Page 19 of Darkened Wings
I chalked the dead-like rest up to being exhausted from my first day of school as well as being fed a hearty meal at dinner and double dessert to top me off. A full stomach was good for sleep as far as I was concerned.
My arms hurt from carrying so many heavy books, and my shoulders had red marks from the pressure of the bag strap.
I hadn’t gotten lost. That was a plus.
My thoughts briefly drifted to the guy who had caught me before dinner, saved me from falling and cracking my head right open. I had dreamed of him and his deep-brown eyes but kept that to myself as I washed my face and got dressed for the day. I found myself smiling into the mirror despite the fact that he was an ass to me, commanding me to eat and stop being clumsy as though I’d tripped on purpose.
Astra laughed as I gave the plaid uniform skirt another cursing, shaking it on its hanger, but offered a solution, or at least something to help with the curse. “You wear these under your skirt?” I asked, holding up the bike shorts in the air. She had an entire drawer of them. There was magic in those dresser drawers of hers. Snacks and now bike shorts.
“Yeah, I have several brand-new pairs. Take a few.”
I took them without debate. At least if I sat weirdly or my backpack tried to lift my skirt, my private business would remain private under these shorts.
I loved my roommate.
We ran out of the room just in time to grab a breakfast sandwich and an orange juice to go. The dining hall had sit-down breakfasts for morning people, and then there were travel sacks filled with breakfast for people like me who rushed through. Somehow I hadn’t spotted those the day before when I grabbed the protein bar. It had been filling, but this was so much better. The sausage, egg, and cheese croissant almost made me groan out loud as I walked and ate. It felt good not to have my stomach trying to eat itself twenty-four hours a day.
I’d somewhat gotten used to the hollow feeling hunger gave me.
“This is where we part,” Astra said, and I groaned for real. She had quickly become my support system, and it was hard to go the rest of the day alone.
I stuffed my breakfast down and drank the orange juice just in time to throw away the trash and slip into class without too much notice.
A few students looked up as I entered the room, but the rest of them were enveloped in their own personal conversations, and some of them hadn’t been so successful in getting their breakfast finished beforehand.
Pulling out my notebook, I saw Professor Pike come in, dressed up just like the day before, except this time, the vest and pants were blue instead of tan plaid.
I’d kill to have pants on right now.
“All right, ladies and gentleman, here we go. Let’s dig into the past when crows and ravens were one being and talk about the split.”
The entire class groaned and complained while I perked up, ready for the lore.
The professor looked around, trying to tuck that wild hair behind her ear, but it fell out of place over and over. “Is everyone clear on the real story? It’s not in the outline, won’t be on the tests, so if I don’t need to waste my time on it…” Her gaze drifted to me. “Is there anyone here who is not clear on the crow/raven split? Come on, raise your hand.”
I took one deep breath and raised my hand. I usually refrained from bringing attention to myself, but the last thing I wanted was to fail this class over embarrassment.
“I see we have one hand. History of the split it is.”
More groaning continued, but a girl with red, curly hair turned around to face me. “You’ve got to be kidding. You don’t even know the difference between a crow and a raven? It’s bad enough you’re even in class with…”
Professor Pike stepped between me and the red-haired girl, while the rest of the class snickered at the student’s assessment. “There are no wrong questions in this class, Jasmine, and it’s on the syllabus for today. You might just learn something evenyoudidn’t know. Let’s continue.”
Even after the teacher moved back down the stairs, the girl, Jasmine stared me down. She didn’t stop until Professor Pike started the presentation on the big screen and began to speak to us all.
“Crows and ravens were once one animal. There were no differences between us. We were called Hyas. Anyone know why?”
Jasmine laughed louder than necessary. “I bet Gwen doesn’t.”
The professor paid her no mind. Squawkers sometimes had to be ignored to go away. “We were called Hyas because people would go out in the morning and we would caw in response. For centuries, we were one bird, all the same features, nothing different about us at all. So what happened?”
A boy down front raised his hand. “There was a carcass in the forbidden forest. Our ancestors thought it was just another dead animal but, as they began to feast on it, a witch came forth, claiming it was her child. A shifter who had died in animal form.”
Professor Pike nodded and clicked her remote in her hand. The next slide revealed an intricate drawing of the scene. A group of ravens or crows or hiyas, eating from a wolf’s body while a witch watched from the bushes. “Before we proceed with the story, why was this forest forbidden? Anyone?”
No one answered that question, not even Jasmine. The entire classroom went silent. “Aha, a mystery, but not for long. The forest was forbidden because the gods noticed poisonous vines growing all around the trees. The vines choked anything living that passed, unless you took a bite of one. But then, you became deformed and eventually devolved into a vine yourself. So, we stayed away for the most part, but this carcass was on the outskirts of the forest and they thought it was safe. What happened next? What did the witch do?”
Again, no hands rose. Despite their groans and fussing, it seemed like everyone was as engrossed in the story as I was. Maybe more so.
