“You’re trying to frame me!” I shouted again. I wanted to charge toward them and knock them off the roof, but held off any commotion.

"What do you mean trying to frame you?” Patrick wore a devilish grin. “We're succeeding. Neither of us had to talk to Principal Pine or Head Counselor Jonathan about the ‘December Surprise’ graffiti. In fact, I heard that they suspect it's you, and you know what's really great? I was going to blame this next stunt on you, but I thought it would be more challenging; but here you are! Making it so much easier!"

Richmond frowned at me. "Sorry, Rollie, it's nothing personal, man. We saw an opportunity, and we took it. We framed your other buddy Boris too, but he's already gone from campus, making it a little easier."

"What are you guys doing? Why are you doing this?" I yelled.

"Well, you know about 1111 Serpentine, I don't know if you've received an invite or what, but it's a great opportunity that neither of us could ever imagine. We have to take it," Richmond said.

"To do what exactly?"

Patrick flapped his hand at me. ”Don't waste your breath on him. He's useless and clueless. The more information he has, the more he can be a thorn in our side.”

"You better tell me!" I demanded.

"Or else what?"

Running through the runes in my head, I charged up a fire bolt, took aim, and shot it off at Patrick, but I missed him by a few yards.

Patrick cracked up. "That was a nice try, but you're terrible at this. Go on, throw another bolt my way. Just see what you're up against."

I charged another fire bolt after a few seconds and launched it at him, but a green beam shot from his hand, destroying it.

"I can strike down bolts in my sleep."

I lunged forward with my fist clenched, ready to strike, but he quickly retaliated with a blinding emerald beam that shot from his palm and hit me square in the chest. The impact sent me crashing to the ground, my body wracked with pain and convulsions. It felt like being hit by a freight train. I struggled to regain my footing, but my body refused to cooperate.

"I wouldn't cross me if I were you, Patrick. You too, Richmond," I uttered. My voice was weak, but they heard me.

Patrick howled. “You’re on the ground, you dope! I’ll cross you all I want!”

"Why is that?" Richmond asked, seeming concerned. "Like I said, Rollie, this isn't anything personal."

I cleared my throat. ”It's very personal because I might get expelled, you jackass.” I coughed, still feeling weak. “Daniel saw a visionary, and the visionary said I would impact his future."

"Visionaries just steal your money and feed you a bunch of lies. Everyone knows that," Patrick said.

"Then why does Daniel believe in them so much?"

"You are so annoying, I swear. Just shut up! You've got a front-row seat to the December Surprise show. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy!"

Patrick cracked his fingers and held out his palms. He drew in some deep breaths.

"Hey! I'm still talking to you! What's going on over there! Why are you doing this!" I yelled with all the strength I had. It wasn't very much, but I figured he was in a meditative state. If I hollered at him, maybe I could throw him off balance, and whatever he tried to do would be disrupted.

It didn't seem to matter. Patrick's hands were raised toward the sky, they glowed bright green, and the wind around me picked up. The speeds increased, faster and faster, louder as the gusts hit my face. The trees on campus had their branches blown off kilter. I was almost flipped over, but I put my weight down.

Richmond crouched next to Patrick as Patrick's cloak tried to fly off of him. Even Richmond's mohawk was blown askew from the wind. I wanted to see Patrick's face, but I couldn't. I also wondered if they were saying anything. The howling wind was so loud it was all I could hear. It was whipping my face and getting harder to breathe.

Squinting through the blasting gusts, a circular funnel took shape in front of the educational building. It touched the ground, spinning like a top. A raging tornado stood before us, inching towards the Unity Mage Statue.

"Now, Richmond!" Patrick hollered.

My spine tingled, and Patrick's voice was deep and demonic.

Richmond stood up, and a jet stream of flames went up into the sky, clinging to the wind and getting roped into the tornado. The gray funnel had become alive with fire, burning a bright light through campus. Never in my life could I have imagined a flaming tornado would have been something I would see. I couldn't stop trembling at the sight of it.

The fiery tornado spiraled out of control, engulfing the Unity Mage Statue until it was nothing but a swirling inferno. For a moment, it seemed to dance in place before its energy began to break, the winds around me slowly died down. The tornado finally dissipated, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. The once-majestic Unity Mage Statue lay reduced to nothing more than a pile of rubble and ash.

Patrick fell over, and Richmond caught him. I was still on the ground, completely helpless and useless. I was so upset I wanted to do nothing more than get up and punch Patrick across the face and kick him. Still, even if I had the strength, he would blast me away with another projectile attack.

I heard a door slam on top of the roof. I tried looking over, but I could barely roll.

"Professor Hawthorne! Thank goodness you're here!" Richmond yelled.

"Boys! What happened? I was getting ready to leave the building, and suddenly I saw this horrible disaster. Richmond, Patrick, are you okay?"

"I wish we were, sir, but Rollie over there came on top of the roof, and he was with his buddy Boris, and they attacked the campus. Patrick and I tried to stop him, but they overpowered us," Richmond said.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"That's not true! They're lying! I didn't have anything to do with that! They kept talking about how this would be the December Surprise, and then they said they would blame it on me!" I said.

Professor Hawthorne stood over me and shook his head as he scowled. "You've got some nerve, Mr. Magpie. You know, I had Patrick and Richmond both as students years ago, and I never had a single issue with them. But with you, you never give any respect to class. You're nothing but a troublemaker, and that's all you ever will be. Where did Boris run off to?"

"You could not be serious!" I shouted. "Do you really think I could take any of them down? I'm a weak mage! I can barely shoot and aim a fire bolt successfully. Boris got expelled! I have no idea where he is. He hasn't talked to me at all! And even if he was here, do you think he could create a tornado!"

"He's lying. Rollie is much more powerful than he lets on," Patrick said. "You've seen him in that Dragonstryke match. He's incredible. There's no way someone that new starts off that good. Don't let him fool you, Professor!"

"This isn't fair!" I shouted. With all the anger and frustration bottling up within me, I wanted to punch something, but I was still in shock from Patrick's attack. So I cried. "This isn't fair! This isn't fair!" The tears poured down my cheeks.

"I think you better have a conversation with Principal Pine," Professor Hawthorne said.

"Yeah! Because at least he'll listen to me! He'll at least use logic! Ask Professor Shia, I couldn't do that! Boris probably couldn't do that either!"

"You shut your mouth. You won't utter another word of disrespect because it will only further incriminate you. If you were innocent, you wouldn’t be crying the way you are. Face it, Rollie, you got caught."

"But I didn't do anything. I tried to stop them! I tried to do the right thing."

"Save it for Principal Pine. I know what I saw. And I know these students better than you ever will."

I continued to lay on the ground, having gone so far past my boiling point I was broken and defeated. Physically, mentally, emotionally, and in any other form my soul could take.

Head Counselor Jonathan arrived on top of the roof on a dragon bike. It felt like I was getting saved, but I didn’t get my hopes up.

Professor Hawthorne cleared his throat and said, “I’m handling this here. Rollie is the one who––“

“Shhh! Enough! We’ll talk later!” Jonathan snapped. Jonathan rushed toward me and picked me up and put me on his dragon bike, strapping me in because I could barely hold my weight still. We floated off the roof and went to Principal Pine's office. Mid-flight, I uttered, "I swear, it was Richmond and Patrick. I swear on my life. They're the ones who spray painted the rec hall, and they're the ones who destroyed the Unity Statue."

"Okay, okay. I have to take into account what everyone witnessed. I'm sorry, Rollie," Jonathan said.

The dragon bike reached a porch near the top of the Clocktower, and Jonathan helped walk me to Principal Pine's office. Principal Pine was standing at the window, watching us with a stoic face.

"Professor Hawthorne is on his way to discuss what he saw," Jonathan said.

I sat in the chair across from Principal Pine, slumping down and practically becoming one with the seat.

"Thank you, Jonathan; that will be enough for now. You may go back to your office."

Jonathan left, and it was just Principal Pine and I sitting together in silence for a few heartbreaking moments. Then Professor Hawthorne arrived, and I was excused from the room. I was able to walk okay, and I sat outside the door. As I waited, I expected the worst. They could have been meeting for 5 or 30 minutes; I couldn't keep track of time. My head was buried in my knees as I sat with them folded up. Thinking about getting expelled made me cry. After however much time had passed, Professor Hawthorne left the room and strode down the hall.

"Rollie, if you don't mind, I'd like to speak with you in my office,” Principal Pine said.

As soon as we sat down together, I said, "I know what Professor Hawthorne said, not that I was listening to your conversation, but I know he thinks I'm the one that destroyed the Unity Mage Statue. But I have to say, it wasn't me. I had nothing to do with it. I was just following anything I could find that was out of the ordinary. And all of that led up to where we are now. And I got framed."

"Rollie, I'm sorry to hear about all that has happened. I want to believe that you were not involved, but I have to take a lot of things into consideration. Just because you maintain your innocence, an investigation still needs to happen. After talking it over with Professor Hawthorne, I'm afraid it's best to suspend you indefinitely. Now, I know that sounds horrible, and trust me, I don't want to do this, but it's the only option. During your suspension, I'm afraid we'll have to investigate the situation thoroughly."

"But what about my classes? What about my grades? Am I going to have to redo this first semester? I feel like I've worked so hard, and it's all going down the drain. Can't I at least have a tutor or something to get me through the next couple of weeks so I can pass this term and earn the credits or whatever?"

Principal Pine rubbed his beard. “That might be a possibility, and it will be something that I consider as we head into the weekend. Figuring out the logistics of it all will be challenging, but I will keep you apprised. But before you leave campus this evening, I need you to tell me everything that happened from when I dismissed you this morning to now."

"Including my classes and how those went?"

"Yes, recite to me everything that happened with your day."

I explained to him every single detail I could remember. When I talked about Professor Hawthorne's class, I admitted I handled the situation immaturely. Still, I gave him my account of how it went and how I received two detentions. Then I mentioned what happened at practice, what happened at detention, and what happened afterward. Recounting the conversations with Richmond, Patrick, and Professor Hawthorne as best as I could. It felt like I was talking forever, and Principal Pine wrote notes the entire time.

"Thank you for all of this information, Rollie. This will be tremendously helpful as we move forward with this investigation and what happened."

"Can you tell me what you're thinking? Because I'm telling you, I'm innocent. I had nothing to do with the attack on campus today."

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you what's on my mind because I don't have all the information I need yet. But what you described will be taken very seriously, and I will perform a thorough and honest investigation. We haven't known each other for a very long, but Rollie, my instinct wants to believe you."

"I haven't even told you about what I witnessed at 1111 Serpentine yet. Something strange is going on there. This happened when I was staying in Hartsera! They talked about summoning crystals at this meeting. I was warned not to tell anyone, but I can tell you, Principal Pine, because you're the most powerful mage." I told him everything I knew about Daniel Sonnet and what happened during Autumn Break. I even included how Daniel visited me when I was in the medical hall.

Principal Pine’s jaw dropped. I had never seen him so surprised. He was always expressionless and had an intimidatingly wise aura, but at that moment, he was stunned. It was bizarre to witness.

"Rollie, I feel fortunate that we've reached the end of the term as all of this is happening. Although that probably doesn't make your exams any easier, given everything you told me. So, I will ensure that you can take the exams you need and receive the credits you deserve for this semester. But I think it's best we take you off campus. I worry that you have become a target. If you go around unsuspended, it may be obvious that you have told me about Daniel Sonnet, so I think we need to keep this conversation secret to keep you safe. Do you understand?"

I nodded.

"We have to let on that Richmond and Patrick were successful in framing you, that is if all of that is true. And I do believe you."

"Where am I going to go in the meantime? Do you want me to stay on the island?"

"I worry about your safety if you stay on the island or even if you go to another place here in Lementum. I think the best possible location for you to stay would be your home world."

I hung my head. "Really? I can't stay with my grandfather or something?"

"Have you met your grandfather yet?"

I shook my head.

"Again, he's located in Lementum. I would save that for a last resort. Why don't you go to your home world tonight and you can take a friend with you along the journey. Jonathan will escort the two of you."

I shrugged. My eyes brimmed once again after I thought I had done all my crying. "Sure, whatever."

I really didn't want to leave, but Jonathan came into the room, and Principal Pine told me to go with him back to my home world.

"Is there anyone you'd like to take with you?" Jonathan asked me as we got on the dragon bike he parked on the balcony.

"Yeah, stop by the Fyron Dorm, please. I might be a minute."

"That's okay; take your time. My friend is stationed at the dock, and I can ask her to take us out to Port Harbor."