The students walked back into the classroom with Master Foss trailing behind them, shepherding them inside. Mel’s heart was beating out of her chest and she gripped the wind imbue tight between her fingers. She didn’t want anyone to see it. She wanted to get rid of the damned thing. To destroy any evidence of her being different.

Once inside, Mel took her seat in front of Will, but refused to look anyone in the eyes. Not even Master Foss, even though she felt him staring at her. She swallowed hard, willing her body to remain seated behind her desk.

“I don’t know what happened,” Master Foss said. “But I think we can all agree that it should stay inside these four walls.”

Mel’s eyes shot up, surprise filling her chest. Master Foss met her gaze and her forehead creased in confusion.

Master Foss’ voice calmed her emotions as he continued. “What Melissa just did is impossible. Was impossible. I hate to think what could happen to her if this got into the wrong hands. I hate to do this to you. But I request that you don’t speak about it to any outsider. Not your mom or your boyfriend, no one can know. Not right now, at least.”

“We won’t tell anyone, Master Foss,” Meredith said. “But I have questions. Many questions.”

“Yes, I suspect we all have and Melissa will answer them the best she can. But before I’ll request that of her, I need you all to promise me this stays between the five of us. Whatever Melissa is or can do, I need this to stay a secret.”

“We promise,” Dean said.

Will grumbled something under his breath, but then added louder, “I promise, too.”

Mel kept her eyes focused on the desk in front of her. At first she felt relief that they’d agreed to keep her secret. But then the silence stretched through the room and she realized she needed to answer their questions now. She needed to tell them what the hell was going on. Only, she didn’t know. She had no idea what was happening to her.

A shiver ran through her spine as Master Foss repeated her name, calling for her to join them here in the classroom. Requesting her to explain something unexplainable.

Mel looked up from her desk as she noticed Master Foss drawing closer. He squatted down until they were eye-level, watching at her like she held the answers he was looking for.

“Can you tell me what happened out there?” he asked.

Mel shook her head, a tear spilling over the rim of her eyelid. It traveled down her cheek and Mel dried it with the back of her hand. She hadn’t even noticed her eyes filling up with water.

“You didn't know you could do that?” Master Foss asked.

Again, Mel shook her head.

“Can you tell me what it felt like?” he asked.

Mel bit down on her bottom lip, her eyes traveling around the room. She saw Meredith with her hands on her knees, watching her intently. Dean was leaning over his desk to get closer to her, and Will had his arms crossed over his chest, his face hard in concentration.

“I don’t know,” Mel said. “I really don’t know what happened.”

Her mind finally noticed her hand cramping, the one that was gripping the small bullet-like wind imbue. The wind that had come from inside of her. She released her grip around the item, placing it down on top of her desk. Her eyes connected with the item and inside she heard the wind note playing softly.

“One moment I was singing the song, hitting the metal and trying to keep the right tempo. The next it was like my heart opened up and my veins cracked, spilling out something. Some kind of energy. I guess it was wind.”

She shook her head, still staring at the silvery metal. “I don’t know how or why. I just don’t know. Maybe I’ve felt this way before. No, I know I have, but it freaked me out. So before anything could happen, I’ve always shut it down. I’ve stopped because the feeling of opening up felt too unbearably painful. But this time I didn’t. This time I leaned into it and this thing happened.”

She pointed to the wind imbue on her desk, her eyes shooting up to Master Foss’. Their gazes caught, and he studied her for a moment. He licked his lips, looking down at the magic item on the desk. Then up again at her, looking between her eyes, searching for the truth.

“You didn’t know what would happen when you leaned into it?” he asked.

“No, I didn’t. I certainly didn’t think this would happen. It never crossed my mind. It’s impossible…”

He nodded, dragging a hand through his beard and tugging it lightly. “I want us to run a couple of tests, if you’re up for it. See what you can do, how far we can take it.”

Mel’s eyes widened, fear pushing down at her chest.

His gaze still held hers. “I know that might be the last thing you want to do right now. But this could be important. We could make strides creating the arrowheads without having to use the dragon stones. Without getting Lorken’s permission or risk sneaking around him. This is also a big scientific discovery. What you can do would be worth noting down for future generations, even if we can’t tell anyone about it now. And if we can figure out why you can do it, perhaps we can unlock this ability in more people.”

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Mel sucked in a deep breath, her emotions swirling like a swarm of bees inside of her.

Master Foss’ eyebrows dipped. “Would you be willing to smith a double imbue without the dragon stones?”

Mel’s hands fell limp to her sides and her breath got stuck in her lungs. She didn’t want to. But she knew what it would mean for Aldrion, for Marcus and for Austin. What killing the dragon would mean for her.

Austin’s words flashed in her mind. They’re looking for me to lead because of my brother, because of my last name, but I don’t want to. Not when my decisions, my choices, will cause people to get hurt.

He was right in that she didn’t want this, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that the people around her in this classroom were looking to her for answers. For a solution out of this mess. If she chose to step away from them, if she chose to ignore her calling, these people might not find another way.

Even if she didn’t want to live with the consequences of her actions. She decided that she certainly didn’t want to live with the consequences of doing nothing. Of turning her back on the people she loved. The people who supported her and kept her secrets.

Mel forced her lips into a line, then she pushed them to curve upward slightly into a thin smile. She held Master Foss’ gaze and nodded at him in response. She would try to smith a double imbue without the dragon stones. Mel would explore her abilities no matter how much they scared her.

#

They’d waited until nightfall, when the population of mage smiths working in the forge was lower. Master Foss had already gotten the clearance from Headmaster Lorken to use the dragon forge for an incredibly risky experiment. So, he went around the entire place, explaining to the few remaining mage smiths that they might want to take a break for the night. He explained to them that the experiment they were about to perform might blow up the entire place.

Mel watched as all the mage smiths abandoned their workplace, not even a single one saw it fit to stay during their experiment. She didn’t think this was surprising, since many of them had recently lost their friends and coworkers to Headmaster Lorken’s recent invention.

Her guards didn’t seem eager to stick around either and decided that this time they wouldn’t even wait right outside. No, they were going to wait for her at the bottom of the stairs. There was really no way out of this forge anyway, so Mel couldn’t sneak out a back exit. She’d have to pass them to get out.

Master Foss walked over to the practice area, far away from the dragon stones, and placed tools down on one of the anvils. The other students gathered around, watching him as he poked the burning embers in the forge. He placed a small piece of the new metal Gabs had perfected among the flames.

Mel stood a small distance away, not ready to step up to the anvil and receive the watchful eyes of Dean, Meredith, and Will on her. She didn’t want to be the center of attention anymore than she needed to. Her body was tired, sluggish even, like she’d already run a marathon today. She thought it might be the early mornings and late nights finally catching up with her.

Master Foss prodded at the fire, watching the metal glow. He wasn’t happy with it yet, but Mel thought the reddish glow meant he would be soon. She walked up to the anvil, picking up the gloves that were laid out for her. She dragged them over her hands, feeling the creak of the hardened leather when she scrunched up her fingers into a tight ball.

She picked up a small tong to hold the metal still and the hammer she’d used once before. The hammer didn't show any glowing lines from the last time, but Mel could hear a soft ringing coming from inside of it. She knew if she connected to the item, it would glow orange for her. It had been infected by the magic, just as the crude dagger had been.

Master Foss deemed the small piece of metal ready and brought it over to the anvil. He placed it down and Mel immediately took a steady grip around the item with her tong.

Mel knew time was of the essence and she wanted the metal to keep the right temperature as she worked on it. She didn’t just want to make a double imbue this time. She wanted to make a better one than last time. But honestly, she didn’t know if she could. Would the magic inside of her be as strong as the magic from a dragon stone?

She had no idea.

She started with the song and worked first her hammer down on the anvil, trying to find the tempo.

“It was in dirt and water we found.”

The hammer made grating noises against the iron anvil and her heart wasn’t even reacting, but she found the tempo. Her arm moved to the beat of her voice. She moved the hammer a couple of inches, in line with the glowing metal gripped by her tong and continued.

“That glowing gold of war we bound.”

Clink, clink, clink.

Her heart immediately soared and opened up. Her veins were breaking apart, but this time the sensation wasn’t as painful as last time. Probably because she trusted what would happen now. She knew that what would leak out of her wasn’t evil, but good. It was magic.

“Glittering, sparkling and charred you are.”

Clink, clink, clink.

The metal in her hammer glowed with orange veins now. Energy seemed to pool in her and travel out from her skin in a glow, and Mel’s eyes flickered from the hot metal she was hitting to her arms. The energy simmering out from her flesh was red and angry. It looked like flames were enveloping her entire body and Mel had to stifle her own panic. It threatened to take over her body and make her stop.

“We found you, yes, you changed our hearts.”

Clink, clink, clink.

She kept going, her eyes traveling back to the metal she was still hitting. But lines formed on her forehead when she saw that nothing was really happening to it. It wasn’t glowing orange, there were no lines in it. The magic streaming out of her was not going in the direction of the metal even. Not into the hammer and not into the small piece Master Foss had heated.

Her eyelids suddenly felt too heavy to keep open, and she realized she’d been too focused on the metal. She hadn’t paid attention to her own body, to the sensations occurring in her.

Mel slipped with the hammer, hitting the anvil, and the words weren't coming from her mouth anymore. She’d stopped singing. She tried to make herself start over, to raise the hammer back up from the anvil, but she just couldn’t. It was too difficult.

Master Foss entered her field of vision. His eyes were alarmed, and he reached for her across the anvil. Like he was trying to grab her. But before he could reach her, Mel felt strong arms circling around her back and gripping her waist. She felt a body pressed against her and a comfortable safety.

She let go of the struggle, and her eyelids finally closed, enveloping her in darkness. There were loud voices all around her, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. She didn’t care enough to strain her ears and instead slipped into a nice slumber.