Soul Fire

  ~Chapter Twenty-One~

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  To my disbelief, the mages from Gowar and Abdoor arrived the day after next, early in the morning. I watched with the other students as they came from Keyes, riding the most magnificent horses I’d ever seen, bar Echo. They wore long sweeping cloaks, surveying the Academy as they drew closer. I realised that all of them would’ve been schooled here. A few students like Ispin and Eleanora broke ranks and ran to those they recognised, who dismounted to embrace them.

  Iain and Netalia swept out to meet them, their cream cloaks billowing in the autumn breeze. I stood next to Dena and Rain as we watched them head to the stables.

  “So many,” Theresa said behind us. “Why does this make me even more nervous?”

  True to his word, Iain had offered the students protection if they didn’t want to fight. No one had taken up his offer.

  However, he had neglected to tell them that Phoenix was the object of their desire. Instead he had told us to stick together.

  “We’ll keep you on the upper levels. The rest of us will be down stairs to meet them as they try to come in,” he had said. “Keep close to each other.”

  Phoenix had blatantly refused refuge in the catacombs beneath the Academy. He was determined to fight, and if it came to it, come face to face with his monster of a foster father.

  “I’ll end it if I can,” Phoenix had said, and I didn’t want to ask him what he’d meant.

  The day that the other mages arrived, the Academy was a hive of activity. Today, as it had been every day since we’d begun weapons training, Jett was endlessly drilling us. As night began to fall, we expected the class to come to a halt. Instead, Jett set about rigging up some contraption that involved six sandbags hanging from the ceiling.

  “Alright. These mages are cowards,” Jett nodded an apology at Phoenix, who accepted it with a half shrug. “They’ll attack one mage with six. This is to teach you how to manage several enemies at once.”

  For the next twenty minutes I watched as the other students attempted to fend off the sandbags. Jett controlled them with his magic, commanding the ropes to shorten so that they would swing higher and faster, dropping the ropes lower so they would be slow but deadly. I watched Dustin fight them off for about two minutes, using his scythe. It was when Dustin began to tire that Jett sent all six at him simultaneously. He was knocked out.

  “And that’s exactly what they’ll do,” Jett explained, as Eleanora revived Dustin with magic. “When they see you tiring, they’ll attack in force. It’s extremely dangerous.”

  Phoenix went next, using small throwing daggers to split the ropes holding the sandbags (and in theory incapacitating the mage the sandbag resembled). He got three before the other three converged on him, one clipping him on the back of the neck and sending him into another that took him out. I winced.

  The rest of them ended up with pretty much the same results. Eleanora held them off longest out of anybody, using her arrows to sever the ropes. Eventually she was taken out by one she’d forgotten, turning her back to it. It walloped her in the back of the head, and she hit the floor hardest out of anyone. I was left until last and by then I was itching to try.

   “Ok, Sky.” Jett called, gesturing for me to take my place. He’d repaired the ropes and all six sandbags now waited menacingly.

  “Can I use the swords?” I asked tentatively. The students looked at each other; they remembered Netalia’s fury at my using them.

  Jett nodded slowly, and removed them from the wall. I settled them on my back, their weight now familiar.

  I stepped into the centre of the circle and took a deep breath. The first sandbag swung at me and I rolled out of its path, feeling the swords cut into my shoulder blades but not drawing them; I would wait for the opportune moment.

  Another sandbag came at me from the right, sweeping low. I somersaulted forwards. In a lightning fast movement as the bag went past, I used my right hand to draw the left sword and severed the rope as it swung past. It crashed to the ground. I knew I had to take out as many as I could before I began to get tired. Two swung at me, from opposite directions, just as another two swung at me from behind me, approaching from the right.

   Rendered unable to roll in any direction, I dropped flat on my stomach, feeling the breeze ruffle my hair as they swung over my head. The two that had been on my right were the biggest worry; as they reached their apex, they began to swing back. I sheathed the swords, and flung two daggers I’d clipped to my belt. I’d gotten lucky; despite my terrible aim that had me failing Archery, they severed the ropes of both of the bags. Two down, three to go.

  All three remaining sandbags rocketed towards me. I dodged out of the way of one, right into the path of another. With a split second to make a decision, I unsheathed my right sword using my left hand and, mimicking the attack I used on Phoenix, drew my arm back across my chest with the sword extended. It sliced through the rope and the sandbag dropped to the ground. It was then an easy matter to dart across the path of the remaining two as though playing a game of chicken, severing the rope of one and dodging the other as it went past. I planted myself directly in its path as it began to swing back at me. As it slowly gathered momentum, I sheathed my swords.

  Ignoring the outbursts from the rest of the students, I locked eyes on the sandbag and stared it down as much as one can stare down an inanimate object. Judging the bag to be at the perfect point for what I had in mind, I quickly stepped into the stance I’d learnt so long ago. With one fluid movement, I summoned a fireball of green flames, directing them at the sandbag. The fire completely obliterated the sandbag, leaving only a charred rope swinging harmlessly and a few burnt grains of sand trailing to the floor.

  “Well, just as well you were last, Sky.” Jett said laughing at the classes stunned silence; they’d completely forgotten they could use magic.

  We ate and headed back to our rooms. I had taken my twin swords with me, as per Iain’s instructions for everybody to be armed at all times and Jett’s recommendation that I ditched the heavy broadsword that I normally relied on. I had just closed the door to my room when somebody knocked on it.

  Without waiting for an answer, Phoenix quickly stepped inside, closing the door hurriedly lest anyone see.

  “Where’s Larni?” he asked, still standing backed up against the door.

  “Iain sent all of the Academy’s servants to Keyes, why?” I said, puzzled.

  My question was answered when he crossed the room in two strides and pulled me into his arms. He hugged me tightly, swords and all, pressing his lips to my hair.

  “Phoenix,” I murmured, leaning my cheek on his chest. “This isn’t the end.”

  “I know, I know,” he murmured softly. “But... it’s just... I know what Aloysius can do. And these friends of his aren’t friends of mine at all.”

  “We’ve got all of these mages here to help us,” I said, trying to reason with him.

  “Yes, we do, and he’ll be ready for them,” Phoenix dropped his arms from me and began to pace the room. “I don’t know what Iain is playing at. With an opposing force this big he may as well declare war on Orthandrell!”

  “We’re not the ones who started it!” I protested, utterly terrified by this mention of war.

  “They won’t see it that way,” Phoenix bunched his hair into a short ponytail. “And trust me, Sky; they have the means to finish it.”

  I watched him march about. After a while I asked a question which had been nagging me.

  “Why has Orthandrell been allowed to amass an opposing force this big?”

  “Who was going to stop them? Iain and Netalia?” he snorted. “They’re two mages against two hundred. Even if they wanted to get involved with the northern states, they wouldn’t. Each to their own is practically their motto. And many of the mages don’t come to the Ac
ademy for schooling, instead letting the other mages teach them. Sometimes a mage with the wrong idea comes along, and corrupts a whole bunch of them. This is what Aloysius has done, and for some reason he is eager for me to be at his side.”

  Someone knocked on the door and we both jumped. My heart hammering in my chest, I opened the door, poking my face out. I was met with a very disapproving glare from Jett.

  “I know Phoenix is in there,” he said, and I let him into the room.

  “You two aren’t doing so well at the subtlety.”

  “It’s a bit difficult,” I said, sitting on my bed and crossing one leg over the other. “We might soon lose each other forever.”

  “If Iain and Netalia catch wind of your carrying on, you will lose each other forever,” Jett snapped. “Remember what I said, Sky.”

  He left as quickly as he’d arrived. Phoenix watched him go and then sighed heavily.

  “He’s right. I better go.”

  I jumped up as he went to leave, holding his arm so he couldn’t. He turned back to me and I stretched up on my toes to kiss him. He didn’t pull away, and it was with regret that I broke our contact.

  “Sorry,” I said unapologetically.

  Instead of answering, he kissed me again. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. His arms encircled my waist and we revelled in finally being alone since the mountains.

  I thought I’d melt as he kissed me slowly. Kissing him was nothing like kissing Dustin; I lost track of time as we stood in the middle of my room.

  After what felt like a few hours, we broke apart, though stayed close together with our eyes closed. He brushed my cheek with his thumb.

  “I should actually leave now,” he murmured, and I couldn’t help but smile a little.

  “Sorry,” I said again, but it meant even less than it had before.

  He made his way to my door. Before opening it, he leant down and kissed me on my forehead, right between my eyes.

  I closed the door behind him and put a finger to my lips, savouring the new memories I now had. I was interrupted by a sound from under my bed.

  I drew my swords immediately, all romantic thoughts fleeing from my mind.

  “Who’s there?” I asked.

  My jaw dropped when Larni scrambled out from underneath the bed.

  “Larni?” I asked. I shouldn’t be so surprised though, I thought. “Why were you under there?”

  “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, miss, they wanted to send me to Keyes, but I want to help!”

  “So you hid under my bed?” I blushed furiously as I thought about the goings on that had just occurred. “So you, um... you saw?”

  She went just as red.

  “Sorry. I didn’t look, I promise,” she said quickly.

  I sheathed my swords.

  “Lucky it didn’t go any further,” I muttered to myself, for those thoughts had definitely been on my mind. “Larni, you’re in danger. You can’t stay here.”

  “I’m not in danger if I’m here with you,” she replied steadily, and her unwavering confidence in my abilities touched me. “Besides, people are going to get hurt, and you mages just don’t know how to look after yourselves. You’ll need someone here to look after you all!”

  “Well I can’t take you to Keyes now; you’ll get in trouble for staying behind. What about your family? Won’t they be worried about you?”

  She shook her head.

  “My parents are mages, and will be fighting along with the rest of you. And Mother trusts me. She said I’m always sensible.”

  “Except for now. Please stay out of the way of the fighting, Larni,” I said worriedly.

  “I have no interest in the fighting, miss, I’m more concerned about the aftermath. People will get hurt,” her fingers trembled as she retied the bow on her apron. “Your friend Dena will need help.”

  She was making a lot of sense, but I was still concerned about her. I pulled my belt knife from the sheath and lengthened it. I handed her the knife, sheath and all.

  “I want you to carry that at all times,” I said, and she took it reluctantly. “Here, I’ll show you how to hold it.”

  “I know how to hold it,” she said, and held it with the blade pointing up.

  “That is one way,” I said, taking it from her. “But it can sometimes be awkward to get a good position from there. Here, point it down.”

  She did as I said, and then I showed her how it was easier to stab someone from that position. Her hand shook, but she nodded steadily.

  “I’m going down for dinner. I’ll bring some extra up,” I said. “While everyone’s down in the mess hall, try to find something you can sleep on, otherwise you can just sleep in my bed with me.”

  “Alright,” she said quietly. “Sky?” I turned back. “Thank you.”

  I just nodded and shut the door behind me. I was a little upset that she’d stayed. I didn’t want anything to happen to her, though I knew her reasoning was spot on. Dena would need help after the battle, and I hoped desperately that some of the mages who were staying were healers as well so that the burden wouldn’t fall completely on her and the matrons.

  I wished that I was a better healer. I’d be able to take care of my own cuts and scrapes, but I drew the line at working on other people. I thought Dena was immensely brave for working to become a healer, though she seemed to love every second of it.

  The mess hall was crawling with people. I loaded my plate up with something of everything, and it was only as I reached the end of the food line that I wondered where it was all coming from. I found my group at our table and sat down next to Ispin.

  “I thought all of the servants left?” Yasmin asked, as I sat and Theresa smiled.

  “Cook refused to leave. Gods help the rogue mages if they cross her.”

  That answered my question. I tucked into the roast meats and potatoes, occasionally ‘dropping’ some into my lap so that I could wrap up a small parcel of food for Larni.

  Conversation was strained. Our nerves hadn’t run this high since we visited Riverdoor, and now the threat was worse; it was right on our home turf. I watched Dena mutter to herself, small blue flares of magic sparking under her fingertips as she recited the spells for her healing. I shuddered as I watched. It was like going in for surgery, or to get an injection. We were going to get hurt in this attack. Pain was right on the threshold.

  We all finished our dinner and began dragging our feet back to our rooms. We were stopped by Theresa half-heartedly suggesting the games room, and we all leapt at the opportunity to not be alone.

  “I’ll be back in a tick,” I told them, hiding the little food parcel out of sight.

  Before I could get very far, Dena caught up with me, pressing another parcel into my hands.

  “For Larni,” she said quietly, then winked and trotted back down the stairs nonchalantly.

  I smiled to myself. Dena seemed to notice everything that happened in our group. My smile became more private. Well... not everything.

  I brought the food to Larni, and she picked at it. She seemed thoroughly bored already, and I wished desperately that I could bring her down to the games room, but Iain or any of the teachers would chuck a fit if they knew she was still here.

  I leapt down the stairs two at a time to find most of my classmates and quite a few of the older mages in the games room too. Turns out no one had wanted to be alone tonight.

  The games room was as big as our practice hall, and looked much the same. A few games such as pool and table tennis stood off to the side, but the other ‘games’ in the room leant more towards helping us train to become fitter or better at things. A few ropes trailed from the ceiling, and I’d seen Rain scale one in less time than it took Ispin to even get a metre off the ground.

  Even Phoenix was there, though I avoided looking at him. I joined Petre, Ispin and Theresa in a game of table tennis, something I’d been surprised to find in the mage world. We beat them by four points to cheers.

/>   I watched Dena floor Dustin in pool, and Eleanora decimated one of the older mages in archery. I watched her fluid movement as she pulled an arrow from her quiver, fit it to the string of her bow (which she’d made herself, I’d been surprised to learn) sighted down the length of the arrow and released. The arrow sank, quivering, into the bull’s eye of the target, and I felt a little rush of jealousy.

  I could throw knives with relative accuracy and kill huge monsters with my swords, but archery was beyond me by all definitions. I’d even asked Jett for private tutoring, but those lessons had ended quickly when I’d almost shot him through.

  “It’s not that you almost shot me,” he’d told me shortly after he’d cancelled the lesson. “It’s that you were proud to get the arrow to leave the string.”

  And so, I reasoned, watching the mage hand Eleanora a small purse in defeat, my jealousy towards Eleanora was based simply on her skill with the bow, and not at all because she was tall and willowy with flowing blonde hair.

  “Can I tempt you with a rope race?” Petre asked me, noticing how quiet I’d gone. It was an unspoken rule of tonight that we wouldn’t let anyone think of the horrors that we’d face in the near future.

  I eyed off the ropes apprehensively. They weren’t my forte, but to be fair, they weren’t Petre’s either. He picked an activity that would well and truly distract me from the upcoming battle.

  “Alright,” I said finally.

  A few people followed us to the ropes as we removed our boots and tunics. I’d found that this was difficult enough to climb the rope in long pants with long sleeves, and wished for my gym clothes.

  “This’ll be interesting,” Petre said as he noticed the same issue.

  The ropes were straight. There were no knots or loops that we could fit our feet into, we had to rely solely on our core strength. There was not even a wall that we could brace our feet onto.

  Dena pushed her way to the front of the small crowd.

  “May I have the honour of saying go?” she asked.

  Petre nodded as we both approached our ropes. I wiped my sweaty palms on my pants and grinned at Petre.

  Petre and I were very competitive. This had been proven several times over the past year. It had gotten to the point where nails had come into play, though I considered this a very dirty tactic for a boy.

  “Go!” Dena shouted suddenly, taking us both by surprise and almost scaring us up the rope.

  Petre began climbing immediately, but I jumped and grabbed on. I’d set the rope swinging backwards and forwards, but I was already ahead by a little.

  Now came the gruelling task of heaving myself up the rope. I twisted the rope through my legs and reached higher, pulling my legs up as I went. It was tough going, especially on my arms. I could feel sweat beginning to bead up and run down my face, but I blinked it out of my eyes and kept going. Every muscle in my body was aching and trembling, but every centimetre was one I was putting between myself and Petre.

  Just as I reached the top and could see the little air horn someone had put there just for races like this, I made a mistake. As I reached upwards, my legs loosened their hold on the rope just a little. I slid back down the rope, managing to catch myself almost face to face with my competitor.

  “I knew you wouldn’t take this win away from me,” he wheezed, his face bright red with exertion. “Thanks, Sky.”

  I growled, setting my sights on the horn. I pulled and shimmied until I had my rhythm back. Petre doubled his efforts too, and as a result, we both reached the horn at almost the same time.

  I flung my hand up and pressed down on the horn. The ear splitting noise that issued from it sounded like victory.

  Now I had to get down the rope. I’d seen Ispin get awful rope burn by trying to just slide down; I didn’t really feel like doing the same thing. Together we began the slow descent, our muscles burning beneath our skin. The floor beneath my feet could not have felt better. Petre reached the ground at the same time, and we both bent over trying to catch our breath.

  “I let you win,” he said, trying to salvage some pride.

  “No, you didn’t,” I was used to this tactic of his. It was one he brought out when he failed to beat me at something, which happened more than he would like, I was proud to say.

  We played a few more games, and though I desperately wanted to interact with Phoenix in some way, I knew it was too dangerous. I was already beating myself up about having him in my room, and poor Larni witnessing the whole thing, so there was no way I was going to risk anyone else finding out.

  I played a few more games of pool with Dena, though she turned out to be somewhat of a pool deviant and beat me mercilessly.

  “We should go to bed,” she said reluctantly, watching me trying to pocket the five. “C’mon, Sky, you know we have to.”

  I shot and missed, the ball bouncing around the table but going nowhere near any of the pockets. I scowled, ringing the cue in my hand. Back in my world I’d been alright at pool, and had played whenever I could. I didn’t really like being beaten, but it was Dena and she handled me gracefully.

  “Good shot,” she said as I managed to pocket another ball. “You win this one, now bedtime.”

  I hadn’t won; she just wanted to finish the game. I knew she was right though, I could feel in my bones that it was very late. Larni would be wondering where I was.

  I trundled up the stairs, still ignoring Phoenix determinedly. If Larni wasn’t in my room, I’d probably try to signal to him to come visit. I guessed that he’d be nice comfort through a long, nerve clattering night. But Larni was staying in my room, so I waved to him with all of the others. I headed into my room, finding Larni sprawled out on a mattress she’d managed to dig from somewhere, completely out of it.

  “I can only hope I sleep as soundly as you,” I whispered to her.

  I climbed into my bed, but my head was full of thoughts that plagued me. My eyes just kept seeing the visions that my mind was throwing up, and none of them were exactly calming. My heart was filled with worry about my friends and classmates, but mainly Phoenix. He was the one they were coming for; he was the one they were prepared to tear through a whole Academy to get to.

  Why? I wondered, staring up at my ceiling. Why Phoenix? Not even he knew. He said that his foster father had had students before, but I was willing to bet this was the first time that one had left. Maybe it was an issue of pride?

  On the floor beside me, Larni snuffled in her sleep. My heart twisted again. Another person to worry about. All of these people, and tomorrow they might just be memories. There would be no new ones made, instead we’d all sit around saying, ‘hey, remember …? They were great’.

  I pulled the blankets over my ears so that I couldn’t hear her gentle snoring. Over me, Morri slept on top of my headboard, twitching occasionally. By the time I’d fallen asleep, I could see dawn beginning to break outside my window, and I knew I’d only get a few hours.

  The next morning dawned red, as though foreseeing the day’s events. I dressed with shaking fingers and ate with the others in the mess hall. The other mages were there, talking quietly.

  “Did anyone sleep?” Dena asked, and it was clear by the state of her hair that she had not.

  We all shook our heads. I couldn’t help but notice Petre’s hand in Rain’s. I ached to hold Phoenix’s, but held my fork instead, spearing scrambled eggs.

  “Nothing could stop you eating, could it?” Theresa asked, and I wasn’t sure if it was a friendly comment or a nasty jab. With Theresa it was always hard to tell.

  We took our turn patrolling the perimeter of the castle in pairs. I got put with someone I didn’t know from our class, whose soul mate was sick, because Iain and Netalia weren’t letting Phoenix out of the castle in case he did something stupid.

  “You’re Sky, aren’t you?” the raven haired girl asked me.

  “Yeah... I am,” I looked at her, puzzled. “How did you know that?”

  “Everyone knows w
ho you are,” she replied. She had eyes of a very unsettling blue; they seemed to stare through me. “You killed the Du’rangor.”

  “Yes... yes I did,” I scanned the tree line, searching for anything that might be out of the ordinary. “Uh, sorry, what was your name?”

  “Raven,” she said quickly.

  “Ah,” it fit. I wondered if Netalia just came up with our names or if there was something else she consulted. “Who’s your soul mate?”

  “Nero. I think you guys call him Red Hair, though.”

  “Sorry,” I apologized. “We didn’t know his name, so we just stuck to what we know.”

  “It’s alright. Before we knew your name we called you Green Eyes.”

  My feet didn’t skip a beat, but I suddenly realised something about my classmates.

  Our class had every colour of magic there could be. There was every shade, every hue of every colour, except for green. I was the only green eyed, green magicked mage in our year.

  What was the reason? I wondered to myself as Raven kept chattering on. It couldn’t be a coincidence, surely. There were just too many of us to pass up a certain colour.

  I had a feeling it was something to do with falling in love with my soul mate, something that had been forbidden by...

  By whom? Argh, I didn’t know anything about my situation! I was frustrated by my lack of knowledge, but there was no way that I was going to inquire on it any further. I’d had one scare about my feelings for Phoenix being discovered, I wasn’t going to let myself have a second.

  “What was that?” Raven asked, stopping and peering into the trees.

  I stopped and looked with her. I couldn’t see anything past the first few trunks.

  “Should we go and check it out?” I asked. “What did you see?”

  “I’m not sure. It might’ve just been a bird.”

  “Worth investigating?”

  Her eyes scoured the trees, and I saw her fingers twitch towards what looked like a folded staff on her back.

  “Maybe,” her eyes hadn’t left the trees. “Ok, let’s go.”

  We strode away from the castle, knowing that the next pair of guards would round the corner any second. Raven walked ahead of me, and I saw a small quiver of arrows on her back next to the staff. Bizarre.

  She crept through the trees and I followed carefully, making sure my swords were still within my reach. Jett had appealed to Natalia and – I wasn’t supposed to know this but thanks to my eavesdropping in the corridor, I did – she had let me take the swords because I’d already been trained in them.

  The hilts met my hands reassuringly, and I followed Raven deeper and deeper into the woods until we came to a rocky outcrop. She froze on the spot and then beckoned to me.

  “It’s a scout. He’s gone that way. I’m gonna circle around and meet him, could you follow him? We should be able to take him down,” she whispered, her voice as quiet as a bird’s wing.

  I nodded and headed off in the direction she’d pointed me. I unsheathed my swords as I went, almost crouching along the path. Raven was just on the other side of the rocks, close enough to hear me if I called for help.

  I froze in my tracks. The scout had stopped as though sensing someone on his tail. His long cloak trailed in the leaves, and he turned before I could get off the path.

  “Wha-”

  I was on him before he could finish the word. I didn’t dare call out for Raven; there might be others nearby.

  Black magic twisted through the air as I neared him. My own magic warded it off, and my blade flashed through the air as his own came up to meet it. With my other sword I took a swipe at his side. I couldn’t let him get back to the others; I needed to take him out here and now.

  Raven, hearing the clash of metal on metal, came dashing down the other end of the path, taking the folded staff from her back as she ran. The rogue and I were caught in a dead lock, his sword trapped between my two.

  The staff unfolded with a click, and a blade sprang from one end. It was a scythe, I realised. Like Dustin’s.

  Not like Dustin’s, I discovered quickly, as two bits of wood sprang from it the top of the staff, making it into a tall crossbow. Raven pulled an arrow from her back and fitted it to the string.

  “Down,” she commanded, and I withdrew my swords and hit the forest floor hard, tucking into a ball.

  She fired, and the rogue, who’d be turning as he realised there was someone behind him, was caught by the bolt in his shoulder. He fell to the ground with a cry, and I pounced on him, flattening my hand over his mouth.

  “Let’s take him back to the castle,” she said, panting, folding the scythe-crossbow thing up and fitting it back on her back. “He might have information.”

  “You’re incredible,” I told her as we bound and gagged the older man. “What is that?”

  “It’s a scythe,” she replied, as we heaved the rogue to his feet. “And also a crossbow. Close range and long range.”

  I want one, I thought, as we dragged the man back to the Academy.

  We’d pulled the bolt from his shoulder and dressed the wound, so he wasn’t in too much pain. I think he was suffering more from the fact that he’d been beaten by two students.

  We brought him before Iain and Netalia, who were shocked, though they immediately took him in for questioning. Out in the hallway, Jett admonished us for going off on our own.

  “You’re there to guard, not investigate,” he told us furiously.

  I wasn’t put off by it though. Raven had earned my respect, and I told her so.

  “Oh please. I never would’ve engaged him on my own. You’re very brave, Sky.”

  “You know, a lot of what people say is bravery is actually just stupidity,” I told her, and she laughed.

  I introduced her to my group, and I noticed something flicker through Dustin’s eyes as she shook his hand. It was the same look he used to turn on me. I should’ve been bothered by it, and I guess I was a little bit. But I was glad Dustin could move on. I didn’t want him knowing how fast I had.

  Raven spent the rest of the lunch break with us, and Ispin was absolutely intrigued by her weapon. He almost got shot by getting her to show him how it worked, and then getting too close when she demonstrated.

  The rest of the day passed by quickly, as though on fast forward. Everywhere, people were talking in corners, and the Armoury was full of people sharpening their weapons. Just when I thought we were going to get another full day of peace, a horn sounded in the distance, and the Academy came to a standstill.

  “What was that?” Dena asked fearfully.

  Ispin and Petre ran to the nearest window with Theresa and I close on their heels. We all peered out of it.

  I blanched at the sight. A small army of mages dressed in brown and black were advancing, coming from the west as Iain had predicted. As we watched, they sounded their horn again.

  “What are they doing?” I asked no one in particular, perplexed. “Do they want us to know they’re coming or something?”

  Theresa gripped my shoulder and peeled Ispin from the window.

  “We’re going downstairs with the others. You and Phoenix stay here, like Iain said.”

  I watched them go, numb to the bone. Phoenix and I were left alone, standing in the corridor, looking at each other.

  Outside, the Academy’s horn sounded.

  The attack had begun.