(Ivan)
The boys hustled up several flights of stairs and jogged through a narrow passageway until they found the exit hatch and climbed out. They raced up a ramp that took them to a large field covered with daisies. A building with two tall towers stood in the distance. Children of various ages crossed the grounds, heading toward the Tinbury School. A cacophony of laughter, shouts, and buzzing chatter assaulted Ivan, who was more accustomed to the quiet that surrounded their farm.
Toby spread his arms. “Behold the famous Tinbury School! This elite conservatory was built over five centuries ago. It houses the Military Academy and the School of Magic. The building is shaped like a horseshoe with a tower at each end. There is a great deal of history displayed on the roofline. There are statues of famous lords, generals, renowned casters, and mythical beasts. The west wing is home to the Military Academy, the east wing is the home to the School of Magic, and the connecting building is used for administrative offices.”
(William)
As they neared the building, one of the sculptures caught William’s eye. He gawked at a savage looking scorpion statue. His brother had told him that the Shadow Queen rode on a scorpion mount when leading her army. He looked at the other statues of gargoyles, serpents, men in armor, and other creatures perched atop the roof.
They climbed up the steps toward the main building.
“There she is,” Toby exclaimed.
William saw Lin Tinbury waiting near the entrance with her arms crossed and a sour expression on her face.
“You’re almost late!” Lin scowled at Toby. “I sent Claire to class because I didn’t want her to be tardy.” Without waiting for a reply, she added, “William, if we’re going to make it on time, we need to hurry up. Let’s go.”
She dashed through the archway, dodging other students, and disappeared inside the building. William raced after her and quickly caught up.
“Until you’ve been cleared, shifting is only permitted on school grounds,” Lin told him as they ran up the stairs. “It’s that way for all new casters. Don’t worry, you’ll probably get cleared today.”
The wide spiral staircase took them to the fourth floor.
Lin smiled. “The door is still open, so we’re not late. Being late is one of my pet peeves,” she explained.
The wooden sign above the door read - Transformations.
William stopped just outside the door after Lin ducked into the classroom. He had a queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. He discreetly brushed the front of his trousers to make sure that they were properly buttoned. He definitely did not want to go into class with his fly open.
I hope the other girls are not as scary as Lin.
He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before stepping inside. He scanned the room. There were several students and most of them appeared to be around his age. Apart from Lin, all eyes were on him. He really wished that he knew how to cast Invisibility.
“Hi, you must be William,” said the girl who was sitting closest to the door. She had bronze-colored eyes that were streaked with amber. Her curly black hair bounced around when she moved. William flushed and looked down as he realized that he had been staring at the freckles dotting her face.
“My name is Baza. I’m from Tork.” She blushed a bit. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Hi, Baza, it’s nice to meet you too.”
“William, we’ll do introductions later,” Lin interjected. “Lady Summerbreeze will be here any minute. Go ahead and take the open seat over there.” She gestured to an empty desk.
William gave Baza an open mouth lopsided smiled and headed toward the empty seat.
Freckles definitely likes me, he thought as he sat down.
Rose materialized in the center of the classroom, startling everyone. She stood there with her arms crossed under her chest. A thick book, The Adventures of the Little Sorcerer, floated several inches under her nose. She was intently focused on her book and continued to read silently. When she squinted, a page would turn. Occasionally, she snorted with laughter. The whole class just sat in their chairs and stared at her. William thought that Rose was super weird. Finally, she closed the book and looked around.
“Great, everyone is here.” Rose snapped of her wrist and the book zoomed toward a nearby bookshelf. William followed the book as it attempted to wedge itself into a stack of other books. To his amazement, the book spoke.
“Scoot over, let me in,” The Adventures of the Little Sorcerer demanded.
A dusty old leather-bound tome titled Harmony in Magic grunted with displeasure. “You’re too fat! You’ll never fit in here.”
“Why, thank you, old friend,” replied The Adventures of the Little Sorcerer.
“I didn’t mean that as a compliment, you ink-wit,” growled Harmony in Magic. “You’re filled with pages of nonsense. You’re just a work of fiction,” it spat out venomously.
“How dare you! Your covers are made of pigskin, you swine. When was the last time anyone bothered to pick you up, you dusty, moth-eaten, faded, old rag?”
The books did not get a chance to finish their squabble as Rose jumped in to separate them. She Levitated one of the books to the other side of the classroom.
“Oops, putting fictional and non-fictional enchanted books on the same shelf is a recipe for disaster.”
Rose scanned the room until she spotted William. She winked at him. “Right. As you have noticed, we have a new student today. Introductions are in order. Class, tell us a little bit about yourself, your family, magical abilities, personal interests, and things like that. Lin, you go first.”
Lin stood up confidently. She wore an ocean blue dress with a bodice that was decorated with exquisite silver embroidery. “My name is Lin Tinbury. I’m the daughter of Slovan Tinbury. I’ve mastered several transformations including the bear, tiger, house cat, eagle, and the pygmy mouse. I’ll be assisting Lady Summerbreeze this year. My hobbies include reading and collecting enchanted objects.”
After Lin sat down, the girl behind her stood up. Her blond hair framed her cherubic face. She had porcelain skin and dimpled cheeks. Her shoulders were tense, and she looked a little stiff. William saw that her eyes were the same leafy-green color as Toby’s.
I bet this is Toby’s sister, he thought.
“My name is Claire Clearwater,” the girl spoke timidly. “My father is Col Clearwater, the Lord of Mir, and my mother is Liz Clearwater.” Claire hesitated a moment and took a deep breath before continuing, “My brother Toby and I came to Scar several years after the invasion. Lin has been helping me with the bear transformation.” Claire hesitated, looked at Rose, and then sat down.
Baza stood up next. “My name is Baza. I’m the youngest daughter of Taran and Letika of Tork. This is the start of my second year in Tinbury. I’ve mastered the bear and black jaguar transformations.” She smiled at William.
Scraps, that’s Taran’s daughter, William thought. Everyone in the Nature Kingdom had heard of Taran. He was the royal chieftain of Tork and a famed caster.
“I actually know a number of other shifts,” Baza continued. “Though I haven’t gotten a voucher for mastery yet. Let’s see… My hobbies include hunting, fishing, designing snares, and painting.” Baza sat down.
Another girl stood up. “Hey William, my name is Mary Brown, and I’m here with my twin brother John.” She gestured toward the boy sitting next to her.
They both had fair skin, long russet hair, and hazel eyes. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail at her crown and his was drawn back into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. His most distinctive feature was a puckered and angry-looking scar that dragged from his left temple down to the corner of his mouth.
If that injury had been slightly to the right, he might have lost his eye, William thought.
“We’ve lived in Pike most of our lives,” Mary continued, “but like many others, we were displaced by the war. We’ve only been here for a few weeks. I’ve mastered the bear and wolf transformations. Hobbies, hmm… I love animals, especially horses. One day, I’m going to have a stable full of horses.” She looked at her brother and then sat down.
“Hey, everybody. I’m John. Besides being the better-looking twin, I’ve got a knack for woodworking.”
“Pfft!” Mary scoffed.
“Let’s see… Like my sister, I’ve mastered the wolf and the bear transformations.” John looked around and added, “There are too many girls in this class. We needed more men.”
“Did you just call yourself a man?” Mary shook her head. “The lunch lady has more hair on her chin than you do.”
Claire giggled.
“Bah!” John waved dismissively.
“William, it’s your turn.” Rose gestured to him.
He stood up. “My name is William Snow. I got to Scar yesterday. We used to live on a farm west of Pike. I’m really excited! This is the first time I’ve ever been in a classroom. I’ve never studied magic before. Let’s see, I haven’t mastered any transformation spells yet, but I’ve shifted into a tiger, an owl, and a Saberwolf.”
“A Saberwolf!” John gaped. “I’d love to see that shift.”
Mary pinned John with her eyes. “Pfft, obviously, he was joking. Everyone knows that there is no such thing as a Saberwolf.”
“Oh, I can assure you that William was not joking,” Rose interjected. “Let him finish with his introduction.” Mary leaned toward William, looking intrigued.
William hesitated briefly. “Um, where was I? Oh, that’s right… hobbies. I’m learning to use a bow, but I’m terrible at it. I love animals and I’ve got a great rock collection.”
He sat down in his chair and noticed that everyone was still looking at him.
Baza leaned toward him and cleared her throat. “I heard that you could cast spells outside of the Nature school. Is that true?” William gulped.
Rose narrowed her eyes and looked at Baza. “Where did you hear that?”
“Oh… oh… I told her!” Mary proclaimed. “People were talking about him this morning at the lodge. One of the gardeners had seen William and his brother at the Crossroads Tavern yesterday. He and a few other dusk gardeners saw him healing a kitten with magic in the Garden of Dreams last night.”
“You were able to cast a healing spell?” Rose zeroed in on William and he nodded. “We’ll discuss that after school.” She cleared her throat.
“Introductions and gossip are over.” Rose waved her hand. “The focus of today’s class is transformations. We have a new student, so we’re going to recap the basics of magic.”
William heard a stifled groan from John.
A piece of chalk started scribbling the words Basics of Magic on the board behind Rose.
“With the loss of so many Nature casters during the war, we had to reevaluate magical theory. Afterall, anything that hones our spellcraft will give us an edge against the enemy. We’ve been looking for any incremental improvements to augment our spells. As such, over the last decade, we’ve made some new progress in understanding our own magic.” She pointed to the board and the chalk underlined primal particles.
“The scholars describe magic as primal particles that make up everything around us. These particles, called bits, are typically in a neutral state. They’re like grumpy old men idling on their balconies in their pajamas, wanting to be left alone, and glaring at the kids around them.” Her eyes narrowed to slits and she shook her fist to better illustrate her point.
“A caster is someone who has the ability to influence the bits and bend them to their will. A large part of casting a spell is the mental command, which empowers the neutral bits and sends them to do our bidding.” Rose paced back and forward as she lectured. The chalk continued to scribble on the board behind her.
“It’s easier to demonstrate the concept if we examine a specific spell. Let’s look at shifting.” Rose raised her thumb and transformed it into a tentacle that started to coil around her wrist.
“The natural state of all bits that compose your body can be changed with practice. To support a spell, a caster uses the energy stored in their body. Your body requires more food to maintain a shift for a prolonged period. When traveling, casters often pack high-nutritional meals and snacks. Casting spells and maintaining shifts is also mentally taxing for new practitioners. With training, the mental aspect can become second nature to the caster. If there is no external influence, bits return to their neutral state.” The tentacle uncoiled from her wrist and wiggled. “If I fell unconscious right now, the partial transformation on my hand would eventually transform back to my thumb on its own.”
Mary raised her hand. “How come we’re not able to cast spells from the other schools of magic?” She looked at William. “Well, with him being the exception.”
“We’re not sure why that limitation exists.” Rose shrugged her shoulders. “Some scholars have suggested that there is an origin spell that limits the behavior of all bits. There are several other theories. Most of them lack supporting research.”
“What about the change of weight during shifting?” John asked. “When I shift into a wolf, I know that I actually become heavier. Where does the extra weight come from?”
“Ah, that’s a very good question. We do know that bits can change their density. A number of experiments have been done in that area. The Axima Holly Barrel experiment is used as a reference. In that experiment, she weighed a barrel with a caster inside. The weight of the barrel was measured each time the caster shifted into a different animal and measurements were taken after each transformation. The experiment confirmed our knowledge that shifting can increase or decrease your mass. Additionally, Axima discovered that the temperature either increased or decreased inside the barrel depending on the size of the shift. The results were confirmed by others. Most magical tomes agree that there is a correlation between weight and energy during shifting.”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Rose gave them a few more examples, but William’s mind drifted. He imagined shifting into a massive tree, then shifting into a bug, then shifting into a bear. The idea of him not having an exact weight was strange.
His attention snapped back to Rose when she started talking about the limitations of the Levitation spell.
“Let’s review the two rules for Levitation.” Rose gestured toward Claire. “Miss Clearwater, tell us the rules.”
“Well, the first rule is for the weight ratio,” Claire replied. “A caster can only Levitate up to seven times her own natural body weight. The second rule outlines an exception to the first rule. It states that you cannot Levitate any living matter.”
“Excellent, Miss Clearwater.” Rose smiled. “We’re going to come back to those rules when we practice Levitation later this week. For now, let’s go back to transformations. Partial shifts are the easier to complete compared to a full transformation. They can be quite useful. For example, I can hear the tiniest of whispers in my classroom by adjusting my ears.” Rose lifted her raven-black hair and her pointy cat ear twitched.
“It’s easier to perform a transformation spell by mimicking an animal that you’re already familiar with. One of the most revered animals in the Nature Kingdom is the bear. Hunters use them to track and pursue game. Many families have them as pets. Some of them are even used as mounts. As such, first-year students usually choose the bear as their first transformation to master. Lin, how do we determine when a transformation has been mastered?”
“A mastery in transformation is considered achieved if you can maintain an Undiminished Form,” Lin answered. “There are three separate aspects of the Undiminished Form. The first one is the complete transformation. The second is maintaining the form under duress and the third is the preservation of your clothing during a shift.”
“Very good, Lin,” said Rose. “Mary, what are some of the options at our disposal to preserve modesty before mastering a transformation?”
Mary lifted her necklace. “An enchanted Void Pendant is often used. Some shifters use a marsupial pouch to stash their clothes as part of the transformation, which also requires Levitation. Advanced casters can manipulate the fabric of their clothing during the transition.”
“Excellent answer, Mary.” Rose looked pleased. “There are a few other methods, but those are the most common. William, there is a Void Pendant inside your desk drawer. All first-year students are required to wear them when practicing transformations.”
William opened the drawer and picked up the pendant. He was surprised by how light it was.
“Now, I’m going to separate you into two groups.” The chalk started writing a list of transformations in order of increasing difficulty, from partial shifts to a complete shift. The last transformation scribbled on the board was a bear shift. “We’ll practice those until break time. Lin, Claire, and Baza can practice at the back of the classroom. Mary, John, and William can stay at the front. I’ll check on you and help as needed. On pages nine to fifteen in your Basics of Transformation book, you’ll find the required steps for the different shifts.”
William looked at his book. The cover was oddly reflective, like the surface of a perfectly still lake. It was an odd enchant. He decided to examine it more closely after completing his assignment. He approached the twins and gave John a mischievous look. “Did you get that scar in a shifting accident or did you make Mary angry?” John looked at William indecisively for a moment, before bursting into laughter.
Mary elbowed William in the ribs. “Hey, watch it!” She narrowed her eyes. “You could be next.”
“I’m so glad I got grouped up with you and I didn’t get stuck with Lin again,” John quietly confided to William. “She is such a…” William saw the color drain from John’s face. He followed John’s gaze and looked at the back of the classroom. Lin was looking straight at John. Her arms were crossed, and her eyes were narrowed.
John gulped and quickly added, “Ah… she’s such a skilled caster.” He leaned toward William and whispered, “Is she still staring at me?” William nodded and John grimaced. “Phew, that was a close one. The last thing that I need is another beating from another girl.”
“Bah, it’s good for you.” Mary clapped him on the back. “Adversity builds character!”
“You might feel differently if you had to face her tiger form. My kodiak bear is no match for that monster,” John replied.
“Let’s stop dillydallying and start with the transformation assignment.” Mary snapped her fingers at the boys. She rubbed her palms briskly together and extended them out. The skin on her hands began to change, taking on a mottled and scaly appearance. The color turned saffron-yellow. Two of her fingers fused together, her bones lengthened, and sharply curved talons emerged. It was a perfect eagle talon transformation.
“Would you like me to scratch your back?” Mary clawed the air.
“Only if you let me file those things,” replied John. He had also completed the partial transformation.
William scrutinized their talons, examined the curves, texture, and color. He glanced at his textbook briefly, before nodding. He looked at his hands, preparing to duplicate the transformation and discovered that he had already completed it.
“Wow, William! I thought you had never done this shift before.” Mary looked at him with awe. “The first time I tried, it took me half an hour.”
“Scraps, I’m as surprised as you are.” William gawked at his hand.
Their group dynamics were in stark contrast to the others. Lin, Baza, and Claire were reserved, quiet, and dignified. John, Mary, and William were boisterous, loud, and goofy. With some help from Rose, they completed the remaining list of assigned transformations about a half an hour before break time.
“So, you two are from Pike, right?”
“Yeah, we were born there,” John replied.
“Oh, I love Pike. The food there is great.” William’s face brightened. “The outdoor kitchen near the Argent Steed Inn has the best onion soup! Flossy’s has an amazing cherryberry pie and the Bright Bell tavern’s apricot cider is to die for.”
Mary’s eyes lit up. “You’ve been to the Bright Bell?”
“Yep, I’ve been there a few times.”
“That’s crazy,” Mary blurted. “John and I have worked there most of our lives. I can’t believe we never ran into each other. Oh, and I completely agree that our apricot cider is to die for,” she boasted.
“Yeah, I visited the tavern during the last sword fighting tournament. I got free apricot cider and honey rolls because my brother won the Brawler’s Tournament.”
“Wait, your last name is Snow, right?” John jumped in.
“Yeah, yeah, William Snow.”
“Are you telling me that your brother is Ivan Snow?” John asked. “The Ivan Snow!” His eyes widened in astonishment.
“That’s him,” William said proudly.
“Wow! He’s amazing with the sword. I’ve seen all his matches,” John raved. “I can’t believe that the Snowstorm is your brother. Did you know that when he beat the Baby-faced Blade, he shook my hand on the way out of the arena?” John beamed. “I was the one that told him that he could get free cider at the Bright Bell.”
“Snowstorm?” Mary looked puzzled.
“Yeah, the dicers in Pike gave him that nickname last year. I’m a huge fan. I have a dueling sketch of his that cost me a whole silver. You have to introduce me,” he implored.
“Yeah, sure thing,” William replied. “We owe you for the free cider.”
“You’re the best!” John clapped him on the shoulder.
“Let’s see, the last time I was in Pike was about three months ago.” William looked at the twins. “I guess a lot has changed since then.” He paused. “Were you there when the city fell?”
“We were,” Mary said quietly. She looked out of the window and peered into the distance. After a moment she turned toward William and continued, “John and I lived in a cottage right next to the Bright Bell’s stables. Last month, there were several days when the fog was as thick as stew. That’s when the Shadowlanders came. They attacked in the middle of the night.”
Mary paused. John reached out and gently touched her shoulder.
She shook her head and resumed, “People were screaming everywhere. It was complete pandemonium. We saw fires through the fog from our window. That’s when we realized that the Bright Bell was burning. We had to help Gerald, so we ran toward the tavern, but we didn’t get far. The Shadowcloaks were already there.” She looked at John and he nodded at her.
“We heard the cries of people that were trapped inside.” Mary’s eyes had a haunted look. “They were being burned alive.”
William gasped.
“The flames were spreading. John said that we should run away, that we had to get out of the city… but I couldn’t leave the horses. So, I raced toward the barn to let them out.” Mary squeezed her eyes shut. “I should’ve listened to John.”
Her brother gently patted her back. “We survived it,” John reassured her. “Stop living in the past.”
She gave him a weak smile.
“What happened next?” William asked.
“We ran to the stables, opened the stalls, and freed the horses. As we dashed toward the back door, it swung open, and an enemy soldier stepped through. We turned around and raced toward the door at the front, but that was blocked as well. We were caged in. The Shadowcloaks drew their swords. They were going to kill us.” Mary looked at her brother. “John was so brave! He grabbed a pitchfork and charged. I heard laughter as a soldier blocked John’s attack and slashed him across the face. John fell to the ground.”
William glanced at the scar on John’s face.
“It was horrible.” Mary grimaced. “Blood dripped through his fingers. I ran to help him but one of the soldiers snatched me by the hair and yanked me back. I twisted, grabbed his hand, and I bit down hard. The Shadowlander screamed and threw me down. My head hit something hard. After that, everything was blurry. That’s when things got weird. Through my hazy vision, I saw John transforming into a beast.”
“I acted without thinking,” John bristled with anger. “I had to protect Mary.”
“So, what happened next?”
“I’m not sure how long I was out,” Mary said. “But when I woke up, there was a large wolf next to me. I knew it was John. He had a bloody slash across his muzzle and the Shadowlanders were all dead.”
“Scraps!” William gasped and gaped at John.
“After that, I climbed onto John’s back, and he bolted out of the barn. He prowled through the shadows of the back alleys.”
“We were lucky.” John sighed. “We survived and escaped the city.”
“I can’t imagine.” William shook his head. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if I was in your place.” He paused. “Mary, when did you find out that you can shift?”
“That very night. We had escaped the city, but we were still in danger. We were in the wild with no supplies, no water, no food, and no shelter. We didn’t know where to go and the weather was freezing. John found some protection from the elements in a hollow tree. He nudged me to the back of the hollow and tried to keep me warm as best he could. Still, the numbness in my hands and feet was spreading and I was having trouble staying awake.”
“Yeah, Ivan always tells me that the cold weather is more deadly than the wild beasts,” William interjected.
“Well, he’s right. It would’ve been a matter of time before I froze to death. At some point, John must have shifted back because I remember him talking to me. He was saying something about abilities, reminding me that we were twins. I remember being tired and wanting to sleep but John wouldn’t let me.”
“I worried that if you fell asleep, you might never wake up.”
“Right, so I saw him shift back into his wolf form. He growled, snarled, nipped, and nudged at me until I couldn’t take it anymore.”
“I’m good at being annoying.” John chuckled.
Mary elbowed her brother playfully and turned back to William. “I was so mad at him and then I felt a burst of heat. I screamed at John to leave me alone, but no words came out. Instead, I howled. I had never made a sound like that before. I looked down and I had paws and fur. Then, it got even weirder. I heard a voice in my head. It was John! He told me that I’d just shifted into a wolf.”
“The cold wasn’t a problem once we were both wolves,” John interjected.
“Wow, that’s a crazy story. But how did you get to Scar?” asked William.
“Well, the next day we decided to head toward the Hidden City,” John continued. “The problem was that we didn’t know how to find it. We only knew that it was somewhere in the north. So, that’s where we headed. After a few days of roaming the wilderness, we got lucky again. We stumbled upon horse tracks that were heading northwest and we decided to follow them. We stayed in wolf form the whole time and used mind communication to chat.”
“John is so nosy,” Mary grouched. “He kept snooping inside my head while we were in wolf form. He’s as bad as my old friend Tangi. I had to remind him that girls like to keep their secrets.”
“Oooh, so, what secrets did you learn about her?” William blurted.
“Hey!” Mary squawked and glared at the boys. “What happens in a mind meld stays in a mind meld.”
William cocked his head. “What’s a mind meld?”
“It’s just a thing that Mary and I made up for wolf chat. It’s interesting though. We did try wolf communication with other shifters after we got there, but it didn’t work. Maybe it only worked for us because we’re twins.”
“Nah, I think it’s a pack thing,” William replied. “Though I was able to communicate with the Saberwolves and I wasn’t part of their pack.” He scratched his head and shrugged. “Or maybe I was?”
The twins perked up. John leaned toward William. “Ooh-ooh, you’ve got to share your Saberwolf story.”
The twins listened, spellbound by his story. They only interrupted once to ask about Rulan, the King of the Wolves.
“Maybe during lunch time, we can all shift into wolves and see if we can communicate,” John suggested. “I really want to see your Saberwolf shift.”
Mary looked thoughtfully at William. She lowered her voice, leaned in, and asked, “Did you really cast a healing spell last night?”
William nodded. “Yeah, I healed a kitten that had been scratched up by a razo-tooth bush.”
Mary grimaced. “Ouch, that’s a nasty shrub.” She looked hesitant for a moment. “I thought that was impossible. People can only cast spells from one school of magic. There is a reason for that. Most archivers believe that magic is hereditary, like your hair color. There have been cases, where children have been born of parents from different schools of magic. Those kids never had any magical abilities at all.”
She shot a glance at her brother. “I’ve been trying to research Light Order healing spells, but I haven’t found much.” Mary leaned toward William. “I did read an interesting story, though. This little girl’s arm had been badly burned and she had gruesome scars. A Light Order healing master on Eel Island mended her arm completely.”
Mary paused and looked at William intently. “I wonder what your healing ability might be able to do for the scar on John’s face?”
“Well, I’m not even a novice at healing. I’ve only done it once.” He looked at John and added, “The truth is that I need a lot more practice and some willing subjects.”
“What’s the worst thing that can happen?” John gestured. “Look at my face. How can you possibly make it look worse?” He paused for effect and then declared, “I’ll be a willing subject.”
“Oh, right here, right now?” asked William looking surprised. He turned his head and saw Rose, Lin, and Baza at the back of the classroom. They were still helping Claire with a transformation.
“Why not!” John shrugged. “We’re done with the assignments.”
“Well, sure…” replied William hesitantly. “Let’s see… You’re taller than me, so I’ll need you to sit down before we begin.” John sat down and made a gesture with his right hand, indicating that he was ready.
William placed his hand next to John’s face and closed his eyes in concentration. He took a deep breath and tried to clear his mind. It was easier to establish a connection with John than it had been with the kitten. The strong affinity translated into a smooth flow of energy. William’s hand began to glow.
Though his eyes remained closed, the image of John’s injury remained vivid in his mind. William visualized standing on a cobblestone road. The road was cleaved in the center, right underneath him. He looked down and saw many stone blocks that were bulging out, broken in half, and even smashed to pieces. He knew that he needed to fix them. He began working on the damaged road. Some of the blocks had to be fused together. Others required leveling out or needed additional support underneath. The work was slow at first, but soon the repair sped up as William got more accustomed to the different mending patterns.
People must have moved nearby. William heard a voice saying, “My cheek is really heating up. Is that supposed to happen?” He knew that the statement was related to the work he was doing, but at that moment, it seemed like an odd thing to say to someone who was working on a cobblestone road.
William felt lightheaded. He reached out to steady himself.
How did that desk appear on the cobblestone road? he thought. It wasn’t here a moment ago.
William’s shoulders slumped and he wavered on his feet. He felt drained.
“I got you,” Mary said, grabbing his arm. She helped him to sit down and asked, “Are you okay?”
“Just a little unsteady. Give me a moment and I’ll be fine.”
Mary gazed at William for a moment, as if to make sure he was alright, then she slowly looked at her brother’s face.
She gasped. “John, he did it… He did it!”
John reached up and touched his face. His probing fingers found perfectly smooth skin. “Whoa! I didn’t expect that.” He turned toward William. “Don’t take this the wrong way,” he added. “I didn’t actually expect anything to happen.”
“William, you did it, you did it!” Mary repeated exuberantly. “The scar is gone.” She threw her arms around William’s neck and hugged him. “Thank you, thank you so much!”
Within moments John was surrounded by the rest of the class, jostling for a better view of his face.
Claire shook her head in disbelief. Lin maintained her composure and asked if she could examine John’s face more closely. He was eager to agree. After Lin was done, she pulled a mirror from her desk and gave it to John. He stared at his reflection with a look of disbelief. There were no signs that a scar had ever been there. Rose was as excited as the rest of them. She even started poking, pinching, and stretching John’s face to examine the elasticity of the healed skin.
Mary threw her arms around William and hugged him again. She whispered, “Thank you. I’ll never forget this. Her eyes welled up. She leaned toward him and kissed him on the cheek. William’s eyes widened and he blushed.
“Class, it’s time for us to take a lunch break,” Rose announced. “William, you still look fatigued after casting that healing spell. Stay behind a little longer. I’ve got something that will help you.”
“Yeah, I still feel a little wobbly.” He waved at his classmates. “I’ll catch up with you in a bit.”
Baza waved at him, and the sleeve of her dress dropped down, revealing a nasty bruise.
“Wow, that looks painful.” William grimaced. “I can try to heal that for you during lunchtime.”
Baza hastily covered her arm. “Oh, that’s just a minor scrape.” She brushed it off. “It’ll be gone by tomorrow.” She scurried out of the classroom.
Once the other students had left, Rose started rummaging around in her enchanted bag. “I didn’t have many left and besides I didn’t want to share with everyone.” She grinned impishly. “Here, have some mocca-nut cookies. After you eat them, you’ll feel a lot better. Casting spells is draining. You’ve got to replenish your energy.”
“Scraps, I love mocca-nuts.”
William devoured a handful of cookies like a starved street urchin. He felt elated that he had been able to heal John. He enjoyed helping others.
Healing had already become his favorite magical skill.