Page 53 of Drawn in Blood
“There’s actually one on the island?” Ember asked wide-eyed. She’s wrapped her sweater tightly around her waist, the corridor suddenly feeling colder.
“Aye,” Killian nodded, “the legend says that hundreds of years ago, a young girl wandered into the forest alone. Some say she was playing a game with friends, and others say she was lured in by something else.”
Killian paused for dramatic effect, and Ember rolled her eyes.
“A search party was led through the woods for weeks, but they never found her, dead or alive,” he continued. “The legend says that she was taken hostage in the forest after she stumbled onto something she wasn’t meant to see.”
“Like what?” Ember said, as she breathed a laugh.
“Who knows, the island was so different hundreds of years ago. Could’ve been a band of Fae, or elves, or any number of dangerous creatures.” Killian stuffed his hands in his pockets as they walked down the moving staircase and toward the large greenhouse for Herbal Magic.
“Supposedly, she was cursed,” Odette chimed in, as she walked up next to Ember, smiling as she clutched her books to her chest, “and now she wanders the island wailing for her parents. Seeing her is a very bad omen. See her, and you’re as good as dead.”
Both boys’ eyes widened as the girl appeared from nowhere. Ember felt goosebumps run up her arms as she shivered.
“My brother used to tell me stories about her,” Fen added. “How she used to drown sailors and ride whales into the sea.”
“You both have very overactive imaginations,” Ember laughed, as she stepped into the classroom, the sun shining brightly through the glass dome as a bird chirped overhead.
Killian shrugged as they walked down the steps to the wooden tables in the center of the room. “It’s just a story to keep the weans out of the forest,” he said, as he dropped his bag by the table.
“I think you’ll find,” Odette said sweetly, “that all legends are steeped in some form of truth, Killian Vargr.” She looked toward him as if to sayyou of all people should know that.Killian’s eyes widened as he straightened his spine a fraction of an inch.
Ember chewed on her lip as she sighed. She really hoped this one legend didn’t have any truth to it at all.
“Come in, come in!” Professor Flora said, as she sauntered to the middle of the room, a yellow canary perched on her shoulder. “Today, we have a very exciting lesson.”
Ember pulled out her Herbal Magic Field Guide and quickly flipped to the page she had been working on the week before. When they began a new project, they always started with planting and growing the ingredients themselves. It was monotonous at times, and sometimes a little boring if she was being honest, but Ember couldn’t help but love the feeling of the dirt under her fingers while she planted and pruned. Her favorite part, by far, was after the ingredients were grown and harvested and she got to put together whatever draught or tonic they were focusing on.
“Our Ancient Sea Kelp grew beautifully and is ready for pruning in the pond,” Professor Flora said, as she fed the canary a small treat. “One person from each group will go prune, and the rest will begin preparing the ingredients on your list. Please be mindful of the jellyfish in the pond, as they have a nasty sting.”
Ember scrunched her nose. “Are the jellyfish magic?” she asked, as she scratched some notes in her book.
Professor Flora smiled as she conjured glowing images in the air in front of her. Dozens of jellyfish, big and small, swam through the air leisurely as she made them sway back and forth with the motion of her hand. The class cheered and gasped, and Ember couldn’t help but grin.
“Jellyfish are one of the only breeds of creature, on land or sea, that are all of magical origin,” she said, as the glowing jellyfish swam through the air around the class. “They are content to wander the ocean, soaking up magic from each full moon. People have been known to use their tentacles for very special potions, but it is a rare ingredient, incredibly hard to come by.”
“What makes it so hard?” Flynn Macguire asked from the back of the class, pen twirling in his hand. “Couldn’t you just grab one of the buggers and chop it off?”
A few small gasps sounded from girls toward the front of the room, and Ember saw Killian roll his eyes.
“Yes and no,” Professor Flora said with a small smile. “You could readily try—and succeed—if that’s what you did, but there would be no magic in the tentacles. The only way the tentacles will have magical properties is if they are willingly given. It’s a defense mechanism that all breeds of jellyfish have acquired over the span of thousands of years, and it has made using their special magic that much more difficult.”
“What makes their magic so special?” Fen asked, as he tapped his fingers on the table.
“Ah, that is the question, isn’t it?” Professor Flora said, as she waved her hand in the air. What appeared above their heads was a glowing full moon, tiny jellyfish floating all around it in sync. “Research has been conducted on them,” the professor said, as she rubbed the top of the canary’s head, “and the only thing that has been gathered is they seem to recharge during the full moon. Their magical core is slowly depleted throughout the month, but after every full moon, it is fully recharged and back to a normal level. We don’t know how, or why, they acquire their magic this way. That remains a mystery. There isn’t much we know about this type of magic, and no other being has ever been observed to use it.”
“Space magic,” Fen whispered with a grin that slowly overtook his whole face. “So cool.”
Ember rolled her eyes and tried to suppress her grin as the boys began whispering about astronauts with wands and Fae flying around the stars.
“I’ve never heard of any potions that require something like that,” Veda said with a sneer, causing Ember to roll her eyes as she sighed.
“I’m sure there are plenty of tonics and elixirs that you have never heard of, Miss Ellingboe,” Professor Flora said with a slight raise of her brow. “There are potions that even I am not familiar with, coming from books long lost to time.”
Ember felt her chest lurch, only slightly.
“What kind of books?” a soft voice from the back of the room asked.
