Spark (Legends of the Shifters) (6 page)

I
chased him for a long time, but I could never actually catch him.

All
of a sudden, my vision went blurry, and it felt like I was plummeting
downward. I crashed down into a chair. I was no longer a phoenix and
my surroundings had changed back to normal. I was back in the tent.
In front of me sat a plate, completely empty. My stomach growled.

My
trainer sat in front of me, his plate full of food. I stared at him,
disbelieving. “Isn’t being a trainer all about teaching
someone how to do something? You left me out there to starve!”

He
gave me a collected look. “It is not my fault that you couldn’t
catch the bird. You’re not used to flying yet.”

“
Then
teach me how to fly better!” I exclaimed.

He
stared me down. “Do
not
yell at me.”

I was
silent. I still scowled at him.

“
Hunger
is the best teacher,” he recited, as if he had heard it many
times before.

“
Hunger
also weakens,” I retorted.

“
Then
you’d better learn quickly.”

We
sat in silence as we studied the plate of food. Just looking at it
made my mouth water. It was hard to look away, but I had to. I was
very tempted to snatch the piece of bread that was set closest to me,
but I wasn't in the mood for punishment. After a while, I noticed
that the trainer hadn’t bothered to consume anything either.

“
Why
aren’t you eating?” I asked.

He
looked back up. “I made up a rule for us because I thought it
might motivate you a little more…. If you don’t eat, I
don’t eat. Now, I won't be taking the survival tests with you
all the time, but the headmaster keeps a record of the students'
progress in his office. I'll be watching yours there.”

I
ducked my head, and stared at my feet. I wouldn't admit it verbally,
but I felt the extra burden on my shoulders. I would rather him eat
in front of me.

Being
at this school was torture already, and I hadn’t even gone
through a day of training yet.

A
bell rang in the distance, reminding me of my old home. It was
obviously signaling the end of dinner. I stood up and stretched.
Maybe in the morning I’d have better luck. I found that I
couldn’t wait to get to bed. Morning meant the possibility of
food, and sleeping made morning come faster.

Outside,
voices were shouting and I heard many shuffling footsteps. I walked
to the tent entrance, stopping only when I thought of something
mildly important.

I
turned back to the trainer. “I never got your name,” I
prompted.

He
stood and dumped the plate of food in a trash bin that had been put
in the corner. While his back was turned, he answered, “Kurt.”

He
kept his eyes on the plate as he placed it back on the table. The
light from a lantern lit up the side of his face where the scars
were. I hoped that those scars hadn’t been from training. If
that happened to him, what would happen to me?

To
ward off the thoughts, I finally went out to join the others. I
suddenly remembered that I had no idea where my dorm room was.
Natalia had neglected to show me. I followed the current as I
pondered over what I should do. Luckily, I didn’t have to think
for long. “Ivy!” someone shouted.

I
turned to see Roselle racing toward me. “I saw you come out of
tent number one,” she said breathlessly. “I almost can’t
believe it.” She took me in more carefully. “What is your
second form anyway?” she asked, curious.

“
I’m...”
I stopped short. Natalia had told me not to tell anyone, and I wanted
Roselle to be my friend without knowing who I truly was, since so
many people were seemed shocked when I told them. “I’m
not supposed to tell anyone yet.”

Roselle
smiled. “I suppose that's a good idea. I wish people had given
me that advice when I first came here. It would have helped things a
lot, put me at an advantage over the others.”

We
were quiet as we walked behind the other students. Maybe she would
know where my dorm room was. “Do you know where Natalia’s
dorm is?” I asked.

She
grinned. “Is that because you are in her dorm?”

“
Yes,”
I replied.

“
That
means that you’re in my dorm, too. You can just follow me.”

It
made me feel better to know that I would have a friend in my dorm.
Perhaps two if Natalia turned out to be a good person. The way she
left me after I’d told her who I was made me feel unsure.

We
followed some other girls into the building and up the stairs. Some
of them stopped at other doors and went in while others kept on going
after Roselle and I stopped at one that had the letter L on it. “This
is us,” said Roselle.

She
opened the door, and I was met by the sight of a small room, just big
enough to hold three bunk beds. They all had the same bedding with
trunks at the end. “Which one is mine?” I asked.

She
pointed to the one closest to us. “That one, I’m afraid.
No one likes to sleep closest to the door, so it goes to you because
you’re new.”

“
What’s
wrong with sleeping closest to the door?” I asked.

“
You
get the full blast in the morning when they come to wake us up with
the trumpets, and if there is someone in one of the other dorms who
wants to hurt you, it’s the easiest bunk for them to get to.”

“
Don't
the doors have locks?” I asked.

“
Yes,
but locks don't really work against those with magic abilities.”

I
smiled weakly. “Great.”

She
gave me a half-smile. “We’ve all had it at some point.
The good thing is that if you think you can win, you can challenge
one of the people in our dorm to a duel in order to get their bunk.
Rules say that you can challenge someone for anything that belongs to
them. That’s how I got my bunk,” she said as she climbed
the ladder on the bunk next to mine. “It declares me the third
best warrior in this room.”

“
Who
is the first?” I questioned.

“
January.
She’s a witch.”

I
laughed at her joke, but Rose
ll
e’s
face was serious.

“
No,
really,” she said. “She’s a witch. Her second form
is a pixie, but her father was a wizard and trained her in the art.
That’s the only reason why she’s first.”

“
Is
she mean?” I asked, although by Roselle's tone of voice, I
already knew the answer.

“
Exceedingly.
It keeps us all on our toes, that’s for sure. If we do one
thing she doesn’t like, we won’t appreciate the outcome.”

“
Have
you ever gotten on her bad side?” I asked.

She
smiled. “Unfortunately, yes. Many times. I’m afraid I’m
not very smart for doing it either, because I’m not a Level
Nine, like her.”

“
Level
Nine?” I wondered aloud.

“
There
are levels given to us in the time that we spend here. I’ve
only been given a Level Five so far. We stay here until we reach a
Level Ten or for three years if we never do. Those who graduate the
soonest get sent to do the harder tasks for the kingdom, so I don’t
want to get too high anyway.”

At
that point, the door opened again and Natalia walked in with another
girl who had dark brown hair and eyes almost as black as the creature
I'd faced in the trial arena.

“
January!”
Roselle said, resting her chin in her hand as she sat cross-legged on
her bunk. “We were just talking about you!”

I
really wished she hadn't said that. I tried not to look intimidated.

January
looked at me as if I were bait, and then back up at Roselle. “Were
you?” she asked, pasting a fake smile on her face. “All
good things, I hope?” The threat was not overlooked by anyone
in the room.

“
Of
course,” said Roselle. “Everything about you is good—at
least in
your
eyes…. So I can’t
go wrong.”

January’s
eyes flashed. “Don’t overstep your boundaries,” she
warned. Her narrowed eyes turned to me. “And you make sure that
you don’t either.”

With
that, she walked past us to her bunk which was on the top in the
farthest corner. Natalia had already gone into a room that ours was
connected to.

Roselle
rolled her eyes, and turned over in her bed.

I
stood and opened the trunk at the end of my bed. It was separated
into two parts. On the left, the number five was scratched into the
metal, and on the right, there was a number six.

Figuring
that I was number six, I took out all my items and studied them. Our
uniform was very plain. The shirt was brown and baggy, like a potato
sack. The pants were a faded black. Instead of the thick coat that
would be needed in the freezing temperatures, we were only given a
ragged black cloak. Mine was much like Natalia's, except it looked a
little worse off. Although the gaps had been sewn up, there were
several places where a blade had penetrated the fabric. The boots
were brown, made of leather, but I had a feeling that they wouldn't
be as comfortable as my old ones. The traction needed for the ice had
been completely worn off with use.

I
sighed and set all the items back in the trunk, except for the
nightgown. I unfolded it and froze. Right up where the heart would
be, there was a tear. And a red stain that looked fresh. I reached up
to touch it, and my fingers came away wet with blood.

I
screamed and threw the nightgown across the room, trying to wipe the
blood off of my fingers and onto my pants. Roselle and Natalia were
silent, but January erupted with laughter.

Then,
the realization hit me, and I glared at her. This was her doing.

Natalia
looked at January, and seemed to bare her teeth at the witch.

January
picked the nightgown up off the ground, revealing that there was no
hole. No blood. “Some warrior you'll turn out to be,” she
sneered. She threw my nightgown at my feet and climbed into her bunk.

Seething,
I stooped to pick it up. I tossed it in the trunk, deciding that I
would sleep in my dress. I didn't want to admit it, but the stunt
that January had pulled had gotten to me.

I
climbed into my bed, bringing the covers up to my chin. With a sigh,
I closed my eyes and kept them that way even when I heard the other
girls come in. Finally, when the only thing I could hear were snores,
I fell asleep.

I
woke up to sudden light and the blaring of a trumpet, just as Roselle
had described. All the candles and lanterns in the room had been lit
up, probably by magic. What an awful way to wake up.

I
gritted my teeth as they pounded our door so hard that I was afraid
it would be smashed in.

The
girl next to me, one of the girls that hadn't come back in until late
last night, sat up and rubbed her eyes, yawning as if she hadn’t
just been rudely awoken. I watched as she smiled and got out of bed,
reaching into her trunk for her clothes. Roselle had sat up also, but
she looked a lot crankier.

“
I
don’t think I’ll ever get used to that,” she
whined. Natalia wordlessly got out of bed and got her clothes just
like the first girl, except a lot less smiley.

I
decided that I should do the same, no matter how much I would’ve
loved to stay in bed. I was used to waking up before everyone else at
the orphanage. There, everyone was only required to wake up at eight
o’clock. I usually woke at seven.