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Chapter 9

Pain. Muscles stiff in her body, temples throbbing, throat scratching with every breath like she’d slept a thousand years right after training for track. Wincing, she opened her eyes, the gnawing in her stomach joining her aching body. She sat up slowly, fighting the urge to curl up and go back to sleep, ignoring her angry muscles.

Moonlight drifted in from the open window and she struggled to see Dani’s bed, empty and tidy. Karma was curled up on the pillow beside where Viola’s head had been, seemingly undisturbed by her waking. Beside her on the nightstand were two notes and a strange vial.

One note was sitting under the vial of what looked like medicine, it read: Take with food as soon as you wake up. Show restraint next time you train! ~Zarya

Viola scrunched up her nose. “Who’s Zarya?” she muttered quietly before picking up the second note, this one was in Dani’s elegant script, explaining that she would be in the library for a while and that she left some food for Viola on her desk.

Yawning, trying to stretch her stiff muscles, Viola quietly padded across the dorm to her desk, careful not to wake Karma in the process. In the past week, Karma rarely slept through Viola waking up and moving around, so she didn’t want to disturb her.

She carefully picked up the covered tray resting on her desk and crept out the door. As soon as her bare feet hit the cold stone floor she winced, instantly regretting not having the forethought to grab shoes before leaving the room. She picked up her pace down the stairs to the kitchen area of the girls' dorm.

Once in the kitchen, stomach growling, she dug through the fridge for a glass of juice, noting how most of the kitchen appliances were the same she was used to though she wasn’t sure how electricity was set up in an island that seemed behind the ages.

Sipping her glass of orange juice, she walked into the common area with her tray and took a seat on the floor by a coffee table. With the cover removed, Viola was amused to see a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup and fruit pastry resting on the tray just beside the bowl, as if it had been left there in a rush.

Sssoup? Are you sssick? She heard just as cool scales coiled around under her shirt around her midsection, a violet head popping out of her collar.

Viola chose to take a sip from her spoon before answering her, “Delphi, shouldn’t you be in bed?”

Her forked tongue flicked Viola’s cheek and she hummed, I was but Xenoss is restlesss. She realized that just like her and Karma, other familiars were intimately linked to their witches.

Just as she was about to ask where Xenos was, she saw the white-haired young man step out of the door leading to the boys’ kitchen area, a glass in hand. His violet eyes spotted Viola and Delphi in a moment and he offered her a tired smile, “Couldn’t sleep either?” he asked as he took a seat across from her at the little coffee table.

“I feel like I’ve just woken up from a hundred years of sleep. I’m starving and I feel really weak for some reason,” she said as she raised the spoon up to her mouth again, noting how her hand shook and how with each sip of warm soup she took she felt a tad better. She thought Dani must have just dropped it off.

“Must have used up all your strength during your training then. I’ve done that, it’s not fun,” he said.

Delphi snickered and slithered out from under Viola’s shirt, under the table to Xenos, He didn’t learn though, he still does it from time to time.

He laughed, “It’s hard not to, luckily the cafeteria is used to witches being stupid and like to make our comfort foods.”

“The cafeteria does this?” she asked, “But they had to have closed like hours ago, how is this still warm?”

“They developed a spell on the bowls or plates for certain cases to keep the food warm until it’s emptied,” he explained.

She gaped at him, “That’s so cool!” She wondered for a moment how well magic bowls would go over back home. They’d probably the microwave factories out of business.

He laughed and ran a hand over Delphi’s scales, “If you like, I can try to help you catch up with what you’re behind on in the witchcraft courses.”

She looked at him for a moment, “What’s the catch?”

“I need a catch to help a fellow witch?” he asked in mock offense, but quickly laughed, “No catch, I just wanna help you if I can. I’ll start by answering questions you might have?”

“What’s your power?” she asked as she slurped from her spoon.

He blinked at her and she gave him a cheeky grin. He sighed, “Astral Projection.”

“What is that exactly?” she asked, taking a sip from her glass.

“It’s easier to show you and then explain,” he said and Viola nodded.

He closed his eyes and straightened his posture, in a few seconds a second Xenos materialized standing behind the original. He grinned at Viola, walked toward her and held his hand up for a high five.

When Viola reached up to touch his hand, she passed right through him and he disappeared. She looked back over at the original again.

Xenos opened his eyes and smiled at her, “See, that’s what astral projection is. But only witches and familiars can see me in that form. Other races have a sense that something is there but they can’t actually see me except for cambion and nephilim. They’re hard to predict and some see the projection, some don’t. I haven’t figured out how to have my projections interact with their surroundings yet.”

She thought about it for a moment, “Why can witches see it and not most others?”

“I think it has something to do with the magic, my powers can be sensed more easily by witches better than some other powers, for instance, there are certain types of abilities that have little effect on witches until you gain more power, like how witches can see my projections but can’t interact with them. We can sense other witches as we expand our power. Sometimes it’s the other races that are immune to our power. It’s just how my power works,” he shrugged.

“I guess that makes sense,” she said slowly.

“Any other questions?” he asked when she shook her head he added, “there are some things I could tell you about the school that you might not know about yet. For one, has anyone explained the class system here yet? Like, have you noticed the different symbols everyone wears?”

“I’ve seen them but I don’t know what they mean. I know mine means I’m unknown and that’s about it,” she explained. She never really cared to know much more about that until then, “I just thought it was power related.”

“I guess you could say that it is, but really it’s skill level. You’re unknown because your skill hasn’t leveled out enough to tell and we’re not sure if it will. The students with the phoenix that has its wings closed are the beginner students. They just came into their power and are just of age to attend the academy. The phoenix pattern with its wings outstretched are the novices. They have an understanding of magic and their abilities but not so much a mastering of either. Intermediate is the middle level that’s the drake. That’s where Daniella and I are at right now. A dragon with its wings closed is for the advanced students like Victor, Castien, Bion and those like them. The superior are the strongest, most powerful students here. They’re usually apprenticing somewhere either here or abroad but sometimes you’ll see them around. Those are the dragon with its wings open.”

Viola mulled over what he’d just explained to her before asking, “So does that mean Cedar is superior or something else?” she asked curiously.

Xenos laughed, “He’s a teacher so that basically just means he’s a master of his craft. For

him he’s a master of prophecy.”

She frowned at him, “Does that mean he’s the best at what he does?” she asked.

“No, not at all. Professor Silva is just talented enough to teach a course on prophecy or work with students similar to him but he’s not a prophet. Prophets are the ones who advise the headmaster or the king of Fidonia.”

“There’s so much I don’t know yet!” she blurted out suddenly, surprising even herself.

Xenos nodded, amused, “Yes, I’ll tell you more about everything tomorrow. Talking to you helped me relax, thanks for letting me keep you company.”

Viola frowned at him for a moment, “I feel like you just said I was boring but okay. Goodnight, Xenos, sleep well.”

“You too, Vi. If you can’t sleep, you should try some of my tea,” he said gesturing to the glass in his hand.

“Is it some kind of magic recipe?” she asked.

He shook his head, “No, just chamomile tea.”

She laughed and shook her head, “That’s no fun. It should magical sleeping tea.”

“I mean we have that but if you’re not careful when mixing the potion, you’ll sleep a year.”

She stared at him for a moment, “Really??”

Xenos laughed, “Goodnight, Vi.” He turned to head back toward the boys’ dorms with Delphi flicking her tail back and forth over his shoulder at her in an attempt to wave.

She quickly finished up her late dinner and walked back to the kitchen tray in hand nibbling at the pastry the fairy had left for her. She quickly and quietly washed the plate, careful not to leave a mess or wake her fellow dorm members, especially those with more acute hearing.

As soon as she was finished and began to turn to head back up to her own room and sleeping familiar, a movement outside the kitchen window caught her attention. A small group of three people in flowing, dark hooded cloaks walked across the grass behind the towers.

She watched as they crept into the forest and disappeared. Once they were out of sight, Viola found herself crossing from the kitchen to the exit and outside. She cringed at the cold wet grass, regretting again forgetting shoes for the second time that night.

Momentarily, she considered going back inside and forgetting about the sketchy people sneaking around in the dark. It wasn’t the smartest idea to go sneaking off after potentially dangerous magical beings in the dark, but just as she was about to turn around, a pained howl drew her attention to the forest again.

She jogged across the grass and past the trees until she came across a small campfire glowing dimly in the darkness. She ducked behind a tree, peeking around to watch the figures gathered around the flame. There were more now, about seven or eight if she counted correctly in the flickering of the firelight, all gathered around a wolf chained to a pike sticking from the ground.

The wolf snarled at them, lunging at the nearest figure but the chain stopped him halfway to his target, teeth snapping, fangs bared. The people gathered around him quietly began chanting in a language Viola couldn’t understand, something dark and fluent that reminded her of Latin but a certain wrongness in the cadences told her it wasn’t.

She watched as the wolf struggled, obviously in pain as he howled and squirmed, faint whimpers escaping him. Crouching down behind the tree, she slid a foot forward very slightly, barely making a sound aside from the leaves rustling underfoot. The wolf’s head turned in her direction, forcing her to freeze in place, from her distance she couldn’t tell for sure but it felt as if he were looking at her. His head shook ever so slightly and a low growl came from him in warning before he attempted to lash out at his captives once again.

Viola remained in place as the chanting grew louder and a blue light formed around the wolf. He stumbled and staggered before slumping on the ground, unable to put up a fight any longer. His form began to shift and before along, a man lay on the ground where the wolf was before.

The blue light slowly drifted around the group standing around before it split and passed into each figure standing around. He gave a rattling gasp, closing his eyes as he spoke, “You’ll regret this.” His voice came out in a raspy hoarse, barely audible to Viola.

Ignoring him, one of the taller figures turned to the others, “We should go before someone starts looking for us.” It was a male voice, deep and authoritative, he was tall with a straight back but a silver blade poked around his cloak . A few seemed to nod their agreement and they broke up into groups or split off on their own and began turning in different directions.

The three she assumed she’d followed into the forest turned in her direction. Panicked at the prospect of being caught by these people, she quickly and as silently ducked into a bush between her tree and the one beside it. A briar patch it seemed. She stifled a yelp as the points of briars dug into the skin of her feet and across her arms or snagged in her hair.

The shorter of the three paused for a moment a few feet from her hiding place, scanning the area. A young man’s face, light glinting off the bridge of his nose, peeked out from under the hood toward her hiding place but passed over her. She held a hand over her mouth, afraid to make a noise, holding her breath until he left and moved on with the others.

Once she was sure that there was no one around to spot her, she quickly crept out of her hiding place and into the clearing over to the man. His bloodied silvering hair hung in his face. His hazel eyes opened as she crouched at his side and he looked up at her.

He let out a shaky breath, “You’re a stubborn one, lass,” he muttered with an Irish accent. “Why are you sticking around to watch an old man die?”

“I can go get someone to help you…. I can run back to my dorm and get my familiar to go find my brother.…” The thought of leaving him there alone after what he’d just been through scared her as much as staying with him did, she didn’t understand what had happened or why but she knew she didn’t want to leave him there alone and injured in the forest.

He shook his head again, “There’s no helping me now. Just tell the headmaster about what you saw and have them look into a group of witches practicing black magic. My name is Connor Byrne, I was a soldier for the king’s army. Let my family know about what happened, please… Make sure they’re safe…”

She shook her head, “No, why are you telling me this??” She felt tears stinging her eyes, “You’re going to be okay, you can take care of your family and help them find the people who did this!!”

“No, I won’t. Be careful who you trust! Go, now. Find a teacher you trust, go to the headmaster.” She shook her head, refusing to leave him. He growled at her deep, in his throat, “Go! If you stay here watching an old man die, nothing will be done! They’ll be back! They’ll get you too and we’ll both die for nothing! Now get out of here!” he shouted.

Viola clenched her fists and quickly took off out of the forest toward where she’d been told the teachers’ dorms were. As soon as she hit pavement she heard Karma’s voice in her head, Viola! Where are you?! What’s wrong?

I’m outside! Something happened, I need you to help me find my brother’s place! Viola answered, she couldn’t control the panic in her mind and she knew Karma sensed it.

She ran for what felt like an eternity until Karma caught up to her. She sped past her, leading the way to Cedar’s building.

Hugo noticed them first, outside the teachers’ dorm, Do you two have any idea what time it is?? Why are you awake?? He squawked from his perch in a window.

I need Cedar! Wake him up now! She demanded, shoving the door open and bursting into the building, bounding up the stairs after Karma.