Page 12 of Faerie Trials

I followed the stranger up the curving staircase toward the second floor, gas lamps lining the corridor and illuminating the way. Why couldn’t the students at the Elite Academy be this nice and friendly? It had been nothing but a struggle since I started there.

“By the way, I’m—” The girl let out a low screech followed by several clicks. “I know, it’s hard to say. They call me Flora here.”

I smiled at the nickname. “Flora I can pronounce.”

She smiled over her shoulder. “I know. It’s an elf thing. I’m half earth elf, and a lot of our dialect is only spoken in the outer isles of Faerie. Those in the inner villages haven’t heard it spoken in years. Flora is a rough translation of my elvish name. It makes it easier to communicate with other students.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Tavi.”

I wondered if people were as cynical toward Flora as they’d been toward me when I first applied for the mortal academy. Did her being half elf somehow set her apart from her peers the way being half human did for me? Or at least they perceived me as half human. If they knew the truth—that I was really half wolf shifter—I doubted they’d tolerate me at all.

She seemed happy, though, like a person who’d found her place in the world and settled in nicely.

I looked everywhere except at Flora, nerves eating at me as I fought the urge to fidget. Fidgeting would show how nervous I really felt and I didn’t want anyone to think me weak even though that’s how I really felt. And frustrated. And super confused.

Flora’s pace quickened and I did my best to keep up with her. I expected a hush to fall when I passed the other students. I expected them to stare and mutter under their breath about the halfling human in their midst. But that wasn’t the case. No matter where we went, up two flights of old stone stairs and along light-drenched corridors, everyone we passed offered me a smile or a kind word. Everyone had something nice to say to Flora and extended the kindness to me.

I couldn’t believe it.

The next corner she turned, I knew. This wasn’t a mirror image of the school I knew. The flooring on the third floor was a mix of wood and stone, with the walls made up of some kind of luminescent stone that caught the light from outside. Wooden beams were exposed on the ceiling above and massive iron chandeliers hung down at regular intervals. The building pulsed with magic, and the chilly draft I used to feel at the mortal academy in winter did not exist here.

Flora led me directly down a narrow hall leading back toward the professors’ offices, then pressed her hand onto the stone to the left and right of the alcove. A pulse of yellow light flashed. Like a welcome. Or a warning.

She cast a final wide grin my way, my gaze focused on those odd green teeth. “Good luck with whatever it is you are doing, Tavi. And don’t be a stranger! You are one of us even though you are at the Elite Academy.”

“One of you?”

She nodded. “A halfling, yes. I can sense it about you.”

“How did you know I came from the Elite Academy?”

“Your jacket.” She pointed to the emblem on the breast pocket of my blazer. “It doesn’t matter. We are all in this together, yes? Halflings unite! If you need anything, we are here. Come back and see me sometime, new friend.”

Then she left and I stood staring after her, fighting the urge to shake my head. Definitely friendly. And I’d gotten so used to the bullying and backstabbing that I found her kindness weird and out of place.

The moment I turned back toward the professors’ rooms, another student barreled out of the nearest doorway and damn near ran me over.

Red-faced, looking pissed as all get out, the boy slammed into my shoulder and sent me spinning into the wall.

I hissed when bone came into contact with stone and a flash of pain shot through me. “Watch where you’re going, buddy!” I called out after him. “Can you not see there’s a person standing here? Flesh and blood and not exactly invisible.”

It had been a hot minute since I needed my old potions to hide my shifter nature. Because of the very nature of Faerie, I was able to tap into the magic of the land to cast a glamour to hide my wolf without having to take a nasty potion to mask my essential nature. It also meant I was able to sense other half-shifters with ease.

And the angry red-faced teen? Definitely half wolf.

He whirled around and growled at me, baring straight white teeth. “What are you going to do about it?” he barked out.

Oh, a bully. I hated those. My eyes narrowed as we measured each other. “I’m going to wait until you apologize for nearly running through me.”

“I’ll rip your arms from their sockets if you get in my way.” His threat froze something inside of me before he stalked off. “And you can count on that, little halfling!”

6

The aggressive shifter’s words stayed with me for the next few minutes while I paused to take stock. My insides shook. After Flora being super nice and helpful, it seemed like a terribly stark contrast to have someone threaten me like that.

My hands were still trembling as I knocked on the door to the office the angry guy just vacated. What was his deal, anyway? What had happened to him to make him so rude and hostile? The threat had been unnecessary.

I rubbed my hands over my cheeks and told myself to shake it off. The uneasiness, the frustration,everything. They had no place in my reality and certainly wouldn’t help me make a good first impression today.

---