Lilith touched the singed hair in disbelief and narrowed her eyes. “Do you know how long it takes to braid?” Her magic snaked along the ground toward Seren’s feet as the women around them watched. “Don’t mess with my hair.”
“Don’t just stand there gawking,” the professor snarled. “Dual.”
Seren spun away, her feet barely touching the ground as Lilith called back her depleted magic, its limits stretched.
“Fine, hair is off limits,” Seren said as she twisted her hands, and the wind answered in turn, swirling around Lilith as the witch struggled to maintain balance, her braids whipping around her face.
Lilith dropped to one knee and buried her hands in the dirt before looking up and smiling. Seren jumped back in surprise as the gravel shot up in a line, the sound of dirt and rocks clattering as they fell back to the ground.
The screaming and crying of the women who lost their spots at Calami filled the air, but Seren and Lilith did not stop, even when the professor called a halt to the duels.
A crowd formed around them as their magic continued to fly out of them. Seren felt a bead of sweat making its way down her forehead, and she quickly wiped it away with the back of her hand before it reached her eyes.
Lilith used the small distraction to her advantage, walking closer to Seren and holding out her hand to the hedge closest to them. The branches creaked as they reached for Seren. The thorns tugged at her clothes and hair.
“You said the hair was off limits!” Seren gasped as she tried to detangle herself without causing further damage.
Lilith smirked. “I said my hair was off limits.”
Fury burned deep inside, and Seren’s magic coursed through her veins, threatening to explode. The branches touching her turned to ash, smudging her clothes and skin.
Lilith’s eyes widened as she returned to a defensive stance, anticipating Seren’s next move.
Seren shook the dust out of her hair and wiped her face with a sleeve, streaking the ash across her skin. She raised her arm to the sky, the electrical charge in the air racing along her body, and then pulled her hand down.
A sharp crack of thunder split the sky open, and a white-hot bolt of lightning struck the ground in between where she and Lilith stood, missing the other witch by mere inches. A smoky haze filled the space between them. The women around them gasped and stared at Seren, silence filling the air.
Lilith jumped back and held her hands held up in surrender, her breathing ragged. “I concede the win to you,” Lilith said as she staggered and turned her head, vomiting bile.
“I accept,” Seren said as she swallowed down the contents of her stomach. She would not show these women any sign of weakness, though she felt close to passing out after that display of magic.
The professor narrowed her muddy brown eyes at Seren and curled her lip, but Seren stared back in defiance.
“Congratulations, ladies, you have just dueled your roommate.” The woman turned and stared at the fallen women sobbing on the ground without pity. “Those of you who have failed in this task will be expected to gather your things and leave Calami with haste.”
As the Hatchlings, as they would now be called, departed from the training grounds of the maze, the storm clouds parted to reveal a brilliant sapphire sky, where the sun shone brightly on Calami in the distance. Ivy crept from the ground to cover the stone walls of the fortress until it seemed as though the forest was trying to reclaim what they stole when they built the castle. They passed a pond, the stillness of the water rippling gently around the grassy mound in the center with its gazebo perched on top. Seren wondered how one reached the island, she couldn’t see a bridge or boat provided.
As the castle drew nearer, she felt a thrill of excitement. When they walked through the courtyard with its glittering white marble statue, the professor with muddy brown eyes turned to them. “Calami Towers has a mind of its own, and its floors, stairs, and even rooms might move at any moment.”
They took a spiral staircase to the highest floor and a petite woman with a cane shouted room numbers, tapping it on the floor with each number for emphasis.
“Marudaz and Zinclair. Room ten.” Her accent morphed their last names as the tap of her steel-tipped cane echoed off the stone floor.
Seren walked down the hall to the last door and pushed it open. The room was smaller than the one she shared with Bella back home. On either side of the door were twin beds, a small nightstand nestled between them and the wall. The room was bare and impersonal. The floor and walls were stone and the ceiling overhead arched with heavy wooden beams. It would likely be cold in the winter, judging by the draft she could feel coming from the small window. Seren looked for a fireplace but saw none.
“Do you mind if I take the bed by the window?” Seren asked.
“Is that a window?” Lilith asked as she heaved her luggage onto the opposite bed.
Seren’s shabby suitcase was meager in comparison, though the letters of Bella’s she had read assured her the uniforms provided were sufficient. Seren gestured to the skinny wardrobes pushed side by side at the back wall. “I likely won’t need more than two of the drawers and the hanging rack to hold my things if you need the space.”
Lilith glanced at the wardrobe and walked over to it, crossing the room in three long strides. “Surely they are spelled to be larger on the inside?”
She threw open the wooden doors and sucked in a breath. “The accommodations are an embarrassment. I’ll speak to my aunt–” She snapped her mouth shut.
Seren lifted a brow. “What can your aunt do from South Silden?”
For centuries, the blood witch country had been under military occupation by humans. The royal family granted a select few citizens permission to enter Lynoria and serve as healers. That Lilith was in Lynoria at all was surprising, Seren realized.
