By The Skies

by J E Mueller

  “Let’s get first pick.” Soleia grabbed my arm, pulling me into a sprint.

  I laughed, not seeing why it could matter.

  Sure enough, they were all exactly the same. Small rooms, two twin size beds, nothing else. Soleia threw her bag onto the bed by the only window while I took the other.

  “This looks cozy…” I stated dryly. I didn’t mind a lack of space, but I was hoping for at least somewhere to unpack clothes. Not that it exactly mattered. The bag was enchanted so things pulled out of it would be wrinkle-free.

  “It’ll be over before it even starts.” Soleia shrugged. “Ready?”

  “Not just yet,” I replied, digging through my bag. “I know it’s a day early, but I have something for you for Kelipse Day.” I found her gift and hid it in my fist before turning toward her.

  “You didn’t have to.” Her smile barely contained her excitement. “I actually have something for you as well.” She turned to dig through her bag for a moment before holding out a thin silver chain with lavender charm on it. It was wonderfully lifelike and filled with just enough magic for me to know there was more to it.

  “Wow, that is far better than my gift to you.” I laughed as I opened my hand out to her.

  Her eyes widened on the pendant as we exchanged them. “When did you learn this?” Her voice was soft, surprised. She slowly turned it over in her hand with admiration.

  “The other night while waiting for that potion to finish,” I replied as I looked over my gift, trying to decipher the magic in it.

  She gave a small laugh. “You haven’t a clue what it means do you?”

  “Not a one,” I freely admitted. “I was hoping you could explain it, and maybe help me figure out the other one I made.”

  “For Aylum?” she guessed.

  I nodded. “Only fitting since he showed me how to make them.”

  Soleia bit her lip as she sat on the edge of her bed. “We’ll start with the easy parts. First, my gift to you works fantastic with your gift to me.”

  “How?” I asked curiously, sitting on my bed across from her.

  “What is lavender?” Soleia asked instead.

  “Everything. There is so much to that one particular plant.” I shrugged, trying to puzzle out which direction this could go in. “If you’re leaning toward flower language it has dual meanings, both devotion and distrust. The flowers around it determine which.”

  “Exactly. I thought it would be nice to give you something that shows both.” Soleia smiled. “But how is probably exactly what you’re thinking.”

  “Of course.” I gave a small chuckle, “Do elaborate.”

  “This is my offer of protection to you,” Soleia replied, her smile dropping a little. “Life has too many ups and downs for you. Put a little magic into it, and I’ll know you need my help.”

  I stared at it once more. A devoted friend for when deception strikes. I didn’t deserve her. “You’re too kind. I love it.” I meant every word as I put it on.

  “You clearly view me the same way.” She smirked while holding up the pendant I gave her. It had an almost shield-like shape with wings, a crescent moon badly carved into the middle.

  “Because of the shield?” That seemed to make sense.

  “Shield tends to mean protection, protector, someone you can be true with, someone you know won’t let you down. The wings tend to mean it’s actively going on, fleeting, or will be needed. The moon can mean far too many things. I’ll have to lend you my book. I’m sure I’ve got one somewhere back at Valenston.” Soleia shook her head. “Remembering them all takes far too much work.”

  “I believe it.” That was already a heavy list for a little pendant.

  “Well, let’s see what Aylum’s looks like.” Soleia waited patiently.

  I pulled it out and held it up. Soleia somehow managed the perfect mix of surprised and ‘I saw this coming’.

  “Well, that tells me it means a lot more than I was expecting.” I sighed, unsure how I felt about that.

  “You know exactly what that means. You just haven’t put it into words.” Soleia shook her head. “I am not going to tell you that one, but you can easily puzzle out some of the specifics from what we’ve already discussed.”

  “I’d rather know,” I muttered as I pocketed it away.

  “Well, what do hearts tend to mean?” Soleia offered. I glared at her. “Oh, don’t give me that.”

  “Maybe I shouldn’t have asked.” I bit my lip as I looked away.

  “You can deny the obvious all you want. That doesn’t make it any less true,” Soleia pointed out unhelpfully.

  “I have too much going on that needs solving to worry about that. What does it matter anyway?” I threw my hands up, exasperated. “They’ll just replace this Promised for another that suits their wants and needs.”

  “Oh, I doubt they’d turn him down. It would be a very foolish move.” Soleia gave a knowing laugh.

  “How can you be so sure?” It dawned on me again as the words came out. “You said he looked familiar ages ago. You know his title don’t you?”

  “I do. We truly hadn’t met prior to then, but that doesn’t matter. Trust that this will work out. Even if I have to take that terrible Eastyn choice out of the equation myself,” Soleia stated as if it were that simple.

  Mayhap it could be. There were several parts no one wanted to tell me.

  “Possibly,” I relented. “Maybe I should just avoid giving this to him for now.”

  Soleia raised an eyebrow. “Did he see you making mine or that one?”

  I bit my lip as my cheeks flushed. “He did see it.”

  “He already knows then. Not that he didn’t before.” Soleia gave a small laugh. “I wouldn’t avoid it. If anything, enjoy giving it to him. You put magic, emotion, and work into it. He’ll appreciate having it.”

  “He could have thought it was for someone else.” I said, avoiding eye contact with her.

  “That is true, but, let’s face it. It’s obvious who you do and don’t talk to. Our class isn’t that big. We all have our secrets, but in the end, crushes are hardly one of them.”

  Curse her and those observations. There was little point in fighting it. “I guess there’s no avoiding it if he already knows.” This was more than a bit embarrassing.

  “It’ll be fine,” Soleia reassured me, getting up and putting her pendant on. “Ready to get this day underway?”

  I nodded, excited to actually begin the adventure and shove this troublesome emotion aside for now. There were several things I planned on collecting while we were here. I slung my bag over my shoulder, thankful the magic on it would keep all the glass jars and vials from breaking.

  “As ready as I can be.” I smiled. “Let’s get dirty.”

  Soleia snorted. “Good thing they require pants on this trip.”

  “You mean allow. I’d wear them all the time if school allowed it.” The leather pants were far more comfortable than the endless skirts and dresses. Not to mention range of motion actually existed now.

  “I can see why they aren’t allowed.” Soleia smirked mischievously.

  I rolled my eyes at her. “Stop it.”

  “What? We all look really good in form-fitting leather. The boys can hardly contain themselves over exposed ankles here and there. Is it really a surprise?” She laughed as we headed outside.

  “And it’s different elsewhere?” I shook my head at her.

  “No, but pants are far more common elsewhere. It’s just stuffy here,” Soleia replied as we were once again back outside.

  “I can’t wait for the fashion to change.” I shook my head, ending the conversation. “Now, how long until the others join?”

  As if on cue, Professor Finn from herbal spellcraft was calling for the girls to come outside. The men were already out, roughhousing and laughing loudly on the small porch of their cabin. The good-natured jesting and loud conversation felt promising. Maybe this would be a great trip after all.

  As the
other girls joined us someone let out a loud whistle. The catcall caused us all to turn, glaring in the direction of the guys.

  “Gawin,” Professor Winfield called. “You owe a five-page handwritten paper when we get back about proper etiquette.”

  We couldn’t help but laugh at the instant karma, and Thorfin smacking Gawin upside the head for his behavior.

  “This way ladies,” Professor Achworth called, herding us to the forest. “We’ve got a lot to do.”

  After gathering wood and working to set up different campfires we went over how to find sources of water. It was interesting being able to do it in person, but only briefly. My mind wandered quickly. Soon groups of people were getting distracted and moved on to other activities. Some found mushrooms that were classified poisonous. Others found the more fun mind-altering hallucinogenic ones, causing the teachers to keep a sharp eye on that group and anyone nearby.

  My group was in charge of figuring out if the water was safe to drink. After exploring the stream for a short time, we determined it was safe at one point if boiled, but further downstream it passed over a pile of stones covered in ocin moss. This temporarily contaminated the water until it was far enough away from the moss.

  I hunched over the moss, staring at it carefully, trying to figure out how to safely grab a sample. Soleia stared at me with an exasperated look, knowing there was no point in arguing over this. I was going to get it into the bottle, somehow.

  Cressida walked over from another group with her waterskin and stood nearby me in clear view of the moss.

  “It’s ocin moss,” I commented, not looking over at her. We had all studied that one enough to know it.

  She raised an annoyed eyebrow at me. “No it’s not. Ocin is purple-tinted.”

  “When you cut it open, yes,” I agreed motioning to the moss in front of me. “This is healthy and happily growing as per normal.”

  I debated risking just putting it into the jar. With my healing abilities, my skin would be fine. At least it would be from the burning pain, in very little time. It wasn’t like I was ingesting it, which would kill you in two minutes flat even if you were on a full stomach. White magic made me heal faster so it might be worth it… Using my magic also came with the bonus of keeping my headaches at bay.

  “I don’t like that look you’re giving it.” Soleia eyed me cautiously.

  “That doesn’t surprise me.” I snickered, having made up my mind to just pick it up. Direct contact with the moss would cause a mild burning sensation that steadily got worse if you didn’t get it healed right away, which I could thanks to having several healers on this trip.

  I froze, hand just barely over the moss as I saw Cressida dunk her water skin into the water and immediately down the contents.

  “No!” I screamed as she started choking, the contaminated water quickly shutting down her airways as it inflamed her entire digestive tract.

  My hands were on her in an instant, pumping healing magic into her. I vaguely heard Soleia scream for a teacher, while students nearby watched in horror as Cressida started to make inhuman noises as she struggled to stay alive.

  Ocin worked fast, and my magic was only delaying it, the inevitable hardly a minute away. She didn’t have a strong immune system, and she did not have much in the way of white magic in her to help. Professor Winfield rushed to us, pushing magic into her as well. By this point, I had no doubt everyone was watching. Several people in the distance were making their way over. The professor's expression instantly went from determined to grim as she reached the same conclusion I had. We were delaying it. Together we had maybe two minutes.

  “Do you have a vial of ebberheart?” I demanded. It was great for poisons, but it wouldn’t save her from this.

  The professor shook her head. “No, not on hand.”

  Keti seemed to snap it and rush to my side. “I do.” She pulled it out of her bag in a rush, shaky hands nearly dropping it.

  “Open it,” I said calmly. “Soleia, I need you to extend energy magic.”

  “What are you doing?” She complied, not waiting for me to answer. Her hand touched my shoulder and I could feel a wave of her magic start pulsing through me.

  Keti got the vial open and handed it to me and I downed it in an instant.

  Professor Winfield immediately realized my intentions. I was going to make full use of my white magic.

  “Kareia, you can't! Stop it now,” she ordered, but it was a waste of breath.

  “What are you planning?” Aylum asked, reaching us. I had wondered where he was. Likely off with a group further out.

  I didn’t respond, there wasn’t enough time to explain. Instead, I pushed my magic fully into her and sucked it back, pulling the poison away from her. My system reacted hard, taking on her injuries.

  I gasped for breath. Every molecule of air stinging, ripping me apart and causing a taste of iron to reach my tongue.

  “Damn you Kareia,” Soleia cursed quietly but forcefully as she continued to pump me with magic. “Aylum, lend your magic already.”

  Aylum compiled, the fragment of his face I could see through my tears looked terrified and confused.

  Professor Winfield yelled loudly for several other teachers to come over and take Cressida back to the cabin before moving over to me. “I hope you’re happy now. If you live through this we need to have a long chat about swapping ailments. You are not the right level!”

  Her magic stung, but I was already starting to clear up of my own accord, thanks to the extra magical supply being pushed into me. It set my healing magic on overdrive. The intoxicating swirls of power coursing through me like waves as I started to battle the poison with more success.

  “She what?” Aylum sounded even more horrified.

  Soleia scoffed. “She’s recovering fine.”

  Professor Winfield nodded, her expression as determined as ever. “She will survive this. It’ll exhaust her, but it could have killed her. She got lucky.”

  “She got lucky there are enough friends with a lot of magic here to help,” Soleia muttered only loud enough for those around us to hear.

  Luck was some of it. Soleia and Aylum’s magic was like fire and brandy. It would burn away all the problems, leaving me drunk off their magic for days to come. I hadn’t expected dragon magic to feel as such, but I was hoping it would be every bit this powerful.

  I would recover rather quickly from this. If it had just been one healer here, I may not have survived at all, but I believed in my magic more than that. It was steel, running through my core. My magic would not bend and break to something like this.

  Finally I got a full breath, my lungs were hardly stinging as air filled them, the poison nearly gone. The professor moved away, motioning for Soleia and Aylum to pick me up.

  “We will take her back. She’ll need to rest for a while.” Winfield sounded irritable. Likely because they missed letting a student know about the contaminated stream in the first place.

  Now that they knew it was growing here, and very well, another mistake wouldn’t be made. My pain wasn’t in vain. No one had died.

  I vaguely realized Aylum had picked me up. Both him and Soleia still channeling magic through me as we headed back.

  “I can walk,” I muttered wanting to at least try.

  They both cast me a look that screamed no.

  “I am going to guess that jumbled mess of syllables that maybe sounded like ‘walk’ was supposed to mean something.” Soleia shook her head. “You messed yourself up good this time.”

  “Couldn’t let her die,” I tried getting the words out more clearly this time. I didn’t like the wretch, but that didn’t mean she completely deserved a fool's death. As nasty as she frequently was to me I was thinking more funny karma smacking her upside the head in a hilarious way while I got to watch would be more appropriate.

  “There had to have been a better way.” Aylum sighed, shaking his head.

  “There wasn’t,” Soleia replied for me. “Ocin is quic
k. Kareia being strong enough to even delay it that long speaks a lot of her healing abilities.”

  Aylum gave a reluctant sigh. “If you insist.”

  “Do you really think I’d let her kill herself? I had hoped by asking what she was planning she’d reconsider, or at least think hard about her next step.” Soleia shook her head. “They better let you practice this to achieve mastery after all of this Kareia.”

  “It’s healing, so not blocked,” I muttered, glad the words felt easier to say. I let my eyes drift shut, ignoring the fact Aylum was carrying me and how warm he felt.

  “True,” Soleia agreed. “We can worry about details later. This way.” I felt the change in pace as Aylum walked up the cabin steps. Soleia let go of me as she led the way.

  “I’m guessing something like this has happened before if you knew about this injury swapping gift?” Aylum asked curiously.

  “On a much smaller scale.” Soleia nodded. “The bed over there is hers. Set her down.”

  “What about the magic?” Aylum carefully sat down with me.

  “Kareia, be honest. Will you be fine without magic?” Soleia asked.

  I grumbled for a moment as I thought. “Less magic is fine. Not sure about the rest,” I replied honestly.

  “Then I’m staying,” Aylum commented, shifting me so he was sitting by my side as one hand continued to rest on my arm, continuing the chain of magic.

  “Decrease the magic then. Her body needs to start adjusting back to itself,” Soleia instructed.

  “What?” Aylum sounded confused.

  “She’s right,” I mumbled before clearing my throat. “Body needs to heal itself the last bit. You don’t want it completely reliant on magic. It’s a long way from that, but better to lessen now and slowly taper off. Should be fine in maybe ten minutes.”

  “You can sleep, Kareia. I’m sure you feel like you were trampled.” Soleia snickered.

  “Burnt alive from the inside,” I corrected with a pained yawn as I got comfortable.