I stayed in bed as long as I could before lingering any longer would make me late. I woke up by no means refreshed and felt like a zombie as I journeyed to the Academia and then took the steps to Leander's classroom. Sebastien's calming magic continued to keep my demons at bay, and it was easier to think more rationally in the light of day than it had been earlier.

The professor had his students meeting in the gymnasium. They were huddled together on one side while the professor was speaking to a group of twelve students on the other side. As I walked to join the group of students, I felt a flare of embarrassment. Those at the front of the huddle were neat and put-together. A girl's eyeshadow looked professional, and despite it being mid-morning, none of it looked out of place. Another girl's hair had been groomed into a ponytail; her male companion had his slicked back and parted. Their uniforms were ironed with clean, crisp lines in the pant legs. It was obvious that I had just rolled out of bed.

I shuffled to the group and was prepared to stand on the edge of it when I heard a female voice call out my name. Looking up in shock, I saw Macaila and Cassiah standing in the back. When Macaila saw she had my attention, she waved me over. Amazed that they even wanted me to stand with them, I hurried around the edge of the mass.

Tossing her fizzy hair behind her shoulder (I guess Macaila valued her sleep more than her appearance, too), Macaila hissed, "I didn't know you were going to be here today."

"Leander asked me to come. He thinks it will be beneficial,” I said.

"What happened last night? You just ran out of there without even saying goodbye."

"You looked like a ghost," Cassiah contributed.

I released a breath, and my body seemed to relax from the tension it had been holding all morning. Neither Macaila nor Cassiah knew about the massacres. They were still blissfully oblivious to my issues. "I just felt a flare of my magic watching the mortal broadcast. I didn't know what it was, and I was frightened I would hurt everyone around me," I lied smoothly.

"That's good if you are recognizing your magic within you!" Macaila had an encouraging note in her voice.

"If you blew up the Milky Way last night, it wouldn't have been that bad, considering the people in it," Cassiah piped in. Between the three of us, he looked refreshed and like he had gotten a full night's rest. Not that it did anything to assist his shaggy appearance, which seemed natural.

I winced while Macaila smacked his shoulder. "Cassiah!" she admonished.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the group Leander had been talking to disperse. In threes, they walked to the different corners of the gymnasium. Their destinations were the four different circles painted onto the floor. Leander took his position at the front of our assembled mass. Before he started his opening lecture, Macaila murmured, "What's with you and blowing things up?"

"Welcome." Professor Leander's booming voice exploded throughout the gymnasium. The drone of side conversations faded. A slight smile appeared on the professor's face as his eyes roamed through the crowd of students, no doubt taking a mental attendance. When his gaze landed on me, he gave me a small nod of acknowledgment before continuing his assessment. "It seems as if we have everyone here. Good, we can get started on time.

"As you all can see, I have invited some of the advanced students from my conjurations class to participate in today's demonstration. Please give them your undivided attention today. They have taken time out of their own studies to assist me," Leander requested. A couple of the students shifted on their feet and fidgeted. Leander connected his hands behind his back and paced back and forth in front of the group. "As we reviewed last class, the manipulation of magic is purely mental. However, most students start out with both verbal incantations and gestures to do those manipulations. It helps focus their minds and intentions. Who can tell me what the second level of manipulation is?" Leander stopped his pacing and faced the rest of the class, waiting with an arched eyebrow.

A single arm rose in the air. Leander nodded at one girl in the front row. "Gestures only, sir," she answered.

"Correct. And the last level?"

"Just a simple thought or intention," another student piped up.

Leander looked pleased that his students had remembered his previous lecture. "Absolutely. Now, there are four elements, or affinities, mages are blessed with. Although the theories about how we use those affinities are similar, there are some obvious key differences. For example, say you were having a lazy Sunday and didn't want to get up to get a glass of water. The aeries could simply use telekinesis to achieve this task, while the halies simply have to create it. In the demonstrations today, I want you to observe each of the affinities. Note the similarities and note the differences in how they complete different tasks. You will be expected to write a report on the topic, which will be due next Wednesday."

The professor stepped back and directed our attention to the demonstrations. The first up was aerie, and the students standing on the symbol with the upright triangle with a single horizontal line through it rose to the occasion as they manipulated their element. I became lost in my amazement as I watched them levitate themselves and objects, create miniature windstorms, and affect the amount of air in the gymnasium. The students with the pyra affinity were gifted with pyrokinesis. They created and quashed fires in Leander's gymnasium. They made us sweat when they gradually increased the temperature in the room. They melted a copy of the die Leander had me practice with in my last lesson. Those with the hali affinity created a contained tsunami for our entertainment. When the students with the mica affinities took the spotlight, I observed them. Their disappointing demonstration included them just creating a sculpture out of a large boulder, using only their minds. The one with the highest level of magic—a female with long red hair—seemed to be unable to create ravines.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Leander had also given them all the same objective to complete: create light. He had dimmed the lighting in the gymnasium. For the pyra affinities, this was as simple as creating a contained flame. The firelight flickered off the walls like it was a campfire. The micas created prisms out of diamonds, found the faintest hint of light coming through a crack in one of the window coverings, and used it to their advantage. The halies created water droplets that had the same effect as the mica diamonds. It were the aeries that I was the most impressed by: they bent mere molecules to their will and created a vertical beam of pure, bright light.

The four demonstrations contained similiarities. The demonstrators started off with the level one technique. Their voices rang confidently throughout the gymnasium as they shouted the incantations while their arms gestured violently. It became eerily quiet as each group progressed onto level two, where only their arms moved, their voices silent. Then the gestures went away. Only two of the demonstrators—one with an aerie affinity and the other with a hali affinity—had mastered level three. No one had reached level four. The differences were more numerous, however. Each affinity hosted its own incantation and gestures for the different objectives. It was clear that although they could achieve the same objective, it was done in a completely different way.

Remembering I had created earthquakes in Berlin only a few days ago, I tried to connect with the mica students. I tried to imagine belonging to the aerie affinity, as that had been my mother's. However, I was disappointed with their demonstrations and didn't feel like I belonged with any of them.

I completely forgot about studying their technique to learn how they did it. When the demonstrations were over, and Professor Leander was back to lecturing before his class ended, I glanced over at Cassiah. He had taken notes during the demonstration, perhaps to help him with his report. I suddenly felt disappointed in myself. I should have had the same dedication to my learning, and not have allowed myself to be distracted by the magical displays. Feeling apprehensive about going into my private lesson with Leander, I hoped he wouldn't expect me to mimic the gestures and incantations I had just seen.

The class ended too soon. Leander's students rushed towards the gymnasium's exit. Macaila and Cass hung back. "What are you doing tonight?" Macaila asked me.

"I don't know yet," I admitted.

"There's a cool place in the eleventh," Macaila explained. "It's just basically a hangout place. They have ping-pong, foosball, and some arcade games. Would you like to go with us?" Macaila shifted on her feet, looking uncomfortable with extending the invitation. I got the sense that this was something she rarely did.

I agreed to it, relieved that I didn't have to go to Hellions and Halos again as if I was Jay's little sidekick. Macaila filled me in on the details of our meetup before Leander approached us. "Ms. Amherst and Mr. Hawthorne, you should be heading to your next class or you're going to be late," he advised calmly. My two new friends murmured their assent before hurrying off with their heads low and pace quick. Leander waited until they had disappeared through the pass-through door back into his classroom before saying, "Well, what are your thoughts, Briara?"

"It was exciting to watch," I said honestly.

"Did you feel any type of connection to one of the affinities?"

"I tried, but no." I grimaced.

"It's fine," Leander assured. "The chancellor wanted us to focus on mica today. Although what happened in Berlin was a tragedy, it may have allowed us to identify your affinity." I knew he was talking about the earthquakes and chasms I had caused in Berlin.

I tried to ignore the feelings of remorse to focus on Leander's lesson. Leander and I returned to his classroom, where in a far corner, he had prepared a table precisely for the day's lesson. On the table, there were flowerpots filled with plants and flowers. Bowls were filled to the brim with dirt. A couple of different rocks were scattered around the pots and bowls. I recognized igneous and sedimentary rocks as part of the collection. A vial of salt was laid out on the table, along with other types of minerals I didn't quite recognize. Confused with the variety of items cluttering the tabletop, I glanced at Leander, waiting for answers.

"Mica is a broad affinity to have," he explained. "Most mages with the mica affinity narrow their focus to one subset of it. Some have the green thumb and can cultivate plants. Others are more connected to the minerals and rocks. Since we are focusing on mica today, I wanted to give you the opportunity to see if one subset calls out to you and inspires your affinity into action."

It sounded reasonable. I set my focus on the objects scattered on the table. I was determined to do something. Sebastien had inspired me that much.

My first attempts were with the rocks, logically concluding that I had shattered the ground in half only a couple of days ago. With Leander coaching me from the side, I followed his instructions and learned a couple of incantations. I tried to break off a pebble from the sedimentary rock. Not even a tiny fissure formed on its surface, despite the number of times I repeated the verbal spell and made the appropriate gestures. Leander stopped me and redirected my attention to the plants when he saw my frustration escalating. I switched gears reluctantly, unconvinced that I would be able to manipulate the plant in any way. Leander sat a pot of dirt in front of me and informed me that a seedling was just underneath the dirt. Using the incantation and gesture combination he gave me, I attempted to bring the seedling to the surface.

I failed at that task, too.

There was not even a trace of magic in me as I attempted to do the exercises. I faintly remembered the fullness in my gut when I forced the officers and demons backward in the hallway during my escape from the jail. I sought that exact feeling out that afternoon in Leander's classroom. It remained dormant in whatever hole it was lurking in.

I ended the afternoon without a single display of magic and Leander guiding me to his meditation room. Once more, my eyes landed on the amethyst stone, and I felt all the tension that had been accumulating in my body disappear. My fear of another massacre was sedated. This place was one where I could breathe.