The Warlock's Shadow
Chapter 3 - The Black Flame

The Black Flame

“It’s gone?” Sasha lamented. “How’s it gone? It was just here this morning,” We looked on from across the street. The storefront was there but everything looked closed and empty. The black paint was still faded, the windows still dirty, but it looked vacant now.

Lisa squinted her eyes and looked closer at the space. “Hmm, hold on,” she said as she carefully crossed the street. As she crossed and got to the opposite curb she disappeared.

“What the?” I said. “Where’d she go?” Sasha was already running over and I followed right behind. As soon as we hit the curb it was like wading through water for just a moment, then the store came into view.

“A cloaking spell,” Lisa said unimpressed. Not much got past elves. They had a keen eye for spotting enchantments like this. “So this is the place, huh?” She examined the outside and looked in one of the windows.

“Yup, this is definitely it,” I said.

“Pretty cool, right?” Sasha said.

“Yeah,” she said, “except that it actually is closed.”

I looked over at the door, a closed sign was barely visible in the dirty window. “Aw, man,” I said.

“Oh well, maybe next time.” she said. “Thanks for showing it to me. It’s bound to have books I’d be looking for.”

We said our goodbyes and went home. Lisa walked the opposite direction we did as Sasha followed me until we got to my house then they went on to their own home.

#

School progressed normally over the next few weeks. We all settled into our classes and we all started to really enjoy the dragon riding class. Though I still wasn’t certain of my overall dream, I was glad to see Lisa and Sasha start to get more passionate about their respective dreams. Master Elowyn started off with giving some dragon care basics but started to mix in other aspects. He gave us some magical challenges here and there that got progressively harder, but all involved the same theme; using various forms of elemental magic.

“Alright, everyone gather around,” Master Elowyn said. “Today we’re stepping away from dragon care basics and we will be getting more focused on magic usage.” I didn’t like the sound of that. “We’re going through a few quick trials testing various base forms of magic to help get you ready for the upcoming Elemental Affinity Ritual.”

Okay I really did not like the sound of that. I was already struggling as it was and this just sounded worse.

“Keep in mind these are not the only forms of magic as I’m sure you’re all aware. Even to be admitted to the school you had to have already known at least two spells, one cantrip and one element.” Cantrips were spells that didn’t involve the channeling of the elements, like when Mom cleaned up the house after Glace made a mess of broken stuff. Master Elowyn continued and gestured around the courtyard, “the trials are spread out along the courtyard and we will hit them one by one.” The class followed him and moved to the first trial.

It was set up like a shooting range with a single lane and a lot of firewood. “This will be the first test. You’re to set as much of the wood on fire as you can down this one hundred foot lane, then summon water and put it out. After everyone has had their turn we will move over to the next stage where your task is to either make a plant bloom, or pull a rock out of the ground.” He motioned over to a final area, which only held a torch where he explained we were to extinguish the flame using air. I gulped hard.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I was barely able to do the two spells, how was I going to do five? Sensing my stress, Sasha put their hand on my shoulder to help ease my mind. Never thought the side effects of that Faewild flu would have been this much of a handicap. Master Elowyn called the first name starting in alphabetical order, yay for me going last.

“Lisa Amana,” he called out. “You’re up.”

Lisa, wearing a dark colored crocheted duster along with her signature attire of a metal band t-shirt and dark pants, stepped up with all the grace her people gave her, duster flowing behind. She still received scoffs from other elves in the class but took it in stride, mostly. She leered intensely at the couple that started to say something. They looked genuinely afraid and they shut up almost immediately. Pays to be scary sometimes. She pulled up a sleeve up to her elbow, extended her hand and concentrated. After a few seconds her hand was aglow with a bright orange flame. She pulled back and thrust her hand forward lighting about seventy feet of wood in a straight line. Shaking her hand to put out the flame that enveloped her hand, she extended two fingers this time. After another moment water shot out like a hose and put out all the fire and hit the end of the lane with a giant splash. Master Elowyn smiled and wrote down her progress on his clipboard. He also summoned fire to his hand and used it to dry out the wet wood then replaced a few logs.

“Good job,” I said meekly. Lisa shrugged but thanked me all the same.

One by one students were called up. Some were able to perform well, others were mediocre. But even the mediocre students were able to throw fire at least ten feet and were able to summon at least enough water to put out what they set on fire. Sasha did just as well as Lisa and got a couple high fives from the couple of fae students in class as they passed through the small crowd.

I must have looked nervous or something because Sasha put their hand on my shoulder once more. “It will be alright, it always works out in the end,” Sasha whispered. They were usually right, but still.

“Samuel Fredricks,” Master Elowyn called. Samuel was an awkward and clumsy student I’ve noticed here and there. He always seemed so uncomfortable and unsure of himself. Not to mention he was a massive klutz. So much so I personally witnessed, over the last couple days, him tripping over nothing, saw his backpack straps break without reason, and somehow drop anything fragile they held onto. Of course they didn’t mean it, usually that level of clumsiness and bad luck usually stemmed from intense insecurities, like being uncomfortable in one’s own skin.

Samuel stepped up to the lane. As he was about to cast his fire spell, he aimed too high and missed completely. The small fireball went off into the sky. He tried water and though he pointed it straight, it somehow took a sharp turn and sprayed Master Elowyn in the face. The teacher noted down a few things and produced a towel from his pocket and dried his face. Samuel turned a shade of red I’ve only seen from tomatoes and he returned to the group without a word.

One by one more students came up and had their turn. Mine was getting closer and closer. “Just remember what we learned last year, visualize,” Sashas said. “Think of something really hot, feel it catch on fire in your hand. Then think the opposite for the water spell,”

“Alex Umbra,” Master Elowyn called out. “It’s your turn,” I was shaking. Getting to the front of the class seemed like it took an age but I made it to the range. I held up my hand and concentrated as hard as I could on what Sasha told me. I closed my eyes. ‘Think about fire, think about fire,’ I thought to myself. I kept trying to visualize my hand on fire. My hand felt warm but all I ended up producing was a small trail of smoke. Master Elowyn noted down something on his clipboard.

“Now the water,” he said. I nodded at him.

I pointed two fingers down the range and tried following Sasha’s advice again. Thinking of a firehose and water fountains. But the most I could muster was just a moist hand and a great need to use the restroom. The teacher, again, silently wrote down on his clipboard. I could hear whispers and people snickering behind my back and as I walked back to my friends.

“Alright moving on,” Master Elowyn said. The other two trials went about the same. Sasha and Lisa did amazing, as well as a few other students. When it came to the earth trial we had to lift a hundred pound boulder buried in the dirt, or make a rose bloom. The boulder didn’t move, and in fact I think it actually buried itself deeper, and as far as the rose all I could do was make a pedal fall. Sasha’s time to shine was in the last trial where they summoned a very controlled sphere of air, creating a vacuum, effortlessly extinguishing the torch. The rest were average and a few not so great but still better than me in all aspects. My turn went as expected as all I succeeded in doing was make the flame flicker, but I’m pretty sure that was just from my own breath.

“Very good everyone, we will perform the Affinity Ritual tomorrow. Afterwards you will be escorted as a class to the dragon roost in the upper dome of the school for you to receive your dragon eggs. There will be no other classes tomorrow.” Master Elowyn dismissed everyone after I utterly failed every single trial he set up. I was sure that nothing good was going to come of me flunking.

“What if I get kicked out?” I said. “Master Elowyn looked frustrated and disappointed with how I did. What am I going to do?”

“Alex, relax,” Sasha said. “Look, just because you absolutley sucked at the trials doesn’t mean anything. The first step of getting good at something, is totally sucking first. Besides, you’re working with a handicap. Not like you can help it.”

“Yeah, that makes me feel all better,” I said in a deadpan voice dripping in sarcasm.

“Look, Alex,” Lisa chimed in. “Just take it easy. We only did the most common elements. Plus it doesn’t mean that you still won’t get a dragon.”

I reluctantly agreed with them both as we went on to our final classes before our free hour at the end of the day.

I was barely able to pay attention in astronomy. I wasn’t even sure what the subject matter even was. Something about how the universe is expanding, how some magic can distort or tear holes in the fabric of space-time, I think? The dismissal bell snapped me out of my daze. Now realizing that Mr. Roland had been calling my name for the last few minutes.

“Huh?” I said, shaking my head. “Did you say something, Mr. Roland?”

“A few things, yes,” he said as he sat at the desk next to me. “What’s eating you? You’re beyond distracted and barely paid attention in class.”

I spilled everything I was feeling and told him about everything that had happened in the last class. I don’t know why but I felt I could just let everything out with him.

“Ah,” he said. “You have the side effects of the Faewild flu, huh?”

“Yeah,” I said. “It’s the worst handicap ever.”

“I was the same as you when I was young, you know.”

“You were?” I asked. “How did you overcome the side effects?”

“Well, I didn’t have to live with them long. My parents knew an old Fae woman a long time ago and she knew of a way to fix it. I couldn’t tell you what it was. I remember taking some medicine, I think, for a while and it went away. The effects still lingered and I had to work hard and when it came to those trials, I found out that I had done better than I thought. I went through the Affinity test and found out what resonated with me most then went on and received a dragon egg. It all worked out.” he said casually.

“How can you be so sure that I’m not any different?” I asked. “How can you be sure everything will be okay even if I didn’t get the same treatment for the side effects you did?”

“Just gotta go with it,” he said as he gave a comforting smile.

“Okay,” I said. “As long as you’re sure that everything will be okay.”

I got up and met up with Lisa and Sasha in what became our usual spot. A clearing on the west side of the building where almost no one was so we can have our own, mostly, private conversations out of respect for Lisa’s misanthropy.

“There he is,” Sasha cheered. “See, I told you he wasn’t eaten by the unspeakable horror in the men’s room,”

“I wasn’t the one worried about that, you were,” Lisa said flatly. Sasha blushed a bit.

“Oh, well point is, you’re here,” They said and gave me a hug.

“Thanks guys, but yeah I’m alright,” I said.

“So, what kept you?” Sasha asked.

I told them about the short heart-to-heart that I had with Mr. Roland. For some reason I think I did feel better about everything that happened. Just couldn’t explain why I was feeling okay about my ineptitude and handicap. We spent the rest of the time talking about how we did and how we felt about what had happened with the initial element trials.

When we walked home I wasn’t even worried about that evening or even how I was going to sleep. Mom, who had taken off work today and tomorrow in anticipation for the next day, was surprised how well I was taking the results of the day. Even Glace cocked his head back and tilted to the side attempting to understand the situation as well.

After dinner I decided I was going to go to bed early so that I can get some rest for the upcoming ritual tomorrow, as well as getting a dragon egg. I wondered what my dragon would be like, what element would I resonate with? Maybe it would be fire. I did feel I was pretty close at casting some fire magic. But I did get admittance to school by using what little earth magic I could muster so there is that option as well.

I eventually drifted off to sleep thinking of this, that and the other. Even in my dreams I was feeling elated. Dreaming of the element of fire being unlocked for me and my dragon egg being the most brilliant crimson color, maybe with some swirls of orange. Then I dreamed of the egg hatching and replaceing nothing. The dream quickly turned into a nightmare. Realizing that there was no dragon for me, however in the furthest reaches of my mind. I saw something swoop around and glided in the distance. It seemed strange and had glowing red eyes. I was frightened and confused. But also grateful and privileged and a small sense of shame was thrown in as well. Suddenly the shape in my dream turned its ruby eyes on me, flew and charged at me.

“Ah,” I awoke with a start and fell right out of bed, my covers tangled all around me. Evidently I moved around alot in my dreams last night. I untangled myself and got up rubbing my eyes.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

Woke up just before my alarm. Figures.

#

Sasha walked with me to school as per usual. We walked through the concealment charm in front of Crowley’s store as we passed it hoping to take a gander of what else we could replace. But he gave us a dirty look from the window as we passed by before we could even hope to get inside.

We met up with Lisa just outside the grounds. There was a huge gathering of students all around the school. Apparently this ritual was a much bigger deal than I thought. The whole grounds were abuzz. Everyone who was present who had a dragon, let their companion give little roars and chirps and trills. They flew around doing barrel rolls and loops. Sparks and ribbons of light flashed everywhere in celebration for the Affiliation Ritual and the egg ritual as well.

As we got closer we saw someone get up on a platform and behind a lectern. He was an older man, his face lined with sagely wisdom and his long elf ears had started to droop slightly at the tips, which wobbled gently with his steps. His gray hair was straight, long and down to the small of his back. He wore a ceremonial robe over his very expensive looking charcoal gray two piece suit. The robe was cream colored and was accented with red and gold filigree around the neck, hem and cuffs.

Looking closer I recognized him from pictures around the school. It was Principal Ashrith. The Principal was accompanied by three people on either side of him who were dressed in similar robes but in different color schemes. On his left there was one dressed in reds, one in blues, one in greens. On the other side one was dressed in black, another white, and the last one in lavender.

He held up his hands to quiet the crowd. “Thank you all for being here today for the Elemental Affinity and Dragon Egg Rituals.” His voice was authoritative but was laced with kindness and had not faltered at all with his perceived age. Elves had slightly longer lifespans than that of humans and carried their age well. The crowd gave a small applause and died down quickly. “We are joined today by the Head Magus’ from The Council of the four natural elements and the two celestial elements.”

“Celestial elements?” I whispered. “I don’t remember learning about celestial elements.”

“Yes, aside from the ones found in nature there are the two celestial elements, Light and Dark,” Lisa said. “Light reveals hidden things, not only magically, but within the one who resonates with it. And I don’t know much about darkness, only that it is seen once a generation.”

“They will be the administrators of the Elemental Affinity and Dragon Egg Rituals,” the Principal continued. “Our new students this year will come up one by one into the magic circle in the courtyard to replace the element that they resonate with the most. Then, afterward they will be accompanied to our dragon roost at the roof of our fair institution and be drawn to the egg that calls out to them.” The audience clapped again in acceptance and cheers. “Speaking of, please clear some space, and let our newest students come forward now.”

The student body and faculty that made up the crowd parted to make space for the nearly hundred new students to the school, of course including Lisa, Sasha and myself. The Head Elemental Magus’ came down from the podium and escorted us around the building and through doors at the side of the school to get into the massive courtyard. There was a huge mandela-like magic circle drawn on the ground that must have been twenty feet across and taken who knows how many hours to draw.

As we approached the circle and were led around so we all stood side-by-side around the circle which began to glow and pulse with magic. We all stood in awe as the Head Magus’ moved into the inner circle and extended their hands palms out into the very center. The principal was close behind with a long piece of paper and walking up another platform nearby and the crowd followed him. Other faculty and students spread out in the background trying to get decent views.

Speaking loudly Principal Ashrith said, “This is the ritual circle where we determine your affiliate element. For those of you who don’t remember, this ritual not only shows you what element you resonate with the most, this will unlock within yourself, the ability to make that element your speciality. Other elements of course will still be at your disposal, but you may notice certain qualities within yourself, both literal and figurative, change for the better.” He gave a secret knowing smile. Like he was waiting for us to figure it out. “When I call your name please step forward into the center of the circle.” We all prepared ourselves not knowing exactly what would happen.

“Amana, Lisa,” Principal Ashrith called out. I never asked Lisa but I imagine it must be annoying to be called first almost every time. In her usual elven grace, that was always somewhat hidden under the baggy goth clothes, she made her way between the Magus’ and faced the Principal while standing in the center of the circle.

After a Moment the whole of the magic circle glowed brighter and brighter. It pulsed like a heartbeat. The very center grew even brighter than the outer portions of the circle as a column of fire erupted around her. The crowd gave a sudden gasp to the sudden appearance of fire. The fire died down and was replaced with a column of water around her. Which also died down. This repeated with being surrounded by earthen spikes from the ground covered in roots, to a vortex of air, to a column of light then a strange translucent cone of black colored fire. That only existed for barely a second. Enough where if you blinked you would have missed it. The pattern repeated through the elements for less than a minute before stopping at the column of water. The water condensed itself into a tiny point of bright light in front of Lisa no bigger than a small marble and passed into her chest.

“Excellent. Excellent,” Cheered the Principal. “Thank you, dear, please take your place back in the circle.”

As she walked back beside me I leaned over to whisper to her as the Principal called the next name on the list. “What’s it like?”

“It’s difficult to describe,” she said. She sounded almost puzzled and confused. “It’s something that you need to experience yourself.” I looked on as the same pattern continued with each of the students that followed.

Sylas Brenlynn, the jerk from nearly a week ago, was next and he resonated and found affinity with earth. I’m not sure if anyone else noticed, but I remember seeing more greenery and flowers that hugged the spikes of earth that rose from the ground than with anyone else so far. He made a big deal out of it even though no one else really was. Boasting and grandstanding that he got something “strong and manly”. I didn’t understand the hypermasculinity he exuded. The names continued on as light cheers and clapping came from the peanut gallery as each student passed through the circle.

“Fredricks, Samuel,” Ever the clumsy one, while he walked to the center he tripped over one of the drawn lines of the circle, even though they were drawn on the ground and there was nothing to actually trip over. He finally made it to the center and was found to have an affinity with Light. He smiled awkwardly being the first one so far to have resonated with a celestial element. The confidence must have made him feel pretty good because he seemed to have grown an inch or two and didn’t even stumble a little on his way back.

The Principal kept going down the list and came to, “Rivers, Sasha,” Sasha, dressed in their usual mixture of clothing that was typically masculine and feminine, wore a modest halter top and jeans that on most anyone else would look a bit strange, but their androgyny really had shown through. They got to the center and they were found to have an affinity with the element of air.

Finally Principal Ashrith came to the final name on the list, “Umbra, Alex,” I gulped. I had no idea what would happen. Would I even resonate with anything at all? I couldn’t even do the most basic of cantrip spells. Both Sasha and Lisa looked at me with reassuring looks as I slowly made my way to the center. I passed between two of the Magus’ and stepped into the middle. All eyes were on me and I absolutely hated it. I never liked being the center of attention. I took a deep breath as the circle glowed and pulsed and the center got brighter. Like all the others the element pattern cycled through. Fire, water, earth, air, light and dark, even if that last element was only briefly there. It might have just been my eyes playing tricks, but I could have sworn all the elements that appeared lasted a bit longer than it had with anyone else as the elements cycled through. I started to feel pressure around me, like the atmosphere had changed and grew denser. It felt as if time slowed down but the pattern kept going faster and faster. Was this what Lisa was talking about? Strange ethereal voices surrounded me. I tried to move to follow them but I was fixed in place and paralyzed. What was going on? The pressure kept baring down around me, and it became difficult to breathe. My ears began to feel the pressure change and popped and shot pain through my head. I thought I was going to be crushed and that my head was going to explode. Until, suddenly, the pressure lifted and I blinked. Everything felt and looked almost normal. No pressure, no pain through my ears, nothing. Except for the elephant that was now in the room.

As my eyes adjusted to the brightness dimming, I was facing the strangest sight. This didn’t happen to anyone else today. I saw that I was surrounded by fire. But not the column of orange and red fire like others had been. This was deep black, but at the same time was also almost transparent. The fire was like a living shadow. It felt almost alive but also seemed as if it had a direct connection with the rest of the universe. Like it came from the deepest reaches of the cosmos just to be here. I heard it whisper and crackle around me as if it was speaking but I couldn’t understand. I reached out and tried to touch it and it felt almost cool. I couldn’t feel any heat from it in the slightest.

It was then I realized that the whole courtyard was silent. I looked around and almost everyone had a shocked or frightened look about them. Like all the others the element had coalesced into a single point of light, only this wasn’t the same. It looked like a tiny black hole in front of me. It slowly moved towards me and entered into my chest. It was warm but also gave me a sense of unease. I wasn’t sure if that was from the resonance or from the situation as a whole.

“Ladies, Gentlemen and Fae, we have a most momentous occasion before us today,” The Principal said to break the silence and calm the mood. “We have a first in a generation, a student who resonates with the most rare element of resonance, darkness,” He started to clap and act excited so as to help the crowd start to clap as well. Some seemed excited and intrigued while others just clapped to go with the crowd. Out of all the ones genuinely excited it was the faculty.

I made my way back to my space in the circle, again with eyes on me as they feigned their enthusiasm. At least my friends were genuinely excited for me. I didn’t understand why everyone was so hesitant that darkness resonated with me. I didn’t even know what it had meant.

“Did that last longer than anyone else’s turn?” I asked.

Lisa and Sasha shook their heads. “No longer than anyone else’s turn. It was maybe a minute tops.” Sasha said. “But how cool is that. Darkness. So quiet and mysterious and rare,” Well, at least they were excited for me.

“It really is interesting,” Lisa said. “I know I don’t know you as well as Sasha does, but it does seem to suit you.”

“Wonderful everyone, wonderful,” Principal Ashrith said. “Now we move onto the second stage of our day, the Dragon Egg Ritual.”