The Secret of Spellshadow Manor by Bella Forrest (classic english novels txt) 📗

where the Spellshadow Manor history books were located. He hadn’t found anything useful there yet, but he held out hope.

“If you’re going to keep covering for me in class,” he said, his voice muffled by the quietening charm, “we might need to find some new techniques to practice. You’ll have to do twice as many projects as a normal student. Think you’re up for it?”

“I suppose so,” she said listlessly.

“Okay…what type of spell do you feel like practicing today?”

“I do not care very much. Whatever you think is best.” She trailed her finger along the plaque, looking absently at the categories. “No, wait—what about destruction?” Her eyes gleamed dangerously. “Yes,” she said with more certainty. “I will be back.”

Alex was dubious about the safety of studying destruction, but figured it might come in handy, perhaps as defensive magic.

Natalie pushed off lightly from the handrail, levitating into the air with her arms and legs held close to her body. On the ground, Alex watched as she twirled, rising and falling with a dancer’s ease before starting to look for the section on destruction. Apparently not all new students could master the ability to fly easily, which was why they still had ladders climbing the three columns. He couldn’t help but feel jealous—how awesome would it be to fly? He hoped it would cheer her up somewhat—she loved floating to retrieve books.

By the time they left the library, laden with books, Natalie was indeed flushed and excited again. She had quickly found a book called Pyromancy and You, and had spent the rest of their time happily floating up and down to find all the books Alex listed. It was her favorite part of studying, and Alex was pleased she seemed back to normal. Though he had his doubts about her escape plan, it was necessary to keep her hopes high. Natalie was prone to bouts of despair, and he didn’t want her to give up, to succumb to the numbing energy of Spellshadow. He just needed more time to come up with something, and the key might be figuring out what else was going on at this so-called school.

The tables in the study hall where they headed next were a small sea of mostly abandoned rounds that sat before the great window overlooking the gates. Beyond them, Alex could just make out the great, snake-like building that rose up over the walls, backlit by the sparkling lights of a faraway city. As they settled down, Alex unloading his armful of books onto the table, Natalie seemed unable to take her eyes off the horizon.

“Is that your home?” she asked eventually.

Alex looked over. “Maybe,” he admitted. “Hard to tell at this distance, isn’t it?”

Natalie bit her lip, her fingers running over the embossed letters on the cover of Pyromancy and You. “It looks so close. Why can’t we just…?” She trailed off.

“I don’t know,” said Alex. “There’s something going on here.” He tapped the pile of books in front of them. “That’s why we have these.”

Natalie rallied, flipping open her book. “Yes,” she murmured.

It took maybe ten minutes for her enthusiasm to flicker, sputter, then go out like a candle in a hurricane. She sprawled, her arms splayed out on the table, her hair forming a dark halo around her head.

“It is impossible,” she moaned. “I cannot read any more English.”

Alex looked up from where he had been reading about the mental process of making inner fire into proper fire. “Let’s move on to practical magic, then. Sound good?”

“Very well,” she sighed, raising her face to look at him.

“All right, then,” said Alex. He looked over the page he’d been reading, then stuck a bookmark in it and turned to Natalie, who sat up a little straighter.

“Conjure some magic, please,” he said.

She nodded, cupping her hands in front of her. A little whirl gathered there, and she released a ball of light into the space between them.

“Now what?”

He looked down. “You need to fix the idea of heat in your mind. Of burning. Of everything that is fire. Then, you need to fill your magic with that.”

Natalie tilted her head, staring at the ball. Nothing happened.

“It won’t work,” she said.

“Let’s try something else,” he replied, picking up another book. Reading about Spellshadow’s history would have to wait.

They went through the next half hour with Alex gathering tip after tip from the books arrayed before them. Natalie, in turn, practiced her control while she waited for further instruction. Before long, she had three little balls going at once, her brow wrinkled in concentration.

Alex paused in his research, looking up at the three spheres.

“Nice!” he said. “You’re multitasking really well.”

She smiled faintly, her eyes fixed on her magic. “It is strange,” she said. “In class, it felt so easy, but just making three of these is difficult now.”

Alex nodded, tapping one of his books. “That’s called having range, but not focus.”

Natalie nodded, a little disappointed.

“Then we will practice focus next. Anything else?”

Alex referenced yet another book. Making fire was supposedly the simplest technique that destruction magic had to offer, but something was holding Natalie back.

“But I don’t understand,” she muttered. “I had four balls in my room earlier, and it wasn’t nearly this hard.” She looked at him. “Perhaps it is because I feel monitored.”

“Just pretend I’m not here,” he said absently, scanning the book in front of him. “Now, new tip. This one says you should be trying to make the fire come from within the magic. Picture your power like an egg, then hatch it with your mind.”

Natalie raised her eyebrows, then looked at the rightmost ball of her trio. She frowned, then made a sharp little motion with her finger.

The ball cracked up the center, and Alex stared in awe as little flashes of red and orange crackled along the line. Then, in a puff of crimson, the ball ignited, burst, and vanished. He sat back in his chair, his face feeling hot from the detonation. Natalie only stared at the