by Avery Cross
“It can be overwhelming, which is the other reason I wanted to speak with you,” he said. “The first semester is normally the hardest, learning how to control your magic and the element, as well as training for where you wish to go. But now that you have been chosen by two elements, both of which can be extremely fickle if one is not careful, I’m afraid you are going to find yourself under much more weight than a typical student.”
I wasn’t sure what to do with that, so I laughed nervously. “That doesn’t really make me feel better.”
“It’s not meant to. You are going to have to work harder than you ever have before, Briar. I wanted to tell you to use your resources well. Speak to Zach and the others, ask for help, and if at any time you feel you are floundering, come speak with me. Yes? I will not let you fail, not if I can help it, but you must put in the effort.”
Why did everyone here assume I wasn’t going to try? Acted like I didn’t care?
“With all due respect, Headmaster Hooke,” I said slowly, “I came here because of a letter that was sent to me and it was my only option. I have no idea what’s going to happen, or who I really am apparently, but I have nowhere else to go.” I stood, letting Sphinx jump from my lap to the desk as I held his gaze steadily. “And I, unlike other people in my family, am going to make something of myself.”
He leaned back in his chair, and for a horrible second, I thought I overstepped my boundaries, and he was going to kick me out anyway. But then he smiled at me in a weird knowing way, almost as if he found my declaration amusing and sincere at the same time.
“Very well then, Briar Shroud, I look forward to seeing what you can do,” he said with a firm nod. “Now then, the rest of the day is yours. I suggest you find your mentor and allow him to catch you up, so you are not behind so early on.”
“Yes, I’ll go do that.” I counted a few more awkward beats then excused myself and turned to leave.
“And Briar? Be careful moving forward. Now that the elements have chosen you, setting your feet on fire is the least of your worries.”
I thanked him for the advice and hurried out of his office, wondering why those words sounded more like a threat than words of caution.
Chapter Nine
Zach
“That was weird, right?”
“You think?” I replied to Hunter’s obvious comment, still not sure what I actually saw.
I was surprised to see spirit had chosen her. There were very few of us here at Academy. I smirked. Very few indeed. That wasn’t what really left me dumbfounded. It happened, being chosen by two elements, but it was rare, very rare. And for those two together, that combination had never happened. It was always the main four with each other, not fire and spirit. That combination could be deadly, worse than deadly.
And Briar Shroud was the one wielding both. That was just great.
“Her aura is red,” I said quietly, and Hunter froze. “Yeah, it’s going to be a fun first semester.”
“Did you tell Hooke?”
“I would assume he knows. That man seems to know everything else.”
Except for anything about missing students. And that picture on the wall, I couldn’t get it out of my head. Why was there an image of a girl on that wall that was the spitting image of Briar? It was late in the evening, but I couldn’t wait until tomorrow to talk to her about what was going on here. Either she was lying, or, as much as I hated to think it, something else was happening. I told Hunter I’d be back and left our larger quarters to go down the three floors to where all the newcomers lived. The second I reached the floor, I paused, staring down the mostly empty corridor, the shadows flickering from the oil lanterns hanging overhead.
Seeing Briar in a towel had not been expected, but I’d be a blind idiot if I didn’t see how attractive she was, and my type. So many of the women here, especially the first and second-years, tried to get my attention by dressing up and wearing far too much makeup. Fixing their hair and all that crap. I didn’t notice any of it. I didn’t care for it. All I cared about was a certain set of eyes with golden flecks in them.
“And she was talking to Carter,” I grunted to himself, annoyed.
That guy was trouble. He was a good enough student, but he thought he could have any girl he wanted merely because of his charming smile and cool demeanor. He had a new girl on his arm once a month, and the shy guy act was just that, an act. I’d seen it since he came here, but his brothers had been exactly the same. There wasn’t too much impressive about him, at least I never thought there was, but somehow, he hit it off with anyone he wanted.
Except Briar. I’d have to put a stop to that. For distraction purposes only. Being with a guy, any guy, was the last thing she needed right now.
When I reached her dorm room, I lifted my hand to knock, but stopped. Whatever happened to her inside that crystal circle took a lot out of her. She could be resting.
But then again, I was her mentor, and there were plenty of things we needed to discuss. I knocked three times, hard and loud, waiting impatiently for the door to open. When it did, it wasn’t Briar, but her roommate.
“Oh, hi,” she said with a bright smile.
“Briar back from the infirmary?” I asked.
Her smile faltered a bit, but she nodded and stepped aside. “Briar, your mentor’s here to check on you, I think.”
“Would you mind giving us a few minutes?” I asked the other girl.
“Nyala can stay.” Briar shot her roommate a pleading look.
Nyala shrugged, then left the dorm, closing the door behind her.
“I was going to come and see you eventually,” Briar told me from where she sat on her bed.
She was still pale but looked better than when they’d carted her away.
“Well, I got tired of waiting.” I walked slowly around the room, taking in the trinkets Nyala had brought from home. Briar’s side was lacking anything personal. Anything to remind her of home or her family. “I assume Hooke talked to you about how difficult your semester is going to be now?”
“Yeah, he did so you can skip the lecture.”
“I’m not here to give you a lecture,” I corrected. “I’m supposed to talk to you about your training as well as your focus of study, remember? You sort of missed that part of orientation today.”
“Not my fault,” she mumbled, crossing her arms. A bit of the confidence I’d seen in her before slipped away. “I still don’t get it.”
“There’s nothing to get. Two elements chose you, and now you have to learn to use them.”
“But what does that even mean? I came here thinking this was a normal college, you know? Not some twisted version where there’s magic and I’m a witch, and now, I’m even more of a freak because of this two-element thing,” she rambled.
For a moment, I felt sorry for her, but my sympathy wouldn’t help her. “First off, you’re not a freak.”
“Oh no?”
“No,” I said sternly. “You should feel very special to be chosen like this.”
“Chosen,” she repeated bitterly. “Never exactly had that prospect before so forgive me if all of this just sounds like a load of crap.”
“Well it’s not, and it’s time you drop the act.” I meant to do this in a nicer way, but there were too many unanswered questions, and I did not like unanswered questions. “Who are you really?”
Her blank stare turned confused, then angry. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean who are you? There’s obviously something going on about who you really are that you’re not telling me,” I insisted. “First, you start talking about these missing students who no one else seems to know about. Then, you are chosen by two elements, which in itself is a massive rarity and to top it off, there’s a photograph in Hooke’s office of a woman who looks like she could be your twin. Who are you?”
“Wait, what?” she blurted. “What photograph?”
“In his office. I saw it when I was there yesterday, and he was asking m
e how I thought you would do here. Why would he do that for you, but not any other student?”
“How am I supposed to know?” she yelled back. “I didn’t know any of this existed until yesterday.”
“I’m starting to doubt that.”
She leapt off the bed and managed to slap me across the face this time before I saw it coming and could block it. The crack resounded through the room as she glared at me fiercely. If I hadn’t seen the ceremony that morning, I still would’ve known she could commune with fire. It burned in her eyes now as she stared at me and she probably didn’t even realize it.
“Don’t tell me what I know and what I don’t know,” she seethed. “My name is Briar Shroud, I am an only child, and I did not know I was a witch until yesterday. I have no idea what Hooke’s interest is in me, or why there’s that picture in his office. Maybe, you should consider the fact that I’m telling you the truth and whatever answers you’re looking for, I clearly don’t have.”
I felt like a first-year under that intense gaze and took a step back toward the door, her words making me feel sheepish at my outburst. She probably didn’t know, if she grew up as a normal kid, whatever Hooke was looking for would be a mystery to her. She had no knowledge of her magical history, but it was clear he did, or had some suspicions about what she would be capable of.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
Her eyes widened. “You’re what?”
“I said I’m sorry, alright? It’s just, you come here, and within a few hours, you’ve got me thinking there’s some conspiracy happening and then the picture… it was just all too coincidental.”
I turned my back on her, wondering why I let myself get so thrown off by this girl.
“Thank you,” she finally replied. “And I guess I’m sorry, too for smacking you. At least I actually got to this time.”
When I turned back, she was grinning, and I found myself joining her. “Just one more question.”
“Why not?”
“Did you see the picture in Hooke’s office?” I asked, holding my breath as I waited.
“No,” she said, and I let out the breath confused, “but there was an open space on the wall, like one had been taken down recently.”
That was odd. Why did he not want her to see that photo? It had to be a relative of some kind. I wanted to ask her more about her family, but the slap was still fresh on my face, and I decided a few days of letting her cool off and get acclimated to her new life might be in order first. And I did come here for more than one reason.
“A mystery for another day, I guess,” I said and motioned her back to her bed while I pulled over the chair from one of the desks. “I do need to go over some information with you, probably more so since you are starting from scratch.”
She sat cross-legged and let out a labored sigh. “Should I be taking notes?”
“Might not be a bad idea.”
“Really?”
I gave her a serious look before I shrugged. “No, you’ll get a packet tomorrow explaining most of what I’m going to tell you. Do you understand who our major employers are?”
“Nope, not a clue,” she said sounding a bit annoyed. “Just think of me as clueless.”
“You’re anything, but that,” I said quietly, watching her while she started picking at her nails before I continued. “Our government and our military.”
“Wait, we have our own government and army? How does the rest of the world not know this?”
“Because we are not just one Academy.”
“Of course not.” She leaned back against the wall, waving for me to continue.
I cleared my throat and started in on the lesson, telling her all about our government, the Council of Twelve who ruled the entire population of witches and warlocks across the globe. How they met four times a year unless there was an emergency or a change in policy. Beneath the twelve leaders were the Masters, heads of their separate orders pertaining to each element as well as every witch or warlock registered with the government. Then, there were the other departments and their heads, or Ministers. Finance, Trade, Courts, just like the human government except, well a bit more.
“And then there’s the military,” I said about a half hour later, and her eyes widened. “What, you thought that was it?”
“I thought it would all be clumped together.”
“No, the military is separate, though it does answer to each Councilmember in charge of the region. However, they also have their own say in certain matters,” I explained. “They are also the ones who run the Academies.”
“So, we’re all going to serve in the military for two years?”
“No. You can,” I told her, “but you can also choose a position within the government. It all depends on your talents and what you would like to do afterward.”
“This society of yours… ours… sounds awfully militaristic.”
I rested back in my chair, crossing my ankles and held the back of my head with my hands. Her gaze did a quick once over on me, and I let myself imagine what a quick kiss with Briar would be like. But that would be inappropriate. I was her mentor and could be nothing more.
At least until I graduated.
“It can be. There have been wars in the past that nearly tore us all apart, a few squabbles in our modern day. There is always dark magic in the world needing to be subdued, and it requires a strong and intimidating military to keep it in check, as well as persecuting those of our kind who seek to take advantage of the average human.”
She gave me a crooked grin, and my pulse ratcheted up a few notches. “Let me guess, you plan on going into the military, no questions asked.”
“My brothers are all in it,” I said with a shrug. “And they’re always in need of aura readers. It’s a rare gift, just like yours.”
Her smile fell, and I sensed the tension in the room come rushing back. “Not sure I’d call this a gift yet.”
“Hold out your hand,” I said, and she quirked a brow at me. “Just do it.”
Scooting to the edge of the bed, she held out her right hand, and I took it gently, holding it palm up toward the ceiling. I asked for the other, and she did the same, watching me closely.
“I want you to think of your two elements, fire and spirit.”
“I’m not sure this is a good idea.”
“Just close your eyes,” I said, bypassing her worries, “and do it.”
She hesitated, but finally did it. After a few seconds, nothing happened.
“You’re not thinking,” I whispered.
“I am, too.”
“Clearly, you’re not,” I shot back, and she opened her eyes to glare at me. “Clear your mind, take a few deep breaths, and try again.”
“And if I catch you on fire?” she asked, a hint of glee in her voice at the notion.
“Then you get to hear me scream like a little girl.”
That made her laugh, a sound I liked, and one I had a feeling I wouldn’t get to hear too often. I’d told her to put her past behind her and move on, but sitting here with her, I wanted to know why she put walls up and acted like the world was against her.
Her right hand started to warm in mine, and I saw a few sparks come to life in her palm. In her left, there was the strange sensation of growing lighter, almost like her hand was pulling out of mine, but wasn’t at the same time. She might not be apt at reading auras, but I had a feeling she would be able to astral project, another rarity amongst those who communed with the spirit element.
“Open your eyes, Shroud,” I said, and she did. “Look.”
Her left hand was fading in and out and appeared as if it floated while staying still at the same time, while the sparks in her right turned into a small flame, burning happily away as she stared in awe.
“I’m doing this,” she stated, sounding as if she almost didn’t believe it.
“Yes, you are. This is what you’re capable of controlling. With enough training and focus, you could become someone great.”
> She didn’t seem so certain and carefully closed her hands into fists before pulling them back. “Do me a favor, moving forward?”
“What’s that?”
I couldn’t comprehend the sadness that appeared in her eyes as she said, “Just don’t put too much faith in me. I uh, I tend to disappoint people, and I really don’t want to disappoint you too.”
So much for not letting myself get emotionally attached to her. What was she even doing to me? Two days, two measly days I’d been around her, and I felt like I was going to be paying much more attention to Briar than my final two semesters here. I wanted to assure her that she would be fine when her cell dinged loudly with a message. She reached for her it and cursed as she tried to toss it back on her pillow.
“Who was that?”
“No one.”
I reached for her cell.
“What are you doing? Give it back, Zach.”
“Then who was it?” I asked, wondering who could make her so angry so fast. I managed to catch the name of the contact before she snatched it out of my hands. “Jake, who’s Jake? Your boyfriend maybe?”
She tucked her phone under her leg, so I couldn’t get it.
She flinched at the harsh tone of my voice. Jealous. I sounded jealous of a possible boyfriend. That was it, I needed to get out of this room.
“Right, I’m going to let you get some rest. You’ve got an early morning,” I said in a rush and stood, headed for the door.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she called out to me as I opened the door. “Never had one.”
I wasn’t sure what to say to that, so I told her I’d see her tomorrow and left.
Never had a boyfriend. How was that even possible?
“Not that it matters,” I told myself once I reached the stairwell. “No distractions for either of you, not now.” My only goal with Briar was to get her through her first year without harming herself or anyone else in the process.
Too bad I didn’t even believe myself.