Professor Pyro approached me once she’d made a round of the other freshmen and watched my attempts with a keen eye.
“Do you feel tired at all? Like you’re starting to consume a lot of your reserves?” she asked with interest.
“I don’t think so,” I replied. If anything, the longer I practiced, the more my magic reserves seemed to swell within me.
“Okay. Let me see if I can help you to guide your power.” She moved close to me and took my left hand in hers. I looked at her in surprise and she gave me a reassuring smile. “We have to maintain contact skin to skin to be able to guide and channel another’s power. My influence will only work on your magic while that contact is maintained.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “So you want me to try and create a ball again?”
“Yes. Whenever you’re ready.”
I tried to ignore the fact that I was holding her hand and focused on my other palm instead as I held it out before me.
I took a breath and focused on creating the smallest amount of fire as possible. An inferno blazed to life instantly, creating a spear that hit the sand at my feet and shot up way above my head at the same time.
Professor Pyro’s grip on my hand tightened and I could feel the sway of her magic as she tried to coax mine under control. I attempted to copy what she was doing, wrapping my will around the unruly Element as I gave all of my attention to creating a ball.
Slowly, the flames began to shrink as the Professor and I worked together to wrangle the beast which was my power.
Finally, a ball of fire no bigger than a baseball sat above the palm of my hand and I grinned at it triumphantly. It burned a deep red colour and I knew without having to touch it that it was as hot as the depths of a volcano.
Professor Pyro dropped my hand and stumbled back. I lost control of the fire as I turned to her in shock and it flared brightly before I managed to extinguish it again.
“I’m okay,” she said ruefully as she stepped further away from me.
“What happened?” I asked, my brows pinching together with concern.
A fine layer of sweat lined her skin and her hands were trembling slightly. “Nothing that a good dose of sunlight won’t fix. Don’t worry, my dear.”
“I don’t understand.” I could tell that she wasn’t feeling well at all but the way she was trying to shrug it off made me feel like I’d been the cause of whatever was wrong with her. “Did I hurt you?”
“My own arrogance is what hurt me,” she said with a shrug. “I thought to guide the power of an Heir with my magic. When guiding someone else’s power, my own is drained too. Think of it as trying to wrap a king sized bed in a toddler’s sheet.”
“So your magic is gone?” I asked.
“For now, I find myself depleted,” she confirmed with a nod. “I had thought that after your run-in with Mr Altair, your stores would be low enough for me to contain. I won’t be making the same mistake twice.”
“So what now?” I asked. I hadn’t been making any progress until she’d guided me and I wasn’t sure how easily I’d learn to harness my power if I wasn’t able to work on it that way again.
“Now…” Professor Pyro tapped her forefinger against her lips as she considered my options. “There are two possible courses of action which could work. We could invite Mr Altair to drain your energy to a much lower level so that you have less to deal with-”
My features skewed with horror at the idea of requesting such a thing and the Professor’s lips quirked with amusement.
“On second thought that would only help in the very short term anyway,” she admitted and I sagged with relief as she seemed to go off the idea. “You need to be able to wrangle your powers at full strength. Which means you need a tutor who is strong enough to handle you…”
Her gaze wandered away from me and I turned to see what she was looking at.
On the far side of the arena, Darius and Caleb were locked in a battle of fire which looked like something out of a movie. Darius directed a huge fire dragon to take potshots at hundreds of fire snakes which were under Caleb’s control.
Though the dragon was much bigger than the snakes, the sheer number of them which Caleb had created made it difficult for Darius to maintain the advantage. It almost seemed like a game and both of their faces were lit with smiles but in their eyes raged a fierce competitive streak which made it clear they were both playing to win.
As I watched, a second dragon sprang to life, clambering out the water fountain which was nearest to them before diving headlong into the swarm of vipers. The fire creations didn’t stand a chance and as they spluttered out of existence, Darius gave a whoop of triumph and the two dragons did a victory lap of the arena.
“Always the cheat,” Caleb mocked, folding his arms.
Darius started laughing and Caleb shot forward at a speed which didn’t seem possible.
The two of them collided and started throwing punches. I looked at the Professor in surprise, expecting her to step in but her gaze had fallen back on me.
“There are only a few people whose power would be strong enough to keep yours in check,” she said thoughtfully and my stomach dropped as I realised where her train of thought had taken her. I did not want her to get off at this stop but I had no idea what I was supposed to say to prevent the words from leaving her lips. “Caleb is good but you might as well be taught by the best so it’ll have to be Darius.”
“But I…” I what? What? Professor Pyro was staring at me and my mouth was opening and closing like a goldfish as I hunted for something, anything to say which would turn her from this idea. The last thing I wanted was to be indebted to Darius Acrux. But the cogs in my brain were turning too slowly and the only thing I could think to say was ‘but he’s mean to me and I don’t like it’ which would have made me seem like a pathetic little girl even though it was the truth. “Principal Nova is assigning me a Liaison to help me catch up and I’m sure a teacher would be the best person to help me-”
“Your Liaison will be guiding you in a more practical role, teaching you about our world and how to live up to the standards expected of you. As strange as it may seem to you after spending a lifetime in the mortal world, the amount of power we each hold is something that we are born with. There are no teachers here strong enough to handle guiding your magic this way. Only the other Heirs can rival you with your power. And even then, as twins born to Gemini who each hold all four Elements, I’d wager they’ll have their hands full.” Her lips quirked for a moment and I got the impression that that idea amused her.
My mind whirled as my only argument hit a dead end and I scrambled for another excuse. “I just… feel bad asking him to waste his time working with me while my level of understanding is so much less-”
“Nonsense,” Professor Pyro waved me off as she beckoned for me to follow her across the arena towards the two Heirs who were still wrestling on the ground, their fight getting increasingly violent. “This will be good for him too, melding your power with another Fae’s is a skill that is hard to master so it’ll be a perfect opportunity for him to flex those muscles. It takes a lot of concentration and it can be really quite intimate as the two of you will have to strive towards a level of trust so that your magic can work in harmony with one another.”