Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3
Something was shaking my shoulder. I batted it away with a groan, feeling like death warmed over.
The shaking started again, and I heard Aiden’s voice, “Come on, babe, we’ve got to go. Breakfast will be over in ten minutes and classes start in thirty.”
“Wha?” I mumbled, lifting my head. My back protested and I had a pounding headache behind my eyes. “Why do I feel like shit?” I complained.
“Probably because you fell asleep sitting up while going over those textbooks,” Aiden pointed out, pulling on a shirt.
I pouted as his sculpted body disappeared under the material.
“Do you need me to nag you, or shall I go get you something from breakfast and meet you in Akhtar’s class?”
I rubbed drool away from my chin and waved a hand to wipe the pool of it off the book I had been using as a pillow. The headache throbbed.
“Ow,” I said weakly. “Why does my magic feel so low?”
Aiden shrugged. “You did a lot yesterday. Maybe it was too much?”
“The nexus point should have refueled me faster than at home. And I usually have an overabundance of energy the first week back. Why do I feel like I could sleep for a week?” I managed to stand up, using the back of the chair to keep me upright.
“Just one more mystery to add to the pile,” Aiden said. “See you downstairs?”
“Yeah,” I agreed, waving him off.
He left me alone in his room, and I looked around helplessly. All my clothes were in my room, except the ones I was wearing, and I desperately needed a shower. There was no way I could use a refresh spell, I simply didn’t have enough energy for that right now, so I headed out for my own room to get changed.
Hazel was collecting her books when I entered, looking the same as ever.
“Why aren’t you as out of it as I am?” I asked as I got myself clean clothes.
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I stayed here over the holidays?” she said before she left.
I shrugged. That made about as much sense as any other explanation. I cleaned myself at the sink with a washcloth, forgoing a full shower until later in the day, and then got changed quickly.
Before I left the room, I gave head rubs to the two still sleeping dragons. “I haven’t found out what happened to you yet, but I promise I haven’t given up,” I whispered to them.
I passed a few students, everyone running to their classes, and slipped into my Magical Nexus class with only a few minutes to spare.
“We have a problem,” Professor Akhtar murmured, closing the door behind me.
Dread settled in the pit of my stomach.
He had a problem with me?
“I’ll need your full attention on this. Please meet me in my office after classes today. We have a lot of research to do.”
Oh, not with me.
Relief swept through me and I nodded acceptance before sliding into my seat. Aiden had left me a banana and half a grilled cheese sandwich. I turned and smiled at him in the back of the class before focusing my attention on the professor.
“I’m sure you have noticed your lack of energy this morning, and the actions of the familiars last night.” Professor Akhtar steepled his fingers in front of his mouth. “The ley lines have been drained.”
I blinked. “What?” I said, certain I hadn’t heard him correctly.
The rest of the class was buzzing as all the students started talking at once.
The professor clapped his hands together sharply. “Enough of that,” he said, and everyone quieted. “I understand your disbelief, but you can check for yourselves. I believe you know how to look for magic?”
I nodded, swallowed my bite of banana, and then sucked in a deep breath, clearing my mind. I cast the spell on my eyes and squinted, preparing myself for the bright light of magic to fill my vision.
The usual glows of old magic on objects around the room was easy to see past; the bright flares from each student and professor, some dimmer than others, was more difficult. The castle itself had magic intertwined with every stone, protections and containments, among others. But when I looked beyond all that, at where the trickling rivers of magic from the ley lines should be , there was nothing.
My breath caught and I looked up at the grim face of my professor. He nodded.
I removed the spell, my head already throbbing from its use on top of the extra light it allowed.
“Until we figure out what caused the drain, I want everyone to be cautious in their use of magic. I know most of you are used to living away from a nexus point, but you aren’t utilizing your magic to the same extent as you do here. Let yourself get used to the increased magical load slowly. Some of you already look more drained than you should be,” he pinned me with a glare and I blushed, “so it will take you longer to feel better.”
Aiden raised his hand. “What does this have to do with the familiars?”
“Good question. They’re attuned to nature, and this situation is most unnatural. Familiars are a lot like children, in that they don’t take change well.” Professor Akhtar stroked his beard. “I’m sure Professor Wright will have a solution soon.”
“What can we do?” Bruce asked.
“Our approach will be twofold. One, we will look into history books and see if there has ever been an incident such as this recorded. Two, we will research methods on how to refuel ley lines. Essentially, an electric pulse to return things to normal. Pick your team and start making plans on how to divide the research. Siobhan, you’re with me.”
I startled at hearing my name. “Sir?”
“Your job will be more complex, I’m afraid. You’re going to be overseeing everyone, as well as helping me with particularly delicate work.”
“Professor…” I began, lowering my voice so that the chattering students wouldn’t hear me. “Do you have an idea of what caused this?”
“I’m afraid not. We’ll talk more this afternoon.”
I nodded at his clear dismissal and climbed to my feet to help my classmates, making suggestions with each group and listening to their plans. It felt weird guiding my peers; I was used to helping out with the lower years, who seemed so much younger than I.
It was nice to note that everyone was taking this project so seriously, probably due to the exhaustion pulling at everyone’s bones.
We were dismissed to our second class of the day, Qualitative Spellcraft for Aiden, Bruce, and I, after everyone had agreed upon their research projects. Day one always felt a little rushed, since all four classes were crammed into one day with shortened periods.
By lunchtime, my head was swimming with exhaustion and a headache was blooming behind my temples.
My friends didn’t look much better.
“Maybe you should go see the healer?” Aiden suggested, petting my hair as I whimpered in pain into his shoulder.
I shook my head gently. “They’re probably swarmed. Everyone feels like shit. I can handle this. Professor Akhtar said we’d get used to using our magic under normal circumstances.”
“I think this is more than that. I think your magic is reacting like those of the familiars.” Aiden kissed my forehead. “Maybe you’re more attuned to nature than you realize.”
“Maybe.” I pouted.
Care of Magical Creatures was in a room on the outside of the castle, with a door to the rear of the building so that it was easy to go on field trips into the forest.
I hadn’t had Professor Wright before, but after hearing Rhiannon’s descriptions of the man, I knew what to expect; easy-going, funny, and completely obsessed with animals. It didn’t seem to matter whether it was a tame kitten or a dangerous manticore, he would immediately walk up to it and try to take care of it.
Which was great for a teacher, but kind of terrifying for the students with him.
I didn’t understand why Rhiannon liked him so much, since her personality was diametrically opposed to his, but maybe, in this case, the saying “opposites attract” worked. Either way, her thesis was going very well and she was flourishing in her teaching assistant position.
Professor Wright rubbed his hands together with a grin once we were all sitting down. “Welcome to Care of Magical Creatures. It’s nice to see some new faces! Fresh blood!”
I cringed internally. I hoped he didn’t mean that literally.
“First order of business,” he continued, sobering, “is the familiar problem. How can we help these poor babies deal with this unnatural order? Ideas!” He gestured at us.
“Medication?”
“Yes, true,” Professor Wright said, pointing at the student. “Like when the body doesn’t produce enough endorphins, we can medicate to fake the hormone. Does anyone know what it is that these babies need?”
“Magic?” I said hesitantly.
“Right!” He leaped to his feet and paced in front of his desk. “A dose of concentrated magic would keep them balanced. How do we do that?”
“A potion or charm?” Bruce suggested. “Do we have time to figure one out that won’t harm them?”
“Excellent question. We have a wide variety of babies, from kittens to dragons, not to mention the wild ones in the forest that could be suffering.”
My heart clenched at that thought. I hadn’t even considered the wild animals who didn’t have witches to support them. “What can we do for them?” I blurted out.
Professor Wright whirled to look at me. “Them? The wild ones? Not much, I’m afraid. That’s if they even let us get close to them. We can’t put them to sleep like we did the pets here, because there are many predators in the forest. We can’t catch all of them.”
It sounded like an impossible feat. “Could we use some of the academy’s stockpile of magic to, I don’t know, blanket the forest?”
“Blanket?” The professor said with a scoff. “Blanket,” he repeated, more thoughtfully. He started pacing again. “Keep talking.”
My brain scrambled to keep up. “A blanket of concentrated magic, fed by pure power. It wouldn’t harm the non-magical animals, but it might support the magical ones by giving them a sense of normalcy, to have magic surrounding them?” I ended on a question, because I really felt like I was losing the thread of the topic.
“Magic surrounding them, like the ley lines used to exude ambient magic,” Professor Wright said quietly. He slammed his fist against his table, making all of us jump. “That might work! How do we test it?”
“Start small,” Rhiannon said. “On something we can reverse any negative effects.”
“Perfect.” Professor Wright strode out of the room through a door I hadn’t noticed. It didn’t lead outside, as far as I could tell. Before I had a chance to ask, the professor returned with a sleeping rodent in his hand. “This is Darwin. He’s the best ratigen anyone could ask for. Magic practically coats him, and rarely harms him. If you continue in this class, you will want to find one of your own.”
He gently placed the rat-like creature in a bowl on his desk and covered it with a glass dome.
“How do we keep the spell in place?”
“Salt,” I said instantly.
“Good.” From his back pocket, he pulled a jar of salt and liberally sprinkled it around the dish.
“Pure concentrated magic,” he muttered. He took a tiny bottle from his chest pocket and unstoppered it. A finger over the opening, he tipped it upside down. A clear blue droplet clung to his fingertip. He pressed it to the top of the glass dome and whispered a spell I didn’t quite catch. “Why glass?” he said suddenly.
“To see what’s going on?” someone said.
“Glass isn’t pure. It’s made of many components,” I said, brow furrowed. “Crystal would be better.”
“You’d think.” The professor didn’t say anything else, his eyes fixed on the spreading blue magic as it coated the glass.
“Maybe because it’s been heated and cooled, sand and other contaminants make it up, the magic adheres better to it?” I said, thinking out loud.
“Yes and no,” the professor said. “Is the air pure?”
“No, of course not. Oh!” I said. “It’s the best for a simulation.”
“Right.”
The class watched silently as the blue magic completed its job. Professor Wright straightened, pointed at the bowl, and spoke the words to wake the animal.
Its eyes opened and it hopped to its feet, grooming its whiskers and ears with its front paws.
Professor Wright leaned forward. “How are you feeling, Darwin?”
Darwin squeaked a little and sniffed the air.
“First test, remove the ambient magic,” the professor said. He reached out and lifted the dome. “Stay put, Darwin.”
With the dome away from the ratigen, we could see the movements of the little creature get more and more frantic.
“Subject is affected by the lack of magic,” the professor said quietly. “Second test, add the magic back.” He placed the dome back on top of Darwin, who immediately quieted.
“Success.” The professor smiled. “What’s next?”
“Testing on a larger creature,” Rhiannon said.
“Would a witch count?” I asked.
Professor Wright stared at me. “Eventually,” he said cautiously. “We’re still not sure how long these effects last. We don’t want to cause more harm by taking away the ambient magic. I know you’re feeling rundown. You’ll get used to not using as much magic as usual.”
I couldn’t help the tear that trickled down my cheek when he turned away again. Everything felt so awful.
After classes, I met with Professor Akhtar in his office. He was staring at the holographic globe of ley lines in the center of the room.
“They look normal,” I said. “Why?”
“This doesn’t show them in real time, I’m afraid. I wish it did. Then we would know what happened to them and when.” Professor Akhtar removed the projection. “Have a seat. One of our research groups has found something.”
I sat on the edge of the chair he indicated. “Really? What is it?”
“Unfortunately, there was no explanation as to what happened, or how they fixed it,” the professor continued.
“What do you mean?”
“The last time this happened, it started the Dark Ages.”
“That means that this could go on for years ?” I said, aghast.
“I’m afraid so.”