~ Dedicated to all of my readers ~
Chapter Five ~ Conserving Magic
I didn’t get out of my bed for the majority of the next day. There was nothing more I could do than lie under my blankets and cry for hours. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t forget those screams. Unlike all the others I had heard over the years, these were different. Very, very different.
Before, I believed that justice was being rightfully brought to criminals that had commited major crimes and endangered our city. But now? How could I believe that when I witnessed a child being murdered?
No one should be capable of that cruelty.
I heard a loud knock.
Ignoring it, I turned over and buried my head deeper into my pillow.
Knock, knock.
I let out a sound of aggravation and finally got out of bed. I managed to stumble to the door and fling it open. Standing outside my door was a young messenger.
“Yes?” I asked sharply.
The boy shifted from one foot to the other, glancing up at me cautiously. “Hello, miss. Are you Mailandria?”
“Yes.”
“Here is your support payment for this month,” he said, handing me a bag of coins.
“Thanks.”
“You also have a message from the Institute regarding your education,” he said, handing me a letter. “I’m afraid it’s a few days late; you weren’t in when I came to deliver it before.”
I’m so distanced I don’t even nod when I take the letter and close the door on the messenger. I throw the bag onto a nearby table and tear open the letter carefully. Inside is a crisp parchment, stamped with the official seal of the Institute of Magic.
Student Mailandria,
It is our greatest pleasure to invite you to a full term of magical education here at the Institute of Magic. The month prior to this was dedicated to exercises created by our esteemed senior mentors, and were solely conducted for the observation of your magic abilities. We are pleased to announce that you have passed the tests and are eligible for proper training in the magical arts.
Here at the Institute of Magic, we provide only the best…
I skimmed over the benefits of joining the Institute; I already knew all the minor details. All children grow up longing for the rare gift of magic, and all hear some of the wonderful rumors of the Institute’s grandeur.
Please report back to the Institute as soon as possible for confirmation of your term of magical education. Meetings will be held at the Institute’s main building for the next three days at noon.
Signed,
Aldinarii Redway
Senior Mentor
I blinked, trying to feel elated about the amazing news. I had gotten into the Institute. Shouldn’t I feel happy? Closing my eyes, I let out a deep breath. No. I felt hollow and empty inside after witnessing what I had last night. It felt as if I would never feel happiness again.
I stood in silence for another minute or so. Making up my mind, I slipped the letter into my pocket and headed outside, not caring what I looked like. I made my way down the street in a cloudy haze, heading towards the Institute.
Last month I had gone there almost daily, taking vigorous tests and practicing what seemed like pointless motions over and over. There had been a multitude of people there with me, but it was my understanding that only a small percentage of us got in.
I was one of the few.
But I wasn’t as overjoyed as I thought I would be.
I glanced up, surprised to see that I was already at the Institute. Taking a deep breath, I entered through the large front doors and into the warmer air inside. I still had my jacket on from last night, so I shrugged it off and draped it over my shoulder.
“Hello, Mailandria,” I heard a voice to my right.
“Please call me Dri,” I frowned at the woman, Larja, who was sitting at her usual post at the front desk.
She waved her hand in dismissal. “So are you excited to be having a full term at the Institute?” she smiled kindly.
“Yes, I really am. It’s going to be wonderful,” I lied for her sake.
“Oh, yes, indeed! And such a great opportunity, too.”
I nodded as cheerfully as I could.
“Well you're going to be late, dear, if you don’t hurry back there,” Larja tilted her head in a gesture towards the meeting room.
I had slept in later than I thought, hadn’t I? I offered Larja a last smile before turning away and rushing to the meeting room. The smile slipped away as soon as my back was to her.
“…and I’m sure that we will have a fantastic term this year, as l– Oh, hello, miss. Please take a seat.”
I awkwardly sat down, everyone’s eyes on me.
The man I had interrupted turned back towards the rest of the audience, continuing smoothly with his speech.
“…and it is a great honor for me to say that you few have been selected from a large amount of possible magic users. And even though those of us blessed with these amazing abilities are becoming fewer and fewer every generation, I believe we have a fairly good turnout this year,” he beamed at the ten or so people sitting in the room before him.
Everyone looked around at each other. There were about two children younger than I. One was a boy around the age of… of the girl I saw last night, and the other was a girl who looked only a year or two under me. Then there were a couple tough, beefy looking boys that looked the tiniest bit older than me, a thin boy, and a few older looking girls and boys that didn’t really stand out in particular.
“Now,” the man started up again. “I’ll leave Mentor Redway to speak to you about your term here at the Institute.”
He stepped aside to let another man come forward. The man – Mentor Redway, I assumed – had a bright smile that lit up his aged features, his eyes crinkling in the corners slightly. He had thick brown hair with wisps of grey running through it and his dark eyes were warm and welcoming.
“Welcome,” he held out his arms, as if embracing the room. “We are very happy to have you here at the Institute. Now, I don’t like to dally too much on insignificant details, so I’ll be getting on with what we will be learning. Today we will be having our first lesson.”
A murmuring broke out from the few people sitting around me. A lesson already? Shouldn’t we at least get some sort of orientation first? Maybe I had missed it… I had come in late, after all.
“Before we get started, however, we need to go over some of the basic rules for magic. Now even though most of you are familiar with them, it’s best that we refresh ourselves. Does anyone know the most important thing to know about magic?” he glanced around the room.
One of the older girls hesitantly raised her hand.
“Yes?” Mentor Redway nodded to her.
“All magic comes with a price,” she said softly in a timid voice.
“Exactly. Now whenever a magic user casts a spell, there is always a consequence that is directed towards someone or something around them. This is called a Ripple. Despite the magic being cast – natural or contrived – the Ripple will always have a negative impact. A Ripple can affect the environment, a living organism, anything. Sometimes, however, a magic user can intentionally direct the Ripple towards a specific person or thing.
“This is pretty advanced, though, so I’ll be having some senior students here at the Institute helping redirect the Ripples we create towards these.” Mentor Redway held up a candle. “Something all magic users should know is how to create receptacles; more commonly referred to as vessels. These vessels can be used to hold excess magic that a magic user may want to store for later use. For our first lesson of the term, we will be learning how to create these vessels.
“Each of you will be assigned a senior student to help you with the Ripples, and will run you through the steps to make a vessel.” Mentor Redway turned to a group of people standing behind him.
He said something to them and they nodded, dispersing themselves among the new students of the Institute. One woman headed towards me, smiling. She had long black hair – similar to my own – and shining hazel eyes.
“Hello, dear,” she said once she was near enough to me. “You can call me Rayna.”
“Hello Rayna,” I forced a small smile. “I’m Dri.”
“Now that everyone has become acquainted with each other, you may begin,” Mentor Redway smiled. “I’ll be walking around and helping anyone who needs assistance.”
“Okay, the first thing you have to do is have a good posture, like so,” Rayna stood tall, her shoulders back and chin tilted up slightly. I copied her as best I could.
“Good, just like that. This is so that the magic within you can flow easier throughout your body. Now you’re going to hold out your hands in front of you like this.” Rayna held out her hands and positioned them like she was gripping a glass ball; delicately.
“There, that’s perfect. Just bring your hands together a little more…” she moved my hands closer to each other. “Okay, now you have to concentrate very hard. Close your eyes. Imagine you're holding a small flame. Focus on the flame and feel it growing in your hands. Make sure it doesn’t go out. Do you feel a tingling in your arms? It should be moving towards your wrists…”
I felt a slight prickling sensation traveling down from my shoulders. My hands began to shake from the effort.
“You’re doing fine. Just concentrate on making the sensation travel out from your fingertips.”
I bit my tongue lightly as I felt the prickling become more intense; like little needles prodding my hands. Then it began to hurt as it neared the tips of my fingers. My whole body began to shake and the pain was becoming almost unbearable, running up and down my arms.
“Dri?” I felt Rayna touch my arm lightly.
I hissed out in pain, the sensation becoming too strong to handle. My hands broke their position. Gasping, I crouched down, wrapping my arms around my stomach in an attempt to lessen the pain.
“Dri! Are you alright?” Rayna knelt down next to me.
I shook my head, the pain ebbing away slowly. “No… I’m fine. It’s okay.”
Rayna rubbed my back soothingly and she called for Mentor Redway.
“Yes? What happened?” he rushed over, looking concerned.
“This girl, Dri, while we were transferring her magic, she collapsed,” Rayna explained, sounding concerned.
I saw Mentor Redway lean down next to me out of the corner of my eye.
“Are you hurt?” he asked me.
“No… I’m fine. Truly,” I bit out, attempting to stand.
Rayna supported my weight as I straightened up, slightly wobbly. I breathed in and out deeply, and felt the pain gradually go away.
“She needs to rest. I’ll go get her some water,” Mentor Redway said. “Rayna, please take her over to the other side of the room. Take it easy, okay?” he added, glancing at me.
I nodded and let Rayna lead me over to the far wall, sitting down with my back to it.
“Are you feeling any better?” she asked, worry crossing her features.
“Yeah, a lot better, thank you.”
I felt pathetic.
Why did these things keep happening to me? Why wasn’t I strong enough to not have to rely on everyone else all the time? I felt stripped of my dignity. I’d become so feeble.
“Here, drink this,” Mentor Redway returned with a glass of water for me.
I accepted it thankfully and drained it quickly.
“Rayna, could you go help out the others with their vessels please? Thank you,” Mentor Redway smiled at her and knelt beside me.
“Are you feeling better?”
“Yes.”
“What exactly happened?” he questioned.
I set the glass down beside me and answered, “Rayna was instructing me to pretend I had a flame in my hands. When she told me I should be feeling a tingling sensation, it felt more like prickling. It didn’t really hurt at first, but as it traveled down my arms it began to feel… like I was physically getting pinpricked. And after a few seconds, it felt like it was almost burning me.”
Mentor Redway nodded slowly, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Then what happened?”
“It just… Rayna told me to let the sensation flow out of my fingers, but when it reached close to my fingertips, it felt almost… resistant. Clogged. After that, the pain became too unbearable and I had to stop.”
Mentor Redway frowned. “Hmm. Alright then. Dri is it?”
I nodded.
“Well, Dri, I think it would be best for you to go home for the day. Take a little rest. Come back tomorrow; we’ll be having a second lesson then.”
I opened my mouth to object, but I decided against it. I felt drained, and rest was probably a good idea. Getting up, I thanked Mentor Redway and moved to leave. I hesitated and turned towards him after a thought occurred to me.
“Sir?”
“Yes, Dri?”
“Did I fail?”
Mentor Redway laughed. “What? Of course not. Go home now, dear. You get well rested and come back tomorrow at noon.”
I thanked him again, reassured, and left the building. Once I got home, I ate a well-deserved meal, changed, and washed; all the while wary of my arms. But they didn’t hurt again. It was relieving, but I was concerned about what had happened. Did I… lose my magic somehow? I shook the thought away and curled up in my bed.
I had been through so much lately.
I didn’t sleep well.
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I'm going to copy my friend EternalxFantasy here with this question. How did you find my story? What made you want to read it?
Not really happy with how this chapter turned out.
~ Syl