Page 10

Ten

G rimot carried Kamine’s motionless body through Skola’s halls. He had checked for a pulse, and it thrummed beneath her light skin—weak, but there.

The incline of the ground made his journey just that much harder, but he barely felt the burn of his calves, barely felt anything but his absolute fear for her well-being.

“You’re gonna get me in trouble again,” he grumbled to no one but himself. He told the others that the game was over right before he left, and everyone had dispersed.

“Is she dead?” Zoya whispered, the woman’s voice shaky as she tried to keep up with his pace.

“Be careful,” Janina warned, when he almost bumped Kamine into the wall as he made a sharp turn.

He could feel the body in his arms begin to shift, as if trying to go to the sound of her friend’s voices. He tightened his hold on her, not letting her fall.

“She needs space, not to be hounded,” he said. Listening to him, both of Kamine’s friends backed off, allowing him to take control of the situation.

He stopped at the first lounge area he could find, and rested her on the plush couch.

“Stay here,” he said, as if she could even hear him in her state.

He rushed to find some water and a rag. When he returned, she was still laying there, unmoving. He should tell Dritoria about this, but he couldn’t just leave her. Kamine would be confused and scared if she woke up alone.

He placed the wet rag on her forehead and sat on a couch opposite her. The faint spell would wear off soon. He was all too familiar with using too much power at once, but overtime, her well of power would return, along with a pounding headache, and a ravenous hunger.

The shift under their feet had shocked everyone, and had thrown them all off balance. At first, nobody knew where the quake had come from. Perhaps the court was being attacked, or the mountain was just settling. Then everyone’s attention gravitated to Kamine’s body on the ground, crouched and shaking. Nobody could believe it— he couldn’t believe it—until he saw her ashen face, her purple eyes usually so bright, now dimmed.

That’s when he ran to her. While he didn’t know when his indifference towards her turned to care, he didn’t dare question it now.

There was a powerful gift hiding under her skin. It just wasn’t what anyone expected. It was unlike anything he’d ever witnessed before.

It was dangerous if she didn’t learn how to control it. If she used her powers improperly during the Undertaking, she could damn the whole court. If she was as powerful as Grimot now presumed, then she could rearrange the very ground they walked on.

Kamine gasped awake and practically rolled off the couch. Her eyes blinked rapidly, adjusting to the light, and landing directly on him.

“Where am I?” she asked.

“Do you remember anything?”

She narrowed her eyes and shifted into a seated position, clenching and unclenching her hands. She looked so frail now. How could that petite body cause something potentially catastrophic?

Her voice cracked, as she clutched her wrist to ensure the bracelet was still there. When she confirmed it was, she answered. “No. I mean I was at that game, on the ground, and then everything went black.”

So she didn’t remember what she had done. That wasn’t surprising. Anyone using their powers for the first time could wipe themselves out if they weren’t careful. The fact that she was older and her body wasn’t accustomed to it meant that the effects must have been more intense.

“We have a lot of work to do,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“You have powers, Kamine. Powers that could kill us all.”

Kamine must have fallen asleep. When she woke up, her whole body ached. She adjusted herself to get more comfortable, and as she moved onto her side, she almost slipped out of the couch.

“It’s a mystery how someone like you received the powers you did,” Professor Grimot said from his own position on the opposite couch. He flipped a page in his book.

A soft blanket was wrapped around her legs, a feeling of warmth and safety.

“I think I need a recap of everything that transpired,” Kamine responded. Someone had taken her shoes off and brushed out her tight braid from earlier.

Everything from the last few hours—at least she thought it was only hours—had become foggy in her mind, like a window covered in condensation.

“There’s not much to say,” he said. “You had powers all along. It just took that game to finally get them to come out, or more likely your mind finally figured out exactly what was needed to call them out.”

Kamine wondered why that was. It wasn’t the first time she found herself in a life-threatening situation, and yet, her powers had never shown themselves, then. So what was different this time? Maybe it was as simple as the fact she was thinking too much about using her powers in all her previous attempts.

“I think it was because you were close to the ground.”

Kamine whipped her head to him, but he was still reading his book. “What?”

He shut the book. The fireplace crackled with flames, giving a warm glow to his face. It outlined his strong nose and sharp chin. His hair was pulled back tightly into a bun.

“Your whole body was on the ground when everything shook, your hands directly on it. You’ve tried so many pointless techniques, but likely never tried laying on the ground.”

Kamine supposed not. It wouldn’t make sense to do that if she were trying to get a rock to float. With these powers, on the other hand, it seemed reasonable that getting down to ground level would help her connect with her magic.

“I guess I should thank you, then?” she asked.

His fingers stopped their gentle tapping on the leather cover of the book. “Now, we need to train this power so that you can do it standing. Relying on having to lie down during your Undertaking would be a death sentence.”

“I’m not even sure how this power will help. Moving the ground doesn’t stop the falling rocks from hitting anything. I’d likely just kill someone by causing homes to crumble on top of innocent lives.”

“So we hone it,” he said seriously. He turned his palms upward and a few rocks pulled towards his palms, like he had a magnet in his bones. “All of our powers can destroy. It’s one of the first things we learn to do with it. The next step is putting everything back together. That part is harder to master, some never do.”

“And you’re willing to take on that role for me? To actually teach me?” Instead of just sitting by , she thought, but didn’t voice.

He faced her fully now, and rested his elbows on his thighs. His white sleeves were rolled up, revealing his muscular arms, with those two stones in his clavicle on full display. “I’m your magic professor, am I not? I would be failing at my job if I didn’t.”

He said it with arrogance, but there was something deeper in those black eyes, as if he was making a promise with himself that failure was not an option. For some reason, Kamine was now a part of that internalized decree, and she couldn’t afford to fail him. They were in too deep. She just wondered what methods he would employ to get her powers to unleash, and then tame.