“Professor!” she yells and kneels down.
In a matter of seconds, Selene is facing the class, eyes wide in fear. The professor is holding a knife to her throat, his previously bloodied face completely clean and grinning. A few students jump out of their seats, some yell, and others clap.
What in the Sun Goddess is going on? Before I can piece it all together, the professor begins to talk.
“Myrage. An optical illusion that Sun’chers can create by bending the light rays around them.” Professor Gregorio removes the knife from Selene’s face. She smiles as he offers her a hand to stand, not fazed one bit that a knife was to her clavicle only moments prior.
She must have been in on the demonstration because of the closeness she mentioned the professor has with her father.
I join the other cadets in clapping as Selene makes her way back to her seat. These professors enjoy drama almost as much as Tellers. This was a performance like any other.
“Thank you, Selene, for your cooperation.” He nods in her direction. “I would be kidding myself if I said this was not my favorite part of starting a new class of cadets.”
The class laughs, and I can already tell this might be my favorite subject.
“Now, mastering a convincingmyragecomes later on in your training. Can someone tell me why this particular skill might be useful for Watchers?”
Multiple hands raise. I keep my eyes lowered, trying to avoid the professor’s gaze, though my mind is already spinning with the possibilities of how casting amyragecould help.
Professor Gregorio calls on Leo to answer. “Amyragecould help a Sun’cher change their appearance, and confuse the enemies!”
“You are not wrong, as that is what I demonstrated today. What do you think?”
When no one answers, I look up to see the professor staring right at me.
I pause for a moment before answering. Thoughts swirl in my mind like the start of a Telling.
“I guess it could help in a variety of ways,” I begin, grateful for my overactive imagination that Rosie used to scold me for. “You could create an illusion of a peaceful field while an army prepares for battle. Make a WatchTower appear occupied when really it’s empty, tricking the enemy so the Watchers could sneak up from an unsuspecting spot. Maybe even use it to make an army appear larger than it really is, intimidating the opponent!”
I had always loved brainstorming with Marrow for new story ideas but had never thought this skill would be useful at the Watch.
“Brilliant mind, Akemi! That is a second-stone Watcher level of strategic thinking. There are so many possibilities where mastering this skill can be extremely useful,” Professor Gregoriopraises me, and I can feel the smallest flames of pride spreading in my chest.
Maybe I can do this after all.
Across the room, Sabra rolls her eyes dramatically. The people around her laugh.
My flame sputters.
“Today we will start small. Sun’chers, you will be working with me on this side of the room conjuringsunfyre, fire manipulation basics. Moon’chers, you will be working with an advanced third-stone Moon’cher on that side of the room.”
My heart skips a beat as Castor appears in the office door frame behind the desk. He must have been waiting there this whole time.
“You’ll be working on channelinglunaflow, the water manipulation counterpart tosunfyre,” Professor Gregorio explains, then lifts a small woven basket full of silver and gold rings, each adorned with a small channeling stone. “Each of you takes a practice ring for the remainder of the class. Once you pass finals, you’ll be designated your personal sun or moon stone, but until then, you will borrow these.”
In many ways, this is the moment I’ve been waiting for. Donning my own practice ring and actually learning to channel the Source. I cannot help but smile as the class stands, grabs a sun or moon channeling stone, and heads toward our respective sides.
I can feel someone watching me, like an ice cube melting down my spine. I look over my shoulder, and sure enough, Castor is staring at me from the other side of the room cloaked in shadows. His lips curve upward when our eyes meet. An invisible string pulls tight between us, sending waves of energy back and forth along the line.
I let my smile widen for a moment, then join Ramona.
“We are definitely going to talk aboutthat”—Ramona swishes her finger back and forth between Castor and me—“later.”
“Don't be so obvious.” I shove her hand down to her side, and she chuckles. We pick seats next to the other Sun’chers.
“Everyone, put on your practice rings,” Professor Gregorio instructs.
My hand tingles the moment it’s on, as if waking up my body to the magic that had been around me this whole time. It’s an odd sensation of awareness. The colors around me are more vivid, more alive, like I was living in a duller version of the world previously.
