30th of Sifdras - 5th Isharil

  I wake up earlier than normal today. I have only a vague sense as to why I’m up before the sun. There is a hunger within me, a hollowness that does not have anything to do with food, for once. It is a yearning, a calling, but I cannot say to what. It feels as strange as the statement sounds.

  I look at the sleeping form of Cira and cannot bring myself to wake her. Instead, I dress as quietly as I can in the din of morning and make my way out the door, closing it softly behind me. I continue out of the Vodalysa dormitories on quiet feet and out of the Sanctum into the cool air. The morning is cold and crisp as a breeze pelts my face, my breath making puffs of smoke in the chill morning while my boots crunch under a thin layer of freshly fallen snow. I wander through campus, aimless and yet still following that all too familiar intuition.

  My thoughts are still a muddle as the hint of sun lightens the overcast sky. These weeks have really tested me in what I feel to be all the wrong ways. When I think I might be good at something, there is no limit to the amount of trials and setbacks I face. Exhibit A: The Stupid Rusty Beetle. On the other hand, when I am clearly lacking in an area, disaster seems to follow. Exhibit B: Any form of incantation.

  I thought that coming to the Midnight Court would be something different, something new. A new place with a new beginning where mishaps don’t happen to me anymore. Where rumors of them don’t exist. But I should have known better than to hope for something like that, because it only took me being here five days for something untoward to happen to me, landing me in the clinic before classes even began. How am I supposed to overcome this plague when I don’t know the source of it? If not a curse, like so many now think it to be, then what in all of Akeroth is the cause?

  Those rumors about me in the Void of Reflection brings images of Calas’ primal, menacing smile unbidden to my mind. I push it away immediately with disgust. The last thing I want to think about is that beast taunting me. He has done nothing but revel in my discomfort and ill ease as he proved in our last Combat class. Even when he is teaching me something, it’s only for his own gain.

  That strange look he gave me in the Hall of Equity, though, that was something different. It still confuses me when I think on the questioning expression on his face; the, dare I say, concern. More likely pity. Why put me through such an ordeal and then feel sorry for me?

  Understanding that delinquent will probably always be out of reach. I kick the snow in frustration as I know the question is rhetorical. The snow I kicked up splatters over thick trunks of trees reaching out through the blanket of snow that refuses to melt through the canopy of bare branches and evergreens. I then notice I have wandered into the forest outside the campus. I vaguely recall these woods being called the Eldwood by Dean Windraven before our Coven Ritual.

  The blush of morning through the snow dusted trees here casts everything in a reddish golden hue. The gnarled ancient trees match the forest’s given name and I am compelled to continue deeper down the snow crusted paths. That intuition returns to the forefront in my mind and a longing urges me forward through the trees. It continues, like following a scent, winding through the trees and I follow it for I don’t know how long. All I know is that there is something important for me at the end of this trail of whispers.

  I am led to a small clearing in the trees with a large pond in the center. It reflects the red-gold hues of dawn’s light that reaches through the break in the canopy above. I am in awe as I feel the whispers of that intuition calling me subside and I focus on the aether filled clearing bathed in sunlight. Threads of every type drift in a lazy dance within the space in the cold empty air. Looking around the clearing, I can see common earthen threads mixing with rarer life, or creation, threads in the spaces where the snow has melted away. I smile in wonder, my heart light with a familiar hominess I haven’t felt in the weeks since leaving Tranmere. It is then I see a huge beast turn toward me from the opposite side of the otherwise still clearing. My blood goes cold at the sight.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  It has the body of a scaled boar but a mane of fur around its neck and at the end of its tail. From its large jaw protrudes tusk like canines and a plethora of needle sharp teeth that could chew through me easily. Where I might expect hooves are lizard-like, clawed toes and its horns seem too big for its bull-shaped head. A flick of its huge head is all the warning I have before it charges in my direction.

  Panic washes over me and my muscles instinctively move to the weave I have practiced most lately: the shield of pure, impenetrable light from the sunbeams over the pool. The weave snaps into place just in time for the hulking beast to pounce on top of it, claws and teeth bared. I scream, straining to keep the shield in place despite my fear. This is not a mischievous beast like Calas. I can feel its murderous intent seep through me down to my bones and try not to think of what would happen if my shield were not there.

  It rears back, attempting to break my glittering shield by ramming its pointed horns into it. Gritting my teeth, I push away the thought of my shield giving way to such an attack and impaling me. Instead I focus another weave and interlace this second weaving in my shield, reinforcing it. At least I hope that is what I’m doing!

  As the creature connects, its sharp horns are still rebuffed by my shield. I can’t help but give a sigh of relief, no matter how momentary, as it prepares to attack once more. I try to control my breath, waiting for it this time with determination etched on my face. I will show this and every beast exactly what I am worth!

  It charges me again, this time with powerful arms and sharp claws. At it’s first swipe on my shield, I activate my second weaving of mana, air, and fire with a snap of my fingers. The second layer on my shield expands and bursts into a fiery explosion. It packs so much force that the creature is thrown back several yards, putting some distance between us. This is the moment I need.

  I don’t wait for it to recover and run as fast as I can out of the clearing and back toward the Court. I run so far and so fast that I can feel a burning in my lungs, but I don’t dare stop until my shoe finds a branch and I tumble to the snow. I lay there, panicked and heaving, staring up at the canopy of bare branches and evergreens in silence. It is only when a crow from a nearby evergreen looks down and caws at me that I blink and sit up, realizing that the beast is not pursuing me.

  As I brush myself off, I smile sheepishly at the crow and find there are six others with it in the tree. Oddly, they all just stare at me as I move on, making my way back down the path and out of the Eldwood. When I get back to Court, I am just in time to hear the first bell and groan knowing there isn’t time for breakfast before I have to meet Professor Marblebrook.

  “What in blazes happened to you, child?” The professor asks bluntly when I reach her office on the 6th floor.

  “I, uh,” I hesitate, recalling the Dean’s warning that the Eldwood is off limits, “fell.”

  “You fell.” Professor Marblebrook’s tone is as flat as her expression, obviously not buying the omission. “You fell in a garbage bin? In one of Greenborrow’s compost heaps? You are filthy!”

  I fold my hands in front of me, posture rigid. “I didn’t want to be late for our appointment.” Is the only explanation I can muster and I stare dejectedly at a spot on the tiled floor in front of her desk.

  The professor shakes her head. “I appreciate the sentiment, Crowfoot, but I would rather you show up on time and ready to work.” She closes the distance between us and I look up instinctively into her rose-tinted glasses. “You have been making progress with Dinwold?” I nod once and she continues, “Good. Continue on with it and we will discuss it next week.”

  “But—“

  “It’s not a punishment, you have been making progress and that’s good enough.” Her voice broaches no nonsense, but isn’t unkind. It makes me think that she treats me like any other student and for some reason, that fact is comforting. “You told me that you would stick with this, so prove it to me. Go through the work of it and be ready to discuss it next week. On time. In clean clothes.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” My voice is quiet but determined.

  “Very good. Dismissed.”

  I return back to the Sanctum for a much needed bath. It is then I discover that my clothes are just as bad as Professor Marblebrook had suggested; covered in muck and mud and wet from snow melt. As I soak in the tub, I think of the Eldwood and my encounter there. It makes me wonder what that creature is and what reason it had to attack me. It probably has something to do with why the Dean marked the area off-limits in the first place.

  Curious, I make a mental note to add the Eldwood to my list of research topics along with Mr. Dinwold.