by Hannah Wick
“Where have all the sleeping students gone?” I asked the only healer there, who was busy making the beds.
“I woke them up and sent them back to their lessons. I told you, they just needed some rest. Don’t worry though, I’ve asked the lecturers to monitor them.”
A sense of unease niggled at me. They weren’t strong enough to return to lessons. Even I knew that. But before I could voice my worries, the healer ushered us out of the ward and shut the doors behind us.
“I’ll catch up with you later,” I told Cassandra. I needed some room to think. I mean, sure, the healers knew their jobs, of course they did, they wouldn’t have been hired if they weren’t up to the task, and sure, I was just a first-year, barely started in my studies, but something didn’t feel right about this. I headed into the gardens, letting the wild flowers soothe me as I walked through them. In the distance, I spotted a figure, and was about to turn back when I realised who it was, and instead drifted closer. It was Danny, sitting on an old bench and staring off into the distance. His eyes looked hollow and his cheeks sunken.
“You all right?” I asked, though I knew he wasn’t. Why else would he be sitting alone, staring into the distance?
“Yeah, I suppose,” he replied. I sat down beside him.
“The call?” I prompted. He nodded silently. “Your mother?”
He shook his head. I breathed out a sigh of relief. At least she wasn’t harmed. I wasn’t sure Danny could have coped with that right now.
“So your mother's okay?”
He smiled, looking back at me. “Yeah, she’s fine. A bit shaken up is all.”
“And your father?”
“Dead. He got drunk and got home and fell…”
I let him continue at his own pace.
“... the idiot fell onto a corner of the table and banged his head. He died there and then.”
I gave him a hug, then watched as he climbed to his feet and turned back towards the building. “I’m glad your mum is okay. I’m sorry about your dad.”
“I’m not,” he stated in a flat voice. Then he walked into the building, hesitating at the door. “I’m going to go to bed now. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Danny.”
I watched him go, for the first time in my life glad for my own dysfunctional little family. I might not always see eye to eye with Vicky, but at least I hadn’t grown up surrounded by violence. Just a carer who’d made a habit of keeping things from me.
Chapter Eight
I didn’t get much sleep. When the following morning pried me from my bed, I felt like I was living my own re-enactment of The Walking Dead. I shuffled to the bathroom, stifling a yawn, and tried to hide the worst of the bags under my eyes with just about the entire contents of my makeup bag – with limited success. I squinted at myself. I didn’t look like a zombie anymore – I just felt like one. With a groan, I stowed my makeup in the cabinet and shuffled back out into my room. As I did, my eye caught on the flask I’d left sitting on my bedside locker. The healing potion. I cocked my head, considering my options. It wasn’t like the students in the ward needed it anymore, right? And it was supposed to help restore energy, right? No point in it going to waste. And besides, who better to try it out on than myself?
But I’d taken a sip of it yesterday after I brewed it, and no way was I drinking a cup without something to mask the taste.
I headed down to the main hall with Cassandra, and while she queued up to grab us some breakfast, I made for the coffee machine and grabbed a latte for her, and a double shot espresso for me. I made it to a table at the same time she did – either the queue for coffee had been longer than the one for food, or I was moving even slower than I thought today. One glance at Cassandra’s face told me it was probably the latter. Oh well. With any luck the potion would sort that, especially with a little caffeinated help.
I pulled the flask from my bag and unscrewed the cap.
“Uh, what are you doing?” Cassandra asked, eyeing me like I’d lost the plot, which probably wasn’t entirely unfair, given that I was about to ruin my double espresso with a very questionable smelling healing potion.
“What does it look like?” I said, with a mournful glance at my soon-to-be-vile coffee. “Trying to make this potion taste less gross.”
“You can’t do that! Adding anything else will disrupt the harmony of the ingredients. You know that.”
I grimaced. She was right. I did know that. I’d just been so tired that it hadn’t even occurred to me.
“Great,” I said, eyeballing the flask. “Here goes, then.”
I took a swig from the flask, my eyes bulging as the grasslike flavour washed over my tongue – even worse now that it was cold – and forced it down. I snatched up my espresso, and chugged it down, washing the unpleasant taste from my mouth with a shudder.
“Ugh. I don’t care how good that potion might be,” I said, “the flavour definitely needs some work.”
Cassandra laughed, and I couldn’t help but join in. Because really, if this potion worked – actually, truly worked – then who cared about the taste?
A shadow fell over our table and I looked up, the smile still on my lips, but it faltered when I saw who was staring down at us. Rose, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
“This is your fault,” she snarled. “How dare you sit here laughing about it?”
“What are you talking about?”
Rose pointed towards her table, and I recognised Sally sitting there, hunched over a steaming mug with a vacant expression on her face. She really didn’t look well.
“Sally has been acting odd for days now,” Rose said, glaring at me. “And the healers can’t find anything wrong with her. I know it was you. You did something to her – so undo it. Right now!”
“You mean she hasn’t improved? I saw her and a few others in the medical ward yesterday. The healer said there was nothing wrong with them, that they were just tired.”
“She isn’t tired,” Rose snapped. “I know her, and this is not something natural. It’s magic. You did something to her.”
I got up and walked over to her table, Cassandra following me. It was good to know at least someone round here had my back. Sally sipped at her mug, staring straight ahead like she hadn’t even noticed we were standing here – and that her mug was completely empty.
“Did she say anything?” Cassandra asked.
“No, nothing,” Rose said, shaking her head. “That’s how I know something is wrong. If she was just tired, she’d be moody and a pain in the arse. But she hasn’t said or reacted to anything. She’s just kind of getting on with it. Like she’s on autopilot or something.”
Rose shivered, looking tired herself. Worried.
“I promise you, Rose, we didn’t do this. But… well, it’s a long shot, but we might have something that can help. You remember those potions we were working on?”
Rose nodded. “I’ll try anything at this point. What potion did you make?”
“A healing potion, for replenishing energy levels, and cleansing. It might help her, but we don’t know if it works yet.”
“Give it a go.”
I grabbed the flask from my table and brought it over, pouring some into Sally’s empty mug. She sipped again, still not seeming to even notice us. All three of us watched anxiously. At first nothing happened, but after a few more mouthfuls, Sally blinked. Her face scrunched up, grimacing with disgust.
“This stuff is awful, what did you give me?” she demanded, glaring at Rose.
“Sally!” Rose wrapped her arms around her, crushing her in a hug, then turned back to me.
“Thank you. And I’m sorry, you know, for accusing you. I owe you.”
Sally looked less than impressed. “Well, I don’t. What the hell is this?”
“It’s a potion, Sally. You don’t remember?”
“Remember what?”
“You’ve been walking around in a daze for days,” I said. “You’ve hardly spoken a word – not
even to ridicule me. And trust me, Rose has tried. But you wouldn’t respond. What happened to you?”
Not that I minded not being ridiculed, of course. On second thoughts, maybe I should have kept the potion to myself...
“Happened? Nothing? I just went to sleep. Though, everything seems… days?”
“Yes,” Rose replied. “It was like you were still asleep.”
“Feels like it too. The last few days feel like trying to remember a dream. Though, I do feel like my mind is becoming clearer.” She turned her attention from Rose to me. “And I don’t like you very much.”
“Good. That means you’re feeling like yourself again.”
Rose frowned.
“There’s one thing I don’t get,” she said. “If it wasn’t you… then what caused it?”
Now that was a very good question.
*
The morning dew glistened on the grass, and there were a few brown leaves scattered on the ground that crunched beneath my feet. My breath turned into a mist in the cold air as I walked. I shivered and rubbed my arms to warm them, but I didn’t want to head back to my dorm just yet. It was so busy in the academy, all the time, and the place constantly buzzed with magic. For a loner, it was a lot to cope with. It was nice to be away from it.
Eventually, though, I gave in to the lure of heat, and went back inside. Cassandra was still asleep, apparently trying for the academy record of how many lectures a student could be late for in one week. Well, not on my watch. I reached out to shake her, and noticed she was covered in a sheen of sweat. Bad dream, maybe?
“Cassandra, come on, it's time to wake up.” I said. She groaned and rolled over, revealing her sheets, and her clothes, dripping with sweat. Her hair was matted and caked on her face.
“Geez, Cass. You don't look so great.” I pressed a hand to her forehead, and she tossed weakly. “You’re really hot. Are you feeling all right?”
She groaned again but didn't respond. That settled it for me. Normally, I couldn’t get her to shut up.
“I better go and get some help. I think you’ve caught something.”
I made straight for the medical ward, knocked on the door and entered without waiting. The healer was sitting in her office, hunched over a pile of paperwork, signing documents.
“Hi Alice,” I said, and before she had time to respond, “My friend doesn’t look so good. I think she has a fever.”
“What are her symptoms?” she said, glancing up from her work.
“She looks really hot and sweaty, her sheets are soaked and she seems really out of it.”
“All right, I’ll be right there.”
I nodded and headed back to the dorm room.
I shook my friend, gently. “Cassandra, I got help. Come on, you need to wake up. Healer Alice will be here at any moment.”
The healer walked in, carrying a large medical bag. She wasted no time examining her, using a combination of conventional medical equipment and magic. “Her temperature is a little high,” she muttered to herself, then continued to check her over.
“She’ll be okay,” she pronounced eventually. “Nothing to worry about. She has the flu. I’ll let her sleep in her own bed and check on her in a little while.”
“Are you sure?” I frowned. “I’ve never seen her so sick.”
“You’ve only known her for a few weeks. Trust me, she just needs to rest and she’ll be right again in a few days.”
I hurried to spellcraft class as she left, slipping in the door just as Tabatha, the lecturer, was starting to explain today’s exercise. I mouthed an apology and she shook her head.
“Take your seat, please, Kiera,” she said, and I ducked into the nearest empty seat, which happened to be next to Rose. I wasn’t sure how welcome I would be, but I didn’t want to get into Tabatha’s bad books. Either way, Rose seemed too curious about a small object in front of her to raise any objections to me taking the seat. It was a plain glass marble, and I noticed I had one in front of me, too.
“Today, you’re going to be working on your transformation magic. Specifically, changing the colour of the marble in front of you,” Tabatha told us.
“What’s the point of that?” a guy called from the back of the room. Tabatha shot him an irritated look, but explained.
“Proper spellcraft requires patience, precision, and discipline. If you cannot master a basic transformation spell on a glass marble, then you will never be able to attempt more complex spells. You must walk before you run.”
She picked up a clear marble from her desk, and held it up for us all to see.
“I want you to visualise the colour you want to turn your marble and then say ‘Mutasio’ and watch it change colour. The trick is control. Too much colour, and it will look as though you’ve covered it in paint – which is not the objective. You want only a hint of colour, so that the glass remains translucent.”
She fixed her eyes on the glass marble in her palm and muttered a word. At once, the marble filled with a smoky green light, refracting its colour all around the room.
“Looks easy enough,” I said, glancing at Rose.
“Child’s play,” she said, and grinned. On her other side, Sally nodded in agreement.
Tabatha gave the signal to get started and began working her way round the room, offering help and encouragement to those who needed it. Sally and Rose focused on their marbles and repeated the spellword. Rose’s immediately turned a subtle pink, and her grin widened.
“Told you.”
It was my turn. I focused on the colour I wanted, telling the marble to change.
“Mutasio!”
The marble spun and began to change colour. I gasped, mortified, as the colour darkened and thickened, until the marble turned red, and no longer glass-like. Exactly what Tabatha had told us to avoid. Dammit.
“Huh. It really does look like I’ve dropped it in paint.”
“No kidding,” Rose said, eyeing my marble. “Perhaps you should try again.”
That seemed like a good idea, but easier said than done. It wasn’t like I had any idea what I’d done wrong to start with. I turned around and watched as the rest of the class toyed with the colours, and some put in more than one colour. One, at the front of the room, looked like a prism of colours. Everyone had done it perfectly. I looked back at my own marble, thick with colour. It was a mess.
I tried again, thinking of a colour that wasn’t so dark. In my mind’s eye, I visualised the marble turning yellow.
Once again, when I looked back at the marble, it looked as though I had painted over it. I groaned as the lecturer stood over me, tutting.
“I told you not to think about too much colour.” She held the marble out to the class while I cringed. “This, everyone, is what it looks like when the spell isn’t completed successfully. Remember what I said about precision? Next time, Kiera, perhaps you might try arriving on time for my lesson? Clearly, you need the extra instruction.”
The class burst into sniggers, leaving me to bury my head in my folded arms.
“It’s not my fault I can’t get the consistency right,” I protested in the wake of her retreating back, even though I knew it probably was.
Devron stepped forwards and stood beside me, holding out his own marble. “Look, you can see the colour, but only faintly.”
I twisted round and inspected his marble, which he had turned orange. It wasn’t thick with paint, or even the full colour. I could see just the slightest tint in the glass.
“Think of your colour,” he urged me.
I nodded, focusing my mind on a light purple. “Okay, got it.”
“Right, can you see it as clearly as you can? The colour is bold and vibrant?”
Again, I nodded. So far, so good – except this was exactly what I’d done before.
“All right. Now, visualise your chosen colour fading. Watch it become lighter and lighter until it almost disappears.”
I closed my eyes, focusing on the purple until it faded to almo
st nothing.
“Okay,” I said. “What now?”
“Now say the word,” Devron whispered, leaning over my shoulder.
“Mutasio,” I said, matching Devron’s tone.
I opened my eyes and gazed down at the glass marble on the desk.
“I did it!”
The marble was a light purple, as it was meant to be. Not painted or dipped. It was translucent, with a light tint. I snapped my head towards Devron, who was returning to his seat.
“Thank you!” I called out.
The rest of the lesson went much easier after that, and didn’t seem like long until Tabatha was dismissing us.
“Before you all go on your way,” she said, “I’ve been asked by the dean to make an announcement. There have been some students that haven't been feeling well. So, if you start feeling drained, or notice that one of your friends has become fatigued and despondent, please go to the medical ward immediately for a check-up.”
“I think they’re talking about what we’ve been seeing,” I whispered, leaning in towards Rose.
She nodded. “I think you’re right. There must be more students that have been acting strange.”
“Do you think there are more students in the medical ward?” I asked, glancing around and trying to work out if anyone was missing.
Rose shrugged her shoulders casually. “I don’t know, it’s not like I keep tabs on everyone in our class.”
I checked the flask in my bag. I had enough for maybe one or two people. “I have a little of the potion left. Can you come with me? I’d ask Cass, but she’s not well either.”
Rose nodded, though she didn’t look thrilled. “All right. But only because you and Cass helped Sally.”
I nodded, and headed towards the medical ward, unsure of what would be waiting for us.
Chapter Nine
When we reached the ward, there were two healers standing just inside the door, talking in low voices. I stepped in through the door without knocking, and they immediately fell silent, turning to glare at us.
“Can I help you?” one of the healers asked, in a tone that clearly implied the only thing she wanted to ‘help’ us do was find the exit, and use it. Which told me something was very wrong.