Connor outside Headmaster Relvin’s office. Steam fogged the window on the office door and hissed out between the cracks in the wood, while inside Landyn’s parents and Connor’s parents yelled at each other.
“Honestly, what did I do?” Landyn repeated. “I don’t cause trouble. I keep my head down. I certainly don’t strut around the school like I’m owed a mage’s title like you do.”
“Shut up,” Connor replied. He’d leaped past irritated and landed in malevolent despair. Heartburn—almost literal—kicked up the back of his throat. “I’m the strongest mage in this school. I wasn’t supposed to be Paired with someone like you. The Oracle has never Paired two students with opposing elements! Are you even any good at casting? You’re probably a third level. Stones! I’ll waste more time teaching you than working toward the Trial. This is probably your fault.”
“ My fault?” Landyn said. “You talked to the Oracle! Even a first year knows better than that! You probably annoyed it into punishing you, and now I’m caught up in your mess.”
Connor glowered. “I won’t argue that this is a punishment for me. I’m going to be the first Roth ever to fail their Senior Trial.”
“Oh, let me just use my pitiful water magic to conjure a river of sorrow for you. Meanwhile, I am going to fail the Trial because the Oracle stuck me with the only student who has hot air for brains!”
“How do you feel about having no eyebrows?”
Landyn narrowed his blue eyes. “How do you feel about toilets exploding on you at every opportunity for the rest of your life?”
“Please,” Connor scoffed. “Like you have that much power. What good is water magic in a fight? Oh no, he splashed me! You don’t hear about any great water mage generals, do you?”
“No, but you do hear about fire mages frequently killing themselves in spectacularly stupid ways, which explains why you outnumber other mages. Your kind has to pad the numbers to ensure your continued existence.”
“That’s it!” Connor growled, feeling flames lick at his palms as his control fractured. “I’m not putting up with you for another minute, much less three months! It’s bad enough that I’m stuck with a water mage, but the Oracle could have at least given me a competent one!”
“Just because I don’t show off my power like a child who needs constant attention doesn’t mean I’m without skill, Roth. Some of us live our lives subtly, a concept I am sure is as foreign to you as humility.”
Before Connor could reply, the headmaster’s door swung open and released a billowing cloud of steam. Landyn’s parents stepped out first, his father’s green robes and his mother’s blue robes swirling together. Their hair smoked gently, and Connor smirked. They’d obviously had a taste of his father’s magic.
His smirk fell when his parents exited at their heels, his father in the red robes with the gold sash of a King’s Fire Mage around his waist, and his mother in diaphanous white. Their hair was plastered wetly to their heads.
Connor refused to look at Landyn, but he could feel the other boy’s smug satisfaction. Landyn’s mother must have gotten in a lucky shot.
Headmaster Relvin followed last, his face flushed and sweaty. “We’ll go to the Oracle,” he said. “We’ll set this right, Mage Roth. This is the first time in the history of Fourmage Academy that this kind of Pairing has occurred. The Oracle is very old. It must have simply made a mistake! We’ll convince it to Pair the boys with someone else.”
“Please,” said Landyn’s mother. She had a clear, cool voice that Connor tried not to find so soothing. Landyn sounded like her. Connor noted with some surprise that she wore a gold sash like his father. Landyn’s mother was a King’s Mage? “I think we all sense the futility of attempting to sway the Oracle’s decision. Remember the last time an ambitious mage tried to change its mind?”
Connor
“Honestly, what did I do?” Landyn repeated. “I don’t cause trouble. I keep my head down. I certainly don’t strut around the school like I’m owed a mage’s title like you do.”
“Shut up,” Connor replied. He’d leaped past irritated and landed in malevolent despair. Heartburn—almost literal—kicked up the back of his throat. “I’m the strongest mage in this school. I wasn’t supposed to be Paired with someone like you. The Oracle has never Paired two students with opposing elements! Are you even any good at casting? You’re probably a third level. Stones! I’ll waste more time teaching you than working toward the Trial. This is probably your fault.”
“ My fault?” Landyn said. “You talked to the Oracle! Even a first year knows better than that! You probably annoyed it into punishing you, and now I’m caught up in your mess.”
Connor glowered. “I won’t argue that this is a punishment for me. I’m going to be the first Roth ever to fail their Senior Trial.”
“Oh, let me just use my pitiful water magic to conjure a river of sorrow for you. Meanwhile, I am going to fail the Trial because the Oracle stuck me with the only student who has hot air for brains!”
“How do you feel about having no eyebrows?”
Landyn narrowed his blue eyes. “How do you feel about toilets exploding on you at every opportunity for the rest of your life?”
“Please,” Connor scoffed. “Like you have that much power. What good is water magic in a fight? Oh no, he splashed me! You don’t hear about any great water mage generals, do you?”
“No, but you do hear about fire mages frequently killing themselves in spectacularly stupid ways, which explains why you outnumber other mages. Your kind has to pad the numbers to ensure your continued existence.”
“That’s it!” Connor growled, feeling flames lick at his palms as his control fractured. “I’m not putting up with you for another minute, much less three months! It’s bad enough that I’m stuck with a water mage, but the Oracle could have at least given me a competent one!”
“Just because I don’t show off my power like a child who needs constant attention doesn’t mean I’m without skill, Roth. Some of us live our lives subtly, a concept I am sure is as foreign to you as humility.”
Before Connor could reply, the headmaster’s door swung open and released a billowing cloud of steam. Landyn’s parents stepped out first, his father’s green robes and his mother’s blue robes swirling together. Their hair smoked gently, and Connor smirked. They’d obviously had a taste of his father’s magic.
His smirk fell when his parents exited at their heels, his father in the red robes with the gold sash of a King’s Fire Mage around his waist, and his mother in diaphanous white. Their hair was plastered wetly to their heads.
Connor refused to look at Landyn, but he could feel the other boy’s smug satisfaction. Landyn’s mother must have gotten in a lucky shot.
Headmaster Relvin followed last, his face flushed and sweaty. “We’ll go to the Oracle,” he said. “We’ll set this right, Mage Roth. This is the first time in the history of Fourmage Academy that this kind of Pairing has occurred. The Oracle is very old. It must have simply made a mistake! We’ll convince it to Pair the boys with someone else.”
“Please,” said Landyn’s mother. She had a clear, cool voice that Connor tried not to find so soothing. Landyn sounded like her. Connor noted with some surprise that she wore a gold sash like his father. Landyn’s mother was a King’s Mage? “I think we all sense the futility of attempting to sway the Oracle’s decision. Remember the last time an ambitious mage tried to change its mind?”
Connor
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