White Hall (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 10) (26 page)

“I am Katya. This is Cheleya and you are next to our friend, Piotr,” the younger girl greeted her with a similar smile and she asked, “Have you started casting any magic without warning yet?”

The other girl appeared taller, even as they sat, and Lyssa had brown hair which was still lighter than Piotr’s which was nearly black. Even though she might have been taller, Katya thought that the other girl looked no older than her. Her eyes looked shocked to be asked such a question and Lyssa shook her quickly as she replied, “Goodness, no. I can’t imagine what I would have done had that happened.”

Piotr and Katya exchanged glances as Cheleya suddenly giggled. All three looked to the dragoness curiously. Noticing their eyes on her, the eldest of the new students said, “It is rarely that scary from what I know of the transition into your magic. I was found before I truly exhibited any signs, but my people really only have one area to search. Rarely do any of our children get to the point of being any harm.

“Anyway, once you realize that you have magic, it often becomes as natural as breathing to a wizard. Piotr has a lot of control already, though he knows few spells.

“Katya on the other hand would have more to worry about without being found, since her power was already escaping and had to be bound.”

The new girl looked at the three in surprise, but noted that Cheleya mentioned nothing of her own magical capabilities. “So Piotr already knows magic and Katya couldn’t control hers. What about you?”

Again the dragoness smiled warmly for the new girl. Katya thought that she noticed the sweet scent that the girl gave off and it often seemed stronger when she met new people. Whether Lyssa noticed the scent as well didn’t really matter, since no one had ever complained about it before.

“I am not really a novice. I have already studied most of the elements in Mar’kal. Though I am new here and hope to learn how to heal, this is not new to me.”

With a quick gesture, Cheleya pointed at her lamp making it light with ease.

Lyssa frowned and said, “You make it look so easy. I can’t even feel my magic to try it.”

Clapping from the tables across from them caused the four to look over to see Niklaus being praised by the two girls who wore the gray of mage apprentices and one of the two boys as well. His lamp was lit already making Katya frown.

“How did he do that already?”

Sighing as he looked at his lamp feeling almost as hopeless as Lyssa, Piotr informed the girl, “Magnus taught him the fireball trick on the ride here, remember? It must not be much of a leap to just light a lamp for him.”

Lyssa glanced at Niklaus and back to Piotr stating more than asking, “He is your brother?”

Responding before the boy in question, Katya said, “They’re twins. Piotr is stronger in magic, but his brother Niklaus has magic as well. He didn’t even know that he had the gift unlike Piotr here.”

“I discovered my magic last fall, though it’s coming easier now. Still I’m not sure how to light this thing anymore than you. Wizard Gregor said to just see the flame and move our fingers like so... but I don’t feel it at all.”

Katya stared intently at the wick in her lamp and stuck her tongue out to the side biting down lightly as she concentrated on the stem and tried to see fire in her mind. Moving her fingers like they had been shown, Katya tried to create a flame like Cheleya had so easily.

After three tries, the girl shook her and complained, “I don’t know why we have to do all this gesturing with our fingers. My brother Sebastian is a battle mage and if he were here, I bet he would just look at it and say something like ‘light’,” she said and waved her hand at the lamp.

Still concentrating as she had been shown, Katya was surprised as she felt like a switch had gone off in her mind. Flame shot up from the wick reaching beyond the top of the protective glass in an instant. So strong was the flame, that as it receded back onto the wick, they could see smoky looking burn marks on the glass.

Looking at Cheleya accusingly, the young girl asked, “Did you do that?”

The dragoness shook her head and smiled at her friend, “No, I felt your magic do it. That was you.”

Ylena hurried over in surprise and even the lead wizard, Gregor, had been startled by the amount of fire created by the new novice.

“You did it already?” her mentor said looking impressed. “I have heard that some young wizards, whose magic has been tethered to a charm, can have difficulty at first.”

“But I did it wrong,” Katya protested with a shake of her head. “I just said ‘light’ and waved at it,” she clarified for the wizard.

Gregor moved closer looking concerned at the remark.

Ylena glanced to her leader and asked, “Does this mean she is going to have problems and will be a wilder?”

Shaking his head, the man denied the idea and made quick little gestures with his fingers before saying a word of power that sounded nothing like common to the girl’s ears. The flame died instantly and he said to Katya, “Use the feeling that you found saying the word in common and try it as we showed you now.”

Her tongue found its way to the side of her lips as the young girl tried to do as the master had ordered. After several more tries without flame, Katya blew up at her bangs touching her forehead in frustration. Wondering if the flame had just been a fluke, the girl waved towards the lamp and said, “Light.”

A more controlled version of the first mage like cast of her magic created nearly four inches of fire before it settled back onto the wick as the lamp was intended to do.

Frowning at the sight, Gregor glanced to Ylena looking distrustful of what he had seen.

Surprising them both, Cheleya said gently, “Katya’s brother is a battle mage. Perhaps since she was around him before coming here, she has simply adapted more to his style of casting?

“In Mar’kal, most of our wizards start with typical elemental casting like you are trying here, but there are styles we have which use the simpler style like a battle mage. Maybe if you keep working with her on both ways, she will be able to do the larger magic cues later, while the lesser magic will be aided by a mage style spell?”

Ylena shrugged at Gregor and said, “She does have a point. It is early in her studies, being her first day and first spell after all. Maybe just getting her in touch with her magic is more important for now. The more intricate spells are a long way off and we can continue to work on the basics of casting as we go.”

Nodding, the man stated, “Continue lighting the lamp. Ylena, teach her how to extinguish it as well. If the girl can both light and dampen fire by the end of class, I think that we can consider it a success.”

Noticing Lyssa sigh as she dropped her eyes, Katya wondered why the girl was upset. She was the one who couldn’t do the spell correctly after all. “What’s wrong, Lyssa?”

“At least you managed to find your magic to make the flame. Even if it isn’t the way they wanted, you did it.”

Ylena placed a hand on the other girl’s shoulder trying to comfort her and said, “Well, your natural magic isn’t fire. Neither is Piotr's, but just remember to see the flame and keep trying. Eventually it will come.”

Looking thoughtful, Katya said to her mentor, “My brother once told me, that magic is almost like wishing for things to happen. With enough will power, and some magic, almost anything can happen.”

The elder wizard opened her mouth looking like she wanted to argue the point, but her eyes looked thoughtful as the idea sunk in and she shrugged. “I suppose to a point that is correct. Most spells involve setting one’s mind to achieving what they are thinking. Magic moves to respond and with your will, as your brother put it, makes the idea reality.

“If that helps you all, then I guess set your minds to making the flame real. Wish for it to happen and see it. With the right mindset, the wick will light for you, I am certain.”

The other two looked less convinced, but as Ylena worked to teach Katya the spell to put out fire, Piotr and Lyssa worked on creating what they wished to happen.

Chapter 14- A Helping Hand

The sound of a stool being dragged across the floor brought Niklaus’ eyes to the muscular cadet who had arrived at the orientation only due to a large falcon’s insistence. He was taller and looked older to Niklaus, though some boys simply were born with older looks. Krevahs even had some stubble on his cheeks making him look like he might be old enough to grow a beard, though maybe not a thick one.

“Well, I guess you are the class brain,” the larger boy said drolly. “So tell us how you make fire, so we can stop lookin’ bad.”

He shoved the girl, who had been sitting beside Niklaus. The girl was an attractive blonde and a little taller than the other girl. Xara was also a year older than the red haired, Uliya. Niklaus thought both were quite attractive and had become his cheerleaders after achieving the fire spell with his first try.

“Hey, I was sitting there,” Xara complained as Krevahs slid her on her stool to the edge of the table inserting himself between the two.

“”Yeah, you were. Now you’re not, so stop complainin’,” the elder cadet stated without even bothering to look at her.

Niklaus frowned slightly and said, “I might tell my new friends, but why should I tell you? I actually think I like them.”

“Ha!” Krevahs barked a laugh bringing looks from novices and mentors both.

Falcon Eyrk looked ready to leave his place where the man tried to appear nonchalant as he sat against the edge of an unoccupied table in the back of the room. The battle mage had been keeping an eye on the unruly cadet and didn’t seem to trust him. The feeling had extended to his classmates as well.

The older boy clapped his arm over Niklaus’ shoulders and acted like he was sharing a secret, though his voice remained loud enough for the other cadets to hear his words. “Well, we all are gonna be here for a long time together apparently, so it might be wise to start creating friendships that will last a lifetime!”

After his brief speech that felt insincere to the others even if it was potentially true enough, he lowered his voice enough that just the immediate table of cadets could hear. “That and you need to remember that magic isn’t the only thing we’re gonna learn. If you don’t make me look good here, I can always beat the pulp out of you when we start weapons’ training.”

The girls looked worried at the reminder. Each of them had been given a battle mage orientation by a mentor when they had arrived to get their bearings. While being shown their rooms and the important places like bathrooms and the dining hall, some of what their schedule would look like was also told to them.

Magic was part of their training, but going through training for weapons was said to be more than half of what they would be doing until they were promoted to falcon in a few years or so. Getting on Krevahs’ wrong side appeared to come with a lot of unneeded pain in practices and sparring in the future. While Niklaus didn’t feel afraid of the larger boy, he didn’t want the others to get caught in the crossfire, if things were to escalate between them.

“I was shown the fireball spell on the way here. What they’ve already told you is all that needs to be done. See the flame in your mind. Concentrate and call it to the wick,” the boy replied feeling the corded muscle of the older boy’s arm on his shoulders.

“Flame,” he called the magic feeling the spell work as his mind made the fire light the wick inside of the lamp. The extinguishing of the fire had been shown to him as well after his demonstration brought his mentor to him immediately. Nearly as easy for Niklaus, the boy merely closed his hand saying, “Extinguish.”

The word seemed too unwieldy to him, but it worked as well.

“Now, go back to your table and lamp. You don’t smell nearly as nice as Xara, frankly, so my nose would appreciate it, if you moved.”

The girl looked slightly hopeful, but the larger Krevahs glanced to the pretty blonde and seemed to dismiss her equally as fast.

“Maybe I just need you to cast a flame on my lamp from here to get them off my back. You do that and maybe I’ll let you snuggle up to your new girlfriend for awhile.”

Frowning at the boy breathing into his face as he invaded Niklaus’ personal space, the smaller cadet thought he wouldn’t mind Xara doing the same thing or Uliya either, but he could smell the scent of what the other boy had for breakfast and something had onions in it besides.

“Even if I wanted to, do you really think that they won’t see me cheating for you? We’re beginners. They know magic. We don’t. You’ll have to figure it out for yourself, so time to move back to your table, Krevahs. Besides I think your friend is about ready to drag you back again,” he stated gesturing with his head towards the large man who had first dragged the boy into the classroom.

Glancing to the big man, Krevahs sniffed, “He ain’t so tough. I could take him.”

“Yeah, it looked like you had him all right,” the other male cadet retorted named Jeraan.

Glaring at the young mage, who was slightly smaller than Piotr if Niklaus was any judge, Krevahs looked like he was willing to hit him without remorse. If the bigger boy decided to punch the smaller cadet, Niklaus wasn’t sure Jeraan could take the hit without crumpling to the floor.

Falcon Eyrk had pushed away from the desk and casually stepped closer running his fingers along the next table in front of him as if checking for dust. With a little frown after apparently discovering some, the falcon looked like he was giving Krevahs a moment to think things through before he stepped in.