Staring at herself in the mirror, Kallai carefully ran fingers through her now shoulder-length hair, trying not to make it puff out any more than it was already. She then smoothed out the grey of her robes and checked the bow on her new violet sash, ensuring it was straight and tied properly, she smiled. But what had her grinning was the special embroidery around the sleeves and hem of her robes. In a bright red, sharp edged flames had been added, identifying her even at a casual glance as a fire elemental mage.
Without knocking or sending one of his winds to ask for permission to enter as she was forever asking him to do, Shuu just appeared in the middle of Kallai’s room as he always did. “Slow you are, Sparrow,” he told her grinning.
She stuck her tongue out at him. “I’ve got more hair to make sure is neat, and I wanted to make sure my sash was tied properly, something you don’t have to deal with. Besides, you use your winds to help, which is cheating.”
Shuu chuckled, leaning against the grey stone wall of her room, his arms crossed over his chest, his posture relaxed. Kallai studied him, taking in the robes of the same colour, the undershirt of the same violet as hers, with only the stark white swirls of an air mage and her sash differentiating the two of them. He caught her gaze and raised his eyebrows.
Kallai flushed slightly but didn’t look away from the intensity of his blue eyes. In the end, he blinked and chuckled again, letting her win the staring contest. “Sevilen coming is?”
“He said he would,” Kallai replied, turning back to the mirror and doing another check over of her appearance, convinced that every minute she didn’t look something else would have gotten mussed. While she still knew everyone who would be in their classes by name, she couldn’t help the feeling that this would be her first impression, the only chance she had to finally, completely and thoroughly, kill the name Spellless. Memories rose and made her shiver for a moment.
Shuu walked over, dropping an elbow onto her shoulder so he could lean on her, smiling at her reflection. “Too much you do worry, Sparrow,” he said, sensitive to her moods as much as she was to his. “These children you will impress. Above apprentice mage you are. If fire mage I were, nearly fully trained you would be. But still, with more time and practice, full elemental mage you will be.”
She smiled, feeling warmth at both his reassurance and the fact he cared enough about her to offer it in the first place. “Thanks. It’s just a bit hard, you know? These are the same people who…well, with Azaz, Eran, and Makol expelled, the worst of that lot should have been dealt with, and I can defend myself after all, it’s just…I don’t want to have to. Especially since that’ll just end up scaring people. I’d like to just be accepted, without fear, without disdain. I just want to be treated like everyone else.”
He shrugged. “If yourself you must defend, then you must defend. If not, then not. If accepted, it good is. If not, nothing will change. What good worrying does do? Now, up do hurry!”
Kallai had to laugh at that, an easy sound that bubbled up out of her far more often these days, in no small part to Shuu. Mischief and fun were his forte, amplified by his easy smile and quick wit. He grinned and grabbed her hand. His winds descended on them before she could protest what they’d do to her hair, tightening as they whirled faster and faster, until they finally were left with a kind of popping feeling as they appeared wherever it was that Shuu had chosen for them to land.
“We could have walked,” she complained, seeing the grey stone of the school’s floor as she pressed down her robes, worried about wrinkles.
“Walking slow is. This way more exciting too is.”
Looking up, Kallai found them both at the centre of a familiar grey stone hallway, one filled with a sea of grey robed students, only the rainbow of their undershirts separating them from each other, all staring at them. She flushed slightly, glaring at her companion. “Shuu! We were supposed to wait for Sevilen! He was going to do a proper introduction. He specifically asked that we not introduce ourselves before he announced everything.”
His grin was edged in mischief as his eyes danced. “Slowness in your family is. Besides, most already you know. And as long as we ourselves not do introduce, his orders we not did break.”
As whispers spread out around them, the volume of them slowly rising, Kallai crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine, but if Sevilen gets mad, you get to explain to him why wer didn’t wait. I don’t need another lecture, thank you. Until I met you, I didn’t know how good he was at them, and how long he could keep them going.”
“See? All sorts of useful things with me you do learn.”
She wrinkled her nose at him. “You’re entirely too sure of yourself. One day that’s going to come back to bite you. Somewhere painful. Well, since you let the cat out of the bag, how do you want to do this?”
“With style, excitement, and showmanship. My hand do take, Sparrow,” he said, holding his hand out, his grin not at all reassuring. Especially not since the last time she’d seen it, they’d nearly gotten arrested by some guards. To this day, she didn’t know why he’d thought flying halfway around the world to sneak into some random palace would be fun.
But Kallai knew, that whatever trouble he might get them into, he would never risk her safety. She was his student, the receptacle of everything he knew of elemental magic and his people, and he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. And for her part, she trusted him completely, with her life, and everything there was about her. There was nothing she hadn’t told him when he’d asked. And over the last couple of months, they’d learned a lot about each other, and about how they worked together. They hadn’t had much choice about that.
She took his hand. As soon as her skin touched his, the winds came back, whipping around them, tugging at the robes of the students still surrounding both of them. Several of them backed away, faces pale, while others appeared excited. A moment later, and Kallai and Shuu were again transported to somewhere else.
As soon as the winds cleared this time, Kallai looked around. They were still inside the school, the grey stone alone telling her that. She looked around, but didn’t recognize the room at all, trying to remember if anywhere in any of the school buildings had such low ceilings. Until she looked down.
Seeing the rows of tables set up beneath them, temporarily empty of food, but several filled with bodies as other students continued to trickle in, Kallai recognized the dining hall. It looked almost the same as the last time she’d seen it, causing a momentary pang. She might no longer truly feel fear, but her body was so conditioned to it that she had to remind herself that she safe. And that she was strong enough to deal with anything the other students could dish out.
Kallai also recognized the fact that Shuu had them hovering up near the ceiling. She just gave him a look. He only grinned, floating closer so he could whisper into her ear. “This way more dramatic is.”
“Why you always insist on more and bigger drama, I will never know,” she replied, just as quietly. She knew even if she was inaudible, his winds would carry her words to him. It hadn’t taken her long not to mutter under her breath about him.
The doors that led to the faculty side of the dining area opened, and a familiar figure strode out, his pale head swivelling back and forth, his black Magi robe-coat flowing behind him like a river of black. Shuu chuckled while Kallai sighed. Just the way Sevilen was looking for them promised trouble when he finally did find them. He was tense, his moves short and quick, not his usual slow, fluid way of strolling. He continued to look around, his eyes scanning the faces of the assembled students, his movements growing tighter and more controlled with every passing moment.
When the tables were all filled almost to the point of overflowing, and the new headmaster had arrived, his face looking older than the last time Kallai had seen him, they could see Sevilen throw up his hands, walking to the front of the room. He had, as he so often did, forgotten to look up. For someone who was as fascinated and so well versed in elemental magic, Kallai was always impressed with how much her cousin could forget about basic things like their love of being among their own element. Doubly so since Shuu spent as much time in the air as he did on the ground.
Once in front of the whispering students, and with the headmaster at his side, Shuu turned to face the crowd. They could both see him perform a quick spell, and a moment later, his voice boomed out. “Good morning students,” he said, his hands clasped behind his back. “I am Magi Sevilen Magan, here under orders from the Council. As I am certain more than a few of you will have heard, today there will be two other students joining you, one familiar, one not. They will be the first of the new elemental magic students who will eventually be joining you, learning with you and from you as you will learn from them. Together, you will be able to push the boundaries of magic and of knowledge! For those of you who are discovered to have elemental magic, you will begin training immediately under these same two students, who are true mages in their own right. But that is something that will be discussed with you later, by your teachers and headmaster Rendan. For now, I’d simply like to introduce you to the new elemental magic students joining you.”
While the other students began to whisper among themselves again, Shuu’s winds brought them Sevilen’s muttered, “You two had best reveal yourself shortly, or I will be most put out with both of you. You were supposed to come to me when you were prepared.”
Kallai winced while Shuu grinned. “An entrance we must make,” he said, eyes running over the crowd, practically vibrating with excitement.
She sighed, but still asked, “What are you thinking?”
“A massive fireball. Impressive and memorable it is. A comet we will resemble, your fire around us wrapped, my winds us safe to keep, then we shall explode. My winds over them will race, and all eyes on us will be. Perfection it is.”
Wondering, as she often did, why she let Shuu talk her into things, Kallai nodded. She let the heat that always seemed to be flowing through her veins now, rise up until it was just barely contained within her skin, making her flush all over. He brought his winds around them, creating a whirling sphere of air that was more normally used as a defense when they practiced their magics. Only when they were completely surrounded did Kallai ignite the outside, knowing the winds would keep the fire away from Shuu without her having to keep a close watch on those flames.
As soon as the fire had them coated in glowing yellow, orange, and red, Shuu dropped them. Months of being flown around and suddenly allowed to fall, Shuu thought he was funny especially when he wasn’t, had long broken Kallai of her habit of screaming. But not her stomach of flopping around, so that it felt like it had been left behind, making her swallow hard. Still, she kept the fire going strong, letting it trail out into a shimmering tail behind them.
In the end, it wouldn’t have mattered if she had screamed. It would have been lost in the cacophony of shouts and cries below them, as to the students sitting underneath them, it looked like a massive fireball had appeared out of nowhere and was dropping on them, where it would likely kill them all.
Kallai left the aiming to Shuu, concentrating on keeping her fire contained, knowing what havoc it would wreak if she let it loose as it wanted her to. And while she enjoyed watching it blaze up, feeling a kind of joy when she had fire all around her, she wasn’t about to let it hurt anyone. Not innocents like most of the students were.
They landed just a few feet from Sevilen, but nto far enough away that he wouldn’t feel the heat of it. Kallai made the fire burst out into smaller balls that in turn exploded, filling the room with burning sparks that resembled miniature hovering suns in a rainbow of fire colours. People stared, open-mouthed, heads turning to take them all in. A moment later and Kallai extinguished them all at once.
Shuu chose that exact second to send his winds out in a wave that rolled over the students like the tide crashing against the beach. Hair flew, robes flapped, and every eye was drawn to where they stood at the front, backs straight. Ever the showman, Shuu swept them an elaborate, flourished bow, one of the ones he’d learned from Sevilen. “To you all, good day,” he said, letting his accent thicken so there was no mistake in thinking he was local. “I Shuu Earthturner am. Elemental mage of the air and only living fully trained elemental mage I am. I elemental magic will be teaching. To those of you who that power do possess. How many of you, I not do know. Not now, but soon I will. Now, this my first student is,” he said, gesturing to Kallai. “Strong she is, and temper when provoked she has. Care do take.”
Kallai flushed. While she knew he was only doing it in an effort to both protect her and to warn the other students that she wasn’t to be trifled with, she still wished he hadn’t. They didn’t need any more reasons to fear her. “Hello,” she said, giving a half wave. “Some of you may recognize me, as I was a student here up until last year. I’m Kallai of House Magan, elemental mage of fire, though I’m still learning my magic.”
“You’re Spellless!” a voice called out from the overflowing table of Violets at the far side of the room.
She turned, the voice had been female and from the direction a few people were glancing, Kallai suspected that it had been Laji who’d spoken. She smiled in the direction of that table, holding up one hand and igniting it. Keeping it near her face so they could all see how the flames weren’t burning her, she locked her eyes onto the Violets, her smile acidly sweet. “My name is Kallai. And I would think, after our demonstration, that everyone would know that I’m quite capable of magic. Of course, if any of you have doubts, please come and find me and I’ll be happy to give you another demonstration or two.”
Several of the Violets paled, Laji among them. Kallai nodded sharply at them before extinguishing her hand. She glanced at Shuu, who grinned at her. She smiled back as Sevilen moved up, his face the polite mask he used when he needed to. Whether it was hiding annoyance at her thinly veiled threat, or if he was amused by it, Kallai didn’t know. She certainly hoped for the latter, especially since he was likely unhappy with them already.
“Well, now that you have been acquainted with them, I am certain that many of you would like to speak to your new elemental mage classmates. Please, feel free to ask them anything you wish to know, or, if you wish, your teachers. They have all been briefed on elemental magic as well.”
While Sevilen continued his speech, Kallai reached her hand out, Shuu’s hand meeting her halfway. Grabbing onto his, she felt him squeeze her. A rush of warmth welled up inside of her, glad as she always was to have him by her side. With Shuu beside her, there wasn’t anything she couldn’t face, nothing she couldn’t do. She turned so she could see his face and smiled when his eyes met hers. He returned it with a grin, and there, under the combined gazes of nearly four hundred students, she felt truly at peace.
The End