The tapestry informed the students that, over the next week, they would be meeting with their second-year teachers for an introductory session before the next academic year began, which would give them a flavor of what was to come. That day, they were expected to meet with Professor Renmark instead of having their usual first lesson with Professor Nagi, with further instruction to attend an introductory meeting with the elusive Professor Gaze later in the week.
Alex and Jari stared up at the notice, discussing what their new teachers would be like. Natalie didn’t seem too worried.
“So, what’s Renmark like?” Jari asked in an attempt to pry some information from Natalie.
“He is… different,” Natalie replied.
“What do you mean ‘different’?” Alex pressed.
Natalie shrugged. “His methods of teaching are not quite the same as many of the other teachers,” she explained, making nothing clearer.
“Come on, give us a clue!” Jari cried. “Will we hate him?”
Another shrug. “I honestly could not say. You’ll both just have to see for yourselves.” She smiled as Alex and Jari rolled their eyes.
“What use is a spy on the inside if you won’t tell us anything?” Jari exclaimed, nudging Natalie playfully as they moved out of the mess hall and into the hallways, headed for the mysterious Professor Renmark’s office.
“Is he more like Derhin or Lintz?” Alex asked, trying a different tactic.
“He is like neither.” Natalie smiled more widely, not falling for the bait.
“Do you like him?” Alex asked.
Natalie paused. “He is an excellent teacher, if you are willing to put in the work. I think he is firm but fair,” she said thoughtfully.
“Then what am I supposed to do?” Alex asked, his tone hushed.
Natalie’s brow furrowed. “I hadn’t exactly thought about that,” she admitted.
“Are the lessons hard?” Alex asked, more worried now.
Natalie nodded. “A little.”
“Am I going to be in trouble?”
“I don’t think so—I will do my very best,” Natalie promised.
“Thanks,” Alex muttered, though a sense of dread fell over him as they neared Professor Renmark’s classroom.
His door was painted black, crisscrossed with a complex pattern of red intersecting lines, giving the impression of a labyrinth within the dark wood. Beside it, screwed into the stonework of the hallway walls, was a bronze plaque bearing Renmark’s name. It had oxidized in places, the bronze turning green—a sure sign of age. Alex wondered how long it had been mounted there, beside the door.
“Come in!” a gruff voice barked from within the room beyond the latticed black and red.
Natalie led the way, nobody else wanting to be the first. She opened the door, and they stepped into a darkened chamber. The room smelled faintly of cloves and lit matches; a cindery scent, masking a sour, almost metallic undertone.
At the head of the class, awaiting his new students, stood Professor Renmark. With his tall, slim stature, he was more of a wisp than a man. His hair was thin and blond, growing white at the sides, and his steely eyes, a peculiar hazel color, almost yellow, glanced over the group in a curious manner. There was a hawkish look to the rest of his thin, drawn features, reminding Alex of a bird of prey—a kestrel he’d seen as a kid at a county fair. One of the students, a small weasel of a boy named Billy Foer, moved to sit at one of the desks, pushing past Natalie, who was still standing, her eyes resting evenly on Professor Renmark.
“You will not sit unless I tell you to sit!” Renmark barked, sending a sharp, thin bolt of golden magic toward the unlucky boy who had taken a seat.
Billy jumped up in shock, the spell hitting him in the arm. Suddenly, his whole body began to convulse. His limbs shook uncontrollably, his mouth frothing as he fell to the ground in a heavy heap, trembling against the stone floor. Ellabell, hidden at the back of the group, rushed forward to help the boy.
“Do not touch him!” Renmark shouted.
Ellabell froze. Helpless, the group watched as Billy shook on the floor, the tremors lessening slowly, until finally they ceased, leaving the boy heaving for breath, his limbs splayed out on the ground.
“Now you may assist him,” Renmark said calmly. Ellabell sank down beside the poor boy, helping him to sit up.
Billy’s eyes were wide with panic, his face an ashy gray, his hands shaking violently as Ellabell lifted him to his feet. He didn’t dare look at Renmark as he scurried behind the others.
“I am Professor Renmark, and you will not find my lessons easy. I will not ask you to write from textbooks, and you will give me your full attention,” Renmark growled, addressing the group. All eyes were fixed firmly on him. “You will leave this room feeling as if you have been at war. If you are not exhausted, you are not working hard enough. I will not treat you as if you were wrapped in cotton-wool. In my class, you will learn, or you will fail. Is that understood?” The students stood in rigid silence. “Are you mutes? Do you understand?” Professor Renmark repeated tersely.
“Yes, Professor,” they chorused.
“Good. I will test you, and I will work you hard. I will make you worthy wizards and worthy adversaries—I will challenge you, and most of you will end up on the floor, making fools of yourselves as our young friend just has.” Renmark grimaced in what Alex thought was supposed to be a smile as he sought out Billy’s sheepish face amongst the group. “Isn’t that right?” Professor Renmark addressed Billy directly.
Billy nodded quickly. “Yes, Professor Renmark. Sorry, Professor Renmark,” he mumbled.
Renmark looked disgusted by Billy’s desperate apology, his thin lips turning upward, his yellow eyes narrowing.
“Despite the obvious lack of talent at Spellshadow, I know there will be a gifted few among you who will offer at least a hint of a challenge for me,” Renmark said, glancing at Natalie. His gaze rested for a moment on Jari, too, assessing the blond-haired boy, one eyebrow raised in silent contemplation. When his eyes crossed over Alex, Renmark’s brow creased momentarily.
“Now, find an empty space in the room and listen to what I say. If you listen and you work, you will find this easy. If you don’t, you will not,” Renmark warned. The class dispersed, each student finding an empty space on the floor, in between the desks.
Standing at the front of the room, his black robes swamping his meager frame, Renmark began to instruct them on a series of patterns and movements that would enable them to use the same spell he had just inflicted upon Billy. A spell to incapacitate one’s enemies, making their bodies convulse and spasm, rendering them defenseless. It involved both intense focus and complex hand gestures. Alex bent his wrist around with the rest of them until he thought it might snap, even though he knew he could not conjure up the spell Renmark desired. Jari bristled with energy as he created a thin filament of magic between his fingers, and looked to Renmark. The professor seemed impressed, asking Jari to send the spell toward him. Jari obeyed, flicking the thin stream of magic toward Renmark, who snatched it from the air and held the conjuration in front of him, inspecting it closely before clapping it between his hands, the golden wire of energy dissipating into the air.
“A good first attempt,” Renmark commented. “Now do better.” He turned to prowl around the room, inspecting the other students’ work.
As Renmark neared Alex, Alex looked over to Natalie with mounting concern. She stood far enough away from the professor, whose back was now turned. Alex watched as she moved her hands delicately, the twist of her wrists a natural one, unlike Alex’s haphazard attempts to copy the movements. Before his hands, she conjured a stream of magic, thin and wire-like, just as Renmark reached Alex’s position in the classroom. It was all Alex could do to keep his anti-magic from manifesting as the professor bent to inspect the conjuration. He pursed his lips in confusion, looking from the manifestation to Alex and back again.
“Not bad. Not good, but not bad,” Renmark s
aid, finally, as he stood to his full height, his eyes narrowing in suspicion before he turned sharply away. The spell disappeared as soon as Natalie stopped her wrist movements, and Alex breathed out in relief.
The lesson seemed to go on forever, the spells getting gradually harder as Renmark challenged them more and more. After the incapacitation spell, he taught them how to freeze an enemy, followed by instructions on how to create a magical spear that would cause intense pain to the inflicted, and, finally, a method for laying a weak curse within somebody—a temporary one, intended only to affect the cursed for a day or two.
Prowling around the room, his eyes ever watching, Renmark observed sourly as the students attempted to follow his instructions, to varying degrees of success. Whenever he passed Alex, Natalie would hurry to create the spell again in front of Alex’s hands, but it proved more difficult than either of them had suspected; the spells were complex and took a great deal of energy to conjure. Each time Natalie stepped in to help Alex, the task grew harder. The shimmering golden glow of Alex’s apparent magic emerged, a faded, feeble echo of Natalie’s original conjuration. It seemed that creating such an advanced spell, even at that short a distance, was a tricky thing to execute. Renmark grew less and less impressed by Alex with each lap around the classroom as Alex’s ‘magic’ dimmed. Natalie cast a worried glance at Alex, mouthing an apology, after Renmark moved away for the fourth time, tutting under his breath at Alex’s clear lack of talent.
With each spell, Renmark would bring a student up to the front of the class to fire a newly acquired conjuration at him, only to fling it away with ease, a smirk lifting the corners of his grim-set mouth. It was clear to everyone that Renmark was a truly remarkable wizard. Even under Natalie and Jari’s artillery of strengthened power and self-taught spells, Renmark brushed off every attack as if it were little more than a fly.
It was only when Renmark retaliated that things became interesting. It was obvious to Alex that the professor liked to duel with his students, that he relished exerting his power over them. Ellabell had managed to dodge a series of magical spears, out of sheer luck rather than any attempt to defend herself. Even with her talent for shielding, there hadn’t been time to utilize shields in the face of Renmark’s swift, savage delivery. She was only given a second to panic before she had to slide one way, then the other, ducking and weaving between the glinting shafts of the thrown spears.
Jari hadn’t fared much better, only narrowly missing the thin stream of magic intended to make his body seize up into convulsions. When Renmark sent another, Jari had thrown up a frantic shield, the dome crackling, and made from a weaker veil of magic than usual, barely able to keep the slender bolt at bay. The two stood at an impasse, the sliver of magic trembling in the air. The tip of Renmark’s bolt buzzed and sparked against Jari’s hastily made shield, unable to get fully through as Jari strained against his opponent’s strength. Only when Renmark flicked his wrist, removing the stream of magic, did Jari breathe a sigh of relief, bringing down the shield around him.
Natalie put up a good fight, deflecting the first two attacks without much trouble. Renmark used some spells none of the students had seen before. Alex saw sweat beading on Natalie’s forehead, her brow corrugated under the pressure as she raised shields and twisted her hands. Her fingers danced delicately in the air as she sent Renmark’s barrage of spells crashing into the walls as she cast them aside. One spell slipped through, and she lost control of her powers. The spell hit her square in the shoulder, and Alex nearly stood from his chair. Natalie winced on impact, letting out a gasp of pain. A burn mark had appeared in the black material of her top, singeing the skin beneath.
While Natalie was busy clutching her injury, Renmark shot a fast-moving stream of light toward her head. Incredibly, Natalie grasped Renmark’s magic from the air and redirected it toward the far wall of the classroom. The blast skimmed past the shoulder of poor, trembling Billy Foer before disintegrating into nothingness.
Renmark smirked. “A nice trick,” he commended, not waiting for her to recover as he fired several more in her direction.
The strain was evident on Natalie’s face, but Alex was left in awe of how much more powerful she had become over such a short time. Seeing her snatch Renmark’s blows from the air sent a jolt of envy through him. That was the missing gateway between his potential and his ability. If he had a tutor like Renmark, anti-magic would probably come just as effortlessly to him as magic did to Natalie.
A stray blast caught Natalie on the side of the leg, freezing the limb. She toppled, hitting the ground with a thud, raising her hands in the motion of surrender he had taught them. Renmark stared down at her with a victorious grin. She had tried her best, but it hadn’t been enough against Renmark’s strength and ferocity. He barely looked fazed; there was no sweat on his brow, no discomfort on his face. He looked as fresh as the moment they had stepped into the classroom.
Jari rushed forward and helped Natalie onto her one good leg. Her other would need time to loosen.
Suddenly, Renmark’s attentions shifted. “You.” Renmark pointed in Alex’s direction.
Alex glanced quickly at Natalie, whose face fell as she saw what was happening. Jari propped her up, leaning her against the wall, out of Renmark’s sight, as Alex stepped up to the line drawn across the flagstones. He swallowed hard. This, he expected, was not going to go well.
“Begin!” Renmark roared.
A bright bolt of energy conjured by Natalie erupted from Alex’s hands, taking him by surprise. Jerked into action, he lunged forward, motioning to send it toward the professor. It barely reached Renmark before fizzling out feebly. A second bolt flew from Alex’s palms, and he pretended to twist his hands in the correct manner. Renmark flicked it away easily with a bored look.
Glowering, Renmark sent spirals of liquid gold toward Alex, his hands barely moving, the conjurations sparkling with a mist of amber energy as they moved swiftly through the air. Alex did his best to get out the way, ducking and sidestepping, trying hard not to reach for the familiar icy comfort of his anti-magic, wanting badly to blow Renmark’s magic away in a flurry of snow and hail. Looking briefly over Renmark’s shoulder, he saw the strain gathering on Natalie’s face as she tried desperately to help him, snatching away what magic she could and sending balls of energy flying toward the professor’s head. But it was clear Professor Renmark wished to make another example of one of the students—and that student happened to be Alex.
Alex almost thought it’d be worth it, to take the hit and get Renmark to stop, but Natalie obviously wasn’t willing to let that happen. Cheeks flushed and mouth set in a grim line, Natalie turned and flourished with her hands, forging shapes in the air, bringing her magic to life.
Blow after blow, a hail of magic swarmed toward Alex, until all he could see was golden light in a glittering screen before him—a veil of gauzy magic, sputtering and exploding as Natalie soldiered away. Renmark appeared irked by Alex’s sudden improvement, his yellow eyes intensely suspicious, and he took his spells up a notch accordingly. The change was palpable. The room grew hot, the bolts of magic seeming more solid as they whistled past Alex’s ear, the magic itself glowing brighter, becoming more streamlined and precise. This wasn’t beginner-level playtime anymore, Alex knew, as he narrowly dodged a sleek-looking blade aimed directly between his eyes.
It had become too much for Natalie. Alex could see she was about to crumble, after he stole another glance at the wall. He raised a hand toward her, gesturing for her to stop. She shook her head weakly, her hands continuing to twist.
Without notice, the hazy galaxy of magic between student and teacher dissipated. A nervous-looking boy in a blue cap stood on the flagstones, looking up at the space where the screen of ferocious magic had just been. His lip was trembling, and his eyes were wide with fear.
Renmark turned to address the boy, annoyed by the interruption. “What is it?” he snapped.
The boy said nothing. Instead, he ran up to the
professor and gestured for him to bend so that he might say something into Renmark’s ear. Puzzled, Renmark did so. The boy whispered something rapidly. Renmark nodded a few times as he listened intently.
Alex glanced at Natalie, who was already staring in his direction, looking utterly panicked. Glancing back at Renmark and the messenger, Alex had a gut-wrenching feeling that the moment had come—Natalie and Alex were about to be called to the Head’s office. The Head had finally discovered Finder was missing, and wanted revenge. Alex wasn’t sure why, but he was convinced the Head knew he and Natalie were responsible, and that they were about to face the consequences of their actions.
Renmark stood, and Alex braced himself for his name to be called. Moments passed with painful slowness, but his name remained unspoken as the boy took off across the floor and out the door.
Renmark frowned, looking perplexed. “You are dismissed,” he said absently, waving a hand at the students, his eyes following the boy’s exit. “But don’t get used to finishing early. I do not normally permit such liberties,” the professor growled. Muttering under his breath, Renmark disappeared out into the hallway, letting the door slam behind him as he left the confused class alone within the chamber.
The other students began to file out of the room, but Alex rushed over to Natalie and Jari.
“Are you okay?” he asked Natalie. Her face was slick with sweat.
She nodded. “Do not mind me. I will be fine… Do you think the Head knows?” she asked, her voice trembling as she spoke, though whether from fear or exhaustion, Alex wasn’t sure.
“I guess we’ll find out soon,” Alex whispered.
Chapter 7
Striding down the hallway, distracted, Alex did not see the figure walking toward him until they almost collided. Ellabell looked up, stunned, stumbling slightly as she tried—too late—to weave out of his way, but Jari and Natalie blocked the space behind him. Alex skidded to a halt, reaching out quickly for her, steadying her by the shoulders as she scrabbled for her books.