Legacy to Zero

13: Doing Something That Isn't Boring

Lars

When I was learning to fly, first I had to learn how to fall.

Skyla had experience teaching new sorcerers, mostly traditional, but as she told me many times, she had to develop an approach for all of us, a method to explain a concept foreign to us but as second-nature as breathing for her. When I'd been paired as her mentee, I'd only mastered one animal—a cat. Her logic assumed I could shapeshift into other animals, if we could only get past the mental blocks chanting that what I was doing was impossible. We picked a bird form due to its similar size to a cat, and the rest was history.

So for months, my training was teaching myself the right way to fall. From the right angle. From the correct distance. How far before I transformed? Was it just a reflex, or a conscious decision to pick the same animal every time? All the while, I consumed every text about ornithology I could get my hands on, writing the notes out in ink across my palms and arms as though working out how the gears of an old clock fit together by taking it apart.

With time, I got better at falling. Catching my weight at the right moment. It didn't happen instantly. The wings sprouted first, as though they were two tiny seeds against my back. And with that, I was falling from higher floors, scaling onto every high surface I could get to, all so that the momentum might reverse and I'd be soaring alongside the sky instead of just waving at it when I pummelled face-up into the grass.

As the water in the sink made a funnel, I wondered whether the same principle applied to finding Harlow. Sure, North's seeking was getting us someplace. If I wanted to place a note in a song, I had to understand what came around it. Maybe it wasn't just about seeing where she'd been? What if it was about where she hadn't?

In truth, knowing so little about my best friend and her past irked me.

With a sigh, I shut off the tap. The bathroom at Prismatrix HQ was spotless, the lime green and grey lined counters glimmering even though it was barely dawn. Apparently, I didn't have to share it with anyone—since it was connected like an ensuite to my room. It was a nice change of pace from having to wait for three other students to finish showering before I got the chance.

Stepping back to the bedroom, I kicked my bags aside and got dressed. Chose a faded yellow shirt to slide under my coat, since it had been too stuffy in the suit. With a tap on the face of my watch, I absorbed all that had happened while I was asleep.

Which was a lot. More than I'd been expecting. Two sorcerers had gotten injured in a fight, currently with the healer—and another two had formed a new team. As I continued to read, the watch lit up in a glaze. A message from Patch. Incoming!

Her voice bounced off the hall to accompany it. "You'd better be awake!"

I shot up. It wasn't enough time to reassess my reflection or even to rethink my outfit—before Patch was in front of me, greeting me with two thumbs up. Vale and North formed an entourage behind her. For the first time, North wasn't wearing the visor—his eyes a cool blue that still seemed to scan the area even without it.

"Couldn't sleep? Or more of a morning person?" North said.

"Apparently both," I replied. "What's happening?" I directed the question to North, but I wasn't sure whether he knew. My eyes tracked their way to Vale. My shoulders straightened as his eyes moved to the hall, nodding to acknowledge an approaching figure.