Magic Academy (A Fantasy New Adult Romance) (5 page)

“I see.”

“Your world is softer than mine,”
his words delicate. “Existence is not so cruel for those who
live here.” He reached over, gently laying his warm hand upon
hers. “I wish to help you become a great sorceress. Powerful
and respected. That one day you might use that power to free me, and
let me live here as one of you.” She could feel the hope on his
voice, it was palpable. The gentle touch of his smooth hand against
her flesh; it was exquisite.

Her heart stopped and her breath
hitched. She wanted so badly to believe him, to feel close to
someone. To know someone.

Yet there was still that wall of
defensiveness, of caution, and she withdrew her hand from his. “We
don’t have a lot of time for me to get into the academy.”

He retracted his hand slowly. “I
can teach you some useful skills with your new familiar today,”
he remarked matter-of-factly. “Perhaps that shall be enough to
get you into the academy. Perhaps not,” he shrugged his
shoulders. “I have much more to teach you as well, but we can
discuss that later. One step at a time.”

She nodded, looking at him curiously.
He hadn’t tried to betray her or harm her, but then, perhaps he
hadn’t the power now. He could be biding his time, waiting for
her to let her guard down.

So she wouldn’t. She’d take
his lessons and succeed in her bid to get into the academy. She
controlled him, she reminded herself. Not the other way around.

She had gotten so wrapped up in her
lessons with the demon that she hadn’t noticed the day slip by.
When hunger finally began to overcome her excitement at learning how
to change her familiar’s shape to better suit it to different
tasks, Varuj merely smiled and taught her to send it off to fetch
food. The ripe berries it returned with were enough to keep her
satisfied and delighted.

Though all good things had to come to
an end, and with night so advanced, she knew she had to get back
home, or else her father would finish work and worry at her absence.

They walked together through the woods,
the town still a ways off, her new pet fox prancing at her side.

She hadn’t felt so…
excited for life in such a long time. All her hopes and dreams of
actually becoming someone of value, someone of note, were coming
true. She knew her father didn’t want his job for her any more
than she did, and now she finally felt she knew a way to break the
cycle.

To show those elves up, once and for
all.

“I didn’t even know these
things existed. Not like this.”

“There is much more,” he
stated casually, his hand gently touching the base of her spine as
they walked. “This thing is relatively simple,” he
explained, “though it would take one of your competitors many
years of tutelage to learn and do what I have done for you in but a
day, Firia. It is a good start. And one they will not be too likely
to suspect.”

She nodded and a smile actually began
to creep to her lips. “Well, I hope so. But… thank you.
Just knowing these things is a joy, even if it gets me no further
ahead with my goals.”

“It shall,” he said with
infectious confidence, though he came to a halt as they neared the
edge of the forest, facing her. “I must hide within you for the
night again, Firia. Though know my offer stands…” he
tilted his head down and let his warm gaze meet hers. “Treat me
as companion, and I shall show you more.” He looked back over
his shoulder to where they’d come from, “Go there when
you wish to learn, and I shall come forth and help you. Our bargain
set.”

“Just… Please don’t
go hunting for more memories…” she pleaded, her body
stiff from the long day of practice.

The moon reflected off his hair, and
the sleek little black horns hidden amongst the strands, its silver
light making him look that much more appealing. “You mistake
what happened,” he said. “Two souls mingled, that is
all.” He gave her a deferential bow of his head, though. “But
I shall not meddle or play the voyeur this eve, madam,” that
alluring foreign accent of his so rich, “I promise.”

“Thanks.” It was so weird.
All of it. His behaviour, his looks…

But the strangest was how he was making
her feel such affection and longing to be around him. To have someone
who actually shared interests with her and yearned to find out more
about her. She stood up straighter, her large eyes becoming heavier
as her mind began to quiet down for the evening. “So good
night, then.”

Varuj leaned in, his arms moving up
about her in that warm gesture. He embraced her again, as he had the
night before. “Goodnight,” he said softly, head tilted,
her dark, foreign prince of the damned looking about to kiss her as
he leaned in, but then…

He was gone, she felt him settle within
her. His essence mingling with hers. So foreign, so unlike her own,
yet feeling so warm. So comforting.

The soft yip of her familiar tore her
from the moment, however, his tail swishing as he gazed up at her.

She smiled warmly at it before
repeating that motion the demon had taught her, calling her familiar
to join them. To make her whole once more.

Firia had resisted the urge to turn to
the demon for help again. It would’ve guaranteed her success,
she knew that for certain, but she feared for herself. Feared what
she might do if she were exposed to his smooth charms and stunning
good looks again.

He wanted more in exchange for further
favours, she knew. The thought of what it might mean to treat him as
equal scared her.

She instead practiced with her new
familiar, honing her use of the tricks she’d learned, and
trying to devise new ways to impress with her mastery of him. She
also practiced the little cantrips she’d learned on her own
over the years too. The ability to control flames – albeit tiny
ones – and freeze water upon her touch.

It was impressive work for a human such
as herself who’d never been tutored, but all the same they were
meager tricks for a potential apprentice, and she knew the true road
to success would be her stunning new familiar.

It consumed her thoughts as she ate her
meal in front of her father, her hand repeating some of the gestures
the demon had taught her – without actually casting the spells
– as she prepared for the day ahead.

Her father, however, had been watching
her. “You okay, hun?” he asked with concern. He knew what
day it was. How the elven students would begin their competitions for
recognition. She hadn’t told him of her new tricks yet, and as
far as he knew her chances were still so very slim.

For her part, she was distracted with
not only her spells. For though the demon had kept her word and not
probed into her memories, she had dreamed of him quite frequently.
Natural dreams, she felt. They were not tainted by his actual,
meddling presence, she believed; it was just hard not to think on the
newest addition to her life. Her great gamble.

“Yea, dad.” It was a lie
they both saw through, but they were so used to these little white
lies. The denial that anything was wrong in their life. The denial
that they were both so unhappy.

But this was something new. This was
excitement that lay beneath the dread and fear, and her mind kept
wandering. She had to be focused and sharp, but it was so hard with
him on her mind. She wanted to see him again, to feel his smooth hand
caress her wrist, but she had to resist.

He ate quietly, though she knew he was
aware of the significance of the day. He had gotten up early to
prepare her a rather lavish meal of “brain food”, as he
called it. He knew she would compete, and whether it was hopeless or
not, he would do all he could to help her see victory.

“I was thinking,” he said,
not looking up from his own meal. “Those elvish children have a
lot of advantages over us folk,” he was beating around the
bush, she realized. “What with their money, trainin’ and
years. Heck,” he said with a chuckle, “when you were just
a girl competing on the exams, you were up against ones twice your
own age.”

He wet his lips and didn’t pause
long enough for her to speak, “So I was thinkin’, Firia…
why not give you a lil’ advantage of your own, huh?” He
put down his fork, and she watched as he reached into the pocket of
his old, frayed beige sweater. What he pulled out then surprised her,
for it was something human families never really provided for their
children. No, it was far too rare and expensive to be spoiled on
their kind. Even ones who could afford it rarely could find a seller
willing to deal with their kind.

Yet there it was, embedded in cloth: a
crystal ring.

“Dad…” she couldn’t
help herself from saying, shock written all over her face.

Crystals, real crystals, were so rare.
They helped focus a caster’s abilities, gave a great edge to
anyone who wore one and focussed their efforts upon it. No real
professional magic user ever went without one.

She cursed herself as her eyes blurred
and she swatted it away. Was this why he never had money for food? “I
don’t know how you got this.” Her voice quivered as she
stared at it, then at him, a new affection warming her heart. She’d
never felt so… loved by him. So cared for.

Her kindly father couldn’t help
but smile, and he got up from his seat and walked over to her. He put
his arms around her and hugged her, as he hadn’t done since her
mother had died. “Do it, sweetie,” he murmured to her.
“Show how much potential you’ve got, and make ‘em
have to claim you.”

She managed to hold in her sob as her
hands went around his arms. “I will. I promise,” she
murmured softly.

She had no idea how much he was rooting
for her, how much he wanted for her, and she was even more determined
to succeed.

With a kiss to her dark hair, he pulled
back, and she saw his own eyes, red with moisture. “You’ll
do it. I know you will,” and she knew he had supreme confidence
in her.

The competition – for that
is
what it was – had the look of a county fair. The great tent
that swelled up to tremendous proportions, the banners that flowed in
the air representing the various academies, companies and interests.
It had a spirit of joviality about it. At least, elvish joviality.

They were more formal than humans in
the day to day, but when they celebrated they were full of laughter
and song that was not tethered to sadness, as the lowly humans were.

Firia had to press on towards the
scene, her heart beating fast. Though the elders were all in high
spirits from what she saw, the other students were mostly grim and
determined. Their elaborate elvish clothes – reminiscent of
what Varuj wore – looking so stiff on them as they all eyed the
competition.

This would be but the first day of
trials, but she knew that the magical academies made their picks on
the first day then left, not wishing to make any further waste of
their professors’ precious time. The remainders were left for
lone sorcerers and trading companies to barter with. Or to simply go
home in defeat.

The very first thing she couldn’t
help but notice was how so many of those long, ovaline elvish eyes
were upon her. She had been the only human they’d seen thus
far, and she stuck out.

Yet she held her head high, despite the
fact that she wanted to run and hide. To get away from their stares
and scrutiny. She’d been such a loner for so long, though, it
was hard to be in the limelight. To know how closely she was being
watched.

And how quickly they’d laugh at
her failure.

She could see it in them. Curiosity,
sure. But also a desire to see her fail. To know that they were
better than even the best the human world had to offer.

She was grateful she’d gotten
loan of such a fine robe with flowing sleeves that showed off her
wrists when she cast. It felt like a safety blanket, something to
protect her from the cruelty of others, and she tried to calm her
breathing as she took it all in.

From out of the sea of watchful eyes,
one of the elves approached her. He was tall, lanky, with
wheat-coloured hair that was cropped close to his head. He wore not a
robe, but a cloth tabard, bearing his family crest. It wasn’t
one of the ones she recognized, though after the elf nodded and spoke
his “Greetings,” she recognized him from her class. He
was not a wealthy or influential elf. He couldn’t have been, to
have gone to school with humans.

It was almost like he was an ally, but
she wouldn’t go that far. She knew that those with as dismal
futures as she could be more cutthroat than any, and she gave him a
reserved smile. “Hey, ah…” she paused, struggling
to remember his name. She’d never bothered to even learn that
about her classmates.

“Mae’lin,” he said
without taking offense, giving her a respectful bow that in elvish
society was reserved for equals. “You're going to compete
then?” he asked, his emerald eyes alight with curiosity.

“Well, I didn’t come here
to see how the better half live,” she agreed with a sarcastic
smile. She had pulled her hair back in a single ponytail and it
swished against the back of her neck as she glanced around. “I
guess you are too? And… I’m Firia,” she added,
just in case.

“I know,” he said with an
amused smile. “There was always talk of the quiet human girl in
the back of class,” he remarked, standing more casually then,
comfortable it seemed with her greeting. “Some of the other kin
–” and she knew elves all thought of each other as kin
“–speculated you were plotting some violent act of
rebellion,” and his ovaline eyes flashed with amusement.

She laughed, and her blue eyes
sparkled. “Well, we’ll just have to see what happens
here. I’ll say no more.” Even though her words were dark,
she smiled at him deviously and gave him a wink. The thought of the
others talking about her – her! – came as a surprise,
though.