Page 19 of Lucent Academy 2: Trinity Awakens
His words hardly had a chance to enter my brain when I realized the mistake I had made, but it was too late.
I released the pressure inside me, and a spherical shape began to take shape between my hands. It was bright and fiery, like a small sun. I felt some of its warmth, but it didn't burn me.
For a second, had I mastered control over my own power, I might have been able to save it, to pull the excess back and let it go, but I was completely out of control by then, unable to prevent it from turning a simple firewave into a conflagration.
I felt the release of all I had gathered, and I was terrified. My fear seemed to feed it even more as the sphere pulsed, grew, and then exploded.
There was a gasp from the audience, and someone screamed. I closed my eyes as fire went everywhere, but the natural shield Vaerath's presence created protected me, and I hardly felt it. A warm breeze whipped my hair around my face. Instinct made me put up my hands to shield myself, and I was hardly aware of the shape behind me transforming into his dragon form. He moved and folded me inside his wings.
Every student and every instructor who had their mate present were also protected to some degree by the passive shield, but it wouldn't have been enough. Had Crystalline not sensed the danger, my mistake may have resulted in people getting hurt.
She had taken her Phoenix shape lightning quick and had moved to create a barrier with her body and her outstretched wings between the rest of the crowd and me. She had also released a breath of pure cold that eliminated the wave of fire as quickly as it had rolled across the arena.
When the danger had passed, Vaerath lowered his wings and transformed back into his human shape. Crystalline did the same. My spell had destroyed every target, but it had also scorched the earth in a circular shape all around me. Some of the empty seats of the stadium were merrily burning, and smoke rose into the sky.
I lowered my hands and stared at the crowd of spectators. There was no mistaking the look etched on their faces. Shock, horror, disbelief, anger, and terror... All these emotions were evident as they watched me warily.
I expected someone to say something, to break the silence that was hanging in the colosseum like a living thing. Principal Lucius, or perhaps Cleopatra, I would've expected either the Principal of the Academy or my rival to speak first. They were, however, frozen in shock, unable to speak. Even Caleb remained silent.
When someone finally broke the oppressive silence, it was not who I had expected at all.
"I knew she was nothing but an abomination," Trina Swift said, her voice rising shrilly, "The moment I saw her, I knew she was going to be the destruction of all of us."
Chapter 11: The Aftermath
Trina Swift's shocking statement was met with silence, the kind that was heavy with implication. I knew people were considering her words in light of what had just happened. I was in shock, wondering where that outlandish statement had come from. I was even more surprised when nobody laughed at how ridiculous it was to call me an abomination. Everyone just stared at me as if I were some sort of monster. Even Cleopatra looked uncharacteristically shaken. Before now, I would have said there wasn't much that could turn the Princess ashen-faced.
Predictably, Principal Lucius was the first to find his voice. "That concludes today's demonstrations." He was speaking carefully, trying to get the situation under control. He was ignoring Trina's damning words. Did that mean he agreed with her? "Everyone, please leave the stadium in an orderly fashion."
His booming voice pulled people back to the present, and they started for the archway leading out of the training grounds. The Principal and a few of the instructors went over to the section of the stadium that was still merrily burning. They needed to extinguish the flames and repair the damage my sudden burst of magic had caused. I wondered guiltily if I should be doing anything.Should I be helping them clean up my mess?I couldn't see how I'd be of any help. My latest attempt at using magic had been an utter disaster, and I didn't know any other spells yet.
I was left alone in the middle of the arena. It was as if no one wanted to come too close. I felt dazed, out of it, as if I was moving inside some sort of nightmare. What was I supposed to do now? Were they just going to let me leave as if nothing had happened? I felt shame throb in the pit of my stomach and didn'teven know if it was deserved or not. Could I have done anything to prevent the near-catastrophe my burst of magic had caused?
"Leah... My lady," a strained voice said behind me. I turned and saw Vaerath drawing closer. Already, he seemed less substantial, and I realized he was fading from this world. The firewave spell had depleted almost all of my power, and I couldn't keep him there anymore. He wanted to speak to me before he disappeared.
He took my face in his hands, and, feeling his warmth, his kindness, and his devotion, I wanted to cry. My eyes stung with tears. In that moment, I felt unworthy of him, tainted and dangerous. Perhaps what Trina had said was the truth. Maybe I was dangerous and should never have been born.
"Despite how it looks, you succeeded in the task of creating fire magic. You are immensely powerful. You just need the control to match your power." Vaerath's voice was gruff and soothing. I looked into his golden eyes and saw the sincerity of his words blazing in them. He cared about me deeply. I had no idea if it was love yet, but he believed in me, and that was important. In that moment, it was everything. He didn't see me as some kind of potential world-destroyer. I swallowed the tears back and nodded, even as he was bending over me to brush his lips on my forehead. I closed my eyes. Before he pulled back, he disappeared. I felt the loss of his presence like a physical emptiness inside me.
When I opened my eyes, I saw Amber standing there, regarding me carefully.
"Are you okay?" She was alone. Pyrrhus must have disappeared a while ago. Like me, she couldn't sustain the connectionbetween her mate and herself for very long. "You look like you could use a wash before dinner time."
She was trying to make light of the situation, acting as if my demonstration hadn't been unusual at all. I looked down at my shoes and tunic and saw soot clinging to me in ugly black smudges. She had a point. I was dirty and could smell the fire on me. I tried to say something. I even opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. There seemed to be some sort of obstruction in my throat that felt like tears threatening to spill if I uttered a single word. My chest felt tight as if there was a heavy weight on it, and my hands were shaking.
"Come on, let's go." Without waiting for a reply, she put her arms around my shoulders and led me out of the arena. That one gesture meant the world to me: to know I hadn't lost her friendship. I had scared everyone badly, including myself. No one seemed to know quite what to make of my demonstration. Amber could have been like the rest of them; she could have avoided me, she could have rejected me, she could have treated me like something dangerous. The fact that she managed to set her own fear aside and give me comfort when I needed it was proof of her exceptional character. I thought all these things as we left the colosseum, but I was silent, unable to express what I felt because it was so large and confusing.
As we entered the hallways and made our way to the dormitory, I heard chattering and knew the furtive glances and gossiping little groups had returned. Until now, I had been free of it as things had settled into a sense of normalcy. I hadn't been half as interesting as the other students had thought I would be. Now, it seemed, the churning gossip mill was back with a vengeance and turned on me once more. How long before the entire school knew I had almost killed instructors and students from my ownclass? By the sound of it, it wouldn't be long at all. The students in my class had taken a blood oath not to reveal I was the Trinity. That meant they could still tell others of the near-disaster of my demonstration.
We walked through the empty dormitory and reached the room I shared with Amber. It was empty, and I gathered fresh clothes and stuff I would need to wash up. I headed for the washrooms without giving Amber a chance to say anything. She must have sensed that I wanted to be alone because she made no attempt to follow me.
In the warm, water-foggy swirl of the enormous tub, I finally found release. I was shaking, shivering as if I was freezing. Tears streamed down my face, and my breath came in hitching sobs, echoing in the small confines of the private bath stall. If someone entered the bathroom, they would hear me losing it, but at that moment, I couldn't have cared less. I kept seeing the faces of all those who had been present in the aftermath of my botched demonstration. They had looked at me as if I were something strange and dangerous.
I lay back and let the warm water slosh over me, even as my face was burning with embarrassment, even as I warmed up my hands by putting them under the water.
Some time later, with my wet hair tied back and wearing warm, comfortable clothes, I entered our room again and put my things away. I lay down on the bed that was still so strange after almost a month with its unfamiliar lumps and creaks. I stared out of the window and saw the sky had turned into a kaleidoscope of colors as the sun set. I wanted nothing more than to escape into sleep, but I was filled with nervous, restless energy.
More than anything, I wanted to speak to my mother and father. I desperately wanted to tell them what had happened and to hear words of reassurance and encouragement from those who had known me my whole life. I needed to know I was the same Leah I had always been. It was a foolish notion, because I wasn't. Since my last birthday, when the power had awakened within me, and it had revealed me as a Manaborn, even my own parents had looked at me differently.
