The Awakening Read online

  Conryu needed to change the subject, rapidly. “Um, what happened? The last thing I remember is collapsing beside Cerberus. I thought I heard Maria’s voice.”

  “That’s easy.” The dean sat beside him on the sick bed, her legs swinging. “We found you, brought you back, and Sally healed you. That was about four hours ago. Maria was here for a while, but I sent her to find some food when I sensed you starting to wake up. Your turn to answer a question. How did you summon the demon dog when we haven’t taught you a summoning spell yet?”

  “I have no idea. Those three girls were going to kill me. I was scared, desperate. The brand on my arm started to ache and I called to Cerberus. Dark energy gathered around me and he appeared.”

  “Cerberus appeared through the dark magic or the dark magic transformed into Cerberus?” Dean Blane asked. “Think hard, this is really important.”

  “The magic transformed into him. Why does that matter?”

  The dean let out a breath. “It matters because you didn’t cast a spell you don’t know. The demon dog used your innate power to create a temporary body so it could protect you.”

  “Okay.” Conryu didn’t understand what she was talking about, but since the dean seemed relieved he would be too. “Can I get dressed and go back to my room?”

  “Not just yet.” Dean Blane inched closer and Conryu inched away. “Did you recognize the girls that attacked you?”

  “They wore masks, but it was definitely a fire wizard and two light wizards. At least I assume it was since that’s the sort of magic they used. I suspect the three that threw tomatoes at me, but I can’t prove it. Going from tomatoes to lightning bolts is a long jump.”

  “Those three are all Le Fay Sorority members so it’s a good bet they’re the ones that attacked you. Unfortunately, without evidence, we can’t do much about it.” The dean’s lips twisted in an angry frown. “If we could just find something solid on them I’d ban the whole bunch.”

  “Cerberus thrashed the fire wizard pretty good. Would that be enough evidence?”

  “The others would have had her healed and about her business in an hour or two. I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do for the time being.”

  “There is one thing.” Conryu couldn’t believe he was about to ask this.

  Dean Blane inched closer again and leaned against him. “If it’s within my power, just ask.”

  “I’d like to learn a couple defensive spells, something I can use to protect myself so I don’t have to rely on luck. Maybe that summoning spell you mentioned, so I can call Cerberus when I need him.”

  “That’s a dangerous idea. What you saw was just a shadow of the demon dog’s true power. If you used a proper summoning spell to bring the beast here physically, and it ran out of control…” She shook her head. “Too risky. That said, I do think you need to learn a spell or two you can use for self-defense. If you’re willing to give up your free period I can arrange for our Head of Dark Magic to give you some one-on-one training. With your raw power even a simple dark spell would have a potent effect. I can think of three off the top of my head that would have ended your confrontation as soon as it began.”

  “I’m in. Where and when?” Much as he hated the idea of getting deeper into the study of magic, Conryu hated being helpless even more.

  “You can just stay in the dark magic room after your regular class ends and she’ll meet you there. I’ll take care of the details.”

  In the deepest, darkest corner of the Le Fay Sorority building Lady Mockingbird paced, the four-inch heels of her thigh-high leather boots clicking on the tile floor. The black walls and floor of the punishment chamber were lit by a single crimson glow globe. She considered the three girls tied up in front of her. They hung naked by their wrists, their clothes sitting in a heap in the corner.

  They were lovely girls. So young and firm and sweet. A pity they were so stupid.

  Fear sweat dripped from them. She took a deep breath. Lady Mockingbird loved the scent of fear. The black lash dangling from her gloved hand snapped and crackled with dark magic. Though Lady Mockingbird was fire aligned, she had considerable skill in dark magic as well. Unlike a flame whip, the black lash wouldn’t mar their smooth skin. The pain it caused might make them wish she’d used fire, but burn scars would be far too obvious.

  She twitched her wrist, causing the lash to crack and the girls to whimper. Lady Mockingbird smiled behind her mask. Some claimed the anticipation of pain to be worse than the reality. Those people had never felt the black lash.

  “Lady, please.” Demarlza, the fire wizard that Lady Mockingbird knew to be the instigator of their little adventure, dared to speak. “We thought you’d be pleased if we killed him.”

  “And did you?” Lady Mockingbird asked.

  “No, but we were so clo—”

  A snap from the black lash turned her excuses into a scream of pain. Lady Mockingbird had warded the chamber against any sound escaping so dear Demarlza could scream until her lungs bled for all the difference it would make.

  When the screaming stopped Lady Mockingbird said, “I warned you to stay away from him. Even before your foolish stunt with the tomatoes, I warned you. I believe I made it clear that my superiors are always watching, always judging. How does it make me look when my subordinates disobey me?”

  “We meant no—”

  The lash cracked across Janice’s back, drawing a scream. “Do not speak until I tell you to. I’ve explained the rules to you three before, yet you still fail to obey. I say, you do. I don’t require your thoughts, opinions, or notions. And I surely don’t need your initiative. I have my own plans in motion. Plans that will end the abomination and raise me above the wretched Lady Raven and into the ranks of the Hierarchs.”

  The girls all hung silently trembling, none daring to speak. Good. That was much better. Unfortunately for them they’d already proven themselves willful and disobedient. They were going to have to learn a proper lesson before Lady Mockingbird would set them free.

  She licked her lips. There was little Lady Mockingbird enjoyed more than teaching lessons. It was why she became an educator after all.

  Fifteen minutes later all three girls had passed out from the pain and a thin sheen of sweat covered Lady Mockingbird. Nothing like a bit of exercise to start the blood pumping. Now for a hot bath.

  A knock on the punishment chamber door brought her up short. None of her girls would dare interrupt for anything but the most pressing business. She let the black lash vanish and sent a burst of fire to sever the bonds holding the girls upright. They collapsed in a heap of delightful white flesh.

  They could clean themselves up and get dressed when they came to. Lady Mockingbird walked over to the door and opened it a crack. A dark-skinned sophomore in pale-blue robes stood outside with downcast eyes.

  “What?”

  “Dean Blane wishes to speak with you, Lady.”

  Lady Mockingbird ground her teeth. Of course the dean would suspect her girls and want to talk. She’d been having so much fun instructing her wayward apprentices she’d forgotten all about the consequences of their rash action.

  “Tell whoever she sent I’ll go to her office as soon as I’m ready.”

  “She’s here, Lady. Waiting upstairs in the lounge.”

  “Is she? In that case bring her some tea and cookies and tell her I’ll be with her presently.”

  “Yes, Lady.” The girl bowed, backed away from the door, and hurried toward the stairs.

  Such a demure little servant. Not enough spunk to make it far in the Society, but useful nonetheless. Lady Mockingbird dismissed the insignificant child from her mind and focused on her upcoming encounter with Dean Blane.

  In spite of her ridiculous, childlike appearance, the dean was as formidable a wizard as there was outside the Society. Lady Mockingbird underestimated the woman at her peril.

  A little magic and a change of clothes transformed Lady Mockingbird, Sub-Hierarch of the Le Fay Society into gentle Amelia
Light, First Sister of the sorority. A billowing, red silk robe disguised Lady Mockingbird’s lush figure and her confident strut became a meek amble. No illusion magic was required; it all came down to attitude.

  She found Dean Blane sipping tea from a bone china mug while she sat in an overstuffed chair, her legs dangling like the child she posed as. Why a fifty-year-old grandmaster of wizardry would waste her power pretending to be a little girl was beyond Lady Mockingbird’s understanding.

  The dean looked up at her approach and smiled. “Hello, Amelia.”

  “Dean Blane, always a pleasure to see you.” Lady Mockingbird made the lie sound convincing. “Is there something I can do for you?”

  “I’d like to speak to three of your members, the girls from the tomato incident.”

  “Disgraceful. Rest assured I chastised them thoroughly for that wretched behavior. I thought they’d completed their punishment for that unfortunate incident.”

  “They did. However there’s been another unfortunate incident. Three girls, two light wizards and a fire wizard, attempted to kill Conryu Koda this morning. He’s fine, though his faith in our security has been shaken.”

  “You suspect my girls are the culprits?”

  Dean Blane’s bland smile turned predatory. “Let’s say they’re at the top of my list of suspects. Do you know where they are?”

  Lady Mockingbird held her hands out to the side. “They went out this morning and haven’t returned yet. It’s their free day after all. I assumed they went down to the fair.”

  “No doubt.” Dean Blane stood up and set her mug on the table nearby. “I trust you’ll send them to my office when you find them.”

  Lady Mockingbird bowed her head. “Of course.”

  “Excellent. And Amelia, I expect to see them before the end of the day. I’d hate to have to come back.”

  “I’ll make sure of it, never fear.” Lady Mockingbird escorted the dean to the front door and closed it behind her.

  How much did she know and how much did she suspect? For a moment only, Lady Mockingbird debated simply making the three girls lying unconscious on the floor downstairs disappear, but she dismissed the idea at once. If the girls went missing Dean Blane would use it as an excuse to start an investigation and that was the last thing she needed.

  5

  Training Continues

  Three days after the attack on the trail Conryu and thirty-nine girls gathered in the gymnasium. Soft mats had been spread over the floor. Today was the first time since he’d arrived that everyone wasn’t dressed in robes. Instead they’d all gotten element-colored sweat pants and t-shirts. Facing the group was a similarly dressed wizard in her mid-forties, earth aligned if her brown gear was any indication. She wore her hair cut short and had a chiseled, muscular build.

  They were supposed to be learning the basics of combat training and judging by the easy, always-balanced way the instructor carried herself, she was more than capable of teaching them. Not that Conryu needed much in the way of additional combat training. The conversation he’d had with Dean Blane the day before ran on an endless loop in his head.

  She’d spoken to the girls Conryu believed were behind the attack, but they swore up and down they hadn’t been involved and several other girls from the sorority backed them up. With no other evidence the dean had been forced to let them go with nothing more than a warning. Her next warning was for Conryu to be careful. She promised to arrange extra dark magic lessons as soon as possible.

  Conryu forced his mind back to the moment. This was one class where he wasn’t behind all the other students. A quick glance revealed many nervous faces and more than one shirt was already sweat-plastered to the girl wearing it. This was perhaps the first time since he arrived that Conryu was the more comfortable one. It made for a nice change of pace.

  “My name is Mrs. Grundy,” the teacher said. “And this is basic self-defense. Some of you ladies are no doubt wondering why wizards need to learn hand-to-hand combat when you can just blast your opponents with a fireball. Well if your opponent can get in close you’ll find most magic useless. You need to learn to disable your enemy quickly and create space to use your spells.”

  Conryu nodded to himself. This wasn’t going to be a comprehensive martial arts class, just some basic strikes and counters that would allow the girls to escape a close encounter.

  “Every year when I begin with a new group,” Mrs. Grundy continued. “I make the same offer. Anybody that can stay on the mat with me for a full minute without ending up on their back is free to skip my class. Any takers?”

  The girls were all muttering amongst themselves, but the teacher’s gaze was locked on Conryu. There was a challenge in it he’d seen many times when a student transferred from another dojo to theirs. Some people needed to find out for themselves.

  Conryu hopped to his feet. “I’ll give it a go.”

  He walked between the rows of students to comments of “arrogant boy” and “I bet she flattens him.” His fellow students seemed to have little faith in him. Shocking.

  Conryu stepped on the mat and bowed to the teacher. “Sparring rules?”

  Mrs. Grundy thumped herself on the chest and it made a dull sound. “I toughened my body with earth magic. You can go full contact. Don’t worry, I didn’t enhance my speed or strength. It’ll be a fair match.”

  “My body isn’t hardened with earth magic,” Conryu said.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you. Ready?”

  Conryu settled into a neutral, defensive stance, hands raised and feet shoulder-width apart. “Ready.”

  She lunged at him, going for a leg tackle. Conryu hopped back and struck down, driving her into the mat. Six machine gun punches to the back and ribs followed. Without magical protection his blows would have cracked her ribs.

  He leapt over her and spun as she scrambled up off the mat. Mrs. Grundy nodded, some of the arrogance having been knocked out of her. “I felt those even through the magic. How are your fists?”

  Conryu grinned. “Good to go. Forty-five seconds more I’d say.”

  She approached more cautiously this time, fists raised and knees bent in a typical kickboxer’s pose. The teacher snapped a midlevel kick.

  Conryu dodged back then darted in to close the distance before she regained her balance. Close fighting was a Koda-style specialty. He lashed out with a barrage of rapid-fire punches and elbow strikes.

  His opponent blocked some, but a third of them slipped through, scoring hard blows to her face and throat. Her magic protected her, but they both knew that without it she would have been down long before now.

  Mrs. Grundy tried to step back and create distance, but Conryu stomped on her foot, locking her in place. That move startled her just enough to create an opening.

  He stepped into a double-palm thrust, striking just above and below her breasts and sending her flying off the mat and skidding across the floor. She came to a stop ten feet away, shook her head, and climbed back to her feet.

  “You okay, ma’am?”

  She rubbed her chest and nodded. “That last one hurt. I feel comfortable saying you don’t need basic self-defense training. This is a twice-a-week class. If you have something else you’d like to do, go ahead. I won’t be sparring with you again.”

  “If it’s okay, I’d like to help you train. I haven’t taught a class since the start of summer vacation and it would be nice to get back into it. Unless the ladies object?”

  To Conryu’s considerable surprise none of them did. He and Mrs. Grundy moved to the front of the class.

  “Okay, everyone on your feet.” When the girls had all complied Mrs. Grundy continued. “The most important thing to remember is balance. If you’re off balance you’re at the mercy of your opponent, as Mr. Koda here so ably demonstrated. Show ’em how.”

  Conryu assumed the basic stance he’d taken when they began their match.

  Mrs. Grundy walked along behind him. “Note the bent knees, wide stance, and weight on
the balls of his feet, ready to react.”

  She snapped a punch at him which Conryu deflected and instinctively countered with an open-hand thrust to her throat. He stopped just short of her skin.

  “The next thing to remember is, be ready for anything. Now let’s see you.”

  The girls tried to mimic his pose. Some did well. He suspected they were athletes and used to this sort of thing. At least three clearly had some basic martial arts training.

  Conryu walked along the rows, adjusting a foot placement here and a shoulder turn there. He paused by one girl who had so much weight on the balls of her feet a nudge to her back would send her flat on her face.

  “That’s not going to work.” Conryu gently put his hands on her shoulders and the girl went rigid. “Relax, if you’re stiff your balance will be even worse.”

  He adjusted her position until she was in proper balance.

  “Feel that?”

  She nodded, her eyes wide and nervous. “Thank you.”

  It came out as more a squeak than actual words, but he appreciated the gesture. They spent the next hour and a half teaching the girls simple tricks and weak spots where a solid hit would do maximum damage.

  When the wind spirit arrived to tell them to go to their next class Conryu said, “I don’t think it would hurt to give them some exercises they could do on their own. Most of them aren’t strong enough to fight anyone off.”

  Mrs. Grundy nodded. “Go ahead.”

  Conryu assigned them to do deep knee bends and hold the position until it became uncomfortable, along with push ups and crunches. When they filed out at the end of class several of the girls actually smiled at him. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

  Conryu sat amidst the empty chairs in the dark magic classroom and studied the phrases written on the chalkboard while he waited for his instructor to arrive. Ten days had passed since the attack and Mrs. Umbra, the Head of Dark Magic Studies, finally had some time to train him. He’d begun to wonder if the dean had changed her mind. His palms were sweating and no matter how many times he dried them on his robe it didn’t last. He’d heard some of the other dark-aligned students talking about the department head.