Ravenfire

Salamander and I stood beside each other silently inside the headmaster’s office, awaiting the final verdict. Although we were only a metre away from each other, it was like we were oceans apart, divided by a rift that refused to mend. There was something about that air of silence and contempt that felt colder than winter.

Headmaster Scheep walked in front of us slowly, examining our faces for any hint of remorse over our devious prank the previous night. It was clear on his face that he was convinced of our guilt.

The headmaster took a deep breath to control his anger and finally began, “In the spirit of the festival, I will not be giving you detention. Instead, you must participate in the poetry reading session later tonight. Compose an original poem to add to this year’s compilation. If you fail to do even this, I will consider your expulsion from this academy. This is the last time I’ll let you off lightly. Now start composing.”

The moment we left the office, Salamander immediately turned and walked away quickly without saying a word to me. I wanted to call his name, but I realised that there was nothing I could say to assure him that he could still trust me. I sighed as I watched his retreating figure in the hallway.

I didn’t think it’d feel this bad to have someone close to you start ignoring you. Is this what loneliness feels like?

I walked the opposite direction to find Emma at the gardening club’s booth with a few senior members. It was the last day of the event, so we mostly spent time packing up the unsold items. Most of the guests already left anyway.

“What’s wrong, Remina? You’ve been sulking all morning. Did something terrible happen at the dance?” Emma was concerned.

“Salamander and I had a fight,” I said dejectedly as I arranged packets of seeds inside a box.

“But isn’t that normal for you two?”

“This was a… big fight.”

Emma was genuinely confused. “What’s bigger than a fight to the death?”

I was about to say something, but stopped myself. She had a point.

“I’m going to visit Elliot. Would you like to come along?” Emma invited me.

I shook my head. “I don’t think I should. I’ll only dampen the mood. I also have to go work on my poem for tonight’s poetry reading.”

“If you change your mind, I’ll be at the clinic. Good luck, Remina.” She smiled before leaving.

When I finally took a break in the afternoon, I searched for an empty spot where I could begin writing. As I passed the music room, I heard the sound of a melancholic piano piece that reminded me of Elliot. It was soft and comforting, despite the sad tune. It was the inspiration I needed to get started on the poem and maybe use it to get what happened with Salamander off my chest. I began scribbling lines onto my notebook. I must have spent an hour there before I was interrupted by an unwelcome visitor.

“Have you decided?”

I looked up. It was Lucien, still using the same student as a vessel. He appeared relaxed, so I assumed he just came to talk.

“About what?” I asked as I stood up.

“About whose side you’re on.”

“I didn’t get in your way now, did I? Whatever it is you’re after… that’s between you and Emrys. I’m not really in the mood to settle a feud between two dead brothers.” I turned to walk away.

“I know there’s a Blackthorn in this academy.”

His words made me stop in place.

He continued, “And that he happens to be a good friend of yours.”

“Why are you telling me this?” I turned my head to look at him.

“If I were to take his body, you would be my biggest obstacle.” His face showed no remorse. “So, I must ask you again: Whose side are you on?”

“My own side,” I replied before running to find Salamander and warn him.

I searched high and low for any sign of him, eventually arriving at an isolated area of the castle that had been closed off because of some accident that destroyed a portion of the roof. Sunlight poured into the large room, revealing that there was nobody around. Where could that boy be?

Upon taking a single step forward, a sharp ice shard narrowly missed me and hit the wall instead. It did leave a small cut on my cheek that stung when I touched it. I looked towards the origin of the ice spell and saw Salamander entering the room through one of the broken windows. Did he notice me running around and followed me here?

“Salamander!” I exclaimed.

“You and I still have an unfinished match, remember? What do you say we settle this once and for all? This is the perfect place. Nobody will see us here.” His arm was covered in ice, just like back then when we fought against each other at the Martial Club tryouts. It was enough to tell that he was serious about it.

I began to realise that this place looked like the one in the vision. I thought he was crazy for choosing to confront me here when this was where he was predicted to die. Did he miss out on that detail?

“As much as I would love to fight you and finally settle our score, I don’t want this to be the reason driving you to do it!” I replied, raising my voice.

“You’re not the one whose life is on the line because of some stupid prediction!” he shouted and threw another ice shard at me.

I moved away to dodge it. “Salamander, listen to me! You have to get out of here! Lucien knows who you are!”

He looked at me with suspicion. “Why? Because you told him?”

“Just think for a second! There must be a reason why it happened like that in the vision. What if it’s because you were possessed?”

“No, Remina. To finally put an end to it, I need to face it head on.” He slowly approached me. I remained still, ready to act if he made any sudden attempt to hurt me. I flinched instinctively when he held out his hand and touched the wound on my cheek, transferring it to himself. His cheek bled with the same cut that used to be on mine.

So that was it. I had forgotten that Salamander had the gift of the Unmending, which controlled bodily states. I didn’t know what it did until now when he demonstrated it himself. All he needed to do was get himself stabbed then transfer the stab wound onto the attacker.

“Come on, Remina. Fulfil the prediction,” he urged.

“You must be an idiot to think I’d fall for that!” Truthfully, I really did want to stab him at that moment for being so annoying.

Time suddenly stopped all around me, including Salamander. The moment I dreaded finally came. Lucien was here.

“That was quite a scene. Here I thought you were good friends,” Lucien said as he stood behind me, observing. “Perhaps this makes things easier for me. If you’ll kindly step aside and allow me to take over his body, I can promise you that you’ll never have to deal with him again.”

I turned around. “I won’t let you near him.” Having to deal with both Salamander and Lucien was really starting to piss me off.

“I gave you a chance. You’d better not regret it.” Lucien wasted no time and immediately attacked me with a wide ice spell, which I attempted to counter with my own fire. Unfortunately, it didn’t end well and sent me flying across the room.

Suddenly, I was lifted up by that same force he used when I first encountered him and then pulled towards him while being choked. With my body being squeezed along with my neck, my supply of air was starting to run critically low.

Lucien’s face was blank and unfeeling as I struggled under his hold. I wondered whether death and decades of entrapment made him numb towards taking lives. “Give it up, Ms. Ravenfire. You are but a novice mage. It’s impossible for you to win a fight against a former professor of magic such as myself. That’s why I gave you a choice. That was my mercy.”

Suddenly, Emrys’ necklace glowed red like the first time I encountered it. It broke the time spell, releasing everything from its hold. I dropped to the floor and gasped for air.

Great. Now I’m in between two people who want me dead.

“Where’d he come from?” Salamander was confused by Lucien’s sudden appearance.

“Salamander, be careful! It’s him!” I shouted as I narrowly dodged an ice shard while getting myself up. “I request a temporary ceasefire! He’ll end us both if we continue to fight like this.”

Salamander hesitated, glancing back and forth between me and Lucien Blackthorn before finally seeing reason. “Oh, for goodness’ sake! Fine!”

We ended up fighting against Lucien, who was trying to close the distance between him and Salamander so he could take control of him. I did what I could to create obstacles that would buy Salamander some time to run away. Every one of our spells was easily blocked or parried. If we didn’t think of a plan to defeat him quickly, we’d eventually exhaust ourselves from all the running and spellcasting.

“Emrys!” Lucien shouted angrily, aiming a powerful ice spell at my necklace. At the last minute, it was deflected by another equally powerful ice spell that saved my life.

“I can’t have you killing my students, mate. Otherwise, my job would be awfully boring.” I never thought I’d be happy to see Prof. Alice enter the room armed with her calm demeanour and an unfinished bag of cashews. “Here. Catch.” She threw me what appeared to be the actual soul trapping device that went missing.

“What am I supposed to do with this, Prof. Alice?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I just saw it in the spoilers that you had it, so I thought it’d be important. I’ll buy you time, so go figure it out.” She cast some sort of spell that held Lucien in place, but it must have used up most of her energy because she fainted afterwards.

I turned towards Salamander. “We need to come up with something quickly before he breaks free.”

He felt the urgency of it. “I can’t think of anything. I don’t want to be possessed, but I don’t want to be stabbed by you either!”

I thought hard. I was convinced that the stabbing had some purpose to it. Then, it finally hit me.

“I might have an idea, but I don’t know if it will work,” I said.

“Say it. We don’t have any other plans.”

He’s not going to like this.

I took a deep breath. “I’ll stab you in the chest with the dagger like in your vision, trigger the mechanism in this device that will trap his soul, and revert you back using the Unending time magic. Obviously, neither of us can beat a full-fledged mage like him. And Prof. Alice is knocked out cold.”

“Is that seriously your plan?” Salamander’s face was already sour and a little anxious about the upcoming pain and gamble.

“Unfortunately, yes. Like you said, this might be your best chance at surviving.”

He sighed. “I hate this. Let’s just get it over with.”

“Alright…” I readied my dagger and the soul trapping device.

“And don’t smile when you stab me!” he added.

“I won’t.”

I stabbed him then smiled.

Salamander shut his eyes and clenched his teeth as he endured the pain. I wasn’t sure how the device was supposed to be controlled, but I did what I could to direct it at where Lucien was trapped. A flash of bright light followed and he was gone. The device appeared to be filled.

I quickly attended to Salamander who was bleeding. I reverted him back enough to close the stab wound, but something was wrong.

“Salamander!” Despite using my gift, he was still dying. I overestimated my ability to command time. Or rather, overestimated the possibility of using it to bring someone back from the brink of death. I looked on helplessly as he hung on to dear life. “Use your gift on me! Do it now!”

He shook his head while trembling. He knew very well what it meant if he were to use it on someone. I was prepared for the consequences.

“Do it or I’ll end you myself!” I threatened him.

He hesitated before finally using it. I felt the same sharp pain he felt from the stab wound until my consciousness started to fade and all I saw was black.

I was back at the place where I first met Emrys Blackthorn, which was the castle courtyard. I was certain that I wasn’t actually there because none of the festival booths were present. It was all an illusion.

“Ugh. Am I dead?” I checked my body for the stab wound that was no longer there. I was convinced that my soul had indeed left my body. It was about time I paid for my reckless actions.

“Are you?” It was Emrys Blackthorn himself sitting on one of the stone benches. The silent ex-headmaster who was barely any help throughout this whole ordeal until the finale.

“Please tell me it’s finally over.”

He nodded with confirmation. “My brother has been sealed once again thanks to you. He can no longer cause anyone harm.”

I took a seat beside him. “I really must hear your side of the story. I think I deserve to know after risking my life to fix what shouldn’t be left to new students to fix. What happened between you and Lucien?”

“He has good intentions, but executes them without regard for others. That’s why I was desperate to seal him. He was too dangerous and unpredictable, as you have witnessed yourself.”

“I don’t care much about whether it’s you or him who was wrong. Even I make questionable choices. I’m in no place to judge. But the serpent… is it evil?”

“Evil and good are too black and white of a concept to describe people and entities. You should judge it by your own standards.”

“What do your standards say?”

His expression was serious as he stared at the nearby fountain. “Even after years… I don’t know.” He then looked at me. “This will be the last time you’ll hear from me. All of the residual energy in the Focus has now been expended. It’s now completely yours.”

“Wait. I have one more question. I’m not a Blackthorn, but why do I have the gift?”

“You’ll have to ask the serpent himself. I don’t know about that. I’m sorry that I can’t be of much help. Farewell, Ms. Ravenfire.”

The scene faded like a dream and everything went black once more. The serene and light feeling in my body was replaced with dull pain and soreness all over. I was glad to have survived, but I didn’t welcome the suffering that came with living.

“Remina! Remina, wake up!” I could hear Salamander’s voice blasting into my ear like an unwanted morning alarm.

I started coughing when I woke up in his arms. There was still a bit of pain in my chest, but it wasn’t as bad as earlier. “Fine, but can you please stop shouting into my ear?”

He hugged me so tightly that it was hard to breathe. It was like nearly dying a second time. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know back then that you were actually doing it to save us both.” The way his voice sounded was so out of character that it felt strange.

“I can’t breathe.”

“My bad.” He let go.

I then punched him hard on the face, which wasn’t really that hard because I was still weak from my injuries. “You could have ruined everything if you had succeeded in killing me, you idiot!”

He touched his cheek. “I suppose I deserved that…”

“Damn right you do!” I hurled a fire spell at him. “I would love to strangle you and burn you to a crisp right now!”

He dodged it calmly. “I understand you’re angry, but you must admit that I was clueless about the circumstances and acted according to what I knew.”

I spent about an hour continuing to throw petty spells at Salamander until we both finally collapsed on the ground and watched the setting sun.

“Have you finally forgiven me?” he asked and turned his head towards me.

“Yes,” I replied with a frown.

“Good.” He checked his pocket watch. “Dinner’s on me. I could use a good meal to get over this traumatic memory of nearly getting killed yet again.”

We both stood up and winced in pain. “Ow… ow…”

“Maybe we should stop by the school clinic first…” I suggested.

“Did you two get into a fight again?” Elliot asked.

Salamander and I sat across each other at the clinic, wearing blank expressions and folding our arms. We were covered in bruises and minor injuries that were recently treated by the school nurse. Neither of us moved an inch since we ended up in that position.

“Settling our score,” I replied.

“So who won?”

Salamander and I exchanged glances before saying in unison, “I did.”

“Stop lying. I obviously won that round.” I folded my arms.

“You were knocked out first, so that means I won,” Salamander pointed out.

Elliot interrupted us, “Ok, but why is Prof. Alice unconscious?”

We all turned our heads to look at the bed where Prof. Alice was lying down. The cover story we made up was that we found her unconscious in the closed-off section and that it had absolutely nothing to do with us. Now that I think about it, that did sound a bit suspicious.

“She uhh… ate too many cashews,” I said, hoping he’d believe it. Across me, Salamander was silently judging me for my inability to come up with proper cover stories.

Elliot was quiet for a whole minute trying to think about how it’s possible to fall unconscious from eating cashews. The way he thought so seriously about it almost got me worried.

“Ah!” Prof. Alice suddenly came to life.

“Ah!” Elliot screamed.

“Did you win?” She sounded like someone who missed watching the world cup finals.

I handed her the soul trapping device to answer her question.

She smiled as she looked at the device. “Looks like the show isn’t getting cancelled.”

Salamander later took me to a food stall where he ordered almost half of every item on the menu. My mouth watered as various pastries, sandwiches, and skewered meat were served one after the other in front of us.

“Go ahead,” Salamander offered me politely, which still creeped me out.

“You’re awfully generous today,” I remarked as I took one of the sandwiches.

“If this is what it takes to get you to stop hurling petty spells at me, so be it.”

Prof. Alice followed us after we mentioned food and was sitting nearby.

I looked at her and said, “Thanks for coming to our rescue again, Professor.”

“Other professors don’t have the balls, but I do.” She smiled and raised her bowl of meatballs. “It’s a good thing Prof. Ariston found that soul trapping device when he searched that secret room you found. Made it easy for me to just borrow it.”

We took our time digging into the food and just being grateful to still be alive. It felt wonderful to just sit back and enjoy a good drink with a full stomach.

Salamander suddenly looked like he was struggling to recall a memory. “I feel like we’re forgetting something.”

I looked at him blankly. “I hope it’s not your wallet because I don’t have enough to pay for all of this.”

“No, no. It’s something else…” He was bothered by it.

Then, it hit me. “Oh shit! The poetry reading! Scheep is going to kill us…” I said in panic. We immediately chugged our drinks and made a run for it after paying for the food. We were already late.

The main hall was filled with students as I stepped onto the stage to read my poem. I glanced at Salamander, who was waiting in line after me to read his. Thankfully, the headmaster was too preoccupied with other things to notice our tardiness.

I took a deep breath and began to read my poem aloud:

Between dusty shelves of ages past,

A silver snake came crawling fast

And declared its verdict onto me:

“You are as guilty as can be.”

Appalled and agape, with no means of escape,

Crimson stains on velvet drapes,

I pleaded quite vehemently,

“No, you’re wrong. It was not me.”

Pure white bust with speckles of red

Filled me with unshakable dread

And an egregious pounding in my head.

When I heard a voice, a voice that said,

“O foolish one, can’t you see?

We are all monsters as monsters should be.”