“He won’t be here for the exam and all I need is a progression scan to tell how my darlings are doing,” she rested a hand on her belly. “I can feel that they’re fine and I don’t want to disturb them with unnecessary tests.”
Landon didn’t look very happy at that, but he looked even more unhappy at the prospect of arguing with her. He sighed. “Very well.”
The progression spell in question turned out to be a thin, steady beam of purple that formed a haze around her baby bump and displayed a series of numbers in two, separate lists.
Neil tried to guess what they could be. From Calida’s delighted expression, he knew it was good news, but the numbers didn’t mean anything at all to him.
“That’s wonderful, sir, thank you,” she said, happily.
Landon found himself smiling along with her.
A knock sounded on the door several minutes later and a Medic admitted one frazzled looking Terius Baronsworth. He barely spared a glance for Landon, before hurrying straight to Calida and snatching her up in a hug.
“I’m fine, Terius,” she squeaked, before she was effectively cocooned in his arms. She wriggled a bit, then sighed and simply waited for him to calm down. “Really, I’m fine.”
“Fine would have been staying where you were supposed to be,” Terius snapped. “I went straight to Headmaster Grond’s office directly after class ended. Why did you leave?”
“You have answered your own question,” she said, calmly. “Stop smothering me. The keywords you’re looking for is ‘after class ended.’ Did you really think I would sit there with absolutely nothing to do until your class was over?”
“As opposed to wandering around by yourself in a school full of-”
Landon cleared his throat. “You’re Terius Baronsworth?”
“And what of it,” Terius demanded. His blue-grey eyes swept over the Senior Healer from head to toe before he caught sight of Neil, edging towards the door. “You! What are you doing-?”
“Terius!” Calida went from friendly and exasperated to an ice princess in a heartbeat. “That’s enough,” the tone of her voice drew his attention at once.
He turned back to her, eyes narrowed. “You’re sitting here with-”
“With a Healer who has been most kind in listening to my requests and respecting my wishes, along with a charming young man who walked me all the way up here without a single complaint and stayed a perfect gentleman the entire time. I understand that you’re upset over something that is currently out of your control, but if you cannot keep your head screwed on straight, then do not complain when I do it for you.”
“But Calida-!”
“No, darling,” she shook her head. “I will not have you treating them like strangers or behaving atrociously because you haven’t been able to screen them personally.” She sighed. “Ty and Dex should be here shortly. Behave until then.” One hand went to her forehead and she rubbed her face, looking rather exhausted. “Neil, you’ve been wonderful. Thanks for your help. I’m in good hands now. Good luck with whatever you’re studying.”
“You’re welcome,” Neil said, relieved. He deliberately did not meet Terius’ gaze, but focused on Calida’s smiling face instead. “I’ll just be going then,” he gave a polite nod and backed out of the exam room.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Work was climbing shelves and taking inventory for the various deliveries that came throughout the day. Being smaller and lighter than most of the other workers, Neil received the job by default—and partially because of his lack of fear when it came to extreme heights.
He wore a safety belt that would prevent him from falling to death by stopping him about a foot from the ground with a protection spell, but it would knock the breath out of him for a good five minutes.
Over time, he’d gotten quite good at using the ladder to scale the first level of shelves, checking each individual piece of cargo and matching it against the ship’s manifest. Any discrepancies were noted and reported at the end of his shift.
Neil slung his bookbag inside of the battered locker and shucked out of his school uniform. He plucked the safety harness out from the bottom and eyed it with distaste, wondering how his back and shoulders would fare, given the current levels of sensitivity.
“Hewitt!” his friend, Jamal passed by, with a hearty slap to the back.
Neil flinched and gritted his teeth against the gasp that came anyway. His back and shoulders were still sensitive and he hadn’t expected that at all. “Jamal,” he greeted, turning so his back was to the lockers and therefore protected from any other friendly gestures.
“Missed you yesterday. Had to fill out forms,” Jamal scowled. “I hate filling out forms. What happened?”
“Accident in class?” Neil shrugged, wincing inwardly. “Spent most of today in MedBay, actually.”
Jamal snorted. “You’re lucky you have Teruh on your side,” he said, referring to Elyenka. “Elite friends are nice to have when it comes to stuff like that.”
“Yeah,” Neil looked down at the harness. “Say—know any good cushioning spells?”
“What?”
Neil held up the harness. “I’m not really supposed to cast them myself, so-?”
Jamal took it, turning it over in his hands. He studied it for a good long moment, then squeezed it tight. A flare of jade-gold light streamed from his hands into the sturdy black safety harness. When he was finished, he shook it out, examining it from a few different angles. “Try this?”
Neil slipped it over his undershirt and buckled the straps loosely, testing the feel of the stiff material on his shoulders.
“Not good?” Jamal frowned. “Here, try this instead of-whoa!” He jerked back as the attempt to offer a wearable cushioning spell resulted in an angry spark from Neil. He stepped back at once, hands held out, frowning slightly at Neil’s flinch. “I see why you skipped,” he said, at last.
Neil shrugged. “This’ll work. Thanks.” He turned back to the locker. “I’ll sign the absent forms. Sorry for the-”
“You alright?”
Neil froze. There were a hundred different answers to that question, he was sure, but the only answer he could give was the one he’d been reciting since he was old enough to speak. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
####
Thanks for reading my story! Now that you’ve finished, won’t you please consider leaving a review? Reviews help readers decide what to read next and help them to discover new authors. If you’ve read the first episode of Neil’s story, then you already know that I’m Chera Carmichael, the author of the popular hp creature fic, known as “There Be Dragons, Harry”, featuring my original dragon creature, the dragels, also known as Elemental Dragons. I created them years ago, along with their special world, Nevarah. I’m so excited to present my first original serial with them and I look forward to sharing this adventure with you. I hope you enjoy Neil and his story, as it features dragels in a slightly futuristic setting. Neil’s story will also feature many of your favorite characters from TBDH, such as Terius, Lady Ilsa and the Deveraine Circle. Stay tuned for the next installment—and if you enjoyed it, share this story with a friend!
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