12

There’s a murmur of excitement in the atmosphere the next morning as the Acolytes make their way to the Atrium, the main hall of the Academy. Everyone eagerly anticipates the unexpected aptitude test that’s being performed in a few minutes, quietly speculating over the student that arrived late.

Me.

I’m that student, and for once, I’m sick to the stomach with anxiety for what’s to come.

Seeing as only Eisley would understand my petrification, I begged her to explain the test to me last night after Elsa and Delphi went to sleep. She made it sound so simple – no doubt to put me at ease. We both know that if my emotions get out of hand, my wild magic might slip and expose me to the whole Academy.

Apparently, the test involves the four elements, each representing a strength of character. Water symbolizes adaptability, earth determination, air wisdom, and fire passion. And from what I understand, whichever element resonates with you, will determine the root of your magic and which classes to take to reach its full potential.

I remember when Eisley joined Alcove and took her test, she was thrilled to let me know her magic resonated with air. Now that I know what it means, it’s rather fitting.

“But…what if I resonate with all the elements?” I had to ask, knowing wild magic was connected to nature itself and not just one element. “Wouldn’t that be a dead giveaway.”

“It’s possible to resonate with two elements,” Eisley said after a minute of thinking. “It happened to Delphi, actually. She resonated with water and earth. However, I’m not so sure about three or more elements. There’s only ever been two Acolytes who resonated with three, one of them is a professor here, and the other…I think you can remember what happened twenty years ago.”

I nodded, letting her know she didn’t need to elaborate. That’s when my parents disappeared, and when my mother’s brother Orson was put down after the Academy discovered he wielded an extremely dangerous and corrupt form of magic. Blood magic.

Orson resonated with three elements and became corrupt with power in the end.

Of course, I couldn’t let it happen to me. There had to be a way to rig the test.

“Actually, there is,” Eisley said after I mentioned it last night. “It could never be done seeing as Magians use motion and incantations to spellcast. But you don’t.”

Her words kept me awake for a decent part of the evening, pondering how I’d manipulate the test for only one or two elements to react to my magic. Come morning, I only slept an hour or two, but at least I held a sliver of hope that I might just survive my first day at Alcove Academy without being discovered.

Once everyone assembled in the Atrium – or the heart of Alcove, as Delphi called it – everyone fell silent when the Dean himself appeared on the stage in the middle of the room. Standing in the middle of the circular platform, he started the event with some brief announcements that I didn’t care listening to. Something about the library not meant for procreating and suspending Acolytes who use Academy property for fornicating…

Only when he calls my name, do my ears break open like they would when one would surface after swimming. “Would Miss Myrwell please approach the stage?”

At first, I can’t move my legs to cross the room. Only when Eisley gives me a light nudge, does my body jolt to life and I find myself moving forward. Heads turn as I pass the Acolytes, no doubt curious about the new student and why she enrolled so late.

But all that fades away when I round the stage to get to the stairs…and spot Kaz waiting for me at the foot. Maybe it’s because I’m slightly more familiar with him, or the fact that the deal I made with him is the only thing keeping me safe at this point, but I literally feel my heart skipping twice when I see him. Even while floundering in angst, I admit that he looks striking in his tight-spun navy suit and perfect hair – and, of course, his shades.

If I didn’t feel like puking at the moment, I would’ve asked him what the deal with the shades were.

“Are you ready?” He inquires once I’m standing before him.

I’ve hoped to detect a hint of empathy in his tone, something that would make him seem human. Surely, he had to do this as well, didn’t he? He must have been an Acolyte too when he was young. Was he nervous as well?

Of course, he wasn’t. He’s not the one wielding wild magic.

“I think I’m going to throw up,” I confess breathlessly, shaking my hands to dry my clammy palms.

“You’ll be fine,” he says evenly. “This is just to determine your potential.”

Feeling the claws of vulnerability and desperation pierce my heart, I tilt my head up to look at him, hoping he doesn’t notice the watery glaze in my eyes. “What if my potential isn’t…good?”

However, the moment we lock eyes, I imagine I hear his breath hitch. It happened so fast, the sound so soft, I almost don’t think it happened at all. But I hold his gaze nonetheless, and within those few seconds, became increasingly aware of every single aspect of him. How briefly he broke character. How fleetingly his expression softened. How slightly his lips parted. And how subtly he swallowed the pressure in his throat, his Adam’s apple straining against his collar and tie.

But just as soon as he showed emotion, he composed himself and answered my earlier question, “Trust me, I wouldn’t have agreed to your deal if I didn’t think you have potential. When you start the test, just clear your mind and allow your magic to do the rest.”

I nod quietly and turn to the stairs. At the top, the Dean gestures for me to come up. I climb each step with withering legs. Once at the top, my fear briefly dulls when I come face to face with every Acolyte of Alcove Academy, all cheering me on and anticipating the test to begin. From their applause and ruckus, I realize this isn’t supposed to be as frightening as I make it out to be.

Then again, none of them wield wild magic.

Diverting my gaze from the crowd to the stage, I notice the Dean has left and I’m standing alone surrounded by four pedestals. Each one houses an element, a swirling gust of air, a globe of water, a ball of fire, and a mossy rock that levitates.

Slowly turning my head, I then look at Eisley in the crowd and how the fear in her eyes matches that which I feel inside my whole body. And finally, I steal a glimpse of Kaz standing among the faculty. His face remains stoic, but something lingers in his expression as he stares at me. I’m not sure what it is, but I hold on to it as I take a stand among the elements and close my eyes.

Immediately, I feel a pull towards all of them as I feared. I feel the coolness of the water grazing my skin, the texture of the rock between my fingers, the breeze playing through my hair, and the fire burning up my back.

Despite Kaz’s advice to clear my mind and let my magic take control, I focus on the strongest tethers and concentrate on drawing them closer. I feel something warm pool in my chest and spreading to my stomach, followed by grounding sensation around my feet.

Earth and fire – determination and passion.

I slowly exhale, relieved that I could manipulate the test for the best outcome. Two elements are safe, and I’m satisfied with the two I got.

Opening my eyes, I’m momentarily surprised to see the flames licking up my arms and vines curling around my calves, announcing to the whole Academy that I’ve passed the test. The Acolytes cheer wildly, Eisley jumps up and down in joy, looking just as relieved as I do, and Kaz…Kaz looks genuinely impressed.

Understandably so. I did refer to myself as untrained, uneducated, and insignificant during his interrogation.

Believing the test is over, I inch towards the stairs to rejoin my cousin, when one of the vines around my leg tugs me back. Frowning at it, I give it a yank, but it doesn’t budge. Just as I want to ask the nearest person for help, something else happens.

The globe of water levitates and moves towards me.

My breath hitch when I see it, and simultaneously, the whole student body falls silent at what they’re witnessing. I yank at the vines again in desperate attempt to break free, but it’s too late. The water has reached me and morphed with the fire and earth, creating a lave-like substance that slithers around my feet. And if I looked closely, the lava could almost pass as blood.

Three elements.

Just like my uncle Orson.