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“Pick a card, Zoe,” Bardo says as I walk into the room. He’s standing in front of a table, his hands out in front of him as he gestures towards it with a smile on his round face. There are five tarot-style cards on the table, and I grab the one on the end at the right. “Interesting.”
With Bardo, that could mean anything. As an air witch, he’s very floaty and flamboyant but that doesn’t dull his genius. He’s got this way of drawing you into a conversation, and continuing to drive it even without much input from you.
Similarly to Ryes.
He’s one of the older professors here, and his greying hair and wrinkly skin shows that he’s lived a long time. I think that’s another reason why I enjoy our time together so much.
He’s got a story about everything, and a lot of it is personal recounts.
Bardo is teaching me history, but he’s also teaching mehishistory.
“What is it?” I ask, tilting my head as I look at the depiction of cuteness in front of me. It looks strangely familiar, but I know I’ve never seen it before in my life. I slowly read the caption, sure that I’m butchering the pronunciation. “A… mizank?”
“Good pronunciation,” Bardo says, surprising me. Despite being an air witch, he cannot read my mind. Ryes has that on lock, so it was clearly a coincidence.
“You sounded extremely nervous,”Mael explains, and I nod slowly.
“Mizanks are what we’re going to be discussing today.”
“Ugh,” Mael groans, throwing himself into a chair and resting his head on his arms. “You picked one of the worst creatures, Ellie baby. There are witchmeas and everything. Pick again.”
I look to Bardo to double check if I should pick again, but he just winks.
That was helpful.
“Now, ignore Mr Inques. Have you ever wondered what a giraffe crossed with a sloth would be like, Zoe?” Bardo asks, and I burst into giggles. I think I’m going to love mizanks. “Well, if you did, meet a mizank.”
“I think you’re wrong, Mal,” I say with a grin. My fire mate groans again, but I ignore it. I’m extremely excited. “I think I picked perfectly.”
* * *
“Cast the spell, Zoe,” Professor Byzatic says.
His face is pinched in annoyance, his eagle eyes trained on me in case I make a single move that he’s scared to miss, and my anxiety level is quite high. I sigh, and he takes a sharp inhale of breath as I attempt the spell again.
He’s towering over me, and despite not being that tall, it’s terrifying when I’m sitting down. It doesn’t help that his posture is tense and I keep seeing flashes of his magicae as he struggles to remain in control of himself.
“I’m trying,” I say, hoping that my nose doesn’t scrunch and betray my lie. When Mael smirks, I know it did. “I can’t do it.”
That’s the truth.
“I’ve never met a student so hopeless,” Professor Byzatic says, shaking his head in disgust. I bite my bottom lip, trying to stop the tears from falling, but it doesn’t work. I feel the wetness trailing down both cheeks, as I draw blood.
I can’t explain how wrong he is. I’m not hopeless.
I’m just terrified to die. That’s normal, right? Being scared of someone murdering you just for existing.
And if I cast this spell and he spots the golden magicae that I harbour?
Well, I’m not actually sure what would happen, but I know it wouldn’t be good. Eventually, it would end with my soul connections needing to visit my grave to say hi.
“Oh, go fuck yourself,” Mael snaps, launching to his feet with a glower on his face. His eyes go to a lovely, but terrifying, burnt orange colour as he grabs my notebook and closes it before stuffing it into my bag. I love how he is being gentle with my belongings, despite the anger he’s feeling.Anger he’s feeling because he overheard my thoughts where I thought about dying.“Come on, Ellie, we’re done here.”
“She is most definitely not done here.” Professor Byzatic blocks the doorway and starts to berate Mael.
I can feel tension radiating through me knowing I’m now trapped in here and there’s going to be a confrontation. My heartbeat starts fluttering as I desperately try to keep my breathing under control. Now is not the time for a panic attack.
Desperate to remain calm, I employ one of my relaxation tactics. If I can just keep myself stable until we’re out of here, I should be okay.
