‘Argh! It’s way too hexing early!’

‘Complaining isn’t going to do you any good, you know.’ LeGrimm replied with an increasing agitation in her voice. ‘If I hear one more word from you about it this morning, I swear-’

Chi pushed herself from the edge we’d all been sitting on, went right up to Iklím and waved frantically as she tried to grab her attention, cutting LeGrimm off mid sentence. ‘Right, cheer up! It’s your first class of the cycle!’

Iklím reluctantly pulled her eyes away from LeGrimm and rolled them. ‘I know, I know, but…’

I simply curled up on the edge of the spring. My attention had long wandered off from the ever complaining fairy and was caught by the water. Or rather- the reflection of the moon in the water. It was a peaceful sight so early in the morning, the moon still high above the Academy grounds, surrounded by fallen leaves, rippling and distorting at the hint of my touch.

If possible, the Academy was even more breathtaking by night. Faint lights had lit up our path as we’d made our way to the clearing behind the school. And now, sitting on the edge of the spring, I took the time to look around and let the detail wash over me.

I followed the lines of the vines on the wall with my eyes, the almost glowing leaves nearly covering the small, carefully corrected cracks in the bricks- and, for the first time, I saw a luminous little creature- what I could only presume to be a curious pixie- quickly flying away as I noticed them.

Shaking my head in disbelief, I tuned back into the conversation.

‘- but I’m sure you’re going to love it! Also, I wonder what’s taking professor Marlowe so long, she’s never been late before?’ Chi said with a questioned look on her face.

Muñoz took the opportunity to make a remark. ‘Maybe she decided to finally bail on the Academy?’

‘And leave Faewood? I don’t think so…’ LeGrimm let the entire situation with Iklím be for a bit to chime in.

Chi raised her shoulders. ‘She can’t be very far, she lives right here in the forest.’ she said, more to Abrish, Iklím and me than to anyone else, ‘Maybe we should go look for-’

At that very moment, Chi cut off her sentence- and before I could even process what was going on, she was holding an arrow enclosed in her right hand.

Muñoz shot up from her spot. ‘You three stay here. Mae, you’re with me. Chi, stay with the younglings.’

‘Why? Uh- what’s going on?’ I curled further up on the edge, tensing up as everyone around me started moving.

LeGrimm stopped moving as she came past me. ‘We’re not sure,’ she said, ‘but it might be wise for you younglings to sit this one out. Let us handle this, okay?’

I nodded, this time out of a fearful complacency.

She took my hands, just for a brief moment. ‘We’ll be back soon.’

At that moment, her body lit up. The ribbon that held her hair together burned away so the strands of her braids could fall down, and her dress dissolved- changed shape- ‘till it became what I’d come to know as a fairy’s true form, the true reflection of her being. And as I looked around, I saw that she wasn’t the only one who had let her inner being out. I had seen Abrish’ before, but it was no less impressive this time- and I caught glimpses of the others’, but not long enough to really take in any details.

But hers- LeGrimm’s- it was the darkest I had ever seen, almost like this greyish midnight purple. And her wings- they were almost eerie, not soft and round like Abrish’- or Anthea’s- Astra’s, but sharp and blackened. Then she let go and took off.

Though I wasn’t about to bring it up again, it was a striking match with the sketch.

When she ran past Chi, the fairies locked eyes.

‘Thanks LeGrimm!’

LeGrimm rolled her eyes in turn.

‘Don’t mention it.’

Before she could take off after LeGrimm, Abrish grabbed on to Muñoz’ arm and the both hung still in midair -

‘Anything I can do to help?’

‘No. Sit tight.’

When everything finally quieted down, I let out a deep breath and leaned forward, turning my head to Abrish, who turned her frown back to a calm demeanour, then to Iklím, whom I now noticed hadn’t transformed at all.

Iklím pointed her thumb at Chi, eyed Abrish and me and hissed: ‘Am I the only one confused by that arrow? Is that even physically possible?? No? No one else is going to point it out? Ugh, nevermind.’

𓆩✧𓆪

Further in the forest, Muñoz had initiated her pursuit of whomever had fired that arrow. She flew, fast but conscious, aware of every sound around her. She had long lost track of Mae, who had vanished at her sign. It was better that way anyway, Ezra wanted to get a hold of the situation herself first.

In her mind, she weighed the odds. Most likely, this was Marlowe messing with them again, wouldn’t be the first time - but then what if it wasn’t and…?

A sound.

Ezra halted.

She let herself down on the forest ground, the metal of her shoe clinking against the root of a tree as they made contact, echoing through the otherwise still forest. She could hear her breath as she attempted to regain some sense over herself, breathing in and out slowly so her sound would be reduced.

She heard nothing for a while, and almost would have resumed her course before she heard a vague rustling. Her hand looked for the hilt of her blade.

When she saw someone charging at her, she drew it out of the sheath and parried the blow of a dagger coming her way.

Looking over her blade, she saw a woman grinning under the shade of her hood - and Ezra herself now eased up, too. She twisted her blade and let the hooded woman pass before she turned around and assumed stance.

Reflexively, she detached the two halves of her blade. She flung them around until she held one on either side of her middle. No sign of the hooded woman.

Ezra started walking cautiously, conscious of every sound, every hint of movement. As she let her eyes slide over the trees and darkness around her, her grip tightened. She had to remind herself to loosen up a little, it wouldn’t do her any good if she stiffened too much. Loss of control, agility.

Focus

Up above.

Before she knew it, she was down on the ground. ‘Damnit.’

A sneering pain went through her shoulder, she must’ve hit it when she got knocked over. Her gaze went up and she met eyes with the hooded woman now holding her down.

‘Good morning, Marlowe.’ She grinned, holding her opponent back with her elbow.

‘Mornin’, Ezra, it’s good to see you again.’

Ezra hooked her leg around Marlowe’s waist and pushed her aside. ‘Likewise.’ She got up by pushing her hands on the root she was laying on and turned back to face Marlowe, who didn’t leave her any room to think of an action to take.

A well-aimed arrow forced Ezra to let go of the blade she was holding in her right hand as she found her sleeve pinched to the tree behind her. With the blade she still had left, she parried another fling from Marlowe’s dagger, but this time she failed to hold on as a flashing pain burned through her pinched arm when she was pushed to extend it too far.

Now disarmed, with both blades out of reach and no time to free her right arm, Ezra knew she had to switch to her last resort. Her eyes almost burned when the lights lit up and the first lines of her Magic Circle became visible right above the palm of her hand. And just when she raised her arm to fire the spell, her hand trembled and her face wrangled as she closed her eyes and looked away.

Cling

The dagger fell a few metres sideways and bounced off the bust of a tree down towards the soil, where it came to a rest.

When Ezra opened her eyes again, she did not see what she was expecting, but rather the familiar sight of blackened wings, a dark fabric and long, wavy hair. The hint of a shimmer made Ezra flinch, but she soon eased when the dark fairy in front of her sheathed her katana and it dissolved.

‘Mae…’ Ezra whispered under her breath.

A soft clap sounded, followed by another, and another, increasing speed with each one. ‘Perfect timing, LeGrimm, as always.’

‘You came too close.’ was Mae’s simple reply.

‘You know I would’ve deflected in time.’ Marlowe let out a deep breath and came up to Ezra. She stretched her hand and enveloped the arrow to pull it out with a single swift move. ‘You’ve improved since last time we fought. I’ve gotta say, I’m impressed. I didn’t expect you to just fling me aside with that move of yours. Dare I say, your boots hurt, fairy, be careful with those.’ She grinned and narrowed her eyes teasingly, before continuing to inspect her side, revealing a surface level cut across her waist. ‘Remind me not to repeat that fling, I might just have to go see Elvera over this.’ A “tss” sound came through. ‘So, how are you?’

Ezra eyed her upper arm, just where the arrow had passed her. ‘A minor scratch, nothing serious.’

‘Great… great.’ She repeated with an increment in between, the second time with more conviction and a light smile. While picking up her dagger from the ground, her expression became stricter and she followed it up with -

‘LeGrimm, starting next week, I want you to pair up and practise close combat. Your little trick is great, but you won’t always have the luxury of hiding in the shadows, I want you to be prepared to face anything that comes your way. -’ She flicked the dagger around and put it back into its hilt.

‘Ezra…’ She paused. ‘We’ve discussed this before, but you are still not playing into your surroundings as much as you should.’ She put her hand on Ezra’s shoulder. ‘I realize you’ve lived in a wasteland most of your life, but you need to familiarize yourself more with different terrains and the opportunities- or risks- they bring. You are in a forest, use that to your advantage. Think you can do that?’

‘Yeah, I can do that.’ Ezra grinned.

Marlowe pushed her forward. ‘Then, off you two go. I believe I have some first class’ to meet?’

𓆩✧𓆪

‘Shou’n’t they be back by now?’

‘Give them some time, Iklím. They know what they’re doing.’ Chi had huddled up on the side of the spring again, slowly moving her legs up and down to pass the time.

I tried not to eye her too much, but after the lights had died down again just now and everything had calmed down, I’d first been able to take in her feyen appearance - and I found myself mesmerized by the deep pink colour and the way her outfit seemed to starkly contrast her sparkly personality by the way she was covered up by her hood, enough so that after a couple moments had passed by, I took out my sketchbook and started sketching her out.

Not knowing what was going on like this was really getting to me - and if anything the sketching was taking my mind off of the class- or lack thereof- and easing me down a little, but Iklím wasn’t faring as well.

‘I don’ like bein’ kept in the dark like this.’ She muttered, arms crossed.

Abrish patted the spring side invitingly. ‘Come sit down with us, it’s no use walking about the edge like that.’

Chi hopped off again and, with her hands on her back and her head sideways, tried to gauge Iklím’s reaction. ‘Hey, this is not the first time those two have gone off on their own. Trust me, they’ll be back soon and-’

At that moment, her eye fell on my sketchbook. ‘Are you… drawing me?’

‘I- I- uh… yes?’ I stammered.

She flew over to my side, hovering above the water of the spring just to be able to take a look over my shoulder. For a while, she said nothing, just stared at the page while I tried my best not to appear too nervous, but to be honest, I was freaking out on the inside—

‘It’s…-’ Chi began, pausing extremely and excruciatingly long before continuing- ‘-incredible!! Did you just do that while we were talking? It’s so cute! I didn’t know you drew as well?? I draw, too, y’know? Well, I design clothing, don’t really do any posing like this, I don’t draw that well. But this is so good, though, and- Oh, oh, oh!’ She got even more excited all of a sudden, like she thought of something mid sentence. ‘I have this dress I designed not too long ago that I think would suit you reaaaaallllly well. I originally designed it for LeGrimm but she didn’t like the green too much. I might just have to tailor it in a bit, she’s a bit more… curvaceous than you are, but if you could just try it on some time? I think green would suit you so much better than pink! If you like it, it’s all yours and you can have-...’

I really just sat there as that entire wordflood came over me, nodding along wide eyed while holding on to my pencil for dear life. Luckily, I didn’t even get the chance to answer-

‘Oh, there you are!’ Abrish’ wings fluttered as she flew up and approached the small group coming from the forest side. Both Muñoz and LeGrimm had gone back to their prior form again as if to let us know danger was no longer there. ‘What happened? You’re hurt.’ she added when she saw Muñoz’ shoulder.

‘Nothing bad, really,’ Muñoz eyed Marlowe, ‘just a little… training exercise, that’s all.’ She flinched when Iklím touched her shoulder.

‘Ye should have that checked out.’

‘It’s just a scra-’

‘Eh-’ Iklím shushed her, raising her finger and giving Muñoz a stern look. She didn’t say another word, just silently went over to the forest edge, seemingly looking for something. She leaned down, came back and held it to Muñoz’ arm.

‘Tssk, ouch.’ Muñoz raised an eyebrow. ‘What exactly are you doing?’

‘Pfft, that stuff grows ‘round‘n’bout ’v’rywhere on this planet. Helps ya heal or sumthin.’

‘Very good,’ Marlowe interrupted. ‘Seems like someone did their homework before coming here. You could learn from that, Ezra.’ She winked.

Iklím pointed her thumb at Marlowe. ‘Who’s that elf over here?’

For a moment, everyone was silent. Then Muñoz started laughing uncontrollably and LeGrimm just gave a pat on Iklím’s shoulder. ‘That’s- our teacher.’

In that exact instance, I could see all signs of colour leave Iklím’s face, but I decided to pay little attention to that. After I’d managed to stop staring at LeGrimm- which admittedly I almost thought was creepy myself- I’d put my sketchbook back into my bag and had joined the group over at the forest edge, I stretched my hand out to Marlowe.

‘It’s a pleasure to meet one of my forestal kin.’

Marlowe turned around. ‘Frostthorn?’ Surprise sounded through her voice.

I blinked. This time there was no denying. She knew me, right? This couldn’t be a coincidence anymore.

‘I mean, uhm… You look a lot like… Juniper, Juniper Frostthorn. You wouldn’t just happen to know him? How has he been?’

Narrowing my eyes a little, still a little weary, I explained ‘Yes, uhm… Juniper’s my uncle. He’s doing well, he’s been approved for the Silvean council recently.’

‘Oh, I had no idea. Give him my regards.’ She kept staring at me for a little while, then got her eyes loose and clapped her hands together.-

‘All right, it’s about time I give you a little introduction to my class- before you fall back to sleep.’ She chuckled. ‘Let’s keep this short; I mainly teach combat here at the Academy- and I don’t mean the Magical type- Don’t expect me to go easy on ya, I want you to be prepared for any and all dangers you can find out there and be ready when you find yourself stuck in a situation when Magic won’t be at your disposal and you’ll have to fend it off on your-...’

I got a poke in my ribs again, and met Iklím’s curious look from over her glasses when I turned sideways to see who it came from.

‘Ye speak Elvish?’ She hissed.

‘Yeah- I mean, all fairies on Silvea do, I went to an elven school. You?’

‘Not a word.’

‘-... and thus next class will be devoted to familiarizing yourselves with a weapon that suits your Magic abilities. I will expect you to have one by then. Now, off you go, take some time together before your next class or something, I’ve got another group of students coming up.’

After her short speech, Marlowe took off faster than any one of us had time to ask questions and climbed into the trees with an ease that I had come to expect from the wood elves, but that was still impressive every single time I saw it. We said our goodbyes to the second cycles’, who decided to read up on their next class together before it started, but only after Muñoz had assured Iklím that she would go see the school nurse. And so it was left to Abrish, Iklím and me again.

I patiently waited until everyone else was gone, before I decided to ask the thing that had been on my mind for a while. I took a deep breath and just blurted it out- ‘Am I the only one who is a little concerned about that weapon that professor Marlowe was talking about? I remember professor Mekanis saying that was Bethoran’s thing?’

Abrish reached for her bag. ‘Professor Mekanis?’

‘Father of a friend, he teaches at Bethoran.’

‘Right. Well, I wouldn’t worry about it too much, hon, it’s likely just as professor Marlowe explained- they want us to be able to fend for ourselves in case we ever run out of Magic in a dangerous situation.’

Iklím supported her chin with her hand, as if deep in thought. ‘Wha’ I’m curious about- if they wan’us to pick up a weapon…-’

 

‘-who are they expectin’ us to fight?’

𓆩✧𓆪

Part 4 - *coming soon*