Soul Fire

by Legacy, Aprille

  I picked the feather up again, unsure of whether to talk to him or not.

  No, I decided. I’d let him come and own up to this mysterious present, if he ever did. The only times he’d ever approached me was when I was injured. Except for the thumb injury; maybe he didn’t deem it life threatening enough to pretend he cared about me.

  I wound the feather around the base of the statue on my dresser. It curled easily, like a sleeping dragon. I lay on my bed, propping my chin up on one hand, examining it.

  Despite its most likely creator, it was one of the most beautiful things I owned.

  When I woke the next morning, I was crushed to see that all that remained of my feather was orange dust on the plinth of the statue. Hurt and confused, I swept the dust into my palm and then brushed it out of the window. Why give someone something that wouldn’t last, like leprechaun gold? Maybe he simply lacked the skill it took to make it last.

  In any case, I wouldn’t approach him to mention it at all.

  When the weekend rolled around, I managed to obtain permission from Jett to head into Keyes, despite it being a weekend when we weren’t supposed to leave the Academy. He signed the permission form in silence, deliberately not asking why I needed to go into the village.

  I rode alone again, enjoying the ride as Echo ambled along. I hitched her at the same place as last time, and then headed through the town square to the clock tower. Niko wasn’t outside chasing chickens this time, but I thought nothing of it as I bounded up the steps to knock on the door.

  It took a few minutes, but then Larni’s mother opened it. Her brow furrowed when she saw me.

  “Yes?”

  “Uh, it’s me, Sky,” I said awkwardly, wondering if she didn’t remember me. “I was wondering how you were going with the tester?”

  “What tester?” she asked, confusion plain in her eyes.

  “The magic tester, for Larni,” I told her slowly.

  She bit her lip.

  “Do I know you?” she asked finally.

  “I came to see you last week,” I said desperately. “I’m Sky, Larni’s friend.”

  She shook her head.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t know you.”

  My mouth fell open, and I didn’t know what to say. Either she was playing a cruel joke on me or...

  “Your memory has been modified,” I told her, anger beginning to shake through me. “You need to get Larni tested for magic again.”

  Her eyes went blank for a second, and then she looked at me in renewed confusion.

  “I’m sorry, who are you?”

  That was it then. Her memory had been modified so that every time I mentioned Larni’s magic or the tester, it reverted back to her not recognising me at all.

  Who would’ve done this? I racked my brains trying to think of anyone who knew about Larni’s abilities. But then I remembered that Larni had found out I’d been to Jett, and how difficult it was to keep secrets in the Academy. And if they’d gotten to her parents, the next person in the firing line was

  “Larni,” I said, almost to myself, and turned, leaping off the porch, leaving her mother behind. I sprinted through the town square as the clock tower struck the hour, but I hardly noticed.

  I unhitched Echo and vaulted into the saddle. I urged her on, and she broke into a canter, and we headed back to the Academy faster than I’d ridden there before, my hair streaming back from my face in the wind.

  Her hooves clattered across the cobbles of the stone bridge as we shot over it. We hit the dirt path on the other side, her hooves throwing up dirt clods behind us. When we reached the castle, I leapt from her back.

  “Stay here,” I told her sternly, stroking her velvet nose. She snorted, her sides heaving.

  I dashed inside the heavy double doors, sprinting up the stairs to the dorms. I passed Dustin on the way, and he began to run with me.

  “Sky, what’s going on?”

  “People are modifying memories,” I panted, taking the last few steps two at a time. “I think Larni, my servant... I think she’s next.”

  ~Chapter Nine~

  We reached the top of the stairs and turned off towards the girl’s dorms. I shoved my door open, Dustin on my heels.

  “Miss?” Larni stood in the middle of the room, her arms full of laundry. Her eyes held the same glazed expression as her mother’s. My shoulders slumped as my chest heaved; I was too late.

  “I’m sorry,” I said to her, fighting back tears.

  “Sorry? What are you sorry for, miss?”

  “Don’t call me miss,” I closed my eyes so I couldn’t see

  her puzzled expression. “Call me Sky, please.”

  “As you wish, mi-Sky,” the confusion in her voice

  pained me to my very soul.

  I closed the door and slumped against it out in the

  corridor. Dustin sat next to me and put his arm around

  me.

  “What was that about?” he asked finally.

  I quickly told him everything. By the time I reached

  Larni on the other side of the door (she was yet to come

  out), I’d rested my head on his shoulder without even

  realising.

  “I’m as confused as you are,” Dustin said finally. “I

  think you should be careful from now on, though. Just

  watch your back.”

  I nodded, my cheek grazing his shirt. Finally, as night

  fell, we headed down to the mess hall. Just before we went

  in, Dustin stopped me.

  “I don’t think you should tell anyone what you told

  me,” he said, his golden eyes on mine. “I think it would be

  best to keep it as secret as you can.”

  “Alright,” I agreed, because I knew he was right. Dustin looked like he wanted to say something else, but

  he just brushed my cheek with his knuckles.

  I didn’t mention anything to anyone about Larni’s

  predicament. I knew I’d be able to find out eventually

  who’d mind wiped her, but if my hunch was correct, I

  wasn’t going to be able to do anything about it.

  That night I met with Jett for our secret sword training.

  I geared up with the swords like he’d shown me, but he

  was quick to pick up on my mood.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  I took off the swords again, and sat down on the

  practice mat, the full weight of the day suddenly slumping

  onto my shoulders. After a moment, Jett came and sat next

  to me. I quickly told him about my trip to Keyes and my

  deal with Larni’s mother. Slowly, painfully, I told him

  about that day. Though I had vowed not to tell anyone,

  Jett felt more like a friend than a teacher, and I felt like he

  wouldn’t tell anyone else. And if he did, hey, maybe they

  could figure out who had mind wiped my friend and her

  family.

  “I told you not to take it any further, Sky,” was the first

  thing he said when I fell silent.

  “Why?” I burst out angrily. “It’s bad enough this

  country, this world, condones slavery, why must I stay

  quiet about it when my friend has a chance at a better

  life?”

  “You don’t think, do you?” he replied, just as angry.

  “Sky, haven’t you noticed how uptight Iain and Netalia

  are? For the past couple of years, they’ve been banishing

  students left and right. I don’t know why, only that they’re terrified of change. And I don’t want you to be the

  first of this group to fall under the knife.”

  It was more than he’d ever said on this subject. While it

  answered a lot of questions, it still left a lot to be desired. “Jett, who runs the country?” I asked after a moment’s

  contemplation, picking at
a loose thread on the practice

  mat.

  “When there isn’t a monarch, as there hasn’t been for

  about a thousand years, they run it.”

  I couldn’t believe my ears.

  “One thousand years?” I gaped at him. “How old are

  they?”

  He shrugged.

  “Older than I know,” he admitted. “They run the

  country to their standards, and people don’t know any

  better, so they take their word as law.”

  “But isn’t the general populace educated?” I asked. A lot

  more things were suddenly falling into place. “Don’t they

  know they’re not the real rulers?”

  “But that’s the thing, Sky,” Jett said desperately.

  “They’ve been in power so long, they’re so used to being

  in charge, that people accept themas the monarch.” I let this digest for a moment. Suddenly I viewed Iain

  and Netalia in a whole new light. For years they’d kept the country running to a certain extent, and they’d kept

  Lotheria from international meddling.

  I tugged one sword from its sheath carefully, looking at

  my reflection in the polished steel.

  “I think they modified Larni’s memory,” I said quietly,

  and the moment I spoke the words aloud, I knew them to

  be true.

  “Please let this go, Sky.”

  I shook my head stubbornly. I would not, could not,

  give up on Larni. No matter the risk to myself, I would

  keep striving to obtain her the best life that I could. I told

  Jett as much.

  “Then I’m sorry,” were his next words.

  I started to ask what for, but then there was a sharp

  crack of light and I reeled back from it.

  “What’s going on?” I asked Jett, who was sitting

  solemnly by my side.

  “You fell,” he said, standing up to help me up. “Here,

  let’s get started on a few routines.”

  “Alright,” my head swam hazily. I had the feeling we’d

  been discussing something important.

  Whatever it was, I forgot all about it as we went

  through the dances he taught me. I was proud of myself;

  whenever I’d tried to learn dance routines before – I’d

  done a short stint of ballet when I was five – I just couldn’t remember them. But now the steps came to me as though eager to present themselves. The swords had quickly settled themselves in my hands as though extensions of my arms, and I rejoiced in the feeling of excelling at something, which was a nice change after my failed object

  creation.

  “Wonderful,” Jett said as I finished my final dance, out

  of breath but very pleased with myself. “Let’s leave it

  there tonight.”

  I hung my swords up reluctantly. More than anything I

  wanted to take them back to my dorm room with me so

  that I could practice at leisure, display them proudly as

  Dustin did his scythe, Dena her broadsword. I traced the

  engraving on their hilts one last time, and then left the

  weapons room.

  As I walked, I tried desperately to remember what Jett

  and I had been speaking about. I remembered exactly

  what he’d said about the Masters of the school, but I

  couldn’t help but feel there was more to the conversation. Try as I might, I just couldn’t recall it, and gave it up as

  unimportant.

  For the next two weeks, the Academy felt more like a

  prison than a school. I made sure to discuss only school

  matters with Dena and the others; conversation with Larni

  was strained, and I felt something had happened between us. Such was my feeling of imprisonment; I couldn’t have been more relieved when Watt told everyone that we’d be

  going to Moon Bay and the Paw Islands for term break. Rain perked up at the news, and began speaking at a

  million miles an hour about all the places she was going to

  take us and all the things she had to show us. There was

  an air of excitement about the Academy in the final few

  days of term; I could hardly sit still as I waited for Jett to

  finish teaching us in History on the last day.

  “Oh, alright!” he said irritably, observing his excited

  students. “Go and pack, then, off with you. You’re not

  going to learn anything.”

  We all shot off into our dorms. Dena, Theresa, Yasmin,

  Rain and I all gathered in Dena’s room, dragging with us

  our rucksacks and about half our wardrobe.

  “Definitely swimmers,” Dena said, shoving her tank top

  and shorts into the rucksack. “Cloak, blouse, shirt,

  breeches.”

  We all copied her, making sure to check off essentials

  on the list Rain had drawn up. By the time the Academy

  bell struck ten, we were packed and ready to go. Instead of

  going to our own rooms to sleep, we set up camp on

  Dena’s floor and had a very girly sleepover.

  “So, boys,” Rain began, handing out sticks of the hard

  toffee we could buy in the village. “Go.”

  I opened my mouth but she cut me off.

  “We already know you’re going to say Dustin, Sky,” she

  said, moving my hand to my mouth so I was eating the

  toffee and couldn’t talk. “Next!”

  “Well, who do you think is cute?” Theresa prompted

  Rain, as she had seemed so intent on this discussion. “Petre,” she said immediately, and Yasmin started

  choking on the toffee.

  “E’s pompous,” I managed to get around the toffee. “Shush,” Rain told me. “I think he is.”

  “Pompous?” I repeated, and everyone giggled. “No, cute,” she fixed me with a mock glare. “And he’s

  smart and neat...”

  “Are these,” I swallowed the toffee with difficulty. “Are

  these traits difficult to come by or something?”

  She pouted prettily at me.

  “Oh alright,” I conceded. “He’s cute.”

  The others began their discussion about the boys in our

  group. Yasmin had been crushing on one of the other guys

  in our class.

  “Not Red Hair?” I asked.

  “No, not Red Hair,” she threw one of the spearmint

  buttons we were eating at me. “His name is Trevis, from

  here. I think somewhere near Riverdoor.”

  We teased some more information out of her, but as the night ticked on, our eyelids grew heavier and heavier as the candy gummed our teeth together. Someone muttered something about heading to the bathrooms to brush our teeth, but before anyone could answer, we’d all fallen asleep.

  ~Chapter Ten~

  The next morning we were woken by not one, but five golden bells. As they began their shrill cacophony, we rolled over and groaned. I swiped at my bell, though I knew it wouldn’t do any good. It fluttered out of my reach, and then dive bombed me when I closed my eyes again.

  “Up,” Dena instructed us all, pushing her glasses onto her nose. “They’ll be leaving soon.”

  We staggered around the room blearily, cursing our late night chat. Slowly, we dressed and gathered up our rucksacks. At the last minute, Rain snatched up the fallen candy.

  “Just in case,” she mumbled when she saw me watching.

  We stumbled out the front doors, squinting in the bright sun that seared over the horizon. We slung our rucksacks on our backs and shuffled slowly to the stables with the rest of the class, where we quickly saddled our horses. After two riding lessons, I could now heave myself into the saddle, wh
ich I promptly did so, despite my sleep heavy bones.

  We all began to wake up during the ride. We bypassed the turn off to Keyes, and I looked away as something, half remembered, niggled me.

  The ride was long and hot, but as we slowly woke up, we began to chat again.

  “Will we need to stop for the night?” I asked Rain.

  “Probably not,” she replied, riding next to me. “Because we left so early, we should get there by nightfall. We’re making good time.”

  I could only assume that was because we were yet to see anybody on this road. Lined with trees on one side and fields on the other, we’d been the only people for miles.

  As the sun crossed overhead and finally began to drop below the horizon, I began to smell the salty ocean. I’d been riding in a daze, but as I came to, I noticed the sound of rushing water. I looked to Rain in excitement. “The ocean,” she confirmed with a grin.

  We rounded a corner and began to head downhill. The ocean lay before us, sparkling in the late afternoon sunlight. On one end of the beach, there was a long jetty, with a small ship next to it. I desperately hoped it was there to take us to the islands, which I could just see on the horizon.

  Jett and Professor Alena had been riding up front. As we closed in on the white sands, they slowed and gave the signal to dismount.

  Everyone did so gratefully, groaning as they stretched their legs. We were led to a small grass area just behind some rolling sand dunes. We unsaddled and groomed our horses, feeding and watering them before we began to set up our own camp. Jett started a fire by clicking his fingers

  - he didn’t even look at where he was pointing, I thought, disgruntled. I couldn’t wait to have control like that - and we gathered around it to cook the meals we’d organized before leaving.

  “Alright, here’s the plan,” he began, and everyone fell silent. “Tomorrow we head to the Main Island, and we’ll spend a few nights there. Though this is a holiday, please try to keep an open mind when exploring new places. This will make it easier on you to write the paper when you get back and start the new term.”

  Everyone groaned in sync. As I looked sideways to trade iffy looks with Dena, I spied Phoenix sitting just past her, half in shadow. His eyes were fixed on the flames, and he didn’t appear to be listening to a word Jett was saying. I looked away from him when I noticed Eleanora seated next to him, her arm looped through his.

  As I tucked into our meal of warmed stew, Dustin came to sit next to me.