by Tj Dixon
“Sor…” Peter says quietly.
“Yes, Peter?” Sor asks sweetly and Peter frowns.
“Let’s start the training.” Rin says quickly and Peter nods. Sor shrugs.
“I’ll work with you.” Sherry tells Cherry quickly.
“Can I work with you?” Yusa asks me.
“Sure.” I agree with a smile. Wind partners are easy, but non wind partners are harder. It’s been over a week since I got a chance to train with a water user and it can be a lot longer than that.
“Did you see Jimmy yesterday?” Yusa asks and I blink. “Your group went to the Hoshi lands, right?”
“Um, yes.” I nod and hope that was where our group went. I wish I had thought to ask Mirai or Tomo about their bounty hunt. I was too focused on Peter to think about it.
“How was Jimmy?” Yusa asks.
“He was fine.”
“Did he ask about me?” Yusa asks.
“Yes.” I tell her the answer she must want to hear, but I’m sure he would have so it’s probably true.
“What did he ask?”
“I think he wanted to know how you were. I forget.”
“Oh… Well, thank you.”
“You should join the group that goes there next time.”
“They didn’t want a water user, remember.” Yusa says, sounding depressed.
“Next time though.”
“I hope so. That’s another whole week away though.” Yusa sighs.
“Let’s get started, before Rin yells at us.” I tell Yusa who nods with a laugh.
“How about we both practise converting water into air, for breathing underwater?” Yusa suggests.
“Sounds good.”
“I’ll summon the water around your head. Hold my hand and squeeze if you want me to remove the water.” Yusa tells me and holds out her hand. I take it and take a deep breathe. Water appears around my head just like she said. I focus on elemental conversion but it is too complicated and I end up having to squeeze Yusa’s hand.
“It’s not easy.” I sigh.
“If it was we wouldn’t need to train.” Yusa reminds me.
“I know. So what did I do wrong?” I ask.
“I think you need to focus more on the water closer to your mouth and less on the water further from you.” Yusa tells me and I nod. That makes sense. I take a deep breath and try again. By the time we have to swap partners I have tried unsuccessfully more times than I’d like to admit. It seems that Yusa could already convert water into air and only wanted to improve her efficiency. That makes my failure even more annoying.
“Midori.” Tomo calls out with a wave and I port over to her. It isn’t far, but it is slightly further than the ten feet or so that Sor ported earlier. I am also physically tired thanks to holding my breath so many times.
“How was your fire training with Marian?” I ask.
“It was fine, but I don’t think I’ll ever be much of a fire mage.”
“Now for the fun part of the training.” I grin and Tomo grins too.
“I wish we could just be wind mages.” Tomo tells me.
“Right now we can be. Are you ready?”
“Yes and I’m not going to lose today.” Tomo says with a big grin.
“Now.” I tell her.
We both shoot straight up into the air. We reach the treetops almost instantly and then race over the trees towards the stream. I am slightly ahead of Tomo but she is so close behind me I can’t afford to slow down for even an instant.
I reach the stream and then dive down into the trees like normal. Although I have a shield up if we hit a branch we lose, so I am now constantly dodging up and down, and side to side. I have to slow down to do so but so does Tomo. We are still flying much faster than the first time we attempted this.
I’m so focused on avoiding the branches and trees that I don’t notice Peter and Cherry until they race past under us, right to left, just a few feet below me. It’s enough of a distraction to let Tomo overtake me as I look to my left. I can still sense them in the distance but they are already out of sight.
I refocus my efforts on catching up with Tomo. I was only distracted for a couple of moments but there is already a gap of at least twenty feet between us. It is frustrating to see my hard won lead replaced by such a large gap. It would normally be worth it to have sensed Peter so close even for such a short moment, but he was with Cherry so that just annoys me more.
The gap is lengthening rather than shortening. I’m too distracted. I need to focus, damn it. Faster, faster, I throw caution to the wind and slam right into a tree trunk. My shield saves me from the impact but I am thrown to the ground. Dizzy and in shock my shield falls and I take the full force of the fall as my back hits the ground.
“Midori!?” Tomo yells as she races back towards me. She lands beside me and kneels over me.
“I’m ok. Just a bit scratched and bruised.” I tell her, but my heart is racing and my vision fades. I hear her say something but it feels like it is from somewhere really distant.
It is dark but there is a light in the distance. It is hot, like fire. It says something but I don’t understand. It continues to speak and suddenly I catch a word that I do understand. ‘Peter’.
I wake lying in bed with a warm blanket over me. There is a woman standing over me and behind her is a dark window. I can see the stars through it. She looks a bit like Rin, except much older. I open my mouth to speak but it feels dry and my words are silent. I frown. My vision blurs for a moment but then it comes back into focus.
“Can you hear me?” The woman asks.
“Yes.” I look up and answer. Now I can hear my words, though I can’t work up the energy to sit up.
“It seems you hit an enchanted tree. It’s almost morning now but you should probably get some more sleep.”
“Who are you?” I ask.
“I’m Rin’s mother. You’re in the same club as my daughter, right?”
“Yes. Why am I here though?”
“You were affected by the enchantment on the tree and I’m an alchemist, so I was able to help.”
“Wouldn’t the teachers…?” I start to ask but she shakes her head.
“None of the teachers who could help were available. It seems most of the teachers were away on business tonight.”
“That’s odd.”
“I’m sure they had important business to attend to.”
“I suppose. Where am I anyway?”
“This is my home. That bed belongs to Rin. She ported you straight here in a panic when she found out nobody at the academy could help.”
“Rin was in a panic?” I ask in shock. She always seems so calm, or even cold. I can’t imagine her in a panic.
“Of course. One of her friends was in danger.”
“Friends… Am I ok now?” I ask, wondering whether Rin really thinks of me as a friend.
“You just need rest.”
“I have a test tomorrow. No, today now.” I say as I notice the sun is starting to rise.
“I’m sure missing one test would be ok. You’re in 3C, aren’t you? Even if you drop to 3D you’ll still be safe.”
“I can’t miss it! I want to stay in 3C with Mirai. If Tabi and Tomo get promoted and I get demoted, I’ll be on my own, and I’m sure they’ll be promoted this time.”
“You still have a little time before your lessons and the test begin. At least get some rest until then.”
“Ok, but in my own bed. Tomo will wake me if I fall asleep.”
“You really could use some sleep.”
“I’ll catch up after lessons.”
“Make sure you do.”
“Thank you, for helping me. What do I owe you?”
“Don’t be silly. You don’t have to pay me anything. You’re a friend of my daughter, so of course I’d help. Not that I’d just let you suffer if you weren’t.”
“Thank you. I really appreciate your help. You must have seen my scar though, right?” I ask nervously.
“Thank you.” I tell her gratefully and pray that she really doesn’t.
“Good luck with your test. Are you ok to port?”
“Thanks and yes, porting should be fine.” I tell her and then close my eyes.
“You’ll want to put your clothes on first. They’re over there.” She tells me and for the first time I realise I am only wearing my underwear.
“Goodbye Midori.” The woman tells me and leaves the room to give me a bit of privacy.
“Goodbye.” I call out as she closes the door behind her. I get up and put my uniform on. Then I port back to my room. My vision is blurry again and my head hurts like hell for a moment but then the pain fades. My vision slowly returns to normal too. I hope it’s not like this when I put up a port barrier.
“Midori!” Tomo exclaims and throws her arms around me. “Are you ok?!”
“Yes. Just tired. Today’s test is going to be a pain though.”
“Just remember the training and by now I’m sure you could do it in your sleep.”
“I hope I don’t have to.” I joke.
“Get a bit more rest. You still have a little time before lessons.” Tomo tells me.
“Just make sure to wake me.” I tell Tomo firmly.
“Of course!” Tomo assures me and I fall back on my bed. As soon as I close my eyes I am asleep but it feels like less than a moment has passed when Tomo shakes me awake again.
“Already?” I ask sleepily.
“Sorry.” Tomo apologises.
“It’s fine. Thanks for waking me. You may as well port to class, since we’re not in the same class. I’ll see you at lunchtime.” I yawn.
“I’ll see you at the lunchroom then.” Tomo tells me and although her expression seems worried she ports away.
Despite wanting to go back to sleep I quickly cleanse myself and then port to class. Again it hurts like hell. Everyone is already here except Professor Kale. Mirai looks worried too.
“Are you ok?” Mirai asks.
“Not too bad. We’ll talk at lunch.” I tell her, holding my head in pain.
I check the dimensional time keeper, which hurts my head just like porting did, and realise we are about half a minute late. Professor Kale is always here before the lesson starts so it is odd for her to be late like this. Of course it saves me from getting scolded for being late.
Rin’s mother did say something about some of the teachers not being around. I wonder whether the test will be cancelled. That would be good. I’d love to avoid doing anything to do with dimensional magic today. I’d love to skip the lesson too, but the punishment for doing that without permission is too harsh.
Just as I’m starting to think that Professor Kale really isn’t going to turn up she ports in. She’s wearing her usual red robes, but she looks tired just like me. Her short blonde hair is dishevelled and her pale skin looks dry. Her tired blue eyes show her weariness the most though. She looks around the class and nods.
“I hope everyone practised their port barriers.” Professor Kale tells us sounding just as tired as she looks. Then she looks at me and Mirai. “Mirai, come to the front. You’re first.”
That means I’m next. Better than first, but still bad enough. I hope my head doesn’t explode when I try to raise a port barrier. If even checking the dimensional time keeper hurts my head, raising a port barrier is going to be agony.
Mirai walks quickly to the front and presumably raises a port barrier. I don’t open my dimensional senses for fear of the pain I’ve been experiencing, but I can tell from Mirai’s expression that Professor Kale is testing her port barrier quite vigorously.
“Very good Mirai. Full marks. Next, Midori.” Professor Kale says. I get up and head to the front rather nervously. Mirai smiles reassuringly as we pass each other, but it doesn’t help relieve my nerves.
I get to the front and take a deep breathe. I raise the port barrier and my head is pounding like a drake is beating it. Then Professor Kale starts to test my port barrier and it feels like a drake is breathing flames on my head at the same time as beating it. My head is getting hotter each time the teacher tests my barrier. This really is agony.
“Midori!” Professor Kale exclaims and her attempts stop. I drop the port barrier in relief but my head is still hot and getting hotter. Then ice cold water drenches me and I fall to my knees in relief. “Your hair was starting to catch fire! By the queen, what happened?!”
“That’s why it was so hot.” I mumble, but then a thought strikes me. I run my hand over my short hair and to my relief it is still there. I look up at Professor Kale and ask nervously. “Does it still look ok?”
“It looks as sickly green as ever, but more importantly, why did it catch fire in the first place?”
“I hit an enchanted tree last night and got some sort of enchantment on me. An alchemist helped me, but dimensional magic has been hurting since then. I didn’t think I’d catch fire though! It still hurts.” I say and put my hand in my hair again. It is already hot despite the cold water that just drenched me. The rest of my body is cold from the water and I shiver miserably.
“Come with me, Midori.” Professor Kale tells me and I nod, grateful that she may be able to help take this pain away. I get up and follow her. As we reach the door she turns back to the class. “Practise your port barriers until I get back, unless you think you might catch fire too. Nobody else hit an enchanted tree, did they? No, well that’s good.”
I follow Professor Kale through the corridor until we reach class 2E. Professor Kale swings the door open with wind magic. The teacher inside has long metallic silver hair and shiny silver robes, but the most distinguishing thing about her is her lack of eyes. It’s not like she’s lost her eyes but as if they were never there in the first place. She turns to face us and it feels like she is looking at us despite her lack of eyes.
“How can I help you, Professor Kale?” The strange teacher asks emotionlessly.
“Could you come with me for a minute, Lady Silmarion? One of my students seems to be under an unusual enchantment.”
“Very well, Professor Kale. Everyone, make sure to continue practising, or you will work through your lunch break.” Lady Silmarion tells her class and then port in front of me. The door closes and it is just the three of us in the corridor.
Lady Silmarion runs the middle finger of her right hand across my throat from right to left and then does the same across my forehead. Then she places the palm of her right hand on my forehead. It feels very cooling but the heat returns when she removes her hand. Then she speaks to me in the same emotionless voice she used to talk to Professor Kale and her class.
“You need rest and cold. Return to your room and have a friend stay there with you. Have them reduce the temperature with ice magic and keep the room close to freezing. Get undressed and lie on your bed, but not under the covers. I’ll stop by your room this evening to check on you. You’ll feel awful, but it should get you past the aftereffects of the curse you were under.”
“Curse?!” I exclaim. I am even more shocked at that than at the drastic measures she just instructed me to take. Was the tree cursed and not simply enchanted?
“Yes. You were under a curse, which was removed by a very expensive potion. You’re lucky though, because very few people would have realised you needed that potion and even less could make or buy it. If not applied very quickly the curse you were under would have been fatal.”
“All because I hit a tree.” I say, shaking my head. I stop shaking my head very quickly though, because it hurts so badly.
“Do you know where this tree is?” Lady Silmarion asks, sounding a little concerned.
“In the forest.” I tell her with a wince.
“Do you have any enemies?” Lady Silmarion asks suspiciously.
“I don’t think so.”
“The curse you were under is not one that occurs naturally. It would seem that someone tried to kill you.” Lad
y Silmarion tells me and I gulp.
“There was someone trying to kill Peter and Cherry at Heaven’s Park on our day off.” I tell Silmarion who frowns.
“The criminal at Heaven’s Park was caught. They used to work at Heaven’s Park, but they lost their job the week before. Their magic wasn’t anywhere near good enough to create the curse you were under even with all the time in the world. Whoever cursed that tree must have done it at the last moment unless they had some way of knowing you would come into contact with the tree.”
“There’s no way they’d have known that. Even I didn’t know I would until I hit it.” I admit.
“Whatever happens, make sure you don’t use dimensional magic until I tell you it is safe. It will make the aftereffects of the curse much worse.” Silmarion warns me and for the first time there is a hint of concern in her voice. Of course I could have used a warning like that earlier.
Chapter 12 (Tomo)
A strange eyeless, long silver haired woman ports into the classroom right in front of me. She stares straight at me. Despite her complete lack of eyes I get the impression she sees everything. It is as if she’s looking into my soul. When she speaks her voice lacks even a hint of emotion.
“Tomo, return to your room and look after your roommate. There’s no need for either of you to attend lessons until she has recovered. Go. Now.” She says and my heart races as I think of Midori. Then the woman turns to look at Professor Sheffield.
“You heard Lady Silmarion!” Professor Sheffield barks at me. She looks rather uncomfortable as this woman, Lady Silmarion, stares at her.
“Yes, professor.” I say quickly. Then I stand and port back to my room. Midori is lying on her bed in just her underwear. She hasn’t even gotten under the covers and she is shivering like crazy.
“Tomo…” Midori whispers.
“Midori, you’ll freeze to death! We need to warm you up.” I exclaim, standing over her.
“No. I’m burning up. Silmarion said to reduce the room to almost freezing with ice magic and keep it like that.”
“But you’re shivering like crazy!” I protest, angry at this sadistic irresponsible teacher. Who does this Silmarion think she is?