By The Skies

by J E Mueller

  I didn’t really want to say anything to Aylum. It was easy to pretend he didn’t hear a word if he didn’t speak. The illusion wouldn’t be broken until someone spoke.

  Of course, someone spoke. Aylum finally sighed a short while after Soleia left. “I would kill him now if this duel didn’t mean so much to you. Rest assured, he won’t be surviving for long after.”

  I paused, uncertain how to voice my thoughts. “I don’t know how I feel about being the cause of someone’s death.”

  “You won’t be the cause. He made his choices. He forced you into a situation you should not have been put in. This is all on him.”

  That was true, but it didn’t wholly feel that way. Nothing came to mind to say in reply. The silence stretched for a time before Aylum spoke again.

  “I’m sure you’re tired from all of this. I don't want to smother you, but I want to be here for you. Please tell me if you need me to leave.”

  “I don’t want you to.” I shook my head, still refusing to look at him. I missed him too much to let him go, but it didn’t feel completely right. “I understand if you’d rather leave though.”

  “Why would I rather leave?” he asked, surprise and concern laced through his words.

  “I don’t know how to explain it.” I sighed.

  There was silence for a moment. “Whatever the reason you may feel that way, rest assured, it is not true,” Aylum assured softly, giving me a half hug. “Even if things went worse, and I’m grateful they did not, I would not think any less of you. It speaks for his character, not yours. I know you wanted no part of his visit.”

  “I could have done something more,” I mumbled.

  “Not really. You could have teleported in the garden, yes, but that is your biggest asset for the duel. Not using it gives you all the advantage. He doesn’t know I’m a dragon either. I also plan on using that to my advantage. He’ll get bested with swords, and bested in magic. Then he’ll meet his fate. As Delmar, no one would miss him.”

  I let the silence sit between us for a moment before asking the only thing left on my mind. “Will you stay?”

  “Always.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Getting back into the swing of school was rough. My antisocial behavior blended in with the entirety of my class. No one really wanted to be up, let alone attending lessons that seemed to drone on.

  And on.

  And on.

  Even hearing that our potion passed couldn’t pull me out of the post vacation chaos slump. I wasn’t surprised it did. That was my top class and Aylum was no slouch in it either. It wasn’t until spellsayer class that a teacher finally had enough.

  “All right, I get it. Vacation has wiped the floor with the lot of you,” Brentwood stated. “We’ll play a game. I have three levels of spells. The first gets you out ten minutes early, the second twenty, and the third as soon as you’ve successfully completed it. You may leave, I don't care what you do, just don’t break any rules.”

  That had our attention. The energy rose as we excitedly whispered to one another. A chance to get out of class early? This was a very rare treat.

  Professor Brentwood cleared their throat. “Of course the spells are harder the more freedom you gain and I am only giving you one chance.” We all nodded eagerly. “Who wants to attempt first?”

  There wasn’t a hand that didn’t shoot up.

  The professor looked thoughtfully around the room. “Kareia, let’s see what you’ve got.”

  I rose from my seat and happily walked to the front of the room. Professor Brentwood dug behind her desk for a moment before setting three little tins with slips of papers down. She pointed to them in turn, explaining which was which.

  “When would you like to get out of class?” Professor Brentwood knew the answer, we all wanted out now. She likely picked me because she knew I would be able to demonstrate just how hard these ‘get out quick’ spells would be.

  “Now,” I replied, reaching into the little tin and pulling out a paper.

  ‘A Gust of Leaves’ was what the spell was titled. I stared at the words for a moment, having never seen this spell before.

  Professor Brentwood glanced over at the paper. “Ah, now that’s a fun one. Take a moment to practice and when you’re ready, let’s see if you can do it.”

  I mulled over the proper pronunciation in my head before finally asking, “It says a gust, how much power should be put into it?”

  “Do the best you can. Most on their first try barely manage a breeze.” That wasn’t a helpful reply.

  Oh well. Anything over a breeze was passing then. I carefully muttered the words a few times aloud before clearing my throat, ready to give it a shot. If I couldn’t manage the spell, it would at least give me something worth focusing on in class.

  I pulled a reasonable thread of magic, feeling a drastic relief through my head and joints. It was hard to hide that fact but I managed. When was the last time I did real magic? Two days ago? Three? Silencing spells and brewing potions hardly required any magic.

  I ignored the facts and focused on the spell, reciting the words as fluidly as I could, releasing the magic into them. Everything in the room rattled for a brief moment before a whirlwind of leaves filled the class, scattering papers, light books, and ruining several good hair days.

  The wind picked up, rattling the desks as I pulled back on the magic before letting it go, the wind dropping completely. “I hope that wasn’t too much.”

  Professor Brentwood looked surprised and nodded a few times before waving at the door. “A little much, but very well done. Great first attempt. You are free to go.”

  I gathered my stuff as the professor asked for another volunteer, rather pleased with the mini mayhem I had caused. It was fun to be allowed out early. It rarely happened in any classes I was in. Really only once before.

  I skipped down the hall debating what to do with my freedom. I still wanted to avoid people and decided the library would be my best bet. Sure enough, no classes were meeting in there. All I could hear was blissful silence.

  I browsed the shelves for a few moments before grabbing what looked like a fun novel and settled onto a cushioned bench along a window. It was the perfect hiding place.

  “There you are,” I heard Soleia call.

  I glanced up and saw her and Aylum walking over. “I thought this was the perfect hiding place.”

  “Why do you need to hide from us?” Soleia gave me a confused look.

  “I don’t. I just wasn’t expecting to be this easily found.” I sighed. “You don’t have to hang out here. I just wanted to read for a bit.”

  “Oh.” Soleia chuckled.

  Aylum raised an eyebrow at her. “She doesn’t know, does she?”

  “I supposed I wasn’t very clear.” Soleia shrugged before turning to me. “The necklace I gave you allows me to find you.”

  “Oh…” I pulled it out from under my shirt. “I thought it only worked with magic.”

  “If you need help, then it’ll need magic. It’ll force an alert and I’ll know to come. Otherwise, it’s easy enough to track just the necklace.”

  “How odd…” I shrugged, not minding the extra protection after all this nonsense. “I suppose with the current madness it’s very useful though.” I shook my head and went back to reading, leaving them to make up their own minds.

  After a moment they headed off. A short time later they both returned with books. Soleia sat on the ground with her back against the shelves, easily diving into her adventure while Aylum sat near me on the bench.

  It felt so nice. Just having everything at peace, even if it was for a short while. I wasn’t sure what exactly was to come next, but it was strange knowing I had such loyal friends. It wasn’t that friendships were unusual or anything, but depending on the situation many would use what they knew to their advantage.

  “We should get some dinner,” Aylum suggested after some time.

  Soleia grumbled, “I’m not done.”

>   “Read it after dinner, silly.” I closed my book while I stood up to stretch.

  “We have to train you after.” She shook her head. “Which is far more important. We’ve been discussing techniques.”

  “Yes, and it’s about time we implement a few of them.” Aylum smiled widely.

  “I don't know when you find time to talk about all these things.” I put the book I had started reading into my bag.

  The library was a wonderfully magicked place. You had a week to read the book before it would return itself in a poof to its proper shelf. The enchantments and spells were always fun to think about, and I wondered how many of them we took for granted.

  “There was some down time flying.” Soleia shrugged as we headed toward the dining hall.

  “It wasn’t a long conversation. We both had the same ideas, and since we both know the skill, it was easy enough to figure out how to go about training.” Aylum shrugged.

  “Training? And I’m not invited?” Delmar asked as he joined the group. “I feel like I miss all the fun things.”

  “You won’t this time.” Aylum chuckled. “Perfect timing actually.”

  “Now I’m worried,” Delmar sighed. “What are you trying to get me involved in now?”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m in the dark here as well. What nonsense are you planning?” I raised an eyebrow at Aylum.

  Soleia responded instead, “We came up with a great plan.”

  “We think it’s silly to practice against us. We’re constantly trying to hold back, but that’s not very fair for training. Delmar is human and doesn’t really need to hold back,” Aylum explained.

  I nodded, catching on. “So, he’d be better to practice against while you both advise.”

  “Exactly,” Soleia agreed.

  “But I really don’t have that much room for practice and everyone else involved,” I replied.

  Delmar chuckled. “Aylum does though.”

  “What?” I looked from Delmar to Aylum confused.

  “The guys in our tower aren’t even numbers. So I have a floor to myself. Which is really silly, but coming in a little late in the year also does weird things to arrangements. So we can use my common room area. It’s not as if anyone will bother us.” Aylum shrugged.

  “Scandalous.” I giggled at the thought.

  Soleia laughed as well. “But it would work so much better, and with only a month left, we need to use what we can.”

  “True enough,” I agreed, very curious to see how this would unfold.

  The dining hall was already packed, leaving only a larger table open to us. We grabbed food and took a seat, only really taking up a little more than half of it. As we ate one of the younger students, Aedyt, walked up to Delmar.

  “Can you help me with this assignment?” She held out her notebook.

  It took a moment for me to remember this was his sister. I knew her best from healing classes. She had a unique talent and could do energy healings, helping to ease sleeplessness and anxiety where normal healings could not. Magic wanted to fix the physical problem whereas energy could go a step further.

  “Of course.” Delmar moved his tray aside so he could help her better.

  Soleia watched them for a moment. “I always forget you have siblings. How many are there?”

  “Too many,” Aedyt muttered as she showed Delmar the assignment.

  “Just one more younger sister. She’ll be starting here next year,” Delmar replied absently as he read over what Aedyt was showing him.

  Soleia nodded thoughtfully.

  “What are you pondering?” I asked her curiously.

  “Just was thinking on the names. Your youngest sister is Tissot right?” Soleia’s tone was curious and thoughtful. “I’ve always loved your names.”

  “Yeah, that’s her name,” Delmar replied before starting to explain Aedyt’s assignment to her.

  While I didn’t recognize Tissot’s name, Soleia had always been better at names than me.

  “I’m just glad I'm already done with my homework.” I stretched my arms out, happy the first day back was going easier than expected.

  “How are you already done?” Soleia raised a brow at me.

  “The assignment is normally on the board. I just do it during class.” I shrugged. “Sometimes I can’t obviously, but today we were just reviewing in every class, so why not?”

  “And you were still answering questions.” Soleia shook her head. “You can multi-task a bit too well.”

  “Sort of. I can’t hold a conversation and do everything, but classwork while in the same class? Not a problem.” I shrugged watching Delmar work with his sister. “Aren’t your sisters school-aged, Soleia?”

  “Not anymore.” She laughed. “Klysa is two years older than me and Adona is four years older. You’re abysmal with names and ages still.”

  I shrugged glancing over at Aylum. “What about you? I know you mentioned family.”

  Aylum pushed his finished plate forward and sat back in his chair. “It seems we have a trend. I also have two sisters, both are younger. Nyria is about four years younger, and Luniria almost six years younger. Come to think of it, I’ve never heard you mention siblings.”

  “I am an only child.” I shrugged. It was surprisingly uncommon.

  “For the best. I don’t want to have to kill everyone’s terrible suitor.” Soleia chuckled.

  I chuckled lightly. “You’d have a very grateful following, I’m sure.”

  She shrugged. “True. I’d get banned from the country. The marriage laws here are so silly. Want to join me in Dustarn instead?”

  I had never thought of leaving my home country before, not more than on vacation anyway. “I don’t know, possibly? I’ve never been there to really say.”

  “It’s wonderful,” Soleia assured me, not for the first time.

  “It truly is,” Aylum agreed. “I do hope to visit on the next break. While here is nice, I would rather not stay forever.”

  I don’t know why I was surprised by his words. Of course, he would rather return home. Everything about Dustarn consistently sounded better. Still, I hadn’t really mulled it over. If I wanted to be with him, that likely meant moving far away.

  “What’s got you so quiet?” Soleia nudged me.

  “Oh, nothing.” I waved away her concern. “Just trying to remember all you’ve mentioned of this place you’re both fond of.”

  “It’s really pretty,” Aedyt commented, joining in on the conversation. “We visited over the spring last year.”

  Delmar nodded. “It was. There were a lot of neat things to see. I’m fairly certain both my sisters are planning on trying to marry that way. They couldn’t stop talking about the mountains for weeks.”

  “I am not planning.” Aedyt rolled her eyes at her brother. “I am doing. There is a big difference in intent. It will happen.”

  Aylum chuckled. “I’m glad you enjoyed your visit. I know my sisters had fun with you.”

  “They were wonderful. A shame you don’t have brothers though.” Aedyt smiled widely at him.

  “I agree. I’m sure the sisters drive you as mad as mine.” Delmar laughed as Aedyt elbowed him hard.

  “Sometimes, but I think that is just a sibling thing.” Aylum smirked.

  It was nice that everything was starting to feel normal and simple again. It was almost a shame when it was getting late enough that we had to head back to our rooms. Though, of course, there was still training to do. I was excited and nervous to see how this one was going to go. I had never attempted to sneak over to the men's dorms before. It felt wicked and thrilling, even if there was no inappropriate intent.

  Soleia snuck us over, but not before I begged to see her wings. She had been amused it had taken so long for me to ask, but I hadn’t wanted to be rude about it. Still, the dark purple, almost black lined with lighter purple was gorgeous. I had no idea she hid an assortment of outfits with open backs for easy flying. With the right jacket or sweater, whic
h we had plenty of, I never knew. The simplestity was brilliant. Everything was hidden in plain sight.

  We arrived on Aylum’s porch on time, the balcony door wide open. We could hear the two shuffling furniture around further inside.

  Soleia crossed the threshold with no hesitation, slinging her spencer jacket back on with ease, hiding her exposed back. I had wondered how she got away with flying without having any dressing difficulties, and the light jacket should have been the obvious answer. I knew her formal gowns were not done in that manner, and I wondered if her ones for Dustarn looked different.

  While I mused about outfits, I followed carefully behind Soleia through the open door into the common room. The two men had shoved everything to the walls and were looking around, proud at their work.

  “Ready to get things started?” Soleia asked with an amused smirk from the doorway.

  “Of course.” Delmar nodded. “I don’t know why this wasn’t the idea from the beginning. There’s so much extra room here.”

  “I wasn’t aware Aylum was hoarding all the empty room.” Soleia shrugged.

  “I have to admit, I also did not know,” I agreed, though I wasn’t sure if I would have changed any of the beginning.

  “And it never crossed my mind until more recently, so let’s start now.” Aylum motioned for us to join them while he pulled the foils off the sofa.

  We went over the basics again, not that there was too much to touch up on before discussing further practicing. Delmar was hard to fight. He had no problem using his destruction magic lightly, but pointedly, against me. Seeing the blade on fire was shocking at first, but thankfully not too hard to get over. Even if I couldn’t best him, I just needed to be better than his cousin.

  So we practiced and practiced hard.

  A steady daily pattern developed, much like it had before. Delmar being directly involved didn’t feel like a huge change. He was easy enough to work with, having known him for ages. Time flew by for our little group. Classes, food, homework, practice. Despite training being fairly rigorous, there was plenty of fun to be had. It was only a day from winter vacation when Delmar decided he wanted a break.