Lai hated the Academy. He had been raised with private tutors all of his life and showed particular aptitude towards his chosen Calling. His father was Sun Caste, those who were gifted with leadership and the ability to boost morale. His mother Tanarel, was Rain Caste, those who were gifted healers and givers of life. His twin sister Laitherel, was Soul Caste, those who were gifted with the ability to affect their own bodies and the minds of others. Lai was destined to be Wind Caste, those who wove the Weave and changed reality. He would become one of the Magi. He had begun touching the weave at an early age and his mother told him stories about how he would do tricks as a young boy, sending sparks of electricity at servants who didn’t give him what he wanted. He enjoyed training the various Talents of his craft, but the other things bored him.
He had been making potions with his tutors since he could reach onto a table and he was scribing scrolls since he could hold a pen. His father had always said that being a twin held a great amount of significance for his people as they were incredibly rare. The bond between twins amongst the Myst Elves was always empowering, and twins were always exceptional. Lai recalled a history lesson where a pair of twins were so empowered that they both had dual Callings, something unheard of amongst his people. Some of the other races on Taleria had the ability to have dual Callings but it had only happened once in all the known history of his people. Lai and his sister were not so lucky, though they were unusual in that they both did have separate Callings, something still rare to their people.
Today's lesson was tedious, as they usually were. They had to craft a potion of warmth, something that Lai had done when he was eight suns old. Over half of his life ago, yet some of the members of his class were melting decanters, burning tabletops, and filling the Academy’s towers with the awful smell of sulfur and ash. Idiots. They were all idiots and he should be on the upper floors with the older and more advanced students in the academy and not stuck down here with the second-year students doing menial useless potions that he had already made hundreds of times already. He had decided to go outside of the assignment and make something a little more grandiose, something that should get him out of this class, and moved up to where he should be. He was going to make Eldritch Fire, technically that’s a warmth potion, right? It warmed things up to the point of burning them entirely and then was nearly impossible to put out, you really can’t get much warmer than that.
Lai began mixing up the potion, he had read the process once before after he had snuck into the restricted library when he was younger. He began adding the ingredients in the proper order, stirring the appropriate number of times and in the correct direction. Some ingredients in the order needed to be stirred moonwise, some sunwise. Potions were a precise art and the direction that you stirred and the number of times had to be exact. The potion needed some time to rest, this was a common part of potion-making where some ingredients needed to finish reacting before the rest would be added.
Lai walked through the classroom, situated on the fifth floor of the Academy tower, one-third of the total height of the tower, the upper five floors devoted to only the most talented students and mentors. He walked with an almost imperious air despite his father’s constant urging that despite his station he shouldn’t act like he was superior to others. That’s all good for his father to say though, despite the fact that his father barred him from seeing Galeron because he was a commoner. Sure, he wrapped it in excuses that he was protecting Lai from eventually learning that Galeron was only spending time with him to gain favor or to even advance his family's station by trying to meet his twin sister in some vain hopes of marrying into the nobility.
“Rubbish!” Lai exclaimed as he passed another student working on their potion.
The student looked at him angrily thinking that he was talking about their skill with potions but he didn’t really notice as he meandered lost in thought. Galeron was his friend because they were friends, plain and simple. He tried to implore his father, telling him of how they met. How Galeron had saved his life by cutting away the strangle weeds from him when he fell off the pier after running from post to post and losing his footing. How Galeron had leaped into the water and cut him free after he had fallen into the sea and had been tangled in the menacing weeds. Galeron had no idea who he was, no idea that the young Myst Elf dressed like any other commoner was Laimiris, his Prince. Galeron had asked for no favors, no boons, nothing. Despite the fact that Lai owed him a Life Debt, Galeron tried to keep his distance from his Prince to prevent just this sort of worry. Lai was obviously not one for following rules so he showed up at Galeron’s home every day with food from the royal kitchens and gifts, eventually, Galeron conceded and the two had been fast friends from thereon.
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After the required five minutes of rest, Lai returned to the potion and added the final two ingredients. The Fox Fire stalk was the last ingredient added and as soon as it touched the potion it dissolved and the potion turned a brilliant red. He capped it quickly so that the last reactions could take place eating up the air in the potion and settling it. Normal potions of warmth were red, not this vibrant but the difference may not be noticed. What truly concerned him were the myriad flecks of orange that sparkled faintly throughout the mixture. He had seen bottles of Eldritch fire in the armory, they were mostly used to defend the city from sea-born attacks, the bottles were stable until they broke and air hit the syrupy liquid inside. Once the air hit the liquid would ignite and the potion would liquefy and spread across whatever surface it touched. It would burn until the potion was used up and nothing short of incredibly powerful magic could extinguish it before that happened.
Once all of the other students finished their potions they carried them up to the front of the room and set them on the long table next to the mentor’s desk. Their mentor, Paravis, was standing there looking at a few of the potions as they were set gently onto the table by the other members of the class. Lai went last, setting his bottle at the very end. “Save the best for last.” he thought as he walked away. The classroom was lit with fae globes, small glass spheres filled with Ghost Moss that glowed with a bright white-blue light. The stones that made up the tower were smooth and pale, the color of cream, and they were framed in dark brown Ironwood. They were in the central room of the tower, the core of the tower held the larger classrooms and the outer ring held smaller classrooms and the mentor's offices along with the spiraling stairs that went up and down the tower’s fifteen-story height. He returned to his table and sat on the stool watching Paravis examine each of the potions. Paravis would ask who’s potion it was, what ingredients they used, and what their process was before he would lift one to the light and peer into the bottle, swish it around slightly to examine the consistency, and then take off the stopper and give a gentle sniff.
When Paravis got to Lai’s potion he lifted it to the light and looked at it quizzically, then he looked at Lai. “What is this?” He said in a curious tone.
Lai looked at his mentor with no small amount of pride and said “It’s a warming potion, of sorts.” a grin spreading across his face.
“This is no warming potion, Lai. Warming potions should not be this thick, this red, nor this sparkly. Again I ask you, what is this?” His voice was stern and academic.
“You are the Mentor, you should be able to tell what it is.” Lai responded with no small amount of sarcasm.
“I know what it is, I want to make sure that you know what you made. Now answer me or you will be off to the Chamberlain again. I am tired of your impudence, you wouldn’t be the first Noble’s son that I have failed in this class and you will doubtless be the last.” Paravis said with obvious irritation in his voice. Lai knew that Paravis didn’t like him and that the feeling was mutual. Lai could teach this class without even trying and he let Paravis know at every opportunity.
“I obviously know what it is and I doubt that you could make a better batch if you had the Royal Alchemist holding you by the hand.” He crossed his arms smugly across his chest and glared at Paravis.
“Out! Pack your things and go to the Chancellor, I will not have you in this class one moment more. Your father and I will speak about this tonight. I can’t think of a more disrespectful student in my entire teaching history. You should be ashamed of yourself Laimiris, I know that your parents are. Now go!”
Paravis’ face had turned red in anger and his long slender arm was raised with one gnarled finger pointing sharply at the open door to the classroom. Lai quietly packed his table into his potions case and hefted it onto his shoulder and began walking towards the door. He turned his head and locked eyes with Paravis on his way out then as he was walking towards the stairs he yelled over his shoulder. “You are a terrible mentor anyhow, you can barely brew tea!”
The only thing that Lai remembered about the rest of that day was a horrible red light coming from the classroom behind him, a wave of heat that sent his body flying down the stairs, and screaming. So much screaming.