The September this year was unusually warm, almost like an extension of summer. In this part of Britannia, people have gotten used to it, especially the folk who lived near the historic Westrock Castle and the mysterious Darkwater Forest, which wasn’t that far from Stone’s Rest and in addition to the Ashford Magical Academy.
Despite its violent and turbulent past, the once-great Westrock Castle is still a lucrative tourist attraction and the main source of income for the nearby towns and villages, but the local citizens are still feeling uneasy about the rumors spreading around the Darkwater Forest, which is located two kilometers to the east of the Westrock Castle. The forest itself was filled with all kinds of tree types including oak and pine, and while its flora is more than rich enough, its fauna is spookily missing. No known animals are reported to inhabit this location, not even the birds high up in the trees. What the locals do report however are the weird and disturbing sounds which can be occasionally heard emanating from the forest, ranging from children and babies crying to screams of rage and malice. Despite many expeditions and investigations launched into this forest from police officers to soldiers, nothing unusually was found.
Somewhere around the middle of the forest, there was a large gray rock, around five meters tall and wide. There was moss all over it and there was a man standing there. He was tall and old, about sixty, and had graying hair tied in a ponytail that was draped over his shoulder along with a prominent widow’s peak. He was smoking a cigar and was leaning against the rock and was looking at the vast lush but deadly silent greenery that completely surrounded him.
“Roscoe! You old rat, how can you always be the first to arrive?” A snarky and sarcastic female voice ruined the old man’s solo cigar smoking session as he scoffed and crushed the cigar under his foot.
“Scoot off brat, I actually take my job seriously, not like some young morons.” Roscoe scoffed and spat on the ground.
Opposite the rock, stood two individuals that were younger than Roscoe. Fenris was a short and sickly-looking young man who always wore a dark-purple mask that covered the lower half of his face and always kept his hands in his pockets. He had porcelain-pale skin, lifeless gray eyes which were always sunken and half-shut, and his voice was both nasal and elderly, which was in sheer contrast to his real age. Fenris also kept a hood over his head so only a few strands of his seemingly black hair could be seen over his forehead. On the other hand, Leya was a much more open woman who was in her thirties and was taller than Fenris. She kept her long brunette hair in a neatly tied single braid, had a beauty mark under her right eye, which was covered by a triangle-shaped eyepatch while her other eye was brown and uncovered. The newly arrived duo approached their older comrade and while Leya had a mischievous look, Fenris looked like he was just told the most boring and mundane thing in the world.
“Why did he call us now? I thought our next meeting wasn’t going to be until Christmas.” Leya started.
“The hell if I know. That guy is weird, I always tell. I don’t think even he realizes what’s inside of that head of his.” Roscoe shrugged.
“Whatever, let us just get inside. This stinking greenery is making me sick.” Fenris rasped as Roscoe and Leya snorted, and the trio approached the large rock. Roscoe put his right palm on the rough and mossy surface of the rock and whispered some incoherent words. Then, a mark in the shape of a rotten, green hand manifested itself at the spot where Roscoe had touched it and with a loud crack, the rock split open, revealing a dusky hole with seemingly no end.
“Heh, this never gets old.” Roscoe jumped down the hole first, soon followed by Fenris and Leya. However, as they disappeared from view, so did the large rock and in the place of it, there was nothing but overgrown grass.
Hovering through the air, the trio landed with a loud crunch. As always, the entrance was decorated with bones of the poor souls who were sacrificed during rituals or who were walking too close to their hideout and were threatening their secrecy. The trio was unhinged by this as they just swept the dust of their shoulders and started walking through the dark corridors of the underground hideout.
The atmosphere was putrid and deathly looking, with rotting plants and bats flying all around. A normal person would have fainted by now because of the atrocious stench and smell that emanated around the dark halls and corridors and from the side corridors the praying of the fanatical cult members could be heard.
“HAIL! HAIL! HAIL! SLAVA! SLAVA! SLAVA!” Their crazed voices and raised fists into the air echoed through the ghostly and dusky underground chambers as Roscoe scoffed in annoyance, kicking a nearby skull against the wall as he walked.
“Those damn freaks, do we really need them?”
“I don’t know about us, but he definitely needs them. I don’t think that he has any special love for them more than we do but he does consider them as both valuable foot soldiers and invaluable cannon fodder.” Leya chuckled as Fenris just looked ahead, unperturbed by anything happening around him.
When they arrived at the main chamber, the two cultists who were guarding the entrance retreated to the walls to allow them to pass. Both of the guards were tall and wide, and instead of wearing dark robes and hooded cloaks like the chanting cultists, they wore a dirty and weary looking set of charred black armor, fully covering their bodies.
The trio entered the main chamber and at the end of it, there was a cushioned throne, which had seen its better days a long time ago and a table in front of it, made from many carved human skulls. A large chandelier that was hanging from the ceiling gave some sort of stifled light to this dreaded room as the man that was sitting in the throne clapped his hands and looked eagerly at the newly arrived trio.
“There you are, I’m glad you three could make it on time. Well, not exactly on time but close enough.” The man chuckled as he stood up. He was tall and humanoid enough – his skin was light purple, his hair long, straight and white, his eyes light-blue and he was wearing what appeared to be a long red, blue and yellow robe, similar to the type of clothing called kimono which was traditional in Nippon. As his sleeves were wide, when he folded his arms, it looked like they had disappeared.
“That’s enough of your flattery, Haryk. Why did you call us here?” Roscoe looked around the dark chamber noticing several skeletons hanging in chains from the walls.
Haryk walked closer to the trio and started to strafe around in half-circles.
“Remember when I told you about that artifact that we need to retrieve? I think I have found its location.”
When neither of the three reacted, Haryk just smiled.
“I appreciate your enthusiasm. Anyway, this artifact, called The Orb of the Pegasus, is presumably located in Stone’s Rest, the small town bellow the secret location of the Ashford Magical Academy. By now you already know that the Academy is high up in the air, hidden by the clouds. The barrier in incredibly strong, maintained by the Headmistress Moirrey Walsh and there is not a Mage alive that can even penetrate or uncover this barrier. The old woman is that mighty and that why she’s still regarded as the strongest Mage in the world.”
“And what’s your brilliant plan, then? If the old hag finds us there, what’s stopping her from destroying the whole town, along with us and the artifact?” Leya asked, with a slight shiver. Just the mere mention of the headmistress’s name was enough to instill a sense of dread into the rogue and criminal Mages around the world.
“For now, nothing. I still need to gather much more information before I can even think of implementing any kind of plan. But be warned, we’re definitely going to get our hands dirty.”
“You mean, us three are gonna get our hands dirty while you sit there and do nothing?” Fenris said in a low voice, surprising both Leya and Roscoe with his willingness to actually speak.
“...bleeeh~” Haryk raised his hands and stuck out his tongue as he looked upwards to the extreme annoyance and frustration of his three comrades.
Ever since they have started working for him and the Circle of the Rotten Hand, the trio has had to endure Haryk’s unpredictable and highly eccentric behavior. Just when they thought that he was genuinely being serious, he would prove them wrong by his childish antics. However, all three of them suspected that this was all a ploy to hide his true intentions and present himself as this goofy and dorky man with ulterior motives.
“What do we need the artifact for? Will you tell us, boss?” Roscoe asked as he inspected a skull he had picked up from the ground.
“I like it when you call me that, but I’m afraid I can’t, sorry. You will know when the time comes for it though, I assure you. And there is also another very important thing... the last surviving member and heir of the Phoenix family, a boy by the name of Jonathan, has entered the Academy and has been doing fairly well. He made several good friends but also rivals and enemies. Just thought you should know.” Haryk said in a relatively serious voice.
The trio looked at each other curiously. Jon had a large target on his head and even though he was a minor, the foulest and most evil Mages there are don’t care about any morals or ethics. They would be glad to capture him for whatever heinous goals and for the right price.
“Yeah, we know that he enrolled this year, everyone was talking about it, even the non-Magic scum. But how do you know so many details of his school life there? You have spies at the Academy?” Roscoe asked as he leaned against the wall.
“Spies? Let’s say I have little birds who occasionally sing and whisper a few songs to me about the mundane day-to-day activities that go in the Academy.” Haryk smirked as he went back and sat on the ruined skull throne.
* * *
The first month passed on relatively well. Jon had gotten used to his new environment and school and learning to cast magic, even if it was the most primitive in existence, it still felt like a great leap forward in his career to become a powerful Mage.
He had exchanged a few letters with his grandmother and while she admitted that she felt lonely, she was also happy for her grandson that he was so well adjusted in his new school. However, the most troublesome thing for Jon was the ‘conflict’ that was still ongoing between Adam and Artemis.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Ever since their fight in the dining room, on the very first day of school, they have ignored each other and when they wanted to say something to one another, they did it through Jon. He was their messenger and even when they were sitting together, Jon would have to relay the messages from him to her and vice versa. That was the thing that confused Jon the most. While Artemis would occasionally sit with the other girls in their class, she would mostly sit down with Jon and Adam, and Amber herself would often barge in. This made Jon think; were they doing this on purpose to mess with him or did they really like the company of him that much?
While Adam’s relationship with his older sister Emily was shaky at best, his treatment of Artemis made it even worse. Emily and Artemis quickly became friends and would often talk in their free time about various topics. Whenever Jon asked either of them if they had talked about Adam, they would deny it.
“What would it take you to swallow your pride and try talking to Adam again? He’s having a hard time...” one day, while they were walking through the hallways, Jon tried again to persuade his best female friend to bury the hatchet with his best male friend.
“Never. He’s the one who’s in the wrong here. If wants to be friends again, he must apologize to me, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll think about it.” Artemis replied cooly and went back to the girls’ dorms.
They were both extremely stubborn, so Jon was clueless on what to do. However, one day, rather unexpectedly, Gordon and Caleb gave him some advice.
“Just let it go, man. They’ll figure it out eventually. Don’t pass on the magic lessons because of them. It’s only the beginning, you’ll get used to this teenage drama.”
And they were right. Whatever it was, it would pass. Even Adam’s pride and Artemis’ stubbornness have a limit and the most important thing was paying attention in classes.
* * *
Elemental Magic was being taught by Denzel Moore, the tallest and largest professor in the whole Academy. His classroom was located on the second floor of the Academy, second door to the right, just before Professor Meadow’s Arcane Magic classes. Despite his large frame and deep voice that demanded respect and even intimidated the first years, his actual personality was vastly different. Professor Moore was a very patient and calm man, who put his students’ needs above his own.
“Good morning kids, how are you all today? It’s time for us to finally step over to the real practical part of our lessons; casting and using Elemental Magic. First of all, I want you all to focus, relax yourselves, breathe in and breathe out.” Professor Moore said as he was watching them all from his chair with his chin on his intertwined fingers.
Jon placed his palms on the table in front of him and closed his eyes. He already knew what calmed him the most. His family. Since he was blessed with so much potential, it would have been stupid not to tap into its full reservoir. Apart from wanting to become the strongest Mage in the world and to become an Inspector like Adam’s father, so he could help apprehend criminals and evil Mages, Jon was also adamant on clearing his family name and proving to everyone that his fate wasn’t that of a ‘terrorist’ like Kawada and Bakole had taunted him ever since the school year started.
When Jon opened his eyes, he glanced at his best friend and Adam looked surprisingly calm, but he would also glance at Artemis and then with a heavy frown at Kawada from time to time. For whatever reason, Adam was so upset by this and took it deeply to his heart, while Jon had accepted the fact that Artemis and Kawada were friends since childhood and were on a first-name basis. That was the fact that hurt Adam the most. Not to add the difficulty to actually produce magic. He wasn’t able to cast any spell or even a spark, which gave Kawada and his goons more fuel to mock and insult Adam even further. Jon could barely contain Adam’s rage when he would attempt to fight back since Adam was so strong and Jon knew that he would likely get expelled. If not for this threat of expulsion, Jon would gladly let Adam go after them and help his best friend with immense delight.
“Now, it’s time. Remember the four basic elements of nature are water, fire, earth and air. All the other possible elements are either a combination of these four or a closely knit imitation. There is also no limit to how many elements you may know. This is called affinity. Some Mages have affinity for only one element, some for two or more. It depends, since each Mage is different as are their goals, desires, personalities and skills. However, only the strongest and most gifted Mages through history could learn, master and use all elements at once. And one of those Mages, is the current Headmistress Walsh.”
At Professor’s Moore’s words, some of the first years gasped. Jon and Adam both had their jaws dropped and appeared stunned. Only Kawada and Bakole didn’t show any reaction.
“Really? The headmistress? So, she can use all the four basic elements? What about the other elements?” Artemis was the first to raise her hand.
“That’s correct. You may have heard already but Headmistress Walsh is widely considered as the most powerful Mage in the world and some even consider her to be one of the strongest Mages and heads of Academies in history. She truly is a once-in-a-million talent who also put enormous effort in her skills and is rightfully regarded and respected. However, don’t let this overwhelm you. For example, me myself can only use one element, earth. Even a Mage who uses only one element can defeat a Mage who uses two elements if the first Mage is more skilled and more well-rounded as a combatant.” Moore clapped his hands as he stood in front of the blackboard.
“All right, that’s enough talk. Extend your palms and try casting something. Beware however, try only focusing on Elemental Magic and not on Arcane or any other Magic type.”
And so they did. The first years started to twirl and shake their hands, some faster and more energetic such as Amber while some more gracefully and fluid, such as Artemis.
Jon looked at his open hands as he twirled his fingers, he was only thinking of one thing; it has to be fire. He was a Phoenix, it’s only right that he can use fire. He didn’t care about the other elements, if only he could use fire, he’d be content. And that’s exactly what Professor Moore had said after all, better one well-trained element than two elements with mediocre effort put behind both of them.
The first student to pull their first Elemental Magic spell was, rather unsurprisingly, Amber. A small burst of fire erupted from her open right palm, and she continued to juggle it around with her hands, alternating between smaller and larger flames.
“Congratulations, Miss. Ferguson. The rest of you, what are you waiting for?” Professor Moore smiled as he walked around and observed his students trying to pull off their first Elemental Magic spell.
Elias Frost created some snowflakes and small icicles, fitting for his name and family. Darius Bakole couldn’t believe himself when grains of sand started to fall out of his fingers while Jason Kawada zapped his finger with a small spark of lightning as he was trying to combine his water and lightning techniques. Jon and Adam grinned at each other.
“Oh my!” Artemis squeaked as she splashed her glasses with some water while she was focusing on twirling around her small orb of crystal-clear, dark-blue colored water. She cleaned her glasses with the sleeves of her robes and now attempted to hold in air not one but two orbs of water.
“YES! I’m finally good at something!” Adam was overjoyed as he pulled a rock the size of an apple out of the ground and flung it around the classroom, to the shock of his classmates. He waved with his hands and the stone retracted and then disappeared.
“Good job Adam! I knew you could do it!” Artemis turned around and beamed at Adam but after realizing what she had done, her cheeks got flushed and she turned around in silence, trying to create some more water unsuccessfully.
Adam was flabbergasted, his reaction reminded Jon of someone who was told they had won the lottery. During the reminder of their class, he was unable to produce any sort of magic. Jon couldn’t help but grin in amusement at his two best friends.
But now it was finally time for him. He had been focusing hard enough and the result was near. Amber’s flames were impressive, but Jon’s flames were going to be even more spectacular, because, after all, he was a Phoenix and fire was his element.
There it was. Jon clapped his hands and a small tornado whirled in his palm and he could feel some strands of his blonde hair getting slightly lifted up in the air. However, Jon didn’t appear impressed. In fact, his face grimaced and he narrowed his eyes at his own creation.
“But how... this is... wrong... air? Really? It should have been fire...” Jon shook his head as he put his hands down on the desk in desperation. However, he could soon feel a huge hand resting on his right shoulder and that was his cue to raise his head up again and straighten himself up.
“Don’t think about it too hard, Mr. Phoenix. Air is a beautiful element to have by your side. It’s the calmest and most peaceful element.” Professor Moore explained in his deep voice.
“Yeah, I get that, but it’s underwhelming for me at least... too weak for fighting. And besides, I’m a Phoenix, it’s literally in my name, to be able to control fire...” Jon’s voice got weaker and soon devolved into a meek whisper.
“While it is true that air is often seen as weak offensively and more as a utility element, as water and earth have better defense while fire and lightning have obviously better offense so that leaves air only utility, which some may see as weak, but that is not true. Air is a very versatile element and it’s up to you how you will use it and for what purposes. And just for reference, one of the most powerful Mages I know, Professor Meadow, is an air user himself and guess what? You definitely don’t want to mess with him. His use of air makes any Dark, Black or Shadow Magic user tremble in fear.” Professor Moore explained.
This put a whole other perspective to this narrative. Professor Meadow was their Arcane Magic teacher and he usually appeared as chill, if somehow unenthusiastic and a bit lazy but still a capable teacher. To learn that he is also an Air Magic user and such a skilled one, filled Jon with more confidence. Maybe he’ll even ask Professor Meadow for some tips in the future.
* * *
Only two of the subjects required the students to carry notebooks and pencils with them. Magic History and Mythology. Unsurprisingly, these two subjects were also Adam’s least favorite and Jon himself couldn’t really say that he had any special love for it. While he wasn’t averse to writing, reading and theoretical education like Adam was, after experiencing what Magic was and after learning to cast his first spells, it was hard to go back to the old school stuff of notebooks and books. Even though the subject of Magic History was mostly unremarkable and dull, the same couldn’t be said about their teacher. Professor Fatmata Mugabe had been teaching Magic History for years as she was originally an archeologist before being offered by the U.F.M.A. a job of a professor at the Academy which she gladly accepted. Professor Mugabe did her best to try and make the boring lessons of the many boring historical events seem more interesting than they actually were, except for battle and conflicts, which made Jon and Adam listen more intently, while Artemis rolled her eyes, as she deemed this barbaric.
“Did you hear what she said? He was destroyed, like exploded, boom!” Adam demonstrated to Jon and Amber about some poor Mage that suffered in the past as they were walking through the corridors after finishing another Magic History lesson.
“Honestly Adam, how can you be so cheerful about such cruel acts? I was wincing the whole time she was talking about the Second Great Mage War that happened centuries ago. So many lives lost... for what? So that one guy can replace another on the Council.” Artemis shook her head in disapproval as the four of them found a free table in the Saloon.
“Nothing I haven’t heard of before though. My father sometimes tells us kids of what he has stumbled and witnessed and even participated in. Gruesome battles an-”
“Your father tells you such things?! Even your younger siblings?!” Artemis gasped and covered her mouth in shock as she stared at Adam.
“Well, depends. He has stopped sharing us stories like that because mom keeps yelling at him that he’s scaring us with those stories and such things. A bit lame if you ask me.”
“That’s definitely not lame, Adam. Your mother cares about you deeply and that’s why she wants to protect you and your siblings from such stories.” Artemis explained as she adjusted her glasses and started to scroll through a thick book she got from the library.
“I see you two are well on speaking terms. Who broke first, huh? I bet it was Adam, weren’t you?” Amber grinned at the two of them as she nudged Adam’s shoulder. Artemis went red in the face and hurriedly got up, and disappeared towards the library.
“Wow, it was her? I must say I’m surprised but then again, maybe not.” Amber smirked as she leaned back in her chair, resting her head against her hands.
“Wait, what does that mean?” Adam narrowed his eyes at Amber as he folded his arms.
“Oh, you know, when you two weren’t talking and were vigorously ignoring one another, Artemis would often spend time in the girls’ bathroom, to study and practice in silence. But the truth was much different. You see, from what the other girls in our year told me, she was actually mostly crying there, sometimes for several hours straight.” Amber lowered her voice as Nora and Cai were sitting near them and she didn’t want them to hear about this.
“Can’t say I’m surprised, Artemis is a very emotional girl, a bit too emotional if you ask me.” Adam shrugged as he leaned forward and put his hands on the table.
“No matter how emotional she is, Adam, no girl spends the whole day crying because of a boy... unless...” And with those words, Amber stood up and started to walk away.
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean? Hey, wait!” Adam called after her but to no avail, she only turned around to address Jon.
“Jon, have you thought about my offer? To train our elements together. I think that air and fire together is a devastating combination.”
“Your offer... yeah, but I’m still thinking. Give me more time, okay?” Jon said as he yawned.
“Okie dokie, just don’t wait too long. There are many who want to train with me, but I want to train with you, you know?” Amber winked at Jon as she went down the stairs.
“Why didn’t you accept man? Amber is crazy strong plus she is right. Fire and air are a great combination in combat.” Adam looked at his best friend, thankful about the change of topic as he didn’t understand what Amber was trying to say about Artemis.
Jon just sighed as he shook his head and looked at the ceiling absentmindedly.
“Wait... don’t tell me that you’re still upset about having an affinity for Air Magic? Come on dude, even Moore told you that it’s your skill and dedication that matter, not what kind of element you have. If you want to be the strongest and protect your family name, you have to swallow this and push forward, okay?”
Adam was right in every word he said, and Jon knew it. Sulking because he didn’t get the element he wanted wouldn’t help him in any way, there was no way to change it. It would only ruin him emotionally so that was the reason why Jon accepted Adam’s advice.
“You’re right, it’s very silly and childish of me to behave this way.” Jon said as he got up. “The next time I see Amber, I’ll accept her invitation to train together. Come now, it’s time to prepare for our first exams, the end of September is here.”
“Oh no... I hate ends-of-months...” Adam groaned as he dragged his feet alongside his friend to the library.