I knew I would have to fight them physically, and soon; my magical shield was about to fall. I wondered if I should take off my amulet, but Uncle Gabriel’s warning resounded in my head. If I took off the amulet, Damien would know who I really was. He would inform Lucian, and Morgana would come after me immediately. For now I was only safe because she had no idea where I was.
I calmed myself and got ready for the final blow. I would not let them defeat me. I was a princess, daughter of the greatest mage of this age, a fearless warrior, and the true King of Illiador. The thought gave me strength to further reinforce my shield, but time was running out.
Suddenly Damien’s voice sounded panicked. “Let’s get out of here. Someone’s coming.”
They all left as quickly as they came.
I collapsed in a heap on the ground, my shield still defensively around me.
“Rory, are you all right?” a worried voice said.
I looked up to see Professor Dekela, the mastermage, crouching over me. I was safe, and I let my shield drop, but I was too exhausted to get up, let alone walk. Professor Dekela carried me through the mage quarters to his study and lay me down on a comfortable leather sofa. He was quite strong for an old mage.
He handed me a cup of what I recognized as snowberry milk, and I took it gratefully. Snowberry milk was wonderful for calming the nerves and restoring strength to the body.
The mastermage sat down on a matching leather armchair near me. He looked serious, and I was not sure how much I should actually tell him. If I squealed on Damien and his friends, they would hunt me down, and the next time I might not be so lucky.
“Who was responsible for this, Rory?” Professor Dekela asked slowly. His eyes betrayed his concern.
I shook my head. I didn’t want to lie, and so it was better to keep quiet.
“If you don’t tell me, I will punish every student in this school until you do,” he said in his usual matter-of-fact way. “I don’t think your friends would appreciate it when all you have to do is tell me who the aggressors of tonight’s attack were. I will not have any of my students behaving this way.”
I weighed the options carefully in my mind. It was no use lying; he would find out eventually.
“It was the Blackwaters, Professor,” I said finally, unable to keep it in. “Damien and Calisto, along with some of their friends. You cannot punish them or let them know that I’ve told you. If you do, they will make my life hell, and you said I don’t want to bring attention to myself.”
“I will think about it,” said Professor Dekela. “Tell me what happened, and then I will decide.”
“There were about seven or eight of them, and they attacked me out of nowhere,” I started. “I was stunned once. It was a weak stun, but then I got my shield up and held it. They didn’t stop. I got scared, and my shield dropped for a minute. That’s when the fire strike hit me on the leg.”
I showed him where I had been burned.
“Are you saying that they used fire strikes on you outside of class?”
I nodded. “Mainly stuns, but a few fire.”
“We will fix that,” he said simply. He put his palm over the wound and closed his eyes. I had learned this in my healing class but had never done it myself. The pain vanished almost instantly, and the skin started to heal, although I knew it would take a few days to restore itself to normal. I showed him my shoulder too, where Calisto’s fire strike had hit me. He healed that as well.
“Now, let me get this straight,” said Professor Dekela when I was feeling a little better. “Eight students attacked you out of nowhere and used stun and fire strikes on you.”
“And push strikes too,” I added, recalling the details of my ordeal.
He frowned. “And you held your shield against so many magical strikes one after another?”
I shook my head. “At first it was one after another, but then, when they were not getting through my shield, they all struck together, maybe four or five at a time. I think they were trying to break my shield from all sides. I didn’t have enough power to strike back, so I concentrated on holding my shield.”
Professor Dekela rubbed his chin, his eyes wide. “Are you trying to say that you held your shield against multiple strikes at a time for, what was it, about ten minutes?”
I nodded.
“And this is the first time you have created a shield against a real magical attack outside of class, am I right?”
I nodded again.
The mastermage rose. “That, my dear Rory, is quite impressive. There is only one mage I have seen who had so much power at your age.” He stopped, a faraway look on his face; he seemed hesitant to continue on that subject. “Nonetheless, this kind of behavior will not be tolerated in my school. Use of fire strikes on one of my students, ambush on school property . . . these students have to be dealt with in some way.”
There was a knock on the door.
“Ah, Penelope and Miss Foxmoor,” said the mastermage, looking over at the door. I turned to see Professor Plumpleberry and Vivienne walk in.
Vivienne ran over and hugged me. I winced when she touched my arm. “What happened?”
“Damien happened,” I said simply.
Penelope’s eyes narrowed to ice chips; she looked livid.
Professor Dekela cleared his throat. “I summoned your roommate and Professor Plumpleberry when I brought you here. They will take you back to your room, and Penelope can tend to your wounds. I expect you don’t want to be alone tonight.”
I nodded gratefully. I would never have
