“You coming? You can’t stay in your seat forever,” Janon said. The boy who exploded the apple liked Janon. He was tall for age eleven, a Keldonian, attractive and had a smile larger than the sea. He got up and followed Janon out of the class.
“Janon. And your name?”
“Drak.”
Janon saw the shocked look on the boy’s face and smiled. Clearly, he had no intention of telling Janon his name—well, at least not his real one. If he had remained cool, it would’ve been less obvious.
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell. You won’t survive too long in this class if you don’t toughen up a bit.” Janon said.
“I am realising that. The first day isn’t going so well.”
“It can only get better. My brother learned some elite army magic from her. The type regular magicians aren’t even allowed to know about. He says she’s the greatest. He’s only 23; he couldn’t get into her class at the time he started.”
“Is this really the best school?”
“Yes. But that doesn’t mean the others aren’t good. Some of the great magicians come out of them. In this one, the standards are just higher. If you get out of here, chances are you can survive quite a bit. Some children don’t even get out alive. That’s the real difference here. It’s still that traditional. No holds barred.”
“What about safety?” Drak couldn’t believe they would just let children die.
“They take precautions, but if you die, you die.”
At that moment Tilal looked back. She was hoping to get the boy alone, but Janon seemed okay, so she walked back to him.
“So is he your bodyguard?” Tilal asked Drak.
Janon laughed. “That depends on if you’re attacking. Good bit of magic back there. Don’t think I could’ve done it.”
“Thank you. I really came back to talk to him, though.”
Drak looked at her. She was a magician who looked like an Atorathian; that was rare indeed.
“I only wanted to say that if I could’ve blasted the entire room, I would’ve. It’s all well and good to be teased; this is what happens in school. But that was a little too much laughter, and it didn’t stop.”
“So you didn’t think it was funny?” Drak asked, a little too hopefully.
“Of course I did. You were shaking before you even attempted the spell, and then you jumped when the apple exploded. I just thought they laughed a little too hard and wouldn’t let it go. It was funny, but it wasn’t nearly that funny.”
“At least it was a good apple,” Janon said as he ate a piece from Drak’s face. “There’s one more piece right there if you want to try it.” Tilal did so and nodded in agreement. It was a damn good apple. “At least you didn’t cry,” she said. “That I would’ve probably laughed at. It was hard enough not laughing at your face splattered in apple.” Tilal chuckled.
Janon laughed, “Yeah. That was pretty funny.”
“Okay, class. We are going into the Other.” By this time, they were in one of the open courts. Students were walking up and down to classes. The class gasped. Shalini smiled. This always happened. No one expected to do this in the first class. If she was right, none of them had been to the world within the world known as the Other.
“Yes. I know. This is advanced, but a lot of your training will be done here because here power is magnified; you are in the place where the spirits and magics that keep the realm alive live. No control here can be much more devastating than when in the natural world. And you can usually see your magic flowing which makes it easier to understand how your power and the world work together. Don’t worry; I will take you through.”
“You can take a whole class through? There’s at least twenty of us.” One student was openly impressed.
“I can. But I expect you to pay attention. I’m going to take all of you through it. You will have to be able to do this on your own by the end of the year. It’s important to know that you must be careful of how you spend your time on the Otherside. When a soul leaves the body, sometimes it can get too attached to the freedom of speed and movement and become trapped in the Other. In time, you will learn to put up a field around your body to protect your human shell. You will also learn how to hide your aura in case you want to go in the Other to see things and don’t want the power it takes to be detected. Okay class, let’s form a circle.”
As the students circled, she continued. “Everyone sit on the grass. It’s a little warm, like most things in Mironi; a whole province in a livable dessert. What are the odds of that? Okay, close your eyes and breathe very slowly until you almost feel like you stopped and you’re floating on air. You have to reach that point where you feel the magic in you attach to the Other.”
Shalini guided them through the process, knowing there was no way they would be able to do it on their own. She helped them one by one until they could feel the connection of their soul, their magic, to the part of the realm that kept all things alive. Drak was the last to find it, but it was only by chance that he was calm and attentive enough to do the task. Much more so than with the apple fiasco.
“Okay, now that you’ve found it, you must open up everything you have to the connection and pull yourself through the gateway. Just imagine it as an invisible door that you must pass through. The door is already open; all you have to do is step inside. And be sure to hold back your power as much as you can once through.”
She let them feel her do it, so they would know what to look for and then helped them all do it. Once on the Otherside, the world was distinctively greyer yet much more beautiful. Magic, the life force of the realm, could be seen floating in the air like sparkling dust particles. It was a different colour when it got close to objects, but the colour faded into the regular particles floating on the wind. The particles ultimately disappeared into the air almost instantaneously upon being seen. The children also saw that every form of life had its own colour.
The students found they were naturally floating above themselves and somewhat transparent. Their first task was to solidify themselves and stand on solid ground. This proved very difficult without assistance. Too much power could result in an explosion of power escaping from them. However, too little power could mean they used so much less that they’d float too far from their bodies and be forced to use their energy flying back. After an hour, though, all of them managed to get their solid form.
“Okay,” Shalini continued. “There are many ways to test your level of control, but I think it’s better to do so where your lack of control will either destroy you or others. That way, you will fully grasp the importance. And I like to see the colour of your aura without having to actually use magic. Now each of you will come forward and reveal all your power in slow increments so I can see your glow and how it flows around you.”
They did so. Shalini knew there was something about the solidness of the particles and the pattern in which they escaped that signified the magician’s natural power and its stability. Janon, once his power was fully relaxed, had particles which extended several feet around him in the blue of his people. The aura was solid enough to clearly see that it escaped in sections of ripples. Everywhere, there were lots of small circles rippling out in the way that water does when a pebble is dropped. The clarity of his shape, in addition to the extension, showed he was far beyond what most children normally are.
Tilal’s aura of particles were purple. She was half Dani then, Drak thought. In actuality, she was half Mironian. Her power was so strong: the area which allowed for the glow to expand wasn’t big enough, and her colour blended in with those of the students behind her. Much like Janon’s had before her but further still. It escaped her in beautifully solid sections of whirlpools, floating in the air around her. She, like Janon but a bit more so, was exceptional for her age.
All the students had their power contained so that the glow disappeared into the clear sky only about six inches or so away from their surface. Shalini was impressed by Tilal’s and Janon’s control. It takes a lot to completely hide an aura as she had instructed them to do in the Other. Some had not quite succeeded but had come close. All in all, this class was better than most she had over the years.
The problem was Drak.
He had been excellent in hiding his aura, but she knew it was more out of fear than an issue of actual control. He was lacking a bit of confidence in his abilities, and she was sure he figured something out about himself once crossing over. It took both Janon and Tilal walking with him to get him to go forward. The class, to their credit, was being quite serious because they were all afraid, on some level, of what they were capable of in the Other.
“What is the problem?” Shalini asked.
“My magic. I knew I was unstable but didn’t think I was this unstable. If I release it, anything could happen. I’m afraid.”
“This is only a relaxation of hiding your aura. Not actually using magic. You’ll be fine.”
“What if magic actually does escape me? What if I can’t hold it in while I’m releasing my aura?”
“You will be safe. I won’t let anything happen. And I trust these two will help you.” Janon and Tilal nodded in agreement.
Slowly Drak let it go. The further it escaped, the more beautiful his purple glow became. It fell around him in sections of falling rain drops. Then there was a sudden spasm. Almost like a gust of wind in the dust as if the rain was becoming a storm. It happened again, and the rain dispersed then returned.
Then again and finally, he lost control and magic escaped him in such force that Shalini had to put up a field to protect everyone. She was pleased to see, after she contained it, that her two students had remained perfectly unharmed beside Drak. They shielded themselves instinctively and well for a first time. Together they coaxed him to continue again. He couldn’t quite stop the sudden burst of energy, but he did manage to stop magic from escaping him. Soon, what he had was a field a few feet wide almost as large as Janon’s. He had the whirlpools like Tilal’s and his oversized raindrops were falling from them. His unstable magic came in the form of ripples. Occasionally, the whirlpools would ripple just like Janon’s as if a pebble had been dropped in a smooth lake.
It was beautiful and what made it more impressive was that it was no longer a solid colour. The three of them had a mix of purple and blue particles. Their colours had blended when Janon and Tilal did what they had to do to save his life while Shalini was saving the class.
“All of you. Look,” Shalini said. “This is what putting yourself last can do. Not only have they saved him. Not only have their colours joined, but also the symbol of strength that was found in them is found in him. His symbol is now a mixture of theirs. In the realm of Salinor, we are all one. Even the peasants have a glow when you look at them through the Other. However, we will not be going outside the walls today.”
“Why is his magic unstable?” one of the students asked.
“Sometimes power itself doesn’t come in the best of forms. Some unstable magicians can ultimately tame their magic to be as it should be. But at least we found out soon. Sometimes this can go undetected for too long and cause serious damage. Open your eyes, child. Look. Look at you.”
Drak finally had the courage to open his eyes and was shocked. As unstable as his power was, it was beautiful, and his friends, as he would call them, had saved his life. That explosion surely should’ve killed him, but they saved him and imparted the beauty of their visual aura into his.
“Keep the aura extended,” Shalini instructed. “I’m going to do something for the class and for the three of you, so you never forget this day.” Shalini used the whisper and captured four of the small whirlpools. She shrunk three of them to the size of a large marble and put them on rope chains later for the three students.
The last one was just wide enough to fit in a large wine bottle, so she put it in a clear glass bottle and placed it on her desk once they were back on the living side of the Other; back in the real realm. In the bottle, it was beautiful. A purple and blue whirlpool shimmered at the top: at the point where the bottle reaches the full width. It rippled occasionally, and the raindrops fell on the inside, for the entire depth of the bottle then disappeared into its glassy bottom. Shalini admired this beauty that was to stand as a reminder of what unity can bring. Beauty is made, even if unseen, by helping those less fortunate.
“You,” she said to Drak. “I want you to tell me your name. Come to the front of the classroom.” Drak didn't really want to do this, but his two new friends urged him on. He was hoping their trip to the Other and back would be it. First day of class over. He should’ve known his luck wouldn’t be so good. Shalini smiled at how much he really didn’t want to do this, but it had to be done. There would be no secrets in this class. And he had to learn to face whatever trials came his way being who he was; this was the first step.
“So. Who are you?”
“Drak.”
“Your full name.”
“Drak Bilat de Larz of Danais.”
There was a collective gasp from the class. “You’re Drak Bilat. The youngest of the queen’s children. Possible heir to the throne!” one of the students exclaimed.
“Maybe,” Drak responded haltingly. “It is not always the ruler’s children that take the throne. Ruling the kingdom is a fair decision. It is not always decided by birth.” He mumbled but somehow knew it was in vain. His mother wasn’t from the previous family line, but still, he knew deep down inside that he was going to be king whether it was a fair choosing or not.
“Between you and me, if anyone is going to get the Alliance on its feet again, it will be your mother,” Shalini said to him so only he could hear. Then she spoke up.
“As I said, in this class, we are all treated as equals. He was afraid to tell you who he was because he is the first to ever be allowed in my class in his family, and because he wants to be treated fairly, not as if he is special. If anyone is too hard or not hard enough on him just because of who he is, you will be dealt with.”
“How do you train someone with unstable magic?” a child in the middle of the class inquired.
“The same as any other magician. There is only one thing different. We have to find out exactly what happens when your magic acts spontaneously. Once we can pinpoint the change, we then can move onto the even harder part of fixing that part of your magic, so it resembles the rest of it. Once it’s fixed, it’s fixed for life. You’ll never have to worry again. But it is extremely difficult. Sometimes, it’s more about learning to recognise it than it actually going away. But it amounts to the same. You’ll have control over it. I suggest you be on guard all the time and have at least two people waiting with you. You have to be fast to assert what happens when you have that sudden burst—and it’s easy to miss. Your chances are better with help.”
“What happens if I can’t find it?” Drak asked.
“Some magicians have lived unstable lives and caused no harm. Others cause harm over their entire existence. It’s up to you to decide before your sixteenth name day to bind your power, or live with the risk and hope you can fix it, or gain control over it in time. Well, that’s it for today, class. Feel free to roam the grounds. But under no circumstances do you leave the premises. Dinner is promptly at six—and I’m sorry we missed lunch."
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