Magelore Book 1: Smoke and Fire

Chapter 2

Raven

Raven stared up at Magelore. It was very big, and it kind of looked like it was saying "I'm better than ALL of you!" and it was definitely not a place she wanted to go to. In fact, she kind of wanted to turn around and go right back to Oracle City.
"You know," she said. "Um... maybe I could go next year."
"Raven," her mom said. "We've been over this."
They had been over this. Many times, in fact. Raven's fate had been sealed for over a year now. Raven Almex was going to be the first-ever child in her family to learn magic. (Well, there had been that brief incident with her father, which had forced him to swear off using magic forever. So, the first-ever child in her family to continue to use magic.) Her twin brother had decided he wanted to learn magic, too, but he was learning Earth magic, so that barely counted.
Speaking of her brother, Oliver was staring wide-eyed at the giant dome. "Wow," he murmured, his deep blue eyes widening even more. "It's huge. Why is it so cold here?"
Raven shrugged. "Mountains." She turned her attention back to the crowd in front of the building. Elves swarmed around the doors, looking like one black mass in the gathering dusk. "Who do you think our partners will be?"
Oliver shrugged. "I hope whoever I get is nice."
"Yeah."
Raven paused. "I guess...this is where we leave." She turned to her mom. "I'm going to miss you."
She hugged Oliver first, then Raven. "Goodbye."
With that, she left.
Raven turned back to the building. "Let's go."
They were directed to sit on hard wooden benches while the principal droned on about honor and rules and the consequences of breaking the rules. (Like I'm going to listen to that, Raven thought with a smirk.) Then she got to the really exciting part–announcing partners.
She read off the names of the students studying Water magic first, then Air magic, then Earth magic. Oliver was partnered with a nervous-looking girl named Taylor, who had short brown hair and startlingly green eyes. Finally, finally, she got to the fire mages.
"Raven Almex...and Akira Burns."
Raven stared at her.
Not her. Not her.
There had to be some kind of mistake, except that now the girl they sent to sit next to Raven was definitely too heart-shatteringly pretty to be a mistake, and she looked just as shocked as Raven was, and the world was falling apart, had to be falling apart, because this could not be happening.
Then Raven remembered.
It was cold and misty. Raven was seven years old and trying her best to find something, anything, to sell, just for a little extra money for firewood.
She'd spotted a glint of metal on the street and ran to investigate it. It had turned out to be a bracelet, woven from a thin gold chain. She'd felt so relieved. Tonight she and her family would be warm and well fed.
She hadn't been trying to steal it. It had been in the middle of the street. Someone probably dropped it, someone who could buy a hundred of the same bracelet, someone who didn't need it. So she'd picked it up and pocketed it.
And the next thing she knew, someone had yelled, "Thief!" and it was another girl, about Raven's age, with fiery red hair and green eyes and a very angry expression. "That's my bracelet."
"But..." Raven stared at her. "But it was just in the street."
"But it's mine."
"But I need it."
The girl's eyes flashed and an adult appeared behind her. All of a sudden Raven had been thrown onto her side, the necklace wrenched from her grasp, and there was a deep gash along the side of her face.
Raven turned away from the girl next to her–her name was Akira, right? –shaking her hair in front of her face to hide her expression. Through her hair, she looked at her partner.
Akira was just a tiny bit shorter than Raven. Her hair was bright red and cut short, and her green eyes were narrowed angrily.
Raven didn't listen to the rest of the partners. Her and Akira left the hall, side-by-side, not speaking or acknowledging each other. They entered their shared dorm. Raven tossed her bag onto the bed closer to the window. Akira scowled for a moment, but sat on the other bed.
"Raven, right?"
Raven looked up, startled for a second. "Um...yeah."
"Well..." Akira hesitated and was saved by a voice calling them to lunch.
Wordlessly, they stood and started towards the dining hall.