I drew a shaking breath, locked eyes with myself in the mirror, and gave one final, long, powerful pulse.
“Cruth-atharraich!”
I kept staring at myself in the mirror for a long moment, then disappointment flooded through me. I was still staring at my own brown, distinctly human eyes. And I hadn’t shrunk.
“Dammit, it didn’t work. I suppose it was asking a lot to get it right on the first try. Why don’t you have a go? Maybe you’ll have more luck than me.”
I turned around and caught Sam staring, open-mouthed.
“Seriously, have you been staring at my butt this whole time?”
He didn’t answer but raised a hand to point.
“What?”
I spun around and caught a flash of movement from the corner of my eye.
“What was that?”
My question was answered when I heard the steady swish-swish-swish of a fluffy tail brushing the cardboard boxes. My fluffy tail.
Chapter Seventeen
It took us three hours to get rid of that damned tail, and by the time we had, neither of us felt much like carrying on that day. We tried the next day, and the day after, and the day after that, but we never had any more successes. Not even tail. Not so much as a hair.
“How is it so hard?” I groaned, after yet another failed attempt and another of our precious days lost.
“Maybe it wasn’t such a great idea. This is really advanced magic.”
But I couldn’t help feeling that if I could ride a hippogryff, and I could control two opposing elements, taking on the form of a dog should be easy. And yet, here we were. I gathered the stuff from the altar and helped Sam stow it away in a box in the corner. We’d try again tomorrow – and as many more days as it took. Even if it took the rest of our time here in Dragondale, we were going to master that damned spell.
“Half of the academy is getting back tomorrow,” Sam said, as we checked the coast was clear and slipped out of the room. “They’re coming back for the New Year’s party, and the Itealta game.
“Don’t remind me.” I felt like I had a gut full of squirming snakes every time I thought about the match. It was ridiculous, because odds were I wouldn’t even play – they had a full team, and I was just the reserve. Yet the idea of riding in front of half the academy was enough to make me reconsider how smart it was to accept Logan’s offer. I’d never even seen a gryff four months ago. Riding one in a match against eight highly experienced players seemed like a bad idea. A really bad idea.
“Hello, earth to Lyssa?”
I blinked Sam back into focus, to see him waving a hand in my face. I swatted it aside.
“What?”
“Are you heading to dinner, or have you got practice?”
I checked the watch on my wrist and cussed in a most unlady-like manner.
“Practice. I’ve gotta run. Catch you later.”
I was panting slightly by the time I got to the paddock and found someone had already tacked up Stormclaw – a brave move, since he was prone to biting anyone who wasn’t me. The rest of the team was already mounted, except for one. I glanced over at the chestnut-coloured gryff and tried to remember who usually rode her.
“Sorry,” I gasped to Logan, untethering Stormclaw from the fence.
“No problem,” he said, and one of the guys behind him rolled his eyes – Logan had a tendency to take it easy on me. “We’re still waiting for Keira.”
Keira, that was it. The blonde third-year. A quiet girl, she could usually be found out on the grounds, keeping her own company, but she was punctual to a fault. Odd.
“Right, we can’t wait any longer,” Logan said, wheeling his gryff around. “Keira will have to join in when she gets here.”
He touched his heels to his massive, pure white beast, and the heavily muscled animal leapt forward and took to the air. Logan was such a skilled rider that even from here I could barely make out the signals he gave to his gryff, steering him effortlessly through the skies. One by one, the rest of us followed suit, until we were all circling above the paddock.
“Trius manoeuvre,” Logan shouted. “Josh.”
Josh gave the barest of nods, then urged his beast forward. They wheeled around mid-air, then dived towards the ball on ground so steeply I felt sure they were going to crash. I watched them with my breath in my throat as I kept Stormclaw gliding through the air. At the last second, Josh said something to his gryff, and they thudded to the ground. The beast immediately sunk his haunches and Josh gripped the saddle horn with one hand, leaning right out of the saddle as he punched a hand through the air and grabbed the ball. Already, his gryff was leaping upwards, stretching his wide wings and pumping them. The motion threw Josh back into the saddle, and he was securely seated again within two wing-beats.
I remembered to breathe again: I’d seen the manoeuvre half a dozen times but it was never any less gut-wrenching. Then I realised he was riding straight at me. I straightened Stormclaw up to ride parallel to Josh, just in time to see him launching the ball through the air to me. I let go of my reins, steering my animal with body weight alone, and snatched the ball out of the air, ignoring the slight sting as the metal handles thumped into my gloved hands. I cast around the rest of the paddock, noting the positions of the rest of the team with a glance. Caleb, matching my pace on my right, was the obvious choice, but I caught a flash of movement racing up on my left and a little below me: Logan. I twisted in my saddle and tossed the ball to him as he drew level. He caught it with ease, rode on a few more wing beats, then threw it cleanly through the hoop. He circled around and landed, and we landed beside him.
“Excellent trius, Josh,” he said. “Watch your position on the relaunch – you’re a little to the right which is affecting Riverquil’s balance. Lyssa, one of your better takes, and nice work spotting me riding in your blindspot. But I shouldn’t have been able to catch you at all – Stormclaw is faster than Dartalon. You’re holding him back. You’ve got to trust him.”
Easy for him to say – he wasn’t the one who’d made a dozen trips to the hospital wing with broken bones after unplanned landings. Still, I nodded in reply. He was right. If we weren’t going to let the team down, nothing less than our absolute best would do, and that meant letting go of my fears and pushing the big black and gold beast to fly as fast as he could.
“Again,” Logan said. “Liu, toinn manoeuvre. Seb, I want you to block the goal this time.”
We all moved our gryffs forward again, but we’d barely taken to the air when a voice sounded from the ground. I glanced down past Stormclaw’s shoulder. It was Alden.
“Everyone land,” she shouted, waving her arms. “All of you, on the ground!”
Frowning, I took Stormclaw down, and the rest of the team landed around me, with a scraping of talons and a clatter of hooves.
“Practice is cancelled today,” she said brusquely.
“But Professor,” Logan protested, vaulting from his saddle, “it’s the game in two days. This is our last practice.”
“It cannot be helped. Everyone dismount and take your gryffs into the stables, then get to the main hall. Quickly, now.”
We shared confused glances, and I was first to break the silence.
“Professor, shouldn’t we at least turn them out into the fields?”
“Expediency is of the utmost importance. No more discussion, the headmaster expects you all inside the hall in ten minutes. I will escort you.”
An uneasiness that had nothing to do with the upcoming game tingled in my stomach, but I swung myself down from Stormclaw’s saddle and took hold of his reins. Ten minutes would be a stretch even if we left right now, and I’d pushed my luck enough for one year. Questions would have to wait. The rest of the team evidently felt the same way, as they all dismounted and prepared to lead their gryffs – which was when I spotted Keira’s gryff, still tied. Weird.
“I’ll get Redwing,” the professor said. “Into the barn now, off you go.”
We s
tabled our gryffs, and true to her word, Alden stayed with us right up until we entered the hall. About a quarter of the students had stayed over Christmas, and as near as I could tell, they were all here. I spotted Sam sitting at the fire table and hurried over to join him, along with the rest of our team.
“What’s going on?” I asked him. He shrugged.
“No idea. There was an announcement, telling all students and staff to come here immediately.”
“Thank you everyone, please settle down,” Professor Talendale said, standing up at the head of the professors’ table, and raising his hand for quiet. A hush fell over the entire room, every head twisted in his direction. He lowered his hands, and a dark look settled over his eyes. I shot a sidelong look at Sam, but he looked just as puzzled as me.
“I’m afraid I have some bad news,” the professor started, after a long pause. “There was an… incident earlier today, involving one of your fellow students.”
Dozens of heads whipped round, trying to work out who was missing. I could only think of one person… someone who missed practice today for the first time all year.
“Many of you know Keira Bennett from Fire element,” the professor said, his tone grave, and my heart thudded painfully inside my ribcage. “As of an hour ago, she is in the hospital wing, under the close care of Madam Leechington. She was found on the grounds with some… disturbing injuries. I cannot discuss the nature of those injuries with you right now, however we hope that she will make a full recovery, in time.”
I swallowed. Hope? In time?
“In the meantime, we must all take sensible precautions. Until further notice, student access to the grounds is prohibited, and all outdoor activities will be cancelled.”
“But Professor,” a voice from our own table called out. Logan. “What about the Itealta match? We need to practice.”
“Itealta is cancelled. That is all. You are dismissed. Please return to your common rooms.”
For a moment, no-one moved. Logan looked stunned to stone by the news, and his face had taken on a greyish hue.
“But…” he muttered in a stunned voice. “They can’t cancel Itealta. They can’t…”
“Come on, Logan,” Josh said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders while his mouth carried on working soundlessly. “Let’s go.”
We trudged back to our common room en masse, and we were all back inside by the time the news really sunk in. The team had taken up a couple of the sofas with me and Sam, while the rest of the Fires milled around aimlessly.
“What… what do you think happened to Keira?” I asked.
Logan shook his head.
“I should have known when she didn’t show up for practice. I should have known!”
“But what’s it got to do with Itealta?” Josh said. “I don’t understand why they’ve cancelled the match.”
“Do you think she’ll be okay?”
The question silenced all of us. Logan ran a hand over his face, looking ten years older. After a long moment, he pushed himself up from the sofa.
“I’m going to visit her.”
“But Logan,” Lui said, “Professor Talendale told us all to come here.”
“And we came,” Logan said. “Now I’m leaving again. The rest of you can stay.”
“I’m coming,” I said, and before Logan could object, I added, “Safety in numbers, right?”
“Me, too,” said Sam, his face a mix of determination and concern.
Logan nodded.
“Okay. The rest of you stay here,” he raised a hand as the rest of the team made to get up. “Old Leech will never let the lot of us in.”
They sank reluctantly back into their seats, and before we could think better of it, the three of us stepped out of the common room and into the deserted corridor.
We walked in silence, and made it to the hospital wing without meeting a single soul, which was eerie, like the night of Halloween – except this time there was no strange smell, and I managed not to get lost, mainly thanks to Logan and Sam, but in no small part due to the dozen or so visits I’d made this way in the last couple of months. What we hadn’t reckoned on was Leechington’s reaction to our arrival. She practically turned purple with fury when she saw us and blocked our way before we even set foot in the ward.
“Out! All of you, out, now! Out! No students in the hospital wing.”
“Please, Madam Leechington,” Logan said, “We just want to see–”
“Absolutely not!” Leechington cut him off, looking horrified at the suggestion. I peered past her and could just about make out a shrunken figure lying in the middle of a bed, but I couldn’t make out any more than that – half of her was obscured by the doctor’s desk. I frowned, looking at the stack of notes piled on it, and leaned in to Sam.
“Keep her busy,” I muttered.
“If we can’t see her,” Sam said, shifting slightly to one side so she had to turn to look at him, “can you at least tell us what’s wrong with her? Please, we’re just worried.”
Her wrinkled face clouded over with sympathy, and I thought her voice was just a little less harsh when she said,
“I’m sorry. If Professor Talendale had wanted you to know…”
I didn’t listen to anymore. Leechington’s back was turned to me, and I very carefully took a step towards the door to the ward, watching her closely. Logan’s eyes widened as he saw me, and then he started peppering the healer with questions like a pro, keeping her attention and making enough noise that she couldn’t hear my footsteps as I slipped inside.
I didn’t waste any time, hurrying over to her desk and looking down at the notes. Keira’s name was written across the top, and under it was a diagram of her body, with several patches of bruising drawn onto it, and what looked like… I couldn’t be sure, but, well, it looked like it might have been a set of toothmarks on her shoulder.
I supressed a shudder and scanned the rest of the document. According to the neat handwriting, Keira was found out on the grounds just before practice started, near the Lost Meadow. I knew the spot: I’d passed in on my way to the Unhallowed Grove on Halloween. I read on. She was unconscious when one of the dragon riders saw her, and she hadn’t woken on the way back to the castle, or since, despite the healer’s attempts to rouse her. The toothmarks were already showing signs of infection, which the healer had magically stemmed.
It looked like we’d interrupted her halfway through writing the report, but the words ‘beatha potion’ were written in red ink and underlined twice. I heard Logan’s raised voice and looked up – Leechington was looking increasingly irritated by the disruption, I could tell even from here.
“Now really boys, I must get back to my patient…”
Time was up. I hurried back across the ward and slipped out of the door, rejoining the group just as she turned to go back inside. She eyed me suspiciously, then walked past me and back to Keira’s bedside.
“Well? Did you find anything?” Sam asked.
“Nothing good. Come on, let’s get going. I’ll fill you in on the way.”
Chapter Eighteen
Two days later, we were no closer to finding out what the beatha potion was, or more importantly, what it was used for. We had plenty of time to spend researching, given that we were confined to the castle, and that meant no work and no Itealta practice, and we still had a couple of days until classes started. The problem was that there was only one place we could get information, and that was the library – and there were thousands of books, any one of which might contain a reference to the obscure potion. There was only so much time we could spend in there before someone noticed we were acting weirdly.
On the plus side, Kelsey had arrived back at the academy and she was the perfect cover story. Unlike me and Sam, she was no stranger to spending hours in the library. If nothing else, our search was likely to be more organised now she was back.
“You take ‘Venomous Cryptids’ and ‘Deadly Aquatic Creatures’,” she told me, dumping a pair of mass
ive, dusty books on the table in front of me, and then dumped another pair in front of Sam. “You can look through ‘Magical Anti-Vemons’ and ‘Herbology for Healing’. And I’ll check ‘Supernatural Contagious Diseases’.”
“How come you only have to check one?” Sam said, and Kelsey pulled a huge tome that had to be as thick as it was wide from the shelf, staggering slightly under its weight as she brought it over to our table.
“Oh.”
“Is there still no news about Keira?” she asked, wiping dust from the front of the book, and easing its ancient cover open with a creak. I shook my head.
“Nope. At least, none that they’re sharing with us.”
“It’s so weird. What was she even doing out there? I know she liked to walk the grounds, but she never normally went anywhere near the grove. She said it made her nervous, she didn’t even like it being that close to the academy.”
She wasn’t the only one who held that opinion, not now that I knew what was out there.
“Never?” Sam said, turning the page in his book.
“She preferred to walk by the lake.”
I snorted.
“Like that’s so much safer.”
Kelsey shrugged.
“She’s just lucky there was a dragon rider flying that way.” She paused, mid-way through scanning a page. “Have you spoken to the rider yet?”
I shook my head, looking up from my book for a moment – my vision was starting to blur from staring at the tiny faded words inked into the paper.
“We don’t know which one it was.”
“Well, it shouldn’t be hard to find out. There are only two of them.”
“There are?”
Kelsey sighed in exasperation.
“Am I the only one who pays attention to anything the professors say?”
Me and Sam shared a look, and both nodded.
“Yup, pretty much.”
“Honestly! Dragon riders are incredibly rare, only a couple in every generation. Dragons won’t let just anyone climb on their backs, you know. You have to be chosen. There are three dragons here at the academy, but only two have riders. I heard the rider of the third dragon died, or went missing, no-one’s exactly sure, about twenty years ago. Dardyr has been surly ever since, he won’t even let anyone anywhere near him, let alone touch or ride him. It’s like he’s mourning his rider. It’s really sad.”
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