Nadia yawned, stretching. She rolled out of her bed and muttered a quick spell to make her bed. Madam Marcia always said that Magykwas not to be used for personal gain, but Nadia wholeheartedly disagreed. It was there, it was easy, and no one would ever know.
Nadia dressed and eyed herself in the Magykalfull-length mirror. She looked "good and Magyk," as her father would say.
Her tunic was brown, with cuffs and a collar of green. There were green swirls and tendrils snaking around Nadia's stomach and chest, a fashion that had only become popular in the last three years and still not wholly accepted with the people who hadn't let go of the simpler, more honest fashions in The Light Days. Around her neck was a simple silver chair with a small golden N on it, a gift from the wizard she was apprenticed to. Her shoes were sensible brown boots, like people said the Lost Princess Jenna wore. Nadia liked that connection to someone outside of her tiny world, although it was hard to remember much past the SafeShieldand the rolling blackness beyond that.
Nadia shook her head free of those useless thoughts and left her bedroom, emerging into the slightly larger chamber where her family and friends spent some of their time each day chatting, arguing, or working.
Her mother was there with a steaming plate of pancakes and sausages. "Morning, sleepyhead."
Nadia, braiding her hair into a fishtail braid, crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue at her mother.
"Thanks for getting breakfast ready," she said gratefully. She didn't feel like trekking down to the kitchen and standing in line for food right now.
"No problem," her mother said nonchalantly. "Just a simple food spell."
"Oh, of course," Nadia said, mock wounded. "You don't care enough to visit the kitchens for your poor, hungry daughter!"
After a short, invigorating chase around their apartment involving an unused spatula and lots of screaming that probably didn't make their neighbors happy, Nadia settled down and scarfed down the food, licking her lips and sending the plate to the sink with a simple cleaning spell.
"You know how Madam Marcia feels about that kind of magic," her mother said disapprovingly.
"I don't see Madam Marcia," Nadia said innocently.
Her mother rolled her eyes and laughed. "Oh, go away and leave me alone."
"I know when I'm not wanted," Nadia huffed, standing up and pecking her mother on the cheek. Then, she strode toward the door, which opens at her approach.
It was time to go learn magic.
Ordinary Wizard Julius, named after the Extra Ordinary Wizard of centuries ago, Julius Pike, had been awake for hours.
"You're late," he said curtly as Nadia closed the door behind her, flipping a page in his book.
She smiled, used to his brisk words and seemly harsh actions. "Nope. It's...7:30 preciselyaccording to my watch."
"Have I ever told you you sound just like the old Chief Hermetic Scribe, Jillie Djinn?" Julius asked absentmindedly.
"Yes. Every chance you get," laughed Nadia.
"Oh. Well, then." Julius clapped his hands, stood up, and asked, "Ready to do some magic?"
Nadia smiled. They had this exact conversation every morning. "Yes, Julius," she replied.
Julia nodded. "Today, we'll be working on Transfixing."
Nadia gulped. Transfixedthings made her nervous. Their struggles, shown only through the terrified shine of their eyes. Their unnatural stillness...she explained this to Julius.
"Oh, my dear," he sighed. "Sometimes, we must do things we are uncomfortable doing. So we must be prepared for these moments."
"Prepare for the unprepared," Nadia quipped. Julius grinned, tossing her a small, purple, leather-bound notebook-her Apprentice Diary. Not as nice as the old Extra Ordinary Apprentice's had been, but it served its purpose.
She flipped open to the page, which magically marked the date at the top of the page in a crisp purple handwriting so different from her own chicken scratch.
"Record," she told it. As the page glowed a faint purple, she began to speak.
"Today, I begin my lessons in Transfixing." There was more she wanted to add, but not with Julius hovering over her shoulder.
"Stop recording."
As they walked to the spiral stairs at the middle of the Wizard Tower and stepped onto them, the stairs starting to move at a leisurely pace, Nadia took out a plain pen and began scribbling.
I have been studyingTransfixingfor weeks. Now we're going to try it for real. I am scared-I hateTransfixedthings.
She sighed, closing the notebook and reminding herself that it was her duty to learn all she could about Magyk. For the sake of everyone inside the Wizard Tower.
They had stayed alive for five years. Nadia planned to keep in that way.