by Taki Drake
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The session had gone well, and the panel was surprisingly gentle with the young girl. There were several times that Corda had gotten uncomfortable, but reassurance from her bodyguards allowed her to settle back down and keep answering questions.
As Corda had suspected, there had been a fair number of questions about the spell she had thrown. To the best of her ability, the young Mage had answered those inquiries but she could tell that no one was satisfied. Finally, in exasperation, the young girl said, “I am very sorry if I’m not telling you what you want to know. I haven’t even been here a semester, and I wasn’t trained in any of this Magic before then. I’m hoping that being at the Academy will teach me how to handle my Magic.”
Smiling in rueful apology, the head of the panel wrapped up the session and told Corda that she was free to go.
Relieved that she was done, Corda still had a question and asked if she might ask it. Startled, the panel chairman agreed, and Corda asked, “What are you doing about Hera? She instigated this whole thing, and I saw her paying the Mage off.”
Looking at the young girl with an expression so devoid of emotion that a robot looked warm by comparison, the senior Mage conducting the interview said, “The Academy will act on what is fact, not conjecture. We will announce the punishment within the next five days, but that will not be based on hearsay.”
Infuriated, Corda was about to explode into speech when her bodyguard placed a quieting hand on her shoulder, and the young girl looked up at Keira’s face with fury in her eye. As she began to speak again, Corda heard that same strangled gasp from the man that had been surprised about her before. A thought immediately intruded, I wonder why he reacts when I get really happy or furious? she thought to herself.
Shrugging off the reaction of the spectators as of no account, the young girl left the room, muttering in fury. “She had better not get off unscathed!”
Chapter 40 – Work Release
Without much time to relax, Corda was also required to visit a Healer panel that would make the decision on whether she was released for regular classwork. It had always been the Academy’s practice that any of their students that went through a traumatic event needed to be checked by a group of three instructors, including a Mind Healer, the Armsmaster, and another faculty member.
When Corda was escorted into the room by her bodyguards, she didn’t recognize the third member of the panel. She stared at the man trying to figure out who he was since he was wearing Academy robes. When the young girl met his eyes, she was intrigued by his bright birdlike stare, and charmed by his curiosity.
The Mind Healer, a woman by the name of Bethan Gasby, led the questioning. Gently taking Corda through the sequence of events, the woman asked her how she felt when it was happening and if she could explain why she made certain decisions. As the session continued, Corda started to relax in the atmosphere of gentle exploration and non-judgmental discussion.
After a while, the control of the questions shifted to the Armsmaster. He focused mostly on the battle in the alley. He wanted to know how she had thought about building the spells and what she was trying to do with them. Corda had started to shake as she was describing the encounter, not realizing that she had begun to curve her shoulders forward as if hunching from a blow.
“I am sorry, Armsmaster, I didn’t know what else to do but to push more layers like turtle shells on the inside of my shield.” Corda’s breath caught in her chest, and she felt like there was a band around her throat. She couldn’t breathe. Desperately pulling air in through her restricted throat, the young girl almost jumped out her skin when her bodyguard laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and asked, “Corda, do we need to end the session?”
Clawing her internal control back again, Corda took a deep breath and straightened her back, smiling at Keira in gratitude. “No, I think we are okay. I just felt like I was back in the alley there for a little bit.”
Turning back to face her questioners, Corda was surprised and confused at the expressions on the three people’s faces. She could understand the look of sympathy that the Mind Healer had, and the fierce curiosity on the birdlike man’s visage made sense to her also. But why is the Armsmaster looking proud of me? she asked herself.
Getting back into the questioning, Corda thought the session was coming to an end when a sharp explosive sound occurred in the back of the room. The bodyguards reacted by drawing their weapons and taking a protective stance, interspersing their bodies between Corda and possible danger.
As soon as the percussive sound rattled the room, Corda had rolled to the side and tipped the chair to the floor. Lunging backward to the front table where the three Mages sat, the young girl stood semi-crouched. Holding both hands in front of her, Corda was instantly armed with a seething sphere of red in her right-hand and one of sizzling blue in her left.
Corda could not see any danger in the room and after a moment, asked, “Armsmaster, sir, should we check the hallway?”
That strange impression that he was proud of her came through his voice as the man answered, “No, Corda. I believe it was just somebody dropping something.”
Straightening slowly, the young girl made sure that her bodyguards were reholstering their weapons before she dismissed the bright spheres in her hands. Calmly, she picked up the chair and sat back down, looking at the three Mages in front of her and apologized, “I’m sorry, I think I’m a little jumpy.”
The Armsmaster leaned forward and asked her in a very serious tone, “Why did you take a position in front of us?”
Corda looked at him in confusion, saying, “I know the Mind Healer has very few defensive spells, and I’m not sure if she has any attack spells. You would either protect them or go past me toward the door.”
The Academy Historian asked in a quiet voice, “And what about me?” Corda looked at him, and all three of the Mages caught their breath as she pinned the man to his seat with a swirling level gray-eyed gaze and said, “You have neither offensive nor defensive spells. You’re too valuable to risk and too fragile. I would have protected you while the Armsmaster went to battle.”
After that point, the rest of the session went quickly. After dismissing Corda, the three members of the panel discussed their impressions and findings. Since they were in full agreement on the central portion of the report that the Academy was expecting, a short time later, their summary was completed and submitted.
The evaluation of Corda Devlin Watern returned her to full Academy participation. However, it warned that she would probably have some level of PTSD, so depression and flashbacks needed to be watched for. Additionally, she was suffering from exhaustion from the shock and should not be deliberately stressed for the next three months.
The Mind Healer included a confidential note that said her patterns of behavior showed that she had been subject to long-standing abuse and that there were strange traces of Magical drain on her energy fields. Unfortunately, Bethon Gasby, Academy Mind Healer, was unable to identify the source of either the abuse or the drain.
The Mage Historian included his own confidential addendum to the report. It was his opinion that the very young Mage was extraordinarily gifted and was already more powerful than most of the Mages that had graduated from the Academy in the last twenty years. He cited her lightning-quick grasp of situations and her empathetic interaction with others. Denny Lesell also stated that he had never seen the particular mixture of Magical energies that the young woman possessed and that she needed to be nurtured and mentored carefully to realize her full potential.
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The announcement of the Academy Proctors ruling on Hera was made several days later. It was the opinion of the Proctor that Hera had exercised poor impulse control and faulty judgment. He further indicated that the young woman had not been fully cognizant of the ramifications of what she was doing. Rather than expelling her from the Academy, a formal reprimand would be placed in her file, and she would be placed in a more controlled do
rmitory environment.
While in that residence, she would be wearing an ankle monitor and would be under curfew. Additionally, she would be restricted to her dorm floor when not in classes. Furthermore, she would be in a single room rather than a shared one. If during the next year, Hera was found guilty of any other violation of Academy rules, or if she broke any of the restrictions of her probation, she would be subject to immediate dismissal.
Corda and her friends left the assembly feeling disappointed and depressed. After the deadly danger in which the girls had been placed, all of them believed that Hera should have received harsher consequences. Corda felt the burning of tears in her eyes and was shaking. She couldn’t figure out if her reaction was from frustration, rage, or fear.
Gerald put an arm around Argah and Corda, and said, “I know what we need.”
Argah asked, “What now?”
A bubble of glee bounced in Gerald’s voice as he said, “I think we need to go to our range and run our frustration out. Maybe even blow some stuff up.”
When the other five friends agreed enthusiastically, the two bodyguards that were trailing exchanged grins and happily followed their charges to the climbing and agility range.
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Matthua was feeling restless. Strange ideas and longings destroyed his normal calm, while memories of old grief raised aches in his muscles and bones. He chose to wander around the Academy like he had done for the weeks of the investigation until the sounds of energetic voices drew him like iron to a magnet.
Tracking the echoing noises, he turned a corner and saw a gem of a large chamber that had a climbing wall built against one side and several challenging agility courses flanking it.
The retired General was impressed at the energy of youth as he watched the six people climbing the walls and making their way through the agility courses. Drawn by a vague sense of curiosity and another, stronger emotion, he moved to where the row of spectators benches had been built and sat down.
Looking at the six young people wearing off their excess energy, he found contentment in their joyful and enthusiastic attitude. Repeatedly, his gaze was drawn to the tiny girl-woman that flew through the agility courses and attacked the climbing wall as if gravity was absent.
Struggling with a strange sense of familiarity, Matthua watched the young woman for a long time. Gradually, he became aware of another person sitting next to him. The older man turned his head to see Hony calmly watching the young students.
“They are pretty impressive for first-years, you know,” commented the Armsmaster.
“I would’ve been thrilled to have as adult troops them at this level of confidence.”
Hony commented after another few minutes, “I thought that this would be where they went. The ruling on the girl that tried to kill them was ill-judged. I knew that this group would be frustrated and upset.”
Looking carefully at the six friends, Matthua said, “They don’t look particularly angry. I wonder what happened?”
From behind the two men, the voice of one of the girls’ bodyguards said, “Gerald happened. That young man is extremely insightful, and he suggested that they come down here and wear off their distress and excess energy. They trust each other, so they followed him.”
Matthua answered absently, “He is the best of that particular family. In some ways, it is too bad he is the ninth son. On the other hand, maybe he can carve out his own life because there are no expectations for him to follow the family business.”
After a while, Matthua rose and made his way back to his lodgings, haunted by a radiant smile and the flash of brilliant gray eyes.
Chapter 41 – Heckler Motivation
Corda had been on pins and needles all morning. She’d gotten up a full two hours early and paced around the room. Nothing her roommate or her bodyguards could do or say calmed her down.
Today was the day of their finals in first-level defensive and attack spells. Corda was desperately worried that she would be unable to pass the basic standards. It was a required course, and failing would hold her back for an entire year.
Sitting in the stands and watching the students schedule before her, the young girl felt her spirits sinking progressively lower. No one else seemed to have problems getting their Magic Missiles to go fifty feet. No one else had any problem creating a shield that would withstand five rounds of Magic Missiles and fifty blows from a sword or cudgel.
Please, please let me pass this test!
Corda and Gerald were the last two of their particular group of friends to be tested. Gerald had not even gotten down on the arena floor before an upperclassman sitting about twenty feet to Corda’s right started heckling.
“Give me a break! This guy is just a forsaken Animal Healer! He shouldn’t even be in the same school as we are. Why are we even letting him test with the rest of us?”
Corda burst into speech, “He has as much right to be here as you do. Possibly more, because at least he's not nasty.”
“Oh, the wimpy Animal Mage has a wimpy girlfriend too. I’m really scared… not!”
Down on the arena floor, Gerald stood in the leftmost target lane, braced and waiting for his defensive test. Lead Enkill was running the test and announced, “Shields up.”
A light green shield rose around Gerald, and five simultaneous attacks of Magic Missiles threaded toward him. They slammed into his protection, while Gerald dug his feet into the ground and didn’t move. Unlike some of the previous students, he was not knocked off his feet, but Corda could tell that he was straining a little.
The attack of the Magic Missiles complete, three of the upperclassman ran toward Gerald’s shielded body and began to pummel his shields. Two of them were using quarterstaves while the third was wielding a sword.
This time, Gerald almost stumbled from the impact of the blows on his protective barrier, but he managed to keep his feet until Lead Enkill called, “Test halt.”
Moving on to the offensive attack portion of the test, Gerald looked at the first of three targets. Corda knew that they were only required hit one of the designated objects to pass the test. However, any student that hit all three was guaranteed a spot in the advanced fighting spell class, and the young girl desperately wanted to learn those skills. In her head, she was thinking, I’m not sure a Healer would ever need them, but I still just really want to learn them.
Corda watched her friend trying to find his center and focus after the tension of the defensive test. When the upperclassman heckler started in again with the rude comments, the young girl reached her limit.
Turning toward the shouting, insulting older student, Corda snarled, “I bet your test wasn’t half as good as his. You are just trying to make others fail, so you feel better about yourself. Whatever you are compensating for, keep it stuffed away. Nobody else wants to see it.”
So angry that she had tinges of red around the outside of her vision, Corda saw the furious man stand up and take a step toward her. Before he could get very far, some of his friends grabbed him and yanked him back down to his seat.
Way to go, girl! It’s not like I don’t have enough enemies already, the young girl thought to herself.
Corda took a deep breath, trying to release her tenseness as she watched Gerald get himself set. Finally, her best friend threw out his right hand and shot five Magic Missiles shaped like long bullets out of his fingertips. Flying straight toward their objective, every one of the projectiles smashed into the target. A cheer rang out over the crowd at her friend’s success.
Moving onto the next lane, Gerald took one breath and then fired off another handful of Magic Missiles. Another beautiful cluster of hits brought an even louder cheer. The third firing was even faster and its placement just as pristine.
Corda jumped up from her seat and screamed as loudly as the other people around her. When she went to sit back down again, she noticed that the group around the heckler had not gotten up to congratulate the Gerald on his accomplishments. Instead, they were
muttering among themselves and glaring over at Corda.
Oh well, somebody else to watch. That’s what I get for losing my temper.
Corda knew it was the luck of the draw, but by the time all the other students had tested, and she set foot onto the arena, her nerves were jangling like electrified wires. Almost shaking in her boots, she walked over to the leftmost lane and prepared for the shielding test.
When Lead Enkill told her to raise her shields, Corda took one deep breath and brought them up. Remembering how effective the Maker shield was in the battle of the alley, she chose to use that structure and pulled the energy from that internal repository. This feels good, she thought to herself. I know this works, and it’s dependable.
The testing of her shield failed to even move her an inch. The trick she had learned about anchoring into the ground and linking that tether to the barrier took a lot of the strain off. She had practiced this same technique multiple times since the assault and knew how to do it quickly.
Corda’s nerves twisted tightly, and she had an urge to throw up. Fighting her nausea, the tiny girl walked up to the firing line looking at the target fifty feet away. Healer Spells are not very good for Magic Missiles, she thought to herself. Trying to throw a bullet-form of a sleep spell fifty feet away doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Looking inside herself, Corda saw that the Healing repository only had a small amount of energy in it. Wondering how she was going to get the spell to the target and panicking in her mind, the young girl delayed long enough for her nemesis, the heckler, to get involved.