Crystal Wing Academy: Book One: Outling

by Marty Mayberry

  Donovan passed the dragon and started down the path I’d taken the other day, toward the courtyard with the satyrs.

  We weren’t supposed to go anywhere alone. Not that I was paying much attention to the rule. But still, neither was Donovan.

  Zipping my backpack, I slid the straps over my shoulders and hurried past the auditorium and the empty classrooms. I exited the main building through the western door.

  No Donovan in sight.

  I raced across the narrow bridge and bolted toward the satyr courtyard. But before I reached it, movement to my right caught my eye.

  Why was Donovan jogging toward the forest?

  By the time I reached the edge of the woods, my pulse was thumping in my ears and there was no indication he’d come this way except scant imprints in the dewy grass.

  Just call me a rebel. I wasn’t supposed to be alone, and I also wasn’t supposed to return to the forest. Justine had asked for my promise. But what if the slake had called Donovan like he’d called Moira? I couldn’t let anything happen to him.

  Besides, I was curious. Something else was going on here, and I needed to figure it out.

  Justine had said I should’ve pinged her rather than help Moira myself. Should I ping her now? She could flit here in seconds. If she went after Donovan, the odds he’d survive would jump about three times what they were, now. Her magic was much stronger than mine. I’d flung fireballs willy-nilly. A cool skill, but I’d essentially be useless with it outside of a circus. The slake had easily evaded my attack and escaped.

  If Justine went into the forest, would she find the dragon? Alex had asked me to keep him a secret. Who knew what Justine would do to him? Magical creatures were welcome at the Academy but did that offer extend to dragons?

  I’d just take a peek…

  Following Donovan’s footprints, I stepped into the woods, remaining on a narrow path, moving deeper into the vegetation.

  Donovan said he was going to ask Justine about Bryce. Had Bryce lured Donovan here?

  The tracks led me to a wider area of the trail then disappeared.

  Where was he?

  “Donovan?” I whispered.

  Something dark slunk through the trees to my right, darting from one shadow to the next. My heart rate tripled, pounding in my throat.

  Dagger in hand, I pulled in threads of power until my moonstone flickered and sparkled.

  Last night, I’d thought a completely dark forest couldn’t get creepier. I was wrong. A forest full of shadows tracking my every move made my skin crawl with fear.

  I wanted to run back to my room and huddle beneath the covers.

  But I had to make sure Donovan was safe. Once I found him, we could leave the forest together and never return.

  A snap in the woods to my left sent me skittering forward two steps.

  “Donovan?” I whispered again. This felt too much like a repeat of last night with Moira.

  My dagger hummed in my hand as if it sensed danger and was prepared to defend me.

  Maybe I should—

  Something slammed into my back, knocking me forward, onto the ground. I scrambled to my feet, crouching with my blade clutched so tight, the hilt bit into my hand.

  A swooping from the left sent me whirling in that direction, but I found nothing but an overwhelming feeling of menace.

  “Who’s there?”

  From my right! I spun, catching something large and dark fluttering up into the canopy. My skin crawled, and my breathing grew ragged.

  Something stalked me, but what?

  “Stop it!” I cried out.

  A sledgehammer hit me in the back of the knees, and I toppled to the ground. My knife flew from my hand, landing with a thud among the leaves. Gasping, I clawed forward, straining to reach it.

  Someone grabbed my ankle and hauled me backward. My fingers dug into the soil, shredding nails and flesh, and my heart burst up into my throat. I choked back a sob.

  Kicking out, I dislodged whoever it was and scrambled forward. I snatched up my knife and, jumping to my feet, whirled around, seeking the enemy. Fire licked along my fingertips, and I ached to fling it at someone.

  No one was here.

  A slithering behind me made me spin, my dagger raised. As a dark, solid form dove toward me, I stumbled backward and tripped, falling on my butt. The dark shape flew up into the trees, and was quickly hidden among the branches and leaves.

  Bolting to my feet, I gasped at the person lying on the path I’d tripped over. “Cloven?”

  He lay unmoving, his head tilted downward, his limbs splayed wide.

  Shock and horror and sadness filled me. Was he dead? He couldn’t be. He was…a friend.

  Tears smarted in my eyes. Dropping down beside him, I grabbed his shoulders and shook him. “Cloven! Please be okay.” I gulped back a sob and put my ear near his mouth—a whisper of a breath slid across my cheek. His skin, shriveled, made him appear as if he’d aged twenty years since I saw him earlier today.

  It was perfectly clear what had happened. The slake had lured him here and drained him.

  He’d die if I didn’t help him but what could I do? He wouldn’t wake up, and I couldn’t drag him out of the forest by myself.

  If his power had been drained, could I feed him some of mine? My moonstone still gleamed, oversaturated with energy.

  I had to try.

  Grabbing the hilt of my blade in both hands, I squeezed them tight with the moonstone between them and pushed through my mind the words, please get better. Like when I yanked in threads of power, I pictured drawing power from my stone only, instead, feeding it into Cloven.

  Miraculously, his skin smoothed, and the tortured expression left his face. He gasped and his chest jolted, lifting his body up off the ground. His eyes opened.

  “Fleur?” Panic came through in his voice, and he clutched my arms. “Run! He’ll attack you. Hurt you.”

  “I’m not leaving without you. Can you get onto your feet if I help?”

  “By the fae! What happened?” Professor Mealor rushed over to us and stooped down beside me.

  My body sagged with relief. At least I wouldn’t have to deal with this all on my own. “The slake drained Cloven’s power, but I gave him some of mine.”

  “Wow.” Admiration shone in the Professor’s eyes. “How is this possible? You’re a First Year student. Most Second Year students would find a task like that a challenge. Although, you are very powerful. More powerful than anyone the Academy has seen in years.”

  I shrugged because, really, everything about magic was new to me. “I don’t know. I just thought about pushing out power instead of pulling it in. I’m grateful it worked.”

  “Fleur,” Professor Mealor said, his eyes darting around the area. “I want you to go get the Headmistress. I’ll remain here with Cloven. He’s too weak to run. It’s too dangerous to stay here for long. The slake—”

  “I saw it.”

  “I tried to identify who it was but was unable. Their cloak—”

  “It attacked me!”

  His fingers tightened on my arm. “Were you harmed? It didn’t drain any power, did it?”

  “No. It only knocked me down.” Played with me like a cat about to rip through a mouse’s throat. “Can’t we ping the Headmistress?”

  “The woods are enchanted. Elemental magic won’t work here.”

  But I’d used elemental magic to help Cloven. Or had I used power and an unknown skapti to heal him?

  “Go!” Professor Mealor urged me to my feet, staring toward the deep woods to his right. “I…I think it’s coming! I’ll keep Cloven safe.”

  What about Donovan?

  All I needed to do was reach the edge of the forest. Then I could ping Justine. After she left me, I could slink around to the north and back into the woods to look for Donovan. If the slake could attack and harm Cloven, he could be doing the same to Donovan right now.

  I started running but turned back to tell Professor Mealor…

&
nbsp; He leaned over Cloven, who writhed and moaned as Professor Mealor…A slake!

  The slake.

  And he was draining the power I’d given Cloven.

  My nails bit into my palms as anger roared through me.

  “No!” Rushing forward, I flung myself at Professor Mealor, smacking into him, driving him off Cloven. We tumbled onto the ground in a scramble of limbs.

  In a flash, the Professor flipped me onto my back and leaned closer.

  His gaze captured mine and I froze, unable to break free. Just like with Bryce, only worse…There was a difference. Bryce…He hadn’t been draining me. I’d been wrong about him all this time.

  My hands twitched, but my body went limp. My neck…It arched backward.

  I fell into an endless quicksand where the thought of moving became impossible.

  “So easy,” Professor Mealor said. “I sensed your tremendous power immediately. I’ve been calling you.”

  Calling. Not the dragon. Professor Mealor. All this time…

  As if I dragged my hand through mud, I sluggishly raised it and tried to push him off, but I might as well try to nudge a boulder with my pinky. My hand flopped back to my side, and I flinched when it hit my blade. Searing pain flared across my palm, and I knew I’d cut it on the edge.

  Was it possible to wet my stone a second time?

  Professor Mealor tipped my head further back to gain access to my throat.

  Beneath my hand, my blade grew hotter than lava.

  Power surged up through my arm, and I sucked in a gasp of air. Stinging pain burst from my fingertips and a fireball hit the Professor in the chest, hurling him up and off me.

  While I gulped and rolled onto my side, coughing, he staggered to his feet and rushed me, shoving me onto my back again.

  A bolt of lightning struck the ground beside us. The earth heaved and smoke rose into the air.

  Donovan raced over and flung himself onto Professor Mealor. They tumbled to the ground. Donovan leaped to his feet and stood between us, providing a wall the Professor could not scale.

  Rain lashed the area, smacking the ground, and lightning crackled along Donovan’s fingertips. He flung bolts at the Professor, who screamed and writhed and staggered backward, his hands clutched to his chest. Smoke curled from beneath his fingers, and he stared down in horror.

  Lifting his head, the Professor glared at Donovan. His mouth opened, and his gaze locked onto mine. He pulled.

  I jolted as my power surged up through me, bursting from my neck in colorful strands.

  “No!” Donovan shouted. He tripped, falling sideways, but that gave me the opportunity I needed.

  Drawing threads from around me in thick, coiled ropes, I flipped them around and released them in a huge fireball. It hit Professor Mealor in the chest, flinging him backward. He smacked into a tree. As he slumped at the base, lightning arced down from the sky. It hit his shoulders and curled along his arms. More erupted from the clouds, combining into one huge bolt. Flashing through the air and turning night into day, the lightning hit Professor Mealor in the neck, severing his head from his shoulders.

  He slumped sideways on the ground, his body aflame. He lay unmoving as the fire consumed him.

  Nothing was left after the rain extinguished the blaze but a smoldering pile of ash.

  Donovan staggered over to me and dropped down onto his knees then onto his back beside me. I rose up onto my arm and stared down at him.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “I could ask the same about you.” His hair flopped across his forehead. “Never seen a green and blue fireball before.” He wiped his hand across his forehead. “And I’ve never done anything like that before, myself. Lightning. Wow.”

  “Just a normal weather guy, huh?”

  “You play with fire; I play with the clouds.”

  “I think we’re a great combination.”

  He grinned and stroked the hair off my face. “The best.”

  Chapter 28

  “You are so freakin’ gorgeous,” Patty said.

  Standing in front of the mirror, I studied my reflection then met her gaze in the glass. “You think so?” Patty’s sister, Paisley, had flitted to the Academy and gifted me this dress.

  When I was little, the girl next door went to the prom. I’d been outside, riding my bike, when the guy arrived in a limo to pick her up. Her parents had posed them in the garden for pictures, and I’d watched her with major envy.

  Now, I was the one going to prom. Or, in Crystal Wing Academy’s case, the Grand Ball.

  My pale blue, floor-length gown was studded with tiny white roses. Puffy sleeves dropped to my elbow, leaving my lower arms bare, and the rounded neckline dipped low enough to hint at cleavage.

  “You want to wear one of my necklaces?” Patty asked.

  Since I’d gone with my original blue hair color, I’d removed the concealer and wore only the sterling chain from Ester. “No, this is enough, don’t you think?”

  She smiled. “It looks pretty.”

  “I love what you did with my hair.” She’d swept it up and wove in tiny roses, and I’d done the same with hers. “I kind of look like a princess.”

  “You are a princess.”

  “Not really, but thanks.” No such thing as an outling princess.

  “Fake it until you make it.”

  Laughing, I turned to face her. “You look great, Patty. You’re so beautiful.”

  She spun in a circle, showing off her lavender gown that looked awesome with her pink hair.

  Someone knocked on the door. We widened our eyes at each other, and our nervous giggles filled the air.

  “They’re here!” Patty said, her lips thinning. “Do I really look okay?”

  “You’re going to knock him off his feet.”

  “I like that!” Confidence restored, she winked. “It’s always good to keep guys guessing.”

  “Remain a mystery, huh?”

  “Exactly.” Composing her face, she opened the door.

  Bryce, dressed in a dark suit, gulped when he saw her. They’d been meeting up on the sly, hence her correct assumption he couldn’t have been the slake draining Moira. To keep others from questioning him, Cloven and the Headmistress had hidden him away in the teacher’s apartments until it was over. Bryce going to the forest before Moira had been a coincidence. He’d actually hoped to meet Patty there to make out, though they’d never connected. Moira had been called by Professor Mealor. I wasn’t the only student he’d tried to lure from the Academy.

  “Come in! Come in!” Patty snatched at Bryce’s arm and dragged him inside. “Don’t just stand there.”

  “Looking great, Bryce,” I said, and he grinned. He and I might not be best friends yet, but we were working on it.

  Donovan remained in the hall behind Bryce, looking beyond hot in a dark suit. He strode inside my room and leaned close to my ear. “You are gorgeous.”

  My face overheating, I smoothed my hands down my dress. “Thank you.”

  He pulled a small cluster of flowers from behind his back, where he’d hidden it. “For you.”

  “Oh! Wow. They’re pretty.”

  “It’s a wrist corsage.”

  Like the one the neighbor girl got from her date. Tiny flowers in blue, purple, white, and green.

  He fastened it around my wrist.

  “Are you ready to go?” he asked, holding out his arm.

  “Yes.” I couldn’t believe I was going to the Grand Ball with a hot guy, that I’d helped defeat a rogue slake, and that I’d made it through Academy Orientation with all my limbs intact. Tonight, we would celebrate our efforts. And mentally prepare ourselves for the rest of the school year.

  We took the skybridge at the end of the hall that crossed over to the main building. When we exited the entirely-glass tunnel, the ballroom waited for us, straight ahead.

  Two nymphs in flowery gowns stood beside each of the doors on tiptoe. “Would you like to enter?” They asked in melodic harmony.


  I stalled and turned to Donovan. “I still can’t dance.” I’d meant to learn but in all the uproar, I’d forgotten to ask Patty.

  “No worries,” he said. “You can use elemental magic.”

  My fingers stopped trembling for the first time in days. “Really? You should’ve told me that earlier.” Now, I couldn’t wait to hit the Ball.

  I nodded to the nymphs and they swept the doors open.

  We stepped inside and paused to take it all in. When we’d come here before, we’d been alone and we hadn’t turned on the lights.

  Fireflies drifted across the ceiling, making the entire room glow and, in the corner, a band of centaurs played instruments I hadn’t seen before in my life.

  Girls in gowns swayed to the music with each other or with guys in suits. I looked around but didn’t see Moira or Alys, though I knew they’d be here. They’d left with dates before Donovan and Bryce arrived.

  “Dance?” Donovan asked, holding out his hand.

  I dipped into a curtsy. Well, I tried a curtsy, but, jeez, I’d lived in the woods with a freakin’ sketar witch who wasn’t exactly into fancy decorum.

  When Donovan’s lips twitched, I knew my curtsy needed as much work as my magic.

  Donovan’s arm slipped around my waist, and he held my right hand at shoulder level. Crap. A waltz.

  Closing my eyes, I willed myself to dance—using elemental magic—as Donovan spun me around the room.

  It wasn’t bad. In fact, my feet moved where they were supposed to and I didn’t bump into anyone. There was something special about spinning around the room in the arms of a guy you liked.

  “This is so much fun!” I said. I tipped my head back and laughed as he dipped me backward.

  “Open your eyes,” he said as I straightened.

  “If I do, I’ll step all over your feet.”

  “You won’t.” Humor came through in his voice. “I promise.”

  The song ended, and we stopped moving.

  “At least my elemental magic kept me from looking like a fool,” I said with a big grin.

  His cheeks darkened. “Confession time.”

  I narrowed my eyes.

  “There’s no elemental magic spell for dancing.”