Chapter 32 | Ravinica

Chapter 32

Ravinica

NEXT MORNING, I FELT rejuvenated in my quest and . . . less stressed. After taking a shower, I peeled off the bandage from my calf for the last time. It had healed, leaving only three puffy claw marks as scars to remind me of Sven putting his paws on me.

I wasn't discouraged by the fact the wolf shifter would always be with me. It was a strange realization.

After getting dressed, I headed down to the lobby and found Dagny at the counter, head buried in a textbook.

I slammed the book I'd stolen from Mimir Tomes onto the desk, facedown. "Studying on a Sunday? Look at you," I said wryly.

She poked her glasses up her nose and looked over at the book. "What's this?"

"Thought you might recognize it."

Turning the book over to look at the cover, her face lit up. "Holy shit," she hissed. "Snorri's poetry book!" Her face darted up. "Where did you find this?"

I smiled, knowing I'd done right by my first friend at the academy. I had half a mind to tell her I'd been rummaging around the forbidden room of Mimir Tomes. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Probably not."

I laughed. "Then let's just say I found it at the wrong section in the library, while doing my own research."

Her lips parted, a faraway gaze in her eyes. Then she narrowed them at me. "That bitch."

"Excuse me?"

"I get it now. It was Greta. Former roommate of mine. She got a position as an acolyte-in-training for her second year in Mimir Tomes, but she always coveted the RA position I'd been given. She must have stolen the book from me and purposefully misplaced it, knowing it would get me in trouble!"

I said, "Seems the mystery is solved."

Dagny hugged the tome to her chest. "Rav, you have no idea how much you've just saved my ass. Now I can return it to Tomekeeper Dahlia and keep my position. I fucking owe you!"

"Nonsense," I said with another smile, stepping back from the counter. I lifted my pant leg and showed her the scar of my encounter with Sven and his kin. "You helped bandage my leg. We're even."

She jumped up from behind the desk, hugged me, and then scurried around to the front of Nottdeen. "Thanks, bestie."

Then she ran off to go return the tome where it belonged.

I met up with Randi on Tyr Meadow, the wide, grassy quad near Gharvold Hall garrison in the northwest region of the academy.

Other students dotted the space, far apart from us. A couple was having a picnic. Some initiates were smacking weapons together, the sounds of their training reverberating on the soft breeze.

Randi and I took a cool spot under the draping branches of a willow tree, near the southern wood that led down to the next region. She had a couple textbooks out, and was making hand and finger gestures in slow, measured motions.

When she made the gestures, tracing the air with the characters of runes, the slash marks lit up in the air in front of her. With her free hand, a small disk of glass emerged and swirled in the air in front of her.

She Shaped more marks in the air, smiling, and the cloudy glass disk moved through the air, inch by inch, until it was close to the ground.

Randi focused hard, her little tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth. She sweated as she directed the glass to hover a few inches above a patch of grass. We were in the shade, but little dots of sunlight brightened the space through the tree branches, including the grassy patch the disk hovered over.

Within seconds, the sun magnified on the glass, and the grass underneath it began to smoke. A moment later, with a puff and pop, the grass sizzled, on fire.

Randi let out a squeal, losing her concentration, and the disk dissipated into nothingness. She stomped on the tiny fire, putting it out.

I clapped, beaming at her. "That was amazing, Ran."

Her dark face flushed. "I can't do much yet, but it's better than nothing. I'm trying to make my Shapes purer, so I can get the glass less cloudy. Once it's crystal-clear, I'll be able to magnify and potentially burn things much better."

I nodded, feeling a sense of longing, jealousy, and pride at what my friend could do.

"Now it's your turn to try," she said. When she saw my grimace, she added, "It'll be okay, babe. Just mirror my hand movements."

I nodded, bracing myself for failure. My heart thumped as I tried to trace the air with the marks of the runes, to Shape the fabric of space around me.

Runeshaping was fascinating to me—the potential seemed limitless. Yet with me, there was no potential. Unlike Randi's motions, which followed every curve and slash with a dim illumination to signify the movement had been a success, my motions gave me nothing.

I just looked like a crazy person trying to write in the air with my fingertips. I got no sparks, no surge of power—nothing to tell me I was doing things right. Just more disappointment and slumping shoulders.

Randi frowned at me, repeating, "It's okay, Ravin. It'll just take some time. I'm sure your magic will come."

It was so damned frustrating. I wanted to lash out, but at what? It was no one's fault I couldn't do this, except for the fault of my tainted bloodline.

"I'd better hope it shows up soon, or else I'm screwed." I didn't expand on the fact I had one term to figure this out, or I'd be exiled. I didn't want to burden Randi with that info, or stress her out.

Randi sifted through a book on the ground, hunched over it. "You know, there are some historic examples of people forcing their magic to the front. Usually it comes from some, uh, miracle, I guess. Some act of the gods that didn't really seem to have anything to do with the runeshaper. Maybe you could try some of it?"

I shrugged, wanting to put it behind me. "Yeah. Maybe I'll try that." Then I grabbed my spear from the ground, spinning the worn, comfortable wood in my hands. I felt useful again, with a wicked smile curving along my lips. "Ready for your turn?"

We were doing a trade-off: She'd try to teach me runeshaping, I'd teach her better combat maneuvers.

Returning my grin, she swiped two daggers from the ground. "Oh hells yeah."

Though she preferred different weapons than I did, the philosophy and basics were the same. For an hour, we trained, and I showed her where her footwork could improve. Our weapons never got close to touching skin. We went through drills and practices Swordbaron Korvan had shown me growing up.

Randi was a quick learner. She was sprightly, determined to get better, and an excellent student.

About an hour into practice, a voice behind me stopped us. "Already showing improvement, Randi."

I spun around to see Grim lumbering toward us from further down the meadow. My body reacted strangely to the sight of the huge man in the afternoon sun. He reminded me of Thor, god of thunder, ripped and stacked with muscle. His messy brown hair, shorn on the sides, was different than the typical ginger roots of the Thunderer, but the overall build was the same.

The quiet, brooding man walked up to us. "Not bad, a week after sparring Rolf."

"I don't want to let that happen again," Randi said.

I recalled how Rolf had thrown her over his shoulder like a ragdoll to end their duel in front of Hersir Axel.

"Where's Magnus?" Grim asked me.

I shrugged. For some reason I felt tongue-tied in the moment. Possibly because of what I did last night in bed, and how this man ravaged my thoughts. I was embarrassed, worried Grim could read my dirty mind.

"How should I know?" I asked, more defensively than I'd meant to. "Sorry. Um. Why do you want to know?"

Grim frowned, crossing his arms over his barrel chest. "Makes sense for training. You'll be doing a pack battle for midterms."

I glanced at Randi, both of us showing surprise.

"Oh shit, really?" Randi chirped.

Grim nodded. "It would benefit us to have all three trainees together."

Well, I know where to find Magnus tonight. In the middle of the day, though? Probably sleeping off the late night in Mimir Tomes.

Grim motioned to Randi, stepping in front of her about ten paces away. "Show me."

"Huh?" She took a step back.

Grim was easily three times her weight and about two feet taller than her. He made her look like a child.

Pointing at himself, he said, "A big man can show you how to take down other big men."

Randi's eyes flared with excitement. "Oh. Oh ! Okay."

She crouched, getting low to the ground—even shorter. When she charged at him, she hesitated, and Grim darted out, wrapped his huge arms around her, and pushed Randi away. "Again."

Randi frowned. "I don't know what to do."

"With weapons," Grim said. "Come at me hard."

Randi's eyes widened. For some reason, she glanced over at me, and I shrugged, then gave her a tiny nod.

Taking her two daggers out of their sheaths, she spun the handles in her palms.

"Don't hesitate. I'll be okay." Grim gave her a small smile, goading her, and Randi bared her teeth like a tiny, angry animal.

She charged at Grim, no longer cautious, and slashed and stabbed with her daggers while letting out little grunts.

Grim shocked me with how fast he moved for a big man. Randi couldn't get close to him, because his reach was so much longer than hers, and she was scared of his fists and hands.

Grim fought open-palmed, knees slightly bent, and slapped Randi's arms away as she stabbed.

With the last push, he put more energy into it and she spun in a full dizzying circle before stumbling back and blinking wildly to get her bearings.

Grim stood straighter. "Staying close to the ground is good," he explained, crossing his arms again. "Lower center of gravity. Makes it harder to lift you."

"Okay," Randi said. She didn't seem frustrated anymore, just curious. "Got it."

"A big man's reach is too much for you. You're too offensive. Alternate between defensive posture and quick bursts, not prolonged lunges. Footwork will be your key, moving in and out."

Grim was talking way more than usual, and I figured it was because he was speaking about something he was passionate about, and good at.

"Don't be impatient," he explained, rattling off more advice. "Eventually, I will tire. Chances are, everyone you face will be larger than you."

Grim was giving valuable advice in rapid-fire fragments. It made me smile. I was surprised Randi hadn't gotten this info from her trainers in her home village. Then again, not everyone was as skilled of a teacher as Swordbaron Korvan.

"They grab you," Grim said, clapping his hands together hard. "It's over. Don't let them grab you. Use speed to your advantage."

It all seemed rather obvious, and still Randi was excited and nodding profusely. She was an enthusiastic trainee. I got the sense she truly hadn't had a sparring trainer before.

To signal he was done talking, Grim nodded and grunted. "You'll be fine. Stay swift."

Randi bowed to Grim like he was her sensei. "Thank you, Grim. I appreciate your help."

He grunted again. Then he motioned to me and her at the same time. "Again."

I smirked at him, lifting my spear, catching a hint of a smile on Grim's face before I faced Randi. Her eyes were gleaming, a roguish glint and renewed confidence wafting off her.

She lifted her daggers, and we charged at each other with battle cries carrying on the wind.