Nightshade

Chapter Fourteen

Do not make decisions out of fear.

-The Book of Shadows

The rest of the weekend went by quicker than I would have liked it to. A small part of me thought Tobias would act weird after what happened by the lake, but he never brought it up. He went along as if nothing had happened and a part of me has to remind myself that he's known for being the playerish type. He probably doesn't care in the slightest.

Aside from that, I still can't wrap my mind around what exactly happened. I'm starting to convince myself that I'm going insane. I swear I felt Nightshade's shadows that night. The same sensation of the night in the forest with his shadows was identical. But it doesn't make any sense. He wasn't there...

Professor Leyons' clapping brings me from my thoughts. I look up, seeing him standing in the front of whatever course he's making us practice today. According to Marlene, the rest of our class with him would be doing exactly this. No more note-taking. No more easy classroom days. It will be pure work.

I both look forward to it and dread it.

"Today we start one of the more basic trial courses. Now, this isn't an exact replica of the course you'll be using when your first trial comes at the end of this month. However, it's damn near close to it. I have a few volunteers that are cadets with magic placed throughout the course. The objective of this course is simply to grab your house flag and make it to the end of it. You all don't have houses. Well, aside from Omrie, but she doesn't necessarily have a team."

I purse my lips. He's not wrong. Still stings, though.

"Your other objective will be to get a flag from a different house to knock them out of the round. In the actual trials, they'll do it in teams of eight from the houses since we need to weed out cadets. Omrie, you need to get House Shadowson's flag and protect it with your life. If you don't make it to the end of your course with the flag, you'll be packing your bags and leaving Blackwood. Barren cadets, your flag will be yellow with an X on it. That's the flag of being barren. You all are your own house, in a way. You're a team. The same goes for you. If you don't get your flag, you'll be packing your bags too and won't get a chance to sort again."

The pressure of the first course shakes me to my core. And this is supposed to be the easiest one. They only get harder after that. If I don't get a grasp on my magic, I might as well start packing my bags now.

"Line up at the start line!" he orders, his hands behind his back. "On my mark, you go. Remember what we've gone over in class. Be clever with your time—not rushed and panicked. Remember... there are no rules in these trials. Do what you have to to win."

I glance over at Marlene. "You ready for this?"

She rolls her shoulders, rolling her head side to side when we make it to the start line. "Not in the slightest, but at least this is a test and not the actual course."

I nod, bending my knees a little as I get ready to take off. We all look to Leyons who reaches around his tactical gear belt and pulls out a flare gun. He gives us all a serious look before firing the trigger and we take off.

The course seems like a stone maze as I start navigating it, still trying to stay close to the others. We skid to a stop when three cadets from House Flurris round the corner, smirks on their faces.

"Duck!" Marlene orders and we all drop to the ground, missing the ball of air shot towards us.

Behind the three cadets sit all flags and the cadets each grab one, taking off. They took both my house and the barren's flags. I groan, rolling upright.