The new morning was crisp and clear with the Sun’s influence brightening the sky as it threatened to rise over the mountains. The weekend was over. Thalia laid in her bed, watching the world slowly wake up through her window. Today would be her first day in classes, marking the start of an entirely new journey to her. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she sat up.
The air in her room was still, cold in the early autumn morning. There wasn’t much of a sound in the house, Hale was on her run, Micah went back to sleep, and Seek had a new habit of disappearing into the woods after breakfast. She swung her legs around, letting her feet touch the cold wooden floor. It sent a shiver up her back as a tangible reaction to the first step of her journey. She stood up, letting her sheets pile up on her bed.
Dressing with care, she chose an old set of robes Amelia gave her when she first returned to Novateria. A thick black fabric, perfectly made for those cold winter nights in the mountains. Her fingers brushed carefully over the silver threaded embroidery along the trim. Hand sewn, just as Amelia had taught her, but she could barely recall the meanings of most of the symbols now, with her mind focused on what the day held for her.
She stashed away her supplies in her satchel: a bundle of parchment, a few quills and pens, a vial of ink, and a pack of chalk. A leather bound tome rested in the middle of her desk, a gift from her aunt, stout in its dark color and white thread bindings. She flipped through its pages, full of spells and notes she took down during her tutelage with Amelia. Probably useful, but something in her felt to leave it here, in the safety of her new home. She closed it with a sigh, tucking the flap of her satchel closed and heading out of the house silently.
The road they lived on made way to a courtyard, itself a riot of color with flora both mundane and magic. A few moths scurried away from the growing light of the morning, eager to hide from the waking birds whose song wove between the sounds of a campus coming to life. She paused there, in the open area, taking in the warm smells of fresh bread intertwined with the sweet aroma of blooming flowers. Across the green space, the stout cathedral to knowledge stood in the waning dark. There, she would start her studies.
Thalia’s heart sat squarely in her throat while she steeled herself to enter her first class. The hall outside was lit with eerie green flames that cast odd shaped shadows across the walls and floors. Gentle orange sunlight contrasted the light of the hall through the doorway of the classroom, tinting the hand-carved desks that filled the classroom. Most of the students were already in there; many talking amongst themselves. She took those first few steps through to settle down near the rear of the class with her things. A few heads turned to see the newcomer to the class, before returning to their excited conversations. Thalia let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding.
The lecture hall stretched easily over a hundred paces from the back of the room to the stage. The walls, lined high with intricately adorned shelves, filled with old tomes and scrolls. Towering glass windows trimmed in gold leaf allowed in what little sun there was this early in the morning. Crystalline lamps hung from the arches of the hall to cast their white light where the sun couldn’t reach.
Down at the front, a stout podium stood tall on the dark wood stage, ornately carved from a single piece of wood. The chalkboard stretched between two doors at either edge of the back wall, hanging above a table littered in magical artifacts and arcane tools. The floor in front of the stage had a few scorch marks and old chalk lines. Thalia could only guess at the practical demonstrations that took place there.
With the chime of the clock on the wall, the professor came through the door behind the lecture stage. His swept back hairstyle had a salt and pepper coloration to it, with a few strands loose to help frame his deceptively youthful face. Thin rimmed glasses sat on his nose, acting as a window to the eerie purple eyes behind them. He started unbuttoning the cuffs of his sleeves, revealing tapestries of arcane tattoos that almost felt alive. His voice rang out, silencing the murmurs and whispers from the students.
“Good morning, class! I’m going to be teaching you aspiring souls the fascinating intricacies of basic magic this year. Your lovely, handsome Professor Sothvikh.”
His tone was smooth, and he carried a soft-spoken confidence that drew a nod here, a smile there.
“I know that many of you probably have grandiose dreams of what you’ll be able to do, and this class serves as a small roadblock to those far more interesting classes. Well, I’m not here to tell you that you’re wrong…”
He laughed. Something about that laugh unsettled everyone in the room with the
“You are. Magic is complex, magic is dangerous. Go in blind, you’ll come up dead, if you’re lucky. Remember this, always, if you take nothing else from this class. With magic, there’s always something far more grievous than death.”
Thalia swallowed the lump in her throat. Was that a threat? She probably knew that fact better than the rest of the class.
“Don’t wanna stay too grim, though. Magic is awesome! Why else would I teach the introduction to it?”
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That laugh again. While something about it made Thalia uneasy, the brevity was a nice break from the grim tone the lecture held. He transitioned seamlessly into the start of the lesson, moving on from the abstract to something more concrete.
“Today, we begin with Sigilism, the art of giving form to desire. It’s a safe haven for us practitioners. Truly a place where the meticulous thrive, and the hasty are given pause to contemplate and plan.”
As he spoke, he drew elaborate shapes and circles on the chalkboard, each curve and line a lesson in geometry and power. Thalia scribbled notes feverishly, as did the other students. Her mind raced to capture every detail, every nuance of the lesson. Fragments of old sessions with her aunt floated to the top, like debris on the tides of her memory, familiar but distant. He took a stick of chalk and began drawing a large circle.
“-Remember try to keep these symbols consistent, but they’re all given form by the caster’s intent and what they know. We use consistency to share notes, but again, feel free to make these whatever forms you craft in your head. Now, since I know many of you are talented already, can I interest you all in a practical demonstration? I’ll need two students, eager to start their journey.”
Before Thalia could even think to decline the idea, a familiar red haired sorceress stood up. Her confidence burned through the class like a flame in a furnace, her voice a clarion call against the still quiet of the room.
“I’ll volunteer, Professor. This should be easy for someone of my caliber.”
“Wonderful, Bell.” The professor leaned against the podium, curious. “And who’s next?”
“Thalia Silvercrest, is it?” Bell’s eyes locked in on Thalia. She shrunk back in her seat as all eyes locked in on her.
“I understand you might need a chance to prove to us why you’re here. Come, now’s your chance.” Her words hung in the air, offering a challenge that sent a shiver down her back. Her heart pounded with a mixture of fear and defiance. Every instinct of hers screamed that this was a trap, a ploy by Bell just to mess with her. But something in her tone, a hint of sincerity and empathy woven through her bravado, gave Thalia pause. Was Bell trying to help?
With the attention fixed on her, Thalia stood. The fabric of her robes rippled as she straightened it, something she found calming and centering in the moment. She made her way to the stage, step after determined step, the murmurs of the class simply fading into white noise.
With a wave of his hand, the professor darkened the room. All the lamps that added to the odd-angled sunlight went out, casting the stage in a soft darkness. The professor spoke softly.
“There are as many ways to light the dark as there are stars in the sky. Half the answer is on the board, should you choose to use it, but please,” his violet eyes flicked between Bell and Thalia, ”Do not try to impress me. Last year’s fiery mishap was… educational, to say the least.”
He offered a thumb up to Thalia, a strangely personal gesture, reminding her he too must have been in her shoes at some point. His voice was much quieter, meant for just the pair.
“But truly, don’t shy away from your talents. Impress your peers, if you must.”
She felt seen by something ethereal.
Devils above, does he know?
With a piece of chalk in hand, Bell began, crafting an elaborate circle with a reassuring grace. Thalia, clenching her own chalk, followed suit, her lines nervous at first but growing more confident as her tutelage came back to her. She filled in the spaces Bell left open, weaving in glyphs that whispered of starlit skies and a silent moon.
“So, you’re not a sigilist. I saw what you were doing back at the tavern,” Bell whispered, refusing to look up from her work.
“No, not quite, but...” She could barely stammer out a reply. Thalia filled in a few gaps of the circle, adding some glyphs recalled from her childhood.
“Oh, that’s… Hmm. I have an idea. That trick in the tavern, do something l, but make it dark, really dark. Oh, that’s an interesting idea there-” Thalia cocked an eyebrow at Bell’s idea and pointed at an assortment of glyphs on the floor.
“Yeah, c’mon, let’s do it this way. I’m not quite familiar with your glyphs, but you are, right? Let’s do this. Lights out.”
Thalia reached out her will to the shadows enshrouding the stage, growing their tendrils across the windows of the room to eclipse the sunlight pouring in. The two touched the fresh sigil, focusing their wills into it. Just as the room fell into pitch black, a ball of light with tendrils leaching energy from the circle rose from the center.
Trust me, you’ve got this.
Their minds met in the middle of the circle, before the orb took a sickly green light. Bell raised an eyebrow at her partner, who only nodded to answer an unsaid question. It exploded upwards into the pitch black room, illuminating the ceiling in a sea of twinkling lights.
“Ah, the route to impress.”
Sothvihk’s voice cut through Thalia’s focus, briefly dimming the stars as Bell reached out across the circle with her mind. Shh. Keep it up. A streak of light crossed the false stars from the back of the class, landing in the front in a flash that dispelled the darkness in the room. The lanterns were lit again, and the demonstration was over.
“So let’s pick apart the sigil they drew shall we? These symbols are the standard for Light and Motion. If you follow the curves from here…”
The professor created a perfect replica of their drawing across the chalkboard. The duo stood at attention, unsure if they should sit down or not, while he spoke. He paused for a moment, glancing at Thalia. She felt an unease dig deep into her essence, her secrets laid bare for him. She shrunk back and looked away. “Stars. An odd dialect, old. Someone’s a fan of the classics! You can see how the stars then flow from the ‘light’ symbol into the ‘move’ symbol here, and that’s where the intent comes in. While ‘move’ might seem vague, it’s all about the frame of mind of the caster - or casters, in this case…” He trailed off, stopping halfway through the lecture.
“Right, please take your seats. Anyway, that was an impressive display of ‘harmonic sigilism.’ A dance between minds and wills, lead by a symphony of chalk and aether.”
Thalia fell back into her seat, her breath coming easier, now. The tension that gripped her was gone, replaced by a quiet pride. Bell led the spell, true, but Thalia matched her, step for step, weaving an intricate display of magic for all to see. As the whispers of her classmates swirled around her, she managed to relax.