A number of students exchanged surprised looks as excited whispers filled the room.
“All right, then. Everyone follow me. You can leave your things here.” Professor Yates waved us on as he moved toward the door.
Serenity’s grin and the foreboding gleam in her eyes called to mind the wild, cruel joy that had contorted her face during our first encounter in the dining hall, and my stomach sank as I wondered about the source of her current anticipation.
Professor Yates led us down the hall to a large door made of a dark metal that was nearly the same color as his cloak. He produced a large silver key from within his cloak and held it up as he turned to us.
“The other Martial Magic Professors and I are the only people with keys to this room, and it is absolutely off limits to students without the direct supervision of a faculty member. Understood?”
He glared down his long, sharp nose, and was met with wary nods.
“Good. Then welcome to The Arena.” A meaty thud issued from within the door as he turned the key. He pulled open the door and gestured for us to enter, standing aside as he held the door to let us pass.
The students at the front of the group gasped and chattered excitedly as they entered the room. I strained to see over the heads of the people directly in front of me, but couldn’t see anything of the room’s interior.
Professor Yates grinned down at me as I passed him, and another shiver shot down my spine. He seemed nice enough so far, but I made a mental note of the weird feeling. At this point, it would almost have been easier to make note of the people at Broken Wand Academy that hadn’t given off some kind of weird or ominous vibe.
I returned a polite smile as I crossed the threshold, and all other thoughts were put on hold as I surveyed my surroundings.
We had stepped into a massive circular space with a floor of fine, soft earth. It was impossible to say whether there was an actual ceiling somewhere within the murky darkness above us, though a strange luminance issued from an unidentified source in that direction. Six-foot high concrete walls formed an oval ring around the earthen floor, and lit torches were placed in sconces at regular intervals along them.
I wandered out into the center of the space with the other students, gazing up open-mouthed as I turned in a slow circle. It was hard to discern much, but there seemed to be stars scattered among the formless dark, and I had a vague sense that we were no longer on the Broken Wand Academy campus proper. My attention was brought back to the ground by a loud metallic clang, which turned out to be Professor Yates slamming the large door shut.
“Impressive, isn’t it?” Professor Yates strode towards us on his long, stilt-like legs, his arms spread wide as he glanced up into the sky—or ceiling, or whatever it was. “As I said, this is The Arena. It will be the location of most of our Martial Magic classes this semester.”
Serenity moved to stand beside him as he paced to the center of the space.
“While other types of magic can be more academic in nature, martial magic is very, ah…” He flashed a grin at Serenity. “Visceral. It can’t be learned properly through books or lectures, even at the introductory level. No, the only way to learn it is to get out and do it.”
Professor Yates gestured for us to back up and nodded to Serenity. She took several paces away from him as we widened the half-circle around them. She turned back toward him and inclined her head, apparently indicating her preparedness.
Yates drew in a deep breath and widened his stance. He swept his right hand out in an arc, his forefinger and thumb extended and the rest of his fingers clenched, while the fingers of his left hand cycled through several deliberate gestures. As he drew his right hand back toward his stomach, it appeared to pull a trail of shimmering energy through the air.
I glanced at Serenity, who waved her hands in front of her in slow, circular motions, her fingers dancing as well. The air in front of her shimmered, like it does over the road on a really hot day.
Professor Yates’ nostrils flared, and he clenched his left hand into a fist as he thrust his right palm in Serenity’s direction. A loud whump issued as a blast of dull bluish light shot from his palm.
As the blast rushed toward her, Serenity stopped weaving her circles and held her hands palms-out in front of her. Her left hand was arranged vertically in front of her face with the thumb parallel to the ground, while her right hand was oriented horizontally in front of her chest with the thumb pointing up toward her right hand.
She scowled and grunted as Professor Yates’ blast stopped just in front of her outstretched hands and hung in the air. She drew in a quick breath before swirling her hands in a small circle and separating them like an umpire signaling a baserunner safe. The light—or energy, or whatever it had been—dissipated with a whoosh as she dashed her hands apart.
The students erupted with applause as Professor Yates and Serenity exchanged smiles and bowed respectfully to each other.
“Who wants to go next?” Professor Yates chuckled as he surveyed the suddenly silent crowd. “Nobody? You won’t be going up against me, mind you. It’s just Serenity, here, and she’s only had one year of training more than all of you.”
Serenity narrowed her eyes as she smirked at us. “I don’t know, they look a little scared to me, Professor.”
“Ah, I see.” Professor Yates pursed his lips and nodded his agreement. “Well, I assure you there’s nothing to be scared of.” He patted the air in front of him as he addressed us. “That’s exactly why we use The Arena for training. You see, this room has a different set of rules than the rest of the Academy.” He spread his arms and spun around. “I won’t go too deep into the details. I’m afraid that without a fairly in-depth understanding of both illusion and planar magic, you wouldn’t even begin to comprehend the complex methodology.” He shook his head and waved a dismissive hand. “Suffice it to say, in this room, you cannot actually injure one another, or yourself. It is the only place at the Academy where we can unleash the full potential of our powers without fear of repercussions. Any volunteers now?” He looked around expectantly, but still, everyone remained silent.
He laughed again and glanced at Serenity, who shook her head.
“Very well. I suppose I’ll have to choose, then.” He considered us through narrowed eyes as he stroked his sharp, narrow chin with a long bony finger.
Serenity’s wicked grin was becoming all too familiar to me. She glanced at me out the side of her eye and winked before smiling innocently at Professor Yates. “How about the Proteus, Professor?”
“Hmm, excellent idea, Ms. Walker.” Yates scanned the crowd and settled his cool gaze on me. “Ms. Song, is it?”
I glanced around the crowd, uncomfortable now that everyone’s eyes were suddenly on me. I turned back to Professor Yates.
“Yeah, uh, Meena, actually.”
“Excellent. Well, Meena? Care to join us up here?” He raised his eyebrows and tipped his head toward the space between him and Serenity.
“Uh, nah. I’m good.” The students around me laughed and murmured as I shook my head and pursed my lips.
“Ah, you’re ‘good,’ huh?” Professor Yates frowned and furrowed his brow. “Maybe you wouldn’t mind coming up here and showing us just how ‘good’ you really are?”
I grimaced and shook my head again. “No, really, that’s okay. Someone else can go first.”
After my history and healing classes yesterday I had wanted a bit more excitement, and here it was, a chance to learn some actual magic. But I absolutely did not intend to be abused by Serenity in front of a crowd again.
Professor Yates glared. “I’m afraid this isn’t a request, Ms. Song.” He pointed to the ground next to him. “Up here, now.”
“Poor thing has no control over her powers, Professor.” Serenity’s voice dripped with mock pity. “She’s probably just terrified to make a complete fool of herself. Again.” She gave a sly smile and the students closest to her chuckled.
My nails dug into my pa
lms as I clenched my fists. I didn’t want her taunts to affect me, but there was no way I could just stand there and let her harass me. Not when I was in a position to actually do something about it this time.
“Okay, fine.” I pushed through the crowd and marched up to Professor Yates, who stepped aside and swept his arm to indicate where I should stand. I took my place across from Serenity, who peered at me with a cocky sneer. “What do I do?” I asked without taking my eyes off her.
“You’ll be learning the defensive spell.” Professor Yates turned to address the other students. “Everyone pay close attention, as this is today’s lesson. It’s a basic ward of mitigation, good for defending against pretty much any sort of ranged attack, magical or otherwise.” He paced down the line of students as he spoke. “It’s a very simple spell, and obviously only as powerful as the witch who casts it, but once mastered, this ward will diminish the effect of almost any attack launched against you from a distance.” He moved back toward me as he continued to address everyone. “You’ll need more than this ward alone to properly defend yourself against a competent witch, of course. But a well-cast ward of mitigation is one of the most versatile tools in a martial mage’s repertoire.” He looked down his long nose at me and raised his eyebrows. “Ready?”
“I guess.”
He took up position next to me and demonstrated the finger positions, moving his hands in front of him in slow, overlapping circles as Serenity had done. The air shimmered faintly as he demonstrated, though when I imitated him, nothing happened.
“Focus on gathering the energy from the space around you.” He swept his hand in front of him and the air crackled and sparked in its wake. “You don’t need to create anything to generate this ward, only focus and manipulate the energy that’s already all around you. You’ll feel it when you’ve started to get it, so just concentrate, be patient, and try to sense each individual particle as the energy builds.”
Professor Yates corrected the positioning of my fingers while I tried to mimic his motions. After a few failed attempts my eyes lit up, and a huge grin spread across my face as the air stirred in front of me.
“Good. Now stay focused, Meena. You feel it?”
I nodded as I beamed with excitement. The sensation was intoxicating. It was like receiving a jolt of static electricity, only the shock reverberated softly from my hands throughout my whole body. It generated a warm, liquid feeling, like the time we’d snuck a taste of Eric’s dad’s whiskey.
“Hold your form, but stay loose. Let the energy flow through you.” I assumed that Professor Yates was still standing next to me, but his voice came to me as if from a great distance, distracted as I was by the wonder of performing actual magic.
I screwed up my features in concentration as I focused on the building energy that followed the movements of my hands as they circled each other.
“Good, Meena, good.” He nodded approvingly as the air in front of my hands swirled and grew hazy.
I tried to ignore the eyes of the other students, which I could feel on me. Serenity was harder to ignore, however, as she stood across from me with her arms folded across her chest and her hip cocked.
“Excellent, Meena, very good. Let’s give it a try, yes?” He stepped aside and gestured toward Serenity, who uncrossed her arms and flashed me a hungry grin.
I glanced sideways toward Professor Yates, but kept my concentration on my hands, afraid that if I lost the rhythm, I wouldn’t get it back before Serenity unleashed on me. I was fairly certain she wasn’t going to hold back. “Uh, are you sure?”
“You’ll be fine, Meena. Like I said, the rules are different in here. Absolutely nothing to worry about.” Professor Yates’ confident tone was meant to reassure me, but Serenity’s wild smirk was fairly unsettling.
“Come on, Drifter.” Serenity’s eyes glimmered. “You’re not scared, are you? Feeling a little exposed without your tub?” Her grin intensified and several of the students in the crowd chuckled.
I clenched my jaw as I continued to weave my circles. “Bring it on, witch.”
“Oh, with pleasure.” Serenity’s mad grin widened, and I felt as stab of regret as I questioned the wisdom in aggravating a cruel witch who was obviously far more experienced than myself.
Chapter 7
“Okay, Meena, when Serenity launches her attack, try to feel the energy radiating off her spell as it moves toward you. Just before it reaches you, you’ll need to solidify your ward to absorb the attack.”
Professor Yates positioned his hands in the same way that Serenity had held hers as she braced for Yates’ attack.
“Right now, you’re weaving together a loose web of energy.” He circled his hands again and the air in front of him immediately shimmered. “If you just continued to weave like this, Serenity’s attack would pass right through your ward like a slippery little fish through an oversized net. So, right at the moment of impact, you need to stitch your ward together.” He repositioned his hands with the palms facing out and flexed the fingers of both hands like he was squeezing a tennis ball. “You’ve already done the work of harnessing the energy, you just need to draw it together and tighten it up.”
I positioned my hands with the palms out and flexed my fingers like Professor Yates had done. The swirling air in front of me seemed to crystallize, locking together into what appeared to be a semi-solid structure.
“Excellent, Meena!” Professor Yates inspected the shimmering, translucent lacework that extended in front of me from my knees to the top of my head. “Exceptional work.” His lips curled into a smile as he studied me a little more closely than I was comfortable with. “You are a quick study, Ms. Song. Very impressive.”
I gave a weak smile and relaxed my fingers. “Thanks.”
The crystalline structure of the ward dissolved, and I resumed weaving my hands in circles as I cycled through the series of finger positions I had already memorized. The air began to shimmer again, and I felt the energy building in front of me, resonating through my fingertips, down my arms, and through my entire body, all the way down to my toes.
The sensation really was incredible, unlike anything I had ever felt before. This feeling alone was enough to convince me that I had made the right choice to stay at Broken Wand Academy, despite everything else that had happened.
“Now the timing is crucial. Obviously, if you stitch the ward together too late, her attack will slip right through. Stitch it together too early, and your ward will be too stiff—the kinetic energy of her attack will shatter your stale, rigid ward, and you can expect quite a bit of blowback.” He slammed his fist into his palm and waggled his fingers to represent my ward breaking. “It’s murder on the wrists.”
“Great.” I focused on weaving the energy in front of me, half-watching Serenity as she clenched and unclenched her fingers, clearly anxious to launch her attack.
“If you time it right, you’ll catch her attack right as you stitch together your ward, and then all you have to do is relax, take a deep breath to absorb some of the excess energy, and then let it dissipate.” Professor Yates demonstrated the gesture that Serenity had used earlier to dissolve the blue flash of light he had hurled at her, swirling his hands in a tight circle before dashing them apart rapidly. “Of course, the controlled dissipation is a probably a bit advanced for you. It’s not likely to be quite so graceful, but you’re obviously a quick learner, so feel free to give it a try anyway. Ready?”
I shrugged as nerves knotted my stomach. “I guess so.” I was fairly certain this was going to end poorly.
“Alright, then.” Professor Yates clapped his hands together and took a few steps away from me. “Ms. Walker, whenever you’re ready.”
Serenity nodded to Professor Yates before winking and flashing me another wicked grin. She brought her hands together and closed her eyes as she took in a deep breath.
My heartrate intensified as she opened her eyes and swept her right hand away from her in an arc, holding her left hand tight to her
body and flexing her fingers in a deliberate series of gestures. A threatening orange glow trailed her right hand as she brought it back toward her body, and my legs wobbled in anticipation of the attack.
She thrust her palm toward me, and a rush of orange light hurtled toward me with a soft crack. My whole body tensed as I stopped weaving my circles and flexed my fingers. I wasn’t sure if my hands were oriented properly, blinded by panic as I was. I was relieved to feel the ward solidify in front of me, but the relief didn’t last.
A deafening boom accompanied a blinding explosion of orange light that knocked the air out of me and launched me backwards. Too early, I thought with a strange, detached calm as I hung suspended in the air. The effect was short-lived, however, and I soon landed with a painful thud. The back of my head throbbed as I lay gasping for air with my eyes closed.
“And that, class, is a perfect example of what happens when you stitch your ward together too early.” Professor Yates’ voice reached me from what sounded like several feet away. “As I said, quite a bit of blowback.”
I heard snickers and finally worked up the courage to open my eyes. Serenity was grinning and chuckling with a few students who looked well on their way to becoming her future lackeys.
Professor Yates shook his head at me before turning back to address the rest of the class. “Well, who’d like to try it next?” He spread his hands apart and clapped them together as he grinned at the silent group of wary students. “Anyone?” He and Serenity exchanged a wicked look, and I began to suspect that Professor Yates was a bit of an asshole. I mean, he hadn’t even come over to check on me. No one had. Maybe Leia had been right in her dismal opinion regarding the whole Martial Magic Department, but I still wasn’t going to let Serenity make a fool of me again. Not without a fight.
I winced as I pushed myself off the ground and brushed the dirt off my t-shirt and jeans. “I’m not finished.”
Broken Wand Academy Page 16