The Dragon Thief [I]

The Five Forms of Magic [11]

The Five Forms of Magic

Lanna

A knock sounded through the room.

Lanna walked out of her bathroom, wet towel in hand, and cautiously placed an ear to the door. She heard steady breathing followed by an impatient click of the tongue. Another knock sounded. She pried the door open, letting a cool morning breeze rush through the room. Nox stood on the other side with his arms crossed, his hair freshly washed and styled, donning his usual white mage robes.

"Finally, you answer-"

His voice trailed off as he looked up and saw Lanna. An emotion flashed in his eyes. Her hand nervously reached out to her strands of new crimson hair and she winced.

"Does it look bad?"

When she calmed herself last night after her terrifying nightmare, returning to sleep proved difficult. So she found Nadia at the dorm counter, just as the fellow mage said she would be, and followed up on her request for a dyeing potion. Nadia turned out to be an apprentice in potion magic and frequently dyed her hair all sorts of colours. Before she finished showing Lanna her new dorm room, Lanna commissioned Nadia to create her a potion that would allow her to dye her hair. Now, she was showing it to Nox for the first time, and for some reason, this made her incredibly nervous.

Nox's eyes softened.

"No, not at all," he breathed, taking in the red. "It looks pretty."

She wasn't expecting a compliment. A shy flush crept to her cheeks as Lanna tried to change the topic.

"So, why are you here?"

"I'm here to give you your schedule."

Nox handed her a small slip that outlined the five classes Lanna was enrolled into. She began to read them aloud: "Introduction to Enchantment, Elemental & Basics, Alteration, Natural Brewing and Rituals & Reciting." Lanna pointedly gave Nox a firm look. "I have to study five times a week!?"

"For five hours a day," Nox nodded. "You'll have an hour break for lunch or personal study. Saturdays and Sundays are reserved for your mandatory rest day and your lessons with Alderyth."

"Do you join us in my lessons?" she smirked teasingly. The young mage glowered.

"I might if I'm needed, but Alderyth will probably soon learn that there isn't much point in teaching you. You're not the type to listen."

Lanna rolled her eyes and moved inside her room, dumping her towel on the wooden chest by the foot of her bed. She spoke as she started dressing in her mage robes.

"Just because I don't listen to you doesn't mean I don't listen to anyone else."

"I seriously doubt that," Nox dismissed. Lanna expected him to leave, their conversation naturally ending with traded insults, but instead he continued to awkwardly linger in the door frame. She didn't appreciate the uncomfortable silence or the cold wind coming through.

"What are you still here for?" she snapped, turning on her heels. Nox narrowed his eyes.

"Do you know the way to your first class?" he asked. When she couldn't reply, he sighed. "Exactly. Hurry up and I'll show you."

There was a map of the guild on her table that Lanna briefly studied yesterday but she hadn't yet committed it to memory. Grabbing her keys and her carry bag now laced with books and quills, she raced to her door and closed it behind her. She followed Nox into the courtyard between the dorms and towards the castle. She was buzzing with curiosity.