Chapter 49
Chapter Forty-Nine
Selene
I’d seen the little otter swimming in Crystal Lake out—
“Selene Thomas?” Professor Dickson’s voice snapped me out of my daydream.
“Yes?” I sat straight in my chair, lowering my hands from the stone table—no doubt used in this lab to prevent workstation fires.
“Ah.” He dipped his head in disapproval. “Olive is a thing of beauty,” he gestured toward his familiar, “but we cannot be distracted. What can distractions lead to, class?”
Everyone’s gaze fell on me, and their apprehension was almost tangible. Great. Instant frustrated heat crawled at the base of my neck. No one spoke because the question was correlated with my actions and not another student who wasn’t an ether mage.
“A failed creation,” I answered.
“Worse.” Professor Dickson had creases forming at the corners of his brown eyes. “A travesty. A dangerous creature that will flout all the creator’s intentions.”
Professor Dickson finally took his assessing gaze off me and paced the front.
“Now, gather the supplies in front of you. Level ones and twos, work on constructing an inanimate object. Level threes and higher, work on creating a small sentient creature.” His momentary pause when he said higher did not slip past me.
“Remember, creatures are typically short-lived, depending on the amount of magic woven into the spell and based on the creator’s intentions.
Emotions factor in the outcome of the temperament your creation will have. ”
I stared at a large bowl of water at the front of my desk and looked over at Mara next to me. She had a pile of sticks.
“Must be they don't trust her with solid objects,” a girl snickered behind me.
I stiffened and did my best to brush off the comment, but anger got the better of me and I turned in my seat.
The girl, whose name I didn’t even know, snapped her mouth shut and sank in her chair.
If she could sink any farther, she’d be lying on the ground.
I took in quick breaths, letting the simmering anger show in my glare, then turned back around.
After all, I had been thinking the exact same thing.
Mara offered me a pity smile before bringing her attention back to her contents.
I might not have any of my friends in this class, but at least my lab partner wasn’t malicious, just quiet.
The only times I truly held a conversation with her was when I was checking out a library book.
Now that I had answers about Mom and her sister, I hadn’t been hunting down Mr. Hastings and saw Mara less.
Bringing the bowl closer, I dipped one finger in the room temperature water. Something still didn’t sit well with me, and my emotions started to bubble.
“Focus on your intention. Calm your inner voice. Use the enchantment.” Professor Dickson clicked the chalkboard where the enchantment was written. He had started teaching us this enchantment on our first day and now, two weeks later, we were implementing it.
I narrowed in on the bowl, focusing on my intent to create a palm-sized water horse—something I’d done before, but in a bigger form, matching the size of a small horse that my mother had taught me using salt water.
It wouldn’t last more than thirty seconds but was incredible.
The enchantment started flowing effortlessly from my mouth.
The water began to ripple. Sizzling warmth sparked in my chest, a fluttering that wasn’t the normal heat that pooled there during enchantments.
The ripples turned into miniature waves and sloshed over the sides.
Someone said something to my right, but I was drawn to the vibrating bowl in front of me.
Dark edges formed around my vision, blurring out everything else around me. The bowl kicked out, clattering to the floor, the water remaining suspended in the air, aggressively revolving. The torrent began expanding, lashing out in violent whips as wind swirled around the room.
Something is wrong.
I forced my mouth closed, ceasing the enchantment, realizing the Latin words I had been saying were not the same as the words written on the board.
Mara had vacated her spot next to me. All the students had abandoned their desks and stood along the far wall, their exit blocked by my creation.
Professor Dickson was shouting at me from his spot ten feet away, unable to get closer without the water whipping at his face and the wind seeming to come from the water pushing him back.
Everything should have been loud, but the sounds were muffled as a quiet hum invaded the inside of my head. The sizzling heat inside my chest grew, its edges searing my insides. I muffled a cry of pain but quickly realized… it feels so good… addicting.
My breaths turned into pants at the thrill as the violent swirl of water grew, flipping the stone table and shoving it to the side like it was a show of strength.
Someone’s hand—my hand—reached out on its own accord, inches from the twisted mass of dark water.
Can water be black? It hummed, like a sentient creature. Its—
Fire.
Fire engulfed the entirety of the dark mass of water. I used my arms to shield my face until the heat and flash of bright fire dissipated. Black water droplets floated upward, evaporating before reaching the ceiling.
Just beyond where the hydrosphere had been stood a little black dragon. The humming in my head ceased and the gasps of the students vibrated throughout the still room.
What did I just do?
Chaos’s chest raised in slow, soft breaths in his sleep, his body sprawled across the stone office desk.
Aura curled herself against the little dragon, whose tail wrapped around her soft fur.
I sat in the chair and watched the familiars sleep, taking up the entirety of the desk.
They seemed to have taken to each other and had moved beyond the hissing and growling.
John’s office door opened but I didn’t look, expecting it to be him until I felt a very familiar warmth tug at me. Hazel eyes leveled with mine, worried lines etching the corners. I simply stared at his beautiful face—the sharp edges, the hard flex in his jaw, smooth skin…
I looked away, staring at the arm of the chair I sat in.
“Selene.” Ender’s voice was soft as he knelt and cupped my cheek, tilting my face so my gaze lifted back to his eyes. He didn’t ask if I was okay. He didn’t need to. I had lost control with something dark, something he understood.
But his darkness had faded the moment he snapped out of it.
What was left was his own emotions. I could still feel the sizzling prickling sensation sparking inside my chest, like a combustion waiting to happen.
It was as if a pilot light had gone out but the gas valve was still open, waiting for a single spark.
It felt foreign. Mom would have been disappointed in my lack of control.
Ender’s arms wrapped around me, pulling me in. I gave in to his warmth and touch. It was inviting, grounding. His hand cupped the back of my head. “It will be okay.”
We stayed like that for a while, Chaos and Aura not bothered one bit.
“Your knees,” I said.
“My knees what?” Ender pulled back just enough to see my face and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
“Your knees.” I pulled back, glancing down.
“There’s only one person who I would ever get down on my knees for.” The corner of his mouth lifted, and despite my solemn mood, I found myself half smiling with the urge to give him a good thwack on the chest.
The door opened again, and this time it was John. Food and a cup of water jostled on the tray he carried as he came to an abrupt stop.
“You two must always be near each other.” He sighed. Ender hadn’t startled, his grin simply growing as he stood, taking up residence behind my chair.
John went to shoo the familiars from his desk with a hand but must have thought otherwise because he stopped halfway through the motion. He set the tray down on the chair next to me.
I couldn’t bring myself to speak after Professor Dickson had escorted me here.
Every single gaze had been on the little dragon that crawled behind me, hunching to the ground and growling at anyone who had come close—even the professor stayed a good fifteen feet in front of me.
The existence of Chaos was supposed to be kept hidden until the third week of school—next week—in case he decided to leave.
Clearly, he didn’t plan on leaving. Word about a dragon at the academy and how Ether Mage Selene Thomas had lost control would have spread across the entirety of the grounds by now.
There would be a student riot to banish me.
“You need to eat.” John pointedly glanced at the food as he leaned against the less occupied portion of his desk—which was only a sliver—and crossed his arms, frowning.
It was such an informal position for him, my mind took a halt for a brief moment.
His expression wasn’t masking his concern, and if I hadn’t known better, I would have said it looked like fatherly concern.
The door flung open for a third time and Viv charged in, lacking the grace that Ender had. Sydney followed suit, not in as much of a rush.
“Vivian. Sydney.” John nodded at them both, not showing any surprise that they had shown up.
“Are you okay?” Viv stood in front of me.
“Yes. I just got carried away on an enchantment. I’m a bit rusty with creatures.” I shrugged, hiding my inner turmoil.
“Maybe I need to light some things on fire to get room delivery.” Sydney eyed the tray of food my dad had gotten me. Dad. Ugh. There was that word again.
Viv studied me for a moment before stepping back, nodding, then glancing at the tray. “It doesn’t have Oreos. Three stars.”
“Okay.” John pushed himself off the desk. “We aren’t here to discuss the academy’s cuisine. Selene and the other students are all unharmed. Vivian and Sydney, the two of you need to exit. You can wait for Sal in the hallway.”
Insert Headmaster. Fatherly traces had vanished.
“The two of us?” Viv asked and then pointed at Ender. “What about him?”
“He can stay,” John said.
I stood, placing a hand on Viv’s shoulder. “It’s okay. I’ll see you in the hallway.”
I leveled her my best I'll tell you later look and she nodded, giving John the stink eye as she backed away.
Once they left, John resumed his stance against the desk, this time with his hands in his pockets. “Go over everything from the beginning of the day until now. Do not leave any details out.”
I sighed when he didn’t say another word and began to relive the day by explaining everything I had done. The entire time, John never mentioned why he had let Ender stay.