The Stones of Time

Chapter Nine Ava

I felt horrible.

But once I got knocked down and I saw my parents watching me I knew what I had to do.

I needed to prove I can handle myself, defend myself. Even if that meant doing something I never wanted to do.

Students started streaming towards what I guessed was the dining hall. Everyone around me dressed in decorative and formal wear, dresses or trousers and embroidered overcoats.

My dress was just as impractical for a competition judging on speed and stamina. The gold fabric with jewel embroidery wasn't something I wanted to get dirty, but I had to make due during a sword fight.

I asked my mother why it was needed that I wore this, but she simply told me if I was going to go to a noble school I'd have to dress like one.

I shifted my shoulders back, trying to refrain from adjusting my sheath, that ran along back, once more.

"Hey sweetie," my dad said. "We're so proud of you, you did amazing."

"Yeah," I swallowed dryly. "Does this mean I can stay?"

My mother paused, "I don't think that's a good idea."

Panic flared in my chest. "Please, I already proved I can defend myself, and there's nothing dangerous about this place."

My dad glanced at her. "I think she'll be okay here. She needs to be on her own at some point in her life. What's better than the present?"

She glanced between the two of us then looked defeated. "Fine, but if you need anything don't be afraid to use your crystal ball and call us. Okay?"

"Yes! I got it! Don't worry."

"We should get going." My dad told my mother.

"Bye, I'll miss you." I said, waving them off as they left for a Void stone.

"Your knees are really bloody."

I turned around at the sound of someone talking to me, "Leo!" I yelled in excitement.

"Do you need me to heal those for you?"

I nodded sheepishly. "Yeah, because I'm a sun elementalist I can...but I never bothered to learn how. I was always so wrapped up in other spells. I will learn though."

"Don't worry, healing yourself is always much harder." He pressed his hands above the cuts on my knees and I could feel my skin slowly knitting itself back together.

"That felt...tingly."

"Yeah it does feel like that sometimes." He laughed.

"Do you know if there are any Void stones around here?"

"Not that I have seen, why?"

"We should be getting to the dining hall soon. It's on this one mountain, Mt. Laurel I think. If we can't find one we should start walking now."

He looked around, "yeah. It looks like most people left to hang out somewhere else before lunch or to say goodbye to their family. We should walk, it'll help us get a layout of the Academy."

"Do you think he'll hate me?" As we walked up the mountain I explained what had happened and why I did it. I still felt absolutely awful, and the look on his face when I won still burned in my memory. How his gorgeous brown eyes flecked with red and orange darkened when I pressed my blade against his chest.

"I'm sure he doesn't hate you...maybe strongly dislikes you?"
"That doesn't help, oh what am I going to do?"

"I'm sure if you find him and go up to him at lunch, apologize and explain your case he'll forgive you."

"Yeah, maybe."

"Thank Kristella the dining hall is only halfway up the mountain." Leo said.

"What do you mean? This mountain is small, you'll do fine."

"You say it like you go mountain climbing all of the time." He huffed.

"I do," my shoes slid across the marble stairs. If only they made them out of a better stone it'd be easier to climb.

But the view was breathtaking; the river wound around the Academy circling it like a serpent. I could see everything from a bird's eye view and the Green was so much bigger than I thought it was.

"Really? You're into extreme hobbies and what not?"

"If you've got way too much time on your hands you learn a thing or with the things around you. My dad was always busy working on the farm, but we'd go on hiking trips sometimes."

"What about your mom?"

I shrugged, "busy." I never knew exactly what she was busy with, all I knew was that she was too busy for me.

She locked herself in her office and I learned how to keep myself entertained, sword fighting, looking after plants, and my favorite, exploring the nearby mountains.

Whenever I'd mention it to her she acted like I was going to accidentally kill myself, but once I was out of sight I was out of mind.

If I wasn't allowed to go on the outside of our farm I'd train in the makeshift arena that I built with some old supplies when one of our sheds burned down.

"I think we're almost there." Leo said.

I could see vast marble columns peaking out, it looked like one of those ancient buildings that you could sometimes see from a random abandoned building in one of the old First Age cities.

Everything was open air, but water, storm, and air elementalists protected it from the outside weather. Marble columns lined the edges and held up a marble border that connected them from above. Between every other column stood a statue of one of the first fifteen councilors.

The stairs led to a grand gateway into the hall where torches of jade blaze burned, encased in glass. It wasn't as hot as other fire. It couldn't burn you. Jade blaze consumed everything except metals, glass, rocks and crystals. That's why it was encased in glass: So it couldn't burn down the whole planet. All those forests and buildings would make good kindling.

"I forgot to ask," I said. "Were there any updates on the murders and robberies?"

He shook his head, "none. I saw some officials and justiciars in the area but no one can figure out who did it."

"We should probably not mention this to other people."

"I agree."

People were already crowded into the dining hall, but the speech had not started yet.

"Reminder students." Principal Stera called from the stage in the front of the pavilion. "You are to sit with your roommates for the first lunch, after today you can sit with whoever you like. Your house numbers correspond with the numbers set up on each table."

"We should get to our seats." Leo told me.

"Wait," I grabbed his arm. "There he is, should I go up now?"

"Yes, this might be your only chance, I'm going to find my table though." He walked away as I approached the table he was at.

"Hey," I said.

He looked up and his expression fell. "What do you want?"

"Oh, about the sword match, I'd like to say."

"Yeah, I'm not really interested." He cut me off. "That was the move you did, and it's final, but could I just enjoy my time before lunch comes?"

The guilt started to evaporate at the sound of his tone. "Whatever, it doesn't matter."

"Are you going to leave now?"

"I was just about to." I gritted my teeth. "Do you know where table nine is?"

He didn't look up, or say a word, instead he pointed to the table in front of us.

"Thanks," I dryly said as I walked off. What a aërai. I was only trying to apologize but he waved me off like I wasn't worth a second of his time.

I almost couldn't blame him.