Mel stomped all the way up the stairs to the third floor of the main building at Falden. She felt a little silly, but couldn’t make herself stop. Her anger was just flowing over and she needed to express it in some way or another. Stomping her feet against the stairs felt like a pretty innocent way of releasing that built up tension.
When she walked into the hallway leading to the lecture halls, Mel heard Professor Dereey’s voice coming through the walls. The door was closed to the room, but Mel didn’t hesitate when she swung it open wide, revealing a full class of students who Mel didn’t recognize.
Professor Dereey turned to the door with anger written all over his face, and Mel felt like he was about to yell at her. She steeled herself and grabbed a hold of the doorknob, twisting it in her hand. She wouldn't budge.
But the professor’s face softened at the sight of Mel and all he did was let out a long, deep sigh. He turned back to the classroom and continued speaking to the students as if Mel wasn’t standing there with the door swung open. Many of the students seemed to have a hard time concentrating on Professor Dereey and kept their gazes on Mel instead.
“And so that concludes the known spells available to water singers and if you would like to learn more about experiments in the art of water, you can check out this book on advanced water magic. It is written by a scholar who studied here at Falden about a hundred years back. But since we haven’t had much progress in new expressions of magic, it still contains most of the useful spells, plus some additions.”
Professor Dereey held the book in his hand and observed the spine with reverence. He placed it down on top of the desk in front of the class and walked around to the blackboard. He picked up the cloth and began wiping the board clean of his notes.
“I will see you again tomorrow for the last class of the semester,” he said. “Make sure to focus on your own expression of magic for the final test, and remember that magic is an extension of your soul. Don’t go slacking around just throwing balls of fire from your weapon. Focus on a wide range of spells and practice them as if they’re your own legs you’re learning how to walk with.”
Professor Dereey turned back to the class and whipped the cloth in the air, throwing out a wind of white speckles that flew toward his students. The dust from the chalk mingled with the air and created a tiny dust cloud that floated in front of him for a second before they descended toward the floor.
“Class, dismissed.”
The students picked up their notebooks and pens and stood up from their desks. They walked toward Mel and she quickly entered through the doorway, standing to the side as several students gave her dirty looks as they passed on their way out. Professor Dereey lingered in the classroom, picking around aimlessly among his belongings.
He arranged papers in neat little piles and folded the blackboard cloth in a square. Mel thought he was just doing these things to look busy. When the last student had left the room, Mel closed the door behind them and walked up to Professor Dereey.
He met her gaze and straightened his back. His balding head shone in the midday sunlight streaming in from the window and he adjusted his spectacles further up the ridge of his nose. His look wasn’t of anger like it had always been since before her final test, though. Something seemed to have changed in him in regards to Mel.
“Why didn’t I pass?” Mel asked.
His expression was calm, and he glanced out the window to the side of Mel. His gaze took on that far-away look.
“Sometimes students don’t pass,” he said. “It happens.”
Mel balled her hands into fists and felt her anger surging once more. “No, it didn’t just happen. It happened because you treated me unfairly. None of the other students had such an advanced test as me and they all passed their tests. Why did you do this to me?”
Professor Dereey licked his dry lips and looked back at Mel, meeting her gaze. “Sometimes we have no power over the things we want. Sometimes we need to accept that we cannot choose the outcome.”
“What? What does that even mean?”
“It means that what has happened has happened,” he said. “Neither you nor I can change that. I’m sorry, Melissa. But you will just have to accept this.”
“But I can’t accept it. It’s my dream to become a mage smith, to get to work at the dragon forge.”
“Yes,” Professor Dereey said. “But the forge was blown up and the mage smiths died, Melissa. Maybe it’s better to not be a mage smith right now. Maybe it was a good thing that you didn’t pass. Someone might be looking out for you. Perhaps the mother is.”
Mel shook her head. “In that case, I want the mother to piss off.”
Professor Dereey gave her a dirty look. “Just go and do something else with your life. Leave Aldrion and go back to the valley. You’ll be safe there from everything that’s happening here.”
The professor tucked his piles of paper into his briefcase and walked to the door. “Don’t make yourself an enemy to the powers in Aldrion. They will come for you, eventually. No one can stop that.”
Mel swallowed hard, but felt ultimately that Professor Dereey didn’t understand. She wasn’t ready to give up on her dreams. She had gotten so far. She had come all the way to Aldrion and studied at Falden. She couldn’t give up now. If the black dragon and the attacks hadn’t driven her away from this place, this minor setback wouldn’t either.
Professor Dereey opened the door and left Mel alone in the lecture hall. She sighed and felt herself deflate a little. Hadn’t she come here to find out why?
But the professor had refused to tell her anything substantial. He had refused to tell her anything except that she should leave this place. And Mel knew she couldn’t do that. She wasn’t ready to give up on Falden, the dragon forge, or Aldrion. She had invested too much, and now she wanted to see it through.
#
Mel got back to the dorms a while later and entered her and Gabriella’s room. Soon to be just Gabs’ room after Mel moved out. She wondered if they would force her out if she didn’t leave on her own. Would they come in the night and drag her out of her bed and leave her outside of the Falden gates?
Mel wondered what would happen if she never told Gabs she got kicked out and just stayed here. Lying to her for at least a couple of weeks about what had happened. Then she could pretend it wasn’t true and didn’t have to face the consequences yet. She wanted that very much, but ultimately knew she needed to act differently.
“Hi,” Gabs said.
She was sitting hunched over her desk, working on something Mel couldn’t see. Mel walked up to her desk and placed the five silver coins on the wooden surface next to Gabs’ hand. She looked up and met Mel’s gaze for a second before Mel looked away.
“What happened?” Gabs asked.
“I paid the rent for the dorm room for next semester,” Mel said, sitting down on Gabs’ bed next to her. “But Greta told me I got kicked out.”
Gabs pulled her chair out from her desk and turned to Mel. “What?”
“Yeah, she said I wasn’t allowed to attend Falden next semester. That it happens sometimes, that students get kicked out. I got angry and decided to go and confront Professor Dereey, but it didn’t go like I thought it would.”
Mel looked down at her hands in her lap, feeling shame coloring her face red.
“What did he say?”
“He didn’t answer my questions. I kept asking him why, but he ignored me and said I should leave Aldrion and that perhaps this was for the best. Maybe it wasn’t a good time and that the mother was looking out for me. But I don’t know, something felt strange in the way he said it. In the way he acted. He was just too nice, you know. Much too nice for being Professor Dereey.”
Gabs shook her head. “I don’t understand why. They’ve been so strange about this whole thing. Not letting you take the test with the rest of us and now not passing you. I just don’t get it. What are they trying to do?”
Mel still didn’t meet Gabs’ gaze, but kept her eyes locked on her hands. “It was like he wanted me to actually leave Aldrion, not just suggesting it. I felt like he was urging me to give up on my dreams. He told me a lot of mage smiths died in the dragon forge explosion and that maybe it was better not to be a mage smith right now. I know it might sound strange, but I think he was warning me about something.”
“Okay, but do you feel like you want to give up?” Gabs asked. “Do you want to leave Aldrion now?”
Mel shook her head and lifted her gaze, meeting Gabs’ eyes. They were filled with worry and sadness. Mel’s heart slowed, and she felt like she wanted to throw up. She didn’t like to be looked upon with pity. She didn’t want to be this victim.
“No,” Mel said. “I want to stay and attend the next semester. I want to see the dragon forge and I want to work as a mage smith. I feel like I can’t leave yet, or maybe I never want to leave. I don’t want to go back to Windbrook at least.”
“Then what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I can’t change their minds when I don’t know why I was kicked out. Maybe I should go and pressure Headmaster Lorken, but the thing is that he really seemed like he didn’t like me during the final test. And I don’t know, Professor Dereey basically told me to stay away from the powers of Aldrion, whatever that means. I just don’t know how to show them I’m good enough. That I deserve a shot at becoming a mage smith.”
Gabs wrinkled her nose and brushed the notebook closed on her desk. She put it among a stack of papers and put the pen back in its stand. Then she fiddled with her hands in her lap for a moment.
“Maybe what I need is to bring something revolutionary back to Aldrion,” Mel said. “Prove I can help in the war and that I’m on Aldrion’s side, not the void’s. I think it might be time to go out into the wastes now. We planned to go in a few days anyway and I feel like the answers could be in the ruins of Bahlan, even for this problem.”
“What exactly do you think we will find there that’s going to help you convince Headmaster Lorken to let you attend the next semester?” Gabs asked.
“I’m not sure,” Mel said. “I think perhaps information about my great grandfather or his ancestors or the people of the wastes. Maybe even information about double imbues. But I’m not sure. I just know I have no other avenues to walk right now. This seems to be the last hope for me to get into the next semester and find out the truth for myself.”
Gabs nodded. “I’m a bit nervous. Sometimes I think I should never have agreed to go with you out there. I know I probably shouldn’t say I have second thoughts. But I keep thinking; What if it’s not worth it? What if we die out there for nothing?”
“Yeah, that’s possible. But we won’t know until we try to and I think if we are three people going out there together, then maybe we can make it. Plus Austin seems to be a pretty okay elemental warrior, and I met some people in the wastes that might help us too. I get it if you don’t want to come with us anymore, but I hope you will. We could really use your help out there.”
Gabs nodded, looking down at her hands again. She weaved her fingers together and then released them. “Yeah, I’ll come. I just need us to be prepared.”
“We will be,” Mel said. “I’m in this one hundred percent now. I will make sure we’re prepared this time.”
Mel stomped all the way up the stairs to the third floor of the main building at Falden. She felt a little silly, but couldn’t make herself stop. Her anger was just flowing over and she needed to express it in some way or another. Stomping her feet against the stairs felt like a pretty innocent way of releasing that built up tension.
When she walked into the hallway leading to the lecture halls, Mel heard Professor Dereey’s voice coming through the walls. The door was closed to the room, but Mel didn’t hesitate when she swung it open wide, revealing a full class of students who Mel didn’t recognize.
Professor Dereey turned to the door with anger written all over his face, and Mel felt like he was about to yell at her. She steeled herself and grabbed a hold of the doorknob, twisting it in her hand. She wouldn't budge.
But the professor’s face softened at the sight of Mel and all he did was let out a long, deep sigh. He turned back to the classroom and continued speaking to the students as if Mel wasn’t standing there with the door swung open. Many of the students seemed to have a hard time concentrating on Professor Dereey and kept their gazes on Mel instead.
“And so that concludes the known spells available to water singers and if you would like to learn more about experiments in the art of water, you can check out this book on advanced water magic. It is written by a scholar who studied here at Falden about a hundred years back. But since we haven’t had much progress in new expressions of magic, it still contains most of the useful spells, plus some additions.”
Professor Dereey held the book in his hand and observed the spine with reverence. He placed it down on top of the desk in front of the class and walked around to the blackboard. He picked up the cloth and began wiping the board clean of his notes.
“I will see you again tomorrow for the last class of the semester,” he said. “Make sure to focus on your own expression of magic for the final test, and remember that magic is an extension of your soul. Don’t go slacking around just throwing balls of fire from your weapon. Focus on a wide range of spells and practice them as if they’re your own legs you’re learning how to walk with.”
Professor Dereey turned back to the class and whipped the cloth in the air, throwing out a wind of white speckles that flew toward his students. The dust from the chalk mingled with the air and created a tiny dust cloud that floated in front of him for a second before they descended toward the floor.
“Class, dismissed.”
The students picked up their notebooks and pens and stood up from their desks. They walked toward Mel and she quickly entered through the doorway, standing to the side as several students gave her dirty looks as they passed on their way out. Professor Dereey lingered in the classroom, picking around aimlessly among his belongings.
He arranged papers in neat little piles and folded the blackboard cloth in a square. Mel thought he was just doing these things to look busy. When the last student had left the room, Mel closed the door behind them and walked up to Professor Dereey.
He met her gaze and straightened his back. His balding head shone in the midday sunlight streaming in from the window and he adjusted his spectacles further up the ridge of his nose. His look wasn’t of anger like it had always been since before her final test, though. Something seemed to have changed in him in regards to Mel.
“Why didn’t I pass?” Mel asked.
His expression was calm, and he glanced out the window to the side of Mel. His gaze took on that far-away look.
“Sometimes students don’t pass,” he said. “It happens.”
Mel balled her hands into fists and felt her anger surging once more. “No, it didn’t just happen. It happened because you treated me unfairly. None of the other students had such an advanced test as me and they all passed their tests. Why did you do this to me?”
Professor Dereey licked his dry lips and looked back at Mel, meeting her gaze. “Sometimes we have no power over the things we want. Sometimes we need to accept that we cannot choose the outcome.”
“What? What does that even mean?”
“It means that what has happened has happened,” he said. “Neither you nor I can change that. I’m sorry, Melissa. But you will just have to accept this.”
“But I can’t accept it. It’s my dream to become a mage smith, to get to work at the dragon forge.”
“Yes,” Professor Dereey said. “But the forge was blown up and the mage smiths died, Melissa. Maybe it’s better to not be a mage smith right now. Maybe it was a good thing that you didn’t pass. Someone might be looking out for you. Perhaps the mother is.”
Mel shook her head. “In that case, I want the mother to piss off.”
Professor Dereey gave her a dirty look. “Just go and do something else with your life. Leave Aldrion and go back to the valley. You’ll be safe there from everything that’s happening here.”
The professor tucked his piles of paper into his briefcase and walked to the door. “Don’t make yourself an enemy to the powers in Aldrion. They will come for you, eventually. No one can stop that.”
Mel swallowed hard, but felt ultimately that Professor Dereey didn’t understand. She wasn’t ready to give up on her dreams. She had gotten so far. She had come all the way to Aldrion and studied at Falden. She couldn’t give up now. If the black dragon and the attacks hadn’t driven her away from this place, this minor setback wouldn’t either.
Professor Dereey opened the door and left Mel alone in the lecture hall. She sighed and felt herself deflate a little. Hadn’t she come here to find out why?
But the professor had refused to tell her anything substantial. He had refused to tell her anything except that she should leave this place. And Mel knew she couldn’t do that. She wasn’t ready to give up on Falden, the dragon forge, or Aldrion. She had invested too much, and now she wanted to see it through.
#
Mel got back to the dorms a while later and entered her and Gabriella’s room. Soon to be just Gabs’ room after Mel moved out. She wondered if they would force her out if she didn’t leave on her own. Would they come in the night and drag her out of her bed and leave her outside of the Falden gates?
Mel wondered what would happen if she never told Gabs she got kicked out and just stayed here. Lying to her for at least a couple of weeks about what had happened. Then she could pretend it wasn’t true and didn’t have to face the consequences yet. She wanted that very much, but ultimately knew she needed to act differently.
“Hi,” Gabs said.
She was sitting hunched over her desk, working on something Mel couldn’t see. Mel walked up to her desk and placed the five silver coins on the wooden surface next to Gabs’ hand. She looked up and met Mel’s gaze for a second before Mel looked away.
“What happened?” Gabs asked.
“I paid the rent for the dorm room for next semester,” Mel said, sitting down on Gabs’ bed next to her. “But Greta told me I got kicked out.”
Gabs pulled her chair out from her desk and turned to Mel. “What?”
“Yeah, she said I wasn’t allowed to attend Falden next semester. That it happens sometimes, that students get kicked out. I got angry and decided to go and confront Professor Dereey, but it didn’t go like I thought it would.”
Mel looked down at her hands in her lap, feeling shame coloring her face red.
“What did he say?”
“He didn’t answer my questions. I kept asking him why, but he ignored me and said I should leave Aldrion and that perhaps this was for the best. Maybe it wasn’t a good time and that the mother was looking out for me. But I don’t know, something felt strange in the way he said it. In the way he acted. He was just too nice, you know. Much too nice for being Professor Dereey.”
Gabs shook her head. “I don’t understand why. They’ve been so strange about this whole thing. Not letting you take the test with the rest of us and now not passing you. I just don’t get it. What are they trying to do?”
Mel still didn’t meet Gabs’ gaze, but kept her eyes locked on her hands. “It was like he wanted me to actually leave Aldrion, not just suggesting it. I felt like he was urging me to give up on my dreams. He told me a lot of mage smiths died in the dragon forge explosion and that maybe it was better not to be a mage smith right now. I know it might sound strange, but I think he was warning me about something.”
“Okay, but do you feel like you want to give up?” Gabs asked. “Do you want to leave Aldrion now?”
Mel shook her head and lifted her gaze, meeting Gabs’ eyes. They were filled with worry and sadness. Mel’s heart slowed, and she felt like she wanted to throw up. She didn’t like to be looked upon with pity. She didn’t want to be this victim.
“No,” Mel said. “I want to stay and attend the next semester. I want to see the dragon forge and I want to work as a mage smith. I feel like I can’t leave yet, or maybe I never want to leave. I don’t want to go back to Windbrook at least.”
“Then what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I can’t change their minds when I don’t know why I was kicked out. Maybe I should go and pressure Headmaster Lorken, but the thing is that he really seemed like he didn’t like me during the final test. And I don’t know, Professor Dereey basically told me to stay away from the powers of Aldrion, whatever that means. I just don’t know how to show them I’m good enough. That I deserve a shot at becoming a mage smith.”
Gabs wrinkled her nose and brushed the notebook closed on her desk. She put it among a stack of papers and put the pen back in its stand. Then she fiddled with her hands in her lap for a moment.
“Maybe what I need is to bring something revolutionary back to Aldrion,” Mel said. “Prove I can help in the war and that I’m on Aldrion’s side, not the void’s. I think it might be time to go out into the wastes now. We planned to go in a few days anyway and I feel like the answers could be in the ruins of Bahlan, even for this problem.”
“What exactly do you think we will find there that’s going to help you convince Headmaster Lorken to let you attend the next semester?” Gabs asked.
“I’m not sure,” Mel said. “I think perhaps information about my great grandfather or his ancestors or the people of the wastes. Maybe even information about double imbues. But I’m not sure. I just know I have no other avenues to walk right now. This seems to be the last hope for me to get into the next semester and find out the truth for myself.”
Gabs nodded. “I’m a bit nervous. Sometimes I think I should never have agreed to go with you out there. I know I probably shouldn’t say I have second thoughts. But I keep thinking; What if it’s not worth it? What if we die out there for nothing?”
“Yeah, that’s possible. But we won’t know until we try to and I think if we are three people going out there together, then maybe we can make it. Plus Austin seems to be a pretty okay elemental warrior, and I met some people in the wastes that might help us too. I get it if you don’t want to come with us anymore, but I hope you will. We could really use your help out there.”
Gabs nodded, looking down at her hands again. She weaved her fingers together and then released them. “Yeah, I’ll come. I just need us to be prepared.”
“We will be,” Mel said. “I’m in this one hundred percent now. I will make sure we’re prepared this time.”
