The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin (Books of Unexpected Enlightenment Book 1) (48 page)

Wrath coursed through her. Rachel glared at the transformed math tutor. Her fingers curled into fists. In a burst of anger, she pursed her lips and whistled. Pain flared, blinding her briefly. Yet, she succeeded. Blue sparkles swept through the air and danced around the dragon. Her enchantment was weak. It only held the great beast motionless for less than a second before it tossed its horned head and shrugged off two more golden bonds.

An instant was all the dean needed.

“
Muria! Muria! Muria!
” Dean Moth shouted, free to release her restraining cantrip and conjure. Three times, she drew her hand down, fingertips pressed together. Above her head, her golden eagle cawed and fanned its wings. The undersides of its outer flight feathers were silver and glittered in the sunlight.

A bolt of lightning woke into existence, striking the dragon, who screamed in pain and outrage. Thunder ripped the air, which sizzled and smelt of ozone. Rachel gawked, tremendously impressed. Conjuring electricity was extraordinarily difficult.

The dragon’s limbs jerked randomly. It howled in pain.

After the lightning, crackling white fire traced with gold struck the beast. Rachel gasped. Beside her, Gaius’s jaw dropped. They glanced at each other, shrugging. Neither of them had ever heard of anyone conjuring Eternal Flame. The dragon screeched, a horrendous, shrill sound. Its flesh scorched.

“That’s odd.” Gaius’s brows drew together nervously. “Didn’t the dean say the Word of Becoming three times?”

A
whistling
made them look up. A meteor plunged toward the earth, its flaming tail burning behind it. Gaius scooped Rachel into his arms and bolted into the woods.

Rachel curled against him. She could feel his muscles straining, his heart thundering in his chest. She clung to him, her arms around his neck, and felt simultaneously terrified, embarrassed, and pleased. Over his shoulder, she could see the duel. The dragon looked up an instant before the meteor smashed it to the ground.

Then the shock wave hit.

The force of it lifted Gaius and threw the two of them five yards across the forest floor. He tried to hold onto her, but Rachel flew free of his arms. As the ground rushed at her, she ducked her head and somersaulted, rolling across the dry leaves. Rocks stuck into her back, jarring her spine. It hurt so very, very much, but she kept rolling. When she came up onto her feet, Gaius was lying on his stomach, spitting out dirt and leaves.

Behind them, the great black dragon lay splayed beneath the steaming fallen rock, twitching. As they watched, it shimmered and turned back into an unconscious woman, one leg under the meteor. Untying the belt that had held her to the tree, the dean moved her hands rapidly, shouting out cantrip after cantrip. Golden bands, and sparkles of three different shades of blue encircled the math tutor. Then, Dean Moth collapsed, falling to her knees, panting.

Other tutors arrived, surrounding the unconscious Dr. Mordeau and adding additional restraints.

Rachel and Gaius rose unsteadily to their feet. They took a few ragged breaths and brushed pine needles off their clothing. Gaius took an oak leaf out of Rachel’s hair. To the south, through the trees, Siggy, the princess, and Joy came tumbling out of Drake Hall.

Above them, Lucky darted joyously through the air.

“I’ll be right back!” Rachel shouted to Gaius and ran to meet them.

“Are you lot all right?” she cried upon reaching them. Then, she leaned over and panted, her whole body aching.

The princess’s face was almost gray, but she gave Rachel a shaky smile. “I am not at my best, but I’ll do.”

“The princess saved my life!” cried Joy, jumped up and down. She repeatedly hugged Nastasia, which did nothing to improve the princess’s paleness. “She’s a heroine! A real heroine! Can you believe it!”

“I could ’a taken him,” yawned Siggy, who was cleaning his blade. Then, he added sheepishly, “if I hadn’t been hanging upside down. Did you see Dread summon up that water thing? It was enormous!”

“What happened?” asked Rachel.

“Some Indian guy showed up and spoke to it sternly,” replied Siggy.

“Very sternly,” added Lucky. He and Siggy nodded their heads in unison.

“Did that do anything?” asked Rachel.

“Eventually.” Siggy shrugged and sheathed his knife. “I’m off to the infirmary to check on my G.F. Who’s with me?”

Nastasia and Joy followed him, with Joy helping the fatigued princess. Rachel turned back to check on Gaius. He was no longer where she had left him. Instead, he had gone to meet Nighthawk, Von Dread, and Locke, as they emerged from Drake Hall. Locke’s arm was in a sling. Gaius fell in step with the others, who were deep in conversation.

Flute music played as Nurse Moth floated by on Rachel’s broom. Green healing sparks swirled from the nurse’s silver instrument. Tiny emerald glints danced around Rachel, causing a tingling at her cheek, her ear, her back, her side, her leg and other places she had not even realized were injured. The more they tingled, the less she ached. Rachel breathed a grateful sigh of relief.

The nurse moved on, helping others. Rachel glanced around her. Across the campus, the fighting had stopped. The proctors moved purposefully, gathering the glassy-eyed students and leading them toward the Watch Tower—presumably to meet the Agents the dean had summoned, who would be able to remove the geases. Most of the students had been herded into Roanoke Hall, but those with the Brotherhood of the Hart had joined the tutors who were pouring out onto the lawn and splitting into groups. Some helped the wounded make their way to the infirmary. Others were cleaning up the mess: dissolving magical vines, freeing victims trapped by Glepnir Bonds, shooing conjurations off of the commons, and other tasks required to help the campus return to normal.

As Rachel watched all this, a tawny motion out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Atop the head of the sleeping stone lion to the left of the entrance to Drake Hall sat Kitten’s familiar, its golden eyes bright. It stared steadily upward, at a place above Rachel’s head. Glancing up, Rachel saw an empty tree branch. She thought back a moment.

A huge black raven with eyes of crimson gazed down at the Lion, but when Rachel looked upward, it turned and fixed its eyes on her instead.

A frisson of awe and fear ran down her spine.

But even as she shivered, a slight smile touched her lips. Wasn’t this where it had all began—with the Raven and the Lion?

Had that only been five days ago?

How much she had changed in such an amazingly short period of time.

“Rachel!” Gaius came running over to where she stood. “It looks like everyone lived. Everyone who your princess’s vision said would die. Do you know what this means?”

“What?” she asked wide-eyed and eager.

Catching her about the waist, he lifted her into the air and swung her around and around, shouting: “We won!”

Agents

Magical law enforcement. Agents fight magical foes, both human and supernatural.

Alchemy

One of the Seven Sorcerous Arts. It is the Art of putting magic into objects.

Bavaria

A country that exists in the world of the book but not in our world. It is known to both the World of the Wise and the Unwary. It is ruled by the Von Dread family.

Canticle

One of the Seven Sorcerous Arts. It is the Art of commanding the natural and supernatural world with the words and gestures of the Original Language.

Cantrip

One word in the Original Language,
i.e.
a canticle spell.

Cathay

The Democratic Republic of Cathay, a country that exists in the world of the book but not in our world. It is known to both the World of the Wise and the Unwary. It is ruled by an elected council.

Conjuring

One of the Seven Sorcerous Arts. It is the Art of drawing objects out of the dreamlands.

Core Group

A group of students, usually from the same dorm, who attend all their classes together.

Dare Hall

The dormitory at Roanoke Academy that is favored by enchanters.

De Vere Hall

The dormitory at Roanoke Academy that is favored by warders and obscurers.

Dee Hall

The dormitory at Roanoke Academy that is favored by scholars.

Drake Hall

The dormitory at Roanoke Academy that is favored by thaumaturges.

Enchantment

One of the Seven Sorcerous Arts. It is based on music and includes a number of sub-arts.

Fulgurator’s wand

A wand with a spell-grade gem on the tip that is used by Soldiers of the Wise to throw lighting and to hold other kinds of spells.

Gnosis

One of the Seven Sorcerous Arts. It is the Art of knowledge and augury.

Heer of Dunderberg

Storm Goblin locked up with his Lightning Imps in a cave in Stony Tor on Roanoke Island.

Jumping

A cantrip that allows the practitioner to teleport.

Magical Australia

A country that is only known to the Wise. It is ruled by the Romanov family.

Marlowe Hall

The dormitory at Roanoke Academy that is favored by conjurers.

Morthbrood

An ancient organization of practitioners of black magic. During the Terrible Years, the Morthbrood served the Terrible Five.

Mundane

Without magic. Refers both to the modern technological world and to those who cannot use magic. It is possible to be mundane and Wise, if one has no magic but is aware of the magical world.

Obscuration

A subset of Warding. It allows for the casting of illusions that hide things and trick the Unwary.

Original Language

The original language in which all objects were named.

Parliament of the Wise

The ruling body of the World of the Wise.

Pollepel Island

The name the Unwary call the island they see in place of Roanoke Island. It is also called Bannerman Island.

Roanoke Academy for the Sorcerous Arts

A school of magic on a floating island that is currently moored in the Hudson near Storm King Mountain.

Scholars

Practitioners of the Art of Gnosis.

Sorcery

The study of magic.

Spenser Hall

The dormitory at Roanoke Academy that is favored by canticlers.

Terrible Five

The leaders of the Veltdammerung, who terrorized the World of the Wise during the Terrible Years. They consisted of: Simon Magus, Morgana le Fay, Koschei the Deathless, Baba Yaga, and Aleister Crowley.

Thaumaturgy

One of the Seven Sorcerous Arts. It is the Art of storing charges of magic in a gem.

Thule

A country that is known only to the World of the Wise. It occupies the section of Greenland that is, in our world, occupied by the world’s largest national park (larger than all but 32 countries).

Transylvania

A country that exists in the world of the book but not in our world. It is known to both the World of the Wise and the Unwary. It is ruled by the Starkadder family.

Tutor

The term used for professors at Roanoke Academy.

Unwary

one who does not know about the magical world.

Veltdammerung

Twilight of the World. The organization that served the Terrible Five during the Terrible Years. It consisted of the Morthbrood and of supernatural servants.

Warding

One of the Seven Sorcerous Arts. It is the Art of protecting one’s self from magical influences.

Wise

Those in the know about the magical world (as in the root of the word ‘wizard’).

Wisecraft

The law enforcement agency of the Wise. The Agents work for the Wisecraft.

World of the Wise

The community of those who know about the magical world.