“Three copper says that Max bloke ends up in the infirmary again before the day’s over,” Lime said cheerfully, plunking herself next to Velaya within the Great Hall.
The first-years had been granted a few hours reprieve before their next lessons. Some students had taken their lunch back to their dormitories, eager to drop off their new books or to write letters home or to relax in their rooms. Others had decided to postpone their lunch and wander the island’s grounds.
Velaya, Otto, Emilie and much to Velaya’s surprise, Rose had decided to stay and enjoy their lunch within the hall.
“Make it ten. He’s more likely to attack Zyler when his back is turned,” Otto said from Velaya’s right, taking a massive bite out of a ham sandwich.
Cerwan took a seat across from Lime saying, “I heard they’ve been prohibited from using magic outside of class lest they find themselves expelled.”
“That won’t stop Zyler from sockin’ him in the chin,” Emilie said, seated beside Cerwan, as the group chuckled.
“He deserves it,” came a strong voice from behind Velaya.
“Prince Athone!” Emilie cried, dropping her spoon with a clatter into her bowl of soup.
Velaya hid her smile by taking a sip of water.
“Hello Emilie. It’s good to see you again,” Athone said with a charming smile. “It’s barely been twenty-four hours and already I miss your family’s strawberry tarts.” Emilie’s face went as red as said tart.
“I do hope none of you will hold what Max said against all of us Paladins,” Athone said to the rest of the group.
“Of course not. You’re welcome to join us if you wish,” Lime said, beaming up at him.
“Thank you,” Athone said.
He placed his hand on Velaya’s shoulder, using it as leverage, while swinging his leg over the bench to sit between her and Otto. When his hand lingered there, Velaya quickly batted it away.
Lime introduced everyone at the table to him and he greeted them pleasantly.
“It’s always the Paladins and Sorcerers, isn’t it?” Otto asked Athone, offering him the tray of sandwiches.
Chuckling, Athone accepted a bacon and lettuce offering, “You heard Magus Rufina. Us Paladins like to think we’re direct descendants of Aesor, while the Sorcerers are nothing more than demons spawned by Saeligos. It’s all bullshit of course, but alas, here we are.”
As he took a bite of sandwich, he was oblivious to how the others at the table exchanged quick looks, surprised by his candour.
“What I heard was that she believes a God is responsible for the Corruption,” Rose chidded from the end of the table, beside Emilie.
Velaya felt Athone stiffen next to her.
“I wouldn’t put too much stock into that,” Athone said smoothly, giving no indication of his momentary discomfort. “God or not, the Corruption manifests itself in creatures that can be felled by sword or magic. Our best course of action is to train more soldiers and for us here to focus on how we may use our magic to protect those who cannot do so themselves.”
“Is that why you’re here then?” Rose said, her grey eyes boring into Athone’s green.
“Isn’t that why we’re all here?” he asked, brows raised.
“Some maybe,” she shrugged.
“Is that not our duty? Us born with magical gifts. Should we not be using them to help those of this world?” he pushed gently.
“Only if you’re heir to a Kingdom would you feel that way,” she said, her eyes never leaving him. “But I think most of us are just here to look out for ourselves.”
Athone bowed his head respectfully. “Perhaps that is true and if so I cannot fault anyone for it. I, however, have not been afforded such a luxury.” He glanced over at Velaya. “Neither of us have.”
Velaya’s small accompanying smile was tight - strained.
“And Ayradora is better for it,” Emilie said, kindly to Athone.
“Not unlike Trelladain,” Otto said, speaking of his home Kingdom. “King Robert is one of the greatest Paladins in all of Aesor. If you turn out half the spellcaster he is, I daresay Emilie is correct and Ayradora’s future is bright.”
“Yes, well, I’d prefer not to be compared to King Robert. Especially not while I am here. I am merely a pupil of Manatide, like all of you,” Athone said.
If Velaya hadn’t known him for years, she would have missed it, like everyone else at the table did. But she caught the tightness that stretched at the corner of his eyes and felt the sudden coldness that radiated off him.
“We should get going, Lime. Our Druid classes are due to begin shortly,” Cerwan said, looking over to a large ornate metal clock mounted to a wall near the windows.
Unlike a standard clock, this one had twenty different hands. One for each year’s specific class. The outside of the clock, where the numbers typically would be, was marked by various symbols, each representing a specific class or time of day. All of the first-year’s five hands were pointing to lunch. The first-year’s Druid hand was inching closer to their class’ symbol.
“Already? We just sat down!” Lime groaned playfully as she forced herself from the table. “Good luck this afternoon.”
A short while later, Otto and Emilie had decided to return to the dormitory to drop off their books from their morning classes, offering to return Velaya and Rose’s for them.
“Well ladies, it was a pleasure,” Athone said, dabbing his mouth with his napkin before dropping it on his plate. “Mind yourself with those demons,” he threw a wink at Rose as he stood and walked away from their table. She scowled at his back and Velaya couldn’t fully stifle her laugh.
“He certainly says the right thing, doesn’t he?” Rose said as they both stood, tossing their satchels over their shoulders.
“It’s as though he’d make a good diplomat or something,” Velaya remarked, casting her a sidelong glance, as the two of them walked out of the hall together.
Catching Velaya off guard, Rose smiled. Her face was already the picture of elven beauty but with her features softened, her dull grey eyes seemed to radiate like overcast clouds broken apart by rays of sunlight.
“I’d imagine it’s easier for him,” Rose said a few moments later when they were halfway across the grounds towards the Tower.
“What is?”
“He was born into the role. You on the other hand, were not,” Rose stopped walking and Velaya came to a halt before her. Her smile had faded and her eyes were like steel, piercing, as though searching for something that Velaya did not understand.
“Tell me Princess, do you wish to be Queen?”
Velaya was so surprised by the question that she had to take a step backwards. She felt exposed. As though she was standing on trial and Rose’s stare would force the truth from her. Answering her question with a quick yes should have been easy, but she hesitated. Instead of risking exposing herself further, she deflected.
“To serve my Kingdom is a great honour,” she said evenly. “But my father is in good health and I still have many years to learn from him.”
“That wasn’t the question,” Rose was clearly not willing to let her off so easily.
Wishing she was anywhere else, she looked around to see if there were any distractions she could use to politely extract herself. Their fellow classmates were walking up the hill towards the Tower from the dormitories, but they were still a bit too far away to call out to.
When Velaya didn’t respond, Rose said, “What of your brother?”
“What about him?” Velaya said defensively, shooting her attention back to the elf. She could feel heat on her neck, her throat starting to dry.
“Why is he permitted to bypass his duty?” Rose continued, obvious to Velaya’s rising temper.
“Lord Doriel is more committed to Aesor than anyone else. Even now, he sets sail for the shores of your Kingdom so he may help those from Elyzeme. His duty is to the seas - which those of us from Bellaurose cherish deeply.”
As hard as she tried to keep the emotion from her voice, she wasn’t as practised as Athone was. Doriel was used to those questioning his loyalty and always brushed it off with a laugh, but she would not stand for it. Wearing the Tides or not, he was still her brother.
“We’re going to be late for our Sorcerer’s class,” Velaya said coldly, breaking eye contact with Rose and turning to march the rest of the way to the Tower. Rose did not immediately follow her but she felt her eyes on her the entire way there.
~~~
The first-year Mages were to spend their afternoon lessons with the Sorcerers, studying the ways of Dark magic.
They all stood huddled together in a large circular room, with no chairs or desks. There were no windows, torches mounted to the stone walls were their only source of light, casting an eerie glow in the room, the students shadows’ dancing along the cold floors.
At the centre of the room was a target dummy, standing over ten feet tall and made out of a simple wooden cross and a bag of stuffed hay mounted to it.
The whole place reminded Velaya of a dungeon.
“Maybe Max was onto something about these Sorcerers after all,” Otto whispered quietly so only Velaya could hear.
Though she was still irritated from her conversation with Rose earlier, she offered Otto a small smile.
“They really don’t help themselves, do they?” she said, and could feel Otto’s silent chuckle rumbling next to her.
The Sorcerers stood off to the side slightly away from the Mages who stood together - Rose and Velaya on opposite ends of the group.
Zyler Vance’s dark eyes kept roving over them in disapproval and when Velaya caught his stare, his lips curved up in a sneering smile. She was the first to turn away.
No one said anything and the silence in the room weighed heavily. The occasional shuffle of someone’s cloak or a cough offered the only source of sound. Just when Velaya was tempted to say something to break the discomfort, a door near the back of the room creaked open.
A slim figure emerged, her booted heels clicking against the stone floor as she marched towards the centre of the room. She was tall, and pale, with long raven-black hair that was unbound and flowing wildly behind her, above her violet cloak. She did not wear the grey woollen sweater of the Tides, only the white blouse, the top few buttons unbound. A silver necklace, wrapped tight around her neck, with a thumb-sized glowing onyx jewel hung down to her full breasts. The jewel matched in colour to her eyes and her lips. Her face was young, yet her ears were rounded - human. She was bewitching.
There was something about her that struck Velaya as familiar and yet she was certain she had never seen this woman before.
When she spoke, her voice was deep and smokey.
“Welcome to year one of your Dark magic studies. I understand that this morning you have studied the theory of magic but have yet to put it to practise. That changes here.”
The students exchanged glances, some eager, others nervous.
“I’d like for you all to pair up. Mages, please split yourselves up and partner with a Sorcerer.”
It was hard to tell who was more displeased by this. The Sorcerers quickly clambered together to partner up with each other, while the Mages stood back. Eventually there were five pairs of Sorcerers together, Zyler included - leaving ten sullen looking Sorcerers standing alone, staring at Velaya and her classmates. For a moment, no one moved. Even the Magus stood there watching and waiting, her dark eyes never blinking, her expression neutral.
Velaya moved first and approached a woman who stood closest to her and was a head shorter than her, with curly brown hair, large golden eyes and long pointed ears that were punched with many tiny golden studs running all around them.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
The other Mages and Sorcerers took their cue and began to pair off and introduce themselves to one another, all of their voices echoing throughout the room.
“Hello. Would you mind if we partnered together?” Velaya asked, attempting to sound more sure of herself as to not convey how nervous she actually was.
The woman’s pretty face was tight, cautious - but she held her hand out to her. “Marika Dipit, of Elyzeme.”
Velaya offered her a kind smile and shook her hand, “Velaya Rosemore, of-”
“Bellaurose. Yes, I know,” Marika cut her off. Her voice offered no hostility, rather it was warm and soft and she offered Velaya a returning smile.
They stood there in a surprisingly comfortable silence while waiting for everyone else to finish introducing themselves and for the Magus to continue, but she didn’t appear to be in any hurry.
“Forgive me, but I do not know what the proper protocols are here. Am I to call you Lady Rosemore?” Marika asked her quietly.
“No, please, Velaya is all I am here.”
“Ok,” Marika smiled again and nodded. “I’ve never met a Princess before.”
“I hope that I may be able to live up to your expectations,” Velaya offered.
“Yes, you already have,” she said.
Velaya studied her, unsure if what she had said was a backhanded compliment. The Magus began talking again before she could give it more thought.
“Very good. Now that’s settled, I will need each group to come and grab one of these then spread out within the room.” She held out her hand and fifteen crystal balls appeared out of thin air and hovered above it. They were no bigger than a cantaloupe and were perfectly round with milky white clouds swirling around inside of them.
“I’ll get us a spot, if you want to grab the orb,” Marika said.
The room buzzed with activity as the students spread out or formed a queue in front of the Magus to grab a crystal ball.
When Velaya approached the instructor, the Magus’ eyes looked her up and down. For an instant, it looked as though she was going to say something but she remained silent as she floated one of the orbs down to her.
Velaya held the crystal ball in both hands. It was warm and as soon as it touched her skin her mana perked up inside of her. The white clouds inside seemed to darken slightly.
She found Marika near the back of the room and passed the crystal ball to her.
“It’s cold,” Marika said. “Any idea what it's for?”
“It felt warm to my touch. And I’m not sure. Crystal balls are intended to hold magic and are used for a variety of different studies.”
Marika shrugged. “Guess we’ll find out.”
“Excellent,” the Magus said as she walked casually through the room between the groups of students. “The crystal you hold is a conductor and in this case, it is tuned for Dark magic.
Each one of you here has the ability to draw from the Dark. The Sorcerers will find this drill easier as you will only have one school of magic to pull from. The Mages here may find this more challenging as the Light, Physical and Elemental magic schools are also at your disposal. You will need to block out those sources and focus exclusively on the Dark. These crystal balls, along with your partners, will help you all in doing so.”
She waved her hand and suddenly the room was plunged into a thick darkness, blocking out the light from the sconces on the wall. The milky white glow of the ball shone from within Marika's hands and across their faces, reminiscent of moonlight reflecting off the surface of a lake.
“You and your partners will both need to touch the crystals,” the Magus’ voice carried through the darkness of the room. The sounds of her boots clicking off the floor providing the only indication of where she was.
Marika held the ball in her upturned palms and Velaya placed her hand on top. It was still warm.
“In a moment, I will ask you to focus your attention on the mists within the crystal. While you are doing so, I will have you pay close attention to how your body reacts. You may feel a strange sensation of power from within you. As most of you know, that will be your mana pool. Please do this now - focus on the orbs before you until you can feel your mana stirring within.”
Velaya could already feel her mana pool rippling with anticipation as she and Marika cast their eyes on the orb. The swirling clouds within began to darken into plumes of billowy dark smoke that twisted and turned casually within the confines of the crystal.
The room was silent for a few minutes, save for the Magus’ footsteps and Velaya watched Marika. She was focusing intently on the crystal ball, her brows furrowed, her bottom lip tucked under her front teeth. Unlike Velaya, who felt more relaxed now tapping into her mana, Marika’s posture seemed strained.
“By now, you should all be feeling something,” the smokey voice of their instructor drifted over from across the room.
Marika was nodding her head, her golden eyes never breaking from the crystal.
“Now, utilise that source of power inside you to focus on drawing the darkness from within the crystal. Your mana will begin to absorb the Dark magic, which you will later be able to use. For now, I only wish for you to draw it towards you and to hold it there. To get a sense of how that feels.
For the Mages here, this may be more difficult. It can be challenging to pinpoint one specific school of magic to draw from. The crystal and your partner will help you with this task. Their focus and the magic within the orb will act as a map to help you isolate the Dark magic available to you.”
Velaya watched as a bead of sweat formed on Marika’s brow and she could feel the orb below her shaking slightly under her strain.
It had been a long time since she had first learned how to utilise her mana to draw on magic, but she couldn’t remember it ever feeling as difficult as Marika was making it. She wanted to see if others in the class were struggling as much as her, but the darkness was too thick.
“Aha!” Marika whispered triumphantly, still fixated on the ball. The clouds within had thinned slightly.
Velaya smiled, happy for her success. Then she reached out, with barely any effort, and drew in the magic of the Dark.
Despite its implied name, and what the Paladins would have people believe, Dark magic wasn’t sinister. Yes, it could be used to hex foes with terrible curses or to control demons, but it had some wonderful abilities too. It mostly affected someone’s mind, such as allowing the spellcaster to soothe someone’s thoughts - which could come in handy during a heated exchange, allowing the caster to demand calmness.
Velaya’s mana clung to the Dark and bubbled inside her, waiting to be popped. She hadn’t drawn very much of it, but immediately after doing so, the clouds within the orb disappeared leaving a translucent pearl mist within.
“Woah!” Marika exclaimed quietly, finally breaking her eye contact with the ball to stare up at Velaya in astonishment. “How’d you do that?”
“I’ve been fortunate enough to study magic since I was a young girl,” Velaya said quietly.
Marika shook her head slowly, her mouth still parted in shock. “Yes and so have I.”
“Many of you will now be harnessing some Dark magic,” the Magus’ voice was closer now. “For those who have not been able to, do not fret. These things take time and there are others here who have a head start. Keep up your focus and you will find yourself capable. You would not be here at Manatide Tower otherwise.
For those who have been able to draw on the Dark I would ask you to focus on expelling it. Allow yourself to push the Dark mana from within you. With that push, I want you to attempt to clear the darkness from around you within this room. Please do so when you are ready.”
Once again Velaya waited and watched Marika, offering her an encouraging smile.
Marika returned it, and then closed her eyes in focus. It took a few minutes but eventually a soft whooshing sound was followed by a momentary parting of the darkness a few feet around her body, as though a torch had suddenly been lit and was then extinguished again a second later.
She beamed up at Velaya. “This darkness around us is quite solid. I’m shocked I was able to push away as much as I did.”
Velaya smiled back at her and the two spent a few minutes looking around the room. Little pops of light flaring here and there surrounding people’s bodies, flashing like torch lights igniting on and off throughout the room - the flares of Dark magic only lasting for a second or two.
“Go on Velaya, you try it,” Marika said, staring up expectantly.
She reached inside herself, finding the Dark magic of her mana pool instantly and pushed it out from within.
The entire room was bathed in light as the darkness completely vanished. Cries of surprise rang out off the stoned walls as people whirled around to see what had happened. Most of them were looking at the Magus, assuming she had removed it.
She was looking directly at Velaya, standing not more than two feet from her, a soft smile flashed briefly across her face.
“That’ll be all for today,” she said, turning away from Velaya and addressing the rest of the class again. “You will all find a crystal ball like the ones here, within your rooms. Your task, until we meet again, is to work on focusing your mana to draw in the Dark magic from the crystal and then release it by pushing it back within. The more you do this, the more natural it will become.
Some of you may find this task simple, but learning to control precisely how much Dark you pull and push is essential to mastering its abilities. Due to its nature of affecting one’s mind, it is important you understand the subtleties of it.”
She waved her hand through the air and a pedestal appeared next to the target dummy with a stack of thick, dark leather bound books on top.
“Before you is a book for you to take which should enlighten you on some of the benefits of Dark magic within Aesor. I’d ask you to all read the first four chapters and have a scroll of no less than two feet long summarising your findings.”
She moved to the edge of the pedestal and waved her hand again, and a table appeared in front of her with fifteen cloth covered boxes that lay empty.
“For those of you who wish to stay and continue practising you may do so as I am happy to offer my assistance for the remainder of the afternoon. Otherwise, you may return your crystals to me and are dismissed for the day.”
The students moved about the room again, returning their crystal balls and grabbing their books and placing them in their satchels, all while talking excitedly with one another.
“It was nice to meet you, Velaya,” Marika said.
“You as well,” Velaya responded, picking her bag up off the floor and following behind her towards the pedestal.
It appeared as though no one was willing to stay behind as most deposited their orbs, took a book and left the room. While she waited for the students ahead of her to grab their books, Ingrid came to stand alongside her at the back of the line.
“I may ask for your help with all this,” she whispered to Velaya, her eyes focused on the Sorcerer’s cloak who was ahead of them.
“Of course,” Velaya offered gently. “Looks like we’ve plenty of time this afternoon. Unless you’d wish to stay here?”
“Heavens no,” Ingrid said quickly, her hazel and white eyes wide when she looked over. “This place makes me uncomfortable and the Magus is rather intimidating. I’d rather your aid, if you’re willing.”
When Velaya nodded, Ingrid offered her a lopsided smile before grabbing a book and heading off towards the exit. Velaya followed behind her.
It appears the Archmagus faith in you is well placed.
Velaya nearly dropped her bag in surprise as a deep husky voice reverberated within her own head. Ingrid didn’t appear to notice anything and continued out of the room leaving Velaya frozen to the spot. She turned slowly to look at the tall, pale instructor.
The Magus was still standing by the pedestal, her arms folded neatly behind her back, a slight smile on her lips.
You can push away a relatively complex darkened veil with ease, but can you push me out of your mind?
The Magus lips did not move, her stare polite, as her voice wound around inside Velaya’s head. Her mana reacted strongly, like a cat perched on its hind legs ready to pounce.
Go on. Push me out.
Velaya’s blue eyes were locked on her black ones. She knew that powerful Sorcerers were capable of entering into a person’s mind but how much could she see? Was she able to read her thoughts, as though flipping through pages of a book? Or could she only speak within her mind, subtly influencing her?
The Magus smiled fully then, confirming her fears that she was indeed pouring through her head.
Unable to help herself, Velaya immediately thought of all the things she didn’t wish for the Magus to see. Her parent’s tearful goodbyes as she left home. Doriel’s goodbye hug at the pier. Athone’s body writhing around in pain after falling from a chair in a cold room high up in the Tower. Flashbacks to her family’s approval of Doriel’s abdication and the sense of dread that had washed over her.
Horrified, Velaya let her mana loose but instead of drawing from the Dark, she rallied the magic of the Light. She launched a powerful blast of pure white Light against the darkened grip filtering within her mind and immediately felt the Magus’ magic release.
The Sorcerer’s bottom lip protruded out slightly in a half pout - the only physical reaction she made.
“Well that’s not entirely fair, now is it?” she said, a mischievous smile returning. “Albeit, effective.”
“You entered my mind without permission. I’d say that was unfair,” Velaya countered.
She was embarrassed by what she had left exposed for her to see. The anger from her conversation with Rose threatened to return as a creeping flush rolled across her body. She clenched her fists tightly at her sides to help compose herself.
“Will your enemies stop to ask for permission?” the Magus’ black eyes searched her face. There was no malice behind her voice and yet Velaya felt as though she was being backed into a corner. “While you study at Manatide you are protected by your anonymity. You will not be granted such leniency once you leave here,” she said, unclasping her hands from behind her back and casually striding forward to stand before Velaya. “It is imperative that you, of all people, learn to protect your mind at all times. Drawing on the Light to repel the Dark’s grasp on your mind, while impressive, is reactive. You must learn to harness the Dark to keep your mind shielded, to be proactive in preventing it from ever occurring.”
Velaya wanted to take a step backwards, but the unblinking onyx eyes seemed to hold her locked in place.
“You’re doing it now, aren’t you?” Velaya said, her voice barely above a whisper. “You’re affecting my head, forcing me to stay here.”
The Magus smiled, her eyes twinkling.
Velaya should have been more upset, but instead found herself awed by such a subtle use of Dark magic.
She focused on her mana within her, asking it to seek out the Dark magic that held her at bay. It was harder than she thought, but she could feel it, sitting at the edge of her mind, like a fly caught on a pane of glass. It made no effort to move, so she was barely aware of its presence. It wasn’t buzzing around her head, picking through her memories. It simply sat there, watching and waiting.
“I have an additional assignment for you,” the Magus said, waving her hand in the air and a slim tome appeared a moment later. It looked ancient, its spine cracked and peeling. She held it out to Velaya who could barely make out the faint embossed lettering:
SHADOWS OF THE MIND
“I wish for you to study this. A deeper understanding of how Dark magic can be used to infiltrate a person’s mind and emotions will help you to not just dispel it, but to shield against it.”
Velaya took the book. It felt heavy in her hands.
“I must warn you Miss Rosemore, that this is advanced Dark magic. Many young Sorcerers initially focus their attention on hexes and curses and demonology. These matters of the mind are complex and not to be treated lightly. You are not permitted to attempt drawing on the Dark to affect the minds of your peers. Is that understood?”
Her onyx eyes hardened and Velaya nodded. “Yes madam.”
“Good. We will meet after our next class to see how you’ve progressed. You are dismissed.”
Velaya felt the grip of darkness within her mind recede and she quickly exited the dungeon classroom, tucking the book deep into her bag.