“I meant that I didn’t do it,” Volinette snapped, her voice raising to a near shout. “I didn’t cast any spell. I slipped into the Quintessential Sphere and—”
She broke off. Baris was her closest friend in the Academy, but she wasn’t sure she wanted him to know what had happened. She’d never heard of any Quintessentialist being able to cast spells without knowing them beforehand. She was enough of an outcast already. She didn’t need to make matters any worse.
“And what?” Baris prompted, still stroking his chin.
It was obvious that he wasn’t just going to let this go. She might be able to wiggle out of explaining it now, but eventually he would wear her down and Volinette would end up telling him. Might as well just get it over with now, she thought.
“You’re going to think I’m crazy,” she said, her shoulders sagging.
“Try me.” Baris hopped up on the table next to her and let his legs dangle off the side. “We live in a pretty unique place.”
“The sphere sang to me,” she blurted, deciding that getting it all out at once was best. “It was like I could hear the words in my head a second before they came out of my mouth. I’d never heard those words before, not in a spell, not in a song. Somehow, though, I sang them. The Sphere told me what to sing and I sang it.”
To his credit, Baris didn’t laugh at her, which is what Volinette had expected him to do. Instead, he sat on the table and stroked his chin, swinging his legs back and forth and staring into space.
“Well?” she demanded.
“Well what?”
“Well tell me what you’re thinking! I just told you that I’m probably a monster or a freak. You think I’m crazy, right? There’s no way that could actually have happened. I don’t even believe it, and I’m the one it happened to!”
“I don’t think you’re crazy.” He was dead serious. Something that was such a rarity for Baris that it scared Volinette more than what she’d just done. “I was just thinking about what Master Jotun said, about you being special. I think he’s right. I think you’re something that nobody’s ever seen before.”
Before she could stop herself, Volinette leapt to her feet and threw her arms around him. She kissed Baris on the cheek.
“Hey!” he exclaimed, pulling away. “What’d you do that for?”
“Because you’re amazing.”
“Well, that much is true.” His grin faded a trifle. “I think we ought to see Master Jotun and tell him what you did.”
A tight knot of fear tied itself around Volinette’s stomach. She swallowed, the sound much louder than it should have been in the quiet classroom.
“I’ll get in trouble,” she whispered.
Baris laughed.
“I doubt it. Master Jotun was Head Master of the Academy for sixty years. He’s seen every form of mischief and merry-making known to man. More importantly, he bears no particular love for the Navita family. They’re the ones who ousted him, you know?”
“Really?”
Baris nodded. “Yep. Convinced a bunch of the Masters that he was too old to continue his duties. They had him shunted off to the Great Library for his trouble. Janessa’s dad thought he’d just slide into the Head Master’s office, but Master Jotun got him good.”
“How?”
“Master Jotun’s clever,” Baris said, his eyes twinkling. “He put in a word with Master Indra and Lacrymosa and they worked their gift of gab on a few of the more influential Masters. Things sort of snowballed from there. They elected Maera as Head Master by one of the largest margins in history. Master Jotun says the Navitas were furious.”
“Sounds like someone who I can trust with my unique…er…problem.”
“Not much of a problem, if you ask me. Saved our butts today, didn’t it?”
Baris grinned at her and hopped off the table. He extended his hand, waggling it at her until she took it, experiencing the customary tingle.
“Come on, I’m starving. Let’s go get something to eat, then we can see about talking to Master Jotun.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You will be, though. You did some pretty hefty magic there, whether you know how you did it or not.”
As if agreeing with Baris, her stomach rumbled loudly.
“Alright! Alright!” she cried, laughing.
Hand in hand, they left the classroom. As they entered the hallway, the entire building shook, the ground beneath their feet heaving so violently that they had to clutch the wall to keep from falling. Baris turned to Volinette.
“What the hell was that?”
Chapter Sixteen
Violent shaking heaved the earth up and down beneath their feet, tossing Volinette and Baris against the walls of the corridor. They sank to the floor, clutching each other as much to keep from being separated by the upheaval as for emotional support. A fine sifting of dust slipped from the joints in the walls and ceiling, floating to the ground with a peacefulness in stark contrast to the savagery of the shaking.
After a minute that seemed like an hour, the disturbance passed. Confused students appeared in the corridor, looking around for an explanation for the unexpected assault. Volinette pushed herself to her feet first. She extended her hand to Baris, giving him a little yank and getting him back to his feet again. He glanced around with a shrug.
“Well, that was interesting.”
The crowd parted as Master Casto came striding down the hall, his long robes swirling around his ankles. He stopped here and there for a word with a Master or with a student. His bushy eyebrows went up when he came across Volinette and her companion.
“Still here? I’d have thought you’d be enjoying your midday break. Is something wrong?”
“Nothing Volinette couldn’t handle,” Baris quipped. She punched him in the arm and scowled in his direction, hoping he’d get the message and shut his mouth.
“What was that tremor, Master Casto?” Volinette asked loudly, drowning out Baris’s cry of pain and protest.
Master Casto frowned and shook his head.
“I don’t know. I’m actually on my way to find Master Vendur so that I can ask him that very question.” He cast a sharp look at Baris. “Have either of you seen him?”
“Not today,” Baris replied before Volinette could get a word in edgewise.
Fulgent’s eyes lingered on the young man’s face a moment longer, just long enough to be disconcerting. Then he nodded.
“If you do, please tell him that I’m looking for him. I’ll see you both for second session this afternoon.”
After Master Casto had moved down the hall, Baris rounded on Volinette.
“Hey! What’d you do that for?”
“Not everyone in the Academy needs to know about the kind of mess we’re in, Baris. I know you think it’s all just a big adventure, but I’m thinking about our future here.”
“Worrying about it, you mean,” Baris replied with a sour face. “It doesn’t hurt for anyone to know what’s going to happen to Janessa. She’s got it coming. Besides, the rumor is going to spread with or without our help.”
“Still, we don’t need to be throwing fuel on the fire.”
Baris shrugged. “Alright. Whatever you say.”
The students who had been milling about in the corridor were being herded back into their respective classrooms by the Masters overseeing their instruction. There really wasn’t any reason to hang about in the school wing, other than the fact that Volinette was worried about meeting up with the harpies in the cafeteria.
“I wonder what’s for lunch today,” Baris mused, turning toward the end of the corridor that was nearest to the courtyard across from the cafeteria. It was as if he could read Volinette’s mind. He made a face. “It better not be pickled sea snake again. I don’t know what it is about these people, but their fondness for weird sea creatures as food takes some getting used to.”
He reached down and took her by the hand. She ignored the faint pain of link-shock as it danced between them.
>
“C’mon,” he said. “Nixi isn’t likely to show her face in public until that shiner I gave her goes down a little.”
Volinette gave him a tolerant smile and followed him to the door at the end of the corridor. He took entirely too much joy in the damage he’d done to the girl. Not that she didn’t deserve it, but it wasn’t a proper thing to gloat about.
They turned onto the wide lane leading up to the Great Tower. A low stone wall separated the walkway from the well-manicured grass just beyond. The grounds of the Academy of Arcane Arts and Sciences were renowned across the Imperium for the wide variety of exotic species of plants and flowers that grew there. A little magical intervention helped some of the specimens thrive, even though they were so very far from home. Volinette loved to look at the flowers on her way to and from the various buildings in the complex.
One of her favorites was the Etherlily, a flowering bush that responded to subtle variations in the Quintessential Sphere. As they passed it, Volinette succumbed to habit and glanced over at it. What she saw took her breath away. The blooms, usually vibrant with bright whites, yellows, and pinks, were dark blue and black. The green fronds at the base of the plant reached out toward the girls’ dormitory, as if they were trying to draw the building closer.
“Baris,” Volinette gasped. “Look at that!”
“Yeah, it’s pretty. Can we go? I’m hungry.”
Volinette wanted to explain how significant the change in the flower was, that there was definitely something wrong for it to be behaving so strangely. She tried to find the words to voice her concern, but it was too late.
Dark clouds were forming over the girls’ dorm. Billows of black and violet seemed to engulf the building. Flashes of purple light danced within the clouds, accompanied by the sound of tortured howls that made the hair on the back of Volinette’s neck stand on end.
“Okay,” Baris said, backing away from the wall. “I’m not hungry anymore, but I really want to go now.”
“I think you’re right, but where? I guess seeing Master Jotun will have to wait.”
A rage-filled bellow came from inside the cloud surrounding the dormitory. The bellow was answered by a series of high, shrill screams. A few girls bolted out of the swirling mist, shooting off in every direction, as they got clear of whatever was happening inside.
“Into the tower, both of you, now!” a familiar voice yelled from behind them. Volinette tossed a look over her shoulder and saw Olin Oldwell. He was ushering a handful of other apprentices toward the tower. As soon as the majority of them had disappeared up the path toward the tower, Olin leapt the wall and raced toward the enshrouded dorm.
Olin had nearly reached the wall of shadow when the most horrific thing Volinette had ever seen jumped out of the darkness and landed with a howl on the green grass of the courtyard. It towered over Olin and was a giant compared to the girls who hadn’t managed to escape before it arrived. It stood half-again as tall as the tallest man Volinette had ever seen.
Its six legs were roped with bunches of glistening black muscle and supported a fat, squat body. Atop the front part of the body, a huge horned head perched, swiveling to and fro as if searching for prey with its six crimson eyes, one for each leg. Rows upon rows of sharp fangs made up the lower part of the head and oozed with milky white secretions. It was something Volinette never could have imagined, not even in her worst nightmares.
“Inside,” Volinette managed to say, stumbling backward away from the wall as Baris had done moments earlier. “We need to get inside, Baris. Now!”
Baris didn’t answer. He seemed to be rooted to the spot. His eyes were following the massive thing as it stalked Olin. The Inquisitor had stopped just beyond the reach of the predator staring down at him. Olin shouted the words of a spell, made unintelligible by the distance between them. The air in front of the Inquisitor shimmered, blurring the clouds and the dormitory building beyond.
With a scream that made Volinette’s blood run cold, the thing wound down into a crouch, the powerful leg muscles bunching with straining effort. It sprang forward. A moment later it folded in on itself as it collided with the barrier Olin had erected. The force of the impact rocked the Inquisitor back on his heels. He managed to keep his footing, but he was dangerously off balance.
Volinette was torn between the tower and the courtyard. One offered the safety of being amongst the most powerful mages in the Imperium. The other offered a fight that she wasn’t sure Olin could win on his own. There was no one else who could help the Inquisitor. No one except herself and Baris.
“Come on,” she said, putting her palm against the base of Baris’s neck. She was counting on link-shock being enough to knock the boy out of his paralysis. It worked. Baris jumped, batting her hand away. He rounded on her, eyes blazing with power he’d drawn from the Quintessential Sphere.
“Volinette.” He seemed to recognize her from across a vast distance. Part of him was still in the sphere. “We’ve got to help. Nobody else will make it in time.”
“I know.” She shot a quick look out across the courtyard. The monster was slamming its forelegs into Olin’s barrier, forcing him backward toward the tower. When she looked back, Baris was already over the wall and rushing toward Olin.
Baris was hurling spears of white light as he ran. The projectiles were brighter and more powerful than any Volinette had seen him cast before. Most of them went wide, missing his target by several feet or more. Those that did make contact ripped shallow furrows in the ink-black flesh, spraying green ichor from the wounds.
The thing stopped advancing on Olin and turned to face the new threat. Wavering on unsteady legs, it swayed back and forth, as if weighing its options in what to attack first. Apparently deciding that Baris was the more vulnerable prey, it turned on the young Quintessentialist and scurried forward with surprising speed.
Volinette slipped into the Quintessential Sphere and the world took on the strange silver-gray cast that stemmed from sphere sight. Focusing with all her will, she summoned forth memories of flame. Through the Sphere, she brought forward the echo of every hunter’s campfire, of lanterns hung over dinner tables, and of a hundred million candles that had been burning in the timelessness of the Sphere for thousands of years. These memories she channeled into the palm of her hand. She felt the flames spring to life, hovering just above her skin, bathing her in their warmth.
She tried to hurl the ball of flame at the beast advancing on Baris, but something stopped her. No matter how hard she tried to direct the projectile, her hand stayed frozen out in front of her. Master Jotun’s words echoed down the tunnel of her mind. She couldn’t block them out. Something special, something special, something special. The words throbbed in her head like a heartbeat, added to by the same words repeated by Baris later. Two simple words that became a chorus, blocking out everything else, even the ability to save her best friend from certain death.
“I don’t know what you want from me!” she cried, but instead of coming from her throat, the words in her head sliced through the cacophony like a blade.
The answer came not in the form of words, but in a strange tickle in her chest. She took a deep breath, trying to ease the strange feeling. Her diaphragm moved down, sustaining the inhalation, and Volinette realized what the Sphere wanted her to do. Closing her eyes, she blocked out the last vestiges of the physical world. Volinette sang, beginning with a single clarion note and waiting for the words to come.
Come they did, unbidden, as if whispered to her on the back of a roaring wind. She sang the words as quickly as they tumbled through her head. The flames still burned in one hand, but in the other, she felt the power of the Sphere coalescing. Volinette screwed her eyes shut tight, determined not to break her commune with the Ethereal Realm until it had finished speaking, or singing, through her. As the last note passed her parched lips, her eyes sprang open and she marveled at the blue-white globe of energy that hovered above her other hand.
It pulsed gently, thrumming
with a faint echo of the words she had just sung. Baris’s scream of fear brought her back into the moment, and she looked up to see the creature on top of the boy. Baris had been knocked to the ground and the thing was standing over him, reared up on its middle and rear legs. The forelegs were drawn up, preparing to strike a killing blow. There was no time to waste.
As series of brilliant yellow globes smashed into the monster’s head from the side, bright flashes of light exploding around it. Olin’s offense pushed it off to one side, giving Baris just enough time to roll from under the descending legs. He wouldn’t last very long unless the battle was ended and soon.
Pain seared through Volinette’s head and chest, feedback from the power of the Sphere she’d held for what seemed like hours. If she didn’t release it, she knew the psychic backlash of the dissipating spell might kill her. She looked out across the courtyard, trained her mind’s eye on the massive monster’s head, and extended her hands.
As she released her hold on the orbs, they streaked across the open area between Volinette and her foe. Baris, just getting to his feet, threw himself back to the ground to avoid being hit by her missiles. The ball of flame hit first, exploding into a wreath of flame that encircled the beast’s head, making it roar in anger and pain. The other sphere, the one of blue-white magic summoned through her song, hit a second later, and Volinette watched what happened next with amazement.
The flames, which had been confined to the great head, multiplied, rippling down the lines and curves of the body. Living snakes of flame entwined the beast, growing, spreading, and covering it until the entire body was a mass of magic fire. The flames began to pulse in the same way the Sphere had done. With each new flash of fire, the thing screamed louder. It pulsed faster and faster, until the brightness of the fire was so great that Volinette had to shield her eyes from the conflagration. It exploded, raining smoldering flesh and ichor down over the courtyard. Volinette escaped most of the gore, but poor Baris was covered in it.
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