JOURNEY INTO THE REALM: The Spell Master (Journey into the Realm Series) (11 page)

I took my seat in class just as the first bell rang. Janie and Ellie were already immersed in conversation.

“What are you two talking about?” I interrupted, eager to put thoughts of elemental attacks out of my mind.

“Just how ridiculous my ability class is,” Ellie remarked, her lips forming a taut pout. “My teacher expects me to be a master at my fire ability. She says that an elemental power is supposed to come naturally. But I’m not an Element fairy. I’m an elfen, and it takes time for elves to learn their powers. I’m tired of being compared to creatures who have nothing to do with us.”

“It does seem odd that she would place you at such a high level,” I agreed. “I mean, you just received your power a few months ago.”

“I know,” Ellie stressed, shaking her head. “It’s difficult, being thought of as something you’re not.”

Thoughts of my secret drifted in and out of my mind. “I know all too well what that feels like,” I sympathized.

“We had better quiet down. Lady Celine just walked in,” Janie warned, putting an end to our conversation.

“Why is she so late?” I wondered.

“Who knows?” Ellie and Janie both replied.

Lady Celine strode quickly to her desk without uttering a word. A few moments passed before she looked up and addressed the class. I wondered why teachers were always so late to class. I liked talking with my friends, but it was still strange.

“I’m sorry that I’m late today, class. I was in a meeting with the other teachers. I cannot tell you what it was about, so don’t ask. Now, let’s begin,” she said.

Everyone remained silent as she began the topic for the day. I think we were all a little startled by her statement. What concerned the rest of the faculty and was so distressing that Lady Celine couldn’t tell her students? It was only the third day of school and something important was already happening. Whether the importance fell into the category of positive or negative was a mystery I probably wouldn’t know the answer to anytime soon.

“Today’s topic concerns the single worst event in elfin history – the occurrence that every Magical Realm suffered through.” She paused. “The Dark Times.”

Muffled gasps came from the students; the sharp intakes of breath gave me goosebumps. With a shiver, I began to rub my arms, trying to rid myself of the chill.

I had heard about the Dark Times only briefly from Blaire, the elfen who watched over Tavis’s brothers. She was Birchwood’s personal “maid” because she didn’t have a magical ability and she looked different than other elves. Blaire had been a great help to me in finding Zora. Before she gave me the Mood Diamond I used to connect with my sister, she had mentioned a few details concerning the Dark Times.

“The Dark Times began shortly after the new Realms were created,” Lady Celine told us. “It was a time when goblins, trolls, and dark spirits arose and tried to take over our Realms. Most believe they came from mistakes in the magic that created the Realms. A magical consequence, if you will, for creating such powerful worlds. At first, the fairies, mermaids, and elves did not understand the threat the horrible creatures posed. It was too late to stop them when they finally struck. They numbered in the thousands, led by one powerful dark fairy.”

“Who?” I asked.

“Mab, the sister of Queen Titania.”

“Why would the High Queen’s sister lead an army against her own blood?” Janie wondered.

Lady Celine’s expression darkened. “Those who are hungry for power ignore all family ties.”

Ellie cringed and bowed her head. Before I could ask her what was wrong, Lady Celine was speaking again.

“Every good creature joined together to defeat the dark beings. Fae, elfin, mermaid, dwarf, gnome, and dragon. They created the strongest armies they could muster and fought back.”

“It took many years for the Dark Times to end. Any dark creatures left alive were sent to the Dark Realm.”

“What’s that?” I inquired.

“A Realm within the Golden Fairy Realm. It was created inside the Golden Fairy Realm so that the evil ones could never escape. The Dark Realm is heavily guarded by the most powerful Golden fairies imaginable. There, the evil creatures spend their days in darkness, along with the High Queen’s sister, but that is a tale for another class, not one concerning elfin history.”

“Could they ever escape?” asked another student.

Lady Celine shook her head. “No…it’s not possible.”

But the way she responded made me wonder. She didn’t sound very sure of herself.

Lady Celine told us in closing: “Experts predict that if the current war continues much longer, the death toll will be higher than it was when the Dark Times ended. This is a very frightening idea for both elves and Element fairies to comprehend. We must all hope and pray that this war ends sooner rather than later.”

Her closing words left the class speechless. The war was about to be worse than the Dark Times, a horrifying occurrence that was more history than memory for most creatures alive today. But soon the terror of such a time could become a reality again if this war continued to escalate.

I remembered Blaire saying something similar to Lady Celine’s statement about the death toll and the similarity between today’s war and the Dark Times. She had also said that my secret had the power to end the torment. But how? How could I stop something I knew nothing about? And how could something I knew nothing about stop
that
? I needed to
know
my secret. I needed real information on this war and my supposed role in the conflict. Otherwise, nothing would change.

I wondered how Zora could be so selfish. If my secret could help end the war, she should tell me about it. She should want the war to end.

But what if my secret meant an end to me? Would it put me in that much danger? Was that why Zora didn’t want to say anything?

***

My ability class went much better than history. By better, I mean less frightening and confusing. Lord Clark put us into groups according to ability. He said it was time we started learning to control our powers. This unit would take us a long time to finish, probably close to the whole year of our schooling. Learning to master our abilities would be tough at first but become considerably easier along the way.

I was the only elf with my specific ability, so Lord Clark told me to join a group with abilities similar to mine – elves who could show their own memories to others. This was Aaliyah’s ability as well. I remembered the memories of Zora she had shared with me before I rescued her. It wasn’t exactly my ability, but close enough. Both had something to do with memories and past experiences.

I had two elves in my group: Janie and an elf named Reid with pale hair and a piercing green gaze. Glad that I had a close friend in my group, I eagerly awaited Lord Clark’s instructions. Fortunately, he came over to our group first.

To begin our lesson, he told us to think of something that would calm us down and clear our minds. I chose to think of the orchard, but somehow Lord Clark sensed that it wasn’t an effective thought – something to do with my facial expression. It had to be a thought that relaxed me, took me away to another place altogether, a different state.

My thoughts ultimately drifted to Nathan. When I thought about him, I felt oddly at peace. Life was just life. Days were just normal days. My life held balance, with no secret to worry about and no fire fairy to fear. Lord Clark said that my mind was now cleared.

Once he approved of our thoughts, he told us to imagine a big wall that blocked our powers. That way, we could stop ourselves from using them whenever we wanted. I imagined a large brick wall, and it made me think of Jacqueline, my guard at the palace in Tarlore. She had the ability to create any kind of wall to defend herself or others.

Then Lord Clark told me to go back to my other thought because thinking of Tarlore was distracting me.

I imagined the wall again and did my best to keep my thoughts trained on Nathan. It wasn’t hard to focus on him, and the realization worried me. I wondered if I should have been thinking of Stellan instead. But I knew that thinking of him wouldn’t relax my mind. That realization worried me even more.

“Has everyone imagined their wall?” Lord Clark asked.

“Yes,” we all replied.

“All right, good. Now I am going to go to each of you and instead of actually using your powers on me, keep the wall up and do your best to keep yourself from sharing your ability with me.”

“Who’s first?” Reid asked.

“You are,” Lord Clark told him. “Close your eyes and keep that wall up. Use the strength of your mind to control it,” he instructed.

Lord Clark placed his hands into Reid’s and closed his eyes as well. I watched for a few minutes as Lord Clark continued to remind Reid to keep the wall up. Finally, Reid dropped his hands and started to pant heavily.

“That’s difficult,” he expressed.

“Yes. Controlling your power takes a lot of mental energy at first. It will feel like physical exhaustion, but it is simply overworking your mind. You did well,” he praised.

Reid smiled. “Thanks, Lord Clark.”

“Now for Janie. Remember to keep your wall up,” Lord Clark said, as he placed his hands into hers.

Unfortunately, Janie had to stop very soon after starting. She was breathing irregularly and her eyelids drooped. “That was bad,” she said.

“It’s different for everyone, Janie. You will progress in due time,” Lord Clark assured her with a comforting smile. He turned to me. “You’re next.”

I took a deep breath and tried to stop thinking about how nervous I was. I held Nathan’s image in my mind and then imagined the wall. I closed my eyes as Lord Clark placed his hands under mine. I could feel the pictures trying to form, but I kept the wall in place as best I could. I let it slip a few times, but soon got a hold of it again, which involved holding my breath many times to keep my strength, leaving me feeling slightly lightheaded.

“All right, Ramsey, that’s enough. I don’t want you exhausting yourself over this,” he said.

I nodded and opened my eyes. He was grinning from pointy ear to pointy ear. “Amazing control, Ramsey. You just need to work out the small issues and soon you will control your power on command.”

“I can’t believe how easy it was,” I said.

“Like I said, it’s different for everyone. But I should warn you that controlling your power may be more difficult outside the classroom. I will be able to help with this. With practice, I don’t see any problems.”

I nodded and smiled at the praise. “Thanks.”

“You’re very welcome,” Lord Clark replied, as he departed to work with another group.

Janie and Reid were staring at me with wide eyes.

“What?” I asked, suddenly feeling like my old shy self again. I tugged awkwardly at my clothes and dropped my gaze to the floor.

“How did you do that?” Reid wondered.

I gulped, my throat dry. “Do what?”

“You controlled your power for a whole five minutes! It was incredible!” Janie said, throwing her arms around me in congratulations.

“That long? I didn’t even know that much time had passed,” I admitted, completely awestruck. I was so shocked that I forgot to hug her back, which would have been awkward had I been paying attention. But all I could think about was my success…and how Nathan had helped me achieve it.

“You were great,” Reid added, giving me a pat on the shoulder.

Maybe being special wasn’t so bad after all. For a brief moment, I wondered if my secret affected my ability somehow. Then I threw the thought away; seeing others’ memories couldn’t end a war.

But what could?
That
was the question.

***

I was ready to drop by the time class ended, and I was almost falling asleep on my feet when I walked into self-defense class. Nathan and the gang were waiting for me near the back of the gym wall. I waved slowly and then made my way inch by inch over to where they stood. My feet felt like bricks from the wall I had rebuilt in my mind several times during ability class.

“Ramsey, you look like the dead!” Tavis remarked.

“Thanks, Tavis,” I muttered.

“He’s right, Ramsey. You look a little beaten up. Are you okay?” Aimee asked, letting her healer’s intuition show.

“Yeah, I just worked really hard during my ability class today.” I wobbled a little.

Nathan put his hand on my shoulder to steady me. “Have you been riding horses too fast again?” He smiled and winked.

“What?” Aimee asked.

“You had to be there. And yes, I rode my horse very fast today. We were in a hurry,” I said with a smile.

“Ramsey, you should be careful. You’re not strong enough to handle so much,” Nathan said in a serious tone. Then he laughed.

“That’s not funny to someone who is dead tired, Nathan. I may have to hurt you,” I warned.

“Only if you can catch me. My guess is that you can’t. You look like you can hardly walk.” He laughed again.

“Stop it, Nathan. That’s not nice,” Aimee told him.

“Ramsey knows I like to have fun,” Nathan replied.

I pushed him in the chest, which was actually like a poke because I had no strength left in me.

“Let me heal you, Ramsey,” Aimee offered.

“You can do that?” I asked.

“I
am
a healer,” she reminded me.

“Yeah, but can you really give me my strength back?” I asked.

“Sure I can,” she said. “It’s no different than healing an injury.”

“Then go ahead,” I encouraged. “Hurry, before Lady Brianna starts class.”

“All right, hold still,” Aimee instructed.

She placed the tips of her fingers on my forehead and closed her eyes. I felt my face grow warm as she healed me. I soon felt my strength returning, like sleeping without closing my eyes and waking up to feel recharged. It was the greatest feeling, and different from the healing I had received in Tarlore when I was close to death. This healing felt
good
.

“There,” Aimee said when she was finished. “How do you feel?”

“Alive,” I replied happily.

“Good,” everyone agreed.

“Does that mean you can catch me now?” Nathan asked.

I grinned mischievously. “Definitely.”

But before I had the chance, Lady Brianna whisked into the room and stood before the class. She looked out of breath, and I could see sweat forming on her brow. Another late start to class and another late teacher. What was going on?

“Sorry I’m late, class,” she apologized, but gave no explanation, just like Lady Celine. “Anyway, today is a workout day,” she told us. “I will be putting your strength to the test and making you stronger as well. Then you can actually use the foil without huffing and puffing the entire time.”

We ran sprints, lifted bricks and bundles of wood, and performed other exhausting drills. The work was draining, but I knew it was only helping me grow stronger. Lady Brianna was right. We all needed to get in shape. Since elves weren’t naturally strong, we had a lot of work to do. Lady Brianna said we would have these practices three times a week. Most of the class was not looking forward to it, myself included, despite its necessity.

I couldn’t receive any more of Aimee’s healing once class was done. She was even more exhausted than I was.

My introduction to other beings class was at least interesting enough to keep me awake. Lord Asher told us about dragon basics and gave everyone in the class a sheet of twenty facts to study. We would need it to complete our first project correctly. I was glad to learn so much during class. I needed all the help I could get for when the eggs finally hatched.

After class, I caught up with Nathan and we rode our horses home together again. It felt nice to ride each day. It gave me a chance to think about things while still enjoying the beauty of the Realm. I felt free when I rode Marigold. The continuous pounding of hooves soothed me. The speed at which we moved was exciting and made me feel more alive than I ever had by simply walking.

I wondered what it would feel like to fly atop a dragon, the rush it would bring. The thought made me smile, anticipating the feeling.

“What are you thinking about?” Nathan asked on the way back to Birchwood.

“My dragon egg. I really hope it hatches soon. Today’s class has gotten me even more excited.”

“How do you know when it will hatch?” he asked.

“I found a crack in it today, so it should be very close.”

Nathan grinned, and a warm feeling spread through me. His smile was like liquid gold. “That’s great, Ramsey.”

I nodded, trying to stop myself from comparing Nathan to precious metals. “So when are you going to teach me your fabulous fencing skills?”

“How does tomorrow after school sound?” he asked, sort of shyly, which I couldn’t help but love. No one was ever shy around me. I was usually the timid one, while everyone else was bold and outgoing. Seeing Nathan blush made me feel like we were equals, like I was worth something.

“Sounds perfect,” I said. “And once I have mastered the skill, I can teach you the best way to ride.”

He winced. “I don’t know if
mastered
is the right word but…”

“Nathan!” I cried.

“What?” he asked, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m just being a realist.”

“Oh, so that’s what we’re doing now? Being realistic?” I asked. When he nodded, I added, “Then what I said about teaching you the best way to ride…Well, I really meant you’ll learn the mediocre way because I don’t think you can handle the best.”

Our jibes continued as he walked me home. When he left me standing at my doorstep, feeling happy and at peace, I recalled how even in this short time, Nathan was making my life less stressful. Was it really so bad that I liked spending time with him?

Then I remembered the desire I sometimes felt to be closer to him, the way his eyes took my breath away and held me frozen in time and blind to reality. I realized just how guilty I felt as I thought of Nathan more and Stellan less. Even
I
knew that wasn’t something I should be proud of.

Even so, I couldn’t get Nathan’s beautiful eyes out of my mind. The striking emerald, the sparkling silver. Just when I thought I could control myself, he would flash me that feel-good smile, and I was a mess.