Firemancer Collection (Fated Saga Box Set Book 1) (31 page)

Meghan took a daring glance at the being. Black burnished eyes pierced her own. She screamed and the hideous being dropped Jae into the black abyss.

Meghan’s screams grew distant; she lay on the bathroom floor, with one hand in the fire, panting. Sunlight was creeping into the room; somehow, it was already morning. Her eyes wouldn’t focus and she thought she might be sick. Someone lifted her off the floor, but didn’t speak.

She sat with her head between her legs and after a minute her eyesight returned and the sick pit in her stomach subsided. And, as if she needed another shock to her system, Ivan Crane sat in a chair near the entrance of the bathroom. She grabbed her robe and pulled it tightly around herself.

“Thanks?” she said dryly, as if asking a question.

“I’d gather a pretty bad dream.” His voice showed no concern. She didn’t want to discuss it, especially with rude stranger boy, who stared at her intently.

“I don’t remember,” she lied. “But I’m fine now.”

Ivan took the hint to leave.

“I’ve had bad dreams,” he mused, halfway out the door. “But nothing that ever made me scream like I was being murdered in my sleep.” His voice taunted her to argue, but she ignored it.

“Great!” she said. “Screaming in my sleep, and in front of weirdo boy of all people.” With exhausting effort, she made it to her bed, trying to forget the alarming vision replaying itself in her head.

Mireya got up and dressed. Meghan stayed quiet. After Mireya was gone she sat up, grabbing her journal furiously ready to write. Suddenly, she was not so sure about writing it down. Somehow, it would make it real, plus, Meghan didn’t think it was possible she would ever forget the details of the vision. Still, she had promised Juliska. As she finished writing, changing the name from Jae to “unknown boy,” there was a knock at the door. She wondered who would be knocking, and hoped it wasn’t weirdo Ivan.

“Who’s there?” she answered tentatively.

Her brother poked in his head. “You up, finally?”

“What are you doing knocking? Usually you just invade my head.”

“I’m trying to be more… what Uncle Eddy said. More privacy.”

“Oh. That’s really nice of you,” she answered, caught off guard by his behavior.

“Breakfast is ready and it’s Saturday, so no school or tutor today,” he reminded.

“I’d forgotten,” she smiled. She came close to telling Colin about her vision but decided to keep it to herself; besides, she didn’t want Colin to worry about Jae (more than he already was). She fed Nona and ate breakfast. Spirits were good around the kitchen table, including Jae’s, so Meghan did her best to shake off the nagging nightmarish vision.

“That kitten is getting bigger fast,” said Mireya, playing with Nona.

“She follows me everywhere now, and sleeps on my feet at night,” said Meghan. Nona’s white eye gleamed. Meghan got the impression that Nona could look into her soul with that eye, seeing anything she had hidden in there, but never sensed any need to fret about it.

They took their books and went to the wharf to study. It was nice to be outside, as it had been raining for three days straight. A few other Svoda children were there, each studying or practicing magic. The threesome found an empty space near the shore. Mireya, being a level above the three, studied with another group.

The twins and Jae took turns questioning each other. They had to memorize the predetermined answers that the Svoda used while in the outside world, in order to retain their magical secret and their safety. Colin remembered the answers, but Meghan struggled. She wished she had Colin’s memory. They spent an hour reciting the answers.

Next, they needed to memorize the Svoda goals, also set in place to keep them safe and get them back home, permanently. Jae and Colin also had these down, so Jae questioned Meghan.

“The first one was something about secrets,” she replied, shaking her head in annoyance of her poor memory.

“Yes, it is,” encouraged Jae. “But you’ll need to be specific if you expect to pass.”

Colin put the words
own actions
in her mind.

“Oh, right, I got it. As Svoda, we must make sure our own actions don’t divulge any magical secrets to the outside world, since that would compromise our safety.”

Jae grinned. “Good job. How about the second goal?” This one was easier, since it was an off shoot of the first.

“It is also every Svoda’s responsibility to watch over our fellow Svoda, and if compromises are witnessed, report it to the proper authorities,” she answered.

“You’re on a roll, Sis,” boasted Colin.

“Maybe we should stop while I’m ahead,” she joked.

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea,” agreed Jae. “This might be one of the last nice days of the year. We can do more memorization later. Let’s do some actual magic, shall we?” Colin was always up for magic practice. He had begun to draw small crowds of students, who could not understand how he never got tired. Although Meghan was glad Colin’s confidence was building, she unfortunately, showed little improvement.

They spent the afternoon balancing and moving items; they used rocks, driftwood and books, since they had no pillows. Meghan could not even get the items into a pile, never mind move them. And in the exam, she not only needed to move them, but do it neatly. Colin and Jae feared she would not pass the test.

The afternoon passed rapidly and before they knew it, the weekend was over and Monday was back again. Fall exams loomed, a mere week away. Any place you were in the village, students of all ages were cramming, tension reigning thick.

The weekend before the exams, the twins finally got the leaf they had been waiting for. It was safe to visit their uncle. The twins took Jae aside after lunch.

“Finally got a message from Uncle Eddy, it’s safe to go. We won’t be gone long.”

Jae nodded that he understood.

Timothy met them outside of the wagons and led them down a new pathway.

“New place, your uncle scoped it out yesterday.” Timothy was floating in circles as he talked, looking for any potential hidden dangers. Shortly, they were in a clearing near a small pond with their ghostly uncle pacing back and forth, waiting.

“There you are, there you are.” He said nervously, but happily. “Getting along better I hope.”

The twins glanced sideways at each other and grinned smugly.

“Good. There’s no lesson today, but I wanted to see how your progress is coming along. Do either of you have any questions pertaining to your exams?”

Nona trotted along with Timothy, playing near the edge of the woods. Meghan watched her as an excuse not to discuss the exams.

“I don’t think the exams will be too hard, Uncle Eddy, but we’ve certainly never been so busy.”

“It’ll keep you both out of trouble,” he chuckled, winking.

“I don’t get into trouble,” argued Colin.

“Ah yes, but if you were not so busy, would you?”

“I don’t get into trouble,” repeated Colin.

Uncle Eddy laughed and changed the subject. “How about you, Meghan, how do you feel about the exams?”

“Okay,” she shrugged.

Colin knew she did not feel good at all.

“I think the written part will be okay, but the magic, it’s just not happening for me, Uncle Eddy. I suck.”

“You don’t
suck
, Meghan, never think that about yourself. You need to concentrate and do your best,” he told her kindly.

She nodded, but did not feel confident about her chances of passing.

“By the time your exams are completed, I hope to have located a safe place for us to meet again.”

“Do we have to wait for you to send a leaf first?” asked Colin.

“I think it would be best for you to send me a leaf when you’re able to come and I will let you know if it’s safe or not.”

“Why are you hiding, Uncle Eddy?” asked Meghan unexpectedly.

Eddy went silent. After a minute he finally answered.

“There is a ghost out there determined to steal your book, Colin. I don’t want them to track you down, by tracking me down. So, yes, in a way I am hiding. But this doesn’t matter today. What
does
matter are your exams. Put all else out of your minds this week.”

Meghan knew, somehow, that he was not telling them the complete truth. Perhaps he was right though, today was not the day.

He pretend hugged the twins, wishing them luck, reminding them to send him a leaf once the exams were over. They pretend hugged him back and departed, followed as always by Timothy above, and Nona, trotting behind.

##

##

The first exam morning was chaotic; no one had slept and anxiety was high. Sheila had even asked Ivan to escort the foursome to their exams, just to be sure they arrived on time. Even Irving Mochrie went to work late.

“Hard work will pay off!” he told them as they departed, his face stern, but hopeful. Ivan took the lead commanding them to hurry. He did not look at, or speak with them, the entire walk.

“What is his deal?” asked Meghan.

“Ivan, he’s actually quite shy,” answered Miereya. “And, oh, I don’t know, sometimes he’s rather a big turd,” she giggled nervously.

Meghan laughed, which she needed, as her nerves were getting the best of her. Ivan waited at the school entrance, and then made, what the twins believed to be, an effort at a smile.

“Good luck. I am sure you don’t need me to remind you how important this day is!” His eyes grazed Meghan’s but briskly darted another direction. He promptly sauntered off.

“Does he have friends?” questioned Meghan. “I can’t even fathom who’d take the job.” She couldn’t help but find his actions infuriating.

“Ivan’s a workaholic,” said Jae. “I don’t think friends are high on his list of priorities. Dad loves him for it, I…” he stopped, the twins waited but he did not continue on the subject. “We better get inside.”

Meghan, as she entered the school, felt eyes watching her; she whisked around recalling how the Scratchers had given her the same eerie feeling. She saw nothing and shook it off as nerves.

Behind a nearby bulky shrub, Ivan Crane hid, watching Meghan Jacoby walk into the school. His eyes narrowed and he broke into a smug grin. “Too easy,” he snickered, as she turned and gazed in the direction he was hidden. His smug smile faded as he deftly backed away from the bush and continued on his way.

The school was abuzz. All students had been routed into a small auditorium and organized into their class levels; elementary, junior, advanced and graduate. The trio mouthed
good luck
to Mireya, who was in junior level, and not expected to pass since it was her first try. Meghan, Colin and Jae took their seats amongst the beginners.

It had not been so bad being amongst them on their own, but sitting with a group of youngsters, with an average age of eight to eleven, and with all the other thirteen and fourteen year olds in junior level(minus Daveena Troast), they were uncomfortably out of place.

This was not helped by Darcy Scraggs and Dulcy Hadrian, making sure to point out
loudly
, the three sitting in the elementary section.

“So Jae,” started Meghan. “There are four grades, and once you pass the four, you’re done?”

“Yup.”

“That’s not much, four grades,” she replied.

“It’s not that easy,” he told her. “It takes some students three tries to pass one grade. Everything has to be perfect, or you don’t move on.”

Colin sensed his sister’s nerves tensing and caught onto a real worry: that he might go to the next level without her.

“It works well, actually,” continued Jae. “Most kids start school around age eight, a few sooner, some later, like Daveena over there.” The trio laughed nervously. “With our traveling schedule, most kids don’t get to juniors until age eleven or so, and then advanced level around fourteen, and then graduate starts at about sixteen. Ivan was sixteen when he passed graduate, the youngest ever; very smart and spectacular at magic.”

“I suppose, when you have NO life, anything would be easier,” Meghan jeered slyly, exchanging a knowing look with Jae.

A bell clanged. The entire auditorium convulsed in unison. The advisor, Muckle Mauch, asked for silence.

“Today is an important day!” the advisor reminded. “Hopefully, you will all succeed and move forward. Moving forward should be your highest priority, since it leads to full initiation. Without getting through graduate level, you cannot attain full status.”

“What’s he talking about?” sent Meghan to Colin. Curious himself, he threw Jae a questioning look. He leaned in and explained in a whisper.

“Initiation means you have pledged your life to the Svoda, sworn to the Svoda way of life.”

“Oh,” they answered together.

“Before we begin,” carried on Muckle Mauch, “we have a special guest, who will share a few encouraging words.” A door in the back opened and the crowd squealed as Banon Juliska Nandalia Blackwell strode in. A low murmur whizzed through the students.