you, and time is running out. I don't know how I can teach you to master all of the skills you will need to go to war in such a short timeframe. The end is coming. Stopping it and restoring balance - that is what sent me here to you. We need you to be ready so pay attention in this class. It may be the only thing that helps you survive. If you die, I also die and then it's all over. Everyone you know and love will die. So if Sabine needs to kick your ass for you to learn then embrace the pain. It makes you strong. Absorb every strike, every kick. Watch the way her body moved with each attack. Look for her tell. When you find them, attack!’
I looked over at Sabine who had already taken her place on the opposite side of the floor. She was pacing up and down like a lioness on the hunt. Her eyes flashed with bloodthirsty excitement as she glared at me, her cronies stood behind her jeering in my direction. They hadn't forgotten that I had just handed them their asses moments before class. This was their chance for revenge on a more personal level. One where they didn’t have to get their hands dirty. The rest of the class had been paired up and were getting ready for their own combat assignments, with a small few students remaining spread out amongst the floor waiting for their turn. Tiran stood in the centre of the room. He did a final check to ensure everyone was in their places before putting his fingers to his mouth and blowing out a sharp whistle.
Adrenaline began to course through my veins as I prepared to fight. Sabine stalked to the centre of our floor space. She looked at me with calculation before bouncing back and forth ready to strike.
I edged further into the floor space trying to watch Sabine’s shoulders and legs for movement like Lessie had advised me to do. I didn’t bounce, but I stood tense and ready to move. Sabine launched in my direction and delivered a flurry of strikes to my ribs as a distraction before landing a solid punch to my jaw. My ribs cracked as her fist made contact with my body and I grunted in pain, doubling over clutching the ribs on one side. Before I could recover she delivered another flurry of blows to my ribs and my jaw. Another loud crack sounded through the room as the ribs on my uninjured side broke. Pain seared through my sides and I fell to my knees, unable to stand from the unimaginable pain. Darkness ebbed at the edges of my vision. Sabine turned away from me raising her arms in victory at her friends.
"That was easier than I thought” Sabine cheered. “Actually it was way more satisfying than I thought too” she added as an afterthought with a grin.
I didn't want to give Sabine the satisfaction of leaving me curled in a ball bleeding on the ground. She had won, but I refused to give up. I refused to be seen as weak. I refused to give in and not try. I was not weak. I was the daughter of Fury and Fire. I would not back down. Ignoring the sharp pain shooting up my sides I unsteadily got to my feet and raised my fists ready for combat. Sabine turned around and looked at me with disgust. "Why don't you do us all a favour demon scum and just die!” Sabine’s eyes flashed in anger as she charged towards me. I closed my eyes and opened my senses. I heard the air move throughout my own lungs, rasping and struggling to breathe. I heard the heavy thump of Sabine’s feet on the hard wooden floor as she barrelled towards me.
‘Yes! Use my senses. Feel for the disturbance in the air’ Lessi whispered with excitement.
I stretched my senses out even further feeling the push and pull of the air brushing against my skin as I moved, and of the disturbance of the air around me as students pummelled and kicked at each other, the scent of fresh blood thick in the air. Sabine reached me and immediately threw out a blow aimed for my temple. It was as if time had slowed down to the millisecond and I could see small ripples in the air where she had created a disturbance. I reached my hand up and pushed her strike away causing Sabine to lose her balance and trip over. Her features flushed with anger, Sabine jumped to her feet and launched a kick for my feet trying to sweep me to the floor. The air rippled and pulled at her foot as she struck out and I simply stepped to the side out of her way. I was fascinated by this newfound gift of sight. Other students had begun to gather around the edge of our battle arena. Titan amongst them watching us both with a keen eye. Sabine aimed a flurry of punches and kicks towards me again and I blocked each strike with ease. The pain that I felt from her earlier attack was locked away in the back of my mind, all of my focus and energy was honed into the current battle with Sabine. A startled cry came from behind me, in my peripheral vision I could just make out Twyla’s mint green pixie cut amongst the crowded students. Sabine’s two friends from the hall had an arm each and had them bent at an angle that would cause a break if someone didn’t stop them. Distracted, the air stopped rippling and moving as my senses retracted as Sabine’s fist made contact with my temple. Pain roared through my body like fire and the world turned to black.
I awoke surrounded by pristine white walls and the smell of disinfectant. The room was sterile and empty except for the single bed that I was occupying. I felt like I had been run over by a train. I eased myself up into a sitting position and swung my feet over the side of the bed. Pain shot up both of my sides and I gasped in pain. A woman dressed in a white nurses uniform with a clipboard entered the room. She looked human except for the fact that she was floating three inches off the ground. She smiled at me before scribbling something on her clipboard and picking up my wrist to check my pulse.
“Good. You blacked out in case you wondered why you’re here. You might feel some pain in your ribs but I’ve taken care of the nasty bruising on your face for you. Unfortunately I’m only a second year healer so I can’t completely heal your ribs.. Well I could but chances are you may also grow an extra rib or two externally… I haven’t quite got that spell downpat yet..” the woman said thoughtfully. “Oh I almost forgot, I’m Fiona. School nurse. I probably should have started with that” she said absentmindedly as she wrote something else down onto her clipboard.
“Ummm okay. So does that mean I can go now?” I asked looking at her in slight confusion.
“Oh yes sure sure. Off you go, you just missed Titan. Should I call him back to walk you to class?” Fiona asked with a smile.
“Oh gods no! Why would I wait for him - he hates my guts. Unless I’m in trouble for something?” I asked.
“Oh honey, he doesn’t hate you at all. Quite the opposite I would think. The man
refused to leave your side after he carried you in here” Fiona said looking at me with a knowing smile. “I had to kick him out of here so he wouldn’t miss the next class.”
“How long have I been out for?” I asked Fiona feeling panicked. Wyrmie would have gone through all of his snacks by now and I needed to make sure Twyla was okay. I hoped that Victoria had taken her under her wing and was protecting her from Sabine and her bitches.
“You’ve been out for quite a while love, since yesterday” Fiona replied. “Off you go now, you should be right for class. Your friends came past and left me your schedule.” Fiona looked at her magic clipboard and flipped over one of the pages and checked her gold wristwatch. “Titan will be happy to see you. You’ve got hand to hand combat class on in five minutes.”
“Can’t I get a dorm pass or whatever it’s called so I can go to my room? I just want to lie down for a while and rest” I lied thinking of Wyrmie. I wanted to go back and check on him and make sure he was okay. The last thing I needed was for him to eat his guards and start laying waste to the Academy.
“No. Only your class teacher or Gabriel can give you a dorm pass” Fiona replied looking at me sternly over her glasses which were perched on the edge of her nose. “Now off to class.”
-----
Hand to hand combat had already started when I slid into the room. Thankfully it was a theory lesson and all eyes were on Titan who was discussing the mechanics of some sort of wrestling hold called a mandible claw. The poor student he was demonstrating on looked like he was about to burst into tears but was holding it together by a thread. Titan’s eyes slid to mine. Relief flashed across his face momentarily before his eyes set in his trademark glare. I was beginning to get tired of this. The guy had zero empathy. My fists curled at my sides, my body began to shake with anger. A cold hand grabbed my wrist stopping me from charging to the front of the room and making an ass of myself. It belonged to a six foot wall of muscle and hotness. “Stay still” he whispered with a smile that lit up his pale white face displaying two sharp fangs. I felt the immediate need to do as he said, my anger dissipating and my body becoming still. “Better” he said softly before turning his attention back to Titan. The exchange between us did not go unnoticed. Titan gave the guy a sharp look of hatred before continuing with his explanation on the mandible claw hold. The poor student who was his current victim howled in pain as he maneuvered him into the hold. Abruptly Titan let go of the now crying student and turned to the class.