by Lucia Ashta
“Can’t we have five more minutes?” Walt asked of the owl.
Sir Lancelot brought his wings to either side of his waist. “Do you think the Sorcerers for Magical Supremacy are taking five?” Again, he scanned all of our faces.
“Fine,” Nicholas said. “But will you teach us something really fun to make up for the sunny day we have to abandon?”
“Abandon.” Sir Lancelot rolled his eyes and I hiccuped my surprise, mostly to keep from laughing at the comical gesture on the owl who took life and teaching so seriously. “No one’s making you abandon anything, Lord Nicholas. You’re gaining in this equation, not losing. You all have stellar potential. Let’s not waste that now, shall we?”
“What’s our next lesson about?” Simon asked.
“I’ll be teaching you the basics about the history of magical creatures.”
“Magical creatures?” Brave said. “I thought that was Arianne and Gustave’s thing.” He looked between the owl and Gertrude.
“It is, Lord Brave,” the owl pressed on. “But their teachings lie in the practical approach to the creatures. I’ll teach you all I know about how the different creatures have interwoven throughout the history of magic.”
“All in one day?” Angelica asked.
“Oh goodness, no, it’ll take weeks at least. But it’s a good place to start. Lady Isadora needs to get some ideas about how to interact with her pup there.”
As if my hellhound pup realized Sir Lancelot was discussing her, she wagged her tail and rubbed against my legs. I bent to scoop her up. Lily licked my face at once, leaving a trail of slobber across my cheek that I barely minded.
When Wizard Meedles first entrusted me with Lily’s upkeep, saying that I’d need to know how to care for the creatures and connect to them if I planned to apprentice with him, I was entirely reluctant to take on the duty. But Lily was adorable, and not at all terrifying when she was this size. She and I’d formed a bond right away, and I did very much want to learn more about the creatures that Wizard Meedles doted on, and I was beginning to understand why.
I nodded my agreement with Sir Lancelot. “I have to get Lily back to Holly anyway. She still can’t be away from her for too long.” Even Holly had learned to accept me after seeing my blossoming relationship with her daughter.
“Good,” Sir Lancelot said. “Maybe the rest of the pupils will follow your lead.” He gave everyone but me the yellow-eyed stare, making me smile.
A natural rapport had developed between all of us students. I quickly discovered that I liked all of them, even Nicholas. Our strengths and weaknesses varied, and our temperaments sometimes clashed, but no day was ever boring.
When not even I jumped to follow Sir Lancelot’s orders, he said, “You do want to be better prepared than your peers, correct? And you are aware that the Magical Arts Academy has opened up for recruiting again, and that pupils will likely begin pouring in from all over the world? After all, we boast the finest and most experienced staff there is.” He puffed his feathery chest.
There was truth to what he said, as Grand Witch Giselle Tillsdale had joined the teaching staff, while also taking over the role of head of Magical Council, which Gustave had recently joined, and Albacus had returned to after Giselle said there was no reason she knew of that he couldn’t continue to participate. He’d died, not lost his faculties, was how she’d put it, and it was all it took to convince the excited wizard to resume his part in the magical world alongside his brother.
Malachai had also joined the staff, and it turned out that he was a wizard (and ghost) especially accomplished in the creation of magical objects. He’d teased us with the promise that, by the time we graduated from his classes, we’d be able to imbue magic in most common objects, so we could call on it at a moment’s notice.
But despite my enthusiasm for the possibilities of magical objects and hellhounds and our growing numbers, along with a respite from the constant threat of the SMS, my greatest enthusiasm was for the power that brewed inside me. Now that I realized it was there, and I was aware of all it was capable of, I was eager to discover all I could do with it.
I already knew the surprises weren’t over, and that not only I, but Nando too, along with the others, had only just begun to tap into our magical skills.
The senior instructors who’d founded the academy had hoped to train the next generation of magicians capable of fighting for all that was important in the world. They hoped to school students in discipline and knowledge and... magic. Nothing had gone as they’d expected it, but in the end, everything had gone exactly as it had to.
We were about to exceed their expectations. Of that, I didn’t have a single doubt.
I’d entered the academy a girl frightened of her own ordinariness. I’d become a woman strengthened by the power of her own belief—in herself, in magic, and in love for family, life, and Walt.
Along the way of this twisted journey of my magical education, I’d died only to be reborn. I’d lost my fear only to replace it with pure trust. I’d discovered that there was nothing at all ordinary about me.
Bonded with a firedrake and a hellhound, I was a witch with sparkling potential. With an academy of teachers eager to work with my unique form of magic, and to help me discover the full range of my capabilities, there was nothing to stop me from becoming all I could be.
After all, I was a witch, through and through. It’d just taken me a while to realize it.
Now that I knew who I was, no one would ever take that from me.
I was home, both within myself and at the academy.
“Come on, Walt,” I said, leaning over to kiss his cheek while holding the squirming happy pup away from him so she wouldn’t lick him. “Let’s go inside. We have lots of days in the sunshine to enjoy together.”
I smiled my joy, and Walt smiled back. Everywhere I looked, I saw the bright potential of our future.
Sir Lancelot fussed and got the others moving toward the classroom.
I eased into Walt’s slow pace, enjoying the sunshine on my face and the swelling joy in my heart.
Who knew magic would feel this good?
Magic Awakens ~ The Witching World
Isadora’s adventures have come to a close, but Clara has her own complete series of full-length novels. Join Clara, Marcelo, Sir Lancelot, and many of your other favorite characters before they established the Magical Arts Academy.
Night Shifter ~ Magical Creatures Academy
Pick up the adventure a century into the future, when Sir Lancelot is the headmaster of the Magical Creatures Academy, the finest institution for supernaturals in the world.
Want More?
The Magical Arts Academy is just the beginning.
Read what happens a century later in the Magical Creatures Academy.
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I write these books for you.
Acknowledgments
I’d write no matter what, because telling stories is my passion, but the following people make creating worlds (and life) a joy. I’m eternally grateful for the support of my beloved, James, my mother, Elsa, and my three daughters, Catia, Sonia, and Nadia. They’ve always believed in me, even before I published a single word. They help me see the magic in the world a
round me, and more importantly, within.
I’m grateful for every single one of you who’ve reached out to tell me that one of my stories touched you in one way or another, made you smile or cry, or kept you up long past your bedtime. You’ve given me reason to keep writing.
About the author
Lucía Ashta is the Amazon top 100 bestselling author of young adult and new adult paranormal and urban fantasy books, including the series Magical Creatures Academy, Sirangel, Magical Arts Academy, Witching World, Dragon Force, and Supernatural Bounty Hunter.
When Lucía isn't writing, she's reading, painting, or adventuring. Magical fantasy is her favorite, but the action, romance, and quirky characters are what keep her hooked on books.
A former attorney and architect, she’s an Argentinian-American author who lives in Sedona with her beloved and three daughters. She published her first story (about an unusual Cockatoo) at the age of eight, and she’s been at it ever since.
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[email protected]