Chapter 22 Runes and Ruin #2
“No.” Scarlet places her hand on mine. “Veronica’s cruel, but Cassandra doesn’t have a conscience, and as much as it pains me to admit, they’re strong and well protected. Veronica’s mom is a councilor, and one of the strongest water Elementals in Bryxton.”
Around us, students begin murmuring charms.
“Ready to learn your first charm?” Scarlet asks, and though there’s still a fissure of unease between her brows, she pastes a smile on her face and pushes her chair back. “We’re using an air and ground charm today.”
Scarlet runs her finger across her crystal link, and the word ‘sciath’ appears, hanging in the air like a projection.
“You’re too easy to impress,” she teases, before motioning from the word to the nullite. “Unlike when using our element, all runes and charms require an incantation—think of it as requesting to borrow an element.”
A ripple of whispers draws my attention to a group of students behind us.
“That makes three attacks in a month,” someone murmurs.
“My cousin says the Council’s covering it up.”
Scarlet’s hand stills mid-gesture, her gaze flickering toward the voices before quickly returning to me.
“What are they talking about?” I whisper.
“Veilbreakers, I think.” Her gaze meets mine.
“It must have just happened. I didn’t see anything in the news this morning.
” She glances at the clock, then at her sheet of nullite.
“We’ll look into it in Defensive Magic. Charms isn’t the class we want to be caught slacking off in.
Professor Anara comes across as harmless, but she’s more powerful than anyone credits her for. ”
For the next forty minutes, Scarlet walks me through casting the shield charm using nullite—a rare element from Sylaria, one of the southern territories, that Elementals are immune to.
By the end of class, only she, Veronica, and one other student have managed it.
Tension stiffens my spine as we’re excused. Academia is where I’ve always excelled, but I am so painfully ignorant here, leaving me feeling incompetent and out of place.
“Want me to walk with you to your next class?” Scarlet asks.
“I’ll be okay.”
She gives me a pointed look. “Don’t forget to test our hypothesis.” She flexes her fingers, motioning for me to touch more people to see if I can imprint on them. “I’ll see you in Defensive Magic.”
Thornhurst doesn’t resemble the hellscape of prison, but trying to go unseen pulls my thoughts back to those months of solitude and paranoia.
I stop twice to check the route Scarlet left on my crystal link, but still arrive ten minutes early. I spot Everett right away.
“Brielle!” He waves me to the empty desk beside him. “This is Wynn.” He motions to a guy with dark-brown hair. “And Gideon.” The second guy has long black hair tied in a knot.
“Nice to meet you,” I say.
They nod in greeting. No questions. No stares.
I wonder if they’re a Vestra. If the attention Theran gave me was a one-off.
This classroom is smaller than Charms, with rows of desks, the walls clinically bare. I stop looking around as Kai slips into the empty seat on the other side of me.
He doesn’t say anything, just turns his back and starts talking to someone.
“Two classes in a row. Maybe it’s my lucky day,” Nick says, taking the seat in front of me.
I can’t tell if he’s flirting or just being friendly, but I opt for the latter.
“What was Earth like? I’ve heard it’s hotter than hell.”
I blink, caught off guard by his interest. “Parts of it are, but I was from a cold region in the US.”
“Is it true that humans look like us?”
“Yeah,” I say before absently glancing around the room of stunning individuals who don’t have a single flaw among them. “For the most part,” I amend.
Nick grins. “I bet you’re relieved to be here.”
I nod, but a part of me longs for familiarity, even if that was prison. It’s a harsh realization to admit.
“Damn. A female Soul Elemental?” A guy with red hair draws dozens of inquiring looks my way.
A loud bang has me and most of the class jumping, heads snapping toward the front of the classroom. Holden stands behind the large desk, tucked slightly to one side of the room, his hands balanced on a hefty tome. “I’m Mr. Whitlock, and I’ll be your professor for the semester.”
The class falls silent except for a couple of girls who haven’t stopped whispering about him.
Holden doesn’t acknowledge them. “Today, you’ll be working in pairs to create barrier runes,” he continues. “I’ll be testing each barrier. If it holds, you may leave.”
Chairs scrape as students scramble.
At least a dozen people ask Everett to be their partner, and like a genuinely good person, I see the guilt in his expression when he turns to me.
“You should definitely pick one of them,” I tell him. “I’ve never made a rune.”
“Are you sure?”
I nod. “Positive.”
A guy with ash blond hair takes the opportunity to claim Everett as his partner, pushing his desk closer as Gideon and Wynn face each other, already discussing ideas.
Nick turns to me. “Want to team up?”
“I won’t be an asset,” I warn him.
He flashes a confident grin. “Depends on how you’re measuring things.”
He taps the top right corner of his desk, summoning a dark screen across the surface.
“Barriers can be a bitch. Although…” he glances toward the front of the room where Holden strides past desks, listening to students brainstorm.
“He left the rules pretty vague. We could create a dampening bubble charm and secure it with a rune.”
I shrug, having no idea what he’s talking about. “Sure.”
Nick quietly murmurs a few words as he sketches a simplistic rune. I know he’s done when a faint yellow haze shimmers around us. He grins with satisfaction, and shoots a hand in the air.
Holden looks at us and goes still. Suddenly, a tiny fern on his desk explodes, growing into a monstrous prehistoric plant like something out of an old sci-fi movie.
One of the long tendrils snaps toward us like a whip, shattering the yellow bubble Nick created like glass before slamming into my desk.