“I assume you all remember Vivian Hearth?” Professor Telvis asked.

  There was a rumble of affirmation.

  “Good. Before you ask, she’s here to help me oversee a little exercise we’re doing today. But before we get into that, I need to ask all of you a question. Who here has heard of Awakening before?”

  A vast majority of the students, myself included, raised our hands.

  “Good. And who here has actually entered an Awakened state?”

  Most of the hands went down, leaving only four, two Sylphids whose names I didn’t know, Jarec Quicksilver, and Angelina.

  Professor Telvis nodded, like this was what he expected. The four put their hands down. “Before we begin, for those you don’t know, Awakening is a natural part of the process of becoming an adult in our world. We won’t be worrying about the specific mechanics of it. I only want to focus on the parts that affect your Spellcraft and will only test you on what we go over in class.

  “The main thing you need to know this moment is that when in that state you will be capable of magical feats far beyond your normal limits. But that naturally comes at a price. It drains your body completely of your mana reserves and renders you unable to cast for a period of time. At your age a full night’s rest should fully restore your mana. At mine it might take a little bit longer.”

  There were a few awkward laughs.

  Professor Hearth stayed silent and stoic.

  “Now do any of you have questions before we move down to the dungeons for our exercise?” Professor Telvis asked.

  Dungeons? What were we doing that required going to the dungeons? And wasn’t down there blocked off to students?

  A number of hands were raised. Professor Telvis picked a Sylphid. “I thought we weren’t allowed down there.”

  Professor Hearth spoke, “Normally you wouldn’t be. But the wards down there will enable us to perform this exercise with minimal risks.”

  Wait, was this dangerous?

  “You all shouldn’t be in danger, but magic can always go wrong. No matter what precautions we might take. Complete control is an illusion, and thinking otherwise is a fast way to get yourself and the people around you hurt.” She scanned the room as she spoke. Was I seeing things or did her eyes linger on me for a fraction longer than the other students?

  It must have been my imagination.

  “Now if there are no other questions, we have places to be and I would like us to get started.”

  The room was quiet.

  “Good. Now if you all would follow me.”

  Well this was a strange moment of déjà vu, following her and Professor Telvis through the corridors, past the library and to a nearly hidden dark grey stone door. Unlike the round circles of the Towers, this was a bulking rectangle with large strips of black leather holding it together.

  Was it original? Part of the first castle, or part of the first wave of renovations in the conversion to a school? Even if it was a later addition, it might still be hundreds of years old. The cracks in the leather made it look old at any rate. It was locked with a massive black metal padlock.

  Professor Hearth snapped her fingers and a black metal key appeared in her hand. With a click the door was pushed open, a loud high-pitched screech came from the hinges. They must not use this door much.

  “Please watch your step,” Professor Telvis said as Professor Hearth started to walk down a stone spiral staircase into darkness.

  This wasn’t ominous at all. Nothing terrible could possibly happen.

  Just please let it be someone else this time…

  We followed her down in double file. Angelina walked next to me as excited as ever.

  “Are you nervous? This is so cool. Do you know what we’re doing? I can’t believe we’re doing this so early in the year.”

  I had no idea what we were doing. Presumably, something about Awakenings.

  “What shape are you hoping for? Do you know what color you have?”

  “I have no idea,” I told her. Still not sure what was going on.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Aww come on. Give me a guess. Please?”

  Okay, if this was about Awakenings then it was connected to our magic. “Pink?” I shrugged. An image of pink flames in my brain.

  “Is that your color? How fitting that your magic is Pixie pink!” She squealed. “I bet you get something super cute!”

  I had doubts. And hopes. “We’ll see.”

  She pouted a little, though I doubted it was serious.

  We reached the landing of the stairs and stared down a hallway of ancient cells. Most no longer had bars or doors, just small square rooms. Dozens lined the hallway, which ended in one cell that was perfectly intact.

  It had metal bars and door hung open just a little. It looked larger than the others, a square nearly three times their size.

  It took several minutes to funnel everyone in.

  “I could explain with words, but I think a demonstration might serve our purposes better. Could one of the four students from earlier please volunteer?” Professor Hearth asked.

  Angelina’s hand went up into the air fast enough to nearly hit me in the head.

  “Pixie, what’s your name?”

  “Angelina Farsee, Ma’m.”

  “Why don’t you step forward Miss Farsee. And you too, Mr. Quicksilver,” she said as she opened the door of the cell.

  Jarec came forward from the crowd somewhere behind us, while Angelina practically skipped to the front of the group. Professor Hearth leaned towards both of them and whispered something. They both nodded and Jarec gestured for Angelina to go first, with an amused look on his face.

  Angelina stepped inside and stopped a few steps after passing the threshold.

  Professor Hearth closed the door.

  The floor beneath Angelina’s feet began to glow with a pulsing rainbow of colors. The light pouring in between gaps in the stones and flowing up to form a shape, then became several small shapes. Then it turned a bright, familiar-looking red.

  It was the exact same color her eyes had turned during the fortune telling.

  The shapes were becoming clearer. Butterflies. A swarm of bright red and glowing magic butterflies. Okay. That was cool.

  They flew around her and fluttered in the air before dissipating. She giggled and turned around as Professor Hearth opened the cell door again.

  “Now that you’ve seen what you’re going to be doing, can anyone tell me what it is we’re looking for with this? Any guesses as to why we do this?” Professor Hearth asked the group.

  A small number of hands, mostly yellow and blue coats, went into the air around me. Jarec even had his hand up.

  “Mr. Quicksilver,” Professor Telvis spoke from the back of the group crowd.

  “We’re trying to reveal the nature and health of our magic.” Jarec stated.

  Professor Hearth nodded. “Very good. Learning about your magic can assist in helping you choose a discipline. And if something is wrong with your magic this is a very strong indicator for what those problems might be.”

  Was I sweating? I felt like I was sweating.

  What would this reveal about me? Would anything even appear? What if it didn’t?

  No. I had magic. I could use magic. I could. This would be fine.

  “Now Mr. Quicksilver, your turn.” Professor Hearth nodded at Jarec.

  He stepped inside and like before the floor lit up when Professor Hearth closed the door. The same pulsating rainbow effect flowed upwards. But instead of breaking up into shapes it formed a swirling mass of color that morphed into a light sky blue. It looked like a tornado with Jarec as the eye of the storm.

  But what did that mean?

  He snapped his fingers and the whole thing froze. Like someone hitting pause on a disaster movie. He waved his right hand dismissively and it disappeared.

  Professor Hearth opened the cell door.

  “Well done. Now who should go next…Telvis it’s your class. You pick someone.”

  “How about Miss Stewart?”

  And why wasn’t I surprised?

  I sighed. I looked up at Professor Hearth, who was somehow standing straighter. Her eyes focused on me. I wanted to hide in the back of the crowd. I sighed again and stepped forward.

  Please don’t let anything weird happen. Again.

  The cell door closed behind me and the floor lit up a third time. Okay. So far so good. Rainbow colored light began to form a massive shape in front of me. I couldn’t tell what the shape was supposed to be. But I could see it slowly turn pink. Because of course it did. Was it on fire? Or maybe it was supposed to be made of fire? The shape was too vague.

  One part of the entity before was clear though. A hand of thin and long claws made of what looked like pink crystals. It reached out towards my left hand.

  I reached back, just to see what would happen.

  I felt the pain before I saw it move. The screams from behind me didn’t register in my ears until I saw the blood. Whose blood was that? Where did it come from?

  Why did my wrist hurt?

  The being was suddenly gone. Like glass shattered to pieces.

  Blood was pouring out of my wrist. A dark red flood. My eye focused on a blurry spot of pale white that stood out against the sea of crimson.

  The cell was spinning.

  A voice was calling out to me, I think. It sounded so distant. Someone was catching me. Cradling me. Someone familiar.

  Mom?

  (*********)

  When I awoke I was in the Healer Wing and staring up at the glass ceiling. The sun was bright but still low in the sky.

  “What happened?” I groaned.

  “Something that by all accounts should have been impossible,” Healer Sealie commented.

  My left wrist was in terrible pain. It itched and burned at the same time. It was wrapped in a white bandage with a red stain.

  “We have been running that exercise incident free for nearly one hundred and fifty years. I can’t tell if you’re too much like your mother or not nearly enough like her,” Professor Hearth stated. “I’ve already informed your parents. They’re still willing to let you attend here thankfully. But it seems I’m going to have to keep a closer eye on you.”

  “I didn’t do it on purpose! I don’t even know what happened,” I told her as I sat up. Professor Hearth was sitting down on the cot next to me.

  “That’s something I’m still trying to figure out myself. I’ve never seen magic lash out like that before. And I hadn’t even heard of it injuring a person before today. You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” Professor Hearth continued.

  A swarm of angry thoughts flooded my mind. All of them were bad ideas to say out loud. None of them coherent enough to voice.

  “Bur as much as I don’t like to, I do have to acknowledge that the fault here isn’t yours,” she switched tactics.

  “Is this going to keep happening? This is the second time I’ve been attacked on campus by something improbable.”

  “I hope not,” Healer Sealie cut in while handing me a cup of redish brown liquid. It smelled like hibiscus and lemon. “Drink this. You lost a lot of blood today and your body needs some help fully recovering it.”

  I took a sip. It wasn’t great, but it tasted better than the spider bite medicine. Granted that was not a high bar to pass.

  “I’m also going to need to change those bandages.”

  I held out my wrist and watched as she unraveled the stained cloth.

  Large jagged lines, red and elevated and pulsing, were across my wrist. Yikes.

  “The bleeding stopped a while ago. But the last thing you need is to get an infection.” Healer Sealie explained as she started to wrap a fresh bandage around them.

  But the wounds weren’t the part that were worrying me.

  It was the part of my wrist undamaged by the attack. Somehow, the wounds hadn’t hurt a section of my wrist which formed the shape of a simplistic eyeball. A perfect oval with a circle in the middle and a thin slit in the center. All undamaged, while the rest of my wrist looked like the aftermath of an attack.

  I looked up at Professor Hearth. “Please tell me you know what that’s about.”

  “At this moment, we don’t,” Professor Hearth explained. Her hands, which had been resting in her lap, were clenched tight. “The best guess we have is that it was trying to tell you something. We’re working on deciphering it. Whatever it is seems invulnerable to harm.”

  “Like a reverse Achilles’ heel?”

  She nodded. “The rest of you is as fragile as anyone. But that spot is completely invincible.”

  “Made giving you stiches a lot more complicated,” Healer Sealie said. “But I managed.”

  “I’ve informed your teachers about this morning.” Professor Hearth’s posture relaxed a little. “So you don’t have to go to class if you don’t want to. I’d rather you stay in Pixie Tower for rest of the day.”

  No way. “I’d rather go to class.”

  This earned me an eyebrow raise.

  “Unless there’s a reason I can’t?”

  “Her own magic turns on her and she decides she still wants to go to class? Goodness, you really are Lucinda’s daughter, aren’t you?”

  Professor Hearth was silent.

  “Though when Lucinda ended up in here, it was because she was doing something she knew was dangerous. Nearly cracked her skull open one time when climbing up Slyphid Tower. Those vines aren’t as sturdy as you’d think.” Healer Sealie started rambling. “Insisted she was fine afterwards. Went to go take a test in her Journeyman Elements class. Passed it too, from what I remember.”

  Professor Hearth’s tension was back.

  “As long as you take it easy and don’t mess with your wounds or bandages, I’ll allow it. But if it starts bleeding again or you don’t feel well, head straight to your Tower, all right?”

  I nodded. “I understand.”