"...strange," she heard a voice through the wall. "The door to the main corridor felt different."

  "What do you mean by that, Professor Veilford?"

  Valentina's heart skipped a beat. Why hadn't her alarm pattern warned her? What was Professor Veilford doing here now, at this time of night? Veilford was a master of Essence manipulation. If he noticed her changes to the protection patterns...

  "I'm not sure." Footsteps approached the door to the storeroom. "Let's go and have a look."

  "Behind the shelves!" hissed Vyxara.

  Valentina rushed into a dark corner, squeezing herself between the wall and the shelf. Her bag clinked treacherously.

  The door opened. Light from an Essence lamp fell in.

  "Yes," Veilford's gaunt figure became visible in the doorway. "The patterns have shifted. Someone's tampered with them."

  "A burglar?" The guard sounded alarmed.

  "Possibly. Maybe..." Veilford took a step into the storage. "...maybe the guy's still here."

  Valentina hardly dared to breathe. Her heart was pounding so loudly that she was sure they must be able to hear it.

  "Quiet," Vyxara whispered. "Let your alarm pattern collapse."

  She released the tension of her alarm pattern, there was a subtle shift in the Essence currents and then a loud vibrating noise was heard from outside the storage, at the other end of the corridor.

  "What was that?" The guard turned around.

  "Check it out," Veilford ordered. "I'll have a look around here."

  Footsteps moved away. Veilford moved slowly through the room, the lamp in his raised hand. The light came closer and closer to Valentina's hiding place.

  Then, just in time, a loud crash sounded from afar. The alarm pattern had collapsed.

  "Professor!" shouted the guard. "Come quickly! He's attacking us!"

  Veilford hesitated for a moment. Then he turned around and hurried out.

  Valentina didn't wait a second longer. As soon as the footsteps had faded, she scurried out of her hiding place and out the door. Her Essence Listening told her that everyone's attention was focused on the former alarm pattern in the junction. Apparently, the collapsing pattern had given the guards quite a scare.

  While the guards and Veilford were distracted at the front of the main entrance, Valentina scurried out the back entrance, opening the small door as quickly as she could with Vyxara's tried and tested pattern. She ran almost silently through the dark cellar vaults and climbed a staircase at the first opportunity, her heart racing with fear and excitement. Only three floors up, in a deserted lecture hall, did she dare to take a quick breath.

  "That," Vyxara gasped in her head, "was pretty damn close."

  Valentina leaned against the desk and tried to calm her racing heart. Her bag was heavy from the stolen vials.

  "We should get out of here," she finally muttered. "Before they start searching the whole building."

  "Good idea. And Valentina? Well done. Really well done."

  The way back to her attic room felt endless to Valentina. Every shadow seemed to conceal a guard, every creak of the old wooden beams sounded like approaching footsteps. When she finally unlocked her door, her hands were shaking so badly that she dropped the key twice.

  Inside, she sank exhausted onto her bed. The bag with the stolen vials pressed heavily against her side.

  "Don't rest just yet," Vyxara warned. "We have to hide the Essence."

  Valentina nodded wearily and began to unwrap the vials. The concentrated Essence inside shimmered like liquid moonlight. She had chosen well – each vial contained high-purity, perfectly distilled Essence.

  "Twenty," she murmured as she carefully stowed the vials at the bottom of her wardrobe under several layers of clothing. "That should be enough."

  "More than that," Vyxara purred contentedly. "You could levitate an entire house with Essence of this quality."

  "If they don't catch us first." Valentina wiped the sweat from her brow. "Veilford knows someone's broken in. They'll search the whole building."

  "But they have no idea who did it and, thanks to your wonderful work with the illusion pattern, they probably think that nothing has even been stolen. And thanks to our little diversionary maneuver, they probably think the burglar is long gone."

  Valentina stood up unsteadily and began to take off her dress. A distant murmur of voices came through her window. She peered out cautiously. Several guards had gathered in the courtyard below, Professor Veilford standing among them, gesticulating.

  "They'll be combing the outer areas of the university," Vyxara commented. "Hunting all night for a burglar who's long since comfortably back home. Very entertaining."

  "Entertaining?" Valentina sank back onto the bed. Now that the immediate danger was over, her conscience began to kick in. "We've just stolen a small fortune's worth of Essence."

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  "Essence, which you urgently need. Or would you rather go back to Barnaby? Do some more 'favors'?"

  Valentina shook her head. "No. But still... It's theft."

  "It's survival skills," Vyxara corrected gently. "You take what you need to succeed."

  "But..."

  "No buts. You proved tonight that you have everything it takes – courage, skill, determination, talent and intelligence. Those are the qualities of a true Essence Weaver. Not wealth or heritage."

  Valentina was silent for a long time. Outside, the voices gradually faded away.

  "You're right," she finally said. "And now we can really go for it in the tie-break."

  She took out her notebook and began to go through her sketches of various Essence patterns. With all the high-purity Distilled Essence, even the most complex patterns would be possible.

  "This is going to be a spectacle," Vyxara said happily. "The Duke will be amazed when he sees what you can do."

  "If he's interested in a low-born Weaver like me at all," Valentina muttered.

  "Believe me – after this tie-break, no one will doubt that you are one of the best."

  Valentina worked on her preparations until dawn, fine-tuning her detailed plan for the competition. Then she carefully tucked away her notes and went to sleep, at least for one or two hours. The immense amount of Distilled Essence she now had at her disposal did a lot to calm her down.

  ~

  The next morning, there was an atmosphere of feverish excitement in the dining hall. Students everywhere were putting their heads together, whispering and gesticulating wildly.

  "Val! Val, have you heard?" Innogen waved her excitedly to their usual table. "A break-in! Last night!"

  Valentina sat down with her bowl of porridge and tried to keep a surprised expression on her face. "A break-in? Where? Really? Tell me everything!"

  "A Master Weaver!" Crispin leaned forward conspiratorially. "A dangerous Rogue Weaver. Professor Veilford has caught him red-handed!"

  "Oh, that's fantastic," Vyxara giggled in Valentina's head.

  "What did he steal?" asked Valentina innocently, taking a spoonful of her porridge.

  "That's the crazy thing," Edgar intervened from the next table. "Nothing at all! Professor Veilford chased him away before he could even get into the Essence storage."

  "I heard it was an epic battle!" Elara joined them excitedly. "The guards say he had a black cloak and could dissolve into shadows!"

  "Fascinating," Vyxara purred in amusement. "Seems to me we missed a real heroic epic last night."

  Valentina almost choked on her porridge.

  "That's right!" Crispin nodded eagerly. "Supposedly he used extremely complex Essence patterns. Highly dangerous stuff! But Professor Veilford was better."

  "Was he really?" Valentina mumbled into her bowl.

  At that moment, Professor Veilford himself entered the room. He looked tired, but his gaunt figure radiated a certain self-satisfaction. Decan Valemont accompanied him.

  "Excellent work, Thaddeus," Valemont's voice boomed through the hall. "To rout such a dangerous Rogue Weaver – not everyone can do that!"

  "Well," Veilford made a modest gesture with his hand. "The guards did their part, too. But yes, his manipulation of our patterns was... impressively clever. He almost outsmarted us."

  "'Almost' is good," Vyxara chortled. "The old fool didn't even realize we were long gone when he fought this big duel with his own shadow."

  One of the guards joined the professors. "He was at least seven feet tall," he reported eagerly. "And his eyes glowed in the dark!"

  Valentina had to cough to hide her laughter.

  "I bet it was a Dark Weaver from the east of the continent," speculated a student at the next table. "They're supposed to know all sorts of forbidden techniques."

  "No, that's nonsense," objected another. "Surely an exiled nobleman! Only someone with classical training could weave such patterns."

  The theories became wilder and wilder. Soon there was talk of a whole network of dangerous Rogue Weavers operating from the shadows.

  "How entertaining," commented Vyxara. "A little girl from Palewood makes the whole university tremble – and no one has a clue."

  "That was really dangerous last night," Innogen whispered excitedly to Valentina. "Imagine if the burglar had tried to break into one of the students' rooms!"

  "Terrible thought," Valentina muttered, hiding her grin behind her bowl.

  The rest of the breakfast passed with ever more embellished versions of the story. By the time Valentina left the room, the mysterious burglar in the stories had already reached the size of a troll and had supposedly vanished into thin air.

  "You should be proud," Vyxara remarked. "You're a real legend now – even if nobody knows it."

  "A legend?" Valentina grinned. "More like a fairy tale."

  ~

  That evening, Valentina sat at her small desk and methodically organized her supplies. She had carefully sorted the stolen Essence vials according to purity and stowed them in a specially prepared bag.

  "Eight vials for the basic patterns," she murmured, labeling a compartment of her bag. "Ten for the more complex structures..."

  "And three in reserve," Vyxara added. "In case Faustus tries one of his dirty tricks again."

  "He definitely will." Valentina smiled grimly. "But this time we're prepared."

  She spread her notes out on the table. The Essence lamp cast flickering shadows over the complicated diagrams and formulas. Hours of study, countless secret exercises, forbidden knowledge from old books – everything culminated in these patterns.

  "You've done a really good job," Vyxara praised approvingly. "Your prepared structures are brilliant."

  "If I can do them properly." Valentina chewed nervously on her lower lip. "In front of the Duke and all the professors..."

  "You'll take their breath away," Vyxara assured her. "Remember – not only do you now have the best Distilled Essence at your disposal, and enough of it, you also have abilities that Faustus can only dream of. He can't buy them."

  Valentina nodded and began to prepare her tools. Every Essence Weaver had their tools – hers weren't the best of course, she would hopefully be able to buy better ones one day. Near-blind crystals to absorb Ambient Essence, dented bronze gauges to determine the right angles, and scuffed notepads with secret structures, Amplifying Incantations, and personal sigils. She had carefully compiled and refined all of this over the last months. She had bought some of the secrets that were in there at a high price.

  Outside, the sky darkened. The first star appeared above the university's Burning Tower.

  "Tomorrow at this time..." Valentina left the sentence unfinished.

  "By this time tomorrow, you'll have shown everyone what you can do," Vyxara finished the thought. "The arrogant Faustus, the Duke, the professors – they will be amazed."

  "Or I will fail spectacularly."

  "Nonsense. You've learned more in the last few months than most Weavers in years, their lives even. You manipulated a professor, sabotaged and embarrassed Faustus in one sweep, contained corrupted Essence, reconfigured an old malevolent artifact, pulled off a perfect heist and fooled the entire university. The tie-break will be a piece of cake compared to that."

  Valentina smiled weakly. "If you say so..."

  She checked her preparations one last time. She couldn't help herself. The bag with the vials was secured. The tools were ready. The notes were ready – but she had them in her head anyway, they were burned into her memory. She had gone over everything again and again.

  "Sleep now," Vyxara advised gently urging. "You need to be rested tomorrow."

  Valentina extinguished the small lamp and lay down in bed. She could see the stars through her small window. Somewhere in the distance, a dog howled.

  "Vyxara?"

  "Yes?"

  "Thank you. For everything."

  "You're welcome, little Weaver. Now go to sleep."

  Valentina closed her eyes. Essence patterns danced before her inner eye in the darkness, complex structures of breathtaking beauty. Tomorrow she would show them to everyone. Tomorrow she would prove that the girl from Palewood belonged among the greatest.