3. Leila

THREE

LEILA

L eila was walking down the hall back to her classroom to get ready for the next bell when she noticed a shift in the energy around her. She stopped and let her body thrum with the vibe she was receiving from the academy. She closed her eyes to focus and take in her surroundings. The air was positively buzzing with excitement.

Realizing it was a good shift, her curiosity peaked as to what had caused the sudden change in their average day.

She opened her eyes and noticed a group of first-year girls whispering excitedly among themselves.

The blonde one was in Leila's level-one class. The darker-haired girls were familiar, but not enough for her to know their names. Leila called out as she approached the group with a full smile.

"Good afternoon, Margreet. What's got you three in such good spirits? Not good marks, I suppose."

Margreet answered first, still blushing deeply. She was almost completely twitterpated.

"Hello, Professor Camor. We just heard the news and I can't believe it's real! I have a picture of him on my wall back home and, just, oh my gosh!" The three started jumping up and down with little shrieks emanating from the circle.

Leila took a step back so their jumping feet didn't land on hers.

Margreet noticed and apologized while shushing the other giddy girls.

"I'm sorry, Professor. We're just so excited!"

"Yes, I have gathered that. But you still haven't told me over what exactly," Leila inquired, now thinking it wasn't as big a deal as she had thought. Seeing the young girls so excited just made her think it was a new dance announced with a cool band that would be short of chaperones.

"King Rehn Tahyrst is on campus," the girl with braids whispered as if she were to say it too loud, it wouldn't be true.

"King Tahyrst? Of the Tahyrst Kingdom?"

All three of the girls nodded excitedly.

"Do you know him? What do you think about him?"

Leila chuckled. "No. I have heard of him is all. As to what I think, that doesn't matter. He's just a man who happens to rule a kingdom." She gave the girls a disapproving look, but still couldn't dampen their excitement. It made it hard to be stern.

"Still, be respectful. He is a king after all and it wouldn't look good on the academy to have their students stalking him while he is visiting, would it?"

The girls nodded, trying to look ashamed this time while keeping their eyes down. It wasn't working for them. It made Leila smile. She knew they would try, but probably wouldn't succeed.

"Now, get to your next class before you're late."

Leila left them but still smiled all the way to her class as their giddiness grew again, the farther their professor got.

It was her last class of the day and Leila was finding it hard to focus. Her students had heard the gossip about the king, so Leila changed plans and had a more interactive class instead. But it didn't help distract herself from the news. It bugged her that a king was here and no one knew why.

Leila knew he was a bear shifter and ruled over the forestry kingdom named after him, but that was really it. She didn't involve herself in the shifter's world unless they called upon one of them.

Maybe that's why he's here, she thought as she mindlessly walked through the class as they busied themselves with their tea readings.

The king could be looking to hire himself a sorcerer or sorceress to work for him in his kingdom.

But royalty usually sends someone else in their stead to do their headhunting.

The thought only bothered her because she hadn't known any king or queen to ever come themselves to interview potentials.

She pushed the thoughts away for now as she went over the findings with the groups.

After she dismissed her class, Leila gathered her things to head to her office.

Holding the excited students' attention for the last hour had proven tough. Distracting herself with her own questions had been harder.

But now she got a break and she wasn't going to waste it. Her food was ready to be eaten and then maybe she'd find Tressa or Chaniel so they could fill her in on why the king was here.

Leila opened her door and almost dropped her purple robes off of her shoulders before she saw that someone was already in there.

"Excuse me," Leila said, as she went to face the bald man who sat in her guest chairs. "You are not allowed to enter this office without permission. That's what the waiting chairs outside my office are for."

When she got behind her desk to look at him, she realized that he wasn't a student. Or a colleague. She didn't recognize this man at all.

Leila stood her ground, not wanting to look as nervous as she was starting to feel.

The man was much older than she thought, built like a brick house and his dark black beard and heavy eyebrows contrasted his blue eyes so intensely, Leila felt a chill looking into them. He looked as if he couldn't give a rat's ass about her and her rules.

The man stood, causing Leila to automatically take a step back.

"I didn't mean to scare you."

She could tell he didn't mean it. His sneer was more than distrusting. Leila kept silent, making sure her disapproving stare was secured.

"I'm Drystan Sahylnd. And you… you are going to help me."

Leila let out a harsh scoff. "Oh, am I? I don't think so. But if you're still going to look, I think you would have better luck getting someone to help you if you ask instead of demanding."

His sneer became more malicious by the second as he continued to stare into Leila's eyes. She became uncomfortable and her body screamed in danger as her energy started to sense the stranger's more and more.

Leila forced herself to pull it together and stand her ground. She was a sorceress after all and this man needed to back the hell down.

"You need to leave."

The man stayed, unwavering… staring… smiling.

Leila was fed up. "What's your problem? I need you to leave."

"You're going to help me," he breathed.

Leila's breath caught, but she remained strong, not letting herself get bullied.

"What do you suppose I could even help you with? And what makes you think I would anyway?"

"Because, Leila Camor, you can change the past. And you don't have a choice."

Leila stiffened.

This man had sought her out. He knew exactly who she was and knew about the abilities she had been practicing. It wasn't a secret, but it wasn't advertised either.

"Listen, I don't know who told you that I'd be able to?—"

"Don't give me any excuses. You can alter past events. I know you can. And you're going to do that for me. I don't deserve this life I have now. I should be ruling supreme. Not locked in a prison awaiting death."

Leila found his reasoning too outrageous to do anything but tell him off. This man was out of his mind and needed help. And it wasn't the kind she could help with.

"Sir, you need to leave. Right now."

"I don't think so," he said threateningly.

It was all she could do to hold her focus and keep her demeanor. If she lost control, she wouldn't be able to do the magic she would need to get her out of whatever mess this was.

"Listen."

"No, you listen, bitch," he seethed. "If you don't do what I've asked then I'll just have to remove you as a threat. Not like it would take much," he chortled disgustingly looking her up and down. "In fact, I may just enjoy that route. What do you say? Because no matter whether you want to or not, this is going to happen for me."

Suddenly, Leila realized why this man intimidated her. He was a shifter.

She hated that shifters could hide so easily in plain sight, even to her. Usually, she could get an aura reading or energy shift as long as she paid attention, but being caught off guard didn't allow for that.

He stepped toward her, shoving the desk easily out of the way, removing anything standing between them.

Every time he stepped, Leila retreated until she hit the wall. There was nowhere to go. She looked up, panicked to have backed herself into a corner. The man loomed over her. She hadn't realized how much bigger he was.

No, wait…

He was shifting!

His features began to distort terribly, first in his face.

Leila was too frightened and enthralled by watching the shift. She had never seen one before and it was beautifully terrifying.

Then, his claws were grown and he swiped at her.

Leila screamed as her situation came crashing over her with sudden reality. She was sure this was it. He was too powerful for her to overthrow, even with magic and the space too small.

The once-bald man was now starting to grow thick black fur as his paw wrapped its still human fingers around her throat.

Suddenly, her office door was kicked open with such force that it landed against the far wall.

A bear of a man came bursting through, his golden green-brown eyes full of fire as he looked around wildly until his eyes found the shifter that had Leila by the throat.

"Drystan!" the intimidating, yet handsome, man growled.

The shifter's head turned.

The distraction was enough for Leila to react to the powers in her body that suddenly were amplified. She felt stronger than ever before, and without a moment's thought, Leila sent out a boom of magic.

Purple light blasted through the room, erupting from Leila. The blast shot her assailant away from her with force, but Leila never heard him hit a wall.

The purple glow faded, and the walls of her office were no longer there. The whole academy wasn't there.

Leila tried to gather her bearings. Where was she? But exhaustion suddenly overtook her. The last thing she saw was the handsome stranger rushing to her side before darkness overtook her.