Page 74 of Obsidian and Frost

Definitely for the best there.

A burst of midnight-blue shadows jolted me from my observations.

Whoa.

The shadows didn’t just swirl around like shadow magic enveloped me when I traveled incognito, or when I used that aspect of my abilities to teleport, rather than my purple Dark Fae magic.

They breathedherinto being.

Professor Selix Nyvarra.

As she fully materialized into the environment, flesh from beautiful shadows, I took her in.

She was a stunning force of nature.

Her deep black hair was in long braids, some adorned with pewter rings. Her eyes had that same shimmer in the irises. She personified timeless elegance in her shadow-thread robes. In human years, she looked to be in her forties, but I knew that she was actually several centuries old, and that her command and knowledge of her power reflected that.

Her gaze swept around the room and she stilled on me briefly with a curve of her lips, before settling on my companion at one of the only two-seater desks in the entire space—of course.

“Sylas,” she spoke, her velvet voice rolling over me, and commanding immediate rapt attention at the same time.

Sylas’ lips quirked. “Selix. It’s been a while.”

“It has. Now, as you can imagine, this curriculum will not be catered to your specific situation, however, there is still something to be learned if you are open to it.” She gave him a look. “And do not believe yourself above it.”

“You know me, always open to expanding my knowledge base.”

She gave as good as she got, responding, “Acceptable answer.”

With that, she turned and glided toward the front of the class.

I smiled to myself. I liked her already.

“Welcome toWeaving & Shadow Architecture,”she spoke.

The tomes floating behind her rotated slowly over the glowing amber circle etched into the stone floor, the volumes altering to three works specific for this subject. She flicked her fingers and with a spark of her shadow magic, it opened and several pages turned, stilling when they got to the section that we’d all read in advance.

“If you are in this room,” she continued, her voice velvet-wrapped steel, “you are either born of shadow... or seeking to manufacture the special craft in a bid to counter such a powerful ability, or to work with it, possibly even amplify it.” She smiled. “Shadow weaving and performing shadow architecture is not just spell craft or an ability to be mastered and controlled, it is also an art. That means that expression is a vital part of being able to wield shadow magic, something that many neglect to take into account, and something that limits both their control and their potential.”

She looked out at each of us in turn, then continued on, “With that in mind, we will not focus on mechanicsorcontroltoday, we will focus on expression.Fun.Getting bogged down with specifics and heavy details can be detrimental to the learning experience, especially in the early stages—and also for those of you who have had to use your shadow magic for defensive purposes. When we approach this practice from a place of freedom of expression and fun it reduces stress and anxiety in the learning process and serves to open us up in ways that this type of magic benefits from greatly.”

Excitement thrummed through me and across the classroom in thrilled whispers, many looks of disbelief that this was the way she was taking the class. Especially the first one.

“You’re going to pull from within and create a shadow portrait or moving image, form it slowly and carefully, then ground it with a Weaving Anchor to hold it steady without disruption. To ensure you are able to achieve the latter, your mind must be clear and steady, your focus absolute, yes, but your emotions also not in a volatile state.”

Oh, hell.That last part wasn’t exactly my forte.

She went on, “Dark Fae, before you begin, I will teach you how to pull from a specific aspect of your illusionary magic. Sorcerers and sorceress, I will show you how to carefully create manufactured shadow magic, as you would have already studied from the required reading before the start of this class.” She looked out at Shadowmancers to my right, further down. “You may begin immediately.” Her gaze flicked to me and Sylas. “You also.”

As the professor had the Dark Fae and the Sorcerers and Sorceresses gather around, the Shadowmancers rose to their feet and began, shadows already forming and swirling from the group of the four of them in moments.

I swallowed hard and stood, noting that Sylas was being unusually quiet and he didn’t even rise until I had, shaking off his hooded coat to reveal a black tee beneath.

He was being very careful with me since that talk earlier.

Was that how I made people feel around me?

I guess with Lazriel inThe Fade,he’d been that way with me until we’d sunk into one another’s company, and then that hadfaded away—pun intended. But then I’d freaked out when I’d lost control of my power after we’d gotten carnal. Sylas obviously knew about it, and now this… thiscarefulness… was where we were at.