The Realm Protectors

Chapter 8 - Avani

Finally Friday, I think to myself as I take a sip of coffee. The hot brew warms my throat, fighting the late January chill. It's thrown me off a bit, starting the school year in January instead of August. Gemma and Vermont are perfectly adjusted to it. The former likes to joke about my daily complaints about the cold.

I can't wait for summer. I think to myself. I make it to Professor Rottink's room at the same time as Nikolina. She's swimming in an oversized black sweater that falls to her mid-thighs, paired with some comfy-looking leggings and boots.

"Hey Nik," I say with a wave. "Morning,"

"Hi," She replies softly. She stumbles as she walks towards me, starting to fall. I start to stick a hand out to help before Nikolina shoots out her arms, shadows forming around her. One catches her binder and books, the other forms a crutch that stops her from falling. The shadows deposit her books back into her arms and dissipate into the air. I stand there in wonder as she tucks a lock of hair behind her ear and smiles shyly.

"Damn," I stare. "That... that was impressive." Her cheeks tinge pink. I motion to the door and I follow her inside. Ciana waves from our table, her two roommates engaged in a conversation with Gemma. Vermont is asleep on the desk. I take my seat next to Ciana and look back at Nik, sitting at her lonely little table in the corner with her two roommates.

"Maybe we should ask to switch tables," I mutter to myself, feeling sorry for the poor girl. She seems like she doesn't have many friends.

"Avani, are you being... nice?" Ciana asks with a smirk. I roll my eyes and tilt my head towards Nikolina's table.

"She seems so lonely," I say to my light-hearted friend. "Don't you think?"

Ciana's face softens as she looks at Nikolina. "I do agree that it must be lonely in the shadows, but she likes them, doesn't she? She is a darkness elemental after all."

I'm about to reply when the bell rings and Professor Rottink stands up to start class.

"Everyone take out your notebooks. Your prompt is on the board. You have ten minutes to write." Rottink says, pointing to the words written on the board. If you were trapped on an abandoned island, what three things would you want with you?

The class passes in a blur. Soon the bell rings, signaling the start of our ten minute timer to get to our next class. Gemma, Vermont, and I head back to the Earth Campus for Geokinesis Theory. Professor Calcaterra's room is filled with shelves of plants on every wall but the ones with the windows and the whiteboard. Geo Theory is written across the top of the board, surrounded by grape vines. Soft music plays from speakers positioned around the room, encouraging the plants' growth. As more students gather in the room and take their seats on the moss-covered floor in front of their rock-tables, the plants perk up at the earth energy.

"Everyone here?" Professor Calcaterra asks as we settle down. As she walks by taking attendance, the plants stand up as straight as possible, blossoms blooming. They feed off of her intense earth energy. We all feel the jittery energy of life in the room, and if I close my eyes, I can see the veins of life running through everything. "Today we're going to continue to work on your accessibility and control. I asked you all to practice reaching for your ability last night before you went to bed, and this morning when you woke up. Let's see how your accessibility has improved."

Gemma's eyes glow with a soft green light as she reaches for her ability, pulling the snowdrop blossoms behind her to ring above her hair like a halo. I reach for my own ability – proud that I don't have to imagine the well anymore – and pull an orchid plant up from the mossy floor. The blooms open, purple tips shining in the sunlight. Plants blossom and grow around every student as Professor Calcaterra smiles from her stool to the side of the board.