A/N: We meet the first O.C. in this chapter, along with another main character belonging to mwah. xD Enjoy the revised chapter seven! :)
I had never been so excited in my life. I'd cast my first death spell, and Malistaire had given me three Dark Sprite cards to use in duels, along with a small card box to keep them in. The box was painted black with the Death School's symbol, a white skull, on the top. My name was printed in silver on the bottom. Towards the end of class, Malistaire had passed out our official schedules so we'd know when our free periods were, and then he wrote the times of the other Novice classes on the chalkboard. The other Necromancers and I had to choose our secondary Schools from that list. Unfortunately for me, the only available Novice Thaumaturgy class was directly after Necromancy- I'd have to hurry in order to make it there on time.
"That is all for today. I expect every one of you to be here tomorrow morning. If you aren't here, I expect a valid excuse from your parents or guardian. Tardiness will not be accepted; if you are not in this building by the time the bell sounds, the doors will be locked, and you will have no choice but to sit outside for the remainder of the period. You are dismissed." With a wave of his hand, the door swung open. Some of the students, mainly the Theurgists, scrambled to be the first ones out. I wished that I could stay longer, but I only had time to wave to Dworgyn and Malistaire as I ran outside.
I took care not to look at the Fire School on my way past, looking a bit farther to the school of Ice. It was just as I remembered it from my first day in Ravenwood. As I neared it, I could see that a thin layer of ice coated the light gray stones, which were arrayed in a somewhat scattered pattern. Something cold landed on my nose, and I recoiled in shock. Hesitantly, I looked up. A thick white cloud hovered over the Ice School, and from it fell a gentle shower of snow. I scowled at it; while I knew what snow was, I rarely experienced it, and besides- it fell from the sky. Things falling from the sky wasn't natural, and therefore snow could not be trusted. (Not that fiery rocks of doom were any better, but they didn't attempt to disguise themselves as something sweet and innocent the way snow did.)
"What's the matter? Never seen snow before?" I turned. Behind me stood the girl that had fled from the Death School. The first thing I noticed about her was that her white robes were spotless- a feat that I would personally consider impossible- and the second was that her fluffy pigtails were the brightest shade of cobalt blue I had ever seen.
"I've seen it before, but not often." I shot the precipitation another wary glance. "I'm sorry, but your hair-"
"Before you ask, it's natural," the girl interrupted with a wry grin and a roll of her eyes, which were hidden behind a pair of large blue glasses. She tugged on one of the long pigtails. "It runs in my family- there's something to do with genetics and recessive traits … you probably don't care about all that, though. Sorry. What's your name?"
"Alexandra Firesong."
"I'm Erica Bluestone. It's nice to meet you." The left side of her mouth turned up in an awkward half-smile, and she stuck her hand out for me to shake.
"Same to you. Hey, weren't you the girl that ran out of the Death School?" She blushed to the roots of her blue hair.
"Um … well… gosh, stuff spreads really fast here, doesn't it?"
I shook my head. "I was there. See my robe colors?"
"Oh … right." She blushed even more. "Well, um, we should probably get inside; Professor Greyrose will be mad if we're late." She rushed past me into the Ice School. I shrugged and followed her inside.
Professor Greyrose was a tiny woman, barely six inches high, with a pair of silvery wings protruding from her back. She wore neat, light blue robes with a handful of snowflakes scattered across them, and her hat was tall and pointed.
"Hello, class!" She sang, her voice musical and high pitched. "I am Professor Lydia Greyrose, your Thaumaturgy professor! Welcome to the School of Ice! Today, we will be learning how to cast a frost beetle! Please take out your wands, and I will pass out practice cards." She waved her wand, and a light blue card hovered in front of each of us. I took mine and stared at it while Professor Greyrose drew a symbol on the board. "Now, class, this is the Thaumaturgy magic symbol! You will need to draw this each time you cast an Ice spell- it is the power that will activate your spell card. Can anyone tell me what you must draw on in order to cast Ice magic?"
A boy dressed in light brown raised his hand tentatively. "Pips?" he asked.
"Correct, but not all the way correct. All magic requires pips, but each School of magic draws off of one specific thing! Anyone else?"
Erica's hand shot up. "Ice magic draws from any long lasting feelings. Grudges and hatred will work, but drawing from old friendships and love increases accuracy by about half a percent."
"Excellent work, Miss Bluestone! Perhaps you would care to attempt the magic symbol first?"
"O-okay …" Erica hesitantly raised her wand. She touched a large locket that hung from her neck, as if it would reassure her, and then she began to draw. Almost instantly, a ribbon of blue light slid from the end of her wand, and soon the Ice symbol hung in the air before the Thaumaturge.
"That's wonderful! Simply lovely!" Professor Greyrose gushed, applauding happily. "Alright, class! It's time for the rest of you to give it a try!"
Some of the wizards did well, particularly the Thaumaturges- although none of their symbols reached the same brightness and clarity as Ericas- while others didn't do so well. I was struggling hard; unlike with Necromancy, I couldn't get a light to come out at all. Rather, I ended up with a bluish smoke, which lasted about two seconds before disappearing. Most of the Pyromancers were worse off, though. They couldn't even get the blue smoke.
By the end of class, I'd managed to produce a thin line of weak blue light. I wasn't pleased with my work, but I had no time to keep practicing; the professor shooed us all out the door as soon as the bell sounded, although I felt her tiny hand on my shoulder as I was leaving.
"Miss Firesong, correct?"
"Yeah," I grumbled.
"Mmm." She gave me a sympathetic, almost pitying smile. "Ice will be more difficult for you than some, my dear. I know enough about Dragonspyre to have heard of the Firesong family- you have a very long and very noble line of Pyromancy blood, and that will cause trouble for you here. I won't encourage you to change Secondary Schools- I believe that your determination so far is admirable- but do not be too disappointed if you struggle here. Now, you live with the Drakes, yes?" I nodded. "I doubt your father will mind if you pop on over to his class to wait for your lunch period. Go on ahead- I'll see you tomorrow, dear!"
I waved goodbye and then headed towards the Death School. I waited on the steps for a minute, worried about going in, but when the bell rang, I gathered my courage and stepped inside.
Immediately, 15 pairs of lamp like eyes turned my way. 15 pale, gaunt faces stared at me from under dark hoods or wide-brimmed hats.
"Alex, what are you doing here?" Malistaire asked, sounding more curious than angry.
"Professor Greyrose said to come here since I don't have a dorm room," I replied, staring nervously at the 15 Necromancers.
"I see. Well, class, this is my daughter, Alexandra Firesong." There was a chorus of soft hello's. "Alex, you may stay if you are quiet, and you're not in the way. We're learning a very difficult spell today." I nodded in agreement, searching the room for somewhere to sit. A girl in a very fancy black dress, hood, and high heeled boots waved me over, smiling warmly. I slid into the desk next to her quietly, grinning back.
"I'm Marcia Darkwind," she whispered as Malistaire began to speak.
"Nice to meet you," I replied.
The class, which I later found out was Adept Necromancers, was learning the Skeletal Pirate spell. I watched in awe as one by one, the older Necromancers got up, went to the front of the room, and tried casting the spell. Marcia was one of the few that managed to cast it.
I followed Malistaire to the Life School after the Adept class was over; he had the period free, as did Sylvia, and so the three of us were going to return home for lunch. Outside of the Life School, Sylvia was talking to a dark-skinned girl dressed all in green. My adoptive mother waved as we approached.
"Malistaire, can I talk to you for a minute before we head home?" She asked. He nodded, and the two of them stepped closer to Blossom, speaking in tones I couldn't hear. I eyed the girl skeptically. She was blushing and staring at her light green boots.
"Um … hi, I'm Alexandra," I said slowly.
"Destiny Greenblossom," she whispered, her gaze not leaving the ground.
"So, you're a Theurgist?" She nodded. "That's pretty cool. I'm a Necromancer … but … um … that's kinda obvious …" A faint smile appeared on her lips, and she glanced up at me. "Are you a novice?"
"Yes. I'm almost an apprentice, though," she said, a bit louder than before. "I took a few summer classes to get a head start."
"Oh. Awesome. I just started today… but then, you probably knew that, too, since it's the first official day."
Destiny giggled. "Yeah, I figured that much out."
"Alex, are you ready to go?" Sylvia called.
"Yes, coming! I guess I'll see you later?"
"I think so. If you ever hang out in the Commons, that's where I like to sit and read."
"I'll see you there at some point, then. Bye!" I waved to her as I ran to catch up with my adoptive parents.