Page 52 of The Tribes of Magic (Paragons #3)

A TRIP TO THE CLINIC

T he angry phantom had caused a lot of damage to the classroom, and the Cursed Ones had made a mess of the Castle grounds, but the Apprentices caught in the crossfire were in even worse shape.

Killjoy had his hands full healing their cuts, bruises, and breaks, but his magic was more than up to the challenge.

As soon as they were healed, the Apprentices rushed out of the Clinic after Nala and Orion.

My comrades clearly didn’t want to spend a second more in my presence than they had to.

I guess my magic had kind of freaked them out.

It probably didn’t help that Nala had insisted Killjoy give my head a thorough examination.

I mean, she could have been referring to checking for signs of post-battle trauma. On the other hand…

The Apprentices might be squeamish around my weird powers, but Killjoy didn’t seem to share their superstitions. As soon as we were alone in the Clinic, he turned to me, chuckling.

“And here we are again, Savannah Winters. Except this time, you don’t have a scratch on you.”

“Lucky me. But you sound disappointed?”

He laughed. “You are anything but disappointing. Only you could turn an art lesson into a class trip to the Clinic.”

I slouched down on the cot and tried to hide from the whole universe.

“What happened?” he asked.

I told him everything I could remember about my misadventure, starting with the runes in the Sorcerers’ classroom and ending with the phantom’s defeat of the Cursed Ones.

“Nala said to write a rune that had to do with ‘life’. She said that’s the easiest branch of sorcery.”

Killjoy rolled his eyes. “Nala the Crimson Knight, famous warrior and garrulous conversation partner.”

I laughed. Nala would never use five words when she could use one instead. Or none.

“Nala is a very skilled warrior and a powerful Sorcerer, but she and I have very different philosophies on magic. What she lacks in conversation skills, she more than makes up for in overkilling fiends.”

I smiled, remembering how she’d once slaughtered a smoke detector.

“Nala has always underestimated life magic. She thinks it’s child’s play—and so do most Sorcerers. They’re too busy dramatically sweeping their capes around and giving people sinister looks.”

I looked Killjoy up and down. He dressed very differently from any other Sorcerer I’d ever met. Instead of dramatic capes and spiky armor, he wore loose hospital scrubs and soft slippers.

“Life magic isn’t easy,” he said. “Actually, it’s far more difficult to heal than it is to destroy.

But most Sorcerer Knights think healing is boring and not nearly as cool as manipulating time or casting chaos spells to break down the natural order of things.

But who heals them when their catastrophic spells go awry?

I do. I’d like to see them get on without me. ”

“I’m sure they appreciate everything you do for them.”

Killjoy huffed. “They don’t think they need me because they can’t possibly get hurt. Far too many Sorcerers believe they are gods. They believe the rules of nature don’t apply to them.”

“I like your flavor of sorcery better,” I told him with a smile. “Even though you don’t wear a cool cape.”

He grunted in appreciation. “It is true that there are some easy life spells. But it seems like you skipped past all the healing of hangnails and stubbed toes and went straight to summoning phantoms to cleanse the area of harmful monsters. Where did you learn how to do that kind of magic?”

“I don’t know.” I shook my head. “I’m not even sure how this all happened. I was just acting on instinct.”

“That’s amazing.”

“Yeah, right,” I said with a despairing sigh.

“I’m serious, Savannah. You sensed the Cursed Ones were nearby, and you instinctively summoned exactly the phantom that could defeat them. A Dispelling Phantom. That’s no easy spell. You performed a great service today. People should be thanking you.”

“I think they’re too busy fleeing in terror of me to thank me for anything.”

“People will eventually see you for who you are.”

“Which is?”

“You’re a natural, Savannah.”

“Yeah, a natural disaster maybe.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. Your magic will sort itself out. Give it time. Powerful magic takes time to settle. You should have seen Kato when he was an Apprentice.”

“Tell me.” I leaned in eagerly.

“Uh, I’d better not. Kato won’t like it.”

“All the more reason to tell me, don’t you think?” I winked at him.

Killjoy laughed. “I think you’ve got yourself into more than enough trouble for one day.”

I sighed. “You’re probably right. I just wish I could control my magic. It feels like I’m not controlling it. It feels like it is controlling me. That’s pretty scary.”

A sympathetic smile stretched his lips. “I’m sure it is scary to feel out of control.

But so far, your magic seems to be on the right side.

It sees threats to you and your friends and takes care of them.

So I think that you are controlling your magic’s intentions, at least subconsciously.

You just need to turn it into more of a conscious effort.

Once you learn to do that, I’m sure everything will feel a lot less scary. ”

“I hope you’re right, Killjoy.”

The clock on the wall chimed.

“Lunch time,” he said, almost absently.

“Great,” I sighed.

“Don’t you like mashed potatoes and grilled rosemary chicken with green beans? I read that’s on the menu today.”

“You memorized the lunch menu?” I asked in surprise.

“Of course.”

“Why?”

“Why not?” he countered.

“You don’t eat lunch in the dining hall.”

“But my patients do.”

“I guess that’s true…”

“You should go eat,” he told me. “After doing all that magic, you need to recharge your batteries.”

“I’m not really hungry.” My stomach growled, giving me away.

He smiled at me.

“Ok, ok, I’m starving,” I admitted. “But I don’t want to go down to the dining hall today. Maybe I could stay here for lunch and share your cookies?”

His face turned stern. “Cookies are not a healthy lunch.”

“You’re eating them,” I pointed out.

“Hasn’t anyone ever told you that doctors make the worst patients?” He winked at me.

“Yeah,” I laughed. “I think I’ve heard something like that.”

“Why don’t you want to go down to the dining hall?” He sat down on the cot beside me, like we were just two friends chatting.

“The dining hall isn’t just where everyone in the Castle gathers to eat.

It’s where they all gather to gossip,” I replied.

“And the news of the day will undoubtedly be the incident with the phantom and the Cursed Ones. Maybe I’ll go back to the dining hall tomorrow—but only if someone does something even more scandalous, something so big that everyone’s forgotten all about me. ”

Killjoy glanced up from his phone screen. “You don’t have to wait until tomorrow, Savannah. Something more scandalous has already happened. Apparently, the Cursed Ones’ attack was no accident. The General sent them here.”

I blinked. “Wait, what? Really? Why would he do that?”

“It was a test of the Castle’s defenses and the Knights’ response to an immediate, serious threat.”

“That’s insane.” I jumped down from the cot. “Ok, I guess I’m going to lunch after all. I need to know what’s going on.”