[Lorelei]

  The walk wasn’t actually that long, but it felt like an eternity. The village turned out to be even closer than we expected, but our cautious pace slowed us down a lot. We tried to move as quietly as possible, stepping almost silently, no longer distracted by conversation, listening to every rustle in the forest.

  At one point I also noticed a faint vibration underfoot that I couldn’t explain — maybe a small earthquake, or maybe a stampede of large animals running somewhere nearby. Or large dark creatures?.. Unfortunately, without the ability to scan the area around me, I couldn’t tell. But soon the vibration passed, as if something had run by, and I breathed a sigh of relief. At least we’d avoided another bloody encounter.

  Luckily, the rest of the way was quiet and peaceful, and we only crossed paths with a couple of squirrels hopping through the spruce branches.

  Oh, and once Patricia got spooked by an owl that suddenly swooped past us with a loud ‘hoo-hoo-hoo!’ She swung her sword at it, ready to fend off an enemy attack, then cursed loudly when she realized it was just a big bird.

  “What’s it doing awake anyway,” Patricia grumbled.

  “It’s the middle of the day and she’s flying around… Weird bird.”

  “Ye-e-eah,” Calypso drawled thoughtfully.

  “Owls really are such fascinating creatures… So active and dangerous at night, and then by morning they fly off, hide away… Vanish like they were never there…”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Patricia didn’t get it.

  “Nothing…”

  If my hands hadn’t been in gloves, Calypso would’ve definitely felt how sweaty my palms had gotten from nerves.

  Wait… What was that about the owl, exactly?

  My panicked brain was telling me Calypso wasn’t thinking about an ordinary bird just then, but about a bird of a different kind…

  I glanced at him but didn’t catch any sly hints directed at me. Okay, Lori, calm down… Let’s not panic over nothing, alright? It’s been a stressful enough day. So Calypso doesn’t remember who you are, he just remembers the owl mask — so what? Exactly, nothing. So just relax already.

  And his kiss earlier meant nothing, it was just to get the job done… Purely for the task, yes!

  After all, you, Lori, you dummy, just couldn’t focus on said task, and Calypso simply helped you in this… unconventional way. Never mind that he kissed you so thoroughly that your brain completely short-circuited. He probably kisses everyone like that, and it meant nothing to me. So what if the guy is an amazing kisser… Maybe he kisses everyone that way, and for him it’s just normal. And it was just my overactive imagination filling in what I wanted to see.

  At the edge of the forest, all our classmates breathed a sigh of relief, but Calypso wasn’t in any hurry to relax, tensely scanning our surroundings. I wasn’t letting my guard down either, since we had no idea what had been happening in the village without us. What if it turned out dark creatures were running wild here too?

  But there were no dark creatures in sight. Though something was definitely going on in the village — the streets were swarming with inquisitors, judging by their distinctive dark purple robes.

  “Whoa,” Calypso said, surprised.

  “This many inquisitors? Here, in the middle of nowhere? What happened?”

  “Our people!” I called out loudly, waving toward them.

  “Look, over there!”

  And sure enough: up ahead, among the inquisitors, you could spot the black robes of Armarillis Academy representatives. And one person in a white robe — the Mentor himself was there among the inquisitors, having an animated discussion with his colleagues.

  We hurried toward them.

  “What do you think happened here?” I asked Calypso.

  “No idea,” he shook his head.

  “But if my father’s here, things are bad. He only shows up where he’s truly needed. And he has an incredible gut instinct for really big trouble.”

  I nodded knowingly.

  Our Mentor really did have a reputation as someone who ‘attracts big trouble like a magnet.’ When in reality it was the complete opposite: big trouble attracted Ilforte Brandt to itself so he could deal with it faster. That was just the kind of relationship he had with the universe. Or rather — years of honed instincts, picking up on even the subtlest shifts in magic, let alone major surges.

  When we approached the Mentor, he completely froze, spotting us. He frowned deeply, his gaze sweeping over our rather battered group. Especially the wounded Mia, with blood trickling down her thigh.

  “Group Five? What are you doing here?”

  “Surviving,” Calypso said with a humorless smirk.

  And in response to Ilforte’s raised eyebrow, he added in a different tone:

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  “We were training in the forest with Professor Ditro,” Calypso gestured behind him toward the stretcher.

  “Everything was going great at first, but then our training went completely off the rails…”

  Calypso gave a brief account of everything that had happened, and the longer the Mentor listened, the deeper his frown grew and the paler his face became. He signaled the healers to attend to the paralyzed Professor Ditro and the wounded elf, then sighed heavily, shaking his head.

  “Thank the heavens you’re all okay!..”

  For a moment I thought the Mentor started to hug his son but changed his mind. Probably didn’t want to draw attention in front of the other adepts. Knowing Calypso — he didn’t like public displays of affection, as far as I knew. And from the rumors I’d heard, his relationship with his father had been a bit rocky lately.

  Ilforte also immediately dispatched a group of inquisitors and Fortemins into the forest we’d come from.

  “Professor Ditro didn’t notify me that you’d be training in this forest today,” Ilforte said with a grim shake of his head.

  “Or rather, he probably changed the location for his own convenience, since this remote area is perfect for training with a five-year-old kernal, and Ditro managed to capture the five-year-old dark creature at the last minute before class, as far as I know. But he could have changed the location overnight or this morning, and since early this morning I’ve had no time to check reports. Too much else came up. If I’d known about the location change, I would have come to help you immediately. I couldn’t sense your auras… You did well getting out on your own. You handled it admirably.”

  “It was all thanks to Calypso!” Polly spoke up from behind us.

  “If not for his knowledge, we’d all be dead!”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Kes scowl.

  “How are you feeling, Lorelei?” the Mentor turned to me.

  “Great,” I answered honestly.

  “Everything’s fine, I feel wonderful, nothing to worry about.”

  I really did feel very good.

  And I had so much energy right now, as if I hadn’t just spent several hours on an insane training session and then escaped from out-of-control dark creatures. And it was definitely because of the contact with Calypso…

  I could literally feel my whole being singing with pleasure after connecting with Calypso’s magic. It was strange, confusing… and inexplicably wonderful.

  “I just don’t understand how your protective artifact could work if magic isn’t working?” Ilforte said thoughtfully, squinting at Calypso.

  Calypso shrugged and reluctantly replied:

  “Not all magic isn’t working. Some types still function.”

  “Is that so?”

  Ilforte frowned and pressed his lips together, staring at Calypso’s piercing ring.

  “We’ll discuss this later,” the Mentor said curtly.

  I glanced at Calypso, who looked perfectly composed. Well, composed on the surface — what was actually going on inside him, I could only guess.

  It seemed he was in for a not-so-pleasant conversation with his father about forbidden experiments with shadow magic and artifacts. I wasn’t sure whether to gloat or feel sorry for him… Kes was clearly gloating.

  “What happened here?” I asked, looking around with interest.

  “So many inquisitors…”

  “We’re searching for the epicenter of whatever weird stuff is going on around here,” Ilforte sighed.

  “According to our estimates, the center should be somewhere around here.”

  “The center of what?”

  “That’s the thing - we don’t know,” the Mentor spread his hands.

  “There’s no magic for several kilometers.”

  “So it’s not all of Forland?” I asked hopefully.

  “No, thank the heavens! That was the first thing we checked. Well, actually, Moris is currently running around the city double-checking for any other anti-magic zones, but so far none have been found. Just here a big circle with no magic. Strange that you got caught in it in the forest too, according to our estimates that shouldn’t have happened. We calculated the approximate diameter of this ‘circle’ and figured out its center should be somewhere around here… Something that’s causing the absence of magic. I have no idea what it is, but we need to find it.”

  “The search is complicated by the fact that we don’t know how or what to look for. Doubly complicated by the fact that all search spells don’t work, artifacts in this zone don’t work either. So finding this thing is very difficult, because the epicenter could be hidden somehow. The inquisitors and I are combing through everything, every house, every alley we need to combine forces for maximum speed.”

  “Any leads so far?” Calypso asked.

  “We still don’t understand what we’re looking for, and that’s the real problem… But anyway, we’ve got plenty of daylight left and there’s a lot of us, so we’ll manage somehow. As for all of you… Follow the inquisitors, they’ll lead you out of the anti-magic zone,” Ilforte addressed our entire group.

  “There you’ll be able to teleport to Armarillis. Go straight there, no detours. Shalee will escort you.”

  “Can we stay?” I asked, surprising even myself.

  Not only Ilforte was surprised, but Calypso too. In response to their puzzled looks, I shrugged.

  “White magic isn’t working, but dark magic is. My warden and I both have the kind of magic that’s still working, at least a little. We might be able to notice something that white mages can’t sense right now. Or we could protect against some dark threat in time. Calypso and I managed to merge our auras for a combined strike. We can do it again if necessary. That’s why I’m asking permission to stay.”

  “Absolutely not, it’s too dangerous,” Ilforte shook his head, but then said thoughtfully:

  “Although…”

  He spent about a minute looking back and forth between me and Calypso, then waved for both of us to follow him.

  “You two, with me. You’re right, Lorelei. Since you can do some magic, you might be able to sense something others can’t. Let’s test that, who knows?.. Everyone else, march straight to the academy.”

  “But Mentor!” Patricia spoke up.

  “Can we stay too then? It’s so interesting!”

  “No. Out of the question. Go to the academy, now.”

  “But you’re letting Calypso and Lorelei stay!”

  “Only because of their specific type of magic. And even so, no one can guarantee their safety here. I can’t risk all of you like that. According to Calypso, none of you can cast anything right now.”

  “But…”

  “The Mentor’s orders are not up for discussion!” Ilforte barked.

  After that bark, no one felt like arguing, and Patricia just nodded and silently followed Shalee — our fellow Fortemin who worked at the General Staff Inquisition. Though her silence didn’t stop Patricia from throwing envious glances at us over her shoulder.

  I understood her. If I were in her place, I’d be dying of curiosity about what was happening here too, eager to be in the thick of things. Even if it meant risking my life — that just made it more exciting.

  After all, no one could guarantee whether I’d live to see next year or even the next day. So what — never take any risks? Hell no, this just made it more exciting.