Children of the First

Okay, here's the new chapter. Sorry it's a little late. Just a reminder about the schedule: it's now one chapter a week, though that may be more like week and a half, depending on how school's going at the time. Rest assured though, there will be regular updates. CotF and I aren't going anywhere.
The conversation going on in the comments of the last couple posts has been great, and I hope it'll keep going. As always, thanks for reading and you guys rock. Diamond hard.

The fact that “circular spellcasting” requires an intimate knowledge of magic gave me a great idea for the “practical use for a Pirouette” part of my Fantastic Creatures assignment; it got me thinking about how you go about getting intimate knowledge of magic, and what had happened that morning.

It seemed to me that direct experience was the quickest route to knowledge like this—that feeling the magic of existence course though you and being conscious of it giving you life should count as “intimate.” I certainly felt a new awareness of the magic in and around me, and that should count for something.

Therefore, the most unique and powerful use of a Pirouette would be as a way to gain “intimate knowledge of magic” and enhance the user’s magical ability. Sure, it would (did) hurt like hell, but I’m sure there are plenty of magicians willing to put up with the pain if it meant virtually unlimited magical energy. Obviously, it hadn’t given me new abilities, but I was only a freshman and had been completely unprepared for the experience. Then there was the other part of it: the voices I’d heard. I had no idea what role they would play when using a Pirouette like this, but I decided not to worry about it; I had a great answer for Lenis and that was all I needed to know right now.

The other part of my assignment was to figure out how the Red Sandy swims through sand, and how and why it hunts like it does. I looked the lizard up in the Khartan Bestiary; it was about a foot and a half long, with a wide, triangular head and flat body. It looked like the tip of a spear when it folded its legs in, tapering from the broad jaw to the tip of the tail (which would be the stabby part of the spear).

It seemed pretty clear from the sandy’s spade-shaped body that it would swim with an up and down wave-like motion. Its legs looked too short to be much use for propulsion, but if it kept them in against its body, it would be able to use its head like a rudder as it swam. While I was writing this, it dawned on me that the big difference between how the sandy swims and how whales and mermaids swim is that the sandy pulls itself through the sand by leading with its head, while the water-dwellers push themselves with their flukes. It seemed important, so I wrote it down. Maybe it has something to do with how little the sandy splashed? Or how it hunted?

That was the last part of the assignment: how it hunted—how and why the lizard made the sand under the cricket bulge before it struck. I could see why the sandy would do it—if the sand under the cricket moves, the cricket’s likely to move, which would give the sandy a better idea of where it was (assuming it used vibrations to find its prey)—but I wasn’t sure how it did it. The obvious answer was that the lizard got under the cricket and pushed the sand up as it moved, but it had jumped out from the other side of the cage, so that didn’t seem likely. Maybe it moved in certain way that made the sand bulge from the other side of the cage, but that would make a ridge along the surface, not just a mound in one place.

I sat back on my bed and stared at the picture in the Bestiary. What else could the sandy do? Maybe it could control sand in some way that Lenis hadn’t told us about. I checked the book’s list of Red Sandy magical traits, but besides turning into sand, all it said was “virtually frictionless.” It had to be something else, something we could get from what Lenis had told us in class…

Oh, right. They can turn into sand.

The sandy must leave part of its body as sand under the cricket and move that part to make the bulge. Or maybe it just stays in sand form until its ready to strike. Shit. That would wreck my whole theory about how they swim; if they’re sand until they surface, then they must swim as sand, too. I really didn’t want to redo the whole thing, so I just wrote something about leaving part of their body—probably the tail—on one side of the cage and moving the sand so they could get a better idea of where the cricket was. It was a pretty good answer, and now I was done.

I flipped through the Bestiary for a few minutes, wondering what Lenis would have for us on Wednesday—would he go with something less dangerous because of my little incident, or would he go more dangerous as a way to test us or something? I quickly realized I was kidding myself; he wasn’t the kind of person to change his plans just because I didn’t follow directions, I knew that much.

I gave up on the Bestiary and decided to see if Roo and Jarn were interested in getting dinner. I ran into Retis on my way up the hall. “Hey kin, you hungry?” he asked, giving me a light punch on the arm.

“Yeah, actually. I was just about to see what the Gibri are up to—the cafeteria sound good to you?”

“As long as there’s food, I’m all for it.” He turned to walk backwards down the hall as he spoke. “I’m just gonna drop my bag in the room and I’ll be right with ya.”

“Ah, good,” Retis said as he joined us in the elevator. “More stalwart young men to brave the cafeteria’s swill.”

“Anything t’put off readin’ for Magic Theory,” Jarn groaned.

“At least it’s not as bad as the actual class,” I said. “Speaking of which, where’d you come from, Retis?”

“Early Khartan History.” He shrugged. “Could be worse, I suppose.”

“Ugh, I can’t stand history” Roo said in disgust. “All dates an’ places an’ dead people. Booor-ing.”

“I kinda like it,” I said. “All the cultures and everything—it’s like a story.”

“A story you get tested on,” Roo countered.

We had to scan our IDs to confirm our meal plan before we were allowed into the cafeteria, but once we were in it was all-you-can-eat. Retis loaded up his plate with fish fillets (apparently a standard, both for him and the cafeteria) and the Gibri got giant bowls of fruit salad. I had some of both, but not much of either—my appetite still hadn’t really returned since that morning.

“So you never told me what happened before class this morning,” Retis said as soon as he finished gulping down his fish. “You looked like you’d seen a ghost that’d just run over your drake or something.”

“Oh, yeah. It’s a long story,” I started.

“Captive audience, kin.” Retis said, meaning shut up and tell the damn story. So I told them about everything that had happened: meeting Fallon, watching Bridget dance, what it felt like when I grabbed her, waking up to Fallon hunched over me, all the way up to my class with Retis.

“Gai,” Jarn breathed. “Are you alright?”

“I am now,” I nodded. “I had a headache for a while, but it went away. It’s just kinda jarring, you know?”

“I’ll bet,” agreed Roo. “A lotta shit all at once. You go to th’ health center?”

“Nah, I wasn’t really hurt. Plus, Fallon said I was fine.”

“How the hell would she know?” Retis asked.

“I dunno—she did this thing where she looked into my eyes and could tell I was okay. Something about the look in her eyes made me believe her—I think it was probably some kind of magic.” I shrugged.

“Or maybe you’re falling in love with me.”

I spun around to see Fallon behind me. “How ya doin’?” she asked, sliding her tray onto the table next to mine. She patted Roo’s shoulder, “Scooch down, would ya honey?”

“Guys, this is Fallon,” I said after we made room for her. “Fallon, this is Retis, Roo, and Jarn.”

“Good to meetcha,” she said, shaking their hands. “Shawn failed to mention you guys earlier, but he’s had a rough day so I think we can forgive him, what do you think?”
Retis looked vaguely amused, but Roo seemed a little perplexed and Jarn was dumbfounded.

“Um, sure,” said Roo.

“We… uh… we forgive you, Shawn,” Jarn stammered.

“Aww, that was sweet,” Fallon beamed. Jarn blushed. “So,” she went on in the getting-to-know-you voice, “how’d you all meet?”

“Well Retis and I are roommates,” I said. “And Roo and Jarn live on the same floor.”

“Ah,” she nodded slowly, “the roommate. And what’s it like living with Shawn here?”

“Not too bad,” Retis said coolly. “When he’s not conjuring maelstroms inside the room.”

“I can see how that could be a problem,” Fallon agreed. She paused before continuing, “And I can also see that you feel threatened by me.”

Retis raised one heavy, ridged eyebrow and Roo, Jarn, and I held our breath for the retort that didn’t come.

“You think I’m going to steal Shawn away from you, right? And you have every right to think that," Fallon went on. "But he’s no more mine than he is yours, and even if he was, I can share, mmkay?”

Retis didn’t say anything, just inclined his head slightly, his placid expression unchanged.

Roo, Jarn, and I talked nervously about scramble for a minute or two while Retis and Fallon stared at each other, both of them intensely nonchalant.

“I told someone from my last class to meet me here,” Retis said after the stare had broken. “Hope y’all don’t mind.”

“Of course not,” I assured him, happy to change the subject.

“There he is,” he said, waving to another Saurian. “I think he’s a junior. Seems like a pretty cool guy.”

“Hey Retis,” said the Saurian, pulling up a chair. “Who’re your friends?”

“This is Roo, Jarn, err… Fallon, and my roommate Shawn.”

“Pleased to meet you Roo, Jarn,” he said, shaking their hands. “Fallon, good to meet you.” He turned to me. “Oh… Shawn, was it? I’m Brue.”

I stuck my hand out, but Brue had already turned back to Retis. “So you’re coming to the party Saturday night, right? All the brothers will be there to welcome the incoming freshmen, so you’ll get to meet them. It’s a great chance to meet some of your classmates too. Bring your friends,” he said, motioning to everyone but me. “Only Saurians can rush, of course, but everyone’s welcome to the party.”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Retis said. “I’ll definitely try to make it, but I can’t make any promises.”

“Oh come on, man. I didn’t even tell you about the girls, did I?” Brue grinned. “All the girls from our sister sorority, including their new batch of freshmen. C’mon—maybe you meet a nice girl, walk her home after the party… there’s a full moon on Saturday, you know, romance and all that shit?”

“Actually, there isn’t,” I said.

“What?”

“You said there’s a full moon on Saturday, but there isn’t.”

“Whatever, yes there is,” Brue brushed me off and turned back to Retis. “So you’re coming then?”

“The full moon’s next weekend. It’ll just be the first quarter moon on Saturday.”

“You’re wrong.”

“No, I’m not. I know the cycles of the moon.”

“That’s right,” he growled, “you’re a Nedrak. Why don’t you just butt out of Saurian business? I don’t know how Retis can put up with it, being forced to share a room with an abomination like you.” He glared, turning to face me head-on. “You’re an affront to the gods, a living blasphemy, an embodiment of corruption, and I don’t need the opinion of something like you.”

SMASH—Fallon slammed both fists into the table, shattering her plate. She stood up and leaned over the cowering Brue. “You should leave now,” she said.

I hadn’t even had time to take in what had happened before it was over. Brue regained a bit of composure and stood up.

“Retis,” he said with a glance at Fallon, then at me, “don’t bring your friends to the party.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that—I’m sure as hell not coming,” Retis sneered, then added, “Asshole.”

Brue looked at him for half a second, then took his tray of spilled fish and stormed off.

“Bye, Brue-brue!” Fallon waved, and then sat down.

“I’m sorry.” Retis looked at the table. “I didn’t know…”

“It’s okay,” I said. “It wasn’t your fault.”

He relaxed a bit. “Oh, and I like your friend.”

Roo and Jarn nodded in agreement.

“Awww,” Fallon beamed. “I like you guys too.”

This entry was posted on Monday, October 6th, 2008 at 10:46 am and is filed under Chapters, CotF Main Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.