^^^ Mikel with Norah
Extra-long chapter for you all : )
With a dramatic sigh, I shut the book in my hands. In the middle of the night, my room should be pitch black and I should be asleep. But my lamp bathes the small room in light, only leaving the corners in an endless pit of darkness.
My head aches, my eyes droop heavily, and my fingers are stiff from hours of holding onto the book. Words and random chunks of information swim inside my head. For the most part, Professor Mikel's little errand has only raised new questions.
The book mentions different gods and goddesses, giving an entire story of what they believe to be true. It took a few sleepless nights and hours in the library with Adam, but I pieced together the prophecy with a particular god.
Etin, the God of Preservation, according to a little digging and lunches with Professor Mikel, is believed to be the creator of this planet. The book states that he created our planet to be the family he had been craving, only to sacrifice himself on behalf of that family when the gods lashed out against the humans. The war between the gods threw the natural order out of balance and Andis attempted to rectify the resulting chaos by destroying everything on the planet. This cleansing created giant tidal waves that consumed half the planet. Meteor showers forged giant craters, plagues spread unchecked, and wild storms raged as Andis tried to restabilize. Though the book doesn't know how he did it, it's believed that Etin sacrificed himself to the planet, rebalancing its natural order and saving every living creature on the planet. But he was never heard from again.
A mental scream rips through my head and crumbles the walls between Rima and I. "I win," I tell her with a groan and roll over with the book pressing into my stomach.
Rima huffs, and I see her tossing her head back in my head. "I thought my human was dying. I need to keep you alive, I can't afford to waste my time training a new one on how to adjust my saddle right."
"I'm not your human," I mumble, burying my face into the mattress. A hint of a smirk ghosts my lips. "But I guess I can make an exception for you, dragon. If you promise not to betray me in the process."
She snorts and I have a feeling of her rolling over. "I suppose, I can manage that."
"Then we're on good terms. I can be your human." My heart warms as Rima's emotions slowly fuse with my own. It feels right to have her back, even if we were both being too stubborn to give into a silly game.
I don't dig deep enough into our bond to see through her, but I can feel enough to sense she's on Khalier. "It's the middle of the night, why are you awake?" I wonder.
"I was waiting for you to cave in. I had to be awake for that."
My eyes roll. "No, really."
She pauses for a moment to think. Contentment webs over me like a gentle wind. "I've been going with Easton and Abraxis to the Fifth Island while you've been on lockdown. We're making our way slowly to the mountains where the ancient dragons live. One of them is bound to know something about The Darkening."
"Where are you now?"
"Hiding from people," she says simply. "The forest is particularly good for that."
"No Galeur or Thorn? Is this real life?"
"I can't go near them while you're in Belonia. The entire family interrogates me on my human's whereabouts. Holland doesn't like you being over there, you know?"
Though it feels nice to have someone fuss over me, I can't help but feel bad because of it. Still, I wave it off with sarcasm to keep myself away from feeling how much it scares me. "What's he gonna do? Fly here? He'll get shot down the second he gets into mage territories."
"Because he's not special like us," Rima replies with equal measure of suppressed fear. To imagine a dragon and rider going down, to imagine Holland and Galeur shot down, upsets me. My face pulls into a frown.
He's not that stupid is he? Though Holland is too smart to ever do something that... stupid... my heart bursts into a panic and my head spins with what-ifs.
Rima smoothers my thoughts by consuming me with her presence. "Silence, human," she says softly. "Galeur would never let Holland try something like that, and Holland would never let Galeur do something like that."
As dawn rises, seeping through the curtains with bright red and orange colors, Rima and I talk while I prepare for morning training. With any luck, sparring will be against Vexian and her friends. Words will never be something I'm good at, my mind thinks faster than my mouth can keep up leaving me fumbling for responses. But I do not need to speak to break someone's wrist.
Unfortunately, by the time I run my laps, do my conditioning with the other frost mages, and join the other elementalists, Vex is paired with a fire mage.
The fight doesn't last very long and despite Vex's quick temperament, the fire mage isn't quick on her feet. Her shin splits through skin exposing white for us all to see. Some mages cheer, while others slap cash into the victor's hand with a sigh.
When it's my turn to go, the match is quick and bloody. Holland told me to take my training seriously, to imagine myself in a real fight. Mage fighting is exactly like that, maybe even worse. Broken spines, cracked ribs, and shattered femurs, don't matter to mages. Not when skin healers stand in the crowd waiting to take away pain that would take dragon riders months to heal from. Someone will always come to fix us. The only thing that will truly hurt a mage is to damage their pride.
A black-haired healer fixes the gash on my thigh and a broken finger. I watch the other students carry on with training while my opponent, a dark mage in silver clothes, has a healer repair his broken knee and frostbite that spots his skin with black. He glares at me, pride beaten, and shivers. But what should he have expected from a Crimson? Even if the name doesn't feel like me anymore, few have yet to beat me and it makes betting boring.
When dawn is a distant memory, students are walked to their classes with guards close by. With nothing else to do, I pay attention in class while making glances out the window. Like Khalier, the wind howls, growing stronger every day. Easton explained that the shields around the school, the ones that keep the winds at bay, are thinning everyday. Or so his parents tell him.
During lunch, I sit in Professor Mikel's room where Vex and her friends steer away from. He questions me about the book and has assigned me an essay to write about Etin. I still can't tell if this is part of a revenge mission for failing his class or if he's testing my academic skills. Either way it benefits us both. I study and write the essay paragraph by paragraph and learn more and more in between snooping around the school at night.
After class, Adam and I meet in the library to read. Though Rima urges me to leave him alone and let my mother wither in another failed spy, it's nice to talk to someone besides Rima. Adam doesn't ridicule me, though I never trust him enough to let anything slip. I learned from last time what can happen when you open up.
Finishing with the book, I slap it shut and lean back in the chair, arms raised in a stretch. Adam glances up at me. "Finished?"
"Yeah, only took three days."
He chuckles, teasing. "Amateur."
I wave a hand at him, leaning forward onto the table. "Not everyone can read as fast as you, bookworm. For some of us, it takes a few eons."
"Makes sense," he nods thoughtfully. "Dragon riders do tend to live long lives."
A tired but relieved chuckle comes out and I nod, moving to lay my head on the thick book. I shut my eyes, wanting to give my numb brain a rest, but don't want to drop the subject. The Darkening is killing people and even if the book was informative, it wasn't helpful in anyway against The Darkening.
"Now I need to find something with dead people who run," I murmur, peeping one eye at Adam.
He stares at me, eyes narrowed slightly as he thinks. Patiently, I wait for him to file through every book he's ever read and find me another to read, hopefully one that's helpful. "The running dead?"
I hum in acknowledgment.
Adam plants an elbow on the table, drumming his fingers on his jaw. "Only one book comes to mind. Professor Haniek has a really good one that I read. The thing is pretty creepy, but I couldn't put it down. Morning classes sucked."
"What's it about?" I wonder, hoping for a little bit more information before I read another two-thousand paged book.
"It's about a war that happened a long time ago," he says. "It's a more adult version about The Darkening's story and the war it caused. Shadow Wars," he murmurs the last part like an advertisement.
Slowly, I straighten in my seat, wondering if I heard Adam correctly or if my lack of sleep is finally getting to me. "It mentions The Darkening?"
Adam nods, going back to his book. "Yeah. Professor Haniek has it in his personal library. You can ask to borrow it."
Borrow, the word makes me frown. No one would let a half-breed borrow a book, especially one in a professor's personal library. They might be afraid that I'll rip it up like mutts do with homework. No one will listen if I ask, I'm certain.
It'll be back before he even realizes it's gone. And if he does notice, I doubt he will suspect a Crimson.
------------------
I wait until after curfew before slipping out of my dorm and into the academy walls. Passing the guards unnoticed isn't too hard if you know the time it takes for them to complete each round around the school and its halls. In the halls, I hide inside empty rooms and listen for the guards to pass before heading back out.
"If you get caught again..." Rima trails off, internally shaking her head.
"I won't," I tell her, searching for the right room. "Besides, it's my parents who'll have to deal with me, not Holland."
"And you want to get yelled at?"
"I've had worse"
With a sigh, Rima settles into the bond, watching like a motionless cat. "If anything happens, I'm going to power through this snow storm."
"Have fun with that," I tell her, peering into a hallway and quickly crossing it into another one. "First it's rain and wind, now it's snow and wind."
"Yep, winter's here." Her voice flattens in mock dramatization. She warns me of an approaching guard and I hide inside another classroom before resuming my walk. A smug feeling comes through the bond and I almost roll my eyes. "I like being small, Thorn and Galeur can just curl around me and I'm warm."
"So you're with them?"
"Thorn just kept twisting my wing so much I had to give in."
I shake my head, smiling to myself. "I'm sure she really twisted it."
Professor Haniek's room is easy to spot, being on the far end of the academy with a golden plaque with his name above the door. As quietly as possible, I enter and shut the door.
The classroom is long with tables stretching to the side of the wall. Light from under the hallway door gives me just enough light to navigate my way to the professors table without bumping into anything.
Padding around the smooth wooden table, I find the lamp and search for the switch, only to mentally hit myself. Mages don't need electricity. "Elur."
A dim, yellow light glows to life, illuminating the table but leaving the rest of the classroom in darkness. I turn around, towards the three book shelves against the wall. Books about anatomy and chemistry but nothing called the Shadow Wars. A skeleton hangs on a rod beside the table and I flinch and then glare at it.
My lips twist. "Oh."
Rima's snickering sends chills up my spine. "Bet you wished for a particular tall person right now."
"Shut up." With a huff and flicking my braids back, I push onto the tips-of-my-toes to try and reach the book two shelves above my stunted height. When wiggling my fingers and bitting my lip doesn't get me the book, I drop onto my heels and set my hands on my hip. "Where's Easton when you need him?"
In the back of my mind, Rima's endless fit of laughter and teasing disturbs my mind. I close up the bond between us to get me to focus. My heart thumbs with Rima tapping the bond, wanting to be let back in but when I do she only laughs harder.
"I hope you wake up Galeur and Thorn," I say before slamming the bond shut again.
With a minute to collect myself in silence, I set my foot on a shelf and pull myself up. Please don't break. I wince when the wood creeks, but keep climbing higher, trying to spread my weight as evenly as possible.
My lip stings the longer I bite into it. I try to reach for the book and have to climb up another shelf to take it.
I leap from the shelf, taking a stumbling step back when I land. My heart quickens but quickly settles as I look down at the large, weathered book in my hand. It feels heavy, maybe a thousand pages if not more. A rush of victory and dread flutter in my stomach. I got the book, but now I have to read it.
I flip through the pages, just grazing through pictures and endless words until something catches my eye. With a delicate finger, my thumb traces over the skull of the skeleton. A shudder chases up my spine as I stare into the void of empty eyes. It's a detailed sketch made of pencil, but I can't help but feel like it's watching me, like it's non-existent eyes trace my every movement. Night Stalkers they're called; followers of death.
Voices come from behind the door. I slam the book shut and spin around with a drumming heart. Not again!
"Elur!" I whisper, rushing over to one of the student tables against the wall. The lamp dulls before I have the time to crawl underneath the table, and leaves me in total darkness. I blink, forcing my eyes to adjust to the dark and hit my head on the table above me.
I hiss through my teeth, schooching back against the wall with an aching head. It reminds me when Holland would whack me for doing something stupid. This feels appropriate. If he finds out that I have snuck into something again, I may never see daylight again.
The door slides open on silent hinges, spilling a warm glow into the classroom before being shut.
"Elur," a voice says and the lamp glows again.
Hidden in the shadows, I remain completely still. My blood rushes in my ears and nearly bursts when I hear my family. I watch their footsteps cross the classroom and to the table I was just at.
"Have you discovered anything?" My father asks, wearing shiny black dress shoes. I imagine he's wearing his suit as well, like my mother always wears her heels.
Another voice, presumably Professor Haniek, sounds disappointed. "No. Whatever your soldiers did seemed to do the trick."
"What have you found out about them from the autopsy?" Mother asks, her voice impartial.
"They're just bodies, cold and dead," the professor says.
"It took an entire team of Dragon Riders to stop a few of these things." Clarika seems to be the only one being sensible tonight. I crane my neck to see from under the table, spotting my sister standing beside the white-haired professor and across from our parents. Father's hands are clasped behind him like Clarika's. "These ones were felled with one stroke of a sword. It seems too easy."
Oh, no. My hand goes to my mouth. What did you do?
"Please," Mother scoffs, dismissing her worry completely. "It's not like the Dragon Riders have fighting talent."
"Clarika," Father sets a hand on her shoulder, eyes steeled but warm. The sight makes my jaw set and fingers dig into the book's leather cover. "They're just empty vessels, animated by magic. It's nothing more complicated than that."
Clarika nods but remains unconvinced. She rushes out the words, knowing that our parents will cut her off for even suggesting something so vulgar. "It just doesn't seem right. We should ask Norah, she's seen these things up close-"
My mother's face contorted with a rare sight of repulsion, but it's quickly snuffed out into a neutral expression. "Norah's not a trained mage, her observations won't help us."
My expression sours, brows knitted into a furrow. Of course, my family would never publicly trash my name. As much as they try to keep me in the shadows, to be as obedient and as invisible as possible, they would never call me a failure in front of strange eyes. No, the name calling, the blame and shame is all saved for closed doors.
The swing of a blade. I have to shove down my thoughts to hear Clarika's words again.
My wall between Rima falls and it only takes her a few seconds to catch up. All she hears is a long, mental scream. I want to rip out my hair the longer I sit silent and listen to my family endangering so many people.
Clarika opens her mouth to say more but our father cuts her off. His expression hardens at the mere mention of me, like I'm some kind of troubled child or bug to be squashed. "If you need to talk to someone whose fought against these things, talk to the mages who fought bravely to retrieve them."
Clarika accepts her defeat and nods solemnly. My parents raise their chin, pleased, and turn back to the professor. "And where are the bodies now?"
He twists around, reaching for a book on the shelf. "In the examination room. Do you want to see them?"
Father shakes his head, stopping him mid-way. "No. Not tonight, we have other matters to attend to."
My family leaves first and then the professor follows, shutting the door and murmuring for the lamp to turn off. When the door shuts, Rima and I both sigh with relief. The darkness makes my skin crawl with a new sense of danger.
"He said they're here," My words come out in a ragged breath. How could my family be such fools? But the blame is not all on them. I should have told them how to kill Thrawlers and I would have if they had asked.
"But would they have listened?" Rima counters my guilt with another question.
"No," I admit with a sigh. "But I should have tried. The Darkening is killing everything it touches. Mages, riders, commons people. Everyone." This isn't and shouldn't be about an individual faction, not when everyone is at risk and will die. Death doesn't discriminate.
Five minutes pass by in total silence before I slip out from under the table and make straight to the bookshelves with my own book in hand. My breath quickens, eyes roving over each and every book that the professor might have pulled.
Please be a secret door. Please be a secret door.
When I can't seem to find the right book, I start tipping the corners toward me, wondering if the professor was just gesturing to someplace behind him or if their might actually be a secret door. But the way his fingers stretched for the shelf, ready to grab onto something, makes me think otherwise.
"Norah, be careful." Rima warns, wanting to step out from Galeur and Thorn's shelter and fly here. I brush away her uneasiness as kindly as possible and never dismiss it. She has a right to be concerned but I also have to know how many Thrawlers the mages have collected. This entire school could be holding an army of the undead and I have to burn them all before someone gets hurt or worse.
Between a medical terminology and cadaver book, I pull a black book that clicks when it's tipped over. I step back, wanting to smile as the shelves slide against the wall to reveal a wooden door. My hand hovers over the door knob, eyes going distant as I think.
Thrawlers could be waiting behind this door. "If I'm going to do something stupid, I should do it with a decent plan." When I turn the lamp back on, I set the book down on the professors table. I'll come back for this.
If Thrawlers are beyond the door, I can't face them unarmed.
A shard of ice forms in each hand, nearly as long as my forearm and as heavy as a real blade. They steam, mixing with the warm air. I step toward the door and turn the knob and push it open and brace for an attack.
But nothing comes, just a dark tunnel that spirals down. It sets my nerves buzzing.
"Elur," I murmur and the lights along the ceiling glow. My footsteps echo softly against the stone stairs. I don't know how deep it goes, but it's not under the school. The staircase opens into a room where strong chemicals almost over power the stench of death.
My eyes winden, breath hitching. Nausea rolls through me and I set a hand against the wall to keep me up right. The ice daggers in my hands feel weak, like I'm a child who brought a toothpick to a sword fight.
Nine tables dominate the cadaver room with all but two occupied with bodies. Each one ranges from a few days to months after death. Deep sinks hug the walls with silver knives and tools that Riveta would probably know. Shelves are screwed into the room with colorful bottles of fluid and what looks like shriveled plants resting on top.
Rima stays silent, absorbing the appalling sight. I sense her determination and know she's already trying to worm out of Galeur and Thorn's shelter. At her fastest speed, she could be here in three hours. But getting off Khalier when the winds might as well be hurricanes is the difficult part. Clouds and winds that are supposed to be kept out by the shield around the Floating Islands are failing.
The Darkening is taking its toll on the world.
Though the urge to poke the bodies with my dagger seems appealing and may even provide a false comfort, I make straight to the shelves as silently as I can and always keep an eye for a body twitching. If Professor Haniek prodding and tearing into them didn't wake them, I doubt that poking them will do anything. And if it did, I would have seven Thrawlers after me.
This is better but worse all at the same time.
My hands move on their own, grabbing for the labelled jars and pulling them down to the table. Half my body is turned toward the Thrawlers, my legs ready to run at a second's notice. I glance to the window across from me as I throw in different herbs and fluids together into a bowl.
When I look down to unscrew a jar, a hand wraps around my shoulder. I've never spun around so fast in my life. It startles Clarika and she jumps back before my elbow meets her head. She recovers quickly.
When she straightens, eyes fuming, she slaps the ice dagger from my hand and drags me upstairs before I have a chance to process her showing up.
In the classroom, she slams the door shut behind her. "I knew it," she seethes, turning to me. Flakes of white start up her fingers. I want to mock her and say that a Crimson should have better control of themselves, but then I think of the Thrawlers downstairs.
"You're supposed to burn these bodies!" I hiss, straining to keep my voice low. "What were you thinking?"
She slams a hand to her chest, grimacing. "Me? What was I thinking? What were you thinking when you decided to sneak in here? Do you comprehend how much trouble you'll be in."
"Shut up." I cover her mouth with my hand. She tries to pull away but I drop my voice into a growl, emphasizing every single word to make this genius understand. "They die by fire."
Her forehead creases and she swatts my hand away. For a long moment she only stares at me. "We didn't kill them with fire," she says slowly, processing.
You don't say. It takes every ounce of restraint in me to not call her an idiot. Holland would, in fact, he'd probably say something worse than idiot. "You really think a sword can kill something already dead."
"Do you think we have a book on how to kill those things?" She retorts. "It's not like you were very much help."
"Are you serious?" I almost stand on my toes but settle with my hands on my hips. "Manipulating someone is not how you get information. You could have just asked, I would have told you!"
Clarika grimaces with a scoff. "You're one to talk, liar." We struggle to keep our voices low, wanting to raise our voice like a true Crimson argument. "I told you I'd be checking in, did you really think I wouldn't notice you not in your room."
"You're impossible!" I hiss. "I can't believe you went to my room in the middle of the night."
She shakes her head. "I knew you gave up too easily." It takes me a moment to realize that she's talking about my promise to stay in Belonia. "You've been snooping for those dragon riders! Norah, I can't believe you would do such a stupid thing."
"I'm full of stupid things," I sneer. "And I'm not doing this for anyone but myself-"
The jiggle of a doorknob stops us short. Our eyes widen and slowly we turn to the secret door. The golden knob turns slowly, trying to go unnoticed. Clarika and I glance at each other when the knob stops. When the door begins to push open and blue fingers wrap around the edge of the door, we throw ourselves against it.
Twitching fingers hit the floor and the Thrawler screeches blends in among the many others. Bodies slam against the door, clawing and screaming for it to open. Growls of "Mage!" seep through the wood and I briefly wonder why they have such a vendetta against us.
Rima's already on her way, forcing herself through the thick storm that could very much end her life.
"Mage!"
In a splurge of frustration, I yell back. "Don't you have anything better to say?"
Then, everything falls completely silent. Clarika turns her head, eyes raging. "You just had to say something, didn't you?"
Glass shatters from deep within the tunnel. Clarika's eyes widen as I purse my lips and turn to her. "Those things didn't just break through the window, did they?"
There's a brief pause before we scurry to swing the door open and rush into the examination room. A gust of wind pushes against me when I run through. I spot the broken glass on the floor and the window instantly.
"Come on, that leads into the courtyard." Clarika ushers me up the stairs and out of the school. We run as fast as we can, silently praying that we find the Thrawlers first before a student does.
Out on the grass with trees and yellow lights glowing from within the school windows, my eyes dart across the courtyard. Clarika and I both stop, searching for signs of movement but the Thrawlers were able to hide thousands of themselves in Vakeya. Why can't seven of them hide in an unsuspecting city?
Down the slope where the dorms and sleeping students are, guards shout. Clarika and I take off into a dead sprint, racing down the grassy slope with our hands laced with ice.
My blood pounds in my head like it wants to explode. I push my legs faster as Rima struggles to make it out of the storm. Her frustration seeps into me until it's shoved back.
In front of the dorms, guards battle with the undead. Two have already fallen, with their armor ripped from their bodies, and guts spilled onto the grass. Three still fight but one is quickly tackled and then I see blood and a man with torn jaw, choking on his own blood.
Bodies sprint around, their limbs jerking and twitching like creatures gone wild. Adrenaline pounds through my veins, clearing my mind.
Anger quickly takes over Clarika as she sends a flame of blue at one of the Thrawlers tearing out the jaw-less guard. I throw a frost spear at the one charging a guard.
I should have burned them faster, I think while using my abilities to freeze the ground. Frost overcomes the Thrawlers feet, rooting them to the ground. But it doesn't stop them from trying to grab one of us.
One of the guards stumbles back when his comrades rise from the ground and charge. More guards rush in from different parts of the school, all ready to fight but none of them are fire mages and their attacks are pointless. Clarika spins, pointing to the flock of students gathering around, all of them gathered by the screaming. "Get them out of here!"
Guards bark Clarika's orders and create a perimeter around us. Very few students actually listen and stand on their toes, all eager to try and help and all wide-eyed with fear.
I want to scream at them to get away, but no one listens to the half-breed.
"Burn them!" Clarika whirls around, sending a flame of ice to me. I flinch, arms raising as the flame passes over my shoulder. Thrawlers scream from right behind me and I turn to see one on the ground, a few feet away from me. Shards of ice explode from the ground, impaling three other Thrawlers.
"I need fire mages." She orders and shouts ring through the air. Two guards shove their way to the front of the group, their hands consumed in red
A corpse breaks free from its ice spear and starts to sprint at me. I brace for the impact, only to step to the side at the last minute. I jam my elbow into it's back, forcing it on the ground.
"You!" I shout to the guard, nodding at the Thrawler. "Burn it."
He runs, grabbing its head. His metal gloves glow orange and the Thrawler screams, thrashing harder. As the orange flame travels down from its head I step away and turn to the rest of the Thrawlers.
Suddenly, all the Thrawlers burst into flames. I stop, breathing hitching as they run, arms waving and thrashing against the air. They drop to the ground and roll across the grass to try and extinguish the flames.
Normal fire mages can't do this, I think, and turn to see my mother walking behind me. Her hands are raised, fingers curled like sharp claws. There's not a shred of fear or doubt in her, just power. She looks terrifying and beautiful all at the same time.
When the corpses fall, their flesh and bone charred and smoking, the courtyard falls silent. People gaze over the damage. My mother passes me, going to Clarika with worry in her eyes. Her eyes rove over her body, searching for the damage. I see the relief lift from her shoulders before she steels and turns to look over the bodies.
"Yeah, no, I'm fine too. Thanks for asking."
Rima nudges me, finally making it above the storm. "I care." Her voice is soft and my heart swells with gratitude.
"Thanks, Rim."
"What happened?" My mother asks, looking to Clarika and the crowd.
Students point to me. "She did it!"
"I saw it."
I frown. Who knew frost mages could resurrect the dead? "I didn't touch them, you people didn't kill them properly the first time." Accusations fill the air, eyes, and fingers on me. While I'm appalled, part of me isn't surprised. There has never been a person with both mage and dragon rider abilities, no one knows what I can and can't do. Not even I know what I can do, though I don't think it's anything more than spewing frost and riding a dragon.
Idiot's, Holland would say and I agree.
Clarika steps to my side, glaring at everyone. "She didn't do it. I was with her."
"You were with her?" I can't tell if our mother is appalled or unbothered.
Clarika straightens, nodding. "Yes."
My mother's jaw clenches but she accepts the poor answer and turns to the students. "All of you, return to your dorms. Lock your windows and doors. Guards will accompany you back. The threat has been dealt with but we need to take extra precautions."
"The threat's been dealt with," I mutter under my breath, arms folding. "Yeah, right."
My mother casts me a sharp glare, her eyes speaking for herself. Shut your mouth, child.
---------------------------------
"You've been lying to them!" My arm flares out, gesturing to the students in their dorms down the hill.
My mother seems unimpressed, looking down at me like you would a testy child. She looks back to Clarika, arms folded but her gaze is gentle. "Can you tell me what happened?"
She nods as the door opens.
Father paces in, his eyes going to his eldest daughter and wife. He only remembers me at the last second and I feel like a stranger intruding on a family meeting. I sigh as he takes Clarika's shoulders and looks her over. "Are you alright?"
He shuts his eyes, exhaling a breath of relief.
I'm fine too, I think, pulling a chair from behind Clarika's desk and lean back in it with crossed arms. Part of me wants to run between the two and wave my arms and shout for their attention. I'm right here! Just look at me!
Rima's warmth nestles around my heart like a dragon curling around it's most prized possession. Her love crumbles any anger I have. If my family weren't here, my lips would quiver and eyes sting with tears.
Clarika explains to them what happened, though she leaves out a few bits of information. Instead of her finding me in the labs, I find her in the hall when we heard a noise coming from the laboratories. We ran into the lab to find all the bodies gone through the window.
"You were experimenting on them," I mutter loud enough for them all to hear. Only Father and Clarika glance at me, but no one acknowledges me. I want to kick the table and make them listen. I'm not a ghost, I'm a human being.
"You kill them with fire," Clarika continues carefully, casting me another glance. Her face is as cold as steel. A rock would supply better emotion than her.
"How did you learn his?" He asks.
She pauses and I shift in my chair, trying to make myself known. Say it. Say it you coward. But Clarika only shakes her head. "Blades don't work, ice didn't work. The only logical explanation I could find was fire and Mother burning them only proved my hypothesis."
Father smiles, pride shining in his blue eyes. "That's my girl."
My fingers steeple under my mouth, chin inclined. You bitch. I will burn you alive.
"I support this motion." Rima voice sounds in my head, fully determined to and ready to turn my thoughts into an action.
"We'll have to adjust our defenses," Father hums to himself, his eyes distant as he thinks.
"Indeed," Finally, my mother turns to me, her eyes as cold as ice. "What were you thinking?"
"Oh now you care what I think?" My face falls into a blank mask.
"Outside after curfew," she begins. "Do you hold no respect to our rules? Why must you kick and scream at every turn?"
"Maybe if you would have just asked me how to kill them instead of manipulating me-"
"Would you have given us what we wanted?" Father interrupts.
I scoff. "I know you guys think I'm some sort of demon-child-"
"-that doesn't begin to scratch the ice," Mother mutters.
My heart twinges with hurt and my hands dig into my thighs to keep them from shaking. I push on, ignoring her like this family does with my entire existence. I don't even know why I fight so hard to be one of them.
"But if you would have asked, I would have told you how to kill them. I'm not so selfish that I would let thousands of people die."
"Like you would care about the mages." Father huffs.
My jaw drops and I stand from my chair. "How could you say that? That I don't care about the mages. Why do you think I stayed? Because I love being ridiculed by you guys? Because I love being the joke of this school?"
"Norah, stop." My glare snaps to Clarika. She shakes her head, it's barely noticeable.
Father pushes on, always ready to argue. But it's like my words go over his head, he only hears what he wants to hear. If they would just listen to me if they could just put aside their hate for dragon riders and myself. If they could only just see that this wasn't my choice, to have all this happen, then they would understand and I could help.
"You wouldn't be a joke if you took your classes seriously," he fumes but tries to keep his voice down in case our argument seeps through the door and into the hallway. "If you acted half as much as a Crimson-"
"You guys would still hate me! And, you told me I wasn't one!" Mentally, I'm ripping out my hair. Just get it through your head! This ISN'T my fault, you self righteous, egomaniacal mage. Just listen to me!
"Norah, just leave. These things never end well, you know that." Rima says and for once, I listen to her. I don't know if it's the exhaustion or the fact that I just don't feel like being bashed down.
It feels like admitting defeat like I'm rolling over for my family, but I do it. My hands run over my face, pulling at my skin as I spin toward the door. "Can I leave?"
"I don't know why you stayed." My mother always knows how to hurt me. My anger shrivels into defeat, but I keep my shoulders from hunching over. I keep my tears at bay and glare at her instead.
"Go straight to your dorm, do you understand me, child? I don't want you destroying any more of this school like you've done with this family." Father hollers as I leave.
It takes everything I have to not slam the door.