Magelore Book 1: Smoke and Fire

Chapter 9

Akira

I got up from the table, trying to get away from Raven as quickly as possible. Things had been awkward since last night. I was still wondering why I'd done that. Why I'd pitied Raven and... ugh, let her sleep in my bed. I dumped my barely touched breakfast into the trash and went back to my dorm.
When I got to the dorm, I sat on my bed. I couldn't help but notice that the sheets still smelled faintly like wood smoke. Like Raven.
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in," I said absentmindedly.
It was Raven's brother, Oliver.
"Hi," he said awkwardly. "Is Raven here?"
"No. I—I don't know where she is."
"Okay... can I talk to you for a sec?"
"Uh..." I stared at the ground, unable to make eye contact with him. "Sure."
"Okay. So it's obvious you like Raven, and—"
"Wait, WHAT?! What the fuck?" I stared at him. How could I like someone like Raven? In truth, I could barely even tolerate her.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Chill," he said, putting his hands up. "I just thought...never mind."
"Did she tell you? Do you know?"
"Uh... know what? Wait, you do like her!" A massive grin spread across his face.
"No, no, no! I don't like her, I promise!"
"Sure. Gotta go find Raven, bye!" He darted out of the room before I could object.
My brain immediately overflowed with thoughts. Raven was kind of pretty, and there was just... something about her that made me feel amazing. But that wasn't enough to like her. I'd felt that way toward other people before, not just her. Max was pretty good-looking, and he was hilarious. That didn't mean I had a crush on him. I wasn't even sure if I liked boys. But I definitely didn't like Raven.
After a few minutes, it was time for my first class of the day. I looked at the schedule. It said I had my elective, which was art. Finally, something I could focus on that wasn't about magic or Raven.
When I walked into the room, most of the class was already there. Nervously, I scanned the room for Raven or Oliver. Phew. Neither of them were there. There was a circle of easels set up around the teacher's desk, and sitting behind it was... no one. The whole class was here now, yet there was no teacher in sight. Back home, my dad couldn't stop talking about the amazing art classes he'd taken here. He'd said the art teacher was an air mage named... Mr. Breeze, I think? Whatever his name was, he was nowhere to be found. I could hear whispers from other students, probably also wondering where the teacher was.
I sniffed the air. I'd thought I smelled something–off. But it was gone the next minute.
I'd probably imagined it.
I pulled out my easel and started working on a painting I was working on–a black cat sitting on a chair in front of a fireplace. The black cat had dark blue eyes and fur that showed a shimmer of green in the firelight.
And there was that smell again! Sickly sweet, with an undercurrent of rot.
I dipped my brush in the orange paint and added a reflected glimmer of light to the cat's eye.
Suddenly from across the room, someone started coughing. I looked over to see a girl struggling for breath in front of her easel.
Other kids started coughing, too, and it wasn't long before I smelled that sickly sweet scent again and my own lungs seized up.
Vaguely, I thought, I have to find an air mage.
So I tried to stumble out of the room, but somehow I ended up outside my dorm room.
The world was spinning. I couldn't breathe. My vision tunneled and blurred and then everything went black.